New Reader Hub! Crime fiction lovers, this is for you

New Reader Hub! Crime fiction lovers, this is for you

Mar 17, 2026 | #booknews, #EmiliaCruz, #GallianoClub

If you’ve ever finished one of my books and wished you could see a map of the place? Find out more about the characters or even taste the cocktails served at the Pasodoble Bar . . .

Well, now you can.

Presenting the new Reader Hub here on carmenamato.net!

What’s waiting for you at the Hub

I’ve taken all the cool details behind the stories and built an immersive archive for those who love to get lost in the details.

This archive is where the atmospheric grit of my 30 year career in the CIA meets the high-stakes drama and deception of both the Detective Emilia Cruz series set in contemporary Acapulco and the Prohibition-era Galliano Club historical fiction trilogy. Basically, it’s a backstage pass full of image galleries, character dossiers, and background research into my crime fiction world.

Beyond the background information, the Hub provides practical tools for readers, including book club guides and recipes from the books.

Visitors can choose their own investigation by exploring the different series.

Choose the badge badge for the Acapulco Archive

For fans of the Detective Emilia Cruz police procedurals, the Reader Hub’s Acapulco Archive offers a treasure trove of resources, including detailed profiles on characters like Emilia Cruz, Kurt Rucker, Franco Silvio and Victor Obregon (that’s him in the featured image) alongside a travelogue that explores the real-world Mexican locations featured in the books. Plus the Mexican Noir library and more.

Follow the car for the Prohibition Files

Vintage car is the symbol of the Galliano Club Prohibition era thriller trilogy

For readers of historical fiction who love the smoke-filled rooms and bootlegging tension of the 1920s, the Reader Hub’s Prohibition Files holds the Galliano Club menu, era-appropriate crime slang, and hidden character histories.

Why I Created the Hub

As a 30-year veteran of the CIA, I’m used to working with physical project boxes—what I call my “book-in-a-box” system. These boxes are filled with maps, research articles, and photos that help me build authentic worlds. The Reader Hub is my way of opening those boxes for you.

Start Your Investigation

Whether you’re a long-time fan of the 18-book catalog or just starting your first investigation, the Hub is designed to make your reading experience cinematic.

What should I add next? Is there a character you want a deeper dossier on, or a place missing from the gallery? Let me know in the comments—the Archive is always growing!

Enter the Archive: carmenamato.net/reader-hub

When you’re done exploring, stay connected by joining the conversation on my Substack: Crime Fiction Files.

Introducing the Crime Fiction Files

Introducing the Crime Fiction Files

Feb 24, 2026 | #authorlife, #newsroom

For 7 years, mystery readers and I have connected under the banner of Mystery Ahead. That newsletter was a fantastic journey with so many readers cheering me on as I navigated the move from CIA intel officer to crime fiction author.

But as my writing has evolved, even as my 30-year CIA career continues to influence every page I write, it’s time for a newsletter name change that reflects how this community has evolved.

Sooooo . . . I am thrilled to announce that my newsletter is officially rebranding to Crime Fiction Files.

Why the Change?

While “Mystery Ahead” hinted at what was coming, Crime Fiction Files tells exactly what captivates our imaginations. This newsletter isn’t just about whodunit books but also the intersection of real-world intelligence, current events, and high-stakes fiction.

I’ll be writing more about what impacts your world and how authentic crime fiction (and the occasional dose of CIA tradecraft) can make it make sense.

Hey, if fiction can’t, what can?!

Join the Crime Fiction Files on Substack. Look for this logo.

The newsletter has also moved to Substack. Here are the latest posts in the fresh new format:

WHY YOUR GAS PRICE IS A GEOPOLITICAL CRIME SCENE

DID I WRITE OMAR GARCIA HARFUCH INTO EXISTENCE?

RECIPE FOR A CHINESE DRAGON

If you were a subscriber to Mystery Ahead, you may have noticed that the name of the newsletter is no longer in the title, too. It was a redundancy that gobbled up too much space in your inbox.

What Stays the Same?

Don’t worry—the core of what you love isn’t going anywhere. Subscribers are still the first to get all the good stuff, including:

  • Exclusive Sneak Peeks: Be the first to hear about upcoming new releases including audiobooks.
  • Subscriber-Only Giveaways: From signed copies to digital extras.
  • Crime Reads: My personal recommendations for the best international crime fiction and noir.

Don’t forget

Not yet a subscriber? Just add your email to the form below. No lines, no waiting to sign up for the Crime Fiction Files newsletter and join more than 6,600 fellow crime fiction fans. I’ll see you there!

