Memories of her dire past fade as Celia Hagen enjoys life in Switzerland as a best-selling author, surrounded by an extended family, her beloved Benicio, and their imaginative young son Benny. But when Benny disappears from a train during an unexpected stop in the French Provencal countryside, Celia suspects her past may not be buried after all. With Benny gone, she quickly realizes her life wasn’t nearly as idyllic as she believed. Infuriated by the unorthodox search efforts of Interpol and the French police, Celia, along with her older son Oliver, undertakes her own search, only to find that the village where Benny vanished has its own chilling history, and her interference in the case will have grave and irreversible consequences. In the follow up to Audrey Braun’s best-selling debut, A Small Fortune, Celia discovers just how quickly everyone she loves can spiral toward a life—or death—that none of them could have seen coming.Amazon.com ReviewA Q&A with Audrey BraunQuestion: Fortune's Deadly Descent is the follow up to A Small Fortune. What will readers need to know before starting this book? Audrey Braun: Readers should know that while Fortune's Deadly Descent is the second book in a series, it is also a standalone novel. There is enough allusion to the first book for readers to get a sense of what came before without losing sight of what is happening in the new novel. Having said that, Fortune's Deadly Descent will certainly resonate deeper with readers who are familiar with A Small Fortune. When tiny details trigger knowledge of the story already existing inside the reader's head it's like being in on an inside joke. Inclusion is an extremely satisfying feeling. Q: The main character, Celia, finds herself at odds with her lover, the law, and a tiny French town filled with secrets when her son Benny is kidnaped. What inspired you this time? AB: Unlike A Small Fortune, which was inspired by wine, a tasty dinner, and a recession that had my husband and me brainstorming a genre novel I didn't think I'd actually write, Fortune's Deadly Descent was written with intent. At the end of A Small Fortune, a few threads are left dangling. Of course the reader could stop there and leave the rest up to her imagination, but if one were to carry those threads, say, to the south of France where the writer would be forced to travel for research [wink], where all of the senses would be evoked by the rich textures of Provence which would then be infused into the tension of the novel, allowing the reader to experience adventure, sensuality, and heart-pounding suspense in one package, I'd say that closely defines my inspiration for this novel. Q: Fortunes Deadly Decent is a gripping, fast-pace thriller, but there are so many deeply emotional moments. How do you strike that balance? AB: This is a very good question. Reading a thriller can sometimes feel like running a marathon. Just one more page, one more, just to get to the end of this chapter, and then ok, the next chapter, and the next, because I can't stop now! While this is exactly the kind of reaction every thriller writer hopes for, it can also be taxing on the reader. It's important to pull back a bit after times of extreme suspense to give the reader a break. That break is the perfect opportunity for the writer to go a little deeper inside the character's emotional core to remind the reader what is at stake. Flawed characters with broken hearts are the ones we love to root for and will follow every crisis they rake us through. Clearly defined vulnerabilities, faults, unmet desires, and regrets, resonate deeply with readers, and when they appear during or shortly after times of heightened danger, they pull the reader further into the story, far more effectively than mere facts of adrenaline rushes, gunshots, and kidnappings. Q: What writers/books inspire your writing? AB: Patricia Highsmith. I love The Talented Mr. Ripley for so many reasons, one of which is the strong sense of place. I'm also a huge fan of Benjamin Black, not least because he uses a pen name for his mystery novels and his real name (John Banville) for his literary work, the same way that I do. His protagonist, a coroner named Quirke (perfect) is a flawed old sod who plods through life trying to do the right thing by others as well as to himself. Same goes with Kate Atkinson. I love her writing. Her novels are written in big, sweeping arcs, very literary, and strong on suspense. Harlan Coben, Lisa Unger, and Laura Lippman are also writers I love, and they have influenced my own writing in the sense that each have novels featuring an everyman or everywoman thrown into extraordinary circumstances that they must work their way out of, and in the process discover exactly what they're made of. This rings true for Celia in the Fortune Series. She isn't the detective, doctor, or investigative journalist so often found in thrillers, she's a former editor and now a novelist who has been thrown into a life where she has to learn the skills of an investigator, or sniper, or heck, a marine, in order to survive. Q: What's next for Celia, will there be a 3rd novel? AB: Yes. I don't want to say too much about the plot as it's still very new, but I will say the 3rd installment of Celia's adventures takes place in