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The Friday 56 is hosted by Freda’s Voice.The only rules are to grab a book (any book), turn to page 56 or 56% in your ereader and find any sentence or a few ( no spoilers) that grabs you and post it.

Please join Rose City Reader every Friday to share the first sentence or so of the book you are reading along with you initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires.

Please include the title of the book and the author’s name.

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Anyone that knows me, knows I am a huge conspiracy fan and The Apocalypse Watch by Robert Ludlum fits the bill.

I used to read a lot of World War II spy novels and I had a lot of Robert Ludlum’s books, but lost them when I moved the first time…

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Amazon / Goodreads

My 56

“You really don’t know talented actors. They can walk into a building looking like themselves, then reappear on the street as someone else. A shirt stuffed under their jackets, their trousers baggy, their walk different, and God forbid there’s a clothes shop inside.”

(Page 56 in my 1st edition hardcover, published in 1995)

Book Beginnings

The Alpine Pass, high in the Austrian Hausruck, was swept by the winter snow and assaulted by ht cold north winds, while far below, a valley sprouted crocuses and the jonquils of early spring. This particular pass was neither a border checkpoint nor a transfer post from one part of the mountain range to another In fact, it was not on any map issued for public scrutiny.

My question to you: Do you believe in conspiracies?

GOODREADS BLURB: American agent Harry Latham has penetrated the fortresslike mountain hideaway of the Brotherhood of the Watch, a neo-Nazi organization that was born in the days after the fall of the Third Reich. After three years in deep cover, and on the eve of his most spectacular success, Harry Latham has disappeared.

Drew Latham, Special Officer for Consular Operations in Paris, is frantic to discover his older brother’s fate. But when he receives the sudden good news that Harry has surfaced, gut-twisting doubts arise. Has Harry’s cover been blown? And if so, why has the Brotherhood of the Watch let him live?

For Harry Latham has emerged with an explosive list: the secret supporters of the movement, among them some of the highest-ranking officials in the United States and its allies, names synonymous with honorable service to their nations. It is a document that could topple governments — but is it legitimate? Can Drew Latham trust his own brother? The search for the truth about Harry — and the growing Nazi threat — will plunge Drew into a labyrinth of deceit and death. And whoever gets out alive holds the fate of the free world in his hands.

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WHICH COVER WOULD YOU CHOOSE, Including the one above?

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Ancient Danger

by Jo-Ann Carson

Series: Mata Hari, #3

Genre: Romantic Suspense

Cover Designer: Nina French

Release Date: April 1, 2015

A single woman — A complicated life

International, super-model Sadie Stewart meets her Dutch lover, Sebastian Wilde, in Venice to celebrate their six month anniversary. But having lived a double life as a CIA operative for ten years, her life is never simple.

During a costume ball in an ancient Venetian palace, an assassin tries to kill her. As a result Sebastian gets ridiculously, over-protective, which drives her crazy. Her old boss offers to help her, but wants something in return.

Bakari al-Sharif, an arms-dealer with an insatiable thirst for power, is planning to steal King Tutankhamen’s scarab from Highclere castle near London. Sadie is the only person who has ever gotten close to al-Sharif and lived. The CIA wants her to stop him.

Or at least that’s what they say. When it comes to the world of espionage, the true motivation of the players is never clear.

Can Sadie return to the life of a spook and maintain a relationship with Sebastian? Can she nail the arms-dealer? And why did the masked man try to kill her?

Life is complicated for Sadie Stewart.

A cross between Indiana Jones and Covert Affairs

Sadie is a model by day and a spy by night. Today she’s talking about modeling.

The top five things about my modelling career? I get to:

Travel all over the world.
Wear great clothes.
Meet interesting people.
Make some good money, which I’ve mostly spent, but that’s another story.
All of these things make a great cover for a spy.

But being a model isn’t easy. My Top 5 Pet Peeves are:

1. Stilettoes

…kill my feet. I know, they look sexy, and give me a special kind of control over men, but I’ll be honest standing for hours in them while I pout gives me blisters and an aching back. Having to run in them is pure hell. I’d like to see James Bond try an escape in a four inch heel.

