The Origin of Jonathan Quinn
I’ve always been fascinated by what happens AFTER a major event (like a shoot out, a car chase, or an assassination.) When I would read these kinds of scenes in books, I would begin to wonder what happened to the people involved. What happened to the wreckage? What happened to the BODY?
It’s that last question that led me eventually to Jonathan Quinn. Quinn’s profession is that of a cleaner. No, not like that cleaner on TV who is trying to get other people drug free. Quinn is a cleaner in the tradition of Harvey Keitel’s Winston Wolfe character in Pulp Fiction, and Jean Reno in La Femme Nikita. His job is to come in after a hit, or, perhaps, after an operation has gone wrong and get rid of the bodies. And by get rid of, I mean never to be found again.
Quinn is good at his job, very good. In fact, most of the time, his assignments go without a hitch. Of course, those aren’t the stories from his life I’ve chosen to tell. To me, his more interesting adventures are when things don’t go the way he expects, and he gets pulled into situations he would rather avoid.
But Quinn has two qualities that could be seen as either strengths or flaws. He is very ethical, so if he sees something that is wrong and there is something he can do about it, he will. The second is his sense of honor. If he makes a promise, he keeps it. Even if that means doing jobs he would otherwise turn down.
That’s what happens in the latest Quinn thriller, SHADOW OF BETRAYAL. He had made a promise to a client that in exchange for help the client gave him on a personal matter, Quinn would do three jobs no questions asked. In SHADOW OF BETRAYAL, the client calls in those markers, and Quinn and his team are sucked into a mission that is out of control from the very beginning.
Just a quick note to point out that in the UK the same book is entitled THE UNWANTED, so don’t think there’s an extra Quinn novel out there. Well, technically there is…it’s still on my computer and will be out next year! But this year it’s SHADOW OF BETRAYAL. I do hope you enjoy it.
Click here if you’d like to sign up for my newsletter. Also you can read more about the first two Quinn adventures, THE CLEANER and THE DECEIVED, on my website.
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