CELTICLADY'S REVIEWS: Kent and Katcha: Espionage, Spycraft, Romance by Larry and Rosemary Mild! Guest review-Laura & Interview!

Kent and Katcha: Espionage, Spycraft, Romance by Larry and Rosemary Mild

Publisher

Magic Island Literary Works (March 28, 2024)

Category

Spy, Thriller, and Romance

Tour Dates

May 13-June 21, 2024

ISBN

979-8986386409

Available in Print and ebook, 248 pages

Description Kent and Katcha by Larry and Rosemary Mild

Larry and Rosemary breach deep cover to bring you a novel of high intrigue drawn from Larry’s former association with secret operatives and their spook agencies. The year is 1992. The Soviet Union has collapsed, but danger persists. Young Kent Brukner, a freshly trained American spy, arrives in Moscow for a high-risk mission: to infiltrate and compromise a Russian Federation Army facility.

Under an alias, in a military uniform, he plies his skills—unprepared for the brutal confrontations and irrational consequences. Kent meets the innocent and passionate Katcha, daughter of a British expatriate and a Russian dissident. Together the lovers embark on a nearly impossible journey, beginning in the foothills of the Ural Mountains. Stalked by the evil Major Dmitri Federov, they must escape from St. Petersburg to Helsinki, Finland, or face life in a Russian prison.

CelticLady’s Interview with Larry and Rosemary Mild (5/14/24)

Please welcome my guests, Larry and Rosemary Mild to CelticLady’s Reviews! Their latest novel is a spy thriller, Kent and Katcha.

Kathleen: Please tell us something about Kent and Katcha that is not in the summary. (About the book, character you particularly enjoyed writing etc.)

Larry: Pavel Ilyan is a deranged soul imprisoned in Camp Obuchat with Kent Brukner. He’s a minor character introduced to produce drama in Kent’s miserable life. He keeps turning up in the plot like a bad penny just when things seem to be looking up for our hero. Pavel lives in the moment with no fear of death. He’s easily riled to kill and just as easily pacified with a crust of stale bread.

Rosemary: Katcha’s mother, Mavis, confesses that she had no idea what she was getting into by marrying Papa. She was only nineteen, a highly intelligent English girl, who fell for his charm, sincerity, and virility at a business conference. She loves him. But life in the Russian boondocks, waitressing in her small café, is not what she wants for her daughter. Especially now. Beloved Papa spoke his mind at a meeting and was promptly thrown in prison.

Kathleen: How do you come up with the names of your characters? Do you name them after real people?

Larry: Although I have modeled a few of our characters with the traits of actual relatives, I have never named our characters after real people. For much of our work, I’ve relied on our Honolulu Star-Advertiser’s obituary pages for names. Never the identical name, but a first name from Column A and a second name from Column B. giving me a choice of at least five ethnicities to work with.

Supplying names for Kent and Katcha presented a whole new problem. With a cast of characters approaching fifty names, I had to turn to the Internet for lists of ethnic Russian first and second names. Then it was a case of selecting from Column First Name and Column Second Name. I tried to pick widely throughout the Anglo alphabet. How the two sounded together usually sealed the selection. Of course, I avoided the Cyrillic spellings of these names.

Rosemary: Many of Larry’s name selections had similar endings, which were confusing—too many started or ended with the same letters. I made a number of changes in several last names. When Larry got the manuscript back from me, he had to reorient himself. In Hawaiian pigeon, he’d ask me, “Who dat?”

Kathleen: What is your favorite scene in the book? Why?

Larry: The balancing of the double scene within the Russian Federation Army Building involved a lot of detail work. Separated by a hallway, the espionage in the general’s office had to coordinated with the alertness of the two men working late in the attaché’s office. What will happen next? I love to build suspense.

Rosemary: My favorite scene? When Kent and Katcha emerge from the bus station and jump into a taxi, they discover they’re being tailed by a black Mercedes. I love the flamboyant, reckless way Kent deals with it.

Kathleen: Describe the room you are sitting in as though it was a scene in one of your books.

Larry: As I sit behind my primary computer monitor (we each have two), I can see the upper reaches of two six-foot bookcases sprawling right and left. They contain about 300 books, both fiction and nonfiction, including advice on writing such as Telling Lies for Fun and Profit by Lawrence Block. Hanging on the inside of the door are two red sashes and a scroll of Desiderata. The two sashes contain foreign city pins that I collected from our worldly travels. Behind me are three tall file cabinets, and above them, long, crammed-full shelves. Rosemary sits in the opposite corner of the room, hidden by my second monitor. From my desk of well-worn oak, I can look out the floor-to-ceiling windows and see the Pacific Ocean from fifteen stories up.

