RIDDLED WITH CLUES

 Meet the characters in the international #thriller RIDDLED WITH CLUES. It begins at the VA Hospital  in Albuquerque but takes you to #Laos and #Cuba as the protagonist Sara Almquist frantically trys to solve the mystery of Red from Udon Thani. 

Sara recognized Xave Zack as the lopsided man who stared out the window toward the Sandia Mountains. His body appeared twisted in the wheelchair, but his shoulders remained broad. Many white creases and sagging skin on his darkly tanned neck suggested he’d lost a lot of weight recently.

She hesitated recalling the macho guy who had saved her from drug traffickers in Bolivia, where she had served as a consultant on public health issues. Unfortunately, she had learned too much about the coca trade. At the time, he’d had ebony hair with gray at his temples. Now, his hair was silver.

Her mind moved to the polished sophisticate—a George Clooney look-alike, who had left her in Washington to take an assignment tracking the movement of coca from Bolivia through Cuba to the U.S. Finally, she thought of the beaten, dirty bum who gave her a message for his controller, Eric Sanders, in Colombo Cemetery in Havana. Her history with the man had been brief, colorful, and emotional. In Havana, he’d made it clear she’d never see him again....

 

She allowed no hint of sympathy in her voice because she knew pity would annoy the man in the wheelchair. “Xave.”

The man turned slowly. “Sanders must be worried if he sent you.” He flashed a wide grin. She knew he was about to tell less than the whole truth because he smiled with his teeth showing.

Maybe I can force some honesty. “Did they retrieve you from Cuba before you destroyed your liver with cheap booze as you tried to perfect your cover as a drunken sailor? Hopefully, broken bones are your only problems.” She motioned to the cast on his right leg.

He grimaced.

“Why are you in a Spinal Cord Injury Center?”

He looked around the room as if he feared someone would hear. “Better security here. What were you told?”

“Not much. Can you walk?”

“Always direct. It’s why we hit it off.” He rubbed his chin, but didn’t answer the question... (Then) he smiled. This time with no teeth showing, which usually meant sincerity. “How about twirling around, slowly. The pink top shows off your blonde hair and light skin.”

She was glad she had worn the khaki skirt, which she always wore in summer to do pet therapy. Most of the hospitals in Albuquerque preferred volunteers didn’t wear shorts. The skirt was acceptable and cooler than trousers. “You must be on the mend.” She twirled quickly. “Sorry, but I’m not going to talk with my back to you so you can study my ass.”

He chuckled. “Sit next to me. I want to talk business without curious ears overhearing. Lots of nosy people here.”

She pushed the table away and sat on the edge of the bed. He pulled a slip of paper from the cuff of his right sleeve. “A woman slipped this note into my pocket when I was in a large crowd about two hours before my accident. I need your help.”

Sara looked at the small piece of ragged paper. She read a phone number and “Red from Udon Thani.” She turned the slip over. “Seen a lot of wear.”

 

You'll have to read the rest of Riddled with Clues, to discover the identity of Red from Udon Thani. Here's several hints. 

• Xave doesn’t know anyone called Red, and the last time he was in Udon Thani was during the Vietnam War. 
• After Sara listens to Xave's rambling tales of all the possibilities, both she and Xave are attacked. He is left comatose. 
• She is left to fight for her life with little help from the local police but with frequent coded clues for a homeless veteran who apparently frequented the VA Hospital in Albuquerque.

Available at:  https://www.amazon.com/dp/1938436237

SALE: RIDDLED WITH CLUES for $0.99

The Kindle version of RIDDLED WITH CLUES is on sale for $0.99 from February 13 to February 20. Here's more about this mystery/thriller set in Albuquerque.

February is the month with Lincoln’s and Washington’s birthdays. A time to remember American history, even the wars and conflicts.

Do you have friends or relatives who served in Vietnam? Maybe you served. Generally, I find many veterans are reticent to talk about their experiences. Thus, I was surprised and pleased when one friend after reading one of my novel asked if I’d like to see his notes from being a medic in the secret war in Laos in the 1960s. 

The notes were fascinating but I write modern thrillers. I turned his notes into clues for a mystery/thriller, RIDDLED WITH CLUES, set at the VA Center in Albuquerque. My friend liked the results. Other veterans said I reflected their impressions of the Vietnam War. Maybe you will too. 

