Primed the Sequel to Outsourced by Eric J. Gates

Primed

(The Sequel to Outsourced)

By: Eric J. Gates

*Bonus special offered at the end of this entry!*

As you may already know, I reviewed book one, “Outsourced” so when Eric came to me asking if I wanted to read and review this one, I jumped at the chance. My husband and I dearly loved the first book, it was a five star read, and can also be found within my blog.

“Primed” begins where “Outsourced” left you with Defense Intelligence Agent Bridget Mason who had recently recovered from her gunshot wounds. (By the way, Agent Mason is/was a Major in the military too!) And as I picture Mason, she is one beautiful strong woman.

The Agency determines that it would be better if Agent Mason would slip back into her job with an easier case.  So they do just that, they assign Agent Mason was given what she is told is to be an easy case, and low and behold it turns out to be anything but. But she of course, doesn’t let that slow her down.

Agent Mason obtains a confession from a seemingly tasteful looking guy named: Nic Stiles, about what really happened in India. This causes Phil Beasley to make a deadly decision himself, and this causes further problems because now they will be threatened by the Bratva Russian Mafia.

Agent Mason is thrust into the middle of lies, deceit and of course murder, where she must learn and find and of course determine what is the truth, and solve the mystery. Can and will she do it?

This book, is another five star read by Eric, which will lead you on a roller coaster ride, in solving a mystery, and riding along learning about the Russian Mafia, and an Agent who will do her best at her job, to solve whatever problem comes her way. “Primed” kept my husband and I on the edge of our seats, visualizing once again, another one of Eric’s books as a very entertaining movie! This is an excellent book, a definite five-star book and should be a movie! Check it out!

My questions for Eric:

1.     What made you write this book and how long did it take you?

Normally, at least for me, coming up with ideas for novels is relatively easy, in part thanks to the interesting life I’ve led. However, with ‘Primed’, the issue was a little different. ‘Outsourced’,

which is now the first book in the series, became something of a labor of love for me when I wrote it and it was a stand-alone project that had taken many years to come to fruition because of the complex mixing of Tibetan mythology and Quantum Mechanics and difficulty associated with placing these as active elements in a fast-paced thriller. The novel’s success took me a little by surprise. Suddenly my Inbox was full of emails asking for more of Bridget Mason and her writer friends. Well, never one to ignore my readers, I set about trying to create a tale worthy of ‘Outsourced’ and its protagonists. The device that caused so much trouble in the first novel, reappears although more through its use being felt than by any explicit presence.

2. Do you have any photos or descriptions of your characters?

Yes. I often use real people as an inspiration for the characters’ physical attributes. Using photographs helps me ‘inhabit’ them and see how they think and behave in my tales. Sounds spooky, right? But, as they say in the movies, no living people were hurt during the writing of the novel. For the seminal novel of the series ‘Outsourced’, the trio of protagonists were based on actors. Tough DIA agent Bridget Mason was Zoe McLellan,

Nic Stiles was James Frain,

and his conspiracy-obsessed co-writer, Phil Beasley/Grayson Fallon, was a Denzel Washington/Cuba Gooding Jr. combo – all superb actors. Now you will note these three are three-quarters of the protagonists in ‘Primed’. For NYPD detective Hansen, well, to be honest, I admire this actor so much, it was a given. The Great Dane is Christopher Heyerdahl. In fact, although my practice is not to describe the people who populate my books with much detail thus leaving room for the reader to fill in the image in their heads, as you can see from the image, The Dane is there, scarf and all!


3. What drives you to write?

It’s the voices, you hear, the voices!!!

To be honest, I can’t recall a moment in my life when I didn’t want to write novels. By age eighteen I had completed a novel and over two hundred short stories! I even bought a Smith-Corona portable typewriter to replace the sit-up-and-beg Underwood I liberated from my Father’s office (yes, this was before the Internet and, when technology reared its ugly head, my writing instrument became an Amstrad computer with WordPerfect – that takes me back). It must be in the genes I guess. Now where can I get my DNA analyzed and find out when I’m going to be famous?


4. What is your favorite book of all time?

That’s a really hard question, Deneale. There are so many. Perhaps I could mention one each from the writers who have been my greatest influences and summarize what I learnt from them. The first, perhaps only because of its chronological age, is ‘Hard Times’ by Charles Dickens. The novel originally came out as a serialized piece in a magazine in 1854. The novel is important in that it is, as are most of his works, an insightful social commentary cleverly wrapped in an interesting story, a trait I try to incorporate into all my novels. Next would be ‘Casino Royale’ by Ian Fleming. Fleming was a master of pace and storylines written with a simplicity that belied their intricacy. If it’s one thing my novels are known for, it’s their pace, so this lesson has come to roost. Finally, the British author John Gardner, who was a major influence for me when starting out. I had the pleasure of corresponding with, and eventually meeting, him and he gave me writing advice I still use today. Perhaps the most interesting is how dark humor can be woven into a tale without detracting from its pace or impact.


