During the winter holidays, I always keep busy writing.
It’s not a vacation, but I’d hardly consider writing “work.” For me, writing is
an addiction. I love telling stories. The evening news keeps me busy with news
that translates well into fiction, or at least serves as suitable inspiration.
Over the years, I’ve celebrated the holidays in
Manhattan, London, Hawaii, Palestine, Istanbul and Jerusalem. Each city has its
own local stories. My observations have turned into themes, character arcs and
plot points for The Spies Lie Series. I’ve had to change the date from the
winter holidays to whatever date would best serve my book’s specific time and
date, but, whenever possible, I’ve stuck close to the time of day when it
occurred.
This year, my newest favorite thing was when, in December
my book Bloodridge, Book 1 of the Spies
Lie series hit the Amazon BESTSELLER LIST for both print and ebook, in the
espionage and technothriller categories. I was as high as #32 on the top
hundred, above books written by my writing heroes, including Dan Brown’s Digital Fortress, Tom Clancy’s Threat
Vector, The Hunt for Red October,
Locked On, Red Storm Rising, Cardinal of
the Kremlin, Clear and Present Danger,
Teeth of the Tiger, Red Rabbit, Debt of Honor, and Patriot
Games, Michael Crichton’s Sphere,
and Micro, J.A. Konrath’s The List, Origin, and, Ground, B.
V. Larson’s Dead Sun, Annihilation, Empire, Storm Assault, Dust World, Exile, Element-X, Rebellion, Swarm, Mech 1, and, Extinction, Chuck Palahnuik’s Beautiful You, James Patterson’s Kill Alex Cross, and, Private
Vegas, Daniel Suarez’s Daemon,
Daniel Silva’s The Messenger, Vince
Flynn’s Extreme Measures, Ken Follett’s
A Place Called Freedom, Joseph Finder’s
Buried Secrets. It lasted for almost
an entire week!
But when it ended, it was back to work for me. I’ve been busy this year
But when it ended, it was back to work for me. I’ve been busy this year
My newest book in the Spies Lie series, GrayNet, was released the first week in
December. It was the 4th book I’ve had published this year.
In GrayNet, Cassandra
Sashakovich, a spy, quit her work as a spy and blackmailed the White House to
get her boyfriend, Lee Ainsley, released from Gitmo.
Cassandra rescued a teenager, Ann Silbee, from
homelessness, and adopted her. Now they're all safe, and so is she. So
everything should slowly become normal.
But Lee and Ann hate each other. Worse still, all those
she broke and mangled on her mad run to survive want revenge. And soon, she
finds the leverage needed to keep her alive falling apart…
Her life starts to unravel when the brother of murdered
terrorists discovers it was Cassandra that killed them. Then the President's
secret, the one she promised to keep hidden in exchange for her boyfriend's
release, leaks to the press.
Her leverage is vaporizing.
It's time to run again…
It’s a global story, with scenes rapidly shifting to
Washington DC, California’s Bay Area, Maui, Columbus, Ohio, Riyadh, Saudi
Arabia, Manhattan, Tokyo, Detroit, Saint Petersburg and Vladivostok, Russia, Frankfurt,
Germany, Muscat, Oman, Buenos Aires, Baltimore and Boston. The story is
populated with spies, hackers, mercenaries entrepreneurs, and politicians.
There are a few twists to keep you entertained. Deception and revenge are the
two major themes.
There is a single
scene taking place in the month of December, so, not a “holidays” story. But
this is the kind of thriller you can give as a holidays present: Bring a spy home for the holidays.
Of all the book covers Jeroen Ten Berge has designed for
the Spies Lie Series, the one he crafted for GrayNet is my favorite. And the story itself, where a spy is never
really safe while alive, rigs true to my own experience. Keeping secrets and
spreading lies is, after all, the business of espionage. And GrayNet has plenty of both.
Here’s a brief excerpt that takes place in the Capitol
Building in Washington, DC. Thomas Dillworthy is the Chair
of the Congressional intelligence oversight committee:
His jaw fell open. He mumbled
to himself. "Damn. That reporter was right.” He thought, how could POTUS be so stupid? If this is
true, the Chicago explosions were funded from the West Wing of the White House.
Right under the President's nose. The Congressman shivered. Did the President know? Did he help plan it?
He shook his head, reviewing the source of the intel. But it was no use. There
was no way around it. The head of his party would be convicted of treason and
murder. He forced himself to not think about the horrible deaths of thousands
of innocents.
As Dillworthy considered his
own options, the office door opened and one of his staff, a shy woman, returned
from lunch. He turned away and walked into the private room of his office, closing
the door behind him.
He sat down. As the Chair of
the Congressional intelligence oversight committee, it was his duty to decide
what matters were important enough to deal with in the light of day.
The question is, will I be a traitor to my party or a traitor
to my country?
Here’s another, where Omasu
Maru, a Yakusa enforcer, one of the antagonists in the story, reads an
email reply in his Tokyo office, from a troublesome owner of a luxury hotel in
Maui who owes the Yakusa money and has agreed to do Maru’s bidding to continue
owning his hotel:
Maru returned from a meeting
with one of his lieutenants, entering his office as his computer beeped
indicating the arrival of an email.