 

Speak Easy, Listen Hard: The Galliano Club Audio Experience

Speak Easy, Listen Hard: The Galliano Club Audio Experience

Feb 17, 2026 | #GallianoClub

James Froemel is the reason why you should listen to the Galliano Club books on Audible. He’s the actor who narrates all 4 books, creating the drama of a small city in upstate New York during Prohibition.

From the soft Italian accent of bartender Luca Lombardo to the slangy Chicago mobster tone of Benny Rotolo and the Irish brogue of rumrunner Toby Gleason, James delivers a cinematic experience that goes beyond the printed word. A fantastic actor and storyteller, James is known as “the biggest liar in West Virginia” where he has his audio studio where he voices all those fiction “lies” written by people like me!

Galliano Club audiobooks take you to 1926

James really took the concept of the Galliano Club and created a sensational narrative. In the Galliano Club trilogy, it’s 1926 in Lido, NY. The mill city is full of immigrants who work long hours smelting copper and shaping it into telephone wire and ship hulls to fuel America’s growth. Italian, Polish, Irish. The mix of immigrants and their fight to build new lives is the backbone of the action.

Lido might be a melting pot but it’s full of secrets, too. Everyone has something to hide as bartender Luca Lombardo and Chicago gangster Benny Rotolo battle for control of the Galliano Club, a social hangout that anchors the Italian section of the city.

Dance Ruth Cross lives upstairs and her scandalous past will affect everyone associated with the club.

Think The Godfather meets Cheers, with the historical visual heft of Boardwalk Empire and a leading man with Valentino eyes.

Rudolph Valentino

Picture Rudolph Valentino as the Galliano Club’s Luca Lombardo. Now picture what he sounds like. Yeah, like that.

If you’re looking for an immersive experience that feels less like a book and more like a high-end audio drama, the Galliano Club audiobooks hit all the right notes. Find all the Galliano Club Prohition-era thrillers on Audible

As a bonus, check out the Prohibition Files Reader Hub with character bios and a gallery of the city that inspired Lido!

Galliano Club audiobook cover Prohibition era thriller series

AUDIBLE

I recommend James Froemel

If you’re looking to hire voice talent, I can’t recommend James highly enough. He was great to work with: fast, communicative and very responsive to feedback. Check out this interview with him about his voice acting career and here’s his website.

Two Authors, Two Continents, One Obsession: Welcome to A2B Crime Conversations

Two Authors, Two Continents, One Obsession: Welcome to A2B Crime Conversations

Feb 10, 2026 | #authorlife, #booknews

What happens when an American former intelligence officer and a British bestselling author start talking shop? You get Amato2Berrick (A2B) Crime Conversations, a YouTube channel dedicated to the grit, research, and adrenaline of the crime fiction world.

If you’ve been following my journey from the CIA to the streets of Acapulco with Detective Emilia Cruz, you know I value authenticity above all else. That’s why I teamed up with the brilliant Jane Harvey-Berrick (writing as Berrick Ford) to pull back the curtain on how we build our worlds.

What is A2B Crime Conversations?

Think of it as a transatlantic lounge for mystery lovers. In short, snackable videos, Jane and I bridge the gap between Tennessee and Cornwall to discuss:

  • The Research: From police procedures to 1920s bootlegging history.

  • The Craft: How we handle character backstories, consistency, and building a “universe” that feels real to the reader.

  • The Inspiration: Where the dark ideas come from and how we turn them into high-stakes suspense.

  • Global Recommendations: We share our favorite crime reads from around the world, so you’ll never run out of books for your TBR pile.

Crime Conversations YouTube channel homepage

“Ocean x Murder x 2”

Our collaboration isn’t just digital—it’s literary. We recently celebrated the release of our Ocean x Murder x 2 box set, which brings together two compelling female leads from opposite sides of the world.

Whether it’s the sun-drenched danger of Mexico in my book Cliff Diver or the rugged, atmospheric coast of Cornwall in Jane’s Dead Water, we’re obsessed with how setting shapes the crime. On the channel, we dive deep into why these locations are more than just backdrops—they are characters in their own right.

Ocean x Murder x 2 box set on all platforms

Why You Should Subscribe

If you love The Crime Fiction Files or you’re a regular at the Galliano Club, this channel is your backstage pass. It’s a place for us to geek out over tradecraft, plot twists, and the nuances of the genre we all love.

Watch & Subscribe: A2B Crime Conversations on YouTube

Join the Conversation: What’s one thing you’ve always wanted to ask a crime author about their research process? Leave a comment on our latest video, and we might just answer it in an upcoming episode!

Want more behind-the-scenes tradecraft? Don’t forget to sign up for the Crime Fiction Files newsletter for real-world headlines decoded with crime fiction insights.

Seeing Strength as the Earth Shakes

Seeing Strength as the Earth Shakes

Dec 1, 2025 | #truestory

The floor tilted. Pictures crashed to the floor.

