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Controlling Knowledge is Power
The Secret of Charley Grace follows a fourteen-year-old girl who discovers her DNA may hold the secret to disease resistance and extraordinary longevity, making her the target of powerful forces that want to control this knowledge. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
My stories are always drawn from the news. The Secret of Charley Grace came after reading about the worldwide stir that was created when a Chinese researcher named He Jiankui edited the genes of twin girls before they were born to remove the possibility of being infected by HIV. For his breakthrough bioengineering efforts, He was found guilty of conducting “illegal medical practices” and sentenced to 3 years in prison. As the pandemic overwhelmed the world, I wondered what might happen if a husband-wife team of Chinese researchers were to attempt to protect their unborn daughter from COVID and other diseases and extend her life to twice the normal limit. Would the Chinese government be willing to share her revolutionary biotechnology with the world? Or would they seek to cover it up and prevent its dissemination at all costs?
Charley is highly capable but still emotionally vulnerable. Why did you choose a fourteen-year-old girl as the person at the center of such an enormous international struggle?
I tried to imagine the confusion and fear of a teenaged girl who, while very intelligent, fluent in multiple languages, and trained in martial arts, is yet unaware of who she really is, or why her parents have seemingly abandoned her, and why people are desperate to capture or kill her. Forced to flee from the only home and family member she knows, the target of threats she has no knowledge of and with no one she can trust, Charley’s unique genetic gift is the crucible that will test not only her character, but that of everyone else in the novel.
Greed appears in several forms throughout the novel. What interested you about exploring how different people might respond to something as potentially valuable as Charley’s genetics?
Since before Biblical times, greed has been a powerful universal force causing unhappiness and criminal behavior. With the addition of today’s social media to traditional media, we are constantly exposed to millionaires and billionaires, physically attractive celebrities, and the false promise of fame and fortune if we only buy the right lottery ticket, invest in the right stock, or attract enough followers. Biotechnology offers not only incredible benefits, but also enormous profits. The desire to achieve incredible wealth can unfortunately lead to mistakes, such as COVID-19, or unethical objectives, such as the design of deadly bioweapons.
Beneath all the action, how important was the question of Charley’s right to determine her own identity and future, and does her story leave room for further exploration of the scientific and personal consequences of what she represents?
I believe Charley’s story is just beginning. Her right to live her life as she chooses, free from the threat of capture or death, is improbable due to the nature of human beings and their institutions. To own or control revolutionary scientific knowledge like Charley’s edited DNA, or nuclear weapons technology, or artificial intelligence, is to own power. Power, however, corrupts. Regulating such power is the role of government, but without transparency, governments can be corrupted. A free and unbiased media is perhaps the only tool we have to monitor the potential dangers we face. Yet, as we have seen, even the media can become corrupt. This situation will continue to produce conspiracy theories — which provide a rich trove of storytelling possibilities for writers like me! — but increases conflict and decreases peace of mind for everyone.
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What she doesn’t yet know is that she is the first human genetically edited to be immune to disease and destined for an extraordinary lifespan. But she is also a target.
Those desiring unimaginable profits seek her biotechnology secrets for themselves: Chinese intelligence, Russian agents, the Sinaloa Cartel, big pharma, rogue billionaires,and even factions within the U.S. government. Her only ally is Ray Nelson, an emotionally-scarred truck driver on the run from his wife’s killers with his dog, Patsy. As they flee across the Arizona desert to the Las Vegas Strip and beyond, they enlist an intrepid band of outcasts who become Charley’s shield—and her family.
Building upon the success of Colin Kersey’s previous award-winning novel, Swimming with the Angels, the Secret of Charley Grace is a relentless page-turning thriller about greed, redemption, and a girl the world sees as a lab specimen—but who refuses to be anything less than fully human.
