Virtual Book Tour Dates: 7/18/14 – 8/15/14Genres: Mystery, Thriller, Sci-Fi
Blurb:
Rafe McTavish, charming self-made businessman, owns the most successful private security firm in the galaxy.Estranged from his family since his wife’s bloody suicide fourteen years earlier, he’s honor bound to find out why his brother-in-law, CEO of the family mega-corporation, has jeopardized the company by purchasing a dilapidated deep-space mining station.Arriving at the station to investigate, Rafe takes on hostile miners, faces accusations of murder, chases a blackmailer bent on his destruction, and matches wits with a beautiful corporate-hating computer hacker, Kama Bhatia, who just may be the love of his life—if they both survive.Calculated Risk is the first novel in the Rafe and Kama series, a thrilling blend of action, excitement, and mystery, set in a dystopian future where giant corporations rule the fate of the human race, and profit is all.
The Rafe and Kama series
The year is 2040. Earth recovers from a flu pandemic that killed a third of the population and left another third crippled. Jump gates allow travel between worlds, but the handful of galactic colonies are run by mega-corporations more concerned with profits than people.
Excerpt:
“I apologize for disturbing you outside our normal communication channels,” Kama said, acknowledging their unsecured line. “I wanted to let you know that I’d arrived safely. I would have contacted you sooner, but the station experienced communication issues.”
One almond-shaped eye twitched. “Issues?”
“Yes, but it didn’t prevent me from sending your… birthday present. It’s on a cargo drone headed for Earth orbit. It left here shortly after I arrived. I wasn’t able to check your present’s condition.” She held her breath.
Samir went very still. She expected frost to form on the view screen so cold was the displeasure in his gaze. He hated complications, and she’d barely started listing them.
“Inconvenient. I’ll see the package is retrieved.” He smoothed the front of his immaculate gray suit with long, thin fingers.
She plunged on. “Unfortunately, your present isn’t complete. Pieces are missing, and other collectors have taken an interest.”
His hand stopped in mid-stroke. “Other collectors?”
Kama swallowed. Sweat moistened her palms where they rested on the console. He really wouldn’t like the next news. “There’s also a problem with the grant work I’m to do here for Independent Mining. Seems EcoMech claims to have bought the place, and Leon Goldman came in person to take possession. He has Rafael McTavish in tow.”
The intensity of Samir’s stare rocked her back from the console.
“Is Mr. McTavish aware of your presence?” he asked in a deadly calm voice.
“We’ve been introduced.”
“It’s a large station. Enjoy those parts where Mr. McTavish is not found,” he ordered, his brows pulling down.
“Well, that’s the thing,” she said, her voice rising in pitch. “There’s a bit of a shooting war going on here, and he’s been taken prisoner by the miners.”Buy Links:About The Author:
K S Ferguson has already published one critically-acclaimed novella, Puncher’s Chance (co-written with James Grayson,) which appeared in the June 2006 edition of Analog Science Fiction and Fact, America’s longest-running science fiction magazine.
She enjoys writing suspense and murder mysteries in futuristic and fantasy settings, and also writes fiction in the guise of technical manuals for unfinished software—otherwise known as help documentation.
Is it a mystery? Or is it a thriller?
A question I get asked about Calculated Risk is what genre it belongs in. I reply that it's a mystery thriller in a futuristic setting.
What does 'mystery thriller' mean? Aren't they the same thing? How does a reader tell them apart?
At a writers' convention a few years ago, David Morrell, bestselling author of the Rambo series and a bunch of other thrillers, defined and differentiated mysteries and thrillers based on their pacing.
Mysteries have a big spike of tension at the beginning when the murder occurs. Then there's a long, flat low-tension trudge through the middle of the story while the detective doggedly follows the clues. The ending is another big tension spike as the detective apprehends the killer.
Like mysteries, thrillers start with a spike to whet readers' appetites. Then they drop in tension to what is the lowest point of suspense in the story. From there, they make a jig-jag climb of advancing and retreating tension until they reach the finale, which is the most dramatic point in the story. The average tension increases steadily from the low at the beginning to the high at the end.
It seems to me that as the years have passed, mysteries have become more like thrillers. While many mysteries still incorporate a puzzle (something that fell from grace for a decade or so but seems to have rebounded with the success of Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code), they also incorporate thriller pacing, that constantly rising sense of tension. Frequently, that's accomplished by putting the hero or heroine in the line of fire, at risk of death from the villain. Putting friends and loved ones in jeopardy is another favorite ploy to keep the pages turning.
No matter what I set out to write, sooner or later, someone dies, and the hunt for a killer is on. I admit that I enjoy both reading and writing works with thriller pacing. But I also enjoy the puzzle. I want clues. I want to notice that the vase on the hall table one witness mentioned was conspicuously absent in the statement of another witness.
That's what I mean when I say that Calculated Risk is a mystery thriller. There are clues that don't require an advanced degree in forensics (or a big info dump lecture) to figure out, and there are threats and things blowing up that put the characters in constant danger.
What about you?
Have you noticed changes in the pacing of mysteries over the last decade or two?
Do you prefer books that keep your pulse pounding?
Or do you enjoy cozying up to a good cerebral set of clues and pitting your wits against the author to see whether you can unmask the killer before it's revealed on the page?Author recommended reading list:
Fiction
- The Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula K. Le Guin
- The Wizard of Earthsea series - Ursula K. Le Guin
- The Golden Compass trilogy - Philip Pullman
- The Dresden Files - Jim Butcher
- The Virgin of Small Plains - Nancy Pickard
- The Mallory series - Carol O'Connell
- The Amelia Peabody series - Elizabeth Peters
- To the Hilt - Dick Francis
- Wild Horses - Dick Francis
Non-fiction
- Emotional Structure: Creating the Story Beneath the Plot - Peter Dunne
- Write Great Fiction: Plot and Structure - James Scott Bell
- Plot Versus Character: A Balanced Approach to Writing Great Fiction - Jeff Gerke
- GMC: Goal, Motivation and Conflict - Debra Dixon
- Writing the Fiction Synopsis - Pam McCutcheon
- Dynamic Characters - Nancy Kress
- Workshops
- Writing the Breakout Novel, with Donald Maass
- Story Masters Workshop
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