Introducing Gate of the Gods, My New Suspense Thriller Novel
A New Name for an Old Secret
I have news, and I can hardly sit still long enough to type it. Book one of my trilogy is almost completely rewritten, and it has a new name. This suspense thriller novel is now called Gate of the Gods.
If you have been following along, you may remember this story under its working title. The bones of it are the same. But the book that came out of this rewrite is darker, tighter, and far more suspenseful than anything I first imagined. Every chapter now ends with a door creaking open, and I think you are going to want to walk through every single one.
What Is Gate of the Gods About? (No Spoilers, I Promise)
Kaira Munroe repairs old books for a living. She is careful, quiet, and very good at keeping the past at arm's length. Then her estranged grandmother Victoria dies and leaves her a hillside winery in Westonville, a yacht with a strange name, and a family history Kaira barely remembers. She has not set foot on the estate since she was seven. All she carries from those years is a recurring dream of a marble fountain and three towering angels with a sword raised in judgment.
The wake should have been the end of it. Instead, a visiting astronomer from the Vatican is murdered before he can tell Kaira what he knows about her grandmother. From that moment on, nothing on the estate is what it seems. Not the journals Victoria left behind. Not the painted ceiling above Kaira's bed. And certainly not the people who suddenly seem very interested in what she might find.
With the help of Jonathan Bell, the high school sweetheart she never quite forgot, and a priest from the abbey across the valley, Kaira begins pulling at a thread that leads back across an ocean and fifty years into the past. Someone smuggled something out of Italy long ago. A hidden sect wants it back. And they are counting down to one particular night when the stars line up just right. That is all I am going to tell you. Some doors were sealed for a reason.
Why This Rewrite Feels Different
I have a few books under my belt now, and I can feel the difference every time I sit down to write. When I first drafted this story, I was still learning how to keep a secret from my readers. This time I knew exactly when to open a door and when to slam it shut.
Gate of the Gods blends the things I love most in a mystery thriller. There are hidden passages, old journals, Vatican secrets, ancient texts, and the night sky itself playing a role in the story. Kaira is braver and more stubborn than she was in the first draft. The villains are more patient and far more frightening. And the romance between Kaira and Jonathan finally has room to breathe.
Honestly, I am having more fun writing now than I ever have. I write in the evenings and on weekends, and lately I look forward to those hours all day long unless I'm sick. Even then I can barely tear myself away.
Dreaming of Italy and a Writing Retreat
Part of this story reaches all the way back to Italy, and writing it has me longing to return. I want to walk the streets of Roma again, wander through Napoli, and maybe travel farther south to places I have only seen in photographs. Every page I write about old stone, candlelit chapels, and secrets carried across the sea makes the pull a little stronger.
And here is a thought I cannot shake. What if I planned a writing retreat in Italy someday? Picture mornings spent writing with an espresso in hand, afternoons exploring ancient ruins, and evenings talking about stories over a long Italian dinner. Wouldn't that be fun? It could happen.
Stay Posted
Gate of the Gods is the first book in a new trilogy, and I cannot wait to share more of this world with you. Release news, sneak peeks, and maybe even a few Italian adventures are all on the horizon.
Subscribe to the email so you never miss an update. And if you have not read my other books yet, Murder On the Rocks, Money On the Run, and Where Light Bleeds Through will keep you company while you wait.
So stay posted, because you never know what could happen!
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