The Secret of Charley Grace
Colin Kersey’s The Secret of Charley Grace is a contemporary action thriller that starts at full speed and keeps widening its scope. Fourteen-year-old Charley Grace has spent most of her life hiding in Mexico without understanding why, until an attack leaves her alone and forces her north. Her path eventually crosses with Ray Nelson, a fugitive truck driver carrying plenty of danger from his own past, and Patsy, the remarkably perceptive dog who brings them together. What begins as a tense survival story quickly becomes a cross-border crime thriller involving the Sinaloa Cartel, Chinese intelligence, American government agencies, human traffickers, and anyone else who realizes how valuable Charley might be. The setup gives the novel a cinematic feel from the beginning, while the mystery surrounding “Alpha Girl” provides the larger conspiracy driving the chase.
The novel’s most effective ingredient is the relationship that gradually forms around Charley. Ray is already living under an assumed identity when he finds her, and his decision to protect this frightened teenager gives his own fugitive life a new purpose. Veterinarian Anita Cosay soon becomes part of that circle, along with Patsy and an increasingly colorful group of allies. Kersey makes found family as important as gunfights or escapes, and that emotional thread gives this conspiracy thriller more warmth than its body count might suggest. Charley is particularly engaging because she’s capable without seeming untouched by what happens to her. Her martial arts training, intelligence, musical discipline, and ability to think under pressure repeatedly help her survive, but she still grieves, gets scared, wants someone to trust, and desperately misses the family she’s lost. That balance makes her easy to root for.
As a political thriller and biotech techno-thriller, The Secret of Charley Grace goes big. The mystery eventually reaches into CRISPR, experimental genetic engineering, longevity research, pharmaceutical interests, surveillance technology, government secrecy, and the enormous financial value that could be attached to one extraordinary human genome. Charley may represent the possibility of radically extended life and resistance to disease, which turns a fourteen-year-old girl into something governments, corporations, criminals, and wealthy individuals want to possess. Kersey embraces the heightened nature of that premise, throwing his characters through shootouts, kidnappings, cartel pursuits, Las Vegas casinos, human trafficking operations, helicopters, covert agencies, desert hideouts, and eventually an escape by sea. The result is a maximalist suspense novel that frequently reads like an action movie, with short chapters and changing points of view keeping another threat close at hand.
I liked the way all that chaos circles back to the question of who gets to decide the value of a human life. To nearly everyone hunting Charley, she’s genetic material, political leverage, scientific property, or a fortune waiting to be collected. To Ray, Anita, Patsy, and the people willing to risk themselves for her, she’s simply Charley. That distinction gives the action thriller its emotional center. By the final chapters, the scientific secret has become public enough to reduce its usefulness as something that can be privately controlled, but Charley herself can never completely escape being hunted. Her real victory is more personal: she ends the story surrounded by people she can call Mom, Dad, aunt, and uncle, while Ray finally finds the family he thought his old life had taken from him. The Secret of Charley Grace combines the velocity of a crime thriller, the paranoia of a conspiracy thriller, the ideas of a biotech thriller, and the emotional pull of a found-family story into one ambitious, eventful ride.
Pages: 390 | ASIN : B0HD97DY99
Legacy of a Silent Man
Paul Chandler’s Legacy of a Silent Man is an action thriller with an unexpectedly warm center. Kamden Clark has spent twenty years as an elite assassin in a secret government program, so forced retirement leaves him wealthy, highly trained, and completely unprepared for ordinary life. His attempt to settle into a quiet Colorado suburb changes when he befriends Mason, a skinny boy being targeted by neighborhood bullies. What begins with Kamden lending Mason his enormous protection dog, Ajax, gradually becomes a genuine friendship. Kamden’s instinct to protect the boy gives him a new purpose, even as crooked police officers, foreign operatives, and a professional assassin pull him back toward the violent world he knows best.
