We might have a gem of a Book Tour here with the stop we're hosting today...
'The jeweler' by Ken Murray, is the story of Cole Hanson, an assassin for the CIA who learned the jewelry trade when he was younger. Nothing like a good old spy novel to start the week in a sparkling way (I know, we are not Monday today but, in my universe, weeks do tend to start on Tuesdays).
There are quite a bit of info about the book and its author as well as a Guest Post written by Ken Murray for us (where he seems to have described me perfectly, by the way) and one of those great Giveaways where some of you guys can win autographed copies of the book.
Definitely worth a look...
Enjoy!
Loup Dargent
About 'The Jeweler'
Cole Hanson learned the jewelry trade early in life. Dealing in emeralds in Columbia, Hanson is kidnapped and taken to the mountain jungle lair of the Black Jaguar, a cocaine drug lord. He witnesses a horrible triple murder, executes the killer, and escapes. Hanson is overwhelmed by a euphoric rush and struggles with this discovered Jekyll and Hyde personality. Hanson is recruited to become an assassin for the CIA who learns of his strange predilection for death and uses this alter ego to press The Jeweler ever deeper into espionage and assassinations around the world. Murder occurs in England. Diskettes with top secret information about the Soul Catcher are stolen. Incensed, Hanson seeks the killers, but is on his own without CIA approval as clues take him across Europe and to the Vatican for revenge. After twenty years of service The Jeweler attempts his toughest sanction. Hussein is well guarded moving between palaces and seems an impossible target until fate deals a hand. Hussein flees on his mega-yacht. Hanson battles his way on board for the final action and twists in the Persian Gulf.
Where to Purchase
Guest Post by Ken Murray
I've been an avid reader all of my life and fiction is mostly what I like to read. My wife reads non-fiction, so it’s a good mix. But she does watch the military channel and real crime stories - so if I die under strange circumstances and any of you hear about it, please call the police. She's busy right now learning new moves on the stripper's dance pole I had installed in the bedroom as a Valentine day's present. But she charges me to watch and a lot more to have sex.
Have I answered any of your questions yet? But now you do know that I have a vivid imagination - one big reason I decided to write novels. My favorite cynic, Oscar Levant, once said, "There's a fine line between genius and insanity. I erased the line."
When I retired early, I was bored for ten years with friends who wanted me to play golf every day, etc. I said "use you mind, man."
About 15 years ago, I was attending a lecture by an Irish author at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida where I live, and he too, was boring. It had nothing to do with being Irish - I'm Irish. So I began to doodle on a note pad - people like stories about WWII, and I came up with the thought - suppose Eva Braun didn't die with Adolph Hitler, but escaped on one of the two U-boats that went to Argentina after the war, with stolen gold and jewels, and she was pregnant with his son. I wrote 'The Final Plan.'
It's the ideas that flow in my mind. That's what makes me want to write. I have an almost desperate need to expand the thoughts into stories.
Then I wanted to write about a robbery - not just another bank job, armored truck theft, or a jewelry heist. Those have been written about many times. I thought, what would be the mother of all thefts? Of course, the gold depository at Fort Knox, Kentucky. The Mammoth Cave system is just 20 miles from Fort Knox, and western Kentucky had a lot shallow, slope coal mines dug during the Civil War. I flew up there, and that in itself is a funny story when I was almost arrested.
My daughter lives with her family in Santa Rosa Beach; up in the panhandle of Florida. She had to drop off some earrings to be fixed at the Rock Hard Jewelry store. Yep. That's his name; he's part native Indian, and his wife, Carla, is 100 percent American Indian. I spent some time with him, and the story of his early life makes a great read by itself. I asked him if he'd mind becoming an assassin for the CIA for the purposes of the book. Then I wrote, 'The Jeweler.' Much of it is about actual events that took place. I simply put the jeweler into those situations.
About Ken Murray
Ken Murray lives with his wife Beth in Winter Park and has sons and daughters and three grandchildren. A graduate of the University of Virginia, he served in a top secret cryptographic unit of the U. S. Army in the Pentagon during the Korean war organizing intelligence from codes deciphered by the National Intelligence Agency. He moved to Florida in 1958, retired early and for the past fifteen years has been writing novels and poetry.· Facebook: www.facebook.com/
Giveaway
· First prize: Autographed Copy of The Jeweler; $20 Amazon Gift Card
· Second prize: Autographed Copy of The Jeweler
· Third prize: Autographed Copy of The Jeweler
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