Blog tour interviews and guest posts

Crime Thriller Girl: Interview – Author David Khara talks about The Bleiberg Project

Mystery Fanfare: Bringing a Hero to Life

Mystery writing is murder: Writing a Historical Thriller – The Journey

Thriller Central: When Truth and Fiction Collide

Loup d’Argent: Writing: A Journey for Writers and For Readers and excerpt and giveaway

• This got picked up by ePublishaBook

Riley Banks: Interview with David Khara

Short sharp Interview with Paul D. Brazill

Another Interview of David Khara from American Woman in France

Omnimystery news: Conversation with Thriller Writer David Khara

Omnimystery news also ran this guest post: Please Welcome Thriller Writer David Khara

Suspense magazine excerpt

Girl who reads Friday Fun excerpt

Book Review Blitz

Here is a sampling of reviews The Bleiberg Project has received. Please go visit these blogs and sites and check out the interesting things they do.

Fresh Meat from Criminal Element: “This book kept me completely involved from the first page. The suspense is incredible because all the events take place in a matter of days. And they are action-packed days. Khara did his research and used it to weave a tale so believable you’ll find yourself shuddering because it could be happening right now. This is one of those books I wanted to end so I could know what happened, but then I went back to the first page and started reading again because I know there were details I missed.”

Library Journal: ”Khara’s thriller, with its pared-down prose, pell-mell pace, and extreme brevity, might remind some of Ian Fleming’s Bond novels or Adam Hall’s Quiller series…A quick read to be savored as a hurried snack rather than a leisurely French meal.”

Thinking about Books blog: “This is a great translation, nicely catching the rhythms of US English and developing considerable narrative drive as we quickly get into the action. The narrative is built around multiple flashbacks so we can slowly piece the key events together before and during the War… more interesting than the conventional linear novel.”

Crime fiction Lover Review: “David Khara is clever at following the suspense-building rules of international thrillers, but also subverting them with an ironic twist of phrase.”

Fiction Addict: “History buffs and conspiracy theorists alike would find something in this book that calls to them. Watching this story unfold was truly mind-blowing at times. The story doesn’t lose any of its tension, and there is enough twists and turns to keep even the most casual reader hooked until the end.  I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a fun, enjoyable story that will keep them pulled in and entertained the entire time.”

Musings of an Unabashed Francophile by Alyssa Linn Palmer: “I’ve been impressed with every translation put out by the digital-first publisher Le French Book. My favourite is still The 7th Woman (by Frédérique Molay), but The Bleiberg Project runs a close second. This is an excellent thriller that everyone should pick up.”

KDdidit Takes on Books: “This was good with a cast of characters with whom I empathized and cried for. …I don’t think I’ll ever understand evil, other than that it exists.” Read full review (Spoiler alert)

Goodereader review: “The Bleiberg Project is an immensely readable and captivating thriller whose action takes place over the course of only a few days. Nazi plots, Mossad agents, CIA covers being blown, and a few innocent bystanders getting lured into the chase all make this an intense read.”

Modern Gypsy: “f you’re a fan of fast paced thrillers, be prepared to stay up all night as David takes you on a rip-roaring ride!”

BookMusings: “I enjoyed reading this book – it was fast paced and interesting! It might not have been my preferred genre, but it didn’t disappoint.”

MLISReader Blog: “I stayed up all night reading The Bleiberg Project! I have come to love a good thriller and this is definitely a good thriller….I hope that there will be more books with Eytan Morg as one of the most interesting characters I’ve read in a long time.”

“It’s fast paced, nonstop action, which makes ‘The Bleiberg Project’ extremely difficult to put down.” From Smeethsays.

Thank you.

The post Blog Tour Bonanza with David Khara appeared first on Le French Book.

These are:

• La fête du travail or Labor Day – May 1
• Victory Day (celebrating the end of WWII in Europe) – May 8
• Feast of the Ascension, which is movable and falls on May 9 this year
• Whit Monday, which is also movable and falls on May 20 this year

This is a good year: May gets all four holidays. When they fall in the middle of the week that makes for a number of long weekends. Here they are called ponts, or bridges. This year has an impressive configuration: May 1 fell on a Wednesday, May 8 also fell on a Wednesday, immediately followed by the Ascension. This means just about everyone takes a whole extra week off. The pont extends from Wednesday to Sunday, becoming more of a viaduct. 

In other words, forget getting any business done in France until next week.