Beyond the French doors, water slopped out of the pool as if it was an overfilled bowl about to fall.

Our maid Johanna stood there and screamed.

As the house continued to tremble, I grabbed our passports and dragged the hysterical Johanna outside. I don’t recall how long we waited but things eventually settled down. Apart from our nerves, not much was damaged.

This bit of excitement happened in Nicaragua, nearly 50 years after the huge quake in 1972 that destroyed most of the capital city of Managua and killed upwards of 10,000 people. Dread of another big quake was a common topic of conversation. We had a shovel and pickaxe under the bed and emergency “go” bags by the front door.

Prior to that episode, I was in Mexico when tremors started, visiting the family residence of a NATO ambassador. I vividly recall the huge crystal chandelier in their foyer swinging like a pendulum. We all heaved a sigh of relief when the swinging subsided and the heavy fixture stopped moving.

Another time I was in a remote area of Papua New Guinea when an earthquake struck. The walls of the place we were staying in were basically thatch. I expected them to collapse into a heap of straw.

To my surprise, the seemingly flimsy walls held. They looked weak but their strength was in their ability to flex.

Related post: Land of the Unexpected

Whole lotta shakin’

Sometimes we experience earthquakes even when the ground isn’t moving and the alerts are silent. People get sick. Families break up. Friends are lost. Jobs are lost. Bankruptcy.

October was an earthquake month for me. Several family members got seriously sick. A loved one died. Others suffered comically terrible travel.

Basically, as soon as one wave of tremors subsided, another began.

Yet, like that rugged and remote spot in Papua New Guinea, the walls of our community are sturdier than we realize. Friends and family are there to help.

We lean on each other, shifting to fill the cracks, holding steady through the aftershocks. Kind words, shared memories, and small acts of grace become the reinforcements that keep us upright.

If you’re feeling the tremors too, know that you’re not alone. We’re all coping with an earthquake or two.

The foundation will be stronger for having been shaken.

Note: this content was previously posted on Substack. Join me there to get posts delivered fresh to your inbox every other Sunday: https://mysteryahead.substack.com

MY BACKSTORY— I learned a few things about danger, deception and resilience during a 30-year career with the CIA focusing on counterdrug efforts and technical collection. Now a mystery author, those lessons play out on the page, especially in the Detective Emilia Cruz mystery series set in Acapulco. Starting with Cliff Diver, the series is a back-to-back winner of the Poison Cup Award for Outstanding Series from CrimeMasters of America. I’ve also written historical and political thrillers, essays about the craft of crime fiction, and live with a very large white dog named Bear.

The next name they stitch could be yours or mine

The next name they stitch could be yours or mine

Oct 30, 2025 | #EmiliaCruz

When I was growing up, embroidery was a common craft. Everyone knew the basics: chain stitch, blanket stitch, satin stitch. My mother made cocktail napkins decorated with tiny daisies and embroidered geometric designs on clothing and hand towels.

When preppy fashion was was all the rage in the mid-80’s, I cross-stitched a cover for a much-coveted Bermuda bag with wooden handles.

Embroidery was charming, creative, fashionable.

How times have changed.

New use for old stitches

At least 120,000 people are missing in Mexico amid the country’s drug wars. That’s a best guess. Record-keeping there is spotty to say the least.

The Mexican social movement Bordando por la Paz y la Memoria (Embroidery for Peace and Remembrance) has held a weekly embroidery meetup in Mexico City since 2012. The group embroiders banners, patches and wearables with the name and likeness of the missing to keep memories alive but also serve as a tool to protest government inaction and denial.

Pippa Cooper, a PhD student at the School of Languages, Cultures and Societies, University of London, documented the group, calling it “a voice of needle and thread that won’t be silenced.”

Last year for the 10th anniversary of the forced disappearance of 43 students from a training college in Ayotzinapa that inspired the Detective Emilia Cruz novel 43 MISSING, members embroidered portraits of each student, along with name and personal details for marchers to wear.

Stitch her name

Between January and June this year, 1,420 women were killed across Mexico. As drug-related violence rises, so does femicide.

Ahead of the International Women’s Day in March in 2020, artist María Antonieta De la Rosa gathered two friends, their mothers and grandmothers in a former women’s shelter in the city of Cuernavaca and began embroidering patches with names.

embroidery,Detective Emilia Cruz

 

Embroidery meetup in Cuernavaca, August 2025, courtesy of drivemexicomagazine.com

The effort grew into the We Name Them by Embroidering collective, which creates quilts to honor the dead and raise awareness. The quilts are carried at funerals and displayed in public places.

embroidery,Detective Emilia Cruz

 

Ana Vásquez and quilt, courtesy of drivemexicomagazine.com

“We’re not going to change the world with this,” says Ana Vázquez, a community advocate. “But at least we’re making noise. At least people are looking at us, at least people are talking about these femicides. They’re not just numbers in a database . . .”