Kamden is the reason the book works as well as it does. He’s almost absurdly capable in a fight, but he’s awkward, literal, and quietly funny whenever he has to deal with normal human interaction. His conversations with Mason bring out the novel’s best humor, especially when Kamden tries to tell jokes or speak appropriately to children and gets both slightly wrong. Chandler also gives Kamden an emotional arc that feels natural. He doesn’t suddenly become gentle or sentimental. Instead, his loyalty expands one practical decision at a time, from protecting Mason against bullies to teaching him about cars and becoming a dependable adult in his life. By the final chapter, their Saturday routine feels like the real legacy promised by the title.
The thriller side moves quickly and favors clear stakes, short chapters, tactical confrontations, and villains who are easy to root against. Vicky Delta, a shape-shifting assassin known as the Chameleon, is the most memorable adversary because she’s skilled enough to challenge the Silent Man program. Her elaborate defenses and duel with another elite operative give the closing stretch a lively, cinematic energy. The book sometimes explains weapons, technology, dog training, or tactical choices in more detail than the scene strictly needs, but that detail is part of its personality. Chandler wants readers to understand how these dangerous people operate, and the direct prose keeps even the more technical passages moving.
Readers of Lee Child’s Jack Reacher novels will recognize the appeal of a highly trained loner confronting bullies, corrupt officials, and supposedly untouchable criminals. Kamden has Reacher’s intimidating competence and blunt manner, but Legacy of a Silent Man is more interested in domestic connection. Reacher usually arrives, fixes a problem, and moves on. Kamden buys a house, washes his Chevelle, bonds with a dog-loving kid, and slowly builds a life he never expected to have. That mixture of covert-action spectacle and offbeat neighborhood friendship gives the novel its own identity. It’s a brisk, entertaining thriller, but its most satisfying moments come from watching a man trained to end lives discover that he’s also capable of shaping one.
Pages: 216 | ASIN : B0H6NPQQS9
Raven and the Analyst
John Fennell II’s Raven and the Analyst is an action thriller with espionage and psychological thriller elements, and it follows Raven Anderson after a brutal attack leaves her shaken in ways even she cannot ignore. The story brings her back into the violent world of the Roth, assassins, secret tracking devices, and dangerous enemies, but the heart of the book is Raven’s recovery. With Naci beside her and Dr. Maria Delgado pushing her to face old wounds, Raven has to confront not only the people hunting her but the trauma she has carried for most of her life.
What stood out to me most was how personal this book feels. Raven is still the same lethal, sharp-edged force she has been throughout the series, but here she’s also fragile, angry, guilty, and tired. I liked seeing the story slow down enough to let her sit with that pain. The therapy scenes give the book a different kind of tension from the shootouts and missions. There’s danger in the room even when no one is holding a weapon, because Raven is being asked to face memories she has spent a lifetime outrunning. That choice gives the novel more depth, and I feel like it makes the title matter.
Fennell writes with the pace and intensity of a high-stakes action thriller. There are hidden compounds, private islands, covert teams, assassins with names like the Extractor, and a constant sense that trouble is always one step behind Raven. I enjoyed that big, pulpy energy. It’s dramatic, sometimes blunt, and often larger-than-life, but it fits the world of the series. What surprised me was how well that intensity worked beside the quieter parts of the story. The book is at its best when Raven’s outer war and inner war reflect each other. She can remove a tracker, hunt an enemy, and outthink a killer, but healing her mind is messier. It can’t be solved with a clean shot.
I would recommend Raven and the Analyst to readers who enjoy action thrillers with espionage, revenge, psychological tension, and a strong female lead who is both dangerous and relatable. Fans of the Raven Anderson Series will especially appreciate this entry because it doesn’t just raise the stakes outward. It turns inward, too. Anyone who likes fast-moving fiction with secret organizations, emotional scars, and a heroine fighting to reclaim herself will find a lot to enjoy here.
