This doesn't sell books in six seconds.

After giving The Child a 5-star review, IndieReader sent a written interview in which I was asked to give the "pitch" for The Child. After writing a few paragraphs, I cut out what I knew they didn't want to know. Sorry, those introspective paragraphs just don't sell books within the six-second window a writer has to capture a reader's attention. Anyway, for the one or two curious readers willing to invest a full minute, here is the full response:

IndieReader: What’s the book about? Give us the “pitch”. 


A retired American-Israeli assassin, Shahla, quit wet work because she struggled with her conscience. Her back story unfolds throughout the trilogy, but as in life, sometimes one choice made in bitterness has lifetime repercussions. After a work injury, she finds love outside of her Jewish faith, which creates problems. Shahla was born to Persian Jewish parents, so the culture clash with her husband is as sharp as the religious one. A callback tips things over the edge, and she disappears for a while into the spook universe. Her husband is worried that she’s re-connected with someone whom she cares about, and she has. She surfaces to reunite with her husband after another bad injury, but a hit squad ruins their family Passover. Although the Iranian-backed squad is eliminated, it’s not over, which Shahla finds out after giving birth to her first, and only child.

It’s the people closest to Shahla who did her the greatest harm. It’s a psychological study into the minds of those who work clandestinely, which sometimes requires violence. Most thrillers leave the reader with a sense of the protagonist’s invincibility, but Shahla is very human, sometimes a hunter and sometimes a frightened child. She’s more afraid of herself than any enemy. The male-dominant nature of certain agencies creates a climate where women are frequently manipulated or coerced into behavior that is not their natural inclination. Such self-betrayal isn’t healthy.

In law enforcement and related fields, you see things that prevent you from being “normal.” In that respect, it was easy to give voice to Shahla’s thoughts and predict her actions that seem improbable to a civilian. Some things you can’t unsee or undo, and you feel as though you don’t deserve to be with normal people. Shahla meets us there with that fear, which I suspect is not isolated to those in the military, law enforcement, or clandestine services. In that sense, The Child The Eagle and the Child: The Child gives the reader much more than a formulaic thriller. You know that Shahla is real because she is you.

So what did the IndieReader reviewer write about The Child?

"Rating: 5
A reluctant Israeli assassin put back into harness, Kubiar makes cultural and religious differences contained in the marriage of a practicing Jew and a wealthy Protestant as perilous as machine-gun sprays and choke-holds."

So who will buy this book, the romance reader, the thriller reader, the Jewish or Christian religious reader, or the literary fiction reader? Maybe all those if they can be grabbed in six seconds.