Black Flagged Character Teasers

Posted on by Steven Konkoly

Enjoy this sneak peek at the key characters in my upcoming release, BLACK FLAGGED...available in mid-October. The final back cover blurb is also ready. Thanks for the input, everyone.

FINAL BLURB

You can always check out a sample of Black Flagged here:

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Three of Black Flagged

CAST OF CHARACTERS

Daniel Petrovich

Who is Daniel Petrovich? Very few people know the real truth behind this question, and Daniel likely says a little prayer every night wishing each and every one of them a fatal heart attack. In Black Flagged, the reader will meet Daniel behind a sleek, brushed metal desk, buried in MBA level work at Zenith Semiconductor. He’s been hiding here for a few years, trying to forget the past, and build a new life with the woman he loves.

Unfortunately for Daniel, some secrets carry a debt that can never be repaid, and certain acquired skills will always hold their value, even in a down economy. Daniel Petrovich will be asked to perform one last mission by his former mentor, General Terrence Sanderson. It’s an easy job for a highly trained operative like Petrovich…a simple killing, right across town, and all in the name of national security. With the promise of a clean slate, Daniel agrees. What could possible go wrong?

Special Agent-in-Charge, Ryan Sharpe

As the Agent-in-Charge of Task Force HYDRA, Ryan Sharpe just received the worst possible news imaginable. All eight of HYDRA’s investigative suspects were murdered last night, literally leaving the FBI with a dead investigation. Someone just put Al Qaeda’s domestic funding network out of business, without any warning, and the FBI doesn’t have much time to figure out why. Ryan Sharpe will lead Task Force HYDRA into a frightening day, focusing on the nebulous organization behind the killings, and desperately scrambling to seek answers. Nervous about the possibility of an impending terrorist attack, pressure from the Beltway puppetmasters will mount on Sharpe, forcing him to adopt tactics not found in the FBI’s operational rule book.

Karl Berg, Assistant Director Counter-Terrorism Center, National Clandestine Service

Karl Berg has been around the CIA long enough to have a “friend” in nearly every dark shadow cast by the U.S. government…and oddly enough, most of them owe him a favor or two. Karl is a player within Langley. Long ago a foreign operative himself, he’s not afraid to bend the rules, or manipulate the scenes for the CIA’s benefit….or his own. While the FBI desperately chases its own tail from Maine to Washington D.C., trying to uncover the true agenda behind the sudden murder of eight suspected Al Qaeda financiers, Karl will stumble upon a ghost from the past. A ghost that will ignite a thirst for revenge that can only be satisfied with blood. Berg is about to call in a few big favors, and ignite a deadly rampage with the D.C. Beltway.

Brigadier General Terrence Sanderson, U.S. Army (retired)

General Sanderson is exactly the kind of soldier you want on the front lines of the war on terror, watching over us long after we’ve tucked ourselves safely into bed at night…unless you have a problem with the trampling of the Geneva Convention and most laws, international or domestic. Disgraced into retirement after the operational details of his controversial Black Flag surfaced on Capitol Hill, Sanderson is back, and he’s not about to let the Pentagon, or a few government agencies stand in the way of his time-tested brand of patriotism. Backed by a wealthy, hidden cartel of “Patriots,” and some…a lot of blood money “confiscated” during Black Flag’s operational heydays, the good general is about to set in motion a series of events that will leave the FBI, CIA and most of Washington D.C. speechless.

Special Agent Justin Edwards

Movie star handsome, Ivy League educated, born to wealthy parents; Justin Edwards is a rising…well, maybe just a star within the FBI. What’s not to like about Justin Edwards? Most agents find it difficult to look beyond his perpetually elitist and arrogant attitude, and all of the female agents are tired of trying to get him to look above their chests. Only family connections have stemmed the tide of his misogynistic conduct, and kept him in Bureau for this long.

Justin’s not a complete loss to the FBI. He’s a solid investigator, and in the aftermath of the HYDRA murders, he finds himself bathed in foul breath and distasteful cologne…cramped into a briefing room at the dawn of a very long day for the FBI. Under protest, he accepts his assignment to lead the on-scene murder investigation of Mohammed Ghani in Maine. Feeling that he should have been assigned to a more important, cosmopolitan location, Edwards goes through the motions, unaware that he stands at a deadly and violently unpredictable crossroad. One that will define his future at the FBI…if he survives.

What a character would do…

Posted on by Steven Konkoly

Or rather be caught dead than doing.

Character development is a complicated aspect of writing. Like in our own lives, a glaring inconsistency draws a ton of attention, especially on paper (or e-ink).

This post was long overdue, and a minor criticism at my last writers group meeting motivated me to tackle the subject. What was the criticism? My protagonist, male…a former deep-cover operative, pulled a bottle of Riesling out of the refrigerator to share with his wife. Apparently, men don’t drink Riesling. Not even in 2005. And I thought it would go nicely with the Thai food they were eating. I was a little defensive, maybe a little hurt…I like Riesling (not a first or second choice, but it does pair well with spicy food). Alas, everyone agreed that a beer was more appropriate. This is a character compromise I am more than happy to make…if only this was their only suggestion about my new story, Black Flagged. PREVIEW.

