Next week, I’ll reveal the cover of my new novel, The Deserter. Until then, I thought you might want to know what people are saying about it… These are smart people, excellent writers, and people who don’t tolerate poor story-telling. If you are unaware of their work, check them out.
“The Deserter evokes classic blood-and-sand adventures like Under Two Flags and Beau Geste. With meticulous research and compelling characters, Turmel has brought the desert saga back to thrilling life.” Frank Thompson- author of The Compleat Beau Geste
“The Deserter evokes classic blood-and-sand adventures like Under Two Flags and Beau Geste. With meticulous research and compelling characters, Turmel has brought the desert saga back to thrilling life.” Cam Torres, author of the Tyler Zahn thrillers
“The Deserter is a great read from beginning to end. Rousing adventure, multifaceted characters, and the near mythical setting of life in the French Foreign Legion add up to a thrilling page turner. If you haven’t read Wayne Turmel’s work, you’re missing out. – Thom Reese, author of the HUNTINGTON ADVENTURES series.
“The Deserter is a thrilling tale of desert adventure in the classic tradition of Beau Geste and the Flawed Blades novels of P.C. Wren. Enlisting in the French Foreign Legion seems like the answer to Gil’s prayers, but he soon learns that safety is a mirage.” Jill Hand, author of the Trapnell thrillers, White Oaks, Black Willows and Red Pines
“I love historical novels, and the best of them meet three requirements. They must be good novels with believable characters and a protagonist I can get inside the head of. They must be historically accurate in small details. And, ideally, they tie to an actual historical event. The Deserter meets all those requirements.” Wally Bock, The Well-Read Author Newsletter
“A two-fisted historical adventure that weaves visceral action, rugged landscapes, and raw emotional depth into a haunting tale of honor, betrayal, and the elusive hope of redemption.” — David Buzan, bestselling author of IN THE LAIR OF LEGENDS
Look for the cover reveal and more good stuff on Wednesday, October 22
You don’t have to look very hard to see that a lot of book reviewers are also authors. For example, I am reviewing books for the Historical Novel Society on occasion. One of the people I send those reviews to is also a writer. Kate Braithwaite writes both historical fiction and contemporary thrillers. Here’s my conversation with her.
Hi Kate. Nice to learn more about you. What should we know?
I’m a lover of all things history and fiction. I grew up in Edinburgh – I even went to nursery school on the Royal Mile – so history has been in my DNA since day one. I also have a voracious appetite for stories, and when I studied English at university in England, it was always narrative that appealed to me – narrative poems, big, absorbing novels, legends, fairy tales, and tragic dramas. I love to read widely, but historical fiction is my staple fare, and my non-fiction choices lean toward lesser-known stories of the past, particularly about forgotten women. Over time, I’ve developed a focus on sister stories, from history and in fiction, something I write about in my Substack publication, Sis-stories.
What’s your latest book about? Who’s Nancy Randolph and why do we care?
My most recent historical novel, The Scandalous Life of Nancy Randolph, concerns the true story of two sisters entangled with the same man. Born into one of the first families in Virginia in 1774, Nancy grew up expecting a life of comfort, a good marriage, and so on. But when her mother died and her father married a much younger woman, Nancy went to live with one of her sisters, Judy, on her remote plantation called Bizarre. After a strange disturbance in the night, rumors circulated that Nancy had secretly given birth and, even worse, that the child’s father was Dick, her sister’s husband. A trial was held. Patrick Henry and John Marshall offered the defense. Patsy Jefferson, Nancy’s sister-in-law, was a prominent witness. Nancy’s reputation was left in tatters, and yet she would go on to marry one of America’s founding fathers. My novel focuses on the historical mystery – was there a child, and if there was, what happened to it? – as well as telling a tale of resilience and family ties. There’s also one character who might have told the truth about what went on – Nancy’s enslaved woman, Phebe – but, of course, she wasn’t asked. In fiction, it’s possible to imagine Phebe’s side of the story.
What’s your favorite scene in the book (and I know it’s completely unfair.)
When I started reading about Judy and Nancy Randolph, I was fascinated by the fact that after the trial was over, the sisters continued living together at that remote plantation for ten more years, demonstrating the very limited choices and freedoms women had in those times. My favorite scene takes place as the two women leave the courtroom and travel back home in a carriage together. They are very different characters, and there’s a lot of repressed emotion between them. Fireworks are inevitable.
Where can we learn more about you and your work?
I’m the author of four historical novels and one contemporary crime thriller. You can find out more at my website, www.kate-braithwaite.com, and check out my books on Amazon, B&N etc. You can also find me on Instagram, @katebraithwaiteauthor, and every Friday I pop into the American Historical Novels Facebook group to talk about new books publishing and share reading recommendations.
If you enjoy historical fiction with action and plenty of character drama, my new novel The Deserter- a Tale of the Foreign Legion will be out January 15, 2026. Look for a full cover reveal on all my socials next week!
Maybe it’s because I’m having my own medical problems (nothing life-threatening, but my third knee surgery in under a year does nothing but suck) but I’ve been reading more medical thrillers than I ever have. Whether that’s good for my mental health or not is a question left to the professionals. But that brings me to Do Not Resuscitate,by Scott Eveloff. Doctor Scott Eveloff to you…
Scott, what’s your deal, man?
Thank you for having me in, Wayne. I’m a retired pulmonologist and sleep disorders specialist, now doctoring plot lines and character arcs as opposed to doctoring snoring and nightmares. I must admit that writing and actually publishing a book is not for the faint of heart, and it’s opened a world as foreign to me as did my entry into medical school.
As I sit out on my deck sipping dark rye, I used to think of plot revisions and how I can deepen my characters. More recently, I muse over book promotion and how my book will be received. My professional life has offered me quite a bit of material for the plot of my book, Do Not Resuscitate, but also for the messages within this medical-supernatural mystery. I’ve become a passionate advocate for patient rights and patient dignity, both of which I feel are suffering in the face of technology, AI, and health care conglomerates. I have also continued to advocate for and support the disabled, another theme in my writing. Oh, and as an interesting aside, I’ve been a guest on ABC’s 20/20, ABC’s Nightline, and The Dr. Oz Show, when it was still active.
Excellent, I’m a rye drinker myself. What’s your book about?
Do Not Resuscitate is a medical mystery with a supernatural twist. A young intern is
blamed when his patient dies suddenly and unexpectedly due to apparent catastrophic medical errors. His investigation reveals such deaths are purposeful, not accidental, but not at the hands of an unscrupulous pharmaceutical company or a twisted Angel of Death set loose. Instead, he discovers that long-dead souls of patients who had previously died in the hospital are responsible, led by the vengeful soul of a doctor as heartless in death as he was in life. Their motive is more gruesome than simply revenge on the living. The young intern must find a way to protect his patients and everyone he cares for from entities that have escaped the bounds of life itself.
It’s not exactly a feel-good story. Where’d it come from?
The story was born from both personal and professional experience. Professionally, I have worked in an Intensive Care Unit where patient after patient is clinging to life, battling to survive. Surrounded by such life-and-death immediacy, as well as the ominous heaviness of deserted hospital corridors at night, generated the story of similar patients under threat of both disease and an unseen world beyond. Personally, my son was disabled and repeatedly very ill – his life, his character, and the events shaping his childhood inspired several of the characters and illuminated how narrow a line there is between healing from medical intervention and succumbing to it.
What’s your favorite scene, if you have one?
My favorite scene is the climax at the end, where well-laid plans of both the living and the dead are thrown into unexpected disarray with a final twist.
