Adrienne Giordano | Building a Man ~ Comment To WIN
March 4, 2014
Call me crazy, but I love to write alpha males. There's something a whole lot of
fun about a guy who can walk into a room, not speak a word and still let
everyone know he's the big dog. As much as I love alphas, they are challenging.
They can be stubborn and arrogant and bossy. Most of the time, the good ones
listen to reason. The good ones also march into battle with no idea if they'll
come out and they don't care. All they want is to fix whatever problem lies in
front of them. For me, that strength is the lure of the alpha male.
When I began plotting my new Harlequin Intrigue, THE PROSECUTOR, I knew I
wanted an alpha as the hero, but I wanted someone...well...different. This hero
would be a prosecutor in his early thirties and wouldn't have a military
background. He wouldn't know how to clean a gun or survive in a jungle for
extended periods.
But he had to be strong.
Strong, but not overly-aggressive. He had to be ambitious, but not to the point
where that ambition became a negative. In short, I wanted a guy who craved a
courtroom battle and would find justice for victims, no matter what.
I set out to build an alpha male who wasn't "chest-bumpy" and came up with Zac
Hennings, a Cook County prosecutor who deals with some of the most violent
crimes the city of Chicago has ever seen. Zac isn't afraid to face a fight. For
him, his brain is his not-so-secret weapon.
After brainstorming ideas for Zac, I started writing and enjoyed creating a
tough character who had no problem using his intellect to conquer his opponent.
Even if his opponent was his sister.
Want to see a little of Zac in action? Here's a scene from THE PROSECUTOR:
Detective John Cutler marched into Zac's office wearing a wrinkled blue sport
coat and a scowl. The man didn't like being summoned to an ASA's office in the
middle of the day. Zac didn't care.
Not when one of Cutler's investigations was about to be sliced and diced in
court and Zac would be the one taking the hit.
He tossed a pen on his stacked desk and leaned back in his chair. "Have a seat,
detective."
Cutler stared down at the two chairs, curled his lip at the one with the stack
of file folders and dropped his bloated body into the vacant one. He spent a few
seconds shifting into what would have to pass as a comfortable position, then
stretched his neck where loose skin spilled over his collar.
Zac waited. Why not? No sense giving the detective the ever-important mental
edge. Nope. Zac would control the festivities.
Finally, Cutler held up his hands. "What do you need?"
Zac leaned over, scooped a box off the floor and set it on the desk. "The
Sinclair case. These are the files. On a six-month investigation. Am I missing
something?"
Cutler's gaze tracked left then came back to Zac. "How do I know what your
office did with the files?"
Not an answer. "Is this box everything? If you tell me yes, then I work
with what I have. If you tell me no, we have missing evidence."
Cutler folded his hands across his belly and tapped his index fingers. "I'd have
to look through the box. See what's there."
"Sure." Cutler got up to leave. "I'm not finished, detective."
The man made a show of checking his watch, and Zac nearly laughed. He'd grown up
in a household that produced three lawyers. He thrived on conflict.
Cutler reclaimed his seat.
"Couple of things," Zac said. "What do you remember about a parking garage
receipt given to you by Melody," he checked his legal pad, "Clayton. She's a
friend of Brian Sinclair who claims he was with her around the time of the murder."
Slowly, Cutler shook his head.
Patience, Zac. Patience. "You don't remember a receipt?"
"No. She could have given it to Steve and I wasn't aware."
"Steve Bennett? The other detective?"
"Yes."
Sure, another dead guy to blame. This case was rife with dead guys. "I'll look
into that. I'm assuming you viewed the video I sent over. What do you remember
about the witness?"
Cutler shrugged. "It's not like we coerced him. We showed him a six-pack, helped
him narrow it down."
Helped him narrow it down... "And what about the white shirt? Who told him Brian
Sinclair was wearing a white shirt?"
"I don't know anything about that. That must have been Steve."
Of course.
Zac jotted more notes and the detective tugged on his too-tight collar again.
Yes, detective, you should be nervous. The truth was, Zac scribbled gibberish.
The Area 2 detectives weren't the only ones who knew how to play mind games.
"The victim's friend told Emma Sinclair that Ben Leeks—I'm sure you're
aware he's the son of a Chicago PD detective—was abusive."
Cutler shot Zac a hard look. Well, maybe Cutler thought it was a hard look. Zac
thought it was more of a desperate, defensive man's way of trying to intimidate
an opponent. "The kid was cleared early on."
"Cleared how?"
"He was inside the club. We had witnesses who saw him getting busy with some
brunette. He didn't leave the club until closing. When he did leave, he left
with a group and they all went to the diner down the street."
Zac nodded. "I need names. They're not in the case file."
Cutler grabbed one of the armrests and shifted his big body. "I told you I don't
have anything. I turned over all the reports."
"Even the GPRs?" Zac smacked his knuckle against the box. "I didn't see any GPRs."
"I turned over everything."
"Did you write up any GPRs?"
Again the detective tried a hard look and Zac angled forward. "I'm aware that
you're not happy being questioned. I don't care. I'm about to get hauled into
court to defend your work. My guess is you want me to feel confident about that
work. I'm far from confident. Cut the nonsense and answer my questions."
Cutler sighed. "I wrote up GPRs. I don't know what happened to them."
"Did you make copies?"
"No."
