April 6, Silent Sentry Book Spotlight

Silent Sentry by Theresa Rizzo

Book Synopsis

Award-winning author Theresa Rizzo delivers a thrilling crime novel packed with suspense, romance, and redemption.

The Scarfilis and Donnatellis love deeply and protect fiercely. “Family takes care of family” is the code they live by.

So when a hacker threatens Gianna Donnatelli’s life, Dr. Joe Scarfili is determined to keep her safe, only he has no police or tech experience, and Gianna’s penchant for aiding Detroit’s underprivileged is the same kind of altruism that got his wife killed. Gianna protects Joe with the same unyielding resolve.

Gianna pushes all his insecurity buttons. Joe tries her patience like no other. But together they’ll fight to save each other and their love… Or die trying.

MY REVIEW:

Listened to this book as an audiobook so some of the characters names will be as I listened to them being spoken.
Story starts out with Giana and she's come back to her fathers house that she's housesitting to find an intruder, on her computer.
She ends up waking up in the hospital and Joe, a doctor comes to her aid-he will take her to his house, his parents are due home the next day and he's got time off. He's an old family friend and he knows many dectectives who can figure out what's going on.
We learn a lot about their prior relationship over the years-she was infatuated with him.
Story also follows a group of others who want her knowledge, what's on her computer. If it goes public it will revoluntize the health care system.
Giana had grown up and specializes in nursing and to keep on her father's good side she works at the less traumaized center where she'd not see many gang shootings. She changes career choices and gets a degree in computers also and combines her knowledge to create Promethus, the health program she hopes will sell.
Fast paced action, never a dull moment. Love the detailed descriptions of the area as I've only seen scenes on the TV. Love how the neighborhood watch out for one another and their younger children on their way home from school every day.
Sad, the day he lost his wife Maggie.  Some assaults appear to be targeting her, others target him so Pat Sullivan the dectective has a lot of different leads and suspects. Joe attempts to help sometimes putting him in harms way as he bodily tries to shield her. With the aassault she's left deaf in one ear and he is pretty sure with the damage she incurred she will never hear from that ear again.
Steamy hot sex scenes enhance this book and that leads to other inhabitences.
So many intertwining parts to this but easy to keep track of it all, Few characters-easy to keep track of everyone.
Love all the charity work for the area. Love all the extra details about the writing of the book.

Author

Theresa Rizzo is an award-winning author who writes emotional stories that explore the complexity of relationships and families through real-life trials. Born and raised in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, she now lives outside of Boulder, Colorado with her husband of thirty-two years.

Q and A with the author:

Hi Julie,

Thanks for hosting me on your blog.

1)    Why the locale of Detroit, MI?

I used the locales of Grosse Pointe and Detroit because I grew up in Grosse Pointe and was always curious about neighboring Detroit’s problems. Throughout most of my life, Detroit continued to slide into bankruptcy, yet I didn’t understand why when it’d been such a thriving metropolis in the 1930’s. It seemed such a shame. Detroit’s demise became a complex puzzle bright minds had failed to solve for decades.

I loved listening to my dad’s stories of what Detroit had been like. I loved the history and am so saddened to see the fantastic architecture around the city abandoned and abused. But in fiction, I can propose a solution. So I did.

2. Do you do your research online for the doctor/computer credentials/terminology?

          I do a lot of research on line, but for the medical aspects, I went to my family. I myself have a bachelor’s degree in nursing, so that came in handy. My dad was a general surgeon before he retired and my brother is a radiologist, and Dad’s partner was a very early adopter of laparoscopic surgery, so I consulted with him too. For the computer aspects, my husband is an electrical engineer who architects integrated circuit computer chips. So he was my main resource for Prometheus and Gianna’s computer work.

3. Do you write books using same characters that make an appearance in other books?

          Yes, several of my books are linked that way. Gianna shows up in several chapters in Just Destiny and a little in Just Beginning.  The heroine there, Jenny, is a reporter who interviews Gianna to help get the Donnatelli clinic some publicity, and then later on she raises funds for the clinic. In Just Beginning: A Prequel to Just Destiny, Jenny gets her husband, Gabe, to work at the Donnatelli clinic. Then Jenny and Steve (from Just Destiny) show up in about five chapters in The Lives Between Us. In that book, Jenny is a mentor/friend to that book’s heroine, Skyler.

4. Are your books getting easier to write since you write in the zone-books we love to read?

Yes, the books are getting a little easier to write because I’ve gotten better at the craft of writing, however, each book presents it’s own unique challenge. For example, in Silent Sentry, it was a real challenge to keep everything straight! It was so hard remembering who knew what and keeping all the red herrings straight and making sure it all made sense.

5. How do you relax: Cooking, reading, hiking, knitting, etc?

I love hiking, reading, playing cards, crocheting, and making my tile mosaics. I relax often at night with my husband watching Downton Abby, The Black List, Blue Bloods, The Big Bang Theory, Last Man Standing etc.