Sunday 10 June 2012

Guest Post & $10 Gift Card Giveaway: Project Moses by Robert Lowe

Original Title: Project Moses
Author: Robert B. Lowe
Publisher: Enzo Publications
Published Date: April 30th 2012
Genre: Thriller



Project Moses is a high-tech bioterrorism thriller in the Grisham mode that has been well received on Good Reads, Library Thing and Kindle (4.8 stars based on 18 reviews as of April 4).  It has romance, suspense and humor.

Enzo Lee, 37, a burned out reporter, has forsaken investigative reporting on the East Coast to churn out feature fluff in San Francisco. He likes his North Beach apartment, steps away from his Chinatown roots. Running, tai chi, great food, women who are attracted to his exotic looks. Life is good.

Then, Lee is ordered to cover the unexplained deaths of a local judge and prosecutor. Intrigued by the connection, and the judge’s attractive niece, Sarah Armstrong, Lee begins to uncover a bioterrorism scandal whose perpetrators - including government officials and Silicon Valley titans - will kill to conceal.

When Lee and Sarah become targets, the question becomes whether the pair can evade their hunters and piece together the story before their time runs out. Project Moses is set in San Francisco, New York and Silicon Valley.

GUEST POST BY ROBERT LOWE

BEHIND THE COVERS
Background to Project Moses – A Mystery Thriller

JOBS

The main character, Enzo Lee, is a reporter for a San Francisco newspaper.  He was an investigative reporter who got burned and has now turned to churning out feature fluff stories.   The other major character, and also his romantic interest, is Sarah Armstrong who is an attorney.

In real life I was both an investigative reporter and an attorney so I could borrow heavily on those experiences when writing Project Moses.

The newsroom I describe in the book – tattered carpeting, piles of newspaper, small interior offices where editors looked out over the reporters  -  are what the newsrooms were like at the newspapers where I worked.   I exaggerated some of the conflict between reporters and editors.  But, there was plenty of that as well.  Reporters can be tough to manage and most make lousy managers when they’re promoted high enough.  Plus, you’re dealing with something pretty personal – how someone has written a sentence, paragraph or article.  Deal with all that under deadline pressure and things get tense, although the insults can be marvelously articulate.

On the law side, I borrowed a lot both from lawyering and also from my experiences covering trials as a reporter.  For a time, I covered the courts so I was in and out of courtrooms all day long.  Once, I covered a sensational murder trial that went on for months.  Many of the people “working” the trial – lawyers, cops, reporters, courtroom artists – got to know each other well.  A lots of friendships and, yes,  romances were spawned by being in such close quarters for weeks.

PLACES

The action in Project Moses takes place in three places:  The Bay Area and particularly San Francisco; New York; and the desert of Arizona.  Mostly, I described places where I had been because it was easier for me to describe specific scenes.  Recalling the concrete details helped give a “you are there” sense to the book, hopefully.

San Francisco

Enzo Lee is Chinese-Italian-Scottish.  He grew up in San Francisco and lives in a flat in North Beach which is an Italian neighborhood but right next to Chinatown. 


There are a lot of scenes of him walking the neighborhood on his way home, going into one of the temples to meet someone and doing tai chi early in the morning with instruction from the venerable Master Chu, among other moments. 

Project Moses also describes the homes of Sarah and Enzo as flats in Victorian era homes with intricate wood floors, stained paneling, tall ceilings and the great detail that went into houses of that era.  


San Francisco is filled with great old places with loads of charm like that.  Many of them – particularly closer to the downtown and working waterfront – were built in the 15 years after the Great 1906 Earthquake and fire wiped out most of the city. A few areas that escaped the fire have even earlier homes.  It’s one of the aspects of San Francisco and nearby areas that I enjoy and my homes here have that flavor.

Rural Arizona


Some of the action takes place in rural Arizona.  In Project Moses some of the genetic and agricultural research takes place there and Enzo travels there to investigate what is going on.  He ends up having some harrowing experiences.  I worked in Arizona as a reporter for 5 years and won a Pulitzer Prize for my investigative work there.  


One of the major investigations I conducted there occurred in a rural area mainly known for cotton farms, the state prison and absolutely blistering weather five months out of the year.  I spent two months during the summer there knocking on doors in the poorest neighborhoods – sometimes mere shacks.  My partner and I were finding women who had been forced by doctors at the county hospital to be sterilized.  The doctors hoped to reduce the number of new kids coming onto the welfare rolls.  Those weeks left me with some incredibly vivid memories.  We found numerous cases, exposed the forced sterilizations, and ended the practice.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Robert B. Lowe is a Pulitzer-prize winning author whose fiction is based in San Francisco, his adopted home.

