"Is it Possible To Write a Good Novel in Four Days?"

First time novelist Jacqueline G. Randolph, author of Deception's Guard, certainly has a surprise for skeptical readers who cannot fathom that a novel can be written in four days.

When you have completed reading the first chapter, any skepticism you may have entertained has completely disappeared. You are emotionally drawn in and seduced to read this gripping tale of intrigue, espionage, deception and romance.

Randolph's plot focuses on two principal characters, Rhys Wielde and Skye Matthews.

Rhys is the youngest senior information systems staff member of a company he built and nurtured, Genoreach Technology Inc.

One of the principal objectives of the company is to mate biology with computers in order to enhance the human condition.

Rhys work involves the categorizing and isolating of active brain neurons in coma, cataleptic, and autistic patients. Unfortunately, Rhys learns that someone on his research team has betrayed him and has sold the company's trade secrets to unsavory characters associated with the Latin American drug lords and the U.S underworld.

Upon learning about this betrayal, Rhys volunteers his services to the DEA in a "sting" operation, whose objective is to catch the culprits.

Unbeknown to Rhys, the DEA assigns as his bodyguard a 10- year veteran agent, Skye Matthews, who is a biracial woman (African-American and Spanish). She is also a pilot and consummate actress, both of which come in very handy in protecting her client. Skye, however, commits the unpardonable "no no," she falls in love with Rhys.

The plot swiftly moves along from Westcliffe, Colorado, to Peru and finally to Ecuador. Along the way, the author cleverly interweaves the unfortunate misconceptions the two principal characters have of each other that lead to disastrous consequences.

When I posed the question to the author if she believed that a good book generally focuses on the struggles of vividly drawn individuals, not issues, part of her reply was; "I wholeheartedly agree and my main characters, Skye and Rhys are on opposite ends of the spectrum in their understanding of the novel's conflicts. Hopefully, the reader (as the objective observer) will find themselves understanding several perspectives of the situation and thereby gaining a broader/in depth understanding of underlying issues. In life we should do the same thing...I never believe one media source of a story."

Herein lies the fun in reading this novel. When you finally put it down, you are asking yourself- what if Skye and Rhys were on the same wave- lengths, would the author have succeeded in keeping the pages turning?

Randolph is a promising novelist and I am sure we will be hearing from her sometime in the near future. Stay tuned.

Reviewed by Norman Goldman
Courtesy Bookpleasures
Posted May 13, 2003