The Slush Pile Brigade (A Nick Lassiter Novel Book 1) by Samuel Marquis
On his thirtieth birthday, Nick Lassiter has lost his girlfriend and his job, is wanted by the police, and has discovered that his unpublished thriller, Blind Thrust, has been stolen and turned into a blockbuster movie called Subterranean Storm. Even worse, the movie is based on a soon-to-be best-selling novel by Australian thriller writer Cameron Beckett, one of the world’s biggest brand name authors. Rather than seek revenge through a financial settlement or public humiliation, Lassiter sets out for New York to obtain mea culpas from Beckett and his renowned literary agent, whom he is certain colluded with the Aussie in stealing his debut novel.
Once in New York, Lassiter, and his three quirky fish-out-of-water friends who insist on accompanying him, instantly run afoul of the law and other powerful forces intent on thwarting them and their mission. As they encounter one thorny obstacle after another, the scope of their inquiries expands and they are soon in way over their heads, battling toe-to-toe not only against the mega-best-selling author and his agent, but a formidable army of antagonists, including the NYPD, Beckett’s Big Five publishing house security squad, and the Russian mob. Collectively, these adversaries present Lassiter with the greatest—and deadliest—challenge of his life.
Unexpectedly aided by his CIA father, Director of the Russian Counterintelligence Desk, and his former girlfriend turned CIA-informant, Lassiter and his comrades take to calling themselves the Slush Pile Brigade. Outmatched and outgunned, they are foiled at virtually every turn but still they are determined to win. But will justice be attained? Can they prove that Beckett and his crooked literary agent have stolen Lassiter’s blockbuster novel and are undeservedly reaping the success? And more importantly, will they solve one of the most important counterintelligence cases in CIA history and actually live to tell about it?
The Slush Pile Brigade is comparable to the modern suspense novels of Daniel Silva, Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, Ken Follett, Stephen Hunter, David Baldacci, and Kyle Mills.
From the Author
What was the inspiration behind both "The Slush Pile Brigade" and "Blind Thrust", the novel stolen from fledgling writer Nick Lassiter in the novel? "Blind Thrust" seems more closely aligned to your day-to-day work as an environmental hydrogeologist, while "The Slush Pile Brigade" seems like an adventure in your imagination.
I actually wrote "Blind Thrust" before "The Slush Pile Brigade." The inspiration behind "Blind Thrust" is my experiences in California and Texas as a registered professional geologist in assessing earthquake hazards and fault classifications. I wrote the novel and my agent was pitching it to publishers in New York. I began wondering, "What if a mega-best-selling author was having writer's block, needed a good story, and actually colluded with his literary agent to steal a promising novel by a no-name author from the slush pile, an author who happened to be an expert in his field like me and had written a scientifically-accurate novel like "Blind Thrust?"
I wondered to myself how I would try and seek revenge. Once I dug into the research, I quickly discovered that big-name publishers, producers, writers, editors, and directors in both the literary industry and Hollywood pilfer creative works from no-name authors and screenwriters all the time. It made me angry. And that is why I wrote "The Slush Pile Brigade." Like a lot of people, I root for the smart, hard-working little guy and want him him to be able to earn a fair wage for his creative work.
Biography
Samuel Marquis is a bestselling, award-winning suspense author. His books include "The Slush Pile Brigade," "Blind Thrust," "The Coalition," and "Bodyguard of Deception." He works by day as a VP-Hydrogeologist with an environmental firm in Boulder, Colorado, and by night as an iconoclastic spinner of historical and modern suspense yarns. He holds a Master of Science degree in Geology, is a Registered Professional Geologist in eleven states, and is a recognized expert in groundwater contaminant hydrogeology, having served as a hydrogeologic expert witness in several class action litigation cases. He also has a deep and abiding interest in military history and intelligence, specifically related to the Golden Age of Piracy, Plains Indian Wars, World War II, and the current War on Terror.
His technical scientific background and passion for military history and intelligence have served Marquis well as a suspense writer. His first two thrillers, The Slush Pile Brigade and Blind Thrust, were both #1 Denver Post bestsellers for fiction, and his first three novels received national book award recognition. The Slush Pile Brigade was an award-winning finalist in the mystery category of the Beverly Hills Book Awards. Blind Thrust was the winner of the Next Generation Indie Book Awards in the suspense category, an award-winning suspense finalist of both the USA Best Book Awards and Beverly Hills Book Awards, and a Foreword Reviews' Book of the Year award finalist (thriller & suspense). His third novel, The Coalition, was the winner of the Beverly Hills Book Awards for a political thriller.
Former Colorado Governor Roy Romer said, "Blind Thrust kept me up until 1 a.m. two nights in a row. I could not put it down. An intriguing mystery that intertwined geology, fracking, and places in Colorado that I know well. Great fun." Kirkus Reviews proclaimed The Coalition an "entertaining thriller" and declared that "Marquis has written a tight plot with genuine suspense." James Patterson compared The Coalition to The Day After Tomorrow, the classic thriller by Allan Folsom; and Donald Maas, author of Writing 21st Century Fiction and two novels, compared The Coalition to the classic political assassination thriller The Day of the Jackal. Other book reviewers have compared Book #1 of Marquis's World War Two Trilogy, Bodyguard of Deception, to the spy novels of John le Carré, Daniel Silva, Ken Follett, and Alan Furst.
Mr. Marquis lives in Colorado with his wife and three children and he plays competitive lacrosse, hikes, and skis on weekends when he isn't writing.
My Review
Nick Lassiter ended up being my favorite character in the The Slush Pile Brigade (A Nick Lassiter Novel Book 1) by Samuel Marquis. I really liked him as a character especially his determination to get justice for himself. This book reminded me of the movie called Big Fat Liar. Like the movie the main character sets out to prove that his book was stolen by an author and made into a money making movie. Consider that Big Fat Liar was one of my favorite movies when I was younger I began to fall in love with this book from the get go. I really saw this book as an adult version of Big Fat Lair with its own unique plot twists, characters, good guys, and bad guys. The story line is very involved and I enjoyed all of the plot twists. My favorite twist was the involvement of the CIA, though I won't going any further into the twists then that so as to avoid spoiling an amazing book for you. I was sent a copy of this book for only my honest and unbiased review
On a distant world of forests floating on an ocean around a star, a blight threatens to plunge all life into darkness.
Aaron Safronoff was born and raised in Michigan where he wrote his first novella, Evening Breezes. In his early twenties, he moved to California to attend culinary school. He fell in love with the Bay Area and has never considered leaving, although he did eventually leave the school.
