199 ratings | 18 reviews | avg rating:4.27

more photos (4)

Daniel Wetta’s Followers (28)

Daniel’s Bookshelves

to-read (16)
currently-reading (1)
read (206)
did-not-finish (0)
author-daniel-wetta (5)

Daniel’s Friends (270)

Will Byrnes

2,599 books | 4,990 friends

KOMET

14,937 books | 662 friends

Roberto Guzmán

0 books | 3,915 friends

Sarah Beth

2,370 books | 240 friends

Midu Hadi

31,381 books | 523 friends

Lori L (She Treads Softly)

4,223 books | 226 friends

Sheri

2,160 books | 1,897 friends

♤Nora

997 books | 1,107 friends

More friends…

Daniel Wetta

Goodreads Author

Born

in Richmond, Virginia, The United States

Website

http://www.danielwetta.com

Twitter

Cursillo86

Genre

Thriller, Suspense, Ebooks

Influences

Paulo Coelho, Isabel Allende, Esmeralda Santiago, Arturo Perez Reverte ...more

Member Since

May 2011

edit data

I lived in Mexico a few years ago during President Felipe Calderon’s “War on Drugs.” I suffered the mourning of a young friend who was kidnapped, tortured, shot, and left dead in a vacant field in his home city of Monterrey. Israel was a bright and handsome college student. The mistake that cost him his life was to meet the wrong person at a party: She was the estranged wife of a drug cartel leader in Monterrey, but she didn’t tell Israel. Their flirtation put an end to his life and the dreams for him of all who loved him. I was aware of the violence in Mexico when I arrived and tried to stay alert. After I came to make friends and saw that they courageously lived their lives in a world abundant with daily horrors and impunity, I realiz I lived in Mexico a few years ago during President Felipe Calderon’s “War on Drugs.” I suffered the mourning of a young friend who was kidnapped, tortured, shot, and left dead in a vacant field in his home city of Monterrey. Israel was a bright and handsome college student. The mistake that cost him his life was to meet the wrong person at a party: She was the estranged wife of a drug cartel leader in Monterrey, but she didn’t tell Israel. Their flirtation put an end to his life and the dreams for him of all who loved him. I was aware of the violence in Mexico when I arrived and tried to stay alert. After I came to make friends and saw that they courageously lived their lives in a world abundant with daily horrors and impunity, I realized how safely we lead lives in the United States. I learned that we know little about how we contribute to problems in the country to the south of us.

Israel’s murder began to haunt me a little more each day. I couldn’t forget him. Three suspects arrested were released after 40 days. The drug cartel’s wife was never seen again. There was no justice. I spent two years researching and understanding the violence of organized crime, especially that of the drug cartels throughout Latin America and the United States. I found out that on the demand side, the people in the United States purchase the majority of drugs coming from the Mexican cartels. On the supply side, our country is the biggest supplier of illegal weapons used by these cartels. These weapons have been responsible for over 100,000 deaths in Mexico in the past seven years. Even the casual marijuana enjoyed in social gatherings in our country arrives to us soaked in the blood of young people on both sides of the border. We don’t think about that at all. I do now. I think about my friend, Israel, and how he must have known when his murderers had him that no hero was going to show up to save him.
So I have some things to say about international relations between Mexico and the United States, but I say them through personal stories of heroic people on both sides of the border. I know that for people to engage enough to listen to me, they are going to need to relate to the characters I put before them. All the fictionalized people in my novels are based to varying degrees on real counterparts, or they are composites of people whom I knew or heard about. The incredible things that happen in the novels largely come from the news stories of Mexico and the United States. Do I need to say the cliché? Truth really is stranger than fiction.
The result of my time in Mexico was the writing of the novel, The Z Redemption. Its sequel, Corvette Nightfire, was published in April, 2014. Updated second editions of both novels came out in 2015. The third volume of the trilogy, tentatively titled El Camino Oscuro, is being co-written with Robert Selfe and should be published within the next year.

There are two free short stories related to The Z Redemption novels. The first, “Awakening from the Golden Sleep,” describes early adventures of Ana Valdez when she was a child in Mazatlán, Mexico, a resort city on the Pacific Ocean. In The Z Redemption, Ana is a main character who ends up being President of Mexico after a military coup overthrows the government. The second short story (of which I am especially proud) is a “prequel” to Corvette Nightfire. It is called “Nightfire!” It tells a fascinating story of Corvette Nightfire’s grandparents, Tarahumara Indians who became entangled with the Mexican drug cartel of Sinaloa. Their actions set up Corvette’s destiny, thrillingly depicted with tremendous suspense in the second novel. While working on the third novel with Robert Selfe, I plan also to write a short story related to it.
As for my bio, I am a retired Certified Public Accountant who spent most of my career in the health care field. For twenty years I was the CFO and then CEO of a Virginia hospital and nursing home in a large healthcare c ...more

Learn more
Ask the Author

To ask Daniel Wetta questions, please sign up.

Combine Editions
Daniel Wetta’s books

Average rating: 4.51 · 35 ratings · 19 reviews · 13 distinct works

	The Z Redemption 4.50 avg rating — 12 ratings — published 2013 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Corvette Nightfire by Daniel Wetta (Goodreads Author), Robert Selfe (With) 4.25 avg rating — 12 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Kiss the Talisman by Howard Moss, Daniel Wetta (Goodreads Author) (Editor) 4.70 avg rating — 10 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Nightfire! The Corvette Nightfire Prequel 4.50 avg rating — 4 ratings — published 2014 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Awakening from the Golden Sleep it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 3 ratings — published 2013 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Power Steering by M.J. Scott, Daniel Wetta (Goodreads Author) (Editor) it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 2 ratings — published 2016 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Skeads: A Decent Sort of Man by Dave Pistorese, Daniel Wetta (Goodreads Author) (Editor) it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	El Despertar del Sueño Dorado 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Caminos de Fuego by Daniel Wetta (Goodreads Author), Emilio Bernal-Zubieta (Translator) 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Sport's Alien Fantasy by M.J. Scott, Daniel Wetta (Goodreads Author) (Contributor) 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — published 2017 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Daniel Wetta…

185 posts
Daniel Wetta's Blog

Finding the Spirit of Christmas

Finding the Spirit of Christmas – It’s in Presence!

[image error] Daniel Wetta Publishing is pleased to announce the latest book from prolific author M. J. Scott, Finding the Spirit of Christmas, available through pre-order now on Amazon and to be published October 2, 2018! This little book is timeless in its discoveries of kindness and compassion in ordinary events of our days and opens the d

Daniel is Currently Reading

Daniel Wetta is currently reading

Peace Pilgrim: walking her talk against hate

by Merry Brennan (Goodreads Author)

bookshelves: currently-reading

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Oct 15, 2017 09:12PM

rss
Daniel’s Recent Updates

Daniel Wetta is now friends with Jennifer Manteca Suárez
May 02, 2025 10:39AM · like
Daniel Wetta has read Pranklopedia: The Funniest, Grossest, Craziest, Not-Mean Pranks on the Planet! by Julie Winterbottom (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Sep 27, 2024 12:22PM · like

More of Daniel's books…

Quotes by Daniel Wetta (?)

“Let's Not Just Be Heroes! Let's Be Heroes Who Lead!”
― Daniel Wetta

tags: heroes, inspiration, leadership

6 likes

Topics Mentioning This Author

topics	posts	views	last activity
Making Connections: 1269. - THE Z REDEMPTION by Daniel Wetta	2	29	Jun 11, 2013 08:44AM
Making Connections: 3224. - CORVETTE NIGHTFIRE (The Z Redemption Trilogy, #2) by Daniel Wetta	2	13	Jun 02, 2014 06:37PM
Making Connections: 3223. - THE Z REDEMPTION by Daniel Wetta	8	79	Feb 10, 2015 02:44PM

More…

Daniel’s Quotes

“Let's Not Just Be Heroes! Let's Be Heroes Who Lead!”
― Daniel Wetta

tags: heroes, inspiration, leadership

6 likes

“I believe there is something out there watching us. Unfortunately, it's the government.”
― Woody Allen

780 likes

“Sometimes the only justice you can give to people is to remember them.”
― Sophia Martin

3 likes

“Never Give Up!”
― Michael Parker

258 likes

Daniel’s Friend Comments

Comments (showing 1-3) post a comment »

date

newest »

message 3: by Robin

Jul 12, 2013 05:57PM

Hello Daniel, I am really happy we have connected.

Thank you for adding me to your friend's list - it was very nice of you. I look forward to reading your book reviews, comments, and recommendations. Keep up the good life!

Peace and happiness be with you,
Robin