Back From the Dead by Peter Leonard (Book Review and Interview)

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Apr 14th - Review by  Tammy @ The Self-Taught Cook

Apr 15th - Review by Rick @ Rhodes Review

Title: Back From the Dead
Author: Peter Leonard
Publisher: The Story Plant

About the Book: Peter's jaw-dropping Voices of the Dead introduced us to two mortal enemies:  Holocaust survivor Harry Levin and Nazi death angel Ernst Hess.  Now, their struggle reaches its dramatic conclusion in Back From the Dead. 

Bahamas, 1971.  Ernst Hess, missing and presumed dead, regains consciousness to find himself stuck in a hospital bed on a strange ward in a foreign country.  He must do what he needs to do to get his life back and to finish the job he has been doing for decades.

Harry believes he has already stopped Hess.  When he finds out that the war criminal has somehow survived, Harry must do the only thing he can do -- kill Hess again -- even if it means crossing continents and putting his life and the lives of those that matter to him on the line.

Action-packed and darkly humorous, Back From The Dead is the unforgettable conclusion to a story that launches Peter Leonard into the pantheon of great suspense novelists. 


My Thoughts:  Just as in his previous book about Harry Levin, Voices From the Dead, you jump right into the action on the first page.  I really liked that this book picked up immediately from where the last one ended.  It had been awhile since I read Voices, so it took me some time to get familiar with the characters again.  They are all back - even the despicable Ernst Hess - whom we thought we had seen the last of. 

It was a fast paced story with the characters doing a lot of world traveling in their game of who can kill whom first.   I was rooting for Harry, of course, as this all started with the loss of his daughter in the first book.  He doesn't mince words when he writes and it is all very much action driven.  The characters are all forces to be reckoned with and it is just a matter of time before someone comes out on top.  Finding out who that is will keep you on the edge of your seat!

I guess you could read this one as a stand-alone - but why would you want too?  Pick them both up - you will be glad you did!

Read my review of Voices From the Dead.

 

~I received a complimentary eCopy of Back From the Dead from Partners in Crime Book Tours in exchange for my unbiased review.~

About the author: Peter Leonard lives in Birmingham, Michigan. He has published five novels: QUIVER, TRUST ME, ALL HE SAW WAS THE GIRL, VOICES OF THE DEAD, and BACK FROM THE DEAD.


Visit Peter on his website: http://www.peterleonardbooks.com or on facebook. 



 







I was very lucky to have Mr. Leonard answer some questions for me!  Please enjoy the interview below.

1. How do you typically write? Do you plot it all out beforehand or do you just let the story pour out?

 

I’ve written books both ways. I’ve outlined stories where I know the starting point and the end, but not how I’m going to get there. The book I’m currently writing is free form. I don’t know where I’m going or what is going to happen.

I think it’s more fun this way.

 

2. Do you have much say in the title or covers of you books?

I’ve only had to change one title. The original was: As The Romans Do, which in retrospect didn’t have much attitude. I changed it to: All He Saw Was The Girl.

 

As for covers, the answer, strangely enough, is yes. I was a partner in an ad agency when I wrote my first novel Quiver, and St. Martin’s, my publisher at the time, showed me half a dozen covers. I didn’t care for any of them, so I asked Jim Tocco, an art director and one of the partners at the agency to come up with a couple ideas. His first cover design was unanimously chosen. Since then Jim has designed three more covers for my current publisher, The Story Plant.

3. What would you tell a beginning writer?

 

Find a writer you really like, and copy him/her until you develop your own sound and style. Every writer is influenced by someone.

4. Do you have a favorite quote?

“If it sounds like writing, rewrite it.” This is from my father, Elmore Leonard. If you’re telling the story through the eyes of your characters in shifting points of view as I do, the writing has to sound like the characters.

5. Do you have a favorite place to write or “must haves” while writing?

 

I write in a wood-paneled den with a fireplace in my house in Birmingham, Michigan, now looking out at the snow-covered front lawn. My dog, Sam, a miniature Pincher, sits in a little chair next to me. I write in longhand on lined legal pads, and then I transpose that to an Apple MacBook Pro. I try to write four pages a day. The most I’ve ever written in a day is six.

 

6. Where/when do you brainstorm best?

 

The best idea time for me is first thing in the morning, laying in bed, thinking about what I wrote the day before, and what’s next.

7. What is your favorite way to promote a book?

 

Talking about it, whether it’s a broadcast interview, speaking at a local library, or college/university. I enjoy interacting with readers, talking about writing, answering questions.

8. How long do you think about a story before starting to write the book?

 

It varies, a week, a month, typically when the proper research is finished. The inspiration for the book I’m writing, Unknown Remains, came from a lunch conversation with an old friend. I was writing another book at the time and put it aside and wrote the first chapter, which amazingly still sounded interesting to me when I picked it up a year later.

9. Do you have any hidden talents?

 

I think I’m a pretty good cook. I’ve been the main cook in the family since I got married thirty years ago. I make dinner after writing all day. A few evenings a week, my newly single father, Elmore comes over and we eat, drink wine and talk about writing.

 

 

Back From the Dead

Publisher/Publication Date:  The Story Plant, Jan 2013

ISBN: (P) 978-1-61188-063-2 (E) 978-1-61188-064-9

282 pages