Blog 2023 Malcolm Blair-Robinson

Readers asked the author ‘What inspired you to write this new series?’

Tor Raven replied.

‘First I read nearly a hundred modern thrillers, all on Kindle, in the crime genre, written often by female authors. A few were American, the rest were British, Scandinavian and Icelandic. I learned the kind of thing go getters like to read, very different in style to the traditional stuff I had been writing. I spent time talking to young people, absorbing how they use and speak English, which has evolved significantly since social media burst upon us. I saw that a lot of fiction is read on phones while multi-tasking, or on tablets if more relaxed. It is rare to see a book on a plane or train now. But for those who prefer, in addition to the e-book, Zara also comes in full size paperback with easy read print.

The pressures in our modern society cry out for a strong heroine who knows her mind and thrives on challenge. Zara will not let you down. As for the choice of name? It is international and once you say Zara Vine twice it sticks in your head and you never forget it. Finally, to introduce her to you, I selected the darkest subject matter that troubles everybody and is shaking all public institutions, especially the church, to the core.

Now read Book One! You will be gripped from the start and I think you will like Zara Vine. This is the first in a series, so there is lots more Zara to come.’

Click Image for Amazon UK         For U.S.A    Click Here

President Trump’s most recent remark that he is now not satisfied with the Saudi explanation that the journalist died in a fight at the consulate in Turkey, in the midst of a conversation with Saudi officials, was greeted with incredulity across the world. One man fighting fifteen officials? Why were the officials flown in for this meeting? Why was one of them a pathologist carrying a bone saw in his luggage? Where is the body? Why did the Saudi government lie and say he had left the building in one piece?

Initially Trump, whose strategy was to create a pathway down which his ally, in whom he has invested far too much political capital, could escape from a calamitous miscalculation more or less unscathed, declared the explanation plausible and one he could likely accept. A backlash from almost everyone both inside and outside the US has provoked a rethink. Now it is up to Turkey to come forward with the outcome of its extensive investigation, backed by evidence which leaves no room for doubt. Only then can a decision be made about punishing the Saudis. Meanwhile America needs to re-evaluate its strategy in the Middle East. Too many eggs in too few baskets in an area where almost everything is wrong is asking for the very kind of trouble Trump now finds himself in.