For those too young to remember that conflict, maybe you’ll learn a bit of history. In any case, I think you’ll find the clues are a good way to open a fast-moving modrn thriller.

Here’s a short blurb: A woman is attacked repeatedly after she listens to the strange tale of an undercover drug agent and gets puzzling riddled clues from a homeless veteran in Albuquerque. 

Buy at: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1938436237

Learn more about the book at: http://www.jlgreger.com.

BOOKS MAKE GREAT HOLIDAY GIFTS

Books are easy to wrap and ship. They aren't perishable or fattening. You don't need to guess at sizes. Why not give books as gifts during this holiday season?

GOT A DIETER ON YOUR SHOPPING LIST?

She can enjoy a mystery and guess whether an ambitious young doctor or old-timers with buried secrets killed the "diet doctor" in Murder...A Way to Lose Weight. And she'll learn about recent scientific research linking body weight and gut bacteria.

Kindle & paperback at: http://amzn.com/1978377282.

1^st prize in the 2016 Public Safety Writers’ Association contest and finalist for a 2016 NM/Arizona Book Award.

WHAT ABOUT THE  HARD-TO-SHOP-FOR GUY?

He can race to solve the mystery faster than police in Riddled with Clues as he interprets riddled messages from homeless veterans. He also will learn a bit of history. The scenes in Laos during the Vietnam War are based on the memories of a New Mexico veteran who was a medic. 

Kindle & paperback at:http://www.amzn.com/1938436237.

Finalist for a 2017 NM/Arizona Book Award.

WHAT ABOUT THOSE WHO LOVE CONSPIRACY THEORIES?

They'll want to know whether a woman was killed to hide the secrets of polluters and an environmental test lab in She Didn’t Know Her Place?

Kindle &  paperback at: http://www.amzn.com/1979733112

WHAT ABOUT THOSE WITH LITTLE TIME TO READ?

May be they'll enjoy short (4-10 pages) stories at bedtime and gain an better appreciation of their parents and grandparents. 

Kindle & paperback at: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1537743813

While you're shopping for everyone else, why not get one or two books for yourself?

STRANGE THINGS HAPPEN

We all encounter strange events occasionally. You know - incidents you don’t quite understand. Some are scary; others are funny; many are just weird. Write them down. They make great material in a novel.

Let me tell you about an incident that surprised me and how I used it to create a character in my latest suspense novel, Riddled with Clues.

My dog Bug, a Japanese Chin, and I have done pet therapy at the local VA Center for years. This particular VA Center has a number of rehab programs and offers multiple programs to aid homeless veterans.

On a visit to the VA, a disheveled veteran sat and stroked Bug for several minutes without speaking. Then he looked at me and said, “What does this dog call you?”
I recognized this was a serious question and deserved a thoughtful answer. I didn’t smirk or giggle. “I think he calls me Mom.”

The veteran lowered his head to examine the Bug’s face and then resumed stroking him. After a minute, he nodded. “I think that’s right.”

Several months later, a neatly dressed man on the VA campus approached Bug and me. “Hello Bug and Bug’s Mom.” As he talked to me for several minutes, I realized this was the same veteran who had asked what Bug called me. He wasn’t pathetic; he had dignity.

His words kept replaying in my mind over the last few years.

Please note: HIPPA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) doesn’t allow health care workers or volunteers to identify patients. However, I don’t know the name of this man and I didn’t describe him in the novel as he looked. Everything about the character in Riddled with Clues is fictitious, except for the description of these two brief incidents. I think the incidents provide insight into the mental state and personality of a veteran in rehab.
Now aren’t you curious to find out how these incidents fit into the plot of Riddled with Clues? 

Don’t forget to write down strange things that happen to you. They might make great scenes in your next novel.

Blurb for Riddled with Clues: A hospitalized friend gives Sara Almquist a note, which he received just before he was severely injured while investigating the movement of drugs into the U.S. The note is signed by “Red from Udon Thani.” However, he doesn’t know anyone called Red, and the last time he was in Udon Thani was during the Vietnam War. After Sara listens to his rambling tale of all the possibilities, both are assaulted. The friend is left comatose. Sara must determine whether the attacks are related to events in Laos fifty years ago or to the modern-day drug trade. As she struggles to survive, she questions who to trust: the local cops, her absent best friend, the FBI, or a homeless veteran who leaves puzzling riddles as clues. 

