A Real Piece of Work
关于此电子书
In a thrill-ride of a mystery that leads from Manhattan to the Catskills to Washington, D.C., what begins as the simple recovery of a painting soon uncovers an international art scam, multiple murders, and a chilling secret hidden since WWII.
Introducing His Gorgeous and Formidable Associate, Svetlana Krüsh...
A Ukrainian-American chess champion with runway legs, predator eyes, and fluency in seven languages, Svetlana Krüsh is much more than a sexy sidekick, bringing worldly sophistication and a razor-sharp mind to their cases.
Forged and Stolen Art, Secret Identities and Murder...
New York City is in the grips of its worst blizzard since 1888 when an art dealer stumbles in from the storm and hires them to find a stolen painting. Dakota and Svetlana are soon neck-deep in a world of unstable artists, seductive gallery owners, mysterious collectors, deadly henchmen, and a stunning femme fatale.
A Fast-Paced and Intelligent Mystery in the Noir Tradition...
A Real Piece of Work is a pristinely well-written page-turner for readers who like a great story told with literary style.
"Action, lust, danger, style and witty repartee, Orcutt's A Real Piece of Work is a work of art." - *IndieReader
Readers Say:
"Orcutt has combined a classic hard-boiled with the page-turning frenzy of a Dan Brown novel."
"PI Dakota Stevens is a cross between Philip Marlowe and Jason Bourne and his partner Svetlana Krush is a chess Grandmaster with the body of a Victoria's Secret model."
"Just when you think you've solved the mystery, Orcutt surprises you with another unexpected twist."
"As for the characters--perfection. Flawed, funny, heroic and developed fully from the first page until the final page."
"I read A Real Piece of Work in three days. Didn't get much sleep...but it was well worth it."
"Dakota Stevens and his indispensable sidekick/chess champion Svetlana Krush are a delightful modern take on the noir detective style."
"The author's ability to paint a picture or scene with words is astounding. This book is ripe for adaptation to film."
"Orcutt weaves a story that keeps you hanging on until the very end."
"People in the reviews keep mentioning Spenser/Robert B. Parker, and they're right; but add a good streak of John Le Carré, turn the roaster up a notch, and maybe you're getting in the ballpark."
"Reading Orcutt is like chasing a lit fuse into a dark tunnel."
"I am now stalking this author on Amazon, anxiously awaiting the release of his next book in the series."
More about A Real Piece of Work:
* The novel contains a password, giving buyers access to research bonus material on the Dakota Stevens website.
* The novel is based on over 2,000 pages of articles and government documents (including information about the now-famous Monuments Men) to ensure that elements of the book are historically accurate.
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"Action, lust, danger, style and witty repartee, Orcutt's A Real Piece of Work is a work of art. (5 stars)" — IndieReader
"This is an extremely well written novel. It has all the elements you would want to find in a book of this genre: plenty of fast action, beautiful women, secret wealth and bravery beyond measure. But add in a couple of extra ingredients and you have a real winner. The extra ingredients? The quality of the writing. The book moves at a pace, and it's a consistent pace. It never flags. But the ingredient that makes this a winner for me is definitely Orcutt's wit. He paints the Dakota Stevens character so well that you cannot fail to like him. (5 stars)" — The Kindle Book Review
"Stylishly written—nods to the classics of the detective genre—with great characters and plenty of wit and originality. (5 stars)" — National Bestselling Author Dave King
评分和评价
作者简介
Chris Orcutt has written professionally for 30 years as a novelist, journalist, scriptwriter, playwright and speechwriter. In college he initially studied forensic chemistry and later graduated summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa with a degree in philosophy. For a time after college, Chris taught high school U.S. history and college writing, and as a newspaper reporter he received a New York Press Association award.
Chris is the author of the critically acclaimed Dakota Stevens Mystery Series. The first novel in the series, A Real Piece of Work, was an Amazon bestseller. His non-genre fiction, including the novel One Hundred Miles from Manhattan and the short story collection The Man, The Myth, The Legend, has received critical acclaim from a host of professional reviewers: Publishers Weekly, Chronogram, Hudson Valley News, IndieReader, and Kirkus Reviews. In addition to his published novels, well over two dozen of his short stories have been published in literary journals.
In his free time away from the writing desk, Chris enjoys cross country skiing, hiking, mountain climbing, golf, tennis, swimming, chess and classic films.
Throughout his career as a novelist, Orcutt has written with one guiding principle: "I write books that I would want to read," he says. "When I'm reading a novel, I'm always looking for surprises--the plot twist, the beautiful scene, the quirky character, the memorable line of dialogue, or the gorgeous, picturesque sentence. So those are the things that I give to my readers."
For more about Chris or his Dakota Stevens Mysteries Series, visit orcutt.net OR dakotapi.com.
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Like a samurai sword-maker who forges, folds and hammers a length of steel until it becomes both a perfect weapon and a piece of art, Chris Orcutt invests thousands of hours in every one of his novels--writing, researching, rewriting, and editing--to make them the very best they can be.
While other authors might focus on book marketing and self-promotion, Orcutt is constantly honing his storytelling craft and his facility with language. Beyond compelling "page-turning" plots, Orcutt strives to give readers an immersive literary experience that will stick with them: great lines of dialogue, words they've never heard before, beautiful descriptions, apt metaphors, funny zingers and gorgeous sentences.
Indeed, Orcutt's writing credo is a quote by Ernest Hemingway: "It is your object to convey everything to the reader so that he remembers it not as a story he had read, but as something that happened to himself. That is the true test of writing." An old-school novelist who writes his first drafts with a Palomino Blackwing 602 pencil or one of his many vintage typewriters, Orcutt believes in hard work over talent, substance over hype, rising every day at 5 a.m., making coffee, and pressing on with his latest work in progress.
By buying a Chris Orcutt novel, you are supporting a writer who has made, and continues to make, writing his life's work.
