Michael Grant's first adult novel is a convincing demonstration of his unique skill in producing prose fiction for virtually any genre or targeted age group.

In A SUDDEN DEATH IN CYPRUS, Grant creates a protagonist who is very similar to himself. Like Grant, David Mitre (just one of his aliases) dropped out of high school, started a life of crime, and met that perfect woman in the window. Like Mitre, Grant was a fugitive from the law; perhaps that's why he took a pseudonym as an author. Regarding the Grant/Mitre oneness, Grant explained to me, "Frankly I thought Mitre might be insufferable, so I'm relieved people don't seem to hate him (me). The Mitre ‘voice’ is a pretty faithful representation of what goes on inside my head." So it's not "just" a mystery, it's also a character study --- of the author and what he might have become had he not chosen well in terms of a life partner.

Before Grant's life of crime began, at the tender age of four, he tried to be a businessman…er, business-child. He wanted money for a toy, so he took a box of vanilla wafers, poured them into a container, and "set off around the neighborhood as the world's first (and probably last) door-to-door vanilla wafer salesman." However, he realized that he wasn't going to make enough money to achieve his goal, so, as he writes in the scene from Mitre's point of view, "...when I got home I noticed some crumpled bills and loose change on my grandfather's mahogany chest of drawers. I took the money and claimed it had come from robust Nilla sales."

Years later, in spite of having dropped out of high school, Grant and Mitre were accepted into college. Both dropped out rather quickly and worked in the restaurant business as shift managers. At one point in their lives, they lived under a viaduct. And they met a girl in the window, the beautiful and talented woman who in real life is Katherine Applegate. Grant was intelligent enough to stay with Applegate, and they co-authored the hugely successful Animorphs series after ghostwriting a few books and getting some Harlequin romances published. Neither has looked back as they continue to write together and apart with numerous bestselling and award-winning children's books.

"Michael Grant's first adult novel is a convincing demonstration of his unique skill in producing prose fiction for virtually any genre or targeted age group.... Be prepared to travel a lovely and action-filled path along with David Mitre as he struggles with his past, present and nervously iffy future."

Pity poor David Mitre. He left the girl in the window, and his life has been lonely and fraught with the stress of wondering if law enforcement agencies are looking for him. He has assumed many aliases, but now has one he likes and a life he enjoys as a writer of mystery novels.

Mitre is living in Cyprus and enjoying the view at a bar when he notices a woman who appears to be watchful in a manner that screams she's scared, that something is wrong. When someone who is obviously not a professional waiter approaches the lady with a bottle of wine, Mitre clearly sees every movement and every moment of the faux waiter's murder of the middle-aged tourist. Afraid of becoming involved and risking his most necessary anonymity in a murder investigation, he leaves the scene quickly.

However, Mitre has been noticed. And when a local police official asks him to look into the crime, he has a choice. He can run, or he can stay and see what is really going on. And it's on Cyprus that the whole novel takes place. We learn about life there and the robust British expat community. We learn about the refugees who arrive on Cyprus desperate to live a better life. And we learn about the sometimes unsavory and cruel treatment of the refugees there.

Mitre finds out about two illegal activities that are taking place on the island, and he is confronted by FBI agents who want his help in investigating them. It's puzzling and confusing. Who murdered the tourist, an ex-British intelligence agent? And why?

Grant's writing talent, honed after years of penning young adult action books, shines brightly here. His narrative and distinctive voice are eloquent and often quite lyrical.

"No one ever admits to being asleep, lacking a sense of humor, or having no imagination. Everyone thinks they have an imagination, but few do, and fewer still are capable of pro-level imagination, the kind of imagination a clever criminal, or novelist, might need. Without imagination the first cave men would still be in the first cave, because it takes imagination to wonder what's over the next hill, or to conceive of a cure for disease, or to imagine strapping on a rocket and flying to the moon. Many good things come from imagination.

“But imagination is to fear as gasoline is to fire."

In addition to such fine examples of narrative, the story is filled with Grant's wry sense of humor as Mitre narrates the action in a cleverly self-deprecating manner: "You read stories about warriors --- Vikings, Huns, Mongols, Marines --- who never so much as whimper while they have a leg cut off with a pair of snub-nosed kindergarten craft scissors, but I am none of those things."

Mitre doesn't want to do the right thing. He would prefer to live his quiet, peaceful life, write his books while getting distracted in attractive ways as often as possible, and enjoy his scotch, a good cigar and a beautiful view (much like Grant). What will Mitre do when he is forced to choose --- his comfortable existence or doing the right thing, even though the latter may mean his life will be upended? Is he a dishonest person who can be redeemed, or an honorable man who has strayed from the right path and now has a chance at redemption?

Be prepared to travel a lovely and action-filled path along with David Mitre as he struggles with his past, present and nervously iffy future. And once readers realize that there will be a sequel, AN ARTFUL ASSASSIN IN AMSTERDAM (coming December 3rd), they eagerly will anticipate learning more about this complex and fascinating character.