Pages: 280 | ASIN : B0D5SJ857B
Bait – A Harper Jones Novel
Bait, by Jeffrey Butler, is a crime thriller with strong espionage and action-thriller elements, centered on Detective Harper Jones as a local car bombing in Wolf Hollow pulls him back into the violent shadow of his past. What begins as a police investigation soon opens into something larger, more personal, and far more dangerous, involving old missions, buried guilt, international crime, and people Harper thought he had lost forever.
I liked how the book starts fast and keeps widening its scope. At first, I thought I was settling into a coastal detective story, with local politics, old grudges, and Harper’s sharp, often sarcastic voice guiding the way. Then the novel shifts gears. The stakes stretch from Wolf Hollow to Washington and then overseas, and the story becomes less about solving one crime and more about confronting the kind of past that refuses to stay buried. It gives the thriller a sense of forward motion, but also an emotional undertow.
Butler’s writing is direct, energetic, and plot-driven. The action scenes have a hard, tactical feel, and Harper’s narration gives the book its personality. He can be funny, wounded, reckless, and stubborn, sometimes all in the same scene. The story leans into big reveals, violent confrontations, and high-stakes twists. I appreciated that the book doesn’t treat Harper as untouchable. His choices cost him. His past matters. The title, Bait, is fitting because nearly everyone in the story is being used to draw someone else into danger.
What stayed with me most was the tension between duty and personal loyalty. Harper isn’t just chasing villains. He’s trying to make sense of guilt, love, fatherhood, and the damage left behind by secret wars. That gives the book more weight than a standard action thriller. I would recommend Bait to readers who enjoy fast-paced crime thrillers with military and spy-fiction edges, especially fans of damaged protagonists, layered conspiracies, and stories where the personal stakes hit as hard as the explosions.
Pages: 519 | ISBN : 979-8995267300
True and Imagined Drama
On the Brink follows an ambitious man from childhood schemes into the ruthless advertising world of 1960s New York, where early trauma, unchecked ambition, and a single reckless choice put his hard-won future at risk. What first sparked the idea for On the Brink?
I had written a few books featuring Dave Powers, unfortunately publishing them without editing. When I decided to convert the books into a series, I began with Dave as a child. The fireworks caper was a critical part of the story.
The novel emphasizes momentum—how one choice leads to another. Was that a guiding principle from the start?
Yes. I created dramatic scenes (both true and imagined) to propel the storyline.
Since the novel is based on true events, how did you decide where to stay close to reality and where to fictionalize?
I tried to stay close to reality as much as possible. I deviated when I needed a more dramatic scene to move the action forward. In these cases, I created an extraordinary event to replace an uninteresting one. In these cases, the result is fact, not the process.
Is this the first book in the series? If so, when is the next book coming out, and what can your fans expect in the next story?
Yes, it is Book 1. All four books are published and I’m in the process of uploading new covers. In Book 2, Dave goes over to ‘the Dark Side’ and takes a job in Corporate America, a departure from his entrepreneurial focus. There he gets shredded by the bureaucrats and ends up a scapegoat in a major bribery scheme.
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Dave Powers has survived the unthinkable. Orphaned by tragedy, he claws his way from the wreckage of his childhood to the glittering chaos of 1960s Madison Avenue—where ambition, alcohol, and betrayal flow in equal measure.
Landing a coveted spot at one of New York’s most prestigious ad agencies, Dave discovers a world where creative genius battles nepotism and backroom deals. It’s the Mad Men era in full swing: brilliant, brutal, and unapologetically male-dominated.
Then he makes a fatal mistake.
He falls in love with his boss—a rare woman in the executive ranks, enigmatic and untouchable. It’s a romance that could cost him everything: his career, his reputation, and the fragile sense of self-worth he’s fought so hard to build.
Haunted by his past and surrounded by predators, Dave must decide: Will he let tragedy define him? Or can he rise above the wreckage and claim his place in a world designed to break him?
Based on true events, On the Brink is a gripping tale of ambition, forbidden love, and the cost of survival.
