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This is a work of fiction. All characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental.
I was born on the Great Lakes Navel Base in Illinois, and raised in the suburbs of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. While attending Whitnall High School in Hales Corners, Wisconsin, I was bitten by the Writing Bug, and have been inflicted ever since.
Soon after marrying, my husband and I moved to Texas. We've been here since '74. During the last 25 years, I've made homemaking my career. We've raised 4 children, whose ages now range from 24 to 14. I've home schooled for the past 13 years.
Now that they are self-sufficient, I have more time to devote to my writing. To that end, I've incorporated Writing in the curriculum of my 2 youngest children. They, too, are now inflicted with the Bug. So much so, they publish their own kids' literary magazine 5 times a year.
CAT FARR is a policeman with the K-9 unit of New York; her partner is CORPORAL WRANGLER, canine cop. ROBERT MANGO, Cat's friend and superior, puts her on suspension for killing a man, and sends her to protect a former FBI agent, HUNT McIAN.
Hunt McIan went undercover 6 years ago, and brought indictments against many crime bosses. Therefore, he has to live under the Witness Protection Program. The place of residence assigned to him is the small town of Huxley, Montana. Here he manages the Innisfree Inn, which caters to tourists in the summer and winter.
When Cat and Wrangler arrive in Huxley, they do find that Hunt is in danger. A crooked sheriff, JASON CROMWELL, has discovered his true identity, and plans to collect the $750,000 the crime syndicate has put on the man's head.
McIan's identity is also compromised by SONIA JONES, a sweetheart from high school who shows up on his doorstep. Sonia has followed her ex-husband, Jason Cromwell into town, because he has stolen her baby. She has arrived in Huxley to get the boy back before the ravages of her terminal illness kicks in.
The situation for McIan becomes harrowing when Cromwell finds he's running out of time. He tries using McIan's own family against him by inducing a Secret Society to beat up CHIP, and kidnap NOLA, the 16-year-old McIan twins. To complicate Cat's job even further, a British visitor, RAYMOND FITZGERALD CASTLEDORF, ESQUIRE checks in at the Inn, and his mysterious actions may pose a threat.
For Cat, it gets personal, when she begins to care for this family. She decides to take on the sheriff of Huxley to bring him down, making sure that he never threatens the McIans or Sonia again. She comes up with a plan to get Sonia's baby back, and to make it appear that McIan is dead.
To accomplish this, she brings everyone together, the family, Sonia, the British visitor, who happens to be a U.S. Marshal in disguise, and the TOWN CORONER. By calling in a marker, Cat has the coroner sign a fake death certificate. She hands it to Sonia, who disguises herself to collect the reward. With the money she can take her baby and go far away from Jason Cromwell, and seek treatment for her illness.
At great price her mission against Cromwell is completed. Cat eventually feels that McIan loves her only out of gratitude and because of what they've been through together. So, she leaves Montana and heads for home.
During a confrontation with Mango, she learns why he had to force her to go to Huxley. He urges her to go back. She refuses until she reads a most descriptive letter from Nola McIan. It makes Cat realize that her place is with the man who has the strength to cry, Hunt McIan.
WITH THE STRENGTH TO CRY is an intriguing blend of suspense, action, and romance that grabs a reader with its first paragraph and never lets go. Big city K-9 cop Catlene "Cat" Farr will capture your heart, and her amazing dog, Wrangler, proves a brave and faithful companion.
Cat is a marvelous heroine for the 21st century, strong, intelligent, and self-sufficient, but there's something missing from her life. When she arrives in tiny Huxley, Montana and meets Hunt McIan, the man she's been sent to protect, she finds that missing piece, though it takes her awhile to realize it, because she's immediately caught up in a wild ride through a maze of lies, conspiracies, secrets, and puzzles.
Ms. Garza captures the "law enforcement mind set" very, very well. She has a talent for creating characters so real that they walk off the pages, and action scenes of such intensity that they leave a reader gasping for breath.
Excellent!
Elizabeth Dearl - Ms. Dearl is the winner of the 2000 Derringer Award for best short story and a former Texas Police Officer. She is currently promoting her first book DIAMONDBACK.
Catlene Farr is a canine cop hardened by the streets of New York. Her friend and superior, Bob Mango, doesn't like it. Risking their friendship, he sends her and her K-9 partner, Wrangler, to Montana to protect an ex-FBI agent.
Upon arriving in Huxley, Montana, not only does Cat have to deal with cultural shock, but also with the conflicts of an obnoxious sheriff, who is threatened by her prowess, a woman who knows McIan's true idenity, a bombing, and a mysterious stranger on the premises of Innisfree Inn.
Hunt McIan has a $750,000 price on his head, put there by the mob for sending 100 of their leaders to prison. The justice system has put him and his family in the Witness Protection Program. But someone has found out who he really is.
The tension mounts as the mob closes in, without feeling or regard for human life. Cat must come up with a plan to insure the safety of McIan's family, not only now, but in the future as well.
Ms. Garza has tweaked atmosphere, action, and emotion to just the right caliber. She's created consistant characters, from the ex-FBI agent, who won't run from a fight, to a canine cop, who is always watching his partner's back.
Mystery, suspense, conflict! This book has enough to guarantee that you will not be bored or inclined to set this book aside. Entertainment from the word 'go!'.
Em Jay
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