Interview with Matthew Richter, star of An Eye For An Eye by L.D. Beyer

Inside the Book:

Title: An Eye for an Eye 

Author: L.D. Beyer 

Release Date: January 15, 2016 

Publisher: Old Stone Mill Publishing 

Genre: Military 

Format: Ebook/Paperback

   

A powerful drug lord threatens to bring America to its knees. Only one man can stop him.

Two years ago, Secret Service Agent Matthew Richter faced the most difficult decision of his life, knowing that by saving the former, the latter would die. In the aftermath, he fled Washington and the agency that failed him. With wounds he’s certain will never heal, he seeks refuge behind a gun as the commander of an FBI SWAT team in New York. After a raid turns sour and Richter is sidelined, possibly for good, he is reluctantly drawn back to Washington by the man he once saved.

When drug cartels threaten to topple the Mexican government and the violence begins to spill across the border, Richter tells President David Kendall it’s time to take off the gloves. One by one, cartel warehouses and tunnels are raided and their drug caches destroyed. One by one, their sprawling compounds and bank accounts are seized. One by one, drug lords are targeted and killed. One by one—all except, that is, for Pablo Guerrero, the ruthless head of the Sangre Negras cartel, who has only grown stronger as others have fallen.

When the hunt for Guerrero finally draws first blood, he unleashes a war no one is prepared for. Now Richter must stop him before it’s too late.

An Eye For An Eye is the action-packed sequel to In Sheep’s Clothing, L.D. Beyer’s gripping debut novel.

 

THE INTERVIEW

Thank you so for this interview, Matthew Richter. Now that the book has been written, do you feel you were fairly portrayed or would you like to set anything straight with your readers?

I think the Matthew Richter that you see in An Eye For An Eye, especially after I meet Patty, is a more complete picture of who I am. In In Sheep’s Clothing, readers only saw one side of me—a man reeling from failure yet still focused on doing his job and protecting the president at all costs, even when those costs are personally devastating. That was a difficult period in my life and I felt like a ship with neither a captain nor a rudder, unsure where I was going or how to get there. The only thing I knew is that nothing would ever be the same again. But Patty helped me see past that. She helped me see that there was more to life than the next mission, that there was little happiness to be found hiding behind a gun.

What do you believe is your strongest trait?

L.D. Beyer will tell you that I have a dogged determination to do the right thing, that I’m focused on the mission at hand, that I’m dedicated and will do what I have to do so that events that befell President Kendall in In Sheep’s Clothing are never permitted to happen again. To a large extent, I think he is right. But there’s a side to me that Mr. Beyer hasn’t yet discovered. I’ll leave that to him and then you to uncover in due time.

Worst trait?

Mr. Beyer will also tell you that my worst trait is that I don’t know how to forgive myself. Unfortunately, I think he is right.

Do you have a love interest in the book?

I do. Patty Curtis is great! A chance encounter in the parking lot led to a shared bike ride and then lunch after. And from that day, I had a glimpse of what life could be like again. Patty has a sparkle in her eye when she’s excited, when she’s happy, and it’s hard not to be happy myself when I see that. You wouldn’t believe it, but she’s a professor at Princeton, of all places. And I’m a gun-toting FBI Agent. What could we possibly have in common?

At what point of the book did you start getting nervous about the way it was going to turn out?

When I arrived in Mexico—President Kendall asked me to meet with his counterpart on a sensitive issue that the State Department had been unable to resolve—I knew I faced a challenge.  Little did I know then that finding common ground with President Magaña would be the least of my worries. Life can change in a heartbeat and it did that day.

If you could trade places with one of the other characters in the book, which character would you really not want to be and why?

President Kendall. I need to be in control and, for much of his time in office, the president is anything but. In a country that calls itself the home of the free, the President, of all people, is the one man who isn’t. Hidden behind the bullet-resistant glass of the Oval Office, he can’t leave without a phalanx of Secret Service agents and a heavily armored motorcade escorting him. Perpetually nervous, they’re ready to whisk him away at the first sign of any threat. Yet as much as we keep him locked away—before I became an FBI Agent, I was on the President’s Secret Service Detail, so I saw this first hand—he lives his life under a microscope, the press documenting what he ate last night and what the First Lady was wearing. That’s the price of power, I guess, but it’s not something I want.

What words of wisdom would you give your author if she decided to write another book with you in it?

Mr. Beyer is already writing a third book. He tells me that he might call it The Deadliest of Sins. Selfishly, I would say that I’m happy now. I have Patty and I can see a life beyond being a federal agent. I don’t want to lose that. But as determined as I am, I know Mr. Beyer has a mind of his own. I just might have to have a private word with him.

Thank you for this interview.  Will we be seeing more of you in the future?

Yes, you most definitely will.

Meet the Author:

L.D. Beyer spent over twenty-five years in the corporate world, climbing the proverbial corporate ladder. This meant a lot of time away from his family, extensive travel, a half dozen relocations, and the opportunity to live and work in Mexico for several years. In 2011 he decided it was time for a change—he was tired of moving every few years, he wanted to spend more time with his family and he wanted to chase his dream of being a writer. LD Beyer is an avid reader and although he primarily reads Thrillers, his reading list is somewhat eclectic. He believes a few hours with a good book beats a few hours in front of the TV any day. LD Beyer lives in Michigan with his wife, three children and a dog named Tope (pronounced Toe-Pay), which he adopted in Mexico. He enjoys cooking, hiking, biking, working out and fixing just about anything that breaks in the house. With 3 kids, a dog and an aging house, he always seems to be fixing something!

For More Information

Visit L.D.s website.
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