Inside the Book:
Title: An Eye for an Eye
Author: L.D. Beyer
Release Date: January 15, 2016
Publisher: Old Stone Mill Publishing
Genre: Military
Format: Ebook/Paperback
A powerful drug lord threatens to bring America to its knees. Only one man can stop him.
Two years ago, Secret Service Agent Matthew Richter faced the most difficult decision of his life, knowing that by saving the former, the latter would die. In the aftermath, he fled Washington and the agency that failed him. With wounds he’s certain will never heal, he seeks refuge behind a gun as the commander of an FBI SWAT team in New York. After a raid turns sour and Richter is sidelined, possibly for good, he is reluctantly drawn back to Washington by the man he once saved.When drug cartels threaten to topple the Mexican government and the violence begins to spill across the border, Richter tells President David Kendall it’s time to take off the gloves. One by one, cartel warehouses and tunnels are raided and their drug caches destroyed. One by one, their sprawling compounds and bank accounts are seized. One by one, drug lords are targeted and killed. One by one—all except, that is, for Pablo Guerrero, the ruthless head of the Sangre Negras cartel, who has only grown stronger as others have fallen.
When the hunt for Guerrero finally draws first blood, he unleashes a war no one is prepared for. Now Richter must stop him before it’s too late.
An Eye For An Eye is the action-packed sequel to In Sheep’s Clothing, L.D. Beyer’s gripping debut novel.
THE INTERVIEW
What are you most proud of accomplishing so far in your life?
A: Raising three great kids with my
wife. My two older children are both in college and have begun making their own
way in the world. I’m confident that they will succeed in whatever they do. My
youngest is a still at home—he’s finishing middle school this year—and he’s a
great kid. I’m confident that he too will find his own way in life. It hasn’t
always been easy but parenting never is. I’ve made way too many mistakes to
count—I think my wife and kids could give you a long list but that’s a story
for another day. Mistakes are part of being human and even with them, I think
that my wife and I have given my children the foundation they need to
succeed.
How has your upbringing influenced your writing?
A: To one degree or another, we are all
a product of our environment. I am an avid reader of thriller and suspense
novels from authors like David Baldacci, Steve Berry, Michael Connolly, Mike
Lawson and Brad Thor. I’m certain my own
writing is influenced by these and many other fine authors. But in many subtle
ways, it is also influenced by my own experiences: the places I’ve lived, the
events that took place, both in the broader world and in my own back yard. From a scene perspective, I tend to write
about locations that I’ve been in, places I’ve lived, and cities I’ve
visited. I’ve lived in over a dozen
different cities and I’ve lived through many historic moments going back to the
racial tensions and turmoil of the 60’s, the Viet Nam war, the Kent State
shooting, Watergate, the attempted assassinations of two presidents—Ford and
Reagan—the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War, a rash of
kidnappings, hijackings and terrorist attacks, rapid advances in technology…all
of this was happening around me and I’m sure it has influenced my writing.
When and why did you begin writing?
When
I was 12 or 13, I remember seeing an ad that said something like, “Get Paid to
Write Children’s Books.” I was intrigued
and actually wrote a few things but I never did submit them. A few years later, I wrote a short story for
a high school English assignment. My story was well received and was published
in a school anthology. In college, I
wrote another short story, again for a literature class, and it too was well
received and published in a school anthology.
But
after graduating, I guess I did the expected thing and followed a more
traditional career path. I met my wife a
few years later and we got married. A
few years after that, we started a family.
Frankly, between career and family, I forgot all about writing for a
while.
It
wasn't until several years ago that I finally muscled up enough courage to make
a drastic change in my life: to give up my corporate career, to spend more time
with my family and to pursue my dream of being a writer.
There's
something cathartic about writing. Writing
is a journey and the journey has its own rewards. It’s really cool to start with a blank page
and watch as the story unfolds, sometimes taking twists and turns I never
expected. I know that sounds like I'm not in control when I write but after
giving them a nudge, the characters and the plot tend to evolve on their own
and go in directions I never envisioned when I first began typing.
As
a writer, I'm finally getting a chance to be creative, something I was not
really able to do during my more traditional life.
You
know, I wish I could find some of my early writings! That would be really cool!
What inspires you to write and why?
I write what I like to read.
I love thriller and suspense novels—medical thrillers, legal thrillers,
historical thrillers, political thrillers—particularly ones that are full of
intrigue, and ones that are fast-paced, with lots of action &
adventure. My taste in movies is the
same. Intrigue, suspense and action
& adventure—I’ll take that any day!
When I read or watch movies, I want to escape and to live vicariously
through the characters, even if only for a short while. I want to root for the good guy and hate the
bad guy. For me, trying to bring this
type of experience to readers is a huge thrill.
I can only hope readers are able to experience this with my books!
What genre are you most comfortable writing?
Thrillers. My fist three books are all thrillers. The first is a political thriller, the
second, a political / terrorism thriller and the third, a historic
thriller. This is the genre I prefer.
What inspired you to write your first book?
I think it was after reading Tom
Clancy’s The Hunt for Red October and
thinking, I can do that. I ‘m not by any
means trying to say I’m as good as Tom Clancy.
