Becoming NADIA

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  EPICon 2012 FINALIST

Becoming NADIA

Book One in The NADIA Project

A Novel by: Cyrus Keith

Genre: Thriller

RATING: L=1    S=1    V=4

Editor: Fiona Young-Brown

Line editor: Greta Gunselman

Cover artist: Delilah K. Stephans

Word count: 103347

Pages: 299

ISBN: 978-1-926931-54-8

E-book price: $5.95

Warning: Contains moderate violence, sexual content or language

Blurb: 

“What’s one more little white lie?”

There's only one thing that pretty, popular TV reporter Nadia Velasquez is missing: her memory from before the explosion that killed everyone else in the room, including the President of Nigeria. But from the moment she meets FBI agent Jon Daniels, all hell breaks loose. Friends turn into deadly enemies overnight, and no one can be truly trusted.

When Jon and Nadia investigate further, they discover the living terror that is the truth behind Nadia's existence, a truth that could mean the death of millions.

Excerpt: 

By the time they reached D'Antini's, Nadia knew she was in the company of a friend. She and Jon made small talk while they waited for the maitre d' to find them a table in the middle of the sumptuous dining room, and she almost forgot about having to explain herself to her station staff.

The appetizers were amazing, if unidentifiable. Nadia asked what was in them and Jon just smiled and held up a hand. "You really don't want to know."

Nadia almost spit out the latest mouthful, but thought twice about it as she looked around. This was too nice a place to be so rude. Her eyes widened in mirth as she tried to laugh around it and almost choked trying to get it down. She grabbed her water glass and took a drink, waving a hand at her face.

"You jerk," she laughed softly, when her mouth became free. "All right, seriously now, do you take every woman who faints in your arms to a place this fancy?"

"No," he answered, "just those who remind me of a dear friend." The smile faded from his face and he became pensive for several seconds. Then he placed a couple more appetizers on her salad plate. "Here," he said, suddenly brightening, "have some more…brown, crusty…things."

She chuckled again, pushing the plate away. "No, thanks. A moment on the lips…." She let the rest of the cliché fade away while she rearranged her napkin in her lap, trying to buy some time before she had to plow ahead. "So why am I here with you? Because you're concerned for me or because I remind you of someone else?"

"That is an entirely unfair question, Miss Velasquez. I was wondering that very thing myself. Maybe a little bit of both. Is that okay?"

"How did you know my last name?" she asked. It was not as if she were a necessarily private person, it was mainly that she hoped he would not recognize her from television. She was already AWOL. She may as well put in her resignation as soon as she got back to 'Frisco.

"I heard you lie to 'Steve,' whoever that is. When you talked about an interview with a president, I pegged you right off the bat. I've been to the West Coast on business a few times."

"That's where you saw me before. Well, that answers that, then."

"No, it doesn't." Jon looked at Nadia again, the piercing gaze locked on her face. "There's something else, and I can't explain it yet. Just less than four years ago I lost my best friend and her family…."

"Oh, I must look like her, then—"

He cut her off. "How's Phillip?"

Nadia's hand stopped halfway to her water glass. She felt paralyzed. The blood drained from her face, leaving it ice cold. The memory reconnected like a switch in her mind. The question trickled weakly from her lips, her voice quavering. "Who's Phillip?"

Jon's voice took on a steely edge. He wasn't becoming hostile, just insistent, but insistent in a way that made her feel like she was being peeled away, layer by layer under a microscope. "You know full well who Phillip is."

The trembling in her hand increased to a violent shaking. She remembered someone telling her, "It took twenty-three surgeries just to reconstruct your face." Her breath came in gasps; her voice weakened. Phillip. Phillip was— She found herself unable to get up, incapable of walking away, too terrified to run, like a bird in the gaze of a snake. "What are you talking about?"

"Why did you skip out on your flight, Nadia? Why did you come to the Staley's at 42nd and Lexington? Why at that particular time?"

The questions gushed from Jon's mouth, one right after another, and Nadia had no chance to answer any individual one. He became more agitated as he went, until Nadia thought he would reach over the table and strangle her right there in public. "Why did you order a double-decaf-mochaccino latté with a cinnamon stick? Why did you know my nickname and then faint as soon as you recognized me? Why are we sitting here right now, while the chef in the kitchen prepares Steak Hélène rare? Before the appetizers came, why were you doodling Betty Boop figures on your napkin and playing with your left ear?" Twenty-three surgeries. "Nobody has called me 'Jake' since I was ten, except for her and my mom. And you absolutely hate Merlot, don't you?"

Nadia's hand never made it to the water glass. She couldn't think. A sound roared in her head, like ten thousand voices screaming in terror. An icy spear of fear shot through her chest. Hot tears rolled down her face, and her chest heaved as she gasped for breath.

She hoped with everything inside her that no one else was watching these two terrified people having this horrible, strange confrontation. Her vision started to close in again, but she fought it off. As it was, she nearly fell out of her chair. Her voice was strange and weak. "Do…do you know who I am?"

Reviews:

This book is an excellent thriller with impeccable pacing and believable characters. I highly recommend it. However, I must warn you, if you read Becoming NADIA, plan on reading the rest of the series when those books are released because you will be hooked! Zella Kate, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED...READ FULL REVIEW

MEET THE AUTHOR

Other books by Cyrus Keith:

Unalive book two in the NADIA Project series

Customer Reviews:

Now that's what a call on *little* white lie.rnrnA fast paced thriller with lots of twists with far reaching ramifications.

I've just finished Mr. Keith's novel. Although "devoured" might be a more accurate term since I read it all, cover to cover, in under 18 hours. rnrnI love it. It's beautifully written, peppered with clever turns of phrase, a highly-engaging plot line and populated by fascinating, multi-dimensional characters. rnrnMy only regret is that I did not purchase 2 copies. If I had, then I can dive back for a re-read right now this very second, to catch any and all subtle nuances I might have missed. As it stands now, I must practice self-control and put my hardcopy on the shelf so it can 'rest'. rnrnI must not damage the spine :)rnrnI am looking forward to purchasing and reading (devouring) the rest of the trilogy as soon as they become available in hardcopy. rnrnExcellent work, Mr. Keith. Do keep the novels coming.

I’ll be very honest. I purchased this book because it recently won the Epic Award for its category (March, 2012) and I wanted to see what the top award winning book was like. Now, I am challenged and you will not be disappointed. A fresh and original, action packed plot that is indeed, a real page turner. In the early chapters, just when you think you’ve got this one figured out, Cyrus Keith turns on the surprises and literally, burns the house down. It’s an exciting adventure, a good romance and an open threat to thrill us with the next book in this series. It seems obligatory in reviews like this to say you’re waiting to see it on the big screen. This one, deserves to be there. Well done, Cyrus, you genuinely earned each and every one of these stars… and that Epic Award, too!

this book was great i could not stop reading it ,rndefinetly recomend it and i looking forward to read the rest of this thrylogy.rnthanks

Great read, hooked me right from the start.

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