GIVE THE GIFT OF SAFE TRAVEL

What do you and your friends miss most during the pandemic? #Travel?

Why not give family members and friend a safe trip to an exotic place for the #holidays? Buy a book in which the heroine travels. These blurbs might start you thinking about traveling to:

CUBA. In Malignancy, Sara Almquist accepts an assignment from the State Department to arrange scientific exchanges between scientists in the U.S. and #Cuba. She hopes to escape violence in her past, find an old friend, and see the tourist sites in Havana. Neither her work or sightseeing goes as planned. She’s disappointed by La Floridita (the bar made famous by #Hemingway) and the memorials to fallen heroes (like #Che Guevera) but she’s fascinated by the way black marketeers and scientist circumvent the U.S. embargo to Cuba. She also finds #romance in the most unlikely situation. https://www.amazon.com/dp/0960028528

INDIA. In Dirty Holy Water, scientist Sara Almquist is frustrated by the slow progress in the investigation of a friend's murder. Thus she's in a funk as she begins her trip to India and is disappointed by what she sees initially. The pollution of the holy rivers (Ganges and Yamuna) is staggering. The overcrowding and filth in markets make her happy to retreat to the safety of the tour bus. But the Taj Mahal is breathtaking as it appears among the mists rising from the Yamuna River at sunrise. The folk dances of the nomads of Rajasthan are mesmerizing. Eventually, Sara realizes her friend, like India, was a complex mixture of good and bad - but always interesting. https://www.amazon.com/dp/0960028587

BOLIVIA. In Ignore the Pain, Sara Almquist couldn't say no when invited to be the epidemiologist on a public health mission to assess children’s health in Bolivia. Soon someone from her past in New Mexico is chasing her through the Witches' Market of La Paz and on to the silver mines of Potosí. Unfortunately, she can't trust her new colleagues because any one of them might be under the control of the coca industry in Bolivia. https://www.amazon.com/dp/0960028501

I hope these blurbs whetted your taste for an #adventure #novel. Now where do you want to go?

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