I'm always excited to read a new author. I met Jolene at a Sisters in Crime event and was immediately drawn to her intense and clear manner. Learning she was a foreign correspondent before penning her new book didn't surprise me. The more I learned about her, the more interested I became in her book, GOING DARK. Read on. Get to know Jolene. I'll just bet if sacrificing all in a geopolitical thriller sparks your interest, you'll soon be lost between the covers of this terrific new book. -cjh
~~~
The idea of 'Going Dark' started to form
in my mind as I spent nights working on the foreign desk at CBS. Those nights,
I was alone in the entire studio, watching in coming video feed from our
military forces stationed in Iraq. In 2006-07, the war was in full swing and we
received daily updates on the progress and struggle people were facing during
the war. The war zone wasn't too far off from our foreign correspondent team
stationed in Iraq, reporting from there.
As
I was sitting in my desk, I envisioned Amelia Sinclair (a foreign liaison in
Going Dark) how hard and challenging must be to be separated from your family
when your job takes you away from them, especially if you have young children.
Sinclair ultimately sacrifices a stellar career when she finds out that she's
unexpectedly pregnant and chooses to stay close to home by taking a desk job at
the United Nations. In her mind, she can still do it all. However, her
adventurous heart can't change and she's drawn into a cover op to send four
U.S. journalists to Damascus, Syria, a country in the midst of a civil war, to
interview the president.
Murphy
Law's tips the scale and things quickly escalate when the four are kidnapped
from their hotel room shorting after they arrive in the county. Amelia receives
a suspicious e-mail with a video showing their kidnapping. Her boss, Harold
Frost and her, don't have a plan in place to save them. Frost makes the
decision to call Gabriel Jets, CIA's top officer, who's back in the States on a
well-deserved break from the Middle-East.
When
the White House learns four U.S. journalists have gone missing, they panic.
President Delay's administration is a hundred days in and the country is
divided by his election. Kidnapped Americans would spell trouble they can't
afford at the moment. A Pakistani report links Sinclair to a terrorist cell
suspected of the kidnapping. Sinclair's name is quickly escalated up the chain
of command and her life is turned upside down on a dime.
When
Jets and Amelia meet, Frost has been killed by an assassin and a sniper takes
aim at Amelia. What is he supposed to do? He can't let her get killed, Sinclair
holds answers to pressing questions, even she doesn't know it yet. Together
they have to run to clear her name and find who's really behind the kidnapping
plot if they want to bring the four alive.
In
my debut novel 'Going Dark' I wanted to showcase the female strength, the love
a mother posse to protect her child and empower women to pursue their dreams
despite the obstacles presented to them in today's world.
*
Jolene
Grace was born in Eastern Europe in the 90s while the region
was undergoing a
geopolitical makeover. She witnessed first hand the poverty and struggles of
people around her that deeply affected her and left a life lasting impression.
Those childhood memories find their way today in her written works.
During
college, Jolene began writing professionally while pursuing a degree in
journalism. Her interest in politics deepened and led her into a fulfilling
career where she had the opportunity to cover state and national politics.
Jolene
interned for CBS evening news, working on the foreign desk at night time. It
was during that time the idea of ‘Going Dark’ took shape in her mind as she
watched the unfiltered tapes trickled in from the front lines of the
American/Iraq war.
Upon
leaving the network, Jolene went on having a successful career as a digital
manager for radio stations across the country. Later on, she settled down with
her husband and kids and began to write full time.
For
updates and previews of upcoming works by the author visit www.jolenegracebooks.com; find
and follow her on Twitter:@theauthorjolene; subscribe to her newsletter for
exclusives.
***
GOING DARK:
Gabriel Jets
is the CIA’s top agent, a man with a reputation of getting the job done, no
matter the price. On a rare visit back to the States, Jets is dispatched to
collect a video depicting the kidnapping of four U.S. journalists working
undercover in Damascus, Syria.
Meanwhile, the
U.S. president and his chief of staff, Robert McKaine, are called to the
Situation Room to receive a briefing. Damascus is rocked by a terrorist plot
that killed twenty-five innocent people.
A link between
the two events is quickly discovered, with evidence pointing to the involvement
of another U.S. journalist, Amelia Sinclair, a prominent foreign correspondent,
with direct ties to the missing.
While Jets
hunts for the video, he crosses paths with Amelia. In a blink of an eye, his
mission is compromised as he believes she is been set up to be the fall guy.
As the U.S.
government closes in to arrest Sinclair, Jets alters his assignment to help
clear her name and track down the powerful behind the ploy to draw in the
country into an international scandal.
