adventure

Today, October 5, 2012, marks the most important day in literary history.

OK, perhaps that’s a little overblown. Maybe not so much the most important day. But an important one, nonetheless.

Why, you ask yourself, wondering whether I slipped into the tequila even earlier than usual?

Because today is the official launch day of JET and JET II – Betrayal. The first two installments in my new series, which is two scoops of absolute kick-ass the likes of which make a Tarentino film seem as fast-moving as The English Patient.

JET is the story of a twenty-eight year old ex-Mossad operative who faked her own death to get out of the game, but whose past has caught up with her in a big, ugly way. It’s honestly the most non-stop action-and-thrills-filled books I’ve ever penned, or for that matter, read. And that’s not hyperbole. I’ll eat my bandanna if you don’t think so.

I was after an over-the-top heroine the likes of what would happen if Jack Bauer and James Bond had a love child. Think Lizbeth Salander with a double scoop of Kate Blankenship in Underworld. I wanted ass-kicking on top of ass-kicking. In other words, an unapologetic escapist romp that set a new, higher bar for what action/adventure can be.

The elevator pitch? Kill Bill meets Bourne.

That about sums it up.

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BREAKING NEWS: A brilliant interview and synopsis of JET by Gail Trish Gentry – an absolute must read!

NEWS: I was featured in an interview at World Literary Cafe, with Melissa Foster! A good one.

NEWS: New guest blog with Sheila Deeth on writing female protags with a sizzling difference! Worth a look.

INTERVIEW: Read an interview with me about JET at Indie Author Land.

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But one important caveat. The writing isn’t what you might expect from my description – puerile, simple-minded, prosaic action. Something odd happened as I was writing it. I sort of hit the groove, and what ensued was closer to literary fiction as far as the use of language goes than your typical shoot-em-up romp. So if there’s a genre that’s roller-coaster, breakneck-paced action crossed with literary fiction, this might be it. All I can tell you is that the result is something unique and for me, at least, utterly new and different.

The books are written in a cinematic fashion. Deliberately so. I conceptualized them as footage playing in my noggin. I saw each chapter in my mind as a movie. So that’s what I wrote. I described the saga screening in my head, and it was all I could do to keep up with it as it moved relentlessly forward. Hopefully you’ll like that.

Now let’s talk pricing. As readers of my blog know, I’m not content to just put it out there and sell books. I’m trying a new pricing strategy, where for a week or so I’m doing the first book at literally a give-away price. Because I want readers, not money (OK, I want money too, but there’s a method to my madness). I believe that if I can get tens of thousands of readers to try JET, they will want to buy JET II and III (I’m hard at work on JET III as we speak). And then they’ll want to move to my other work. So the introductory price of JET? $1.99. All my other new work is priced at $5, but JET is going to be two bucks, and JET II a lousy $3.97. For a limited time only.

So do me a huge favor. Get JET. It won’t cost you hardly anything. Read the first few pages. Then get copies and gift them to everyone you know. Spread the word.

Don’t make me beg. I get all whiny and clingy when I beg. And nobody wants to see that.

For good reason. Help me spare you the embarrassment. We’ll all be better for it. Trust me.

I haven’t lied to you yet.

Buy JET at Amazon.    Buy JET II – Betrayal at Amazon.

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March 17, 2012.

The official launch date of my newest novel, The Voynich Cypher.

An exciting book for me, as it represents a departure from my customary conspiracy thriller fare. Most of my novels are cast in the tradition of Robert Ludlum and Frederick Forsyth. But not Voynich. This is a completely different kind of thriller.

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AN EVEN NEWER BREAKING NEWS: A fun interview on process with Emerald Barnes.

NEW BREAKING NEWS! A fabulous interview with The Indie View on Voynich, writing, process & life.

BREAKING NEWS!  Great interview with bestselling award-winning author Melissa Foster on writing The Voynich Cypher, clowns, Satan and nude ice dancing.

UPDATE: . One of my favorites yet, with an awesome poet/author/friend.

NEWSFLASH: Book review of The Voynich Cypher by bestselling author Steven Konkoly. This is a must read.

NEWS: Guest blog wherein I discuss the writing of The Voynich Cypher and the big idea behind it at The Veil War blog.

BOOK REVIEW: A great book review of The Voynich Cypher by Books N Beans.

ANOTHER BOOK REVIEW: This time . Nice!

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The Voynich Cypher is an unusual kind of a book for me to pen. A pure adventure thriller in the mold of The Da Vinci Code, Foucault’s Pendulum and Raiders of the Lost Ark. Featuring the protagonist from Zero Sum, my Wall Street thriller – Dr. Steven Archer Cross.

It’s a race of a read, 100K words, and no fat or fluff. Just relentless story. And quite a story it is.

For more detail on what I was trying to accomplish or how I went about writing this one, read some of the above interviews and blogs. No point in belaboring them here. What I will say is that the end result surpassed even my most wild hopes, and is some of my best work to date. Suffice it to say I’m proud as hell of this book, and believe it will be the one that breaks it wide open.

It will be specially priced from its selling price of $5.97 for the launch, slashed to $3.33, and that pricing could end at any moment – I’m deeply discounting it so that it gets as many early readers as possible. So go buy it. Buy two, and give one to your dog or cat.

The synopsis pretty much covers what you can expect out of the book: When a sacred relic is stolen from its subterranean guarded vault, Dr. Steven Cross, amateur cryptographer, becomes embroiled in a deadly quest to decipher one of history’s most enigmatic documents – a 15th century parchment written entirely in unbreakable code; The Voynich Manuscript. Stalked by secret societies, and aided by the daughter of a murdered colleague, a trail of riddles catapults Cross from England to Italy to the Middle East, where a Byzantine web of ancient secrets leads him to a revelation so profound it will change the world order.

Here’s the cover. Let me know what you think

Buy The Voynich Cypher at Amazon.

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