Standalone novels
Unexpected twists | psychological tension | heart-pounding action | relationships with heat
THE HIDDEN LIGHT OF MEXICO CITY
“Enthralling political drama” – LITERARY FICTION REVIEW
In this stunning political thriller, secrets fuel the drug war raging along the US-Mexican border. Behind the lines in Mexico City, attorney Eduardo Cortez uncovers collusion between Mexico’s powerful Minister of Public Security and the leader of the country’s most dangerous drug cartel.
Coded messages . . . a secret website . . . clever money laundering.
Marked for death by cartel assassins, Eduardo follows the money trail deep into drug smuggling territory. There he’ll find that violence buys loyalty, votes are for sale, and the odds are against survival.
Back in Mexico City, a woman whose name means Light of Mary waits for him.
The cartel is looking for her, too.
AWAKENING MACBETH
“Page-turning” – KIRKUS REVIEWS
In this standalone romantic thriller with a paranormal twist, the action races across time and place as it takes you from the University of Virginia, to historic Edinburgh, all the way to a dusty road in Iraq . . .
University professor Brodie Macbeth’s life unravels when her father kills himself.
Days later, Brodie gets another mind-numbing shock. She must read her father’s collection of British history books or forfeit a fortune.
As she reads, Brodie has terrifying nightmares torn from the pages of her father’s library. Again and again―across time and history―she is stalked by killers in her sleep who know something she doesn’t.
When Brodie falls for Joe Birnam, an Iraq War vet with his own demons, she realizes the nightmares are a deadly game in the eternal struggle against evil.
The prize is Joe’s immortal soul.
But Brodie doesn’t know how to play, let alone win.
Would you?
Behind the scenes
From Panama to Mexico and back again
Every thriller needs the big climax, right? But suspense needs to be built with action scenes that intrigue us. The mystery setting Remember how in THE KEY TO REBECCA, there's the big climax in the...
Matching Books with Museums in Mexico City
There you are, strolling through amazing exhibits and you know something’s missing. Like the backstory. Wish you'd known more before going? But there wasn't time. Besides, research before going to...
The Hidden Lovers of San Miguel
In the political thriller THE HIDDEN LIGHT OF MEXICO CITY, Luz and Eddo briefly escape a political scheme to buy the Mexican presidency with drug money, and spend time away from the world in the...
Padre Ricardo and the Sacristy of Santa Clara
The Hidden Light of Mexico City contains a number of references from my own experiences in Mexico City. I've already written about the class struggle of simply standing in a line but also wanted...
Why Read a Book About Mexico Now
Reading about Mexico now is a mix of highs and lows. Fiction can't substitute for facts but it can lead us to become interested enough in an issue to find out what is really going on. That is the...
A tale of Mexico: the school bus and the thriller
THE HIDDEN LIGHT OF MEXICO CITY is a political thriller, with characters based on many people I met in Mexico City. And a bus. The setting Let me set this up for you. Our house was at the start of...