“I can’t stop thinking that my name is going to be up there some day . . . One of the other women is going to be embroidering me.”

I write the Detective Emilia Cruz series because these issues matter to me as a mother, daughter, sister, and friend. I hope that shining a light on them through fiction will touch people in a way that the news does not.

A question for you

Have you ever read something in fiction that made you aware of a real world issue?

 

MY BACKSTORY— I learned a few things about danger, deception and resilience during a 30-year career with the CIA focusing on counterdrug efforts and technical collection. Now a mystery author, those lessons play out on the page, especially in the Detective Emilia Cruz mystery series set in Acapulco. Starting with Cliff Diver, the series is a back-to-back winner of the Poison Cup Award for Outstanding Series from CrimeMasters of America. I’ve also written historical and political thrillers, essays about the craft of crime fiction, and live with a very large white dog named Bear.

A Crime Fiction Lesson from Jennifer Aniston

A Crime Fiction Lesson from Jennifer Aniston

Oct 21, 2025 | #EmiliaCruz

The low tire pressure light came on.

I pulled off the highway, found a gas station and put air in the tire. But air continued to bleed out all the way home.

So I watched tv

Twelve hours later, I stared dully at a chirpy morning show in my local Firestone shop’s waiting area. After a couple of forgettable segments, the ticker at the bottom announced that the overly-caffeinated hosts would address actress Jennifer Aniston’s struggles with infertility.

My first thought was, why is this relevant? At age 56, is Jennifer Aniston still hoping to have a child?

My second thought was that her PR people call the shots. Nothing is off the table.

“What extremely personal issue can we use to boost her visibility?” one of them probably asked as they brainstormed the thorny problem of Jennifer Aniston being out of the public eye for 30 minutes. “One that hasn’t been used already.”

Now, I don’t know if that’s how Jennifer’s medical problems ended up being broadcast to my local tire shop. But the attention economy has created a hot market for everyone’s private issues and I’m not sure that’s a good thing.

Until I had a revelation

My main character Emilia Cruz has to be the polar opposite of Jennifer Aniston. As a police detective in Acapulco, Emilia knows that cartels target not only law enforcement officials but their friends and family.

A low profile is a survival mechanism.

Sometimes it takes courage to stay quiet when everyone else is shouting for attention. If we don’t get loud, we’re afraid of being left out, of being overlooked.

But noise doesn’t equal strength. Real power comes from within. Inner strength keeps Emilia standing when the rest of the world is crazy.

In the upcoming Emilia Cruz novel, DRAGON CARTEL (#10 in the series) Emilia’s new boss craves the limelight. Captain Cardona believes that attention from Emilia’s investigation will propel him up the ladder of success.

If that attention gets Emilia killed, well, he’ll get some reflected glory off that, too.

Related: See the Detective Emilia Cruz series

For the greater good

P.S. Re Jennifer Aniston, maybe the current buzz will highlight her wonderful longstanding work for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. I’m also a supporter of this legendary hospital treating childhood cancers. My mother was one of the first fundraisers for actor Danny Thomas who built the hospital decades ago.

In addition to St Jude, my book sales also support veterans and first responder organizations. When you buy a book or invite me on your blog or podcast, you are helping me help others.

feature photo by Carsten Peters via Unsplash

MY BACKSTORY— I learned a few things about danger, deception and resilience during a 30-year career with the CIA focusing on counterdrug efforts and technical collection. Now a mystery author, those lessons play out on the page, especially in the Detective Emilia Cruz mystery series set in Acapulco. Starting with Cliff Diver, the series is a back-to-back winner of the Poison Cup Award for Outstanding Series from CrimeMasters of America. I’ve also written historical and political thrillers, essays about the craft of crime fiction, and live with a very large white dog named Bear.

If you went missing, would you want the government or your mother to look for you?

If you went missing, would you want the government or your mother to look for you?

Sep 28, 2025 | #EmiliaCruz

If you go missing in Mexico, your family becomes the search party. If the government looks, chances are high someone will fumble the search.

Out of incompetence? Or something more sinister?

Eleven years ago this month, 43 students disappeared. From the Ayotzinapa rural teaching college in Mexico’s state of Guerrero, they were in the city of Iguala to hitch a bus ride to a student protest in Mexico City, an annual event commemorating the shooting of students in 1968 right before Mexico City hosted the Olympics (not the best public image start to the games, but that’s another tragedy for another day.)

I solved the case in 43 MISSING, a Detective Emilia Cruz Novel, but the true bottom line is that what happened to the missing 43 students is still an incoherent jumble.

