web of deceit

Story Behind the Story

Story Behind the Story
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Web of Shadows

susanofficialnew-199x300Story Behind the Story

by Susan Sleeman

I love computers and electronics—like stand in line for the next iPhone love them. And since they are becoming more and more a part of our lives I wanted to use my knowledge to share stories of how cyber crimes can impact our everyday lives. That’s how the Agents Under Fire series was born. This series features three female FBI agents who work on an elite FBI Cyber Action Team, so of course, the stories in the series need to revolve around cyber crimes.

As I was thinking of plot ideas for Web of Shadows, book two in the series, I was preparing for an upcoming trip where I would be flying. As a writer my mind works in odd ways so as I was thinking about the trip, I asked myself what would happen if someone hacked into the TSA’s No Fly List and was able to add and delete people who could fly freely in our country.

After I got over the fact that I was indeed flying soon and I hoped this really didn’t actually happen J, I came up with the idea of a teen hacking into the list and making it vulnerable to unscrupulous people. I loved the idea, but then decided that the stakes weren’t quite high enough for my characters.

So I decided to have the computer that was used for the hack placed into a geo cache where anyone could find it and thus have access to the No Fly List. High enough stakes, you say? No, I wanted to make the crime personal to Nina Brandt, the FBI agent featured in this book so I decided the hacker would be the younger brother of Quinn Stone, the man she was in love with but estranged from.

Enough you say? No I wanted Nina to struggle even more, so I made the man who finds the computer be a former criminal who she arrested and is now free and has a giant grudge against her. Naturally, he wants to frame her for the hack, which he tries to do using everyday technology like cell phones and laptop computers.

From early reviews, I can see that readers think Web of Shadows is a thrill ride that provides a satisfying romance, and at the same time, the readers see the dangers in technology and also see how hard it is to protect our national security in the cyber world. I hope that you’ll check out the book and find the same thing true after reading it.

Web of Shadows has officially been released! Pick it up today!

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Top 5 Things That Are Guaranteed to Get Me Out of My Jammies

Top 5 Things That Are Guaranteed to Get Me Out of My Jammies
Web of Deceit
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Top 5 Things That Are Guaranteed to Get Me Out of My Jammies

By Susan Sleeman

 

A bomb. A submachine gun. A plane crash. The roof torn from a car. CSI investigation.

Sounds like a book right. Or movie. Or even something a writer might conjure up in her mind. Wrong. It’s a day in the life of a romantic suspense author. A day in my life. Several days actually.

Not my typical schedule, though. I write fulltime so I’ve become a real homebody, sitting in my comfy chair—some days not even bothering to get dressed. But then, there have been crazy, amazing days when research has pulled me from my chair to participate in things I never imagined myself doing. Here are a few of my favorite events.

 

  1. Detonating a Bomb – Lest you think the FBI is coming after me for this, let me first tell you that I was with the FBI bomb squad at the time. As a participant in the FBI Citizen’s Academy, I joined agents for six weeks to learn about their job and mission. Some things I experienced first hand. What better way to experience the power of bombs than pressing the detonator in an empty field. The flash was blinding. The ground rumbled. And the explosion was deafening. AMAZING! Here’s a short video of one of the explosions. The video doesn’t have nearly the impact of the actual event, but it gives you an idea. As a bonus, you can also hear gunshots from the nearby firing range.

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  1. And speaking of guns, shooting a submachine gun—Same day, up the hill at the FBI firing range. We shot pistols, submachine guns, and a rifle. I’d only ever fired a weapon once before this
    day and let me tell you, the power behind the semi-automatic was incredible. Here’s the range and the targets we tried to hit, plus our instructors waiting to teach us how to proper procedures.

 

  1. Tour a police CSI Lab – Don’t believe everything the amazing CSI labs that you see on TV have,  with state-of-the-artpic 2 equipment in these bright, airy rooms. Not so much with real police labs. They are strapped for money and cramped in small spaces, but still, I learned so many things. One was how to process fingerprints, and then how to use a fuming chamber to obtain fingerprints from uneven surfaces and hard-to-dust surfaces such as bottles, knives, guns, etc.

 

  1. Participate in a plane crash – What? A crash. Okay it was a mock disaster drill at the Portlanpic 3d International Airport, but hey, the emergency response workers didn’t treat it as a drill. They screamed onto the tarmac to help victims wearing gory makeup meant to simulate serious injuries. Mock family members arrived at the airport and were taken to special rooms to await the news of their loved ones. It all felt so real and gave me everything I’d need to write such a disaster. I’m just waiting for the right book. And as a bonus, I got a great t-shirt and medal for participating.

 

  1. Using the jaws of life to remove the roof from a car – Okay, this one involved hunky pic4firefighters, nuff said, but there was actual research here, too. The firefighters first demonstrated how to cut off the roof, then I was given the chance to step into turnouts and open up another car with my fellow participants enrolled in the local Police Academy.

 

 

 

So as you can see, being a romantic suspense author can be thrilling, and I try to put that realism and thrill into my books. For example, I have included a bomb in Web of Deceit.

 

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Web of Deceit is the first book in a three book series featuring female FBI agents assigned to an elite Cyber Action Team. When agent Kaitlyn Knight’s brother-in-law, the notorious cybercriminal Vyper, kills her sister then goes on a murderous spree taunting Kait, homicide detective Sam Murdock must find Vyper before he takes another life. As the body count rises, Sam discovers the killing spree is really about striking back at Kait, and he must put everything on the line—including the relationship he’s developed with Kait—to ensure her safety. Vyper is waiting, watching her every move, and he won’t stop until he’s exacted his revenge and reclaims his rights to raise his daughter now in Kait’s custody.

 

 

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Web of Shadows releases in December and Web of Lies in April. In honor of all three books, I’ve been giving away official FBI insignia items like the ones in the picture. These are official items purchased at the Portland FBI campus store. All my giveaways will be featured on my Facebook page, so stop on over and like the page to keep from missing any of the giveaways.

 

 

Web of Deceit by Susan Sleeman is only $1.99 today only! Click the cover above to purchase!