But, as I looked at how he structured the story, switching between
different points of view and then tying it all together at the end, I thought I
could follow the same formula and write something that people would like to
read. I thought that I could build
tension and create suspense just like Clancy did. I felt I could create characters that people
could relate to, just like Clancy’s Jack Ryan.
I also felt I could carve out my own niche, and use my own writing style
to stand out vs. other authors.
What do you consider the most challenging about writing a novel,
or about writing in general?
I think the most challenging thing is
when the writing is not going in the direction that you hoped. My first attempt at a sequel to In Sheep’s Clothing wound its way into a
very dark area. Before I knew it, I was researching kidnappings, Amber Alerts,
meeting with local police officers and learning how they handle child abduction,
researching FBI profiling techniques, its quick response team and how the court
system dealt with such cases. I was
about a third of the way done and I sat back one day and realized that I really
didn’t like where it was going. James
Patterson does a great job writing about such things—and I do enjoy reading
Patterson—but when I was reading about real child abduction cases as part of my
research…well that was too much.
I think what I’ve learned is that I may
need to throw away several months of work, take a break, then pull out a blank
piece of paper and go back to the beginning.
Did writing this book teach you anything and what was it?
Compared to my first book, when I wrote
this one, I think I learned how to write shorter, crisper scenes and not waste
words on extraneous detail. I learned to keep the plot moving and to build in
just the right amount of tension. I learned to make my characters real—even the
good guy or gal has flaws—and I learned to look at my characters critically and
make sure they have motivation for everything they do.
But the biggest thing I learned is that
I CAN write a book and launch it and achieve some measure of success.
Do you intend to make writing a career?
Like many writers, I have a day job. At
the same time I began writing, my partners and I launched a better-for-you
breakfast and snack food business. It’s been a challenge—the odds are
overwhelmingly stacked against a startup succeeding—but after three years we’re
still at it and we’ve grown considerably. I enjoy what I’m doing and I don’t see
that changing any time soon. The cool thing is that my partners and I have
figured out a model that allows each of us to work from home if we want to.
This provide great flexibility and I’m able to fit my writing in to my schedule.
It’s not always easy and some days I
feel like I’m overwhelmed. But it’s usually only for a day or two and then I
find my balance again.
What is your favorite quality about yourself?
My biggest strength is that I’m
persistent and I never give up. My first
book took 22 years from when I first began writing to when I finally got it
published. It’s not that I’m a slow writer—life got in the way. I began this
book a year before my daughter was born.
But once kids came along, many things that were front and center in my
life got pushed to the back burner because I had other, far more important
priorities. The other challenge was my career. As I began climbing the
corporate ladder, my responsibilities and my job became far more complex. I
ended up moving half a dozen times over the course of my career, once for a
three year stint out of the country. It wasn’t until a few years ago that I had
the opportunity to pick up what I had started and carry it to the finish line.
What is your least favorite quality about yourself?
My strength is also my weakness. There’s a fine line between persistence and
stubbornness. There are times when I can’t see exactly where that line is. My
wife will tell you I can often be found on the wrong side.
What is your favorite quote, by whom, and why?
My current favorite quote comes from
George R. R. Martin’s Game of Thrones. “When you play the game of thrones, you win
or you die.” This perfectly
describes the political intrigue and what’s at stake in In Sheep’s Clothing.
What
are you currently working on?
I launched my first book, In Sheep’s Clothing, last September, and my second, An Eye For An Eye, in January. These
political thrillers are part of the Matthew Richter Series. I do have one more
Matthew Richter novel coming out this year. That book is tentatively titled The Deadliest of Sins, and is scheduled
to be released in November.
In the meantime, I am releasing a historic fiction set in
Ireland during the War for Independence (1919-1921). Branded a terrorist by the government and a traitor by his friends,
Frank Kelleher is forced into hiding until he can figure out how to right the
wrongs of his past. The story is based on a family legend for my
grandfather, who served in the Irish Republican Army during the war. The legend
I grew up with held that he was forced to flee Ireland below a false passport
because a price on his head by both the British and by the IRA. Like most
legends, I think the truth is somewhat less exciting, but it does make for a
great story line! This book is titled The
Devil’s Due and is scheduled to be released on June 15th.
Meet the Author:
L.D. Beyer spent over twenty-five years in the corporate world, climbing the proverbial corporate ladder. This meant a lot of time away from his family, extensive travel, a half dozen relocations, and the opportunity to live and work in Mexico for several years. In 2011 he decided it was time for a change—he was tired of moving every few years, he wanted to spend more time with his family and he wanted to chase his dream of being a writer. LD Beyer is an avid reader and although he primarily reads Thrillers, his reading list is somewhat eclectic. He believes a few hours with a good book beats a few hours in front of the TV any day. LD Beyer lives in Michigan with his wife, three children and a dog named Tope (pronounced Toe-Pay), which he adopted in Mexico. He enjoys cooking, hiking, biking, working out and fixing just about anything that breaks in the house. With 3 kids, a dog and an aging house, he always seems to be fixing something!
For More Information
Visit L.D.s website.
Connect with L.D. on Twitter and Facebook
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