Deceit: Review

Deceit is an intriguing and highly enjoyable Alternate History Thriller by W.C. Hewitt based upon the tragic sinking of the Titanic and the events that lead up to it. If you are a fan of intense thrillers, you won’t want to miss this one.

Andrew Hoyle is a reporter for the Atlas News Agency who is assigned to cover the raising of the H.M.S. Titanic. He is also fortunate enough to be one of the few news people invited to inspect the interior of the ship once it has been raised.

Within the interior of the Titanic, Hoyle discovers a small, square metal box covered with over 90 years of rust. He secrets it on his person and takes it with him when he leaves. When he pries open the box Hoyle is at first disappointed to find that the box only contains an old photo of a couple dressed in turn-of-the-century clothing and an oilcloth packet with a yellowing parchment. The ancient paper was addressed to one Sir Rodney Deanne, Head to British Intelligence and signed Elizabeth Brunette and Christopher Ryan.

In an attempt to research information on the names on the parchment Hoyle is once again disappointed as the records are sealed and protected under the Official Secrets Act. However, he discovers that Elizabeth Brunette, now deceased, is survived by an only daughter named Sandra who also uses her mother’s surname of Brunette.

Hoyle pays Ms Brunette a visit hoping to learn the answers to this mystery, but Sandra claims her mother was merely a secretary to a barrister, and had never been employed by the government in any capacity.

Nevertheless, she shows Hoyle to her mother’s old desk where she kept all of her papers and personal documents. In short order he pries open a locked drawer to reveal not only Brunette’s personal documents, but also her diaries which detail an incredible, long-hidden conspiracy to sink the Titanic.

I will not disclose the harrowing details of this torrid thriller, but rather I will recommend that you read it for yourself. If you like edge-of-your-seat action and hair-raising chills, you’ll love Deceit.

Review by:

Carol Marrs Phipps

What is your name, where were you born and where do you live now?

My name is Jack Everett, I was born in Staffordshire in the English Midlands. I now live in rural Yorkshire in Lower Wharfedale.

Please tell us a little about yourself (something different not contained in your bio).

For the last ten years I have been a member of Sebring Writers Circle, Florida and attend critique groups to hopefully help other authors and would-be authors

What do you like to do when you are not writing?

I love to travel and meet people.

What is the name of your latest book, and if you had to summarize it in less than 20 words what would you say?

My latest novel is The Diamond Seekers which has just finished 4^th in The Book Awards: the people’s choice. A man loses his family then receives a call from someone purporting to be his son?

Is this book part of a series?

No it is a one off.

Would you share a blurb with us?

A courier carrying a fortune in diamonds is followed by an assassin, in his panic he leaves an International airport and drives frantically away looking for a place of safety or at the very least a place to hide the diamonds in this strange land.

Years later an Italian godfather figure, the Russian mafia and the British security services are still looking for them. Does Philip Madden have the answers?

Do you have plans for a new book? Would you tell us a little about it?

For the 1^st time ever we are writing a series of books featuring our hero: Detective Inspector Stewart White The 1^st one in the series was originally published under the title The Tourist but has been purchased by a new publisher and will be released soon as Damaged Goods. The 2^nd with a title yet to be chosen will follow quickly on its heels. The 3^rd is currently in the formulating ideas stage.

How long have you been writing? And who or what inspired you to write?

Unfortunately I have been writing for over thirty years. I wished I could go back to those days with the knowledge I have now. My son who died in a motorcycle accident 13 years ago was the initial inspiration in my writing; I used to make up stories which some years later I decided to put on paper.

How did the decision to write as a team come about?

I met David after he had published a short story I had read and enjoyed. It just so happened that we only lived four miles apart and we agreed to meet.That was the start of a series of meetings the result of which was a partnership which has stood the test of time.

Can you briefly describe your writing process as a team?

We discuss plots and scenarios and mostly but not always I write the first draft with David rewriting and embellishing afterwards.

Are there any particular challenges to writing as a team as opposed to writing solo, or do you find it easier?

I don’t find it challenging because we use each other as sounding boards and we have, over the years, had thousands of laughs.

Are there times during the writing process where you disagree on how things should progress? How do you resolve that?

We never disagree because we meet weekly and read all of the week’s work. If there is ever a suggestion of unhappiness about the writing it is forgotten and started again. We never argue.

Do you gift books to readers to do reviews?

Because of the distances involved –worldwide- it is difficult to gift hard copies but we do offer electronic copies in the author’s choice of format.

How do you come up with the Title and Cover Designs for your book/books? Who designed the Cover of your books?

Currently our publisher has the final say on titles and cover design but we have had brainstorming when it comes to the title. David has designed several of our covers

Have you ever based characters on people you know or based events on things that have happened to you?

Often, it makes sense to use your own experiences.

Is there a certain Author that influenced you in writing?

Several: Frank Yerby, James Clavell, Jack Vance and William Diehl to name but a few.

Which format of book do you prefer, eBook, hardback, or paperback?

