"Troubleshooter" - the influences (Part 1 - Gavin Lyall)

Troubleshooter is out now, most eTailers already carry it.

I promised you some insight into the influences that were sort of my guideline in style and storytelling. Maybe you discover the writers in this small series of posting for your own library, too.

Part 1:  Gavin Lyall (Link to Wikipedia)

Mr. Lyall was probably the most influential guidance for "Troubleshooter". He was at the height of his writing in the Sixties when he had published a number of thrillers that all had a common denominator: a slightly damaged loner hero getting into a violent situation where his old agent/police/soldier skills are asked for again (if you read Troubleshooter already, this setting might sound familiar). Lyall had written another series (Major Maxim) in the same dry British style like his Sixties novels, but the first set of books remains for me kind of a classic foundation of the post-war non-political adventure thriller.

One other style-bit that I "borrowed" from Gavin Lyall are the very dry cliff hangers at the end of a chapter. Lately the came into fashion again, Lee Childs builds them also into his Lee Reacher novels.

Excerpt from Troubleshooter:  
He put the gangster’s phone in his pocket and retrieved the gun. An automatic. Was there already a bullet in the chamber? Shit, difficult to pull back the slide mechanism with one hand.! Only one way to find out. He switched the safety off and simply shot into the next soft tissue he could find: the dead man behind him. The loud bang of the firearm was driving the curious bystanders back in panic. Paul got up, oriented himself. He was only one block away from the office.
Follow the rat home. Kill all the rats.
Paul started to run.

Maybe Amy and Tom were not dead yet.

Selected Gavin Lyall reading recommendations:
Buy: Gavin Lyall - Shooting Script
Venus with Pistol (Bloomsbury Reader)
The Most Dangerous Game (Bloomsbury Reader)

"Troubleshooter" out now!

Alex Ames - Troubleshooter

Very happy to announce: the new baby is finally out. Troubleshooter is coming out on

Amazon Kindle

and

Smashwords.com

just about now.

One hundred million dollars have gone missing from the accounts of Strom Defense Industries. An underwhelming assignment for ex-soldier-ex-spy-turned-financial-controller Paul Trouble. But soon the case turns into murder and mayhem, and Paul will need all his former skills to stay on top of the game. 

Other eBooks editions will pop up a little later via Smashword distribution at all other major eTailers. The print-version will come last, as it will take some additional formatting. Troubleshooter is my first attempt of a thriller, old style. There are a lot of inspirations that I tried to emulate into the book (I'll start listing them in some separate postings), but hopefully I managed to keep my individual style, too. Up to you to judge.

New novel "Troubleshooter" is getting there.

Troubleshooter will be my next book, a thriller placed in the world of corporate finance and espionage. I still aim for a late 2013 publishing date. Right now I am in the middle of my last review round. That means finding logical errors, grammar/typos and adding touches/removing fat. Right after that step, I will give the manuscript to my editor. That usually takes two weeks, which give me time to define layout and create cover and jacket graphics for eBook and print.

Smashwords - the next channel is online

After it took me some time to go through their longer instructions-manual how to format "The Brilliant Plan" for Smashword publication, I had it uploaded late last week.  Again, I am too lazy to follow up whether the eBook actually appears in the Apple store or at Barnes & Nobles.  But it appears that I sold my first one, so my statistics says.
In order to sell a second one:
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/322967