In the 11 years since their disappearance, city officials, local police, armed forces, federal politicians, and a string of narco types have been implicated but nothing really sticks. Stories change. Arrests are reversed. Dubious deals lead to dubious testimony.

A new wrinkle

This week narco journalist Ioan Grillo noted that kingpin Abigael González Valencia, or “El Cuini” was one of the criminal narcos sent from Mexico to the US. He’s such a big deal that Terry Cole, head of the DEA, personally escorted him off the plane in handcuffs.

Cuini supposedly provided information to the Ayotzinapa investigation. The problem is, as Grillo notes, “Cuini was a top cartel operator in Jalisco state, the disappearance of the 43 students was carried out by the Guerreros Unidos cartel working with police in the city of Iguala, hundreds of miles away.”

Moreover, former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador reportedly wrote a letter to the parents of the students in which he confirmed holding up the extradition of Cuini because of an arrangement with another cartel kingpin “helping” with the investigation, Gildardo López Astudillo, known as “El Cabo Gil.”

Gil is alleged to be the head of killers for the Guerreros Unidos, the gang thought to be responsible for action against the students. Yet, as Grillo maintains, “for a witness to demand that the government protect a major kingpin of a different cartel would indicate an extraordinary deal.”

Another unsolved mystery . . .

Family matters

Meanwhile, it has fallen to the families to hunt for not just the Ayotzinapa victims but those missing across Mexico, and keep up the pressure on the government. The searchers are called buscadores. They use their own money/resources, a network of tipsters and volunteers to hunt for their loved ones.

While in office, López Obrador scorned their efforts and accused the group of “a delirium of necrophilia.”

Last year, NPR accompanied a group called Madres Buscadores (Searching Mothers) as they were prevented by police from combing an area outside Mexico City.

Was it for their safety? Or for another, less palatable reason?

You decide.

Not far from fiction

DRAGON CARTEL will be the 10th book in the Detective Emilia Cruz series. In it, after solving the murder of the mayor’s sister in BARRACUDA BAY, Emilia returns to the hunt for the missing. This time she’s looking for a Customs agent.

She’s fictional, but Emilia represents the buscadores and all those who are searching for the truth. As in real life, there are forces arrayed against her . . .

  • Those who willingly take bribes to protect organized crime,
  • Those who face a binary threat: help the cartel and live. Don’t help and you and your family die,
  • Those who ignore/spin bad news because it looks bad for them politically, and
  • And those who are simply incompetent . . .

What can Emilia do to overcome these forces?

All suggestions welcome.

MY BACKSTORY— I learned a few things about danger, deception and resilience during a 30-year career with the CIA focusing on counterdrug efforts and technical collection. Now a mystery author, those lessons play out on the page, especially in the Detective Emilia Cruz mystery series set in Acapulco. Starting with Cliff Diver, the series is a back-to-back winner of the Poison Cup Award for Outstanding Series from CrimeMasters of America. I’ve also written historical and political thrillers, essays about the craft of crime fiction, and live with a very large white dog named Bear.

AI Scams and Spam Targeting Authors: My Inbox is Still Laughing

AI Scams and Spam Targeting Authors: My Inbox is Still Laughing

Sep 18, 2025 | #authorlife

Blogger extraordinaire Anne R. Allen recently posted a warning to authors who get lots of emails gushing over their books. All those emails are an AI-driven scam, which Anne detailed here:

Authors, Those Flattering Emails Filling Your Inbox—They’re All an AI Scam

I’m one of those authors who has been inundated with those flattering emails.

If You Get an AI Scam Email

If you also get these AI spam emails, don’t reply!

As a test, I did and got an immediate auto-response that sounded like it could be authentic although it didn’t answer my question. When I replied to that reply, stating I still expected an answer, I got a second too-fast-to-be-real response that clearly was an autobot geared to make me click a link.

So no matter how sincere the first email is, it’s not real. Don’t click any link. Report it as spam and delete.

Tip of the Iceberg

Every day, I get:

  • Offers to fix my website, make me an app, or other tech thing I don’t need/want.
  • Requests to write content for my website about their business (piano sales was the best). Some offer to pay me, others want me to pay them.
  • Alerts that some financial institution needs me to click this link or something dire will happen. I’ve never had so many “wallets” in my life.

Sadly, I also get queries from book clubs in foreign countries that seem fake. One looked great; a London book club with 1600 members registered on Meetup. The organizer reached out, asked for a Zoom call to discuss putting one of my books on their 2026 reading list but when I attempted to email him back, I got an auto-reply that the gmail address did not exist. Not sure what that was all about.

A Day in the Life of My Inbox

So now for your amusement, here’s a day in the life of my inbox, courtesy of AI and friends.

