In this steamy and romantic suspense thriller based on true-life events in Mexico, the author tells the story of ordinary heroes who fight to save lives in the midst of the drug cartel wars. With a military coup in Mexico as backdrop, a celebrity homemaker and her lover make two countries face harrowing choices to obtain justice. A roller-coaster ride guaranteed to make an impact on your life! Is passionate love the transforming force that forges heroes? David Wilson James, informal adviser to the President of the United States about Latin American drug wars, faces certain death from AK-47 automatic weapons pointing at him by three assailants who have tracked him to the roof of a six-story office building in downtown Monterrey, Mexico. Unarmed, David has precious seconds to save the life of the woman he adores, who is standing to his side. In the streets below, demonstrators pack the vicinity of the Macroplaza to urge peace and restraint on the part of the Mexican Armed Forces who have staged a military coup against the democratic government of Mexico. David's lover, Ana Valdez, has had much to do with the unrest that led to the coup. On the roof, will David be able to pull off the trick that will save Ana's life? David, ex-CIA agent and co-founder with Ana of a youth-resistance group called the Zs, had never anticipated finding passionate love in Mexico with married business woman, Ana Valdez. Ana herself had surprises in life: She unintentionally became a living symbol, a national icon for the Mexican people sick to death of the corrupt government leaders who could not protect them from the bloody excesses of the drug cartels. While trying to hide their affair, Ana and David get sucked into the violent world that they are trying to upend. In addition to the American President, their friends in high places include the generals of the Mexican Armed Forces who shockingly orchestrate the military coup. When they sequester the President of Mexico and most members of the Federal and State governments, David and Ana feverishly work with the help of the Zs to manage the chaos which ensues in Mexico. Things quickly take a desperate turn when El Gato, a capo in Mexico's most powerful drug cartel, personally targets David and Ana for his own self-serving purposes: He wants to exploit them in his mission to build a "narco-continent of North America." The bedlam of civil disturbance in Mexico and in the United States as a result of the coup provides the perfect environment for him to accomplish his goals. Redemption can only be achieved through blood and high purpose. Are the personal sacrifices of David and Ana sufficient to pay the ransom that will halt the advance of unconscionable evil? The Z Redemption cuts into the deep entrenchment of organized crime in the world we think we know. It shows the kind of courage ordinary people will be forced to muster in order to stop its cancerous growth. The cast of characters includes leaders of international drug cartels; military commanders; young Zs like Enrique Santos who will fight for freedom and public safety; and Eduardo Ortiz, the crafty "king maker" behind the scenes of Mexican politics. In the center is David Wilson James, a man whose life of intrigue is book-ended by two passionate affairs with Mexican women who shape his extraordinary life. These are Annie Ortiz, Eduardo's daughter, who is the ardent flame of David's youth, and Ana Valdez, the younger woman of David's older years, for whom David would give his life. Read The Z Redemption for an intensely personal experience of daily life in a world where public safety does not exist. The Z Redemption flashes back fifty years to events impacting the present. It will transport you to places in Mexico and the USA: Monterrey, Mazatlán, Mexico City, Houston. You will meet passionate characters who sacrifice everything for the people they love and who give their lives pursuing justice for victims of senseless brutality.
About the Author: I lived in Mexico in 2009 and 2010 and suffered the murder of a young friend who was kidnapped, tortured, shot, and left in a vacant field in his home city of Monterrey. Israel was a bright and handsome college student. The mistake that cost him his life was to meet the wrong person at a party: She was the estranged wife of a drug cartel leader in Monterrey, but she didn't tell Israel. Their flirtation put an end to his life and the dreams for him of all who loved him. I was aware of the violence in Mexico when I arrived and tried to stay alert. After I came to make friends and saw that they courageously lived their lives in a world abundant with daily horrors and impunity, I realized how safely we lead lives in the United States. I learned that we know so little about how we contribute to problems in the country to the south of us. Israel's murder began to haunt me a little more each day. I couldn't forget him. I spent two years researching and understanding the violence of organized crime, especially that of the drug cartels throughout Latin America and the United States. I found out that on the demand side, the people in the United States purchase the majority of drugs coming from the Mexican cartels. On the supply side, our country is the biggest supplier of illegal weapons used by these cartels. These weapons have been responsible for at least 100,000 deaths in Mexico in the past seven years. Even the casual marijuana enjoyed in social gatherings in our country arrives to us with a lot of blood on their leaves. We don't think about that at all. The result of my time in Mexico is The Z Redemption. It's sequel, Corvette Nightfire, was published in April, 2014. As for my bio, I am a retired Certified Public Accountant who spent most of my career in the health care field. For twenty years I was the CFO and then CEO of a Virginia hospital and nursing home in a large healthcare company. I wrote short stories as a young man, and at the College of William and Mary I really learned to write. I received my undergraduate degree in History there. Later I went to graduate school at Virginia Commonwealth University, where I got a post-baccalaureate certificate in accounting and then my Masters in Business Administration from the University of Dallas. I am a life-long lover of Corvettes, Las Vegas, and living on the edge. I am in love with my family, and I am passionate about United States and Mexican history, the Spanish language, and using social media.