Valerie Massey Goree | Let’s Chat

Welcome, everyone

Valerie Massey Goree, winner of the American Christian Fiction Writers Genesis Award, has authored several novels: Deceive Me Once; Colors of Deceit; The Stolen Lives Trilogy, Weep in the Night; Day of Reckoning; and Justice at Dawn. Set in Australia, Forever Under Blue Skies, is now available from Amazon.

After serving as missionaries in her home country of Zimbabwe and raising two children, Valerie and her husband Glenn moved to Texas. She worked in the public school system for many years, focusing on students with special needs. Now retired and living on the beautiful Olympic Peninsula of  Washington State, Valerie spends her time writing, and spoiling her grandchildren.

Valerie loves to hear from her readers through her website: http://www.valeriegoreeauthor.com/. 

Now, relax as Valerie chats about her latest release, Justice at Dawn. She’s offering this exciting and suspenseful novel as a giveaway in paperback or e-book format, so be sure to join our chat below.

Take it away, Valerie.

The Novel’s Journey by Valerie Massey Goree

Justice at Dawn is the third novel in the Stolen Lives Trilogy. An International Retrieval Organization (IRO) agent in the first novel,  Weep in the Night, is highlighted in the second, and an agent in Day of Reckoning is highlighted in the third. I always knew I wanted to tell Cooper’s story after his brief appearance in the second novel. Why was he single? How did he get his scar? What contributed to his being one-track minded in his work?

It is always exciting to create a backstory for a character. To uncover his fears, his shattered dreams, his greatest desire for the future, and discover how those events shaped his personality and his present life.

The Characters, Cooper and Kitty Claire

Cooper Callahan has been an International Retrieval Organization operative for fifteen years. IRO agents are essentially private detectives on steroids. They have access to superior technology, and with a hefty budget, they can provide services regular PIs can’t. However, they have to abide by the state’s requirements to obtain a license to operate.

Of course I had to create a heroine worthy of Cooper’s attention. In my opinion, there are enough novels where the heroine is petite, helpless, always concerned about her perfect makeup. So … my heroine in Justice at Dawn is anything but petite or helpless, and she has a unique backstory. Now, don’t get me wrong, Kitty Claire is vulnerable and has issues from her past she has to overcome, too, but she provides the perfect foil for Cooper. You can tell by the cover that she’s a gal with an attitude.

When she first meets Cooper, he is almost left speechless.

“Please have a seat, Kitty.”

“Oh, no. Coop. I’m no kitty-cat.” She balanced on the edge of the chair. “Small and soft, that’s not me. The little assistant who showed me in, I can bench-press her in a heartbeat. KC. Plain KC.”

“There’s nothing plain . . . I mean, um. Let’s get started.”

Valerie Massey Goree: My characters talk to me as I reveal their stories.

I knew a little of KC’s early years when I began, but then she filled in the rest and I nearly cried. Poor little girl to be—never mind. You’ll have to read the novel to find out more.

As the lead training agent, Cooper provides KC with the necessary course work she needs. He has never worked with a trainee like Kitty Claire Briggs. She attacks every task head-on, and he quickly discovers that when she said she was not a “run-of-the-mill gal”, he should have believed her. She has a mind of her own, a stubborn streak, and doesn’t hesitate to question his instructions. Overflowing with energy, KC isn’t quiet long enough for Cooper to think. But when the boss assigns them a training mission to follow Sadie, his wife, KC’s serious side emerges.

Sure, former stunt double, KC, wants to be an agent, but she also hides an ulterior motive—to be accepted by IRO—and she wants access to their superior technology.

Can she locate her quarry without Cooper finding out?

As Cooper shares the finer points of surveillance with KC, her enthusiasm for the Lord and for the job strengthens his waning faith. When the training exercise turns into a real abduction, will KC’s naiveté lead to death or to a successful conclusion to the case?  

Since meeting KC, solid, dependable, predicable Cooper’s life has been turned upside down and his lackluster faith challenged at every turn. She makes him face experiences from his past that have held his soul captive.

But no matter how much she has influenced his life, will she pass the course and become an IRO agent?

Justice at Dawn by Valerie Massey Goree releases July 31, 2021.

It will be available from the publisher, Harbourlight Imprint with Pelican Book Group, and from Amazon. (No purchase links available before release day, but you can preorder now Justice at Dawn.)

Media: https://www.facebook.com/ValerieMasseyGoree/

Website: www.valeriegoreeauthor.com

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Dear Lord, please bless each word Valerie writes for You.
~ For Jesus’ sake ~