Silent Evidence
Page 35
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Want to read more?
Tinderbox is available in digital, print, and audiobook.
Be sure to check out Rachel Grant’s
Flashpoint Series
Sizzling Military Thrillers
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Tinderbox (Flashpoint #1)
Named to Kirkus Reviews' Best Books of 2017
2018 HOLT Medallion Winner
“The story kicks off with a bang, literally and figuratively, and Grant keeps the momentum going through a series of plot twists and well-staged action sequences that plunge the heroes into the path of a vicious warlord who’ll stop at nothing to consolidate his power in the region.” - Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
In the volatile tinderbox of the Horn of Africa, Morgan Adler has made the paleoanthropological find of a lifetime. The discovery brings her to the attention of a warlord eager to claim both Morgan and the fossils, forcing her to make a desperate dash to the nearby US military base to beg for protection.
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Master Sergeant Pax Blanchard has orders to intercept Dr. Adler before she reaches the base, and in so doing saves her life. After a harrowing afternoon he safely delivers her to his commanders, only to find his responsibilities toward protecting the obstinate archaeologist have only just begun.
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Morgan and Pax are forced to work together in the Djiboutian desert heat, but it is the fire that ignites between them that threatens to combust them both. For the Green Beret, involvement with the woman he must protect is a threat to his career, while for the archaeologist, the soldier is everything she never wanted but somehow can’t resist. When Morgan uncovers a mystery surrounding Djibouti’s most scarce and vital resource, the danger to her reaches the flashpoint. For Pax, protecting her is no longer a matter of following orders, and he’ll risk everything to bring her back alive.
Available now in print, digital, and audiobook.
Catalyst (Flashpoint #2)
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“The second novel in Grant’s Flashpoint series offers intelligent romantic suspense that moves with the urgency of a thriller. The well-researched and timely plot finds the heroes confronting the realities of famine in South Sudan while unraveling a complex scheme to secure oil rights in the region.” - Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
When a food storage depot in famine-struck South Sudan is torched, American aid worker Brie Stewart flees, only to land in a market where she’s the next item up for auction. Is the attack on the aid facility another assault upon the war-torn fledgling democracy, or has her family set her up as a pawn in their quest for oil rights?
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Chief Warrant Officer Sebastian Ford crossed paths with Brie years ago when she was a shill for her family’s company, pushing a pipeline that threatened his tribe’s land. Determined to lead the rescue operation to save her, he won’t let her abduction—or the attraction that flares between them—get in the way of settling their unfinished business.
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The Green Beret’s skills are put to the test in the flooded grasslands of South Sudan, where they must battle nature and dangerous factions who are after more than oil. Bastian and Brie put their hearts on the line as they find themselves embroiled in a conflict that extends beyond country and continent. Together they must douse the spark before it reaches the flashpoint and engulfs everything they hold dear.
Available now in print, digital, and audiobook.
Firestorm (Flashpoint #3)
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“Grant expertly braids together action and romance in a propulsive, page-turning suspense thriller … Another impeccably crafted installment that will satisfy fans.”
- Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
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CIA covert operator Savannah James is after intel on a potential coup in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, but she needs a partner fluent in Lingala to infiltrate the organization. Sergeant First Class Cassius Callahan is the perfect choice, except he doesn’t like her very much. He doesn’t trust her, either, despite the sparks that flare between them, fierce and hot. Still, he accepts the assignment even though their cover requires Savvy to pose as his mistress.
They enter battle-worn Congo to expose the financing for the coup. A trail of cobalt, gold, and diamonds leads them into the heart of darkness, a jungle in which everyone is desperate to find the mother lode of ore and gems. Betrayal stalks them as they follow the money, but Savvy will stop at nothing to bring down the would-be dictator before he can ignite a firestorm that will engulf all of Africa.
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Deep in the sultry rainforest, spy and Green Beret forge a relationship more precious than diamonds, but Cal knows Savvy is willing to sacrifice anything—or anyone—to complete her mission. As they near the flashpoint, Cal will have to save her from the greatest threat of all: herself.
Available now in digital, print, and audiobook
Acknowledgments
Thank you to forensic anthropologist Pete Morris for answering my questions about forensic examinations as a private sector practice and all my technical, procedural questions. Inaccuracies due to error or fictional license are all on me.
Thank you to Toni Anderson for fielding random plotting questions and helping to shape the story. Thank you to Jenn Stark, Annika Martin, and Toni (again!) for our fabulous retreat where major elements of the book finally came together.
Huge, gigantic thanks to Gwen Hayes, who was vital to making this book happen. Not only did we meet early on in the writing and she helped me figure out the characters and their dynamics, but also in the end, when I hit a wall and couldn’t see my way out, she listened and talked through the ending with me.
Gwen Hernandez and Annika Martin both provided excellent beta reads, for which I am forever grateful!
Thank you to my children for being the magnificent people you are. I am so incredibly proud to be your mom.
Lastly, as always, thank you to my husband, who helps me plot and reads every word I write and helps me make it better. Thank you for showing me what happily ever after looks like every single day.
Copyright © 2018 Rachel Grant
All rights reserved.
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ISBN-13: 9781944571207
ISBN-10: 1944571205
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Cover design by Naomi Ruth Raine
Model photo by: Lindee Robinson Photography
Models: Shelby Wilson & Manny Sandow
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Copyediting by Linda Ingmanson
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This book is a work of fiction. References to real people, events, establishments, organizations, or locations are intended only to provide a sense of authenticity, and are used fictitiously. All other characters, events, establishments, organizations, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any similarities to real organizations or individuals is purely coincidental.
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All rights reserved.
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No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in encouraging piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.
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About the Author
Rachel Grant worked for over a decade as a professional archaeologist and mines her experiences for storylines and settings, which are as diverse as excavating a cemetery underneath an historic art museum in San Francisco, survey and excavation of many prehistoric Native American sites in the Pacific Northwest, researching an historic concrete house in Virginia, and mapping a seventeenth century Spanish and Dutch fort on the island of Sint Maarten in the Netherlands Antilles.
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She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and children.
For more information:
www.Rachel-Grant.net
contact@rachel-g
rant.net