Indie Reads Aloud with Jeff Boats and "Blood Game"

Indie Reads Aloud Radio

Episode # 271

Blood Game

Book One in the Thomas Vale Series

Written by Jeff Boats

LISTENER ADVISORY: STRONG LANGUAGE, VIOLENCE, MTURE SITUATIONS

Thomas Vale was a math prodigy, expert gambler, and promising CIA recruit.  And his act was nearly flawless.  But when his secret was revealed – that he’d been masking high-functioning autism – his career in clandestine operations was over before it began.

Or so he thought.

Years later, when a former mentor resurfaces with a hand-tailored mission, Thom seizes the chance to finally prove himself. He teams up with “Sondra,” a mysterious and tough-as-nails spy, to investigate a suspected terrorist financier. They uncover a broader criminal scheme than they could have imagined, and soon the walls start closing in.

Outnumbered, outgunned, and overwhelmed by his senses, Thom is pushed to his limits and beyond. And even if he survives … can he ever go home again?

This is the first book in a series of high-octane thrillers featuring an autistic protagonist. This series proudly portrays high-masking autism with authenticity, and includes co-protagonists from a number of underrepresented backgrounds including LGBTQ+, BIPOC, neurodiversity, and physical disability. There is an emphasis on realistic portrayals of science, technology, and espionage tradecraft.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Jeffery J Boats is the only son of John and Shirley, and grew up in Allegany, New York. He graduated from Allegany Central School in 1988 at the age of fifteen. His only interests back then were mathematics and physics, which were his eventual majors at Saint Bonaventure University. He was still decades away from thinking of writing as anything more than just a fun diversion.

As a graduate student at Carnegie Mellon, he wrote a linear algebra textbook with innovative (for the time) instructional technology, for which he was awarded a Doctor of Arts in Mathematics. But he also wrote screenplays, fan fiction, and a number of original works of fiction. They were mostly terrible of course, because that’s how all writers start. He's been writing ever since, mostly keeping it to himself, rarely showing anyone or even talking about it. Writing was something he did just for himself.

Writing remained just a fun hobby until about five years ago. Jeff's Mom passed away in August of 2016. Eventually, to fill the alone time, Jeff's Dad got really into reading, and he gravitated toward smart action heroes. His favorite character was Lee Child’s “Jack Reacher” — he read every page of that series. Jeff read a few on his recommendation, and then and few more.

Several years of planning, plotting, researching, and eventually writing, and now, here he is — the creator of an action/adventure/thriller series. Jeff is a professor of mathematics during the day, and a sculptor of universes at night. Jeff's always been more of an artist than a scientist, and he's truly enjoying showing it to the world for the first time.

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Find Jeff Boats at his website:

https://jeffe.boats/

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