The next really, really good month of May looks like it will be in 2015: there will be four long weekends (two bridges and two Thursday to Sunday viaducts.)

Image courtesy of Tom Curtis / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The post Got to Love France Department: May 2013 appeared first on Le French Book.

Global warming spy novel and action bonanza

What does global warming really mean for geopolitics? Does it promise espionage and intrigue, economic warfare and behind-the-scenes struggles for natural resources? Author Bernard Besson, one of France’s top experts in economic intelligence brings us this exciting tale, a very plausible vision of the near future combines with French freelance spies and Bond-like action into a gripping page-turner of a thriller. The translator Julie Rose describes it as “written with equally compelling exuberance and gusto—and sheer delight in language.”

Here’s a short excerpt that explains the creature

John looked toward the steps, protected by a red wool runner. As he was about to go up, his gaze was drawn to an object sitting on the marble console table. The “thing” was staring at him with its asymmetrical white eyes screwed into a smashed-in skull out of all proportion. Curled over its four legs, the figurine could scarcely be more than a five inches high and exuded malice. Half beast, half Frankenstein.

“What’s that?”

“It’s a tupilak. In Inuktitut, the Inuit language, a tupilak is a monster made up of bits of dead humans and animals. Certain shamans collect bones and frozen flesh scattered in the snow. They then mark out a magical place that communes with dark forces. They dance around debris they’ve gathered together, singing ritual words over a body to infuse life into it.

Qaalasoq ran his fingers over the monster’s vertebrae, studying it very closely. As though he were caressing a domestic animal, a familiar.

“Naturally, it’s just a legend.”

“Of course,” John replied, regarding the Inuit with the intimate conviction that the man was lying to him.

“Stone tupilaks like this one are part of the local craft industry. Each monster is unique. This one is for you. It’s a welcome present.”

“Who’s giving it to me?”

“The question hasn’t yet been decided. You have to take it first and we’ll only find out later who really gave it to you.”

“And if I don’t take it?”

“You won’t be able to carry out your mission.”

“Are you serious?”

John didn’t need to wait for the answer to know that Qaalasoq wasn’t joking. He took the object in his hands and confronted the monster’s wild-eyed gaze. He thought of Victoire and the chain of events that had led him here. Who had really “given” him this surreal mission in the Far North? He thought of the Harpers, but also of Guerot and of Connie Rasmussen, who was ready to pay dearly for information, too. Who was he working for?

“You may well be right. We’ll only find out later who really gave it to me.”

“You are a wise man, Mr. Spencer Larivière.”

The post Upcoming spy novel cover revealed appeared first on Le French Book.

Spoiler alert: Anne here. I personally would read the book first before reading this post, but hey. It is now available on Kindle, Nook, and Kobo.

A writer’s view

by David Khara

To write The Bleiberg Project, I had an overall scenario and a purpose, so then what I needed were strong, emotional characters. This is their story.

A Journey: Jeremy

“Obnoxious” is probably the best word to describe Jeremy when we enter his life. He drinks a lot, smokes a lot, sleeps with women whose names he can’t remember, and shows as little respect for others as he does for himself. And that is precisely what Jeremy is about. This young fellow embodies the diseases of the twenty-first century: easy money, fancy cars, disrespect for work and common values. Well, he is just the kind of person who caused the banking crises that started it 2008.

But, behind what he has become, there is still a wounded child, suffering from his father’s disappearance. With everything that happens to him during the book, the child takes over the heartless trader. And the child finds in Eytan what he needs: an example he could follow.

Jeremy is not there just for fun (although he is funny, let’s admit that), but he’s on a journey to recover his self-esteem.

In the end, the real word that fits him is not “obnoxious,” it is “hope.”

The link: Jackie

God do I love Buffy, although Jacqueline Walls doesn’t really appreciate being called this. I often refer to her as “the pocket fighter with a temper.”  Although often in danger in the book, she is far from being a damsel in distress!  She knows what she wants, and she is deadly when she needs be. Jackie embodies resistance. After a difficult childhood, she creates her own destiny. In many ways, she’s the real adult in the trio, a bit of a mother-like figure. She seems to be a rookie–but compared to Eytan, almost everybody is–but there is this scene in Switzerland when she shoots three bad guys in the head with three bullets and in less than 30 seconds. She is definitely not to be played with.

But still, she is the link between the adventure and atrocities described in the book and a regular, peaceful life that everybody should be allowed to live.

