Guest post by Steven C. Harms, author of - The Counsel of the Cunning
About the book - Roger Viceroy faces a return to the FBI and a life he vacated long ago, until a knock on his front door announces the presence of billionaire and former U.S. Senator, Jürgen Sandt.
The past has come back to rear its ugly head. Sandt stands on his threshold for a reason: a decade prior the senator’s only son disappeared into the jungles of Guatemala, and Sandt has come to convince Viceroy that further investigation is now necessary. A package left mysteriously outside the family estate, opens the door to the possibility that his son is still very much alive.
Viceroy and his team agree to take on the hunt. Their search steers them from the back streets of Milwaukee to the stealthy corridors of Washington, D.C.—an eerie trek that will ultimately lead to an ancient site that supposedly doesn’t exist.
As Viceroy
closes in on the truth, a parallel plot emerges. Not only could it point to the
reason behind the cryptic disappearance of Bertram Sandt, but it could also
launch a deadly battle that will put millions of lives at stake. On pure
instinct, Viceroy knows nothing is adding up. Somehow, somewhere they missed a
clue, and if it’s not discovered soon…it may be too late.
Purchase from Amazon - HERE
A little bit about Steven Harms - He is a professional sports, sponsorship, broadcast sales, and digital media executive with a career spanning over thirty years across the NBA, NFL, and MLB. He's dealt with Fortune 500 companies, major consumer brands, professional athletes, and multi-platform integrated sports partnerships and media advertising campaigns. He's an accomplished playwright having written and produced a wildly successful theatrical production which led him to tackle his debut novel, Give Place to Wrath, released November 9, 2021 from Suspense Publishing. Harms is a native of Wisconsin, a graduate of the University of Wisconsin - La Crosse. He now resides in the greater Milwaukee area as a sponsorship executive.
Guest Post – Steven C. Harms
Title: The First Moment
My second book in the Roger Viceroy series, The Counsel of
the Cunning, launches November 9th. It’s one of those moments for a writer that
evoke a suite of emotions - thrilling, exciting, and captivating to name a few.
With a little luck (and a lot of book marketing), that same day can evoke
similar emotions for the reader. Certainly, once you have a following and, if
fortune shines, a massive following, each book’s debut is an emotional moment
for both writer and reader.
It’s that “debut” word that I’d like to focus on.
In the context of a book, the debut is the prologue or
Chapter 1. It’s the doorway to enter the world created by the author. In the
mystery/thriller/suspense genres, the invitation to enter and read on is a
curtain-raising whoosh to a scene that should yank you in and not let go.
As you may be able to tell, I’m a huge proponent of the
opening chapter being loaded with intrigue right out of the gate. My job as an
author is to instantly get your attention. If that doesn’t happen until some
number of chapters later, my percentage rate of losing a reader climbs quickly.
Perhaps my inspiration is from movies I’ve experienced that
open with a bang. Think of any James Bond movie, or the first Raiders of the
Lost Ark movie where it opens to Harrison Ford on the final leg of a treasure
hunt and the screen immediately fills with mystery, danger, high stakes, and
Indiana Jones barely escaping death. You couldn’t help but want to see the rest
of the movie.
I approach my books the same way. In the first book, Give
Place to Wrath, the opening chapter deals specifically and completely with a
bombing at a posh golf course on a casual weekday morning, written in a way as
through the lens of the perpetrator. In the second, well, let’s just say the
set-up involves a bit of flashback, a kidnapping, and an intriguing finish to
the chapter alluding to something deeper going on, a plot referenced of evil
intent, and far more involved than what was written.
We all remember our firsts in life. There’s a reason for
that. It’s an emotional experience. A well-written opening chapter should
induce the same result.
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