Long ago, while working as a journalist at the famed Los Angeles Union Rescue Mission, I interviewed several young women who were victims of human trafficking. I barely knew such a horrific practice existed, but their stories opened my eyes to the reality of this monstrous crime. Having grown up in a family of strong, capable women, my books typically feature kick-ass females who pack as much punch as most men. With Larisa in Greco’s Game, I did something different. I created a strong, capable female lead who was understated and shy. Why? Because I witnessed that same kind of quiet, triumphant spirit in many of the women I met at the mission’s women’s shelter, Bethel Haven, as well as during my dozens of trips behind the old Iron Curtain as a smuggler. Greco’s Game is therefore a tribute to those quiet, heroic women. Nevertheless, Greco’s Game is unashamedly an action thriller. It is not a documentary about human trafficking. However, I believe action thrillers need more than nonstop action. It’s the characters and their personal odysseys in the midst of the action that make us stand up and cheer, and that means some kind of love story, be it romantic or the bond between friends and family, and how those relationships are put at risk. That is what gives a book – or a film – the emotional ‘grip’ it needs. In Greco’s Game, we see Talanov’s wife murdered. We experience his agony and witness his downward spiral. We then see him get drugged and robbed by Larisa, a victim of human trafficking forced into prostitution. We then see Talanov and Larisa join forces to try and stop an assassination plot by the very people who forced Larisa to drug and rob him. But a plot against whom? That is the mystery as we journey into the seedy world of human trafficking run by some of Talanov’s former KGB colleagues. The question is: who is the target?