Jeff—Saturday
A preliminary note to
the following post I’d written before the tragedy in France: Living as I do in a glittering international tourist
destination, where people from around the world come to escape the day-to-day
reality of their lives, my thoughts cannot help but run to the people of Nice
who sought similar relief a night ago—and the “what ifs” we all share in a world
besieged by terrorist madness. There are
not enough prayers to cover the grieving, but I shall say them anyway.
Amen.
*****
Usually, we exercise our once a year blatant self-promotion
right (aka BSP) on Murder is Everywhere to announce our latest book, but this
year I’m doing something different. Yes, I still have a new book, SANTORINI CAESARS, coming out in my Chief
Inspector Andreas Kaldis series on September 6th from Poisoned Pen
Press—just in time for Bouchercon—but something a bit different is underway
that I thought I’d share with you.
Don’t misunderstand me, I’m very excited about the new book,
and though reviews are just beginning to come in, the ones that have are
terrific. For example, the praise offered by Kirkus Reviews also serves as a wonderful thumbnail sketch of the
plot line:
“When the black-sheep
daughter of a high-ranking Greek military officer is brutally murdered, the
motive is murky and the array of suspects immense… Andreas Kaldis is called to
the beautiful Cycladic island of Santorini to investigate…The case resonates
with…possible political dimensions…and unfortunately, all roads seem to lead to
the imperious prime minister…a timely plot…and engaging.”
And the highly regarded Greek-American publication, WindyCity Greek, is about to release a review telling its readers…
“Put this one at the top of your reading list…[Jeff’s] incredibly tuned-in
to the idiosyncrasies of modern Greece…The story is very well-conceived and
believable. You’ll start to wonder if it’s really going to happen (and hope
it’s not), and won’t be able to put it down. Jeffrey Siger does not disappoint.
I don’t know how he does it; each book is better than the last.”
Yes, I’m blushing.
But what’s really grabbed me enough to use up my yearly allotment of BSP is
the novel (no pun intended) efforts of my European Film agent. He’s a true friend and—in every positive
sense of the word—a unique
character. His background can best be
described as highly classified, while his dedication to me as nigh on
certifiable. :)
Without any background in “the business” he successfully brought me to
within striking distance of a deal that had Chief Inspector Andreas Kaldis
succeeding Donna Leon’s Venice-based Commisario Brunetti on German Television. It fell through at the last minute when the
Greek Government decided to start casting World War II aspersions on the German
people, and the network decided Greece was no longer the direction to go with
their series. In other words, I was an early casualty of the Greek Financial
Crisis.
But through it all, my agent’s kept the faith, and this week I learned I’m featured
in the much-read business and government publication, Czech & Slovak Leaders, detailing his efforts at forming a
consortium to bring my series to the screen (See, top of this post). To me it seems a highly unusual—and
imaginative—approach, but utterly in keeping with his outside-the-box style of
thinking. And based upon his track record in all that he’s done in life, I don’t
dare bet against him.
I just wonder whether this means I’ll have to add Czech to the long list of
languages I don’t speak very well.
—Jeff
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