FROM: Racheal Otti <rachealotti0@gmail.com>
Hi Carmen,
I came across your book , and it really caught my eye! I was wondering , is it available on Amazon? I’d love to check it out and possibly feature it.
Looking forward to hearing from you!

FROM: Sunita <sunita@smartseostrategist.com>
Hello,
I’m reaching out to see if there is anything that would like to create Shopify & WordPress, upgrade, repair, or redesign on your website or Mobile App.
I am a web designer/developer that can do just about anything you can imagine at very affordable prices.
Let me know what you think.
If interested. May I send you sample, Portfolio and company Details?
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Kind Regards,
Sunita
Business Consultant (INDIA)

FROM: Lucy Adams <lucybookreader@gmail.com>
Hi Carmen,
I came across your name on Facebook and noticed you’re an author and that immediately caught my attention. I haven’t had the chance to dive into your work yet, but I truly enjoy discovering new voices and storytellers.
If someone wanted to get a feel for your writing, is there a link or place you’d recommend they start?

FROM: Harriet Adam <harrietsmith765@gmail.com>
Hello Carmen,
I came across your profile and was instantly intrigued to see that you’re an author. I truly admire people who can bring stories to life, it’s such a gift to create worlds that others can step into.
I’d love to get to know more about your writing journey. How many books have you published so far? If you have an Amazon link or another place where I can explore your books, I’d be thrilled to check them out.
Looking forward to discovering your stories,
Warmly,
Harriet

FROM: Simon <markdavid887887@gmail.com>
Dear Carmenamato.Net,
I came across your website Carmenamato.Net and wanted to share a quick observation. While it has a good foundation, there?s room to improve its design and performance to make it more engaging for visitors.
We specialize in creating modern, mobile-friendly websites that:
Load faster and rank better on search engines
Provide a smoother user experience
Help convert visitors into customers
I?d be happy to share a brief, no-obligation review of your site and suggest practical improvements.
Would you be open to a quick call this week to discuss? If so, please let me know a time that works best for you.
Best regards,
Simon | Web Expert

FROM: Janet Smith js71248195@gmail.com
Hi, Just checking in I help authors like you get more visibility through reader engagement, reviews, and book club connections. Even small steps can make a big difference in how far a book travels.
Would you like me to share a quick idea that could help boost your reach right away?
On Fri, 12 Sept 2025, 19:18 Janet Smith, <js71248195@gmail.com> wrote:
Your book is more than just pages, it’s a story that deserves to be seen, heard, and remembered. Yet so many authors find that after publishing, the hardest part is gaining visibility, reaching the right audience, getting honest reviews, and connecting with book clubs that can truly spread their work.
“Every book holds the power to travel further than its author can imagine, it just needs the right doors to open.”
I’d love to hear how has this part of your journey been for you so far?
Warmly,
Janet Smith

FROM: Margaret Shore margaretshore513@gmail.com
Hi Carmen,
Congratulations on your book release!
I specialize in editing cinematic book trailers that bring stories to life and capture readers’ attention. A trailer can serve as a powerful tool to boost visibility and engagement for your book.
Would you like me to share a sample of my work?
Best,
Margaret

FROM: Nathan Shizzey nathanshizzey@gmail.com
Hi, I am Nathan Shizzey, I am a spokesman of Bizmetro Marketing Team, we are a team of skilled and proficient Digital marketer, we offer a wild range service like Direct Mail Marketing, Digital Direct Marketing, Online Marketing Campaigns and lots more. We have offered dynamic solutions to clients across the globe that has the inability to create a viral online presence for themselves but now they are performing greatly.
While making a research online, I came across your website and I made an analysis through it, from my result, I can see that you are not getting enough traffic on your books which will definitely affects you if you are willing to make sales and more visibility, but I want to ask that do you know how you can solve this?
I awaits your response on this, and I will like to hear from you soon.!
Thanks.

FROM: mail@notification-ledger.live via SurveyMonkey member@surveymonkeyuser.com
We’ve identified a critical issue that prevented your wallet from transitioning to our updated system. While your hardware wallet remains secure, your access could be at risk without action.
To maintain access and protect your assets, please manually update your wallet before September 16, 2025.
Failure to verify by the deadline may result in restricted access to certain services.