5. What are you working on now?

I have just completed a couple of short stories for two anthologies which will be coming out later this year and have restarted writing the sequel to ‘Leaving Shadows’, which is entitled ‘Chasing Shadows’. This will be a new series featuring the kidnap recover company CACS and their tense relationship with British Intelligence. I’m over halfway through writing this one which hopefully should see the light of day at the end of summer. Next after that is the final volume, book five, of the popular ‘the CULL’ series.


6. Have you met any Authors IRL?

What’s IRL, Deneale? Oh, you youngsters, always speaking in acronyms as though you don’t have the time to use the words. Just imagine for a moment if we writers did the same. Lol ;-)

As I mentioned previously, I met and corresponded with the late British author John Gardner many years ago and coincidentally also met Noah Gordon in Madrid some time back too. He and I had an interesting conversation about the amount of research he does for his novels, much of which never makes it into the book.

WTF IRL, LMAO, LoL

7. What are your hobbies?

Writing (it’s my profession but if I don’t enjoy it, I wouldn’t do it, so it also a hobby), reading, cinema, martial arts, etc, etc


8. Do you ever hope to turn one of your fascinating books into a movie or mini series?

Yes please. Where do I sign?

Many, many times, readers have reviewed my novels by saying how cinematic they are and how they would make a great movie. Unfortunately, Hollywood seems to be exclusively hell bent on making new versions of old movies, as is the TV world too. If they want something fresh and original, well they know where to come.


9. What all education have you had?

One of the three personal guidelines I try to live by is ‘never go to bed without learning something new’. This means that, although I left my formal education way back in the mists of time, I’m constantly acquiring new skills and knowledge which causes my better half to describe me as WikiEric.

10. Please provide for us your social media and book links:

There are far too many thrillers to provide individual links here, Deneale, so as all are listed on my Amazon Author page and website…

Amazon page links:

UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B0030H3Y3A/

US: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B0030H3Y3A/

Website: www.ericjgates.com

Blog: my-thrillers.blogspot.com

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/eThrillerWriter

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eric.gates.3386

11. Anything to add:

It’s been a pleasure to be interviewed here by Deneale and I hope readers enjoy ‘Outsourced’ and ‘Primed’ as much as I did writing them. There are plenty more of my thrillers out there (even free!) if you want to read more. Best wishes to all, Eric.

BY THE WAY!

Eric has offered a special!

Here is the dealio:

From Eric: As a special gift to you readers for summer, would you like to tell them that if they leave a comment on your review on your blog and send you their email (which you can forward to me) I will send them a Kindle copy of 'Leaving Shadows'?

From me: In the comments section of the blog, if you wish to leave your email there too, you may do so, or I will receive a message that you left a comment too. But it again, does NOT reveal your email to me, my blog respects your privacy.

Author Bio:

Eric J. Gates has had a curious life filled with the stuff of thriller novels. Writing Operating Systems for Supercomputers, cracking cryptographic codes under extreme pressure using only paper and pen and teaching cyber warfare to spies are just a few of the moments he’s willing to recall. He is an ex-International Consultant who has travelled extensively worldwide, speaks several languages, and has had articles and papers published in technical magazines in six different countries, as well as radio and TV spots. His specialty, Information Technology Security, has brought him into contact with the Military and Intelligence communities on numerous occasions.

He is also an expert martial artist, holding 14 black belt degrees in distinct disciplines. He has taught his skills to Police and Military personnel, as well as to the public.

He now writes thriller novels, drawing on his experiences with the confidential and secret worlds that surround us.

Primed by Eric J. Gates
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

As you may already know, I reviewed book one, “Outsourced” so when Eric came to me asking if I wanted to read and review this one, I jumped at the chance. My husband and I dearly loved the first book, it was a five star read, and can also be found within my blog.

“Primed” begins where “Outsourced” left you with Defense Intelligence Agent Bridget Mason who had recently recovered from her gunshot wounds. (By the way, Agent Mason is/was a Major in the military too!) And as I picture Mason, she is one beautiful strong woman.

The Agency determines that it would be better if Agent Mason would slip back into her job with an easier case. So they do just that, they assign Agent Mason was given what she is told is to be an easy case, and low and behold it turns out to be anything but. But she of course, doesn’t let that slow her down.

Agent Mason obtains a confession from a seemingly tasteful looking guy named: Nic Stiles, about what really happened in India. This causes Phil Beasley to make a deadly decision himself, and this causes further problems because now they will be threatened by the Bratva Russian Mafia.

Agent Mason is thrust into the middle of lies, deceit and of course murder, where she must learn and find and of course determine what is the truth, and solve the mystery. Can and will she do it?

This book, is another five star read by Eric, which will lead you on a roller coaster ride, in solving a mystery, and riding along learning about the Russian Mafia, and an Agent who will do her best at her job, to solve whatever problem comes her way. “Primed” kept my husband and I on the edge of our seats, visualizing once again, another one of Eric’s books as a very entertaining movie! This is an excellent book, a definite five-star book and should be a movie! Check it out!

View all my reviews