When Fate Smiles

About the Book

Romance, espionage and bloodshed work double time to weave the tale of a secret agent’s sordid and exciting past.

Set in the 1970s, the Q.T.s (or Quality Technicians) are a group of agents working as covert operatives with no traces to any government. Their job is to infiltrate the Cuban military to determine the threat of chemical warfare. After a somewhat slow start to the novel, in which Doss introduces character after character, the reader meets Lafayette, who’s known to his friends as Fate. After sustaining a life-threatening injury on a mission, Fate’s life is played out in front of his dying eyes—his loves, his missions and his regrets. Might it be considered clichéd? Perhaps. But Doss engages readers with romance, and it works well. Fate’s history with his women— Ophelia, Cassandra, Raquel—can be rocky, but is more often than not portrayed as a romantic dance flawed by a fear of commitment and emotional intimacy. At times, the author grabs the reader and draws him into something substantial, but at other times he falls short. What connection does Fate have with fate? Will fate intervene and smile upon him as his name would suggest? This spy romance is complete with danger, espionage and sex—characters play hard, fight smooth and are experts in the bedroom. Fate is a complex character, with an interesting and sexy past, and to Doss’ credit, the protagonist’s antihero role will impel readers to stick around and find out his destiny. Does he survive? Will he change his ways after his brush with death? The author rightly assumes readers will be interested. The conclusion finds the story wrapped up neatly, but not too tidily; it’s a satisfying conclusion to a sexy page-turner.

Compelling, romantic and hotter than the chemical warfare.

--Kirkus Discoveries

About the Author

After the author graduated from the Los Angeles Jr. College of Business he found immediate success working in an office. He moved on from there to own and operate his own small business and, even though he suffered through two divorces as well as the eventual demise of his company, he continued to revel in the development of the four children that were products of his marital unions. Still his most precious gift, the expression of his fertile imagination through the written word, was not only being neglected; it was being totally ignored. Eventually he was inspired to fulfill the pact he made with his Maker—vowing that if he would be blessed with recovery from a life-threatening illness—he would no longer waste time doing over again what he’d already shown he could do well. He still has a “day job” but acknowledges that the ecstasy that now fills his life comes from knowing he is honoring his true essence. He has been writing seriously since the mid nineties and has had two of his short stories published, but is this novel—When Fate Smiles—that is most in keeping with the solemn promise he made to God.