On the Brink—Chaos and Mayhem at the Office
On the Brink is a coming-of-age business novel that follows Dave Powers from a sharp, restless childhood into the pressure cooker of adult ambition. The book traces how early trauma, raw intelligence, and a hunger to succeed push Dave toward entrepreneurship, first in scrappy childhood schemes and later into the unforgiving world of advertising and office politics. It is a story about momentum. How one choice leads to another. How talent can open doors, but character decides what happens once you step through them.
What struck me first was how readable this novel is. Sisti’s writing moves fast and clean, especially in the early chapters. Scenes from Dave’s youth feel grounded and vivid without trying too hard to impress. The fireworks episode, in particular, does a lot of heavy lifting. It is funny, tense, and quietly revealing. You see Dave’s instincts for business forming alongside his blind spots. Sisti has a knack for showing lessons instead of announcing them. When authority figures step in, especially Dave’s father, the moments feel earned rather than preachy. That balance is not easy to pull off.
As the book shifts into adulthood, the tone darkens in a natural way. The office becomes its own kind of wilderness. Less predictable than the woods and far more punishing. I appreciated how author Michael Sisti portrays work culture as something that can shape you or slowly grind you down, depending on how aware you are. There is humor here, but it is the kind that comes from recognition rather than jokes. If you have ever watched a smart person underestimate the emotional cost of ambition, this will feel familiar.
On the Brink feels like a blend of business fiction and a classic coming-of-age story, with a strong autobiographical pulse running underneath. I closed the book feeling like I had spent time with someone who wanted to tell the truth about success, not just celebrate it. I would recommend this novel to readers who enjoy character-driven stories about work, ambition, and personal growth. I think it is especially well-suited for aspiring entrepreneurs, young professionals, or anyone curious about how early life shapes the way we move through the adult world.
Pages: 307 | ASIN : B0DM2V1WBD
Steve the Zombie
In Steve the Zombie, readers are introduced to Steve, a detective at the pinnacle of his promising career. This engaging tale pivots sharply when a mysterious illness descends upon his community. While investigating what appears to be the onset of a Zombie apocalypse, Steve makes a terrifying discovery: he has become infected. The fear of becoming a monster, once only a distant nightmare, is suddenly a chilling reality. Yet, even as the infection ravages his body, transforming his appearance and sapping his strength, Steve’s humanity endures.
The narrative then takes us on a thrilling journey as Steve wrestles with his metamorphosis and the urgent need to save his partner, Sarah, from the virus that is consuming him. Will he succeed?
One of the standout qualities of Stephen Wayne’s writing is his ability to craft a palpable emotional connection between the reader and the protagonist. Wayne’s portrayal of Steve’s thoughts and emotions is nothing short of masterful. Readers are privy to Steve’s mind, gaining intimate insight into his decisions, feelings, and the relentless pursuit of a cure. Steve’s selflessness and discipline remain awe-inspiring, even as he confronts his transformation into a zombie.
The novel presents a focused cast of characters that keeps the reader’s attention firmly on the main storyline. For those who appreciate the depth, the narrative’s emphasis on Steve’s experience allows an immersive understanding of his situation. The story’s pacing, filled with action and complex thoughts, provides an energetic and engaging experience for those who enjoy a more intricate read. Even for readers unfamiliar with the genre, the novel’s complexity may present an exciting challenge and a refreshing departure from conventional storytelling.
Steve the Zombie offers a rewarding deviation from the norm, even for those who do not typically venture into dystopian literature. Wayne’s literary prowess is genuinely impressive, bringing a fresh twist to the familiar zombie narrative by using a zombie’s perspective.
Steve the Zombie is a compelling read that will likely appeal to fans of fast-paced dystopian novels. If you have an appetite for a unique take on zombie lore, exploring resilience and humanity’s struggle against the monstrous, this book will not disappoint.
Pages: 146 | ASIN : B0C8692JP2
