A Scarcity of Condors
Book 3 of the Venery Series
Release Date: December 16, 2019
SYNOPSIS
Jule贸n "Jude" Tholet has survival in his DNA. His father, Cle贸n, lived through imprisonment and torture during Pinochet's military coup in Chile. His mother, Penny, risked everything to gain her husband's freedom and flee the country with their newborn son. But as a closeted gay teenager growing up in Vancouver, Jude is targeted by a neighborhood bully called El C贸ndor, culminating in a vicious hate crime that forces the Tholets to flee their country again.
Jude cautiously rebuilds his life in Seattle, becoming an accomplished pianist, but his his wings have been clipped and he cannot seem to soar in his relationships. Only family remains a constant source of strength and joy, until a DNA test reveals something that shocks all the Tholets: Jude is not their child.
Stunned by the test results, the Tholets must dig into their painful past, re-examine their lives in 1973 Santiago and the events surrounding Jude's birth story. It’s a tale rooted in South America’s Operation Condor. It spreads through Pinochet’s terrifying regime of detention camps, torture, disappeared civilians and stolen children. The journey forces Penny Tholet to confront the gaps in her memory while Cle贸n must re-live an ordeal he’s long kept hidden away in a secret world. The tale ends with Jude digging through his genetic code in a quest to find his biological parents. Are they alive? Or are they among Los Desaparecidos—the Disappeared Ones?
Suanne Laqueur’s third book in the Venery series explores the desperate acts of love made in times of war, and the many ways family can be defined.
GIVEAWAY
GOODREADS
PRE-ORDER LINKS
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SIGNED COPIES AVAILABLE
To be shipped after the December 16th release date
AUTHOR BIO
A former professional dancer and teacher, Suanne Laqueur went from choreographing music to choreographing words. Her work has been described as Therapy Fiction, Emotionally Intelligent Romance and Contemporary Train Wreck. Whatever you want to call it, her goal is to write stories that appeal to the passions of all readers, crossing gender, age and genre.
Suanne Laqueur'sAn Exaltation of Larks won the Grand Prize in the 2017 Writer’s Digest Book Awards. Her debut novel The Man I Love and its follow-up, Give Me Your Answer True, won gold medals in the 2015 and 2016 Readers' Favorite Book Awards. Both were finalists in the 2015 and 2016 Kindle Book Awards, and Laqueur was named a gold medal Debut Author with Feathered Quill Book Reviews.
Laqueur graduated from Alfred University with a double major in dance and theater, and taught at the Carol Bierman School of Ballet Arts in Croton-on-Hudson for ten years. An avid reader, cook and gardener, she started her blog EatsReadsThinks in 2010. She lives in Westchester County, New York with her husband and two children. Visit her at http://suannelaqueurwrites.com. All feels welcome. And she always has coffee.
AUTHOR LINKS
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NEWSLETTER
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Here's my dilemma, am I ecstatic that I have found an emotionally intelligent writer or should i mourn the fact that she's ruined me for all else. I will crave for her words and curse after I'm done cause everything else in comparison seems insipid & bland. It's rare to see a poignant love story with heart ripping honesty and page turning quality penned so skillfully it keeps you employed from first word till the last. I've walked in blind in the palace of words by suanne, I'm completely subsumed in the depths of its emotions, stunned by the cruelty of power hungry dictators she starkly unearths and enthralled by the redeeming power of love she pens. To say I'm enamored, would be an understatement. Suanne has written about a rich heritage stripped and looted by its totalitarian power grabbers. An extremely painful account of an attempt to obliterate and disappear and entire generation of people of this earth and the smugness with which it was carried out in plain sight. A journey of a boy through this forrest of pain, he sees paths meandering but he is lost! A chronicled saga of Jude, from Obscurity to Plentitude  Music players the doctor and therapist in this story and this verse just fits so well here : 馃幖Amazing Grace, How sweet the sound That saved a wretch like me I once was lost, but now am found T'was blind but now I see馃幖  "True. And. Dot-dot-dot. Who are you going to be now?" Having endured mind altering bias and prejudices for his sexual orientation, this boy who is surrounded by unconditional love and acceptance, still carries deep emotional scars delivered ruthlessly by bigoted and dogmatic pseudo kings The protagonist is a man of multiple identities and yet he's just an outline, a silhouette. Wandering aimlessly trying to find substance that will fill his heart & soul. he could be anyone or everyone from Croatia to Bosnia to Syria to Rohingya to Argentina or in this case, Chile  "I’m a Canadian citizen, a Chilean nationalist and a permanent resident of the United States. I am me. Jule贸n Tholet, son of Cleon Tholet and Penelope Cambie." He has been robbed. Broken Stripped Beaten Abandoned.. And then walks in Tej -rhymes with page. He gatecrashes like an unexpected squatter and comes camps in Jude's life. He's a compatriot and a companion both. He understands and holds hands, he offers support and takes refuge in Jude's heart. They say strength lies in numbers and two hearts are better than one, especially when they both become therapy and medication for each other. "That door stays open, you say whatever the hell you want, whenever you want."  The story turns around when Tej is introduced and suddenly the narrative becomes rosy, hopeful and the plot smiles. A chance test that they all take as a joke, topples over their family jenga tower. The ruins unearth secrets, skeletons and identities tumble out, unleashing anger and frustration all around The entire story is a reprimand, a lesson in history. It moved me deeply and unexpectedly. I've shed tears, I've had pain in my heart, I've wanted to pick up the baseball bats against the bullies and tortures. As a citizen of this planet we are all responsible if we let atrocities be committed and bury our heads in sand. We all should be ashamed of ourselves if we teach our kids intolerance & racist superiority. We are all accountable if we let bigotry and homophobia run around unchecked. I'm struggling to find a box to put this novel in. Is it a contemporary thriller, a dark historical account or a philosophical love story....or is it ALL INCLUSIVE Whichever it is, it's profound, intelligent, essential, important and necessary story which should be on the top of your tbr!! Of the characterization, it's weird that this book has many heroes. Nobody wears a cape but they are all saviors, Guardians and protectors. Tej is smooth talking charmer who turns jude inside out and heals from within. “I don’t just want to be your lover. I want to be your home. Your nine-one-one. I’m your call now. You make it and I will answer.” Mirielle with Samson is all-encompassing and accepting, lending support & Laughter Cleon is unchallenged as the head of the family, authoritative, dignified and protective. “Everything happened so you could be my boy.” He ran his cheek along Jude’s hair. “¿Somos compa帽eros?” “Compa帽eros,” Jude whispered. “Por siempre.” Penny is uber courageous, soft hearted matriarch and her family's travails bleed her heart, their injuries- injurious to her. "Her maternal instincts picked up a sword and tested its weight and edge. The She-Wolf’s eyes narrowed at an enemy not yet revealed, seeking justice for a wrong not done. Not yet." This masterpiece has me babbling & rambling and I threaten to do so, till you pick up this book to read. While I go back to the start - The Exaltation of the Larks 10 stars for Lucy in the sky with Diamond |
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