February 2017 group read discussion: BE FIЯ$T OЯ BE DEAD #BOM_Feb_17

[Nik]

Kent wrote: "I feel like you owe us another book after that ending. :)
M7 seems to be above the law in every country it operates in, so I'm not all that surprised that there was no involvement by the respective authorities.
Nik, I do have one other question:
How do you feel this book compares to your previous two in the series in terms of quality?..."

If I owe, then I'll try to repay -:) Maybe in collaboration?

I'm here to answer as many questions, as you, guys, have and with pleasure -:)

Regarding the quality in terms of readers' engagement - I think 'Mortal Showdown' the 2-nd book in my eyes is probably the best. It's more mainstream action thriller - less philosophic, less complex, more international. Pure action, still lots of debauchery, of course -:) Maybe the beginning as a complex intrigue - is a little slow, but the book picks up very good pace... At that, I'm probably, not the most objective appraiser -:).
I should certainly mention that I pretty much expected the controversial perception. I'm not dealing with fine art, I don't offer 'escape'. I offer gritty, unromantic scenarios with morally deficient characters and ugly side of reality. Some like it, many - don't.

All three are a little different. "Rise of an Oligarch" - is more a historical fiction set in real historical events with elements of thriller and conspiracy. My co-author (under his real name) is a best-selling non-fiction author and I guess 'non-fiction' style 'crept in' a little as maybe we go too deep into biz transactions, money laundering and so on. I think it offers a pretty fair glimpse at the pre-Big bang of the USSR period, rapid enrichment of oligarchs after it, dynamics and mentality of the epoch from roughly 1980 till 2013. I was particularly chuffed, as Brits say, when a girl living elsewhere with her parents borne in USSR wrote me that she couldn't understand how it was in Soviet times from her parents stories, but she did after reading the book.

'Mortal Showdown' - as I mentioned before is much 'lighter' with an emphasis on thriller and action part, however rooted in the events of 2014 revolution in Ukraine with my fictional interpretation thereof..

With 'Be First' - I intentionally go into extremes on almost every count. From reading your reviews, guys, I get an impression I'm not very successful in doing it coolly -:) I view it as a grotesque of a sort, but I don't think it is perceived as such by most readers (and that's certainly my miscalculation, not readers' fault). At that, I'm raising real questions that preoccupy me at times, which I know in advance wouldn't be viewed similarly, but I hope through raising them - people at least will take note of the issue. It's very popular to look at less successful chaps and to discuss whether they are lazy, how much we should help them, if at all, and so on. Super rich are either hated or revered, sometimes both. Very few look at the very top with the purpose of understanding, or god forbid - criticizing and thinking how to improve obvious flaws of the systems that we have running and deepening.. Not saying I offer something exceptionally genius (I don't), but I hope - a little thought-provoking -:)
Also, I try to implement and expose some of my knowledge and observations of the one borne in the USSR, living in the West (although some say Israel isn't) for many years and my experience as a lawyer, servicing international and local businessmen of different caliber and witnessing their hardships and evolution/deterioration -:).

I should probably mention that the first two books are done in British English and with a different editor, while the 3-d - in American one.

[Kent]

Thanks for the detailed analysis of your works. I'll definitely get to the first two one of these days. The first one, in particular, sounds interesting, despite the "non-fiction" feel.

[Nik]

Thanks for your interest in the other two. Hope you'll enjoy whenever you get to them -:)

[Roughseasinthemed]

I'm late to this – knew I would be!

Before I forget, Nik, why did you choose an American editor this time round? Curiosity piques. I don't have an issue because although I'm British I work on US, Canadian, Australian/NZ, SA, and British-speaking Asian.

Which reminds me, I need to pull together some examples of errors for you. Am in catch-up mode today, so may do.

For me, I think you did achieve your aims in terms of provoking thought. I'm not too wound up about no Swiss intervention or the brief appearance of Snow, or why Arthur died (although I have my speculation …) As a story, I think the important aspect is the overall picture, and for me that worked.

But that's with my reader's hat on. With my editor's hat I would have asked the same questions as everyone else to ensure you were creating the impression you wanted.

I think you were right to describe it in terms of extremes. But doesn't extreme money bring an extreme life? Unlike the pedestrian one led by most of the plebs?

I found it interesting and different.

[Nik]

Roughseasinthemed wrote: "I'm late to this – knew I would be!

Before I forget, Nik, why did you choose an American editor this time round? Curiosity piques. I don't have an issue because although I'm British I work on US, ..."

It's still on time. Maybe in Australia and Japan it's the last day of Feb already, but here in Med's vicinity it's still almost 2 full days to go -:)

Anyways, with the first book we were unsure about our writing and were looking for an editor, who'd be willing to do the developmental editing and re-writes (if our initial text so required) on top of just 'technical' editing and proofreading. As my friend and co-author lives in London British version was natural. So we were recommended an editor, who actually cut about 60K words from our original 140K manuscript (although we smuggled back in maybe 15K -:)) and did some serious job on the rest. It was a rather costly service.
On the 2-nd, which I'd written alone, but pretty soon after the release of the first (or maybe even before), I just went with the same guy.
But with the third book, seeing that my sales come mostly from the US and besides I usually use American version in my biz writing, so this time American seemed 'natural'. On top of that, having 6 beta reading reports, I thought I needed less developmental and more technical editing and proofreading, so applied for kind services of the guys on the other side of the pond...

Glad most things worked for you and proud that you found it interesting and different! -:)

[Roughseasinthemed]

I'm not commenting on the proofreading! :D

[Nik]

Just wanted to thank everyone who participated for his/her interest, feedback, critique, praise and reviews! For me it was a tremendously helpful experience and I equally hope you haven't suffered through -:)

[Roughseasinthemed]

Equally Nik, you have taken all comments with good grace. If only all authors had your attitude :) Best wishes with your writing. And I did enjoy it.

[Nik]

Thanks, RS -:)

[Roughseasinthemed]

De nada chico ;)

[Kent]

I second Roughseasinthemed. Looking forward to that fourth book! ;)

[Nik]

Waiting friends is the best inspiration-:)

[Quantum]

I'm not closing the discussion, but I just wanted to take a moment to thank Nik Krasno for allowing us the privilege of hosting his most recent novel as our book of the month read.

For those of you who read his book, I encourage you to leave a review. I will be doing just that within the next couple of weeks.

[Nik]

Alex G wrote: "I'm not closing the discussion, but I just wanted to take a moment to thank Nik Krasno for allowing us the privilege of hosting his most recent novel as our book of the month read...."

Thanks, Alex, it was a pleasure and honor