Oblivion Review Tour

Ingredients of a Great Thriller

Every now and then you read a novel that has you glued to the story because the action is moving at warp-speed and you're swept way not wanting to stop reading until you know how it turns out.  

The tension rises and you ride along with the characters feeling every blow right up until the climax.

In my opinion, the main ingredient in a great thriller is emotion. If you feel the story in your heart and gut then the author has done his or her job.

A great thriller is unpredictable. What if an FBI agent leading a murder investigation is the killer?

A great thriller has deadlines—the ticking clock. Will the FBI agent be caught before he kills again?

A great villain is a must-have in any thriller—a villain that stirs feelings of hatred, fear, disgust and sometimes empathy in the reader.

A main character who is worthy to fight the villain and hopefully win.

The setting and the action must also be believable for the reader because if the reader doesn't believe, the story will end.

In JET: OBLIVION the main characters, JET, Hal Decker and Angela Donahue are more than worthy to fight the villain, in this case, an al Qaeda terrorist cell working with the Sur del Calle cartel.

Each of the characters in the story have their own set of acquired skills. JET in her younger years spent time in juvenile hall then ordered to join the IDF, where she was recruited into the Mossad, and became an elite and deadly assassin. After leaving the Mossad she spent a great deal of time in the Caribbean, Central America and South America.

Hal Decker is a former FBI agent, elite sniper and an ex-marine. He's a mellow kind of guy with soft voice and has a serious vibe to him. People who meet him aren't sure if he is friend or foe. 

Angela Donahue is ex-US military intelligence (surveillance/reconnaissance) who worked intelligence operations in numerous overseas environments as well as in South and Central America. She's also the go-to-girl you call to help get you out of a hostile territory during a dangerous mission.

Together, they must beat the ticking clock—find the dirty bomb before it's smuggled out of Colombia and into the United States unleashing a deadlier attack at a second nuclear facility.

 As the story progresses, it's unpredictable, has deadlines, and a villain who evokes fear and  hatred combined with characters who are physically and emotionally worthy to battle the villain to the end.

My Top Ten Favourite Novels

by Kim Cresswell

1. Master of the Game by Sidney Sheldon

“She is the symbol of success, the beautiful woman who parlayed her inheritance into an international conglomerate. Winner of a unique position among the wealthy and world-renowned. And she’s a survivor, indomitable as her father, the man who returned from the edge of death to wrench a fortune in diamonds from the bleak South African earth.” Mr. Sheldon was one of the master “story-tellers” of all times.

2. The Immortals by Michael Korda

“Jack Kennedy – the American hero. Marilyn Monroe – the love goddess. Their affair has been whispered about for thirty years. Now, at last, the story we have only been able to imagine is brought to vibrant, stunning life – a passionate, tragic romance played out against a background of deadly intrigue, power politics, and Hollywood glamour on a grand scale.” A fantastic historical and fictional read!

3. Waiting Wives: The Story of Schilling Manor, Home Front to the Vietnam War by Donna Moreau

“In 1964, as the first B-52s took flight in what would become America’s longest combat mission, an old Air Force base on the plains of Kansas became Schilling Manor — the only base ever to be set aside for the wives and children of soldiers assigned to Vietnam.” An incredible read about strength and love!

4. Lucky by Jackie Collins

“With the sensual grace of a panther, Lucky Santangelo prowled her Las Vegas casino, restless, ready, eager for action. That night began a dazzling odyssey, filled with dangerous passion and sun-drenched sex, sadistic vengeance and breathless suspense.” Epic and sexy. A great beach read!

5. This Charming Man by Marian Keyes

“Paddy de Courcy is Ireland’s debonair politician, the “John F. Kennedy Jr. of Dublin.” His charm and charisma have taken hold of the country and the tabloids, not to mention our four heroines: Lola, Grace, Marnie, and Alicia. But though Paddy’s winning smile is fooling Irish minds, the broken hearts he’s left in his past offer a far more truthful look into his character.” One of the most charming and emotional books I have ever read!

6. Black Ice by Anne Stuart

“Living paycheck to paycheck in Paris, American book translator Chloe Underwood would give anything for some excitement and passion–even a little danger. So when she’s offered a lucrative weekend gig translating at a business conference in a remote chateau, she jumps at the chance to shake things up.” Bastien Toussaint from Black Ice is my #1 pick for best hero/anti-hero!

7. Die For Me by Karen Rose

“The first victim is found in a snow-covered Philadelphia field. Detective Vito Ciccotelli enlists the aid of archaeologist Sophie Johannsen to determine exactly what lies beneath the frozen ground.” Suspense at its finest!