Berlin, which has become the new "it" city of Europe. It is bustling with tourists and expats, the arts thriving, the rents miraculously cheaper than any other large European city at the moment. I think this makes for a fascinating backdrop for the 3rd and yes, final story of Celia's life. From BooklistThis sequel to A Small Fortune (2011) launches with Celia Hagen boarding a train to Paris with her adopted son, Benny, expecting nothing more than adventurous travel. But, during an unexpected stop, Benny disappears from the train. Interpol insists on ransom protocol, but Celia knows that the motive has to be rooted in her past, related to either her vengeful ex-husband or her heavily disputed inheritance. Following her instincts, Celia begins tracking Benny from the French village where he disappeared, aided by her adult son, Oliver, and a local detective personally motivated to solve a possibly related series of child kidnappings. Before long, Benny’s trail heats up, but the elusive motive for his kidnapping keeps Celia steps away from a rescue. Braun suffuses the village’s Old World charm with just enough shadow to enhance suspense, and Celia’s courage and determination make compelling reading. Readers of A Small Fortune will enjoy this further adventure, but warn newcomers to read the books sequentially—key elements of this novel rely on previous events that often feel incompletely conveyed. — Christine Tran Views: 63
Bestselling author Joyce Carol Oates returns with a collection of nineteen startling stories that bear witness to the remarkably varied lives of Americans of our time. In "Fire," a troubled young wife discovers a rare, radiant happiness in an adulterous relationship. In "Curly Red," a girl makes a decision to reveal a family secret, and changes her life irrevocably. In "The Girl with the Blackened Eye," selected for The Best American Mystery Stories 2001, a girl pushed to an even greater extreme of courage and desperation manages to survive her abduction by a serial killer. And in "Three Girls," two adventuresome NYU undergraduates seal their secret love by following, and protecting, Marilyn Monroe in disguise at Strand Used Books on a snowy evening in 1956. Views: 63
The Whitbread Award-winning author of A Good Man in Africa and the Costa Award-winning Restless
now gives us a sweeping new novel that unfolds across fin-de-siècle
Europe as it tells a story of ineffable passions--familial, artistic,
romantic--and their power to shape, and destroy, a life.Brodie
Moncur is a brilliant piano tuner, as brilliant in his own way as John
Kilbarron--"The Irish Liszt"--the pianist Brodie accompanies on all of
his tours from Paris to Saint Petersburg, as essential to Kilbarron as
the pianist's own hands. It is a luxurious life, and a level of success
Brodie could hardly have dreamed of growing up in a remote Scottish
village, in a household ruled by a tyrannical father. But Brodie would
gladly give it all up for the love of the Russian soprano Lika Blum:
beautiful, worldly, seductive--and consort to Kilbarron. And though
seemingly doomed from the start, Brodie's passion for her only grows as
their lives become increasingly more intertwined, more secretive, and,
finally, more dangerous--what Brodie doesn't know about Lika, and about
her connection to Kilbarron and his sinister brother, Malachi,
eventually testing not only his love for her but his ability, and will,
to survive. Views: 63
Introducing UNACO ? the United Nations Anti Crime Organisation ? an elite team of agents who battle the world?s deadliest criminals. When the mission looks impossible, the world calls upon UNACO. The most ingenious criminal in the world has come up with his most spectacular exploit, to kidnap the mother of the president of the United States and hold her and the Eiffel Tower to ransom. He hires for his team:? a top weapons expert, who can steal and use the newest, most secret military equipment? the best cat burglar, who can scale any heights? a man whose extraordinary strength and ingenuity will conquer any obstacle. Faced with this audacious crime of the century, the world?s top politicians can only turn to UNACO and its team. Views: 63
After twenty years of marriage Blanche Vernon is alone; abandoned by her husband Bertie for a childishly demanding computer expert named Mousie. While Blanche finds this turn of events baffling, she feels that Bertie must have left her because of her overly sensible demeanor. Yet many of their mutual friends disagree. In fact, Blanche has come to be regarded as undeniably eccentric--making elliptical remarks that no one knows how to read, and chatting at great length about characters in fiction. She resolutely fills her unwanted hours with activities, maintaining her excellent appearance, drinking increasingly more wine, and, in an attempt to turn her energy to good works, becoming severely enmeshed in the life of a disordered young family. Views: 63
Josephine Anderson is a 28 year old psychic empath searching for her past. Stefan Lifsten is a millennia old vampire searching for his destiny after a vision he had 200 years ago. Their fates have finally collided, but will their love and desire be enough to keep them together as vampire protocol and her mysterious past start to unravel? Views: 63