A Little History for Memorial Day

After more than forty years, many of the “little stories” about the Vietnam War have been lost. That’s too bad because I suspect George Santayana was right: “Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it.”

Thus, when a friend, who was a medic in the secret war in Laos in the early 1960s, offered me his notes, I was thrilled. As a medic, my friend treated men covered with hundreds of leeches, a baby monkey, and Hmong children with yaws and vitamin A deficiency besides lots of wounded soldiers. He also received survival training in the Philippines, served as a medic for the Hmong general Vang Pao, and was sent home after he earned his fourth Purple Heart. 

My problem is I’m not a historian. I write modern thrillers and mysteries with a woman protagonist, Sara Almquist, who is too young to have first-hand knowledge of the Vietnam era.

I decided to set the novel, titled Riddled with Clues, mainly at the VA Center in Albuquerque because my dog Bug and I are a pet therapy team there. We’ve met Vietnam era veterans in the rehab programs at this large VA center. Many homeless veterans also roam the campus and its over seventy buildings. I realized the convoluted nature of the layout of buildings would be great for a chase scene, and the veterans in rehab units could be the basis of colorful supporting characters in the book.

Are you curious how I used the notes? Sara, a scientific consultant for the State Department, gets a mysterious summons to the VA in her hometown of Albuquerque. She discovers Xave Zack (her old friend from previous novels – Ignore the Pain and Malignancy) was seriously injured while tracking drug smugglers.  He hands her a note he received before his accident. The note is signed by “Red from Udon Thani.” However, he doesn’t know anyone called Red, and the last time he was in Udon Thani was during the Vietnam War. 

Xave proceeds to tell her potentially relevant details from his wartime experiences in Laos. (The experiences are all based on my real friend’s adventures). After Sara listens to his rambling tale of all the possibilities, both are assaulted. Xave is left comatose. Sara must determine whether the attacks were related to events during the war fifty years ago or to the modern-day drug trade. As she struggles to survive, she questions who to trust: the local cops, her absent best friend, the FBI, or a homeless veteran who leaves puzzling riddles as clues. 

Sound exciting? I hope so. Wouldn't it make great reading over the Memorial Day weekend?

I also hope you’ll gather “historical” information from older friends and relatives and use the details in your writing. 

How I Chose the Title for RIDDLED WITH CLUES

The title should tell you something about the book. The Book Seller of Kabul by Åsne Seierstad is an informative title, which tells the reader about the setting and a major character. Most titles are more symbolic, but hint at the topic. Examples are Frank McCourt’s Angela’s Ashes, which is a memoir about his mother, and my thriller I Saw You in Beirut, which is set in the Middle East.

I struggled to name my latest thriller/mystery, Riddled with Clues. Here’s the blurb:

A hospitalized friend gives a puzzling note to Sara Almquist. He received the note signed “Red from Udon Thani” while investigating the movement of drugs into the U.S. However, he doesn’t know anyone called Red. The last time he was in Udon Thani was during the Vietnam War. After Sara listens to his rambling tales of all the possibilities, both are attacked. He is left comatose. As she struggles to survive, she questions who to trust: the local cops, her absent best friend, the FBI, or a homeless veteran, who leaves puzzling riddles as clues. 

Early in the writing process, I realized that a number of the clues in the book could be riddles. I also realized I could add tension to the book with the riddles. My heroine, Sara Almquist, and the law enforcement agents in the novel would know the riddles were important clues but they couldn’t make sense of them. 

I thought a play on words might be fun. Riddled can mean filled. Certainly, “Riddled with Clues” sounded more interesting than “Filled with Clues.” Do you agree?

Riddled with Clues is available at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1938436237

It is also available at Treasure House in Old Town Albuquerque. I'll do a book signing there on Sunday, May, 28 from noon to three. I thought it was appropriate to do a book signing during Memorial Day weekend because many of the scenes (especially chase scenes) are set at the VA Center in Albuquerque and several veterans are characters in the book.

For more info on Riddled with Clues, check out my website: http://www.jlgreger.com.