Thursday, December 29, 2011

"True Shot"

True Vision, the first in Joyce Lamb's True trilogy, won a Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in single title romantic suspense from the Kiss of Death chapter of RWA. True Vision was also awarded the HOLT Medallion for Best Book by a Virginia Author from the Virginia Romance Writers.

Lamb applied the Page 69 Test to her new novel, True Shot, and reported the following:
True Shot is my favorite in the True trilogy (which includes True Vision and True Colors). I flipped the hero and heroine roles, so that she's the bad-ass government spy and he's the innocent, somewhat naïve civilian. By the time we get to Page 69, our heroine, Samantha, has been on the run from her employer, whom she's learned has gone rogue. She's always thought she worked for the good guys and has discovered that that's not the case. She was shot while trying to make a run for it and arrives at her family's secluded cabin, where she thinks she'll be safe. Our hero, Mac, is also at the cabin, sent there by his friends (who are also Sam's sisters) for some rest and relaxation after a particularly stressful time in his life. At the cabin, the bad guys show up, sending Mac and Sam on the run together. Sam surmises that the bad guys found her because there's a tracker implanted under her skin. She talks Mac into removing it, which releases a drug into her system that wipes out her memory. On Page 69, Mac is reaching out to Sam's sister Charlie, who hasn't seen Sam in more than a decade, to find out what he should do about the injured and on-the-run Sam. He's trying not to get Charlie involved in a dangerous situation while also seeking her counsel. I'd say this page is the perfect representation of the whole book: Mac's uncertain about what to do but is absolutely certain that he needs to protect Sam.

Page 69 of True Shot:
“What’s this about, Mac?” Charlie asked. “Why are you so interested in Sam?”

“I, uh, well ...” He trailed off, on the hunt for the right words. And then he decided to just tell the truth. He was a terrible liar anyway. And he was way out of his element here. “Look, I arrived at the cabin, and Sam was there.”

“What? Are you kidding? She’s with you now? That’s great!” Charlie’s excitement seemed to vibrate the phone in his hand. “Can you put her on so I can talk to her?”

“The thing is ... she’s—” He cast a glance at Sam. He couldn’t tell Charlie that her sister was a spy. That was Sam’s story to tell. But he also couldn’t leave Charlie in the dark. She had a right to know that her sister needed help. “There was an ... incident at the cabin. Some bad people are after her.”

“Bad people?”

“She’s on the run, Charlie. She’s involved ... in something.”

“Tell me where you are. Noah and I will come—”

“I don’t think we can stay in one spot for too long.”

“God, Mac, what the hell? Is Sam there with you? Can I talk to her?”

“She’s sleeping.” He winced, but it had seemed better than saying, She lost consciousness after being drugged out of her memory.

A long beat went by in which Mac knew Charlie debated how to respond. “Is she okay?”

“I’m not sure.”

“You need to tell me where you are. Noah—”

“We can’t stay here. We need to keep moving.”

“Mac, please. If Sam needs help—”

“I’m helping her. I’m—”

“Noah can get law enforcement involved. And so can—”

“No! No law enforcement. Seriously. I know this is crazy, but I’m not sure who to trust right now.”

“You can trust me and Noah.”
Learn more about the book and author at Joyce Lamb's website and blog.

--Marshal Zeringue