Interview with sci-fi thriller author Alexander Mukte

My special guest author today is Alexander Mukte and we’re chatting about his thriller, sci-fi The Rewired Series: The Recruiter.

During his virtual book tour, Alexander will be awarding a $50 Amazon or Barnes and Noble (winner’s choice) gift card to a lucky randomly drawn winner. To be entered for a chance to win, use the form below.  To increase your chances of winning, feel free to visit his other tour stops and enter there, too!

Bio:
Alexander had an active imagination his whole life, but it wasn’t until the birth of his son that he began putting the stories in his mind on paper. He wanted to be an example of someone pursuing his passion, dreaming big, and taking chances.

Alexander loves people, their stories, and their backgrounds as well as what shapes them, how they think, and what they dream about. He has a passion for learning and is known by most as an intensely curious person who eagerly soaks up anything and everything he can. He dreamt of a career that allowed him to learn new things every day. In writing, he has found a life that allows him to do just that.

After graduating with a degree in business, Alexander volunteered in the U.S. Peace Corps where he aided in creating sustainable small business ventures in Central America. Before taking this leap of faith, Alexander did Business Development and Consulting for large domestic and international companies. These experiences weave themselves into the characters, places and stories he creates.

An avid traveler, Alexander enjoys exploring new places with his family. He was raised in Southeastern Arizona, and now calls Georgia home, along with his wife and two sons.

The Recruiter is Alexander’s first novel, though perhaps the 39th in his mind. We hope you enjoy it, and Deeply Rooted Dreams, as much as we have.

Welcome, Alexander. Please tell us a bit about your new release.
A fast-paced and thought-provoking mystery that will keep you on your toes until the very end. The Recruiter is an entertaining and thoroughly enjoyable start to the series, full of intriguing twists and turns.

Leslie may be an idealist, but she’s no fool. She trusts her boss, Ori, implicitly. He has vision, principles, and a way with people. When a bomb is detonated at work, she finds herself caught up in a whirlwind of events. All of a sudden, their lives are on the line, and every choice matters.

Is Ori who she thinks he is? Why would anyone want to hurt him? And how do they get out of this mess? Leslie doesn’t have it all figured out, but what becomes clear is that there’s a lot the world doesn’t know about Ori Clayborn.

Jessica is driven to make a difference by uncovering the truth. Investigative reporting is her life. One day she gets a unique assignment that leads her back to her hometown and into Ori’s orbit. What will she find, and what’s her role in this?

The Recruiter is a captivating, imaginative story that draws you in deeper and deeper, page-by-page. Alexander Mukte creates a universe that pulls you in and doesn’t let you go.

 

Excerpt from The Recruiter:
Chapter 7

Special Agent Mikiko Shikibu opened Special Agent Evelyn Blackwood’s door abruptly. “Hey, Evelyn, you’re needed in the large conference room immediately.”

Evelyn looked at her computer. “I don’t see anything on my calendar.”

“This just came up,” Mikiko said, seeming a little out of breath. “Deputy Director Chisholm and Section Chief Appleton are waiting.”

“Do you know what this is about?” Evelyn asked. The last time Deputy Director Chisholm was in a briefing was when there was the suspicion that rogue Russian agents had influenced several election results. “She doesn’t typically get involved in briefs unless there’s a pretty serious situation.”

Mikiko just shook her head and led the way.

As Evelyn walked into the briefing room, three well- known faces appear on a large screen covering the wall.

“Thank you for joining us, ladies,” Section Chief Appleton said with an annoyed tone. “As I was saying, who can tell me who these three individuals are?”

“Jason Jimenez out of New York, Mike aka ‘Mikey’ Romano out of Chicago, and the notorious Victor aka ‘Big Vick’ Ward out of Los Angeles. They are suspected to be the heads of the largest crime syndicates in the US,” said an eager analyst from the other side of the briefing room.

Appleton continued, “The fact that these three thugs are missing isn’t necessarily something to be bothered with on its own. In fact, I’m kind of glad that someone is doing our job for us. The more concerning thing is that we’ve received intelligence that a new crime boss is moving to town. We believe that this new player is going to make a move to run the criminal organization in much of the western world.”

Appleton paused for dramatic effect before continuing. “Few people can pull this off under the radar. To do so, you need a global network, business fronts to clean your money, and massive legitimate and illegitimate influence to discreetly push things through.”

Appleton stopped and flashed up a photo of one man. He looked tall, fit, and lean. The image showed him walking in a suit with sunglasses and talking on the phone.

This was clearly a surveillance photo, pulled from a file probably filled with other information. Next to that picture, a second photograph appeared on the screen, a close-up of just the man’s face. The man appeared to be in his late thirties, with intelligent eyes, ebony skin, and oddly enough, a big charming smile. The picture looked like it belonged on a professional bio, not a case file.

“We received a tip that this is our guy.” Appleton finished his grand reveal.

“Who is that?” asked Cramer.

“Someone who flies completely under the radar,” Appleton replied. “This is Ori Clayborn, Founder, and CEO of the Singularity Group.”

 

What is your favorite scene in this book?
There are several scenes that I really enjoy. It’s hard for me to go into detail without giving some spoilers. In The Recruiter, one of my favorite scenes is when Jessica is on assignment and interviews a pivotal character in a secret prison. I incorporated some sci-fi elements here and enjoyed imagining what this futuristic, unusual prison might be like. In Deeply Rooted Dreams, one of my favorite scenes is the opening one, where Zach goes to meet a contact in a club in Mexico. I once experienced most of what happened in that scene, so it was cool to write it down and change the context.

If you had to do your journey to getting published all over again, what would you do differently?
I took the indie author route, and I wouldn’t do anything differently. I appreciate learning how things work. Self-publishing my books forced me to understand the nuts and bolts of finishing, publishing, and distributing a book. I’m loving this journey; it’s forcing me to grow in ways that I’ve never imagined.

E-book or print? And why?
Print. I love to dog-ear pages and use a pencil to write notes. I really appreciate audiobooks as well. I enjoy listening to a good audiobook while I’m doing yard work and working in my garden.

What group did you hang out with in high school?
I hung out with a lot of different people in high school. I grew up in a pretty diverse military town. I was in the marching band, I played basketball, and I ran track. I had friends from each of those, as well as neighborhood friends that I grew up with. Looking back, having friends across a variety of interests started then and became the norm for me.

What are you passionate about these days?
Spending time with my family, personal development, and learning more about how the human body works.

I’ve also spent the past five years trying to garden. I think that I’m finally starting to grow something that’s edible. My older son has become pretty into it too which is cool.

Links:
Amazon Author Profile | GoodReads Author Profile | BookBub Author Profile | Instagram

Buy links:
Publisher site | Books2Read | Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Apple Books | Kobo

Thanks for being here today!

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