His past experiences – a 12-year career in investigative journalism and a Harvard Law School degree – enable him to write gripping mystery thrillers in both the legal and journalistic fields. Lowe draws his inspiration from John Grisham, Dick Francis and Lee Childs and adds his own San Francisco twist. Readers will enjoy his references to the city’s landmarks such as Chinatown, North Beach and Pacific Heights  and the Bay area’s foodie culture.

When Lowe isn’t writing he enjoys a day at the golf course and spending time with his wife and daughters.

GIVEAWAY

The author will be giving away a $10 Amazon GC to one randomly drawn commenter at the close of the tour.

To enter this $10 Amazon Gift Card Giveaway, you will have to comment in this post WITH your email id.  Anonymous comments are accepted, as long as you leave your name and email id in the comment.  

Please share it with your friends!  Open INTERNATIONALLY!  Giveaway ends June 22nd 2012!



74 comments:

  1. Looks like a great book

    kperales25(at)aol.com

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  2. This sounds like something I would love to read.
    speck.sw@gmail.com

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  3. This books sounds super-interesting. I love thrillers and I think I am going to like this book as well :)

    nishikk(at) gmail.com

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  4. Ok --I love suspense-and-the title"Project Moses" is very ominous-- I can't wait for this one to come to our little local bookstore.Interesting review of the story to just give you the slightest taste of what is to come,keeping your mouth watering for more--Thanks for add to my needs for good reads--dlmwdavis@hotmail.com

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    1. Hi Dianna,

      You can order Project Moses over Amazon. May take a while to reach your bookstore.

      http://www.amazon.com/Project-Moses-Mystery-Thriller-ebook/dp/B0070XXXDG

      Robert

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  5. "A high-tech bio-terrorism thriller" - that's exciting right there. PROJECT MOSES looks like a great read.

    marypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com

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  6. thank you for the international giveaway! I rarely read thrillers but I liked the story and I'll give it a chance :)
    Kristia Miltiadou milkristia@hotmail.com

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  7. Thanks much for having me on today! I'll check back in from time and time and get back to anyone with comments for me.

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  8. Sounds like a great book. One I would love to read. I will be checking out amazon later today. Thanks Robert for being here today.

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    1. Great to be here, Tammy. I like the way the site looks - wonderful color palate. And the birds are a nice touch - playful but not annoying!

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  9. This books sounds super awesome!

    Thanks for international giveaway...
    (randy4world@gmail.com)

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  10. A game of cat and mouse in a bio terrorism background.... Sounds appetizing... :)

    loneinheart@gmail.com

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  11. I hardly see any books set in San Francisco lately...sounds great, especially since I always enjoy North Beach!

    vitajex(at)aol(dot)com

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    1. When I first moved here 20 years ago, a guy told me, "When you leave work it's like you're on vacation." Amazingly, it still feels a lot like that! Makes the story research something to which you can look forward.

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  12. This looks very interesting!

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  13. What an exciting sounding story. I am familiar with the Bay area, and it makes it much more interesting to me to read a story that takes place in a place I know well.

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    1. I'm working on the next book and have scenes in the kelp beds off Santa Barbara, in the lettuce fields around Salinas and in the redwoods toward Eureka. A bit more California centric but it's amazing what there is to work with here when you think about it...even without Hollywood!

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  14. "Marvelously articulate" insults...gotta love 'em. I wish I had a repository of them that I could mentally retrieve on demand...LOL. Enzo is Chinese-Italian-Scottish. How wonderfully diverse. Does that reflect your own heritage? There's a lot tied in with a name like Enzo Lee!

    catherinelee100 at gmail dot com

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    1. Hi Catherine. I'm actually 100% Chinese (or so I'm told) but of a generation where my own kids and my nieces and nephews are all half Chinese. I actually stole "Enzo" from a 2-year-old whose parents are Ferrari fans. (Enzo Ferrari was a race car driver who founded the company in the 60s.) I was using "Lorenzo" anyway so it seemed a natural shift. One think I like about the Bay Area is the melting pot quality. I wanted to keep Enzo flexible for later story lines. (Mafia connections??)

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  15. Hi Robert,

    Sorry I missed visiting with you on party day. I enjoyed reading your post. You are a new-to-me author so I will enjoy following you around on for the remainder of your tour. Your book sounds very interesting.

    kareninnc at gmail dot com

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  16. Wow both your jobs are great ones and you get to write too! Very lucky =)
    booksforcompany @gmail.com

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  17. Love the cover, great artwork

    Claire, darkmotive@hotmail.com

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  18. Malvina Beatrice14 June 2012 at 02:10

    Sounds like a wonderful book, I would love to read it.

    darkenf(at)rocketmail(dot)com

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  19. Thanks for informing us of the giveaway.

