Dear Reader…
Well, here you are with your mouse pointer hovering over “add to cart.” Is Zrada the one? What’s with the funny title, anyway?
It’s hard for me to know what to tell you because I don’t know how you got here.
Are you a fan of my DeWitt Agency Files series? If so, you’ve already met Carson, so you know what you’re in for. On the other hand, you should know that with Carson as the star, this is going to be a different kind of story than the ones Matt Friedrich helms. Matt thinks and talks his way out of trouble; Carson’s much more…direct. Kinetic, even. Zrada is more 24 than White Collar.
Maybe you read my standalone thrillers Doha 12 or South. Zrada’s the same idea: multiple viewpoints, antagonists who have good reasons for what they do, and short and sharp bursts of cinematic violence that have consequences. Above all, like those earlier novels, Zrada features a strong, capable woman who prefers to rescue herself when she can. In this case, two of them – Carson hires Galina, a native of Ukraine’s war-torn Donbass region, as a guide to help her get out when a betrayal (zrada, in Ukrainian) leaves Carson stuck in the war zone. They make quite a pair.
Or maybe you’re coming to this cold. You just got done with, say, Zoe Sharp’s latest Charlie Fox tale or one of Lee Goldberg’s Eve Ronin books and want something new, but in the same genre. Our Heroine Carson is a disgraced Toronto cop with a tough background, a hard nose, and a set of skills she’s picked up along the way that make her well-qualified to fight through hostile territory to finish a job and fulfill a promise. She’s got some sharp edges, but once you get to know her, you’ll know why you’d want her on your wing if you ever need help.
However it happened, I’m glad you’re here. Click the button.
You’ll have a good time, and just maybe you’ll discover a new favorite
character.
About the Author
Lance Charnes has been an Air Force intelligence officer, information technology manager, computer-game artist, set designer, and Jeopardy! contestant, and is now an emergency management specialist. He’s had training in architectural rendering, terrorist incident response, and maritime archaeology, though not all at the same time. His Facebook author page features spies, archaeology, and art crime.
Lance is the author of the DeWitt Agency Files series of international art-crime novels (The Collection, Stealing Ghosts, and Chasing Clay), the international thriller Doha 12, and the near-future thriller South. All are available in trade paperback and digital editions.
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About the Book
Two priceless paintings. Two million euros. A civil war. What could go wrong?
The DeWitt Agency assigned disgraced ex-cop Carson a simple job: carry two briefcases of cash to swap for two artworks stolen from a German museum. Except nothing’s simple in the Donbass, the breakaway Ukrainian region overrun by militias, warlords, and bandits.
After a brutal zrada – betrayal – Carson finds herself alone and hunted forty miles behind the front lines with half the money, one of the paintings, and a huge target hung on her back. The militia behind the exchange thinks she blew up their deal and wants the money and her hide. Her co-workers were in on the double-cross. And the Agency can’t send help into the hottest war in Europe.
Carson’s never been one to wait to be rescued. She hires Galina – a tough local with a harrowing past and a taste for revenge – to help her cut through every checkpoint, freelance army, crooked cop, and firefight between her and the West. But the road to safety is long and poorly paved. A vengeful militia commander, a Russian special-forces operator with an agenda, and her own ex-colleagues have Carson in their crosshairs.
Carson’s life is now worth less than a suitcase of money or paint on a plank…but if they want to take it from her, she’s going to make them pay.
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