The big guy: Eytan

The big guy. There is so much to say about him that I don’t even know where to start. Well, let’s begin at the beginning. Writing a story in which the real hero reveals himself very late is not only fun. It is the main idea of the whole series. The first three books of the Consortium series describe the journey of a man, fighting his past, fighting real evil, ready to sacrifice himself, though he’ll never admit it. Yeah, to me, Eytan is the absolute hero. But he doesn’t come out of nowhere. He was born out of several testimonies of death camps survivors, and everything in his story is true (except for one part I won’t reveal here). It  just didn’t happen to one single person, but to several.

Eytan summarizes the very essence of survival. The man never kneels, he never gives up and beyond his impressive looks and skills, he’s inhabited by a mighty will and a great heart. That’s what really makes him special. That what makes him an example for Jeremy.

In the series, Eytan is a sun. he brings motivation and energy to the people around him. And, believe me, the more you’ll know about him, the more you’ll feel connected to the guy….

Read this new thriller now

The Bleiberg Project is now available.

Our books are available worldwide. Check your local ebook retailer. US Amazon readers can click above. All others can click here: Other Amazon stores. Coming soon to iTunes store.

The post A writer’s view: dynamic thriller trio from new novel appeared first on Le French Book.

Top French thriller writer David Khara – ©Ouest-France

A tribute to victims

Soon after I began my research for The Bleiberg Project, I understood there would be two very distinct fields I should explore. The first one was historical facts, and these proved quite easy to find since World War II has generated tons and tons of essays, studies and newspapers articles.

But war–and history in general–is not just about facts. It’s about people, how lives can be destroyed in the blink of an eye, how heroes standup and, often, fall. To me, World War II was all about the victims. I needed to tell ordinary stories inside history. Hence, I spent most of my research listening and reading testimonials of “shadow warriors” as people from the resistance are often called, of women and men who suffered torture and deportation. I wanted to feel their pain and to get into their hearts. And, behind the action and fun, I wanted to testify, to tell the stories of anonymous people who will never be quoted in history books.

Let me take an example: the more Jeremy is in danger, the more jokes he makes. One might think I did it “for fun.” Actually, that is far from the truth. It appears that in the death camps, people would make silly jokes everyday. Why ? Because laughter is humanity, it is life, it is what Evil wants to destroy. It was not about laughter. It was about hanging on to lives and dignity. Hence, as a survivor of these atrocities, Eytan also makes jokes, and mostly to people he is about to fight. This, also, was done on purpose.

Characters in the book have all been created out of these testimonials, and apart from the gas station chapters, most of the situations described in The Bleiberg Project actually happened, in another context, at another time of history, when danger lurked everywhere and staying alive was a daily concern.

Based on these considerations, chapter 37 is the main chapter of the book, you’ll understand once you get there.

Read this new thriller now

The Bleiberg Project is now available on Kindle, Nook, and Kobo.

Our books are available worldwide. Check your local ebook retailer. US Amazon readers can click above. All others can click here: Other Amazon stores. Coming soon to iTunes store.

The post New thriller is a tribute to “shadow warriors” and victims appeared first on Le French Book.

David Khara is the author of The Bleiberg Project, talks to us about his adrenaline-pumping conspiracy thriller based on World War II and its consequences in today’s world. This fast-paced novel full of humor and humanity is the first in the Consortium Thriller series. The book was an instant success in France, catapulting the author to the ranks of the country’s top thriller writers. 

It all began in 2008 as I was listening to the news on the radio in my car. A journalist was interviewing a man working for a pharmaceutical company who ran a research program to cure an orphan disease that affects 20 to 30 children in Europe. Because of a lack of budget, the whole program was being shut down. The amount missing ? 10,000 euros.

I remember thinking, “How the hell is that possible? These guys make fortunes, and they can sentence kids to death so easily?” I was angry. I mean, really angry. So when I got to my office, I started doing research on the profits made by this company, and then I started digging into its history. Oddly enough, I ended up on websites telling incredible stories about the links between pharmaceutical research and World War II. The well seemed endless, and the more I dug, the more I found about links with Nazis experiments in death camps and the T4 program, research materials exchanged between American and German companies during the war, Japanese bacteriological testing in Manchuria through the dreadful Unit 731, and the list is far from over.

I’ve always been interested in World War II, but I was discovering that I knew nothing about it. And worst of all, I became fully aware that the impacts on the world as we know it today are HUGE.

