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A Deadly Harvest
International Intrique and MysteryGio Venetti, the owner of one of the last remaining family-owned wineries in Healdsburg, California is found dead on his office floor. Just a few weeks earlier, Gio had completed one of the most successful advertising campaigns the winery had ever known. He had used his long-time friend Peter Lansing, a world-renowned photographer to shoot the ad, and an up-and-coming English model Emily Taylor to be featured. However, little did Gio know that he would unknowingly embroil Peter and Emily into a deadly game of cat and mouse with one of the most feared international businessmen known as "The Deadly Samurai."With the deck stacked against them, will Emily and Peter be able to save the winery and themselves from one man's mission to destroy them all.
462 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 7, 2021
2 people are currently reading
7 people want to read
About the author
Scott Dovala
2 books2 followersScott Dovala, author of Secrets of the Vines was born and raised in northern Ohio. He currently lives in the northern California wine country and has done so for over 20 years.
When he isn’t writing, Scott can be found meandering through both the Sonoma and Napa wine country enjoying his other love, landscape photography. Scott’s landscape photography has won numerous awards and has been featured in calendars, coffee table books and at various winery art shows.
Scott’s readers have described his writing style as, “The descriptions are so vivid in detail, I felt as though I was there.” He also takes great care in creating his characters so that the reader feels that, “The characters have full depth and you get to know them while reading.” Other comments have ranged from “Very well told, great read. I had a hard time putting it down. I read a lot of books and this is one of the better once,” to “The story draws you in for sure.”
Scott loves hearing from readers and can be reached at sdpub0@gmail.com. He is currently writing his next book, The Celtic Awakening (Book 1).
When he isn’t writing, Scott can be found meandering through both the Sonoma and Napa wine country enjoying his other love, landscape photography. Scott’s landscape photography has won numerous awards and has been featured in calendars, coffee table books and at various winery art shows.
Scott’s readers have described his writing style as, “The descriptions are so vivid in detail, I felt as though I was there.” He also takes great care in creating his characters so that the reader feels that, “The characters have full depth and you get to know them while reading.” Other comments have ranged from “Very well told, great read. I had a hard time putting it down. I read a lot of books and this is one of the better once,” to “The story draws you in for sure.”
Scott loves hearing from readers and can be reached at sdpub0@gmail.com. He is currently writing his next book, The Celtic Awakening (Book 1).
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
June 17, 2024
Starts out rather cliché—Peter Lansing, world-renowned photographer, an overnight success at age 17, gets sick of his city job, experiences road rage, goes into a bar, chugs down two vodkas while he examines himself in the bar’s mirror. He buys himself a house in Healdsburg next to a vineyard.
Carlo Vinetti, from a wine-making family in Aosta, Italy, loses both his parents to cholera and goes to live with his uncle Marcello in New York. He learns the bread-making business in Marcello’s bakery, but he just doesn’t get along with his aunt Angela. Then one day there’s a gas leak and fire, and Marcello doesn’t make it out. Angela kicks him out, and he is taken in by Marcello’s friend Enrico Genovese, who offers him a job at his restaurant as a pastry chef. At night, he yearns for vineyards. With the proceeds from selling his parents’ vineyard, he buys a vineyard in Petaluma, near Healdsburg.
He meets a beautiful girl, Catarina Sorrentino, and in a year’s time, he marries her. As their vineyard matures Catarina dies in childbirth, and Carlo raises the child, Christoforo, on his own. Christoforo grows up, goes to university, joins the Marines and serves in the Pacific War. In Okinawa, he faces hand-to-hand combat with a Japanese officer, while watched by a boy from the jungle. He comes home and marries the daughter of another Sonoma County wine-maker, soon blessing Carlo with a grandson, Gio, but the boy’s parents are killed in a train crash, leaving Carlo with another baby to raise on his own. Gio grow up, joins the Army, serves in Vietnam, where he distinguishes himself in Apocalyse Now-style combat, before being wounded, when he falls in love with a British nurse. Gio waits for her to join him in California, but one day he receives a letter, not from her, from her mother, saying she was to marry a British barrister.
Gio spots a change in the market and want to switch to making higher-end wines, but Carol won’t have it, so Gio starts producing fancier wines without telling him. Carlo dies, and Gio plans to launch his new boutique wine with a fancy advert, hiring his friend, Peter Lansing. Peter is stunned by the beautiful model Gio has recruited to star in the ad, and the two begin a whirlwind romance, but their jet-set work schedules get in the way. Emily finds she has a weekend free and plans to Peter for a romantic weekend in Bordeaux wine country.
