Broken Dove

A James Acton Thriller, Book #3

With the Triarii in control of the Roman Catholic Church, an organization founded by Saint Peter himself takes action, murdering one of the new Pope’s operatives. Detective Chaney, called in by the Pope to investigate, disappears, and, to the horror of the Papal staff sent to inform His Holiness, they find him missing too, the only clue a secret chest, presented to each new pope on the eve of their election, since the beginning of the Church.

Interpol Agent Reading, determined to find his friend, calls Professors James Acton and Laura Palmer to Rome to examine the chest and its forbidden contents, but before they can arrive, they are intercepted by an organization older than the Church, demanding the professors retrieve an item stolen in ancient Judea in exchange for the lives of their friends.

All of your favorite characters from The Protocol return to solve the most infamous kidnapping in history, against the backdrop of a two thousand year old battle pitting ancient foes with diametrically opposed agendas.

From the internationally bestselling author of Depraved Difference and The Protocol comes Broken Dove, the third entry in the smash hit James Acton Thrillers series, where J. Robert Kennedy reveals a secret concealed by the Church for almost 1200 years, and a fascinating interpretation of what the real reason behind the denials might be.

Broken Dove, the latest novel from J. Robert Kennedy, now available in eBook format on the Kindle.

Skydiving in the olden days

One of my favorite parts in my novel Brass Monkey is the high altitude skydiving scene. The scene itself isn’t unique, I’m sure lots of thriller writers have had characters jumping out of planes at thirty thousand feet. But have they had that character be an amateur who has never done it before? And have they had that character panic due to something as trivial as not finding the toggles?

This little tidbit adds a dose of reality to the situation, and is based on something from my own life.

The Invitation

I was nineteen, working as a university co-op student on the Space Station Project at the Canadian Space Agency in Canada’s capital, Ottawa. I was sharing an office with another co-op student named Kevin, who coincidentally lived on the same floor of the same dorm as I had during our first year. One day during lunch another co-op student, a particularly attractive one from what I remember, poked her head in our office, and mentioned that some of the students were going skydiving on the weekend, and wanted to know if we would join them.

“Who’s going?” I asked.

She rhymed off a list of names that I don’t remember now, but one name stood out on that list. I won’t mention the name, since this story isn’t flattering to him. Let’s call him Jack. I believe he was a consultant, one of those types who was always calm, cool, collected, had an answer for everything—essentially a know it all. Then again, at age 19, who was I to know whether or not he did actually know it all?

Bottom line: he annoyed me.

I am Immortal

James Acton Thrillers Book #1

As soon as I heard he was going, I wanted in. I had to see this guy in a situation outside of a computer lab. My office mate agreed to join the group as well (but was later forced to bail when his mom found out), and we all (less Kevin) gathered at a local shopping center that Sunday to carpool for the ride to the airstrip where the training would take place.

There were two jump options. One was a solo jump from 3000 feet. The other option was to be strapped to the front of an experienced jumper, and at ten thousand feet, his groin and your ass would get to know each other for several minutes. Being an insecure nineteen year old, I opted, as did we all, for the solo jump.

Hours of training zipped by including videos, written tests, and full dress rehearsals, suspended in the air, pulling on toggles to learn how to steer ourselves once airborne. The excitement of knowing you were going to jump from a perfectly good airplane meant I at least wasn’t paying too much attention. After all, I was an immortal 19-year-old.

An aside to this story is important. My parents were stationed in Europe at the time, and I had told my dad a couple of days before that I was going to be doing this, and to not tell Mom because she’d just worry. Now that I am a dad, I realize that dads worry just as much as moms when their kids are going to do something stupid on the other side of the planet.

Jump Time

We were going up in a small, single engine Cessna (I assume—aren’t all small planes Cessna’s?). We were in teams of three, and I made sure I was on Jack’s team, along with a co-worker of his I’ll call Glen because I have no clue what his real name is. We donned our jump suits, were strapped into our chutes, then loaded in the plane, lightest first. This meant Glen was first, then me, and finally Jack, the largest of us. In the front was the pilot, and the instructor was either where the passenger seat should be, or was kneeling behind it in the back with us. I honestly can’t remember. All that is important about the seating arrangements is that they were tight. Five adult males in a tiny airplane with lots of equipment on.

Tight.

The plane took off, and with adrenaline fueling us with artificial courage, none of us could wait for that door to open, and for our turn to jump.

Or so we thought.

