Vendetta Is Live — The Story Behind the Book

It's out. Vendetta — the book I've been building toward — is live on Amazon. And I want to take a minute to talk about where it came from, because this one is personal.

Where the Idea Started

Every book starts with a question. For Vendetta, it was this: what happens when a man who has spent his entire life following orders decides he's done following anyone's?

Kailani Priest isn't a saint. He's not looking for redemption. He's a Hawaiian special operations veteran with a very specific set of skills and a very long memory. When someone he cares about is taken apart piece by piece, the one thing standing between him and total annihilation is the mission itself.

"There really isn't any action thriller with a protagonist like Kailani Priest. The guy seems like he has existed in real life." — Jerry Masters

Building a Character Who Feels Real

I spent a long time on Kai before I wrote a single scene. I needed to understand what he wanted, what he was afraid of, and — most importantly — what he would never do. Those limits are what make action heroes interesting. Not the things they will do. The lines they won't cross.

The Hawaiian Identity

It mattered to me that Kai wasn't just generically "military." His background — growing up in Hawaii, the relationship between Pacific Island communities and the U.S. military, the specific kind of loyalty and quiet anger that can come from that — gave the character a grounding I couldn't fake.

The Pacing

Action thrillers live and die by pacing. I wanted every chapter to earn its place. If a scene didn't move something — the plot, the character, the tension — it came out. The result is a book that doesn't give you room to breathe. Which is exactly the point.

What's Next

Vendetta is Book I and II in the series. The story continues. I'm already deep into the next one, and if you've read Vendetta you already have a sense of where things are going.

If you haven't read it yet, the best place to start is the beginning. And if you want to get notified the moment the next one drops, join the reader list below.

— Tripp