2. People think I’m stupid

Okay folks. Let’s get this straight. Having a symmetrical face does not mean I’ve had a lobotomy. Sheesh. Some people think my IQ is in the range of my shoe size. Of course that does come in handy…

3. I feel like I’m never “enough”

In the modelling business I’m never young enough, skinny enough, stylish enough… You get the idea. I hear the whispers and feel, I’m not enough. Many models self-medicate to deal with the negative side of the beauty industry. I say to hell with that, and carry a gun.

4. It’s a ruthless profession

One day you’re in the top five, the next morning you wake up and no one knows your name. Modelling is a highly competitive, short-term gig. You need to have a strong sense of self to survive. And a good lover helps.

5. It takes me away from Sebastian

He is the love of my life and I don’t like to be away from him.

Interview with Casanova, Sadie’s Labradoodle

1. What’s it like living with a model/spy?

Weird man. Sadie comes and goes at all hours of the day and night and she’s often hyper-excited. She really needs to chill. I try to let her know that. I lick her face whenever I get the chance. She’s a hard lady to slow down.

I wish she would take me on her adventures. When she flies out of town, she leaves me with her neighbour or her best friend. But that’s not all bad. Beatrice, the neighbour, feeds me cat food on crackers, and lets me sleep in her bed. Mitch, her guy friend, throws sticks for me and lets me sleep on his couch which is really comfy and has the smells of hundreds of people.

But I miss Sadie. There is no one in the world like Sadie.

2. What do you think of Sebastian?

Competition. Major competition. When he’s around I get less… But he loves Sadie, so I let him stay in the apartment. Sooner or later they’ll notice I’m here too.

3. If you could talk to Sadie what would you say?

What do you mean talk? I talk to her, dog talk you know. I give her meaningful looks. My tail wags. I let her know how I feel every minute of every day. But I sorta get what you’re asking. If I could use words I would say: “Let someone else save the world, baby. Hang with me.”

Introduction to the heroine:

Stifling the desire to scream, Sadie stood on top of the fourteenth-century Venetian palazzo looking out over the lagoon and its islands. No point risking the lives of others. She took a deep breath of the salty air blowing in off the Adriatic Sea. The red-tiled rooftops, round domes and cathedral spires of the ancient city spread to the west. For hundreds of years noblemen had used this perch to watch the arrival of merchant ships from the Orient with their exotic wares. Now it had become her trap.

Below, an opera singer in the bow of a gondola serenaded young lovers nestled inside, while the gondolier at the stern in his blue and white striped shirt navigated the still night waters. Venice, a city steeped in history and secrets, a place where anything could happen in a heartbeat and did; a sanctuary for people like her who wanted to disappear…

* * * * * * * * * *

Introduction to the two bad guys:Bakari assessed people with speed and precision. In his business an accurate understanding of people was a matter of life and death. Khalid had a Frankenstein look about him, like a man not fully grown into himself, a man who could be dangerous, a shell waiting for its heart. Daring, possibly unstable, but surely not as dangerous as Djeserit had claimed.

Suspicion played across the light in the young man’s eyes and he leaned his lanky body back in his chair. “My name is Khalid Badru. Do I know you?”

The words hit Bakari like a thousand grenades, unleashing a toxic mixture of regret and anger within. “Not yet.”

Maybe he should have just had him killed, as his brother had suggested. No. That wouldn’t be right. If anyone killed this man, it would have to be him. But the man was barely more than a boy. A boy with his blood. Bakari wanted to give him a chance.

Book 1 :Covert Danger

Book 2: Born of Magic

Jo-Ann Carson has lived most of her life on islands off the west coast of Canada, surrounded by snow covered mountains, lush rain forests and pristine beaches.

Growing up, she dreamed of traveling the world like James Bond, finding archeological treasures like Indiana Jones, and finding true love. In her Mata Hari Series she combines elements of adventure, danger and steamy romance.