    Selvi
    r.selvi2k9 at gmail dot com

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  20. Great giveaway and guest post!

    Harsha -- harsha_8418@yahoo.co.in

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  21. wow I love the background details! When I read I have the story playing out in my head with very strong imagery but in this case I've never been to San Francisco etc (I live in England) so to see the photos was really intriguing and how you explained where your frame of reference came from for things like the investigative reporter was really interesting....I wish this was a thing that authors did more often.
    I think, if you havent already, then you should definitely set up a blog or something to have these moodboard/background details about your books :)

    Sorry this is a long comment...I got over enthused :P

    The book sounds awesome and the cover's great,
    Chrissy

    kisschris9(at)hotmail(dot)com

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  22. Looks like a great book - am new to this author and your background info is brilliant! Will be visiting here again :) Love books too!!
    Miss H
    devil623 at hotmail dot com

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  23. Sound like an interesting book!

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  24. Looks a fab red, one That I won't be able to out down x

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  25. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  26. Sounds like a great book....might get it for my hols!

    lou.oliver1@gmail.com

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  27. Sounds like a really exciting book!

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  28. ooo sounds good :D

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  29. Thanks for the share
    guntupalli7@gmail.com

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  30. thanks for the share
    pooji147@gmail.com

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  31. Sounds like a great book - right up my alley. Not read this author yet but I love bio-thrillers!

    Jennifer Lynn
    jennicomps@gmail.com

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  32. sounds like a riviting read carnt wait

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  33. This books like a great read! THanks for sharing.

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  34. Great post! This book looks awesome. I'm your new follower, Karma Bloggers!!! :) I'll be back to check out more posts!!!

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  35. I love thrillers! Stopping by from Karma Bloggers!

    Mehimandthecats@gmail.com

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  36. This looks like a great book to read. I will have to check out amazon so i can download it onto my phone.

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  37. Thanks for the giveaway
    krisz.night@yahoo.com

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  38. Would love to read this book. Have it on e-book and intend on reading it soon. Thanks for the review and give away.

    breathoflifebookreviews@yahoo.com

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  39. Book looks interesting, thanks :)

    emma3005@gmail.com

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  40. great Giveaway. Count me in, please.
    joanna_kow (at) yahoo . co . uk

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  41. poladrop123@aol.co.uk

    would love to read that!

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  42. I would love to read that

    l.johnson987@aol.co.uk

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  43. poladrop123@aol.co.uk

    would love that

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  44. I love the cover looks good!
    Lmbrunken at gmail dot com

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  45. Those are some gorgeous pics of San Francisco, I have always wanted to go there.

    As for the book, I haven't read a good thriller in a long time maybe its just time for me to pick one up again. This sounds fantastic.

    vampiremistress2010(at)gmail(dot)com

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  46. San Francisco looks amazing!

    Mariam M.
    missymyt (at) hotmail (dot) com

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  47. Thanks for a great giveaway!! :)

    natz.henderson@gmail.com

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  48. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  49. I would love to read this.

    xxmermaid1@gmail.com

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  50. This book sounds great thanks for the giveaway!!!! bridget.howard(at)hotmail(dot)com

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  51. Sounds good. I want to go to NY, maybe someday :)

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  52. **My partner and I were finding women who had been forced by doctors at the county hospital to be sterilized. .... We found numerous cases, exposed the forced sterilizations, and ended the practice.** - OMG! This really was good work by the author and his partner. I had no idea something like this could happen there.

    Sounds like a great book. Thank you.
    Veens
    givingreadingachance@gmail.com

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  53. Sounds were interesting... have added it to my toreads in Goodreads. My email id is vidandyuva at gmail dot com

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  54. beautiful cover, love it

    Dina
    dlsmilad at yahoo dot com

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  55. Thanks for the giveaway..

    r.vicky44@gmail.com

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  56. Count me in.
    Mail: prasannaprabhu.venkatesan@gmail.com

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  57. I would love to read this.

    Viji
    vijicoolfriend@gmail.com

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  58. Amazing giveaway.

    Amrith
    v_amrith at yahoo.co.in

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  59. Great giveaway!

    Harsha -- harsha_8418@yahoo.co.in@gmail.com (weird? But, that's my mail id :))

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  60. Thanks for the giveaway!

    Subasri
    suba.478@gmail.com

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  61. I would like to try this.

    Saravanan - infosaravanan@gmail.com

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  62. Thanks for the giveaway. Great post.

    Maha
    maha88443(at)gmail(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  63. Great giveaway. thanks!
    Ranjini
    sivaranjini.varadharajan at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete

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