Near Disaster Strikes

James Acton Thrillers Book #2

The plane banks into position, the pilot throttles down, and the instructor opens the door. Wind whips through the cabin, my long heavy metal guitarist (aspiring) hair not covered by the helmet whips around as Jack positions himself. With his feet in place, left hand on the door frame, right hand on the strut connecting the wing to the body, he’s ready.

He was in perfect form. I was excited. So was Glen.

The instructor pulled the pilot chute from its pouch, then yelled over the howling wind and drone of the engine, “On three!” We all held our breaths. “Three, Two, One, Go! Go! Go!” he yelled, slapping Jack on the back. Jack stepped out gracefully, just as in training, then instead of letting go of the strut with his hand, grabbed onto it with the other.

With his feet dangling out behind him.

Both Glen and I began to piss ourselves laughing at the sight. A two-hundred-fifty pound grown man, holding onto the wing of a plane with both hands, his entire body flapping in the wind like a streamer.

Apparently this was a bad thing.

The instructor yelled, “Oh shit!” and reached out, trying to pull Jack back into the plane.

“Get him off or get him in!” yelled the pilot. “I have to turn otherwise we’re in restricted airspace.” At the time I didn’t realize we were near the international airport and turning was not an option; it was a requirement.

Realizing there was real danger, I jumped forward and grabbed Jack, and between myself and the instructor, we pulled him inside just as the pilot powered up and banked, yelling for the door to be shut. The instructor had trouble with this due to the higher speed and trying to balance himself as the plane banked sharply. We all just held on, trying not to fall from the plane.

With the door finally closed and the wind and noise calmed, everyone was able to recover as the plane looped again to get back into position. Glen and I had shit-eating grins on our faces as the reality of the situation sank in.

Our cool, calm, collected consultant, had panicked.

“What the hell happened out there?” It was clear the instructor didn’t share our amusement.

“I don’t know!” exclaimed a clearly embarrassed Jack. “Something just said grab on!”

I know I laughed out loud; I’m not sure Glen did, him being in his early thirties with probably a little more self-control.

The instructor lowered his voice slightly, putting his hand on Jack’s shoulder. “Listen, you don’t have to jump if you don’t want to.”

Jack looked about the cabin, and quickly came to the same realization we all had. If he wasn’t going to jump, we would have to land, because there was no room for us to shuffle around. He must have known that any embarrassment he now faced, would be far worse if everyone saw the plane land to let him out.

He shook his head. “No, I’m okay. Let’s do it.”

The Jump: Redux

Nobody said anything until the plane looped back into position. The door opened, Jack resumed his jump position, and the instructor, holding the pilot chute, yelled, “On three! One! Two!” And then he shoved him out of the plane, tossing the pilot chute after him. He looked out the door, then closed it, turning to us.

“I always get them to jump.”

Glen and I laughed nervously, now realizing our instructor was a little nuts.

My Turn

I got into position when the door opened on the next loop. There was no way in hell I was going to repeat Jack’s performance. I heard the count, faint, as if coming from another plane, my surging pulse pounding in my ears, but I felt the slap on my back and I stepped out.

And totally forgot to arch.

This is an Arch

This was the one thing they stressed. “Don’t forget to arch!” Arching meant bending your back, legs and arms spread out, trying to create as much surface area to help stabilize yourself so you don’t tumble and tangle your chute.

And I didn’t arch. Instead, I yelled something stupid like “Geronimo” or “Cowabunga” or whatever my nineteen year-old brain thought would make a clever epitaph should anything go wrong.

Something Goes Wrong

I felt the tug of the chute and almost immediately felt like I came to a stop in midair. I looked up and saw a good chute. All four corners where they should be. Nice rectangle. Lines all straight, no tangles. Everything good.

Except for one thing.

There were no toggles.

My heart leapt into my throat. How the hell was I going to control my chute without toggles? We had been warned of power lines, we had been warned of highways. We had been warned to listen to the voice over the one-way radio.

“Jumper two, turn right.”

That was me. How the hell could I turn right without toggles? Clearly something was wrong with my chute. Clearly the idiot pot smoking adrenaline junkie who had packed my chute had effed up and forgot to attach the toggles.

I looked down and saw the power lines scratched across the ground below.

I reached for the emergency release. My hands gripped the handle, and I was about to pull it, to rid myself of this death trap I was floating under, and hopefully deploy a good emergency chute.

