DS Kane received a Certificate of Recognition

For the Spies Lie series, DS Kane received a Certificate of Recognition from the Arts Council for Monterey County:

Wow... Unexpected, but it made me happy.

ThrillerFest!

This week was great. First, I got the Kirkus review for Swiftshadow, Book 3 of the Spies Lie series by DS Kane:

"In the third installment of Kane’s (DeathByte, 2014, etc.) Spies Lie series, a covert operative–turned-fugitive must use her formidable intellect to figure out who betrayed her to terrorists.

Brilliant young economist and computer hacker Cassandra Sashakovich takes a job working for an unnamed U.S. intelligence agency, feeding false economic reports to terrorist organizations and hacking into their financial resources. However, when a mission in Riyadh goes terribly awry after her cover is blown, Cassie finds herself being burned by the agency and left for dead. Utilizing every shred of her considerable ingenuity, Cassie goes into hiding and starts a secret consulting firm, hoping she can dig deep enough into the world’s dirty laundry to figure out who might be the agency mole that gave her up to the terrorists in Riyadh. What she discovers shocks her and forever changes the way she sees international intelligence. Teaming up with rogue security analyst Lee Ainsley and an army of mercenaries, Cassie decides to get revenge—both on the terrorists who destroyed her life and the U.S. government that let them... In Cassie, Kane has created a female protagonist who bears a striking resemblance to the girl with the dragon tattoo, Lisbeth Salander, from her extraordinary hacking talents and resourcefulness to her fluid sexuality and tendency to be targeted by evil men who underestimate her ability to survive... “Cassie felt his hand touch her robe, slip inside, and grope her breast, squeeze a nipple. When his other hand reached between her legs to stroke her, her legs grew unsteady.”

...the high stakes and dizzily paced action will hook genre fans from the first page.  — Kirkus Reviews"

Andrea and I were in Washington DC for the 4th of July, watching the fireworks outside the White House. Then on to Manhattan for THRILLERFEST!

CraftFest was very insightful, but Thrillerfest itself was Amazing. Kathy Antrum had been after me for over a year to attend, telling me I'd make some important connections. And, I did. I think it was a bit overwhelming. Meeting Lee Child, Steve Berry, Karen Slaughter, John Sanford, Kevin Hurley, Andrew Mayne, Dr. Richard Krevolin, James Scott Bell, David Corbett, Brenda Novak, John Raab, Myles Knapp, Simon Toyne, Anthony Tata, Andy Harp, Samuel Octavius, Tom Young, among so many others. It made me a better writer. Thanks, Kathy!

Baksheesh now available in both print and ebook, from Amazon and bookstores

Your long wait is over. Baksheesh, Book 5 of the Spies Lie series is now available in both print and ebook, from Amazon and bookstores, and in print from bookstores by order.

This book concludes the Sashakovich mini-series within the overall Spies Lie series. All your favorite characters return, and there's backstory some of you have requested on how the fall of the Soviet Union helped mold Cassandra's parents and also her. Jon Sommers returns, and there are some major twists that will delight you. This book also sets up ProxyWar, Book 6 of the Spies Lie series, projected release date in December, 2015.

Bloodridge sells thousands of copies in three days, reaches # 38 overall and #1 in political and military thrillers

Bloodridge, Book 1 of the Spies Lie series (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00K0029J0) was FREE at Amazon  (ebook) for three days. The price has since returned to $3.99. If you have ever wondered what it’s like to walk the path of a spy, that was your chance to try it without any risk.

During the last day and a half, 7,397 copies of this BESTSELLING ebook were acquired for free. It was as high as #38 overall at Amazon and number 1 in both political thrillers and military thrillers.

 
If you were one of the lucky readers who acquired a copy, please accept my thanks. If you have read Bloodridge, please consider writing a review of the book and posting it on Amazon and/or on Goodreads. As its author, I'd greatly appreciate this favor.

The Trouble with Technology

We’re finally past Moore’s law. Gordon Moore claimed, decades long ago, that the number of transistors which could be placed on a microchip doubled every eighteen months, and because of that, the life cycle of a tech product was eighteen months before a replacement with improved tech was practical.

But, technologists discovered that the S-curves of new product replacements were each built on top of the previous product’s S-curve, making the life cycle for a practical replacement less and less. This placed a severe impact on product testing cycles. From a one-year testing cycle several decades ago, tech products have gone to nearly no testing cycle now, with the only exceptions being the FDA and the cycles for operating systems like Microsoft Windows. Most tech products are now tested by customers, after purchase.

With no testing cycle, “zero-day” flaws have become more common. A program that you bought might now sit in your computer, and contain bugs that make it easy for a hacker to exploit. If you install it, soon, your bank account might get hacked, and your identity might be stolen. As you sit and wonder what has happened, the IRS sends you a letter requesting you return the refund they claim they sent you… but you never received. Suddenly, your home is set for auction. Banks want you to repay credit cards you never applied for or received.

Over a hundred-fifty million Americans have had their identities compromised. Almost all of us are unaware of their “problem.” The hospitals, banks, stores, utilities and other companies that permitted the identity thefts might not have even reported the problem. As a consumer, you have little recourse.

Technologies that might have prevented the thefts are often left unimplemented, because they cost too much, need their own testing cycle, or require personnel the company no longer employs.

In the United States, our own government is pro-business, anti-consumer. The people we elect to represent us have little interest in what happens to us; after all, only our votes count. Since crypto that might help us has been deemed to be able protect terrorists, I believe our representatives have been more responsive to intelligence agency requests to “back door” our computer products, even though this makes us easier targets for hackers.

Technologies will continue to evolve and become more complex. Corporations will continue to squeeze all the cash they can from the development cycles of their products.

In order to remain safe, it’s incumbent on us, the consumers, to find ways to protect ourselves. Remember, caveat emptor! Buyer beware!

Release planned for late June, 2015! Whatcha think?

I received tis last night from Jeroen Ten Berge, my cover designer. I think it's his best work: A wedding with the couple shown within the sights of a sniper rifle. Don't worry; it's not a romance novel. As I've said before, "There's no retirement for spies... except death."

Letter from Bill Clinton

Today, I received a letter from William Jefferson Clinton about DS Kane's Bloodridge, Book 1 of the Spies Lie series. Read on: