The HBS Author's Spotlight SHOWCASES Luana Ehrlich's New Book: One Day Gone.
Author Luana Ehrlich is the author of the Titus Ray Thrillers series. She is a Christian, Fiction and Thriller author.
One Day Gone
A Mylas Grey Mystery
Author: Luana Ehrlich
AVAILABLE
Amazon
Mylas Grey is a private investigator but don’t call him a private detective. That title belongs to his father—not to him.
Mylas is the Chief Investigator for Senator Davis Allen, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. His job is to do background investigations for the President’s judicial nominees, and that’s the only kind of investigation he’s interested in doing.
But then Lizzie, the Senator’s daughter, goes missing from her campus apartment.
And suddenly, just like that, Mylas finds himself back in his hometown of Columbia, Missouri, investigating her disappearance as if he were a run-of-the-mill private detective.
Nothing about the investigation is easy.
Discovering a motive isn’t easy . . .
Lizzie has a reputation for doing the unexpected, and she could have just left town for a few days without telling anyone. On the other hand, she could have done something stupid and gotten herself into serious trouble.
Staying focused on the investigation isn’t easy . . .
When Mylas meets a beautiful photographer at his brother’s church, and she offers to help him find Lizzie, he finds himself getting a little distracted from the investigation—well, maybe more than a little distracted.
Revisiting his past isn’t easy . . .
As Mylas is forced to spend time in his hometown, he begins to question his career choice, his rejection of Christianity, and his failed personal relationships.
Solving the mystery of Lizzie’s disappearance isn’t easy . . .
It gets even more complicated when Mylas learns Lizzie was researching an article for her campus newspaper about a judge with a secret past. Is the judge connected to Lizzie’s disappearance? Did Lizzie’s boyfriend play a role? What about Lizzie’s roommate?
So many suspects. So little time.
Excerpt from One Day Gone
PART ONE
Chapter 1
Tuesday, October 9
Today was Tuesday. On Tuesdays, I had lunch with the senator. My schedule for the rest of the day would depend on whether or not the senator had read my one-page weekly briefing sheet.
Even though I’d met with the senator every Tuesday for the past six years, I couldn’t predict what would happen when the two of us sat down together to eat our Cobb salads at precisely eleven-thirty.
I hated Cobb salad.
If the senator had read my briefing sheet, then our lunch meeting would be short, and I could still be on time for my two o’clock appointment. I might even be able to grab a burger along the way.
If he hadn’t read it, then he’d ask me to give him the bullet points, and he’d spend the rest of the time asking me questions. In the meantime, I’d be dying of hunger, and I’d be late for my appointment.
Would I be tempted to let him know his questions were all answered in the document he hadn’t bothered to read?
Oh, you bet.
Would I yield to that temptation?
Not if I wanted to keep my job.
Believe me, I wanted to keep my job.
I worked in the office of Senator Davis Allen.
I was his chief investigator.
Very few senators had a full-time investigator on their payroll, but Senator Allen, the senior senator from Missouri, was the head of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and, according to him, his position required it.
One of the Judiciary Committee’s main responsibilities was to conduct investigations into the backgrounds of the President’s judicial nominees to the federal courts or to investigate the President’s nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court, if such a vacancy occurred.
Each of the senators on Judiciary was allotted a supplemental budget to pay for the investigative work required of the committee. Some senators used these funds to hire a part-time investigator, but most of them preferred to use the money to add extra support staff.
However, Senator Allen, who used to be a federal prosecutor, had chosen to have an entire investigative team operating out of his office, and he was more than willing to allocate extra money out of his operating budget to pay for it.
His investigative team, which he referred to as the R & I Group, consisted of a chief investigator, a deputy investigator, and a data specialist.
Six years ago, when the senator hired me as the chief investigator for the R & I Group, I asked him about the name. At the time, he told me the initials stood for Research and Investigations.
Later, Nathan Lockett, the senator’s chief of staff, swore the senator told him the R & I was short for Rumors and Innuendos.
When it came to the type of fact-finding the R & I Group conducted on a nominee, it hardly mattered.
They both amounted to the same thing.
My current investigation was a case in point.
The one-page briefing sheet I’d prepared for my meeting with the senator outlined what the R & I Group had uncovered on Cameron Woodard, the Missouri Supreme Court Judge who’d been nominated by the President for a position on the Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Although the investigation was still in the early stages, I’d uncovered some rumors and innuendos about Judge Woodard.
During the next several weeks, my job would be to research and investigate whether any of these rumors and innuendos had any validity to them.
Part of the investigation would involve hours of research, although I usually delegated that boring activity to Nina Rivers, the data specialist in the R & I Group.
The amount of material she was able to uncover when she did a deep data dive into a person’s background always amazed me.
I told her how amazing she was fairly often.
She reveled in such praise.
If I gave her accolades on her work and asked her to do a follow-up on the material, she’d come up with even more stuff.
The opposite was also true.
If I got preoccupied with the results and failed to give her kudos, her output would substantially decrease.
Learning how to work with Nina hadn’t been that difficult.
On the other hand, figuring out how to maneuver my way through the halls of Congress had been a whole lot harder.
If it hadn’t been for Nathan Lockett, my immediate supervisor and self-appointed mentor, I might have quit after my first year and gone back to practicing law.
Or, maybe not.
Practicing law had made me rich—the result of a lucky break, not my lawyering skills—but I’d been unhappy most of the time.
Now, even though I couldn’t say I was any happier, at least I could say I was enjoying what I was doing.
When I was growing up back in Columbia, Missouri, I never thought I’d be anything other than a lawyer.
In fact, I was obsessed with it.
My father blamed Robert Bork for my obsession.
Author Genre: Christian, Fiction, Thriller
Website: Luana Ehrlich
Author's Blog: Luana Ehrlich
Titus Ray Thrillers
Twitter: @luanasbooks
E-Mail: Author@LuanaEhrlich (dot) com
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Amazon Author Profile
Author Description: Luana Ehrlich is the author of the award-winning Titus Ray Thriller Series, featuring CIA intelligence officer Titus Ray, and the Mylas Grey Mystery Series, featuring private investigator, Mylas Grey. Her novels are clean reads with intriguing plots, fascinating characters, jaw-dropping twists, and occasional touches of heart-warming romance.
Readers are invited to sign up for Luana's newsletter and receive a free book at LuanaEhrlich.com.
Luana developed her passion for spy thrillers and mystery novels at an early age, but she didn't begin writing her series of Titus Ray Thrillers until her husband retired from the ministry. Now, she writes from an undisclosed location, trying to avoid the torture of mundane housework, grocery shopping, and golf stories. However, she occasionally comes out of hiding to visit with her two grandsons or to enjoy a Starbucks caramel macchiato.
Besides being an award-winning author, Luana is a freelance writer, minister's wife, and former missionary. She and her husband are long-time residents of Norman, Oklahoma. She's also lived in Indiana, Illinois, New Mexico, Texas, and Michigan, and for several years, she and her husband were missionaries in Costa Rica and Venezuela.
In addition to being an avid reader, Luana is also a news fanatic, following events around the world on a daily basis, particularly the Middle East. She loves to hear from her readers!
Author's Book List
Five Years in Yemen - A Titus Ray Thriller
A CIA contractor goes missing in Iraq. Five years later, he turns up in Yemen. Now, it’s up to Titus to find out if he’s a traitor or a patriot.
After Titus accepts an assignment to bring rogue CIA contractor Jacob Levin back to the States, he learns the operation has been put on hold pending Presidential approval. That’s fine with him. He’s looking forward to spending time in Oklahoma with his fiancée, Nikki Saxon.
But then, his boss needs a favor.
After that, everything changes.
It begins in Springfield, Missouri . . .
Where he interviews a former CIA employee about the missing Jacob Levin.
It continues in Detroit, Michigan . . .
Where he and Nikki spend Thanksgiving with his relatives.
It leads to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia . . .
Where he encounters a killer.
It ends in Somahi, Yemen . . .
Where he finally discovers the truth.
Along the way, he’s forced to deal with issues about his personal life, confront questions about his past, and make decisions about his future. Can he trust God for the answers? Will Nikki agree with his decision? How will he handle the outcome?
Order the Book From:
Amazon
Audible
Four Months in Cuba - A Titus Ray Thriller
He thought it would be a simple rescue mission.
He was wrong.
Days after preventing a sarin gas attack on the nation's capital, CIA operative, Titus Ray, arrives in Santiago de Cuba on a mission to rescue fellow operative, Ben Mitchell, from the hands of the Los Zetas drug cartel.