This is a pretty minor criticism compared to some of the critique I have received over the months regarding the protagonist of my first book, The Jakarta Pandemic. Alex Fletcher, decorated war veteran, and former Marine Corps officer, grates on some peoples’ nerves! Who has the most trouble with this character? Conservatives. Alex takes a few jabs at Fox news, here and there. And, he’s a vegetarian that has installed solar panels on his roof. He also keeps his guns responsibly locked in a safe (until there is a definable danger), and doesn’t immediately kill any potential hazard to his family with extreme prejudice. I have also been accused, in a few of the reviews, of pushing a liberal agenda through this character. Huh? Did I mention that Alex is pro-choice and supports gay marriage? No, I didn’t…so I though I was safe from the appearance of political partisanship in the book. Apparently not. Probably a little naive on my part. One reviewer, who loved the story overall, said that the “author was conflicted,” because I created a character that didn’t comfortably fit into ANY political classification. I’m actually proud of that.

Still, all of this raised some awareness about character actions, and I do keep this in mind while writing my next book. I have dozens of characters, all with their own thoughts and rationales for what they do. Once again, I miss the good old days of The Jakarta Pandemic. It’s pretty difficult to keep a character “in line” throughout a 300-400 page book, so this will be one of the primary focuses that I assign to all of my pre-readers (those that will read the first edition before it goes to print), writers group and EDITOR (that’s you Felicia).

Keep my male characters away from ANY drinks that come with a pink umbrella!

Realistic dialogue…

Posted on by Steven Konkoly

in 19th Century London…what a mess.

My wife is reading a very thick, fiction novel set in 19th century London, and she occasionally draws my attention to passages from the book. Yes, she interrupts whatever I’m reading to do this, and since I love both historical fiction and my wife, I’m usually game to take a look.

I’m always amazed by the richness of detail in these novels, which can at times almost appear obsessive. From the era appropriate napkin folds at table settings, to intimate descriptions of every article of clothing that adorns a character…and not just the main character, but everyone in the scene. This is one of the main draws to period or historical fiction. The details of another time. It’s an amazing feat, which must involve painstaking research, travel and imagination. As a part time writer, I’m thankful for Google and an active, roaming imagination.

The other night, she pointed out another feature of this tome she’s lugged around for a few weeks. The dialogue. I couldn’t believe it, but the author had taken pains to mimic the speech of the 19th century London too. I can barely understand some of the thicker British accents even today! I must admit that I couldn’t stand it. I was forced to work too hard to understand the dialogue, and I can only imagine that my wife feels like she’s learned a second language at this point…though I don’t hear her complaining.

I take dialogue seriously, and if I can’t follow it, or it’s unrealistic, I’m likely to tune out of the book.  In fiction all dialogue is contrived, so I use a simple strategy to test it. I read and re-read lines of dialogue out loud (I don’t do this for every line…I seem to know when the test is necessary). It’s amazing how crappy a genius line can sound when you put a voice, and some inflection to it. I’ve eliminated some stinkers this way…and probably missed a few. I still find them.

Do you pay close attention to dialogue in a story, or are you more tied to the action?

Don’t characterize my characters…just yet.

Posted on by Steven Konkoly

Good plot. Immersing detail. Popular genre.  Quick tempo. All the trappings of a worthy read…right? While these qualities in a book might draw you in, and keep you there for a spell, nothing, in my humble view, detaches the reader quicker than hollow characters. I’ve read the reviews (not on mine thankfully…yet). “Cardboard, one-dimensional, flat, undeveloped, unrealistic…” The list goes on.

Unrealistic?   Now this description captures my attention the most, because it reminds me of something Stephen King said about writing good stories. I am paraphrasing at my worst, but he said something to the effect that an interesting story pits normal people against extraordinary circumstances, not extraordinary people against normal situations. Realism defined? I don’t know, but I like reading stories about characters that have to struggle to overcome an extraordinary problem. Is James Bond one of these characters? At first you’d probably say “no way!” I might agree, but I’d argue that he is an extraordinary person pitted against insanely extraordinary circumstances. It’s the same formula, just presented in a higher octane fashion, which is why it works…more so in the recent Bond films.

Ever read a book where the protagonist is an unstoppable, unbeatable hero? Mentally or physically? It’s fun for a while, but falls flat very quickly, because ultimately, there is no real drama. You know the protagonist will come out on top. It might be fun getting there, but on some level I get bored…really quickly. If the protagonist’s success is in question, or he/she takes a beating along the way…even though I still suspect, or know it’ll turn out alright, I’m pulled along.

Another aspect of a realistic protagonist is their moral stance. I think a little moral complexity is critical for a realistic character. We don’t all help old ladies cross the street…sometimes we’re in a hurry and don’t want to stand two more places back at Starbucks. Sorry. Moral complexity can vary across the spectrum, which can become confusing, so traditionally, we think of categorization in terms of good vs. evil, or some form of this. It’s a simple recipe for conflict, which usually drives a story along.

In my first novel, The Jakarta Pandemic, the moral ambiguity was a little hazy. The structural “good guys vs. bad guys” dichotomy was fairly simple to process, and I’ve received little feedback to suggest otherwise. However, since the book’s release, I still eagerly wait to hear from the camp of people who think that Alex Fletcher was a terrible person, and could not associate with them at all. I built a subtle stage for this into the story (maybe not so subtle), and so far, nobody has walked up onto it for a solid rant against them.

My next story won’t be so easy for most of you. Although most of you will like the protagonist from the start, and turn the last page with the same sentiment intact (mostly)…the ride may leave you with an uneasy feeling. You might find yourself not so eagerly clinking champagne glasses with this character, as you sail away into the sunset.

What kind of protagonist keeps you reading a story?  What kind makes you toss the book aside?