Blood Relics (A James Acton Thriller, #12) (42 page)

And if I
sell over one billion Acton thrillers, I just might look at retiring the
character.

But
since I need to feed my family, I keep soldiering on, keeping my characters
enmeshed with current events, but essentially leaving them at their original
ages, “magically” allowing the world to age around their own timelessness.

I think
it works, especially when you consider most of these books take place over an
extremely compressed timeframe with little gap between them.

But
where it doesn’t work is when you want characters to evolve outside of the
physical. One of those quandaries was the relationship between James and Laura.
They fell in love, got engaged, got married, moved into a single home, and so
on. The next logical step in my mind was children.

Which
would probably kill the series, since Acton telling Laura to “go long” while he
tossed the baby over as some ancient cult opened fire on them just wasn’t believable—though
I’m sure I’ve seen that on cable somewhere.

As I
wrote this novel the idea of how to address this permanently came to me, and
the result is the heart wrenching revelation that Laura can no longer have
children. When I wrote the opening scene, shooting her in the abdomen, it had
never occurred to me what I would eventually do with that. I wonder if I had
shot her in the shoulder, would this turn of events have followed.

But now
that the deed is done, my mental torture of my beloved heroes (for I do love
these people, they’re very real to me after so many years together) will allow
me to continue with their adventures without having to worry about how to keep
getting them into trouble with little feet under foot.

I hope
as a result we’ll enjoy many more years of the professors getting into trouble.

As usual
there are many people to thank. Big shout out as usual to my dad who did most
of the research, another big one to Richard Jenner for helping make my British
characters more British, Brent Richards for some weapons info, Ian Davidson for
some info on motorcycles, Fred Newton for car racing info, Marc Quesnel for
letting me know the history of a certain fashion designer, and of course my
wife, daughter, mother and friends for their continued support.

One
special note to Ian Kennedy: Yes, Ian, you win, your scar is bigger than mine.

And on
one final note, yes, years ago I actually did ask if the new battery for my car
had been blessed by the Queen.

It
hadn’t.

They
weren’t amused.

And it
still didn’t solve the problems.

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Thank
you once again for reading.

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Check out the new Delta Force Unleashed series and get to know Bravo Team some more.

Get started with
Payback (Delta Force Unleashed #1)
today!

While waiting, why not try the Special Agent Dylan Kane spin-off series? Dylan Kane
is a former student of James Acton and before being recruited into the CIA, served and trained
under Burt "Big Dog" Dawson with Delta Team Bravo. Acton has a cameo in Rogue Operator, and Dawson
and the boys appear in Containment Failure, Cold Warriors and Death to America.

Get started with
Rogue Operator (Dylan Kane #1)
today!

USA Today bestselling author J. Robert Kennedy has been ranked by Amazon as the #1 Bestselling Action Adventure
novelist based upon combined sales. He is the author of over twenty international bestsellers including the smash hit James Acton Thrillers series of
which the first installment,
The Protocol
, has been on the bestseller list in the US and UK since its release,
including occupying the number one spot for three months. He lives with his wife and daughter and writes full-time.

Visit Robert's website at
www.jrobertkennedy.com
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For two thousand years the Triarii have protected us, influencing history from the crusades to the discovery of America.
Descendent from the Roman Empire, they pervade every level of society, and are now in a race with our own government to retrieve an ancient
artifact thought to have been lost forever.

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A nuclear missile, lost during the Cold War, is now in play--the most public spy swap in history,
with a gorgeous agent the center of international attention, triggers the end-game of a corrupt Soviet Colonel's
twenty five year plan. Pursued across the globe by the Russian authorities, including a brutal Spetsnaz unit, those
involved will stop at nothing to deliver their weapon, and ensure their pay day, regardless of the terrifying consequences.

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With the Triarii in control of the Roman Catholic Church, an organization founded by Saint Peter himself takes action,
murdering one of the new Pope's operatives. Detective Chaney, called in by the Pope to investigate, disappears, and, to the
horror of the Papal staff sent to inform His Holiness, they find him missing too, the only clue a secret chest,
presented to each new pope on the eve of their election, since the beginning of the Church.

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The Vault must be sealed, but a construction accident leads to a miraculous discovery--an ancient tomb
containing four Templar Knights, long forgotten, on the grounds of the Vatican. Not knowing who they can trust, the Vatican
requests Professors James Acton and Laura Palmer examine the find, but what they discover, a precious Islamic relic,
lost during the Crusades, triggers a set of events that shake the entire world, pitting the two greatest religions against each other.
At risk is nothing less than the Vatican itself, and the rock upon which it was built.

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Archaeology Professor James Acton simply wants to get away from everything, and relax.
A trip to China seems just the answer, and he and his fiancée, Professor Laura Palmer, are soon on a flight to Beijing.
But while boarding, they bump into an old friend, Delta Force Command Sergeant Major Burt Dawson, who surreptitiously
delivers a message that they must meet the next day, for Dawson knows something they don’t. China is about to erupt into chaos.

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An accidental find by a friend of Professor James Acton may lead to the greatest archaeological discovery
since the tomb of King Tutankhamen, perhaps even greater. And when news of it spreads, it reaches the ears of a group
hell-bent on the destruction of all idols and icons, their mere existence considered blasphemous to Islam.

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The Bravo Team is targeted by a madman after one of their own intervenes in a rape. Little do they know
this internationally well-respected banker is also a senior member of an organization long thought extinct, whose
stated goals for a reshaped world are not only terrifying, but with today's globalization, totally achievable.

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A former President's son is kidnapped in a brazen attack on the streets of Potomac by the very ancient
organization that murdered his father, convinced he knows the location of an item stolen from them by the late president.
A close friend awakes from a coma with a message for archeology Professor James Acton from the same organization,
sending him along with his fiancée Professor Laura Palmer on a quest to find an object only rumored to exist,
while trying desperately to keep one step ahead of a foe hell-bent on possessing it.

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Two thousand years ago Roman Emperor Vespasian tries to preserve an empire by hiding a massive treasure
in the quiet town of Pompeii should someone challenge his throne. Unbeknownst to him nature is about to unleash its wrath
upon the Empire during which the best and worst of Rome’s citizens will be revealed during a time when duty and honor were more
than words, they were ideals worth dying for.