Guest Author, Interview, JKS Communications, Showcase

DEAD DEAL by W.J. Evans (Guest Author Interview & Showcase)

September 21, 2017 Leave a Comment

W.J. Evans pulls you into the unstable world of finance where danger lurks around every corner
“Dead Deal” delivers thrills as it delves into the mystery surrounding 3 dead bankers

ATLANTA – In a time of uncertainty after the financial crisis of 2008, three bankers have been found murdered. The FBI starts closing in on a lead suspect — a real estate broker with negative ties to all of the victims. W.J. Evans’ exciting new novel, “Dead Deal,” is a sexy thriller filled with twists and suspense.
Chaos rules in the days after the financial meltdown, and danger lurks around every corner for real estate broker Frank McCormick. When FBI agent Julia Harrow starts to track down leads on the dead bankers and hones in on Frank as a suspect, they begin to circle each other warily. As they continue to investigate, they uncover a criminal operation spanning the globe, and it puts them in more extreme danger than they could have ever imagined.
Evans’ sharp writing and fascinating characters will pull you in and keep you reading until the last page.

Read an excerpt:

The developer started digging, pressing the blade into the ground like he was digging through butter. He dug for 20 minutes in relative silence. Grady dutifully kept the flashlight beam on the hole. His hands were turning to ice, but he knew that if he complained at all the developer would continue griping.

The developer didn’t stop until the hole was at least three feet deep.

“Don’t tell me you picked the wrong spot,” Grady asked. He wasn’t going to spend all night shining light on the wrong holes. Enough was enough.

“No, this is definitely the spot,” the developer said.

He stopped digging for a moment. His white shirt was soaked through, and his hair was matted against his forehead.

“Can I tell you one more thing?” the developer asked, climbing out of the hole with great effort.

“One more,” Grady sighed.

The developer gripped the shovel with two hands like a baseball bat.

“I didn’t really bury a time capsule,” he said. “I didn’t bury anything.”

The developer smiled at Grady, showing every one of his teeth.

That crooked dopey smile was the last thing Grady saw before the blade of the shovel came flying at his face. It connected right where his moustache would have been. The blade sunk four inches into his mouth, severing his gums and scattering a handful of bloody teeth across the ground. Grady collapsed into the mud. The developer swung the shovel again—this time it landed below Grady’s eyebrows. Grady could feel blood flowing from his head as the developer raised the shovel for the third time.

The third blow landed across his neck. By the time the blade severed his jugular vein, Grady Gilmore was dead.

≈≈≈

The developer turned the key, and the Komatsu roared to life.

He maneuvered the bulldozer skillfully—he had worked in construction right out of college, and knew his way around all sorts of big machines. Bulldozers. Excavators. Forklifts.

The Komatsu belched angry tufts of steam as the developer positioned the corpse into his hole. He raised the blade and picked the corpse up—the bulldozer lifted it as easily as a child would lift a stick. The developer pulled some levers and the corpse that had once been Grady Gilmore settled nicely into the hole. For good measure he buried the shovel and blueprints as well.
When Grady was several feet under, the developer went to work, filling in the hole until there was no sign of a body, no sign of a struggle.

No sign of a murder.

When he had safely covered the body, cleaned off the bulldozer, and parked it back in its spot, the developer turned off the ignition and sat breathing heavily in the moist night air. He grabbed the flashlight, stomped on the ground, and whistled as he skipped back to his car.

I could really use a beer right now, he thought. Then, for the first time in a month, he laughed.

BOOK DETAILS:

Genre: Financial thriller | Suspense
Published by: CreateSpace Publishing
Publication Date: February 21, 2017
Pages: 356
Paperback: 978-0-9992924-0-2
E-book: 978-0-9992924-1-9

PURCHASE LINKS:

W.J. Evans

W.J. Evans is involved in various business interests including commercial real estate development, hotels and restaurants based in Atlanta, Georgia. He co founded the 50in50 in 2008, raising awareness for cancer by playing 50 golf courses in 50 days in all 50 states. Along with writing, in his spare time he enjoys golf trips, world travel and creating new projects for worthy causes.

INTERVIEW

Do you remember the moment when you decided to write this book?
Yes, I was playing golf in Ireland a few years ago and came up with the crazy idea to start this project during the trip.

What makes the financial world the perfect setting for a thriller?
There are so many real life stories from the corruption and greed, it will always be a fertile ground for subject matter. The story is historical fiction based on the actual financial crisis beginning in 2008.

DEAD DEAL has a lot of complex characters. Are any of them based on real people?
I made it a point to create these characters from scratch, not from real people. People are complex in nature based upon so many factors. It’s a fun challenge to create characters for a story like this.

How did your success in the business world influence your book?
So much of my business is project based. As with any project, it takes focus and determination to complete. A few of my developments did have an influence on the main characters’ success, and failure in the commercial real estate business.

How do you think your approach to the thriller genre differs from other writers?
Every writer’s approach and style is different. My goal is to keep it interesting and entertaining. I think in this case, unlike some of the other writers, I had first-hand experience with the financial meltdown and the collateral human damage it caused.

What’s the best advice you got when you started writing?
Focus on character development. Don’t get too technical with the subject matter….I know that my eyes glaze over with information overload from some writers. Keep the chapters short so the book has a nice flow.

How did you put yourself in the mindset of a female FBI agent?
That wasn’t an easy task. Probably the most challenging of all the characters. Even though she is a specially trained FBI agent, she is still a human being with wants and needs like all of us. She has been shaped by her life experiences and that makes her who she is.

The ending of the book is open-ended. Will we see these characters again?
Yes, there will be a sequel and some of the characters will be reappearing. People got invested emotionally with these characters and I don’t intend to let them down.

DISCLAIMER
I do not have any affiliation with Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble. I am an IndieBound affiliate. I am providing link(s) solely for visitors that may be interested in purchasing this Book/EBook.