I thought of a way to tell the truth, to show horrible facts, without boring people, without pretending to be an historian, which I’m not. So, crime fiction seemed to me an interesting way to tell the stories, inside a fast-paced, action-packed thriller.

Of course, I fictionalized a lot of things, assuming the research led to create the Ubermensch succeeded (and I sure hope it didn’t!), but the whole book was based on facts and testimonials, as incredible as they seem. And in the sequels, most of the facts revealed are simply, sadly, true.

That’s how it all began, just a news brief no one noticed, lost in a continuous flow, and the ideas of the Consortium Thrillers started to grow.

The post New international conspiracy thriller: where it all began appeared first on Le French Book.

Getting feedback from readers is one of the truly gratifying parts of this Le French Book adventure. It encourages us to keep at it and bring more books to new readers. And it feels good. As thanks to our many readers, we’re running a spring ebook sale.

Looking for a gift for Mother’s day? What about stocking up on summer reads? Don’t miss our spring ebook sale going on now. Get our three crime fiction titles at 50% off.

We love to hear from all of you, so please let us know what you think, post your reviews on Amazon, Goodreads, Facebook or wherever you can.

Here are some highlights from recent reviews.

Gripping psychological thriller

The Paris Lawyer, by Sylvie Granotier

5-star Amazon review: Gripping – something about this mystery made me nearly compulsive about finishing this mystery immediately reading the first few pages – we see into characters’ minds, feel their emotions – a young lawyer given her first murder case – but first – freeing a man accused of pushing a woman in a bar – he becomes her lover – yet is he the man who killed her mother years before when she was barely a toddler? And will she succeed proving her client innocent? Her future may depend on it. Past and present collide in an ending that – well – you will have to read it for yourself!

5-star Amazon review:  An excellent psychological thriller that will get you in quickly and surprise you with an unexpected ending. The main character is a young French lawyer who in the midst of investigating her first big case uncovers secrets about her mothers disappearance many years before. This is a well written book with a superb storyline. A totally enjoyable read.

A gem of a mystery

Treachery in Bordeaux, Jean-Pierre Alaux and Noël Balen

 5-star Amazon review: So I’m in France’s wine county enjoying its beauty and relationships to French food, history, architecture, and antiques, all this through the eyes of Benjamin Cooker and his assistant Virgile Lassien. I’m not a wine expert, but I am seduced by all of what goes into making fine wines, as I am by the clever and ruthless politics behind those who covet vineyard land and estates by illegal means. The mystery (“Treachery in Bordeaux”) woven into the background I’ve described deals with these destructive forces and the two men dedicated to solving it and bringing the culprit to justice. I can’t wait to read other novels in The Winemaker Detective Series. Also, don’t miss the French TV program “Blood of the Vine” based on this series (MHZ Network).

Student of Opinions blog: The depth of understanding, and the care the authors put into taking their reader deep into their passion for wine, writing, and French life was a gem to behold. You can tell these gentleman wrote a story for themselves, that they would enjoy, and therefore, it became something everyone else would as well, because so much enthusiasm went into it. (This in only an excerpt. Make sure you go read the full review)

A must read

The 7th Woman by Frédérique Molay

5-star Amazon review: The 7th Woman was quite a departure for me. Most of the mysteries and serial killers I read about are all here in the good old USA. With this one, I got to go to Paris. Beautiful sounding names and places surround the ugly crimes committed there. The book centers on Nico Sirsky, head of the Paris Criminal Investigation Division. At 38, he’s very young for a job with so much responsibility but he has an uncanny knack for getting to the heart of a crime and quickly finding the guilty party. A young woman has been tied up, tortured, and her body mutilated. Even the experienced detectives feel ill at the macabre scene, and it gets a lot worse when they realize this is just the first victim. We soon learn the killer has plans to kill seven women in seven days, which creates a horrifying anticipation at police headquarters as the detectives scramble to find this killer. There are several secondary characters that lend a lot to this book, even though Nico is quite a character himself. I was pleased to learn that there are two subsequent Nico Sirsky books … they just can’t get them translated fast enough for me.

5-star Amazon review: Terror stalks young, successful women in the Paris streets and into the once safety of their apartments, as a deranged serial killer focuses on humiliating detective Nico Sirsky, while brutally slaying his quarry. Terrific characters, mind haunting suspense, a detective’s personal life and new love in danger of being shattered by a vicious killer – you won’t want to put this one down before you reach its last tense pages.

The post Book review highlights and spring ebook sale appeared first on Le French Book.

