She stepped from the curb and started toward Gray, speaking on her cell phone. As she got closer, her eyes suddenly widened and her mouth became a circle.

She careened into him. He lost his balance and went down hard on the pavement with the girl in his arms. Her head hit his chin; his head smacked into the asphalt.

He was dazed, aware only of screams and cries of panic from the crowd around him. Another body tumbled on top of him and that of the girl. His vision cleared enough to see the man pinning them both to the ground had a gun.

The man shrieked, "Carlita, Carlita!" She was mumbling incoherently. At the end of each unrecognizable sound, she coughed; blood flowed from her mouth. Fear in his eyes, the man placed his hand on her neck checking for a pulse as he waved the gun in the other.

Gray realized he was still clutching the girl. He felt her spasm and go limp. Then the man began to sob, deeply, his curses barely audible, buried under the sounds of his grief.

more excerpts

Gray Hart's business trip to Rio turns sour quickly when he becomes a target for murder. Conversely, the son of the Brazilian millionaire he is investigating is kidnapped in Savannah by a Mexican drug lord and held for an insane ransom involving pharmaceuticals. Back in Rio, the U2 mega-concert is about to be disrupted by a commando raid, a war among slum lords, and an assault by Syrian terrorists.

Premeditated violence and mayhem are presented simultaneously in two of the world's beautiful cities. Savannah, Georgia, is the setting for a business deal, one which quickly degenerates into a below-the-radar horror show of kidnapping and murder. At the same time, Rio de Janeiro becomes the scene of high-profile terror and torture as a politician plots his way to a populist revolution and takeover. The major characters of these stories are ensnared, or ensnare themselves, in the nets of greed and deceit thrown over both cities.

I'm proud of the way Rio Savannah comes together. Three thrillers roll out simultaneously on two continents, and it's exciting to see them interact. The characters also were a hoot to work with—mostly ordinary and slightly crazy folk rising up to hammer some very bad people.

Tad Hutton