8. The Neighbor by Lisa Gardner

“It was a case guaranteed to spark a media feeding frenzy–a young mother, blond and pretty, disappears without a trace from her South Boston home, leaving behind her four-year-old daughter as the only witness and her handsome, secretive husband as the prime suspect.” A scary thrill-ride!

9. Bonnie by Iris Johansen – Eve Ducan Series

“When Eve Duncan gave birth to her daughter, she experienced a love she never knew existed. Nothing would stand in the way of giving Bonnie a wonderful life – until the unthinkable happened and the seven-year-old vanished into thin air. Eve found herself in the throes of a nightmare from which there was no escape.” Must read suspense series!

10. Victims by Jonathan Kellerman

“Unraveling the madness behind L.A.’s most baffling and brutal homicides is what sleuthing psychologist Alex Delaware does best.” Kellerman’s books are like a bad habit. I’m a addict and I’m not giving them up!

HOLY CRAP this book is good!  Fast paced and keeps you on toes!  Realistic feeling and easy to escape into!  Think this author will be another author I return to for more good books!


*Received for an honest review*

How did you come to be interested in the JET Series Kindle World?

I’ve always been a huge fan of Russell Blake’s JET series and when I saw the opportunity to write a story with one of my favorite characters I jumped on it. No. I pounced!

The JET Series books are fast-paced action and adventure stories. What genre(s) do you explore in your story?

Action. Adventure. Thriller. It’s a fantastic mix of genres. I’ve always been told to write what you enjoy reading.

The JET series has been set all over the world… the Middle East, Asia, South American, the Caribbean, etc. Tell us about where you set your story, and why?

OBLIVION is set in California, Las Vegas, Panama, and Colombia. I chose California because I needed a nuclear plant located on the west coast for the story. Las Vegas was chosen because it’s my two main characters usual stomping grounds. Colombia worked well due to the drug cartel and was also an interesting setting choice to explore as a haven for terrorists coming from Yemen.

Tell us a little about your main character(s).

Hal Decker and Angela Donahue are my two crossover characters from the Whitney Steel series. They were first introduced in RETRIBUTION (A Whitney Steel Novel – Book #2) and met during a covert mission in Colombia while Hal was helping a good friend save his fiancee after she was kidnapped by the drug cartel.

Hal is a former FBI agent, elite sniper and an ex-marine. He’s a mellow kind of guy with soft voice and has a serious vibe to him. People who meet him aren’t sure if he is friend or foe. He’s brilliant and cunning. He reminds me of a younger Ron Perlman playing the character Luther Braxton in the TV show; The Blacklist.

Angela is thirty-three years old and ex-US military intelligence (surveillance/reconnaissance) who worked intelligence operations in numerous overseas environments as well as in South and Central America. She’s also the go-to-girl you call to help get you out of a hostile territory during a dangerous mission. Her specialty—exit plans. She’s pretty good at kicking butt too.

Did you decide to include any of the main characters from JET (Jet / Maya, Matt or Hannah?) If so, Why?

I decided to use JET and Hannah in OBLIVION. I wanted to show the softer side of JET as a mother who is forced into making a difficult decision to leave her daughter behind with strangers while she tries to stop a terrorist attack.

What major theme comes across the clearest in your story? Is this a theme found consistently in your other works?

The major theme in story is the will to survive. Whether it’s a character who is an alcoholic or a character who’s risking her life to stop a terrorist attack—in the end it’s all about survival.

I think it’s also the main theme in my other works as well. My books all have very strong female leads who have to fight to survive one way or another.

REFLECTION (A Whitney Steel Novel – Book #1)
RETRIBUTION (A Whitney Steel Novel – Book #2)
Amazon Author Page

JET is set in a world where many governments including Israel and the U.S. have covert operations including false flag and assassinations. Do you believe this is really the world we live in? If so, what are your thoughts on the future?

I do believe this is the world we live in and have been for a long time. With all the horror going on in the world it’s basically kill or be killed. As long as these covert operations are used to protect us and our security…why not? I think it would be naïve to think these types of missions haven’t happened, aren’t happening right now or are something new. As more dangerous threats pop up over time it makes it difficult to gauge what exactly the future holds.

What are you working on next?

I’m working on the first book of a four-book paranormal thriller series; Deadly Shadow (The Assassin Chronicles). The book features veteran FBI Agent Victory McClane and government assassin, Derrick Lynn, who has some pretty interesting paranormal abilities that make him unique and untraceable.

I’m also outlining the third book in the Whitney Steel Series which will release in the spring/summer of 2016. I promise it will be another crazy-action-injected-ride for investigative reporter, Whitney Steel.