About to pull, my inner voice cut through the adrenaline fueled panic and snapped me back to reality. “Wait!” I let go of the handle. I was floating, quite calmly, quite slowly. I wasn’t plunging to the ground. I had a perfectly good chute above me. Why would I get rid of that without being sure?

“Jumper two, turn right!”

They sounded a little more urgent, but I was over two thousand feet in the air, and was in control again. I looked up, not panicked this time, and examined the rigging over my head.

And found the toggles. Nicely Velcroed in place.

I reached up, released them, and pulled on the right toggle, banking as instructed, and making a mental note to tell the trainers that they should Velcro them in place during training as well.

The Landing

Landing Cool Style

The rest of my jump was uneventful. Jack continued to have problems, the ground controller continually yelling at him to turn, but he was still panicking, rarely listening to instructions. I on the other hand was having a blast. It is impossible to describe how peaceful it is, floating under the chute, the light ruffling of the nylon above you, the floating sensation, and the view.

The view was incredible. The world stretched out below me for as far as the eye could see, and it was wonderful. If was a perfect blue sky day, the sun was shining bright, with only a few clouds tossed on the canvas for effect.

And before I knew it, it was over. I was guided in for my landing, and rather than doing the instructed flare, touch and roll, I flared, landed on my feet and spun around, gathering my chute just like James Bond would do, not some pussy amateur.

I was congratulated on a great jump, a terrific landing, and in my jump book, which I still have somewhere to this day, it has written:

“Arch needs work.”

As I headed back to remove my equipment, I was asked by one of the members, probably the adrenaline junkie who had packed my chute with textbook accuracy, “Would you do it again?”

“I’d do it again, right now!”

He and the hot groupie with him both laughed and he said, “Most fun you’ll ever have with your clothes on.” I looked at her and wasn’t sure.

The End

The jump was never mentioned again with Jack around, except for photos of our jumps having been dropped on our desks several days later. All useless.

Jack had bought I think the first digital camera available in Canada. Today we expect 5, 10, 15 Megapixel cameras. This was a 256 Kilopixel thing or something useless like that. So, not only did the few shots that were taken turn out so grainy it could have been my grandmother jumping, but, to top it all off, the person he had given the camera to didn’t know how to use it, so she wasn’t pressing the button properly, leaving only a handful of shots.

The real pisser: for about twenty bucks they would have provided us with photos, but we had turned them down, Jack promising us better, free photos.

Or is it?

I was a co-op student, renting a room with a shared phone. The phone rang that night, about four in the morning. I got up and answered it.

“So you’re alive!”

It was my mother. I guess Dad had told her. And boy had he. Here’s the story of what happened that weekend in Canada.

I was a Computer Engineering student attending University of Waterloo. That weekend, my Dad was at his office with the radio on, and heard a news report that three Waterloo Engineering students had died skydiving. No names were provided, but I can imagine, now that I am a father, what must have gone through his mind. It actually brings tears to my eyes thinking of it. I have no doubt he heard, “Your son is dead.”

He went home, told Mom about the three deaths, and she wondered aloud if I knew them. Which is when Dad dropped the bomb.

And I got a phone call.

The Writing Lesson

This is something from my life, a few elements of which I incorporated into Brass Monkey, hopefully making a rather routine skydiving scene more interesting. They say write what you know, which I think is BS. With the possible exception of John le Carré or Ian Fleming, not many authors today write what they know. Tess Gerritsen may have been a doctor, but she wasn’t a cop, or a coroner, or pursued by psycho serial killers, but she writes about them, using her medical knowledge to add a note of credibility, a touch of believability, to her writing.

I know computers. So my books, when dealing with a tech element, are believable. Am I a highly trained Delta Force operative, or an archaeologist?

No.

Not yet.

But, I am a diabetic, and Detective Shakespeare’s character has many elements drawn from my own life.

Detective Eldridge’s hospital experience from when he was a child was taken from my own life.

I hate Jaguar’s for good reason, so every book has a scene about that.

These things, because they were real, because they are real, make the books more believable, more relatable.

And more human.

Share and Share Alike

Share Your Story

If you enjoyed this post, please share it with your friends, and, if you have an interesting skydiving experience, share it with everyone below.

Rob

Tick Tock

A Detective Shakespeare Mystery, Book #2

Crime Scene tech Frank Brata digs deep and finds the courage to ask his colleague, Sarah, out for coffee after work. Their good time turns into a nightmare when Frank wakes up the next morning covered in blood, with no recollection of what happened, and Sarah’s body floating in the tub. Determined not to go to prison for a crime he’s horrified he may have committed, he scrubs the crime scene clean, and, tormented by text messages from the real killer, begins a race against the clock to solve the murder before his own coworkers, his own friends, solve it first, and find him guilty.