Rosemary: Spread out on top of our two bookcases are our pride and joy: eight traditional Japanese Daruma dolls. They’re just heads, no arms or legs, modeled after Bodhidharma, the founder of Zen Buddhism. The dolls are paper maché, red with white faces, black eyebrows and mustaches, but no eyes! You buy one hoping for good luck when you are about to launch a particular quest. The tradition is to take the doll home and color in the left eye (with a black marker). After completing your quest successfully, you color in the other eye. Larry and I discovered the Darumas at a Japanese department store here in Honolulu and we were inspired. We bought one each time we started a new book, and colored in the second eye after each one was published. But with twenty books under our belts, we had to stop at eight—no more room in our squashed second-bedroom office.

Kathleen: What writers have you drawn inspiration from?

Larry: My favorite? Ken Follet and his historical novels about Kingsbridge, England, in centuries past gave me both pleasure and learning. Robert Ruark in Something of Value, Uhuru, and Poor No More gave me insight into African culture and the churning upheaval of the times. James Clavell gave me an Asian point of view in Shogun’s feudal Japan and Noble House’s look into the Hong Kong banking industry. My all-time number two spot goes to Leon Uris with Mila 18, (the only book that made me cry), Hajj, Trinity and QBVII.

For fun I read thrillers (Brad Meltzer, David Baldacci, Clive Cussler, and Wilbur Smith) and mysteries (P.D. James, Elizabeth Peters, and Elizabeth George).

Rosemary: I love the novels of Tom Wolfe--deeply satiric, cutting to the heart of human foibles, but driven by suspenseful plots. Fully drawn portraits: the master-of-the-universe bond trader who takes a wrong turn in Harlem (Bonfire of the Vanities); and the puffed-up southern real estate tycoon brought to his knees by his bankers (A Man in Full). In the Life of Pi by Yann Martel, I’m sitting in the boat with the animals, sun-scorched, starving, and a true believer despite myself. In A Dog About Town by J.F. Englert, the dog thinks and reads (Dante’s Inferno) and helps his owner solve crimes by pushing alphabet-cereal letters with his nose to form clues on the kitchen table. Strangers on a Train by Patricia Highsmith is my favorite suspense novel of all time.

Kathleen: What is your usual writing routine?

Larry: In the past, it’s been four to five hours per day, six days per week. But as I get older, it’s been more like three to four hours per day, five days per week. At ninety-one, I need more pure reading time and, of course, my afternoon nap.

Rosemary: Larry has a waaaaay longer attention span than I do. He has a high concentration ability no matter what he does, whether it's writing or fixing a broken lamp or getting the jammed paper out of my printer. Me? I’ve been going to Jazzercise for forty-six years (since COVID on Zoom). It keeps me strong and lively in between juggling our doctor appointments and a bit of caregiving, so I’m lucky if I get three hours of writing in per day.

Kathleen: What are you currently working on?

Larry: I’m currently writing a sequel to Kent and Katcha with a working title of Kauai Spy. It’s about a foreign spy (mole) on the Hawaiian Island of Kauai. The target is the Barking Sands Military Facility. Kent is now a practicing lawyer in Honolulu and his wife, Katcha, is in culinary school. I’m six chapters in, waiting for the characters to lead me into trouble and rescue.

Rosemary: I’m working on the fourth Paco and Molly Murder Mystery, The Moaning Lisa. As usual, Larry, being the more inventive of us, wrote the first two drafts, and passed it on to me. I inject flesh-and-blood into the characters, sharpen dialogue, and add scenes. I especially enjoy writing dialogue with crackling conflict. Katcha is feisty, big time! And that works for me. I came out of the womb arguing.

Praise for Larry and Rosemary Mild

Cry 'Ohana: Winner of the Readers Favorite, 2011 Award "I was hooked from the very first page. The chapters are short but there is plenty of suspense, intrigue, blackmail and betrayal. The characters are very easy to connect with. The descriptions of Hawaii are excellent. Adventure and suspense make this a book you won't want to miss."-Readers Favorite, for Cry 'Ohana

“The beautiful setting, engaging characters, and lively plot combine to bring readers a story that is literally difficult to put down. The novel deftly moves between the characters and their stories concluding with a satisfying finish. It is an engaging story of tragedy, hope, and unconditional love."- Mystery Books Site, Reviewed by Edie Dykeman, BellaOnline's Mystery Books Editor, for Cry 'Ohana “Shame can tear families apart, and murder can obliterate them.

