In Martha Powers' cozy romantic thriller, Conspiracy of Silence, Clare Prentice was a happy bride-to-be, living in Chicago, and looking to her future...until the day she learned her entire life was a lie.Not only does Clare discover she was adopted, but there is no record that she or her adoptive mother ever existed. The only clue is her adopted mother's class ring from Grand Rapids Senior High School, in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. But unraveling the mystery is like trying to sculpt fog-until the first piece of the puzzle unexpectedly drops into place: Clare's birth mother, Lily Gundersen, was murdered in Grand Rapids. Lily's murder was one of the most talked-about events in the town's history, but no one is talking now. Clare still hasn't learned the whole story about her early life - and someone intends to keep it that way.
It's a story about buried - and dangerous - histories brought back to life. And Powers feels a strong pull toward history - Powers was a history and geography major in college - and the secrets hidden within everyone's personal history. "Everyone has secrets. Everyone's personal history is different and each one is shaped by the events of their past. Motivations only become clear and understandable when you see the three dimensions of the characters in a book. In a thriller it's essential to know the background of your main characters so that they have the skill sets required to solve the obstacles that you as the writer throw at them."And as a mother, Powers' stories are infused with all her maternal love. "We live in a world of random violence. Bombings, school shootings, car accidents. I think my writing in the beginning was like whistling in the dark. If I could build a world where I could control the violence and bring justice at the end, it seemed to comfort me that in life I could do the same."
And it's clear; Powers is a character driven writer. No big production stories here. "Very few of us are international spies or run across situations that decide the fate of the world. It's the little personal events in our lives that can be the catalyst for terrifying situations. I believe in the old Alfred Hitchcock theory, that trouble and terror can occur to an ordinary person, thrusting them into a situation that they are not trained to deal with. We see every day, someone who, has through illness or misfortune, been forced to act courageously. The human spirit can rise during crisis situations and people can do unbelievable things to save themselves but most often to save another person. These are the people I most like writing about."
Contributing editor Mark Combes is an avid sailor
and Scuba diver and travels extensively in the Caribbean pursuing his
passions. He works in book publishing and RUNNING WRECKED is his first
novel.
