The Royal Fifth
The Royal Fifth
by James Peyton
GENRE: Adventure Thriller
NOTE: The book is on sale for $0.99
The Royal Fifth: The amount of stolen treasure Conquistadors were supposed to give to the Spanish Crown.
In a world corrupted by its past, what could turn a sensitive artist into a killer?
Young Santa Fe artist, MartÃn Cortés, is devastated by the deaths of family members and the loss of a huge emerald that once belonged to Hernán Cortés.
Colin Glendaring, a disgraced archeologist with an insatiable passion for pre-Columbian artifacts, is responsible. MartÃn learns that another family descended from the Spanish Conqueror lives in Oaxaca. Rather than kill Glendaring, he heads south. He discovers an unconventional household that includes Ilhui, a beautiful young woman with a dangerous political agenda.
MartÃn is stunned when he learns how the family manages to live so well…then alarmed when he discovers that Glendaring is on his way to Oaxaca. MartÃn and Ilhui are soon accused of murder. On the run, they are betrayed, and Ilhui is kidnapped by a guerilla leader known for recreating grisly Aztec rituals.
With time running out, MartÃn makes a pact with a ruthless army officer and a crooked federal policeman. Will it be a deal with the devil, or can he do what has to be done to save his new family and love?
Excerpt:
EL PASO, PRESENT TIME
MartÃn Cortés stood on the pedestrian approach to the international bridge that would take him into Mexico. Through the pollution that daily turned the high-desert air of Ciudad Juárez into a toxic haze, he focused on the nearby vehicle traffic. The U.S.-bound lanes were choked with line after line of barely moving cars and trucks. Turning to the southbound lanes, he watched the sparse traffic moving fast and free.
He looked back at the new-old skyline of downtown El Paso and dwelled for a moment on the tragic events of the last few months. He knew what had happened. Why they’d happened still eluded him. The inner voice that brought him to this place told him all would soon be revealed. And then he wondered: Is that destiny or some karmic trickster? He shook his head. Only time would tell.
Turning again, he raised his eyes to the smog-shrouded sprawl beyond the border where his trip would begin. He had no idea where it would end. He took a deep breath, fished in his pocket for the bridge toll, and resumed his southbound journey.
About the Author:
The Royal Fifth is based loosely on historical events surrounding the Conqueror, Hernán Cortés, brought into the present time. It will be followed by a mystery-thriller series featuring federal policeman, Artemas Salcido. Artemas is the illegitimate son of a Mexican governor and his Yaqui servant. Following his mother’s suspicious death, he was sent to be raised by the village priest. He attended Harvard on a scholarship and returned to Mexico vowing to fight corruption—only to receive his real education, where the grade is often life or death.
Website: jameswpeyton.com
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/216986.James_W_Peyton
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/James-W.-Peyton/e/B001K7XKJA
GIVEAWAY
James Peyton will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
Thank you for hosting "The Royal Fifth!" You will find a brief account of how the novel came to be in the blog, "The Genesis of the Royal Fifth," on my website, www.jameswpeyton.com. I will be pleased to answer any questions. My email address is jwpeyton@att.net.
ReplyDeleteJames Peyton
Sounds like a great read.
ReplyDeleteI love a good thriller. Do story ideas ever come to you in your dreams?
ReplyDeleteThey often come at night in bed, but it's hard to be sure if they come before, during or right after dreams. They also seem to often come while using the treadmill.
DeleteWhat a wonderful book you have, reminds me of breaking bad and sicario.. somehow.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a great book
ReplyDeleteTreasure and Conquistadors will make for very exiting reading.
ReplyDeleteI love the cover. The colors are amazing!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the excerpt.
ReplyDeleteThis one will definitely be added to my TBR pile.
ReplyDeletethis book sounds good
ReplyDeleteLooks like its going to be a interesting book.
ReplyDelete