I always wanted to visit Taliesin West before I ended up in this damn chair. Wheelchairs are a disallowed mode of transportation on the site, with good reason (too rocky and uneven). I was thrilled that my wife and her childhood friend drove from the northwest side of the Valley of the Sun (metro Phoenix) to the northeast side to visit Frank Lloyd Wright’s iconic campus in North Scottsdale, where the architect legend shared knowledge and visions with students from around the world. At the very beginning, he told prospective architects that he found an incredibly inspiring piece of land, and for them to arrive with hammers, shovels, and wheel barrels to begin creating the iconic site. The photos in this post offer a limited view; if you make it to Arizona, be sure to visit Taliesin West.
Positive editorial reviews are never a guarantee of book sales, but they are better than the alternative. While I won’t post them in their entirety, here are a couple early takes on The Emerald Cross. I hope to earn a few more soon.
Midwest Book Review:
“But as his pursuit of justice dovetails with a mission of vengeance and confrontation, Jamie moves ever deeper into political confrontations revolving around moles, secrets, and the intersection of Mexican and American special interests.
Spiced with DEA encounters, military skills put to unexpected use in civilian life, and underlying motives that affect not just the ownership of the emerald cross, but the lives of those involved in its management, Ken Cruickshank crafts a series of encounters that are vivid in their complexity and possibilities:
“‘Power. Riches. Beautiful women. These are intoxicants to men striving to be the next king of kings in the drug realm,’ Washington had once told Jamie. ‘The cycle won’t end in my lifetime. But if the DEA and others don’t stand up to them, who will?'”
Cruickshank tempers action with psychological entanglements and revelations, leading thriller readers to more closely examine their own concepts of justice, vengeance, survival and exploitation.
Cultural and artistic revelations permeate the story, adding further layers of intrigue and mystery as the plot evolves.
Libraries will want to recommend The Emerald Cross to patrons interested in military thrillers that revolve around vigilante efforts, PTSD and healing, and the circumstances that drive an ex-hero to pick up the reigns of battle as a civilian to tackle extraordinary opponents and circumstances that buffet both his life and his potential for healing.”
BookLife Review
“Cruickshank (Eagle Bay) introduces a new action hero in the square-jawed, morally upright former Green Beret Jamie Morales. The son of a slain Mexican journalist, Jamie lives a good but somewhat haunted life, having retired from a frequently harrowing military career and now living with his wife, Brooklyn, his mother, Maria, and the occasional traumatized flashback. Also haunting him: the specter of his journalist father’s assassination at the hands of a psychotic but cunning cartel leader, Marco Delgado. When Jamie’s sister-in-law, Ashley, deep in debt, contacts Delgado to sell an artifact, the Emerald Cross, of great significance to the cartel leader, a series of violent and tragic events pushes Jamie to plan the unthinkable: a vigilante mission storming Delgado’s compound, with the goal of capturing him alive to get justice in U.S. courts.
Old friends show up to help over Jamie’s protests, and Cruickshank leads the reader through a gauntlet of deadly firefights, vicious wild animals, and unexpected allies. Cruickshank’s narrative is as much about the conflict between integrity and corruption as it is a revenge story, as Delgado’s belief that everyone can be bought or intimidated is tested by Jamie’s ethical resolve. Cruickshank is careful not to make Jamie a saint, as this justice-minded hero who had vowed to leave violence behind now must fight the urge to kill Delgado outright. His mix of anger, resentment, and empathy for his guilt-ridden sister-in-law further humanizes him, and Cruickshank handles his PTSD (Jamie was once tortured by the Taliban) with sensitivity.
Cruickshank [follows ] a tight plot thread. Those details coalesce in an exciting climax and heartfelt denouement that features a twist that establishes another potential volume. The result is a viscerally and emotionally satisfying action thriller that feels connected to real-world happenings. [A] thriller with strong action and moral weight.”
The Emerald Cross will launch June 14, 2024.
Cheers from the Sonoran Desert,
Ken Cruickshank
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