Billionaire Richard Tate is the toast of the town, loved by everyone but his wife. His plans for a romantic weekend with his mistress ends in disaster, waking the next morning to find her murdered, floating in the tub. After fleeing in a panic, he returns to find the hotel room spotless, and no sign of the body. An envelope found at the scene contains not the expected blackmail note, but something far more sinister.

Two murders, with the same MO, targeting both the average working man, and the richest of society, sets a rejuvenated Detective Shakespeare, and his new reluctant partner, Amber Trace, after a murderer whose motivations are a mystery, and who appears to be aided by the very people they would least expect—their own.

Tick Tock, Book #2 in the internationally bestselling Detective Shakespeare Mysteries series, picks up right where Depraved Difference left off, and asks a simple question: What would you do? What would you do if you couldn’t prove your innocence, but knew you weren’t capable of murder? Would you hide the very evidence that might clear you, or would you turn yourself in and trust the system to work?

From the internationally bestselling author of The Protocol and Brass Monkey comes the highly anticipated sequel to the smash hit Depraved Difference, Tick Tock. Filled with heart pounding terror and suspense, along with a healthy dose of humor, Tick Tock ‘s twists will keep you guessing right up to the terrifying end.

Read a sample by clicking here.

The next Detective Shakespeare Mystery is almost here, and I’d like to take this opportunity to thank those of you who have supported me by giving you a chance at having a character named after you. All you need to do is join the Facebook Fan Page (link on the right), and then I will randomly pick names. There are several characters available, ranging from victims to police, bystanders to innocent roommates.

Be immortalized in indestructible print and eInk like previous contest winners Brent Richards, Tracy Oswald and Steve Scaramell. Their lives were forever changed (since that’s what lives tend to do from one day to the next) after being featured in Depraved Difference.

Here’s how it works. I’m going to pick a name each week until I’ve filled the list. If your name is chosen, I’ll let you know via Facebook, and you can tell me whether or not you want the honor (and it is an honor!), and how you’d like your name to appear. I will, if possible, give you a choice of characters I think you might like being. As well, if you were asked to join by another friend for this contest, I will ask for their name, and they too will get a character named after them.

So what does that mean? It means the more friends you get to join in the fun by joining my Facebook Fan Page, the more chances you have of winning.

Please remember: this is all in good fun. If I use your name, and you don’t like the character being portrayed, remember it isn’t you, so don’t take it personally. And don’t worry, none of these characters are people you’d be embarrassed to have your name associated with. Again, this is just for fun. As well, if I pick a name out of the proverbial hat that doesn’t fit the remaining characters, I reserve the right to pick another. For example, if all I have left is an eighty year old grandfather, and your name is Moonunit Zappa, sorry, I will have to pick another name, because everybody knows Moonunit is a girl’s name.

So, if you haven’t already, join, then invite your friends. You never know, you could become a recurring character like Officer Brent Richards.

Regards,

Rob

• On October 12th I tweeted that The Protocol had hit #1 in the UK, and it has remained there almost every hour of every day since. I’m extremely pleased with this, needless to say.

Here’s a few more:

• Depraved Difference has sold over 10,000 books and has remained pretty much consistently in the top 10 Police Procedurals in the UK for three or four months now. It peaked at #59 overall, and today was around #106 overall, out of almost one million books. Not bad for a nobody!
• The Protocol in now a best seller in the US as well, currently #15 on Men’s Adventure, and #39 on Spy Stories & Tales of Intrigue.
• Brass Monkey is now a best selling the US and UK, currently #88 on Men’s Adventure in the US, and #25 on Men’s Adventure/#36 on Spy Stories & Tales of Intrigue in the UK.
• Reviews continue to pour in, and with a few exceptions which I don’t take personally (you can’t please everyone!), they are almost all 5 and 4 star. Currently all three books have an average rating of at least 4.5 out of 5.
• A new milestone: On Apple Canada, Depraved Difference is in the top 10 of featured mysteries on the iBook store, and shifts between #1 and #2 on the What’s Hot list of Police Procedurals. So for those of you with iPods/iPads, you can pick it up for only 99 cents and read it with the iBook app. Just go to the Store in iTunes and search
• The new book is almost done, but I lost almost six weeks this second half of the year due to various health issues, the latest a two week doozy (is that a word?) of a cold. This means my hoped for Christmas release will be delayed, but hopefully only slightly.