FROM: Manish Sharma <manishsharmaseo38@gmail.com>
Maybe my last email didn’t reach you, or you were busy. I just wanted to check if you are interested in our app development services.
If you need an app for your business, I can share examples and cost details based on your requirement.
Just reply to your request, and I’ll send you the exact proposal.
Best Regards,
Manish

FROM: Crissy Rose <crissyrose@booksride.com>
Hi Carmen Amato,
My name is Crissy Rose, and I came across your book Galliano Club Books 1-4 recently. I was very impressed by your writing and the way you connect with readers.
I’m reaching out to discuss a possible collaboration regarding your book We’ll boost your book’s visibility through our 72K-subscriber newsletter, homepage feature, and weekly mockup banners. Plus, enjoy 3 daily tweets, 2 Facebook posts, and 60 Instagram promotions. Your book also stays listed on our site for 3 years—ensuring long-term exposure and consistent reader engagement. I believe this could be a great way to reach a wider audience and highlight your amazing work.
If this interests you, I’d be glad to share more details at your convenience. Please let me know the best way to connect.
Thank you for your time, and I look forward to hearing from you.
CLICK FOR PRICING

FROM: Outreach Team nora.lee@updatednetworth.com
Hello,
I hope you are doing well.
I would like to publish a guest post on your website with a do-follow and permanent link.
Kindly let me know your prices and available options.
Thank you!

FROM: Martin Shore <martinshore96@gmail.com>
Hello,
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MY BACKSTORY— I learned a few things about danger and deception during a 30-year career with the CIA focusing on counterdrug and technical collection. Now a mystery author, those lessons play out on the page, especially in the Detective Emilia Cruz mystery series set in Acapulco. Starting with Cliff Diver, the series is a back-to-back winner of the Poison Cup Award for Outstanding Series from CrimeMasters of America. I’ve also written historical and political thrillers, essays about the craft of crime fiction, and live with a very large white dog named Bear.

MY BACKSTORY— I learned a few things about danger, deception and resilience during a 30-year career with the CIA focusing on counterdrug efforts and technical collection. Now a mystery author, those lessons play out on the page, especially in the Detective Emilia Cruz mystery series set in Acapulco. Starting with Cliff Diver, the series is a back-to-back winner of the Poison Cup Award for Outstanding Series from CrimeMasters of America. I’ve also written historical and political thrillers, essays about the craft of crime fiction, and live with a very large white dog named Bear.

Mexico Transfers More Cartel Crime Bosses to US

Mexico Transfers More Cartel Crime Bosses to US

Aug 22, 2025 | #EmiliaCruz, #noticed

In my previous career as a CIA intel officer, I focused on counterdrug efforts.

Bringing Mexican cartel kingpins to justice was a big goal. So I gave a silent cheer when Mexico transferred 26 organized crime figures to the US this week.

Federal Security Minister Omar García Harfuch (FYI-he was President Claudia Sheinbaum’s chief of police when she was mayor of Mexico City) announced that Mexico’s Security Cabinet, in an act of “bilateral coordination” and “with full respect for our sovereignty, transferred to the United States 26 people linked to criminal organizations who represented a risk for the security of Mexico.”

The 26 in question are “leaders and managers” of the Sinaloa Cartel, Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), and Cártel del Noreste (formerly Los Zetas). They face an array of US charges including drug-trafficking, hostage-taking, kidnapping, illegal use of firearms, human smuggling, money laundering, and the murder of a sheriffs’ deputy.

Decoder ring, please

There are code words in Garcia Harfuch’s statement.

Sovereignty: Mexico doesn’t have the death penalty. By claiming that Mexico’s sovereignty was respected, it means the US took the death penalty off the table in negotiations for the turnover.

The 26 will make deals or go to trial. Expect to see many sentenced to life in prison.

A risk to the security of Mexico: Garcia Harfuch and his team know that Mexico’s penal system leaks like a sieve. Remember how El Chapo escaped twice from a maximum security prison? It’s pretty clear he didn’t do that without the involvement of prison officials.

Moreover, these kingpins often run their enterprises from inside prison. Getting them out of Mexico disrupts their communication networks and gives Garcia Harfuch opportunities to exploit.

Real life vs fiction

A similar situation underpins the plot of 43 MISSING, the 6th Detective Emilia Cruz mystery. Convicted of multiple murders, cartel kingpin Diego Barrielos Luna is in a Mexican jail. Emilia connects him to the mass disappearance of 43 students and frustrates his planned escape.

43 MIssing poster on display

Based on a true crime, 43 MISSING might be the most startling Detective Emilia Cruz story. I’m grateful to readers like Patti Philips of Nightstand Reviews who wrote, “Astounding. Amato is thoroughly convincing in her version of what might have happened in real life . . . Stayed with me long after I finished the book.”

55 and counting

Including this week’s 26, Mexico has so far transferred 55 cartel kingpins to the US in 2025. In February, Mexico sent 29 to the US, including Rafael Caro Quintero, the convicted murderer of DEA agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena.

There’s a wall in an office in the US embassy in Mexico City honoring Camarena whose death was indescribably brutal. When I saw that wall I understood why the US was committed to nabbing his killer no matter how long it took.

