Along with these early influences, Battles' craft was inspired by his teacher and mentor, novelist William Relling Jr. "He helped me shape my first novel into a form that finally got me a book deal," Battles said. "Unfortunately he passed away before that happened."

There's no doubt Relling would be proud of his student's critical and commercial success. Battles' has already completed the third book in his series and is planning more. "I don't actually have it all mapped out other than the continued development of the relationships between Quinn, Orlando and Nate. There's stuff that happens in The Deceived that sets a lot of things into motion, and those will be further explored in future books. I would also assume Nate eventually moves on to work for himself, if, of course, he survives."

Whether or not certain characters survive can hold an extra significance to Battles' friends, who sometimes find their names in his books. "I do use a lot of names of people I've known over the years as minor characters...kind of my way of saying hi to someone I might not have seen for a long time."

Battles drops all his characters into phenomenal settings. Many writers parlay a love of travel into rich locations for their novels, but he goes farther than most. He understands the cultures about which he writes. Readers come away with a clear picture not only of the places to which he sends Quinn, but also of the people who live there.

While researching The Deceived, he traveled to Singapore. "I spent nearly a week exploring and taking advantage of the kindness of a close friend of mine who lived there at the time. My most memorable day there was spent with my friend Rick bike riding through the city, taking tons of pictures, eating lunch at a hawker center (featured in The Deceived), and stopping for a couple beers at the end of the afternoon."

Fast action in exotic locales has drawn inevitable comparisons to James Bond. How would Quinn fare against 007? "(I) don't think Quinn would ever put himself in a position to fight Bond," Battles said. "They're both usually on the side of good after all. But if they did have to fight, and Quinn won, no one would ever find Bond's body."

No one cleans up a hit like Quinn. You won't want to miss a page of The Deceived.

Brett Battles lives and writes in Los Angeles, where he's currently at work on the third book in the Jonathan Quinn series, following THE CLEANER and THE DECEIVED.

Contributing editor Tasha Alexander attended the University of Notre Dame, where she signed on as an English major in order to have a legitimate excuse for spending all her time reading. Following graduation, she played nomad for several years, eventually settling with her family in Tennessee. When not reading, she can be found hard at work on her next book.