FIFA in Brazil: Time to read A VINE IN THE BLOOD

President Dilma Rousseff takes first kick-off at the Dunas Arena

The FIFA World Cup hosted by Brazil is about to kick off.   I am taking this opportunity to bring everyone’s attention to our dear Leighton Gage’s book dealing with the world of Brazil’s soccer players.  Here is what Leighton himself had to say about his story Vine in the Blood. It is a wonderful book.  Now would be a great time to read or reread one of our blog's  founder’s wonderfully crafted and riveting stories.

Annamaria - Monday  VIVA LEIGHTON!

FROM 18 April 2011:

Once a year, each of us gets a chance to toot his/her own horn.
Normally, we do that when we launch a new book in the United States and Canada.
This time, I'm going to do it differently.

This is the North American cover for A Vine in the Blood:

I love that cover, and I'm anxious to see it on the shelves of bookshops, but it won't be launched in North America until the 27th of December.

This is the cover for the English-language Kindle version elsewhere in the world:

And it's up for purchase, on Kindle, as of today, as long as you don't live in the United States, Canada, the Philippines, the American possessions and a couple of other places.

In the UK, here's the link to the Kindle store:

http://tinyurl.com/AVineInTheBloodUKlink


If you live anywhere else, I can't give you a link, because the URLs vary from country-to-country.
I don't know them all. But, even if I did, there wouldn't be space to list them. They number over two hundred.

Which is how it's possible to put books up on Kindle at different times, and in different places, without violating copyright arrangements with publishers.

I suppose you know that, if you don't have a Kindle, you can download a free application from Amazon that enables you to read Kindle books on your computer or smart phone.

It's not my preferred way of reading, and I suspect it isn't yours, but it's possible.

And it will save you eight months of waiting for the next installment of the adventures of Chief Inspector Silva.

Here's the synopsis, extracted from the copy on the book's jacket:

It is the eve of the FIFA World Cup, the globe’s premier sporting event. The host country is Brazil. A victory for the home team is inextricably linked to the skills of the country’s principal striker, Tico “The Artist” Santos, the greatest player in the history of the sport. All the politicians in Brasilia, from the President of the Republic on down, have their seats squared-away for the finale, when they hope to see Argentina, Brazil’s bitterest rival, humbled by the Brazilian eleven. But then, just three weeks before the first game, Juraci Santos, Tico’s mother, is kidnapped. The star is distraught. The public is appalled. The politicians are outraged. And the pressure is on Chief Inspector Mario Silva to get her back.

Suspects aren’t lacking. Among them, are a cabal of Argentineans, suspected of having spirited the lady away to put Tico off his game, the star’s gold-digging, top-model girlfriend, whom his mother dislikes and has been trying to get out of his life, his principal rival, who wants to play in the World Cup in Tico’s place, and the man whose leg Tico broke during a match, thereby destroying his career. In the end, Silva and his crew discover that the solution to the mystery is less complex - but entirely unexpected.


The book is no cozy, but it's not very violent, either. And there's humor from the wisecracking Arnaldo Nunes to break up the action.

Which is, otherwise, pretty non-stop.

Thanks, Dear Readers, for putting up with this blatant self-promotion.

Like I said, it's only once a year for each of us.

Leighton - Monday