It wasn't simple . . .
After discovering Ben's abduction was more than a simple kidnapping, Titus joins forces with an unconventional operative whose peculiar ideas threaten to destroy the mission. As the search for Ben reaches a critical stage, Titus is suddenly called back to Langley.
It wasn't a rescue. . .
When he arrives back in the States, not only does he learn his mission has changed, he also learns he has a rival for Nikki Saxon's affections. Now, he must make a decision about their relationship. Do they have a future together, or would she be better off without him?
It wasn't a mission . . .
With Ben's life in imminent danger, Titus decides to risk everything--his career at the Agency, his future with Nikki Saxon, even his own life--in order to bring Ben Mitchell home.
It wasn't a rescue mission. It was much more.
More about his survival. More about his faith. More about himself.
Order the Book From:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Audible
Three Weeks in Washington - A Titus Ray Thriller
Encountering a Shooter . . .
CIA intelligence operative, Titus Ray, arrives in Washington, D.C. on the day a terrorist enters the Washington Navy Yard and murders five people. Convinced the incident is connected to a Hezbollah plot to use chemical weapons on an American city, Titus jeopardizes his own career to interrogate the killer and learn the truth.
Exposing a General . . .
After the shooter reveals the identity of an Iranian deep-cover operative living in Washington, D.C., Titus embarks on an intelligence operation spanning two continents and exposing an Iranian general obsessed with destroying America.
Engaging an Enemy . . .
As time runs out, Titus engages the enemy in a treacherous game of cat and mouse to save the lives of thousands and defeat the terrorists. Can his faith sustain him as he faces his greatest challenge yet? Is he willing to lose Nikki to save his country?
Book Trailer: Three Weeks in Washington
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Amazon
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Audible
Two Days in Caracas - A Titus Ray Thriller
Titus Ray faces a threat he never imagined.
Can he overcome the obstacles and capture Ahmed Al-Amin before it’s too late?
In this pulse-racing Christian thriller, CIA intelligence officer, Titus Ray, travels from Costa Rica to Venezuela in an effort to stop Ahmed Al-Amin, a Hezbollah assassin, from murdering a high-profile government official. Along the way, a family crisis jeopardizes his mission, and an Agency division head threatens to destroy his career. As the danger mounts, he’s forced to partner with an untested operative to complete the mission and bring Ahmed to justice. Will he make it in time?
•Can his newfound faith heal his past wounds?
•Can he build a life with the woman of his dreams?
Book Trailer: Two Days in Caracas
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Amazon
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Audible
One Night in Tehran - A Titus Ray Thriller
In Tehran, while hiding out from the Iranian secret police, CIA officer, Titus Ray, finds shelter with a group of Iranian Christians. Compelled by their unwavering faith, the battle-hardened agent becomes a believer shortly before they smuggle him out of Iran to freedom in Turkey.
Returning to the States, he discovers his Iranian mission failed because of political infighting within the Agency. After delivering a scathing indictment against the Deputy Director of Operations, he’s forced to take a year’s medical leave in Oklahoma.
Before leaving Langley, however, he discovers a Hezbollah hit man has targeted him for assassination. Now, while trying to figure out what it means to be a follower of Christ, he must decide if the Iranian couple he meets in Oklahoma has ties to the man who's trying to kill him, and if Nikki Saxon, a beautiful local detective, can be trusted with his secrets.
•Trained in lies, he learns the truth!
•Will it help him escape his past?
•Can it change his future?
Book Trailer: One Night in Tehran
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Amazon
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One Step Back - A Titus Ray Thriller
CIA intelligence officer Titus Ray tries to recruit a nuclear scientist in Tehran. Days later, he goes on the run from the secret police.
Titus Ray has been in Iran for the past two years trying to recruit assets willing to feed him intel on the Iranian opposition. When he unexpectedly meets Amir Madani, one of Iran's premier nuclear scientist, he can't resist the opportunity to pursue him as a CIA asset.
Although Chaman, a beautiful Iranian socialite, warns Titus to stay away from Madani, he ignores her advice and befriends the nuclear scientist. The consequences prove disastrous for Titus, and, as the secret police close in on him, he's forced to find shelter with a group of Iranian Christians, who risk their own lives to save his.
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Amazon
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Audible
Author Recommended by: HBSystems Publications
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