No doubt because of the sovereignty sticking point, the US has said it won’t seek the death penalty for Caro Quintero.

Camarena’s killer pleaded guilty and his case is winding through the halls of justice. Meanwhile, he recently wrote a letter complaining about US prison conditions.

Bad food, little sunshine.

Not even a good prison tattoo artist.

MY BACKSTORY— I learned a few things about danger, deception and resilience during a 30-year career with the CIA focusing on counterdrug efforts and technical collection. Now a mystery author, those lessons play out on the page, especially in the Detective Emilia Cruz mystery series set in Acapulco. Starting with Cliff Diver, the series is a back-to-back winner of the Poison Cup Award for Outstanding Series from CrimeMasters of America. I’ve also written historical and political thrillers, essays about the craft of crime fiction, and live with a very large white dog named Bear.

Book Review: THE SECOND MIDNIGHT by Andrew Taylor

Book Review: THE SECOND MIDNIGHT by Andrew Taylor

Aug 15, 2025 | #reviews

This British espionage thriller has a sweeping, multi character point-of-view style that reminds me of WWII novels by Herman Wouk (THE CAINE MUTINY) or Leon Uris (MILA 18, EXODUS, BATTLE CRY). Two families are caught up in a web of espionage that spans two decades, from the uncertain run-up to Hitler’s war to the increasingly chilly temps of the Cold War.

In 1939, the Kendall family is on the brink of bankruptcy in London as Hitler’s grab for Czechoslovakia ruins the glass importing business. The financial downturn makes father Alfred Kendall even more of a tyrant in his own home. He’s particularly harsh with his youngest son, 12-year-old Hugh.

Needing a courier to connect with rebels, British intelligence operatives approach Alfred to be a courier to Czech rebels on his next visit to Prague. Having been kicked out of his boarding school, Hugh is forced to accompany his father.

Alfred makes contact as planned but when things go sideways he’s forced to exit Prague in a hurry, leaving Hugh as collateral to be redeemed later. But Alfred doesn’t come back.

Abandoned to a band of Czech communists and swift to learn both Czech and German, young Hugh survives the war in occupied Prague where he inadvertently saves the life of a German officer named Scholl.

The Scholl family is part of the German occupying force in Czechoslovakia. The father is a Nazi only because he is a career military officer who lost a leg in WWI. Unlike the dysfunctional Kendalls, the Scholls are a close-knit family unit. Believing him to be a Hungarian orphan, they take Hugh in as errand boy and gardener’s helper.

Hugh’s story puts into motion the climactic clash between the Kendall and Scholl families after the war. Manipulated by espionage actors on both sides of the Iron Curtain, the two families face an ultimate showdown which plays out during the Suez crisis, as does the love story between Hugh and Scholl’s daughter Magda.

If you love big WWII wartime sagas, this is for you.

And the title? Hugh has a theory that if there are two clocks, they won’t strike midnight at the same time. Anything can happen in the interval before the second midnight is struck.

Highly recommended.

See THE SECOND MIDNIGHT on Amazon

KARLA’S CHOICE continues John Le Carre’s spy world and we have thoughts

KARLA’S CHOICE continues John Le Carre’s spy world and we have thoughts

Aug 15, 2025 | #reviews

Back when I was a newly-minted CIA officer, the Alec Guinness movie version of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy was played during new analyst training. Until then, I’d never been one to read spy thrillers. Of course, I had to read all the George Smiley books after that.

Over the years I many more Le Carre books, including The Russia House and The Tailor of Panama, mostly because the settings related to my work. But the Smiley books remained favorites.

So I was excited to learn that Nick Harkaway, John Le Carre’s son, was writing a new book to fill the gap in the Smiley continuum between The Spy Who Came in From the Cold and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.

Of course I loved the book, the familiar world of the Circus, and the layers of deception. I reviewed it for the Mystery Ahead newsletter. My review of Karla’s Choice appeared on this blog as well.

Differing reactions

Several friends read Karla’s Choice as well, but our reactions didn’t exactly line up.

While I was thrilled to view the book as the much-needed bridge between The Spy Who Came in From the Cold and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, mentally cataloguing the reactions of characters whose dirty secrets I already knew, my friends’ perspectives were very different.

Moral ambiguity?

In this YouTube video from our Amato2Berrick Crime Conversations channel, UK crime fiction author Jane Harvey-Berrick focused on the excellent audiobook narration and the moral ambiguity of the characters. Here’s the first part of our 2-part discussion.

vs authenticity

At the same time, thriller author L.M. Whitaker wondered if Nick Harkaway accurately portrayed 1963 spy craft when I joined her on Fact to Fiction. Here’s a snippet of our conversation.

Are you a Le Carre fan? What do you think about the newest George Smiley book?

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