About My Latest Release Family Matters

Writing a series presents several challenges. One of them is the need to write an exciting story that meets the readers’ expectations. Another is to develop the main characters. I’ve learned from feedback on previous stories that readers want to know what’s going on in the lives of their favorite characters, and that includes changes in their personal and/or professional lives. I will never be a writer who creates unnecessary drama just for drama’s sake. I hate it when scriptwriters do that in a TV series, or when famous authors kill the hero’s spouse just to send him into a depression or force him on a revenge trip (which may also be against the character’s usual behavior). That's not what I want to write. If there is drama, it has to fit the story.

In this story, young FBI Agent Theodor Adams meets the team around Agent Nicolas Hayes and is immediately drawn into a case that starts with the murder of a prominent judge and quickly turns into a matter of life and death for him.

Here’s a look at Family Matters, available at eXtasy Books or any other ebook seller.

Description

Terror is closer to home than you think.

In Fairfax, prominent Judge Ogden Broadwater is shot and killed on the doorstep of his home. The video camera shows a slender unidentified person wearing a baseball cap. Because of his celebrity and influential friends, FBI Agent Hayes and his team are assigned to investigate the murder.

In Washington, DC, successful businessman Newton Linville is shot with a single bullet in the parking garage of his company. Again, the slender killer remains unknown.

In Delaware, Secretary of State Brendan Hickstedt is killed on his way to lunch. Passersby see a slender figure leaving the scene, but by the time the police arrive, the killer is long gone.

 

Excerpt

Theodor craned his neck to watch the sky while driving east. By now he knew the fuel gauge was damaged—though the needle pointed toward empty, the motor was still running smoothly. His spirits lifted seeing a black dot coming closer across the gray, cloudy sky. He eased off the gas when an old white-haired woman in a large, equally old Cutlass Supreme turned into the street. She was in no hurry and Theodor could not overtake her due to incoming traffic. The helicopter grew in size and he focused the right side where it might land. Obviously, the unusual sight mesmerized the old lady in front of him in the same way. She slowed down to a crawl, forcing Theodor to brake behind her car.

The helicopter touched ground on the field a hundred yards off the road. Theodor had never been happier in his life than in that moment. He stopped the pickup truck on the shoulder, killed the engine, and pushed the kidnapper’s wallet and the cell phone into his pants pockets but kept the gun in his hand. He had to wait for other cars to pass him by before he could leave the pickup truck. He rounded the hood and left the shoulder toward the field when behind him a car stopped with shrieking brakes.

Theodor looked back and knew instinctively that the three men in the new and shiny black SUV were the kidnappers. He turned tail and ran across the field.

A second car honked, followed by a deafening crash metal on metal. Theodor wasted no time in finding out what had happened. His legs quivered from the unusual strain. The days of torture, little water and less food took their toll—he had about the same agility as the lady in the old car. The door of the chopper opened and Theodor watched Nicolas jump out, his weapon drawn. He shouted something Theodor did not understand through the roaring of the rotor blades.

Two shots erupted from the road, sharp yelling followed. From the right side of the helicopter, a second agent emerged and returned fire. Theodor’s knees buckled. He went down on the uneven grounds, got back up, and stumbled on, heart hammering. His vision blurred. More shots ripped through the air, and he feared he would feel the impact at any moment. Theodor made a step to the left, breathless and at the end of his rope. Nicolas holstered his gun. Theodor wanted to shout that he should continue shooting to keep the kidnappers at bay, but he had no breath left. Nicolas came running toward him while the second agent remained close to the chopper, his sidearm leveled and shooting.

Theodor fell forward again. The gun slipped his hand. He didn’t try to retrieve it. He needed his strength to push off the ground once more and move on, toward safety. He heard Nicolas approach, heard him call out to him but did not understand the words. The next he knew he was on his knees again and struggling to find his feet.

***