First, I want to thank you for
choosing to spend your free-time reading my novel. Infinite options for
entertainment exist in this world, so I’m grateful you’re supporting my effort.
Second, your purchase is directly supporting a very important cause—The
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Each year, over 400
children are illegally removed by one parent, out of the country, against the
will of the other parent and against court-ordered legal guardianship. Only
half of the world’s countries recognize the de facto legal status of the parent,
and the child. The NCMEC directs their efforts toward raising awareness and
working with various agencies to bring these children home.
This brings
me to why I wrote this book. I followed the story of a father who fought a
desperate battle against his ex-wife who took their only son out of the country
to South America. Her new boyfriend, a lawyer in that
part of the world, used his knowledge of the courts and stymied all the
father’s efforts to recover his son. By all accounts, the dad was a good father
and no report of abuse existed within the parental relationship. I kept
imagining someone, anyone, rescuing the child and bringing him home. At the
time, I was working on my medical thriller, but this story became a consuming
thought and hampered my work. One morning, I woke and sat at my computer. I
knew this story forming in my head wouldn’t go away until I wrote the novel. I
set aside my WIP and launched headfirst into bringing life to my idea.
You’d think
this book centered around rescuing a child. It’s a stretch. I knew from day one
this storyline is a series. I consciously decided I wanted to establish the
main protagonist—who he is, where he came from, and what motivates him. I
didn’t want to come back at book #5 and explain his original story. Within this
novel, he does rescue a couple of people but not in the sense of specifically
targeting a child in need. There’s an awakening in his mind that perhaps this
should be his life’s mission. I pictured a long arc and book #1 is just the
beginning of his life’s journey.
I won’t
bore you with long passages and other unimportant personal stories. My reviews
consistently mention the tense action sequences, the emotional impact of
character stories, the international locations, and the burning desire to find
out what comes next. My motivation comes from a deep desire to help children in
need and bring justice to one of the cruelest things an adult can do to a
child.
I take your
decision to purchase my book seriously, and I want your experience to be a great
one. Hopefully, we can meet along the way and share a bond over some great
entertainment—and perhaps raise a glass or two.
To health and family,
Mike
About the Author
He lives at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in
Colorado.
His latest book is the
thriller/international/action novel, Dark
Spiral Down.
Website: www.mikehoutz.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/michaelhoutz
About the Book:
COLE HAUFNER is a reluctant superstar in the
professional mixed martial arts world. After his latest fight, his wife and
child perish in a car crash. His grief deepens when his brother, BUTCH, a
Delta
Force operator, is absent from the funeral and reported missing by two furtive
strangers who show up unannounced at the burial. Despairing, and acting on a
tip, Cole travels to his childhood home in southeast China, looking for his
brother.
Butch and his teammate, HAMMER, are the
sole American survivors of a gun battle between their unit and North Korean
commandos, both sides fighting over possession of a stolen suitcase containing
a miniaturized fusion device that could either provide unlimited clean energy
or be converted to an undetectable bomb seven times more powerful than a
nuclear explosion. Leading the North Koreans is the sociopath, Commander PARK.
Pressed into helping the Koreans is a disgraced former CIA operative, BARRETT
JENNINGS.
Cole meets with the uncle who raised him,
MASTER LI, and is warned to stop his search for Butch. Barrett discovers Cole’s
identity (with the help of a genius computer hacker, LILLY), which opens a
twenty-year-old wound when Barrett was blamed for the disappearance of Cole’s
father, along with the man’s invention. Barrett enlists the 14K organized crime
syndicate to help capture Cole. Hammer, separated from Butch during the fight
for the device, thwarts the gang’s attempt to kidnap Cole, and the two then set
off to find Butch and the device. All parties converge on the city library
where Butch, now disguised as a monk, is attempting to communicate with the
Pentagon. Barrett and Park capture Butch, while the 14K gang nabs Cole.
Danger mounts as Chinese authorities begin
investigating foul play within their borders. Cole fights his way free of the
gang and reunites with Hammer. Both men
find Barrett’s apartment and discover Lilly (the man’s stepdaughter), who
divulges Barrett’s identity and plan. Cole clashes with Hammer, who is willing
to sacrifice Butch in order to recover the fusion device. Lilly offers her help
in exchange for her and Barrett’s rescue from Park’s grip. Meanwhile, Barrett
discovers the true nature of the case the North Koreans are pursuing and,
sensing he and Lilly are to be assassinated by Park once he has the device,
frees Butch. Butch, trusting Barrett was sent to rescue him, leads the turncoat
to the site where he hid the device. Barrett, hoping to make a quick fortune
selling it, shoots Butch before escaping with the case.
Cole, along with Hammer and Lilly, arrives
at the location of Butch and finds him gravely wounded. Butch fingers Barrett
for shooting him and for stealing the case. Cole wants only to save his brother
but Butch makes him promise to kill Barrett and recover their dad’s invention.
The revelation that the device is his father’s scientific discovery propels
Cole forward to fulfill his brother’s mission. Cole is forced to abandon Butch
at a hospital. Cole pursues Barrett to a remote dock where the ex-CIA man is
planning to escape China by boat. With the Chinese military now actively
looking for Cole, Cole confronts Barrett and Park sparking a gunfight. Barrett
kills Park. As Barrett turns the gun on Cole, Hammer kills Barrett. Cole,
Hammer and Lilly escape via the boat, and the fusion device is safely returned.
Readers Love Michael Houtz!
“If
you’re in the market for a fast paced, action filled, page-turning thriller,
Mike Houtz delivers a must-read novel. I highly recommend this emotional
rollercoaster of a book for every die-hard thriller reader…Get it ASAP!”
~Lima
Charlie Review
~*~
“…this
work proves that author Houtz is undoubtedly a rising star in the publishing
world.”
~Andrea Brunais, Author
~*~
“Mike
Houtz takes us on fast-pace adventure in Dark
Spiral Down, a thrilling ride along
the border between China and North Korea, where Cole Haufner is in
pursuit of his Delta Force brother and a device that has the potential to
change the world forever or destroy it.”
~Dan Grant, Author
~*~
“Dark Spiral Down is a phenomenal debut
novel by Mike Houtz. This book has everything readers of the genre love: a
great plot, memorable characters, and a powerful voice. It’s a must-read!”
~Ammar Habib, Bestselling & Award-Winning Author, Editor-in-Chief of Thriller Magazine
No comments:
Post a Comment