Cry Ohana: Adventure and Suspense in Hawaii tells the story of a Hawaiian family who through a string of tragedies finds their family torn apart. But when they need to find justice, the family struggles to reunite. A story of family and reunion for the betterment of it all, and dedicated to Hawaiian culture, Cry Ohana is a choice pick, highly recommended.”- Midwest Book Review Reviews for On the Rails

“I enjoyed this story and felt like it was well researched in regard to the Depression, the different government work programs, and what it was like to live in the mid-30s. Life was very different then compared to today. The story does not gloss over the dangers of her adventures. She did encounter some men who wanted only one thing. Others tried to rob her of what little she had in her possession.”-Leslie,

Storeybook Reviews “This book has everything you could ask for, non-stop adventure, some history lessons, villains and most importantly, highly likeable characters, who have to overcome every imaginable obstacle.”-Denise, Amazon

“Excellent character development. I adored Bertie. She had such an amazing personality. She was a fighter for sure. She wasn’t afraid to go for what she wanted, even if it meant... pretending to be a man. And fight, she did. She had to fight her way through every situation she came to. Don’t let the sweet and fun of this book fool you. There is plenty of action.

Having taken place in 1936, this book has lots of great historical aspect to it, which I love! I highly recommend this for anybody who would like something a little bit different. I would definitely read more by this great writing duo!”-Wendy, Wall To Wall Books

“I enjoyed reading On the Rails by the talented co-authors, Larry and Rosemary Mild. I liked going back in time to the Great Depression era and meeting Bertie. I loved her character and getting to know her. She was intriguing and I was fascinated by her story. I would love to read more like this from the writing team Larry and Rosemary Mild in the future.”-Amy, Locks, Hooks, and Books

“A book that not only brings some laughter, but packs an emotional punch. I was pleasantly surprised by the high caliber of the writing in this novel! The writers did a lot of research, and it was employed well throughout the book. This is a great read and one that I highly recommend!”-Bee, BookPleasures.com

Kent and Katcha by Larry and Rosemary Mild

Guest Review by Laura

“Hours later, he noticed that the trees were thinning, getting further apart. The clouds started to scatter, and Kent welcomed the broken light afforded by a misshapen moon. Another two hours of trudging and he came upon an actual trail-- a hiker's footpath. He decided to follow it.”

The year is 1992, and the American government has a problem. Of course, it could be said that they have had a problem for quite a while, but with the fall of the Berlin wall three years earlier, the problem has become somewhat more pressing. Russia has been an unpredictable opponent for as long as anyone can remember-- and now they are getting bolder by the day.

An American spy, Kent Brukner is sent to Moscow with fake identification to the office of the Russian Federation Army General Uri Molitkov in order to plant a listening device. However, calamity strikes in the form of Kent getting caught as he is leaving the office. With no good explanation for why is on the premises, Kent is arrested and sent, without trial, to a Russian prison.

Thankfully, due to his cleverness, Kent manages to escape the prison before long, and sets out with nothing but the stolen clothes on his back across the Russian countryside. It is on this strange journey that he meets a waitress named Katcha and the two strike up an immediate bond. But soon, this bond will be threatened as they are on an arduous journey to the United States, with the Russian police chasing them along the way.

'Kent and Katcha' has everything that I want in a spy novel and it executes it perfectly. I love a good romance, and although I didn't expect this to be a romance, per say, it really is one!

After reading Larry and Rosemary Mild's last book, 'On The Rails,' I knew that this was going to be an enjoyable reading experience for me, and it truly was. You should definitely pick this one up for yourself!

About Larry and Rosemary Mild

Award winning authors Larry and Rosemary coauthor mystery, suspense, and fantasy novels and short stories: The Paco and Molly Mysteries; The Dan and Rivka Sherman Mysteries; 2 Hawaii suspense/thrillers; a sci-fi novella; a historical novel (new); and four collections of short stories.

They are members of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, the National League of American Pen Women, and Hawaii Fiction Writers. Making their home in Honolulu, Hawaii, in a condo overlooking the Pacific Ocean, they relish time with their daughter and grandchildren.

Rosemary’s popular personal essays include her new book IN MY NEXT LIFE I’LL GET IT RIGHT. She is a former assistant editor of Harper’s Magazine..

Website

https://www.magicile.com

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Giveaway Kent and Katcha by Larry and Rosemary Mild

This giveaway is for 3 print or ebook copies. Print is open to the U.S. only. ebook is open worldwide. This giveaway ends on June 27, 2024 midnight, pacific time. Entries accepted via Rafflecopter only.

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