But the unscrupulous businessman Hakata is out to get Vinetti Vineyards.
The story of how the grape harvest is turned into wine is fascinating, but I would have preferred, instead of straight narration, for it to have been dramatized. Perhaps Gio and his workers, out in the field, struggling through the night to get the vintage in because of an unexpected cold rain...?
The author seems to know his stuff about wine-making, and photography, and the reader benefits from the education. The unscrupulous business dealings of Mr Hakata are probably very like what business practices unscrupulous businessmen do use to put pressure on the little guys. As a Japan-lover, I’m sorry the baddie has to be Japanese, but, hey, somebody’s got to be the baddie. And I do understand that it was a noticeable phenomenon in the 1980s that Japanese investors like Hakata were buying up property and assets in America, every square centimeter of the Japanese islands having long been bought up.
Carlo Vinetti, from a wine-making family in Aosta, Italy, loses both his parents to cholera and goes to live with his uncle Marcello in New York. He learns the bread-making business in Marcello’s bakery, but he just doesn’t get along with his aunt Angela. Then one day there’s a gas leak and fire, and Marcello doesn’t make it out. Angela kicks him out, and he is taken in by Marcello’s friend Enrico Genovese, who offers him a job at his restaurant as a pastry chef. At night, he yearns for vineyards. With the proceeds from selling his parents’ vineyard, he buys a vineyard in Petaluma, near Healdsburg.
He meets a beautiful girl, Catarina Sorrentino, and in a year’s time, he marries her. As their vineyard matures Catarina dies in childbirth, and Carlo raises the child, Christoforo, on his own. Christoforo grows up, goes to university, joins the Marines and serves in the Pacific War. In Okinawa, he faces hand-to-hand combat with a Japanese officer, while watched by a boy from the jungle. He comes home and marries the daughter of another Sonoma County wine-maker, soon blessing Carlo with a grandson, Gio, but the boy’s parents are killed in a train crash, leaving Carlo with another baby to raise on his own. Gio grow up, joins the Army, serves in Vietnam, where he distinguishes himself in Apocalyse Now-style combat, before being wounded, when he falls in love with a British nurse. Gio waits for her to join him in California, but one day he receives a letter, not from her, from her mother, saying she was to marry a British barrister.
Gio spots a change in the market and want to switch to making higher-end wines, but Carol won’t have it, so Gio starts producing fancier wines without telling him. Carlo dies, and Gio plans to launch his new boutique wine with a fancy advert, hiring his friend, Peter Lansing. Peter is stunned by the beautiful model Gio has recruited to star in the ad, and the two begin a whirlwind romance, but their jet-set work schedules get in the way. Emily finds she has a weekend free and plans to Peter for a romantic weekend in Bordeaux wine country.
But the unscrupulous businessman Hakata is out to get Vinetti Vineyards.
The story of how the grape harvest is turned into wine is fascinating, but I would have preferred, instead of straight narration, for it to have been dramatized. Perhaps Gio and his workers, out in the field, struggling through the night to get the vintage in because of an unexpected cold rain...?
The author seems to know his stuff about wine-making, and photography, and the reader benefits from the education. The unscrupulous business dealings of Mr Hakata are probably very like what business practices unscrupulous businessmen do use to put pressure on the little guys. As a Japan-lover, I’m sorry the baddie has to be Japanese, but, hey, somebody’s got to be the baddie. And I do understand that it was a noticeable phenomenon in the 1980s that Japanese investors like Hakata were buying up property and assets in America, every square centimeter of the Japanese islands having long been bought up.
May 20, 2021
Set in present-day California wine country, this novel is about one of the last family-owned wineries. The owner, Gio Venetti, has just completed an extremely successful advertising campaign. He chose Peter Lansing, a close friend and world-renowned photographer, to shoot the ad, and English model Emily Taylor to be featured. The sparks between them are immediate (Gio planned it that way). Suddenly, Gio is found dead in his office. It seems that Emily and Peter have attracted the attention of "The Deadly Samurai," one of the world's most ruthless businessmen. Does he want the winery for himself? Did Emily and Peter see something that they shouldn't have seen?
Mystery and film noir fans will love this book. It's got good writing, good characters, and works really well as a suspense/thriller story. This feels very plausible, and is well worth the time.
Mystery and film noir fans will love this book. It's got good writing, good characters, and works really well as a suspense/thriller story. This feels very plausible, and is well worth the time.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews