King Arthur Movie Tristan

I recently read and reviewed The Shepherd by Ethan Cross. This book is a faced paced thriller that had me on the edge of my seat while reading.




Ethan is kindly stopping by my blog today to do a guest post to discuss a bit about how he began writing and became a published author. Please join me in welcoming him.

Read on for his post...




Telling stories on a grand scale has been my dream for as long as I can remember. When a fireman or a policeman would come visit my school, most of my classmates’ heads would swim with aspirations of growing up and catching bad guys or saving someone from a blazing inferno. When these moments came for me, however, my dreams weren’t to someday be a cop or put out fires; I just wanted to make a movie or write a book about it. And my dream has come to fruition with the release of my first book, The Shepherd.



I had written a partially-finished screenplay in High School, and at one time in my life, I had considered moving to California and attempting to break into the film industry. But I knew that was an uphill battle, and much of my time was being consumed by another dream: music. While reaching for that dream, I was able to play all over the Midwest, record a few CDs, and open for national recording artists as the lead singer and guitar player for bands like Tormented and 1Adam12. But I never gave up on my dream of telling stories, and I continued to develop the ideas in my head.



Up to this point, I had never been a big book reader, but then a friend introduced me to a series of Star Wars books that picks up where the original movies left off. I had always been a Star Wars fan, so I decided to give the books a shot. I loved them, but I also discovered a love for books. It wasn’t long before I was reading three to four books a week, everything from suspense thrillers to action and adventure. I had always considered writing a novel, but it was at this point that I knew that was what I wanted to do. So I began writing The Shepherd, which was based upon a short story that I had written for an English class during my senior year of college. My main goal with The Shepherd was to write a book that I would want to read, and the books that I loved were fast-paced with a lot of action. After more work than I could’ve possibly imagined, I finished a first draft. But the book was far from finished.



After doing a lot of research and knowing that I couldn’t get my book published without an agent, I decided to attend a writer’s conference in New York City called Thrillerfest. It included a period of time where you were able to pitch your novel to a group of agents, but you only had three minutes with each. I did well during my pitches and generated interest from all but a couple of the agents with whom I spoke. However, during Thrillerfest, I also attended three days of classes taught by some of biggest authors in the world. It was at this point that I realized my book wasn’t ready for primetime, and I still had a lot of work ahead of me. I also made a lot of new friends and contacts within the publishing industry, and one of them referred me onto a man named Lou Aronica.



The funny thing is that Lou had been the head of several of the big publishing houses, and while heading Bantam Spectra, he was the guy that came up with the idea of having Star Wars books (the same books that got me into reading). It all felt very serendipitous, so I began working with Lou to take my work to the next level. But Lou wasn’t finished with me yet. He also loved my book so much that he referred me onto my agent, Danny Baror—a man who represents some of the biggest authors in the world. Then, a few months later, Lou contacted me about a new undertaking. He had decided to start a new publishing imprint that was going to be invitation only. He asked if I would want to be one of the first authors to be published under this new imprint. I was, of course, excited to continue working with Lou and accepted.



Beyond The Shepherd, I have written detailed outlines for the next two books in The Shepherd series (with at least five others planned after those). I’ve also begun work on a new action adventure series and a stand-alone suspense thriller called The Darkness Never Sleeps, which deals with a repentant serial killer that must fall into his old habits in order to save his daughter from a group of drug runners being financed by the CIA.




Thank You,


Ethan Cross


http://www.EthanCross.com




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Thank you again for stopping by Ethan. How interesting that you are also into music and have opened for artists as well as recorded CD's.
I think it is key for a writer to as you say, write a book that they themselves would want to read. It's a good thing you never gave up on your dream of telling stories, The Shepherd is a fantastic book.


Best of luck with your work!


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About the book:

Marcus Williams and Francis Ackerman Jr. both have a talent for hurting people. Marcus, a former New York City homicide detective, uses his abilities to protect others, while Ackerman uses his gifts to inflict pain and suffering. When both men become unwilling pawns in a conspiracy that reaches to the highest levels of our government, Marcus finds himself in a deadly game of cat and mouse trapped between a twisted psychopath and a vigilante with seemingly unlimited resources. Aided by a rogue FBI agent and the vigilante’s beautiful daughter -a woman with whom he’s quickly falling in love- Marcus must expose the deadly political conspiracy and confront his past while hunting down one of the most cunning and ruthless killers in the world.

title: The Shepherd

author: Ethan Cross


genre: crime thriller

publish date: available March 16, 2011

pages: 326

source: ARC/sent for review by author

first line: Jim Morgan watched as reflections of the patrol car's flashing lights danced across the front window of the remote gas station.

rated: 4 1/2 out of 5 stars








Marcus Williams and Francis Ackerman Jr. both have a talent for hurting people. Marcus, a former New York City homicide detective, uses his abilities to protect others, while Ackerman uses his gifts to inflict pain and suffering. When both men become unwilling pawns in a conspiracy that reaches to the highest levels of our government, Marcus finds himself in a deadly game of cat and mouse trapped between a twisted psychopath and a vigilante with seemingly unlimited resources. Aided by a rogue FBI agent and the vigilante’s beautiful daughter -a woman with whom he’s quickly falling in love- Marcus must expose the deadly political conspiracy and confront his past while hunting down one of the most cunning and ruthless killers in the world.




When author Ethan Cross contacted me about a possible book review, I jumped at the opportunity. Now, after reading his book, I am very glad I did. The Shepherd is a thrill ride that takes off from page one, with plenty of twists and turns that do not come to a halt until the final page. Once I started reading, I really couldn't put this book down. I found myself reading it while doing everyday things like sitting at my kitchen table having my breakfast or sitting in my car waiting for my kids to get out of school.



About the book:


Marcus Williams is a former NYC homicide detective with a haunted past. After wanting to leave that life behind him, Marcus moves to a small town in Texas where he inherited a ranch from his late aunt.


On his first day in town he meets and helps Maggie, the Sheriff's daughter, out of a dangerous situation. Soon enough he meets the town Sherriff who informs Marcus about a killer on the loose.




There is a serial killer named Francis Ackerman Jr. who has escaped from a mental hospital and has been on a murder spree. Suffering at the hands of his demented father as a child, Ackerman was almost 'trained' to become the monster that he now is.



His latest victim happens to be a woman named Maureen Hill, Marcus' neighbor. When Marcus stumbles upon the gruesome crime scene, he soon becomes a suspect and finds himself having to run for his own life.



What ensues is a hunt for the serial killer with a conspiracy that spreads further than Marcus could possibly have imagined. Marcus does not know who he can trust or if he will be able to stop Ackerman and save innocent people, let alone clear his own name in the process.

The book's storyline goes from Marcus to Ackerman and ends with the two finally facing off, good vs. evil.





I liked Marcus from the get go, he's your everyday good guy. I wanted things to turn out alright for him. He was going through personal struggles due to his past actions and often questioned himself.



Ackerman was very creepy, especially the way he would play mind games with his victims often giving them false hopes of escaping. This is the type of villain that will give you nightmares.



Author Ethan Cross keeps the story going at full speed until the final page. This one has a shock ending that really took me for surprise.

He also creates interesting characters, each with a story of their own and as you read you get a sense of the rhyme and reason behind their actions.




I get a kick out of reading books where the characters visit places or talk about places that I'm familiar with.
Early on in the story, Marcus remembers how he loves the red velvet cupcakes at The Magnolia Bakery in NYC. I giggled at that one, since going to Magnolia's for their awesome cupcakes is my yearly birthday tradition.




Reminiscent of Dean Koontz, who is a favorite of mine, Ethan Cross' writing had me on the edge of my seat wondering what was going to happen next. Well written and full of action, I really enjoyed this one.

Highly recommended for fans of this genre or for anyone looking for a thrilling read. The Shepherd is the first book in a series of thrillers. I will definitely be keeping an eye out for the next book in this series.

"We're two sides of the same coin. So you see, Marcus, I am the darkness, but you...you are the light."

p.233, The Shepherd

Special thanks to the author for this opportunity. Stay tuned, author Ethan Cross will be stopping by my blog on March 8th for a guest post!




Visit the author's website here: http://www.ethancross.com/

You can find out more about the author and his book.