Joined by his father's lifelong friend and his beautiful daughter, the adventure takes them into the rain-forest's forbidden depths, where they must face an enemy bent on protecting a terrifying secret that could topple governments and change the world order.
Q&A With Russell Blake:
- Q:Ramsey's Gold is different than your usual action thrillers. Longer, more involved characters, a search for a lost treasure. Why write this kind of novel?
- RB:Â I grew up on Cussler, DeMille, and later, Rollins, Brown, and Berry, so I'm no stranger to the genre, and as I worked with Clive Cussler on The Eye of Heaven, and then on The Solomon Curse, I was reminded of how much fun a rip-roaring Raiders of the Lost Ark style saga could be. I hadn't really tried my hand at it until my collaboration with Clive, but I found the style well suited to the sense of pace and action I've refined in series like JET and the Assassin novels. So I decided to give it a whirl. I really love the way it flowed as I was writing it, and even more so when I went back and read it. Reader feedback's been glowing, so it appears I might have struck at least a few of the right notes.
- Q:Is Ramsey's Gold the beginning of a series?
- RB: Absolutely. The characters have a lot of legs, and the tension between Drake and Allie lends itself well to more stories. Plus, as I was finishing up Ramsey's, I had the idea for the second book in the series, Emerald Buddha. So I figured why not write it and see how it all evolves?
- Q: How many novels do you envision in the series?
- RB: Beats me. I tend to write until there's either a natural conclusion, or it seems like the characters have done and said everything that needs to be in order for there to be a cathartic arc to the entire thing. I'd say Ramsey's can carry at least five or ten adventures while still remaining fresh. If they become sterile or predictable, that's when I stop. Life's too short to write middling stories - there are too many good ones crying for an airing.