Saturday, June 8, 2013

Zero Separation by Philip Donlay


Blurb:

Donovan Nash has a secret he'll do anything to keep. But he's the prime suspect after someone steals a fifty million dollar executive jet, and FBI agent Veronica Montero puts him squarely in the crosshairs. As she digs, she discovers
Nash's secret—a revelation that, if made public would stun the world. Operating on her own agenda, Montero blackmails Nash into helping her hunt down a man she wants dead.


Powerless against the information Montero holds, Nash is forced into a situation far deadlier than either of them could ever have imagined. The man they are after isn't the criminal they expect, he's a terrorist with a plan to use the stolen jet to carry out an unthinkable and devastating act that could plunge America into the most heinous conflict since World War II.

When Nash and Montero are taken prisoner aboard the stolen jet, they will have only one opportunity to execute a daring midair attempt to stop the attack. Success could cost them their own lives, but failure could cost millions of innocent lives.

Review:

The world has changed since September 11, 2011, and it seems as though everyone is now writing books depicting apocalyptic terrorist attacks foiled by heroic Americans.  What distinguishes one from another is the writing.  Who are the heroes?  Do I care about them?  Are they fully drawn?  What drives them?  How do they get caught up in the terrorist/s plot?

Nash and Montero are broken people.  Each of them has lost a loved one.  In many ways, Nash’s loss cost him his own life—at least life as he knew it.  He’s managed to build a new one, but Montero is an FBI agent who has discovered his past and she uses that knowledge to blackmail him into going after the criminal who killed her partner/lover and shot Nash’s best friend of the past twenty years.  She pulls him away from his wife and child at a time when they need him most, placing all of them in more danger than even she realizes she is conjuring up.

Montero’s out for revenge; she has no idea the world is at stake.  All Nash wants to do is wrap up this case, get back to his family, and get as far from Montero as possible.  Saving the world is not on his agenda, either—until he realizes his family is sitting at Ground Zero, and the only way he can save them is by sticking with Montero, even if it means losing his life or his family in the end.  He can hear it in his wife’s voice.  She needs him.  She, too, knows his secret and what it will do to their lives if it comes out, but she also knows she’s living in an armed camp. And worse, Nash was drifting away before all of this began.

Zero Separation was a fast-paced book with fully-drawn characters who drew me in and made me care about them.  Yes, it was another “terrorists attack America” book, but it was one of the good ones—an engaging rollercoaster ride that kept me on the edge of my seat turning the pages to see what happened next, and it will keep you there, too.

Length:  320 Pages
Prices: 
Paperback:  $25.95
E-Book:  $14.95

You’ll notice I always include the publisher’s buy link.  That’s because authors usually receive 40% of the book price from the publisher.  Editors and cover artists usually receive about 5%.  When you buy a book from Amazon, Barnes & Noble or another third-party vendor, they take a hefty cut and the author, editors and cover artists receive their cuts from what is left.  So, if a book costs $5.99 at E-Book Publisher.com and you buy from there, the author will receive about $2.40.  If you buy the book at Amazon, the author will receive about $0.83.

Downloading the file from your computer to your Kindle is as easy as transferring any file from your computer to a USB flash drive.  Plug the USB end of your chord into a USB port on your computer and simply move the file from your “Downloads” box to your Kindle/Documents/Books directory.  I actually download my books using “Save As” to a “Books” file I created on my computer that’s sorted by my publisher, friends, and books “to review,” and then transfer them to my Kindle from there.  That way, if there’s a glitch with my Kindle, the books are on my computer.  Your author will be happy you did when he/she sees his/her royalty statement.

Thanks for visiting.  RIW

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