Great Review of THE GATEKEEPER from the IMBA

[Michelle Gagnon]

This means a lot to me, since it comes from an organization near and dear to my heart. They select a few books a month to promote, and The Gatekeeper was one of them!

Here's the review, and a link to it:

http://www.killerbooks.org/

Who better to pick the best mystery books of the month than the people who run mystery bookstores?

Each month, the 40-odd quirky stores that make up IMBA submit their favorite recent reads to a rotating editor who then trims the list to five.
Every selection is a gem that otherwise might have been lost among the more than 100 mysteries published each month.


GATEKEEPER by Michelle Gagnon (Mira paperback original, $7.99), recommended by Fran Fuller, Seattle Mystery Bookshop, Seattle, WA, www.seattlemystery.com:

In Gatekeeper, Michelle Gagnon’s feisty FBI Agent Kelly Jones is faced with a truly horrifying case. The Senator from Arizona who has taken a hard-line stance against illegal immigration is found in pieces on a memorial near the State capitol building.

Meanwhile, Kelly’s fiancé, Jake Riley, and his partner, Syd, who’s ex-FBI herself, take on their first case. Madison, the 16-year-old daughter of Randall Grant, the man in charge of accounting for all the low-level radioactive waste in the United States, has been kidnapped. Grant turns to Jake and Syd to try to get his daughter back. The price the kidnappers are demanding has nothing to do with money, and everything to do with radioactive material.

As Kelly and Jake pursue their individual cases, they are both in a race against time, and as their cases converge, the truly unthinkable begins to emerge.

This is by far and away the best of Ms. Gagnon’s novels. Her writing style, as always, is fast-paced and gripping, but it’s the topic of her book that bears careful scrutiny. The Gatekeeper is a grim warning about what could happen when ego, finances, and fanaticism come together to make a strong political statement. It’s a terrifyingly plausible scenario, and Michelle Gagnon delivers it in a way that’s guaranteed to keep you thinking – and looking around you – long after you’ve put the book down.

[Michelle Gagnon]

So glad to hear it! If it helps, that is easily the most gruesome of my books, so if you made it through, the rest will be smooth sailing! (Especially Gatekeeper- no gore at all there).
You wouldn't believe how many angry birders there are out there...

[MacMaddy]

Just finished reading 'Boneyard' which I thoroughly enjoyed, apart from the horrid grisly bits which I read without my bifocal and my squinty eyes half shut - a handy trick for scary movies too, should you ever reach that age of decrepitude [which I doubt].

Had to laugh out loud when I reached the 'bird enthusiast' bit after what you said about 'picky readers.'

[Michelle Gagnon]

Thankfully, today I'm just cleaning up the last of Book 4...

[MacMaddy]

School closes early on a Wednesday - hope you've finished your 5 pages!

[Michelle Gagnon]

Hi Maddy-

Great question, you should have asked that one! I think that characters are essential to get a reader invested in the story. That being said, thrillers tend to be more plot driven. I do as much character development as possible without keeping the story moving forward as quickly as possible- the trick is to avoid "information dumps" where I get too far into a character's head.
What I love about writing a series is that it takes some of the pressure off- a character arc can span several books, instead of just one.
Best,

Michelle

[MacMaddy]

It was great to see you last night at CWC, although I wasn't brave enough to ask a question at the time. I even managed to start reading the Boneyard last night even though I was dog tired. What I meant to ask was - you describe your writing as crime fiction genre rather than being character driven - however, hearing you speak about your work, you seem very invested in your characters - I suppose what I'm asking is 'what is the difference between the two?' There, aren't you glad I didn't bumble through that last night out loud.
Cheer
Maddy