I like to hold a book in my hands, smell the paper and feel it as I turn the pages but on holiday, ereaders are invaluable –it saves carrying a library-and maybe I will grow used to them.

What is your favorite book and Why? Have you read it more than once?

The Demon Princes series of five books by Vance that I have read many times.

Do you think books transfer to movies well? Why or why not?

Not often because the amount of content in a book would prove too costly to translate onto film. Look at the Lord of the Rings it had to be filmed in three parts and even then there was lots of stuff left out.

What are you currently reading? Are you enjoying it? What format is it? (eBook, hardback or paperback)

I am reading Kith and Kill an Agatha Christie style mystery by Geraldine James and yes I enjoy the type of writing that makes me think who did what to whom, when,where and how. I find it helps me in some of my own writing.

Is there a book you know you will never read? Or one you tried to read but just couldn’t finish?

I can honestly say I have read every book put in front of me but I struggled with Ullyses and there are many I failed to enjoy.

What do you think about book trailers?

We paid for one for our book 1/1:Jihad-Britain but I can’t honestly say it helped with sales. A review in The Sun newspaper probably did more but I will reserve my opinions on that as I am not the oracle on such matters.

What piece of advice would you give to a new writer?

Don’t start writing as a means to get rich as most writers don’t achieve that but if you have a longing to get words down, make a start on the journey and if you never get fed up you should become one.

Do you or would you ever use a pen name?

I have used several, most well known being Everett Coles under which we write all of our Fantasy/ Sci-Fi. Two of our books are featured on http://jackvance.com

If your book was ever made into a movie, what actor/actress would you like to see play the main character?

George Clooney and Scarlet O’hara ; or the two actors who recently married and had a baby in Downton Abbey.

Have you ever considered writing in a completely different genre? If so, what would it be and why.

I already write in several different genres and enjoy every moment of it, see my website.

Do you think the current popularity of eBooks will last or do you believe it is just another passing trend?

Ah what you need is a crystal ball, if I knew the answer to that I could probably make millions. All I want is for people to read my work and enjoy it, in any format and by whatever manner they choose.

Considering Traditional Publishing vs. Indie Publishing, do you think one has a clear advantage over the other? If so, please elaborate.

Traditional publishing has the means to push forward authors into the public face by spending money to promote their works. This obviously gives them a massive advantage over the Indies.

Would you ever consider writing on your own rather than as a part of a team?

Only if anything ever happened to my partner.

Have you ever had writer’s block? If so, what did you do about it?

Can’t help with this one as we write all ideas down as we think of them. If I ever pause or stall I have my partner who has my back.

Where can readers follow you?

Your blog details? Everettcoleswritings.blogspot.com
Your web site? Jackleverett.me.uk
Your facebook page? Jack_59
Your Goodreads author page? Don’t know if I have one although some of our books are on there I know.
Your Twitter details? Jack_59
And any other information you wish to supply? criminalties.blogspot.com and archimedespresse.blogspot.com

Thank you for taking time out from your busy schedule to interview with us today. It has been a real pleasure having you here on our blog, Jack. I hope you will visit again in the future. See my review of The Diamond Seekers below.

The Diamond Seekers Review

Philip Madden takes an early retirement from his job at deciphering codes for the English intelligence service when he looses his wife and son in a car crash. He spends the next four years living by himself in a state of melancholy distraction until he answers the phone to a man claiming to be an illegitimate son he never knew existed. As this is sinking in, a former colleague comes for a visit and is shot to death where he stands in the bedroom by a sniper a half mile away.

Feeling converged upon, and suspecting that he might be the intended target, Philip flees to Austria to stay with his old college chum, Rudi. Though he becomes fast friends with Rudi’s mother and falls in love with his sister, his visit is quickly spoilt by phone calls from a kidnaper who is holding his newly discovered son in a coffin. To remove Philip to safer surroundings, Rudi and his family take him to their hunting lodge in the Alps, where they continue having encounters with people, either dangerous or dead, who seem to have connections with an Italian magnate known as il Principe who has a finger in a substantial amount of the crime throughout Europe and the UK.

Philip’s struggle to find out just who exactly is after him and what it might take to call these people off takes him back to England where he finds more danger yet and millions in diamonds buried in a far-flung Yorkshire graveyard. Without warning, things are not at all the way they had seemed. Suddenly, impossible parties have been in charge all along.

The Diamond Seekers, by David Coles and Jack Everett is an engaging and worthwhile mystery whose characters are believably realistic out of recognition of the very kind of human behavior examined in Machiavelli’s seminal essay The Prince. Like Machiavelli’s prince, their own felonious and proud patriarch, who is openly devoted to his grandson and his family, shrewdly dotes on his hired help with a strategic wisdom which earns their love and admiration at the very moment he is engaging them to serve his interests. Realistic characters make the best entertainment. And I was indeed fascinated, particularly with the eerie similarities to the stories I’ve heard out of Chicago and ‘Vegas. I will certainly be looking for their next book.

Purchase Links: Amazon.com & Amazon.co.uk

Carol Marrs Phipps