"Of course you didn't. Does it shock you that reports pertaining to the
allegedly abusive son of a detective were not submitted into evidence for a
murder trial?"
Cutler stayed silent. The blue wall.
Zac eased his chair up to the desk and put the box back on the floor. "I think
we're done. For now."
The detective sat across from him, his breaths coming in short, heavy bursts and
his cheeks flamed. He was obviously steaming mad.
Good.
Zac was about to get his butt handed to him—by his baby sister, no
less—and he wasn't going down alone. Ignoring the about-to-be-raging bull
across from him, he flipped open one of the many file folders on his desk and
began reading. Cutler finally pushed himself out of his chair.
"That Sinclair kid is guilty," he said. "No two ways about it."
Zac didn't bother to look up. "A video of him leaving the parking garage at
12:37 might say otherwise. Buckle up, detective. We're about to go for a rough
ride."
Readers, who are some of your favorite male heroes in books?
USA Today bestselling author Adrienne
Giordano writes romantic suspense and mystery. She is a Jersey
girl at heart, but now lives in the Midwest with her workaholic husband, sports
obsessed son and Buddy the Wheaten Terrorist (Terrier). She is a co-founder of
Romance University blog and Lady Jane's Salon-Naperville, a reading series
dedicated to romantic fiction. For more information on Adrienne's books, please
visit www.AdrienneGiordano.com. Adrienne
can also be found on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/AdrienneGiordanoAuthor
and Twitter at http://twitter.com/AdriennGiordano. For
information on Adrienne's street team, Dangerous Darlings, go to http://www.facebook.com/groups/dangerousdarlings.
I loved Zac in The Prosecutor, his being strong but not the usual Alpha Guy was attractive to me! Loved the Book and can't wait to see his sister Penny in action! Great Interview Adrienne! (Delene Yochum 8:58am March 4, 2014)
Thank you, Delene! Penny is on the way. The Defender will be out in June.
Thanks for hanging out with me on my blog stops! You are awesome! (Adrienne Giordano 9:08am March 4, 2014)
The only 2 that come to mind are Jack Reacher and Mike Bennett. I loved the excerpt from your book, and I'm looking forward to reading it!! (Peggy Roberson 10:51am March 4, 2014)
Hi, Peggy. I am a HUGE Reacher fan! Love him. My favorite scene is when he gets mad because he told the two guys he'd fight them if they brought 12 guys back with them and he got insulted when they only brought half that. Loved it!
I hope you enjoy The Prosecutor! Thanks so much. (Adrienne Giordano 12:09pm March 4, 2014)
This is going to be a great story...really looking forward to reading it and getting to know Zac! (Brooke Showalter 2:47pm March 4, 2014)
Thanks for coming by Brooke and for all the support this week! I hope you like the book.:) (Adrienne Giordano 3:21pm March 4, 2014)
I loved Zac! Can't wait to read Penny's book! (Rhonda Brittingham 7:33pm March 4, 2014)
I haven't had the opportunity to read your books yet, but this one sounds like a very good one to start with. I love that you make the characters strong, interesting and one's you want to know. Thank you for the contest. (C Culp 6:24am March 5, 2014)
I like Derek Storm & Jameson Rook,... those are some of my favorite guys! ;)
Thanks for sharing about your book, & showing Zac in action!! I wanted to read more!! lol. I'm definitely adding this to my TBR list, cuz I have to read this book. =) (Brandi Dagwan 6:26am March 5, 2014)
Recently I loved Gabe, a paranormal PI in Lisa Kessler's Beg Me To Slay... Thanks for the giveaway! (Linda Townsend 8:10am March 5, 2014)
Thank you, Rhonda!
Hi, Carletta. I do try to make each character (whether male or female)strong. I tend to like damaged people :) so I give them a lot to deal with and then they have to fight their way through it.
Thank you, Brandi! I hope you enjoy it. I had a ton of fun writing it. :)
Hi, Linda. I love the name Gabe! The hero in my Justifiable Cause series is also a Gabe. There's something really masculine about it.
Thanks for stopping by, ladies! (Adrienne Giordano 8:38am March 5, 2014)
Zack is my hero! Looking forward to reading your book Penny and thanks for the great giveaway!!! (Bonnie Capuano 9:18am March 5, 2014)
I really don't have a favorite hero. (Pam Howell 10:09am March 5, 2014)
Have not read this series or author before but I am going to now. Sounds fantastic! (Denise Austin 3:58pm March 5, 2014)
One of my favorites is Jamie Fraser, from the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. (Rachel Kerrinski 9:27pm March 5, 2014)
I like J. D. Robb's Rourke. The Prosecutor summery makes the book sound great! (Laura Gullickson 9:37pm March 5, 2014)
He really is something :) thank you for making a characters different from the ordinary and thank you for posting this giveaway (Sarah Hansrote 4:57am March 6, 2014)
I have never read one of your books, would sure like to win one. Thanks for the chance (Judy Ferguson 10:29am March 9, 2014)
Beam me up. Your prosecutor has the gift of a good tongue and a body to match. Thanks for creating a smart guy who uses his brain for good. (Alyson Widen 4:51pm March 14, 2014)
I can't say just 1 hero I feel when your not looking there are a few, I can't wait until the next book to come out (Niki Edwards 3:36am March 17, 2014)