Content: intrigue

Summary:

Deception and corruption shadow April Chastain as she returns to her hometown, Magnolia Blossom, Mississippi, as a starry-eyed young reporter to work for Russell Dalton, a man she idolizes. Having survived being shot when she was six when both her parents were murdered April comes home, and clues regarding her parents’ murder and murderers who have never been apprehend trickle to light. April finds herself caught up in a web of romance, mystery, and danger. Both she and Russell realize quickly that if they can survive the truth, a lifetime together stares them in the face. Any and all feedback welcome: characterization, plotting, pace, dialogue, readability.

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The Year of the Monkey sizzles every headline on the planet as Ho Chi Minh's Tet Offensive tears through the consciousness of America. While the battle for the country rages up and down the countryside at places like Hue, Con Thien, Lang Vei, Khe Sahn, and the Rockpile, two Marines use their daring to create a special reconnaissance force to change the future of their Corps. With long-range reconnaissance critical at this crucial juncture of the war, American units are sustaining devastating losses amongst their elite LRRP teams. South Vietnam is a country being ripped apart by the ambitions of its neighbors and the corruptive nature of its leaders; a place where ethnic hatred fans the flames of war, this time with the security of the United States of America as the ultimate threat. Caught up in the rising storm of a country in dangerous transition, Team Deuce is the eyes and ears of a Corps of Marines being drawn inexorably into a war it cannot win

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"We Own The President" (set a few years in future; 116,000 words) Why it’s unique: father-daughter buddy story meets 007-type thriller... Harry Evans works for secret government agencies, sees himself as the last line of defense against the evil people in the world. He’s good at it. Kate Evans, studying for an MBA at Wharton, is contemptuous of her father and has as little to do with him as possible. After all, he’s nothing but a killer... Readers get a big swirling thriller--mad-genius twins try to "own the President"--plus entertaining inter-generational conflict. Harry Evans, daughter Kate, and her friend Carmen are increasingly in the center of the vortex, not sure what is real or where their loyalties should be. The country is coming apart. President Simpson declares war on Mexico, and hints at worst. Kate and Harry, alone against the world, start to function as partners -- but don’t try to tell Kate that. The question is, can these two alphas stop squabbling long enough to save the country from a conspiracy to seize control of the president and to accomplish this in a way that conceals what has happened. Any feedback is welcome.

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Mankind faces Armageddon as terrorism, war, and the reality of civilization gone mad is thrust upon the world when atomic weapons fall into the hands of Al Quida terrorists. That is the motivation that transcends religious belief, culture, and the foreign affairs of nations as Aaliya’s Song unfolds against a backdrop of a world living in fear. Aaliya’s Song, is a historic novel in the classic style that captures the essence of America’s Middle East experience and blends it against its own mélange of violence and political intrigue in a manner similar to how James Clavell’s Shogun romanced the conflict between the divisions in European Christianity and Samurai Japan, and how Tai Pan epitomized the struggle of racial and political extremism. Spread across the panorama of greed, revolution, political difference, and religious cataclysm, Aaliya’s Song brings home the fears and half-truths of a half century that has cast a pall of terror and evil across the planet. But in this chilling environment, heroes arise and overcome their religious and political beliefs in an effort to save mankind from nuclear holocaust. Aaliyas Song brings this powerful endeavor to life as it tells its story through the eyes of two very different main characters. For Major Brian Scanlon, a U. S. Marine Corps aviator, the Islamic world was an alien and hostile place filled with zealots, fanaticism, and oppression. For Aaliya bint Qudamah, Princess of Dar and Noori, and daughter of the Emir of Rabeè, America is a foreign dogma that threatens to bring her father and her nation to its knees. Thrown together by the intrigue that surrounds a country’s civil war, and a world grappling with the dark cloud of terror, Scanlon and Aaliya join their forces and lives in an effort to stop the death of her country, and a coup de état in the United States; acts that can only lead to a worldwide Jihad . . . a third world war. To win, they must overcome the Iraqi military, the schemes of Islamic clerics bent on returning the world to fundamentalism, an ages-old family of assassins, treason at the highest levels of the United States government, and the transfer of atomic weapons to Al Quida zealots. Eventually, these two young patriot-warriors find themselves questioning their beliefs, their religion, and their heritage, but never that which, above all else, they must have faith in . . . each other. Aaliya’s Song introduces and maneuvers a rich and fascinating cast of characters in Ryanne Littner, the first female President of the United States, and Jamie Simmons, U. S. Secret Service agent. These characters, along with Prince Rashid bin Qudamah, and Qudamah Abu Shareef, Emir of Rabeè spin a web of intrigue and ambition that the world is obligated to live or die with. Virulent nationalism, and ancient ethnic and religious hatreds fan the flames of war, this time with nuclear weapons in the hands of Al Quida as the ultimate threat. The story of a love so powerful that it transcends religion, politics, and the hatred born out of difference, Aaliya’s Song has the immediacy and punch of today’s fears and tomorrow’s headlines. Exciting, frighteningly plausible, and absolutely believable, Aaliya’s Song is an ambitious and explosive story of life, love, and intrigue.

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A writer and copy editor for The Denver News, Tarin McGyver lives alongside a small, picturesque lake in the heart of the Rocky Mountains. A chance encounter with the lead singer of a popular rock band, Jonathan Parker, leads to an unlikely relationship between the two. In the process Tarin finds herself entangled with Jon's manipulative and scheming business manager, Tommy Wyndham. She quickly becomes determined to expose the manager's thievery and deceit to both Jon and the music industry. But Wyndham has plans of his own and will stop at nothing to keep her out of his client's life. Add to it an apparent stalker in her hometown and our heroine faces danger on two fronts. Follow the action as it culminates in murder, kidnapping and a daring mountain rescue during a blinding blizzard. Other than that, nothing much of interest takes place.

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