Today
we welcome the fabulous Kat Martin
I
always think it's great to get the background on a story so thanks, Kat for
providing this. ~ Desiree Holt
Researching
Columbia
Sometimes
what you think is going to be a great idea for a novel turns out to be a whole
lot of work! That’s what happens when
you realize the idea you are now in the middle of isn’t going to work the way
you thought it would.
In
THE CONSPIRACY, I got the idea for a book that started in Texas, moved
to the Caribbean, and ended up in Venezuela.
With all the trouble country is having, I thought it would be a great
setting for a Romantic Thriller.
Unfortunately,
after I was well into the book and started doing the necessary research for
that segment of the story, I realized the geography I needed, and the rural
setting didn’t exist in Venezuela. I
I
spent days digging around in South America, looking for a rainforest that could
be reasonably reached from the Caribbean island of Aruba. Nothing worked.
Finally,
I realized there actually was a spot that exactly fit the image in my head. (This happens to writers all the time. No one knows why.) The spot was in Colombia,
a place I had no desire to write about, but fit the story exactly.
So,
I went to work researching a remote area of Columbia accessible from
Aruba.
Chase
Garrett, the hero of THE CONSPIRACY, with the help of Harper Winston,
the woman who hires him to find her missing brother, wind up in extreme danger
in the Columbian tropical forest. It’s a very unusual place that required hours
of research, but in the end, it was worth it.
I
had my work cut out for me, finding which animals, reptiles, and birds lived in
the area. Reading about the customs of
the indigenous tribes, and the politic.
Rebel armies inhabit the forest and they don’t like intruders.
The
research made THE CONSPIRACY one of the most challenging books I’ve written,
but hopefully, it's one of my most interesting.
I hope you’ll look for THE CONSPIRACY, the first of my Maximum
Security series, and that you enjoy.
Until next time, very best wishes and happy reading, Kat
And now a taste
of the book…
Chase
watched the willowy blonde walk out of his office. With her sleek pale blond hair, delicate
features, and perfect complexion, she wasn't just pretty, she was lovely in the
extreme. He clamped down on a thread of
sexual heat as she disappeared from view.
It
surprised him. He remembered hearing
talk at the country club before she moved to Houston. Rumor had it Harper Winston was an ice
queen. Her ex-boyfriend made jokes about
taking a dead fish to bed. Aside from
being slightly irritated on her behalf as a former friend of her brother's, he
hadn't paid much attention.
Seeing
her today, he wondered. The woman who
had come into his office to help her brother was passionately determined,
willing to put herself in danger to find the brother she obviously loved.
He
couldn't help but admire her. And it
made him doubt what her ex and the country club crowd had said. All that fire had come from somewhere deep
inside. Maybe it just took the right man
to stir the flames.
The
thought didn't sit well. The pull of
attraction he had felt last night had only grown stronger today, reminding him
of the first time he had seen her all those years ago.
She'd
just turned sixteen that day. He'd gone
with her brother to her birthday party, he and Michael, both twenty-one, had
just graduated from Yale. He'd thought
she looked like an angel.
Unfortunately,
an angel who was his best friend's sister, way too young and completely out of
his reach.
Over
the years he and Michael had gone their separate ways, Chase ending up in law
enforcement, a life-long passion, Michael sliding deeper and deeper into drugs
and alcohol--thanks to his no-good father.
Knox
Winston was a gangster in expensively tailored business clothes. His ruthless, shady dealings had made him
obscenely rich, but at a tremendous cost. His wife had committed suicide. His
son had overdosed more than once.
How
the man had escaped prosecution for so many years was something Chase could not
comprehend.
After
his friendship with Michael had ended, Chase had stayed away from the family
and until this morning, had every intention of keeping it that way. Now a pair of big blue eyes clouded with
worry and memories of a man he had once loved like a brother were dragging him
back into the fold.
Chase
silently cursed. Grabbing his navy
blazer off the back of the chair, he shrugged it on over his jeans and shirt
and walked out into the open area the guys called the bullpen.
Nine
oak desks arranged in rows of three were occupied by the independent
contractors who worked at Maximum Security. Antique farming tools hung on the
walls, along with framed photos of the ranch Chase owned with Reese and Brandon
out in the Texas Hill Country.
"Mindy,
I need you to cancel my appointments for the next three days. I may be gone longer. If I am, I'll call and let you know."
"I'll
take care of it, boss." Mindy was a
temp who had been working at The Max less than three weeks, replacing a
long-time employee who had retired to spend time with her grandkids.
Mindy
was good. He was thinking of bringing
her aboard full time.
"If
a problem comes up, go to Bran or Jase. They should be able to handle
it."
"Okay."
Turning,
he walked over to his youngest brother, who had just gotten off the phone. Bran was a PI who specialized in person
protection, law enforcement being a tradition on their mother's side of the
family. The Devlins, including Chase's
grandfather, great grandfather, and a handful of uncles, had all worked as
cops, FBI, or been career military men.
His
younger brothers were two very different people, Bran a former special ops
soldier turned bodyguard, Reese the extremely successful businessman who ran
Garrett Resources, the Texas-based oil company founded by their
great-grandfather. Both brothers had
blue-eyes, but Reese's hair was black, Bran's dark brown. Both were an inch taller than Chase's
six-foot-two-inch frame.
"Something's
come up," Chase said to Bran.
"I'm leaving the country for a few days, maybe longer. I need you to keep an eye on things while I'm
gone."
"No
problem. What's up?"
"Missing
person's case. Michael Winston's
disappeared. His sister needs help
finding him."
Bran
grunted. "Probably off drunk
somewhere or loaded on drugs."
"According
to Harper, he's turned his life around. Been clean five years."
Bran
sat up a little straighter. "Well
that's good to hear. He used to be a
great guy before he went haywire."
"For
his sister's sake, I hope he hasn't fallen off the wagon."
One
of Bran's dark eyebrows went up.
"His sister? I thought I
recognized the luscious little blonde who was in here earlier. Seems to me you
had a yen for her way back when."
"She
was Michael's sister and way too young. Plus she's a Winston. That family's nothing but trouble."
"So
why'd you take the case?"
"Moment
of weakness, I guess. Or maybe for old
time's sake. Worst of it is Harper's
going with me."
Brandon
laughed. "Jeez, big brother, you
must have a masochistic streak."
He
sighed just thinking about the hours he would be spending with the tempting
little blonde.
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Meet
Kat Martin
New
York Times bestselling author Kat Martin is a graduate of the University of California
at Santa Barbara where she majored in Anthropology and also studied History.
Currently residing in Missoula, Montana with her Western-author husband, L. J.
Martin, Kat has written sixty-five Historical and Contemporary Romantic
Suspense novels. More than sixteen million copies of her books are in print and
she has been published in twenty foreign countries. Her last novel, BEYOND
CONTROL, hit both big lists … NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER LIST as well as the USA
TODAY BEST-SELLING BOOKS LIST. Kat is currently at work on her next Romantic
Suspense.