I’d like to once again thank the over 14,000 people who have purchased my books and helped make this author’s dream come true. You have my humble gratitude.

Regards,

Rob

Well, as I Tweeted yesterday, I have sold my 10,000th book. Yes, almost all of those are eBooks, but who cares? Ten thousand people are now (hopefully) enjoying my books. When I made the decision to go Indie earlier this year, turning down a traditional publishing deal, I never expected this level of success. All three books are selling well, with The Protocol rapidly growing and pushing up the bestsellers lists. Brass Monkey, the sequel, and priced at $2.99, is also moving up as readers discover the series with the discount-priced The Protocol.

I’d like to thank the over 10,000 people who’ve taken a chance on this unknown author, and I look forward to entertaining you further.

And stay tuned, I will be announcing details about the next book in the coming days!

Thanks again,

Rob

1. My theory has been proven (sort of). Get in the top 100, and the book promotes itself.  In the UK I’ve been on the top 100 of Police Procedurals for three if not more months (I’m too lazy to find out when I first hit it).  Now I’m consistently in the top 20, usually in the top 12, and have pushed as high as #7.  UK sales now are over half of all sales.  In the US, I peaked in the top 10, but have since fallen over the past month. I think this is because the book only peaked in the top 10 range due to a blog featuring it for one day which drove sales for a couple of weeks.  The book then slowly dropped off, and with me doing no promotion work for over two months, it has now finally dropped out of the top 100 for Police Procedurals.  I will be starting promo again as this is a great book, the sales proving that (more in a minute). So, my revised theory is that you need to get in the top 100 of a large category, or the top 20 of a smaller category, to self-sustain.

2. Sales! I’ve sold over 3500 copies in the past five months which is huge. I’ve been #1 for English Police Procedurals in Germany, #7 in the UK, and in the top 10 (I can’t remember what) in the US.  This from an unknown author with no advertising budget. Am I pleased with that? Absolutely!

3. The Protocol. I bought back the rights from my publisher for The Protocol, and have already sold many times more books than they did with zero promotion on my part, just people who bought Depraved Difference then bought The Protocol.  As of today, it is already on the bestsellers lists in the US and UK for Spy Tales & Stories of Intrigue as well as Men’s Adventures. As of today I start promotion on The Protocol because…

4. Brass Monkey.  The sequel to The Protocol is now out! Brass Monkey was released yesterday, and is available on the Kindle for now, paperback in the next few weeks. It is priced at $4.99 as opposed to 99c, as readers should discover this book by reading Book #1 in the series, The Protocol (at 99c), then be willing to pay a regular price (still 1/2 to 1/3 what the big names are charging), since they already like what they have read by me.

So to summarize, thousands of ebooks have been sold, I’m hobnobbing with the elite on the bestsellers lists, and I now have three books available, and can’t wait to see what happens over the rest of the year.

And what’s next besides me promoting the books and annoying you? I’m writing a sequel to Depraved Difference which I hope to have available by Christmas.

Thanks to the thousands who have supported me!

To Be With You in Heaven

What would you say if the one you loved most lay dying beside you?

To Be With You in Heaven is a heart-wrenching tear-jerker about a couple’s final moments together after an horrendous car accident.

After writing the first draft of this story several years ago, I sent it to my parents to read. A few hours later I got this response from my father:

“You made your mother and grandmother cry.”

To Be With You in Heaven is a 1400 word short story, and also includes The Story Behind the Story and About the Author sections.

To Be With You in Heaven, a short story from the bestselling author of Depraved Difference, now available on Amazon Kindle for only 99 cents.  Read it today on the Kindle eReader, or any of the Kindle apps for the PC, iPhone, BlackBerry, iPad and Android.

   

Loving the Ingredients

Unlike Henry, Greta always knew how to chop bones.  He only knew how to break them. It had been ten years since he died, and as she had every year on the anniversary of his death, she was preparing a special dinner in honor of the occasion.  It was an occassion of remembrance, of his decision to move them to this Godforsaken city, of the bruises and abuse, and of the deep love she still felt for him. But tonight there was a difference, a difference that would change the ritual, and Greta, forever…

Loving the Ingredients, a short story from the bestselling author of Depraved Difference, now available on Amazon Kindle for only 99 cents.  Read it today on the Kindle eReader, or any of the Kindle apps for the PC, iPhone, BlackBerry, iPad and Android.