Are you a fan of Bond films, 24, SALT or the Bourne Trilogy? Here’s your newest guilty reading pleasure: “JET” by Russell Blake. Check out the whole novel free on Wattpad!
JET. “A Female Bourne” Ex-Mossad heroine in a non-stop, high octane, action adventure thriller!
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Read more about this feisty heroine in the guest post below:
An Action/Adventure Heroine That Breaks The Mold
When Wattpad approached me about writing a guest blog about my new novel, JET, I was right in the middle of thinking through the fifth installment in the series. I’m tremendously grateful that readers have resonated with the character, an ex-Mossad operative who fakes her own death to escape her past, and was eager to make the first novel free for Wattpad users, believing that the more who are familiar with the book, the greater the impact of the whole series will be.
It may seem odd for a male suspense author to be writing about a twenty-something female ex-assassin, but the odd thing is that JET is the easiest character I’ve ever written. I started off with just a single idea: Kill Bill meets Bourne.
I loved how Tarantino crafted the main character in the Kill Bill movies, and wanted to create the most kick-ass female protagonist the literary world had ever seen – a mold-breaking adrenaline rush of a heroine who could give the Lisbeth Salanders and Jason Bournes of the world a run for their money; a female Jack Bauer crossed with James Bond who was larger-than-life and unapologetically overblown. In other words, a female main character who was not only fun to read, but one readers of any gender could root for. But most of all, I aspired to write the fastest-paced series of novels I’d ever read – books that left readers soaked in sweat and breathless, their hearts trip-hammering as they finished the last pages. I wanted to ruin readers for all other action adventure novels, and do it with the saga of a female protagonist the likes of which had never been imagined.
I also wanted the books to be smart. I was raised on Ludlum, Higgins, Forsyth, Grisham and Harris. I hoped to create a series that could stand side by side with the work of those venerated masters and not make excuses. In short, I wanted to write blindingly fast-paced books that plunged the reader into another world within the first few pages and held them in a death grip till the final sentences, and did so with interesting turns of phrase and evocative, almost cinematic style.
JET turned out better than I could have hoped, and reader reception has been nothing short of amazing. With 177 reviews on Amazon in just a few short months and over ten thousand copies sold, it appears that JET won some hearts. And now I’ve made it free. I like to tell folks who have never heard of my novels to just read the first ten pages of JET and they’ll get what my approach to storytelling is all about. Having written 19 novels to date, I’ve synthesized my technique over time, and JET is probably the best expression of what I do I could hope for. If you’re a fan of Bond films, 24, SALT or the Bourne Trilogy, you might find JET to be a new guilty pleasure.
JET is a different kind of female heroine. She makes no excuses, expects no quarter and offers none, and goes toe-to-toe with the baddest of the bad. But she’s got depth, and finesse; she’s complex and three-dimensional – in short, she’s compelling and seems real, if over-the-top at times. There’s a veracity to her actions and attitude that rings true, which is why I think that so many female readers have warmed to her. She’s got issues, but she also has heart and soul. And she can kick some serious butt. Let’s not forget that.
I set out to break the mold of female action/adventure protagonists. That’s a tall order, but I think JET pulled it off. I’ll leave the debate to readers, but so far the feedback has been positive. I’d encourage anyone that thinks that action thrillers are moribund, hackneyed clichés that center around ex-CIA jocks for whom this time it’s personal, to give JET a read. I guarantee it will be an experience unlike any other, and might even convince the doubtful that the genre can be complex, interesting, surprising, and even, dare I say it, worthy of their time.
Enjoy JET with my compliments, and if you like it, tell a friend.
Click here to read “JET” for free on Wattpad:
Code name: Jet
Twenty-eight-year-old Jet was once the Mossad’s most lethal operative before faking her own death and burying that identity forever.
But the past doesn’t give up on its secrets easily.
When her new life on a tranquil island is shattered by a brutal attack, Jet must return to a clandestine existence of savagery and deception to save herself and those she loves. A gritty, unflinching roller-coaster of high-stakes twists and shocking turns, JET features a new breed of protagonist that breaks the mold.
Fans of Lisbeth Salander, Bond, 24, and the Bourne trilogy will find themselves carried along at Lamborghini speed to a conclusion as jarring and surprising as the story’s heroine is unconventional.