He clicked the mouse and the
screen changed:
Esteemed Omasu-san,
Cassandra Sashakovich has
arrived at the hotel and I am on my way out. Her meeting with me has not been
scheduled, per you orders. She and a young girl are in the two suites on the
tenth floor, along with five civilians I assume are her consultants for the
Security Audit.
All the other guests have
vacated the premises.
Should you need to reach me,
call my cell.
Sincerely,
Sanji Morikono
Maru chuckled. He lit a
cigarette, took a drag, and coughed. He flexed his palms, thinking, as he
reviewed the bet he'd crafted for GrayNet. It took him a few hours until he got
it absolutely correct, in words that had obvious meaning to anyone reading them
in English, the foreign language he used for the message post:
BET—No one can send the severed
head of Cassandra Sashakovich to the address at the bottom of this bet, for
payment equal to the bet amount at market odds, plus a bounty of $3 million
USD. Proof of her death will be her severed head, packed in dry ice, sealed in
a wooden box. To earn the bounty, mail MP4 proof of Sashakovich‘s death, along
with hitter's contact information to address below via overnight delivery.
Others may bet on the outcome, but will only receive computed odds as they
would at any sporting event. Her current whereabouts are at the Wailea Spa and
Hotel in Maui, Hawaii, and her location can easily be tracked at www.gawkerstalker.com.
The physical address for reply
upon success was a postal box in Tajikistan.
He smiled as the GrayNet web
page of "Active Bets" updated the "Contracts for Death"
sub-page.
He walked to the lunch room and
poured himself a cup of coffee. Wearing a Cheshire-cat smile, he sat and
waited. Within two hours, the bet was number one in popularity, as indicated by
the number of views and also its position on the list. The odds were now 2:1 in
favor of her death, there was almost $5 million betting that she could be
assassinated.
Maru laughed so hard he almost
fell out of his chair.
And one more scene from GrayNet. This one takes place in Boston Harbor and is seen from the
point of view of Cassandra Sashakovich, the protagonist:
In the gray light, a pout
covered Cassie's mouth. "Well I still don't like asking others to risk
their lives while I stand here in safety. It's not—"
She heard a Ruger's
characteristic thumping, followed by the crash of window glass twenty feet
above. She looked up. The setting sun at last peeked rosy through a slit in the
clouds, lighting them all. Glass splinters fell like rain, along with a rotund man
holding a handgun. Shimmel and Cassie both covered their heads against the
falling glass slivers, to keep shattered fragments from hitting their faces.
They dived away as fast as
their legs could spring them.
Homaz dropped right between
them, less than five feet away from her. Shimmel's dive put him on the wood
planking five feet behind Houmaz. As Avram fell, he aimed his Ruger Mini-14.
Cassie saw Houmaz aim as he
dropped. At her head.
Underneath her disguise, her
moving body was covered in a liquid armor Hawaiian shirt. Her head was
unprotected. Houmaz's aim was bad. The bullet hit her obliquely in the
shoulder, but the bulletproof shirt ricocheted the shell up her armored chest.
The bullet slammed through her tilted head, butchering her right cheek, and
plowing through the other side of her face to exit near her ear. She landed in
a heap, unmoving, unfeeling, in shock.
“Political language – and with variations this is true of
all political parties, from Conservatives to Anarchists – is designed to make
lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of
solidity to pure wind.”
I used this in Swiftshadow, Book 3 of the Spies Lie Series.
It embodies the central role of government as it actually works today: Lie to
everyone, all the time.
And this one from Macbeth, Act 5, Scene V, by Willy the
Spear Shaker (William Shakespeare):
“It is a story told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying
nothing.”
I used this in DeathByte, Book 2 of the Spies Lie Series.
The quote is the essence of great fiction.
I worked for over a decade at an intelligence service.
Ironically, I considered my work there as crafting fiction. When I left the business,
writing thriller fiction seemed the natural choice, just as it has been for
John LeCarre, Barry Eisler, Brad Thor, and so many other former spies.
I’ve taught thriller writing at libraries and writers
conferences, and also offer writers critiques of their work through the free
ActFourWriters.com workshops.
If you’re hooked and want to find out more, GrayNet, Book 4 of the Spies Lie Series
by DS Kane can be found on Amazon and can be ordered from any bookstore, as can
the other books in the series. You might consider reading the series in the
order they were written: Bloodridge, DeathByte, and Swiftshadow precede GrayNet.
Oh, and two more will be released in 2015: Baksheesh
and ProxyWar.
The other writers posting in Kylie Betzner’s “My Favorite
Things” Blog Tour are:
December 8: Kylie Betzner, http://litchicblog.wordpress.com/,
Ryder Islington and Jennifer Conway
December 15: Lara Willard, http://writelarawrite.wordpress.com/
and Mrs. N, aka N. N. Light, http://princessofthelight.wordpress.com/
Monday December 22nd: Anthony Renfro and me, DS Kane, http://dskane.com
Monday December 29:
Alison Jack: http://alisonjack-blog.com/
Toni Betzner: http://mywriteofpassageblog.wordpress.com/
Noelle Granger: http://saylingaway.wodpress.com/
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