David Khara, author of the international conspiracy thriller The Bleiberg Project

As we approach the release date approaches for our international conspiracy thriller The Bleiberg Project, we had some more questions for the author David Khara, to gear you up for your fill of action, secret agents, Nazi conspiracies, and international suspense.

Did writing this thriller change your life in any way?

You bet it did! I wrote it with honesty. The sad parts make me sad. The funny stuff makes me laugh. I had no idea the book would become a bestseller. I was a totally unknown writer, my French publisher was very small, and only put out two of three books a year, just for fun. Now, the book ranked number one on the charts for weeks. The second and third books in the series have come out. The Bleiberg Project and its sequel have sold over 150,000 copies, and a movie and a comic book series are in the pipeline. Now, I travel a lot, meet lots of readers and famous writers I admired before writing myself. But this just one side of my life. Otherwise, I’ve not changed a bit. Maybe if all this had happened to me when I was younger, I would have changed. But this in not the case. I’m over 40, and I know who I am, and who I am not. I’ve not changed. I respect hard work, humility and honor. It will take far more than success to change that.

Can you tell us something about the series, without any spoilers?

That is a tricky question indeed. The series explores the horrors of World War II. The sequel to The Bleiberg Project is called The Shiro Project and is about Unit 731 and deals the American government made with war criminals after the war. After that The Morgenstern Project explores the resistance in Europe and looks into changes in our world right now as we speak, but I can’t tell you more without spoiling the read.

The post Gearing up for international conspiracy thriller release appeared first on Le French Book.

So, we are doing out part for everyone’s good health by bringing out a couple more wine and mystery novels. That’s right, Le French Book has signed on another two novels in the Winemaker Detective series. This made-for-TV whodunit series combines mystery with wine tasting, with two Epicurean amateur sleuths who gumshoe around French wine country.

In France, the series is published by the major publishing house Fayard, which releases two books a year in the series. It is also a hit on French TV. Season three is airing now.

This is a fitting fate for this series, which the authors say, “began while we were sharing a meal, with a bottle of Château Gaudou 1996, a red wine from Cahors with smooth tannins and a balanced nose. During the dinner, our conversation heated up as we discussed fiction adapted for television. There were no series that mixed elements of France’s cultural heritage with a mystery plot, there were no recurring characters that brought together terroir—local history and tradition and flavor—and a whodunit. What we needed was a fictional hero involved in one of the areas where the French excel. We needed a character that could go from one region to another, could touch on all the various aspects of winemaking, from grape growing to bottling. It became clear that it could be none other than a winemaker, an expert who in and of himself symbolizes both the knowledge and the way of life.”

Treachery in Bordeaux, which is already available, establishes the characters for the series. The protagonist, Benjamin Cooker, is in his fifties, at the top of his career and has a distinguished English gentleman veneer. His sidekick, Virgile, is the young, handsome, sexy one representing the younger generation. Benjamin is the winemaker par excellence, whose vocation is to help wine estates around France and elsewhere to make great wines. On French television, the part is played by French actor Pierre Arditi, who loves adapting this series because the character’s sensibilities, culture and personality help him solve the cases. A winemaker’s analytical ability, based on sensory perception and details, is not so far from that of a police inspector.

In the second book in the series, readers travel to Paris and the Loire valley, as the heroes try to understand a strange series of heists. The third is set in Burgundy, France’s other key wine-making region, where the Winemaker Detective must solve a mystery revolving around messages from another era.

Wine and mystery novel giveaway

Don’t miss our Goodreads giveaway of Treachery in Bordeaux.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Treachery in Bordeaux

by Jean-Pierre Alaux

Giveaway ends May 07, 2013.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

(Images courtesy of xedos4 and Sophakit73 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net)

The post Good for you? Wine and mystery novel giveaway appeared first on Le French Book.

• Daniel Picouly, who is one of the serial short story writers in the 52 Serial Shorts series
• Sylvie Granotier, the author of the psychological thriller/legal procedural The Paris Lawyer
• David Khara, bestselling author of our upcoming thriller The Bleiberg Project

Here are some pictures.

Quais du Polar book fair, Lyons, France

Quais du Polar book fair, Lyon, France

Daniel Picouly, 52 Serial Shorts author

Sylvie Granotier, author of The Paris Lawyer

David Khara, author of The Bleiberg Project

Interview with Marina from Crime Fiction Lover

Group photo of writers at the fair. It looks like not everyone braved the weather for the picture.

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