TWO YEARS DEAD by Alan Cupp-review & guest post

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date January 14, 2025

After a near-fatal assassination attempt, Jay Fields wakes from a coma with a chance to rewrite his life. Once the key witness against a crime boss, he now faces the fallout of his past as the FBI is eager to cut him loose. Burdened by guilt over the death of Agent Shawn Harper, Jay anonymously helps Harper’s widow, Megan, only for her to discover his identity and connection to her husband’s fate. As they navigate their complicated feelings and seek the truth behind that fateful night, Jay must confront his old demons while protecting Megan from the dangers lurking in the shadows. Will their unexpected bond lead to redemption or drag them both back into darkness?

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REVIEW: TWO YEARS DEAD by Alan Cupp is a contemporary, adult, slightly romantic, suspense thriller focusing on thirty year of Jay Fields, and widow/single mother Megan Harper.

Told from omniscient third person perspective TWO YEARS DEAD follows in the aftermath of a twenty-two month coma in which former gang-banger Jay Fields was left for dead while in the custody of the FBI. Now thirty years old, awake, and hoping to start a new life, Jay sets out to appease his guilt, helping out the widow of the FBI agent who died saving his life but from the outset bodies begin to amass, and our struggling hero finds himself the prime suspect for everything that went wrong.

The world building focuses on Jay Fields’ attempts to get his life under control but someone is targeting our story line couple. Megan Harper is willing to give Jay a chance but the past refuses to forgive and forget.

We are introduced to Jay’s mother Olivia Fields, cousin Tabitha; questionable FBI agents as well as an assortment of law enforcement personnel, gang members and affiliates.

TWO YEARS DEAD is a story of power and control, betrayal and vengeance, obsession and murder, friendships and forgiveness. The premise is dramatic and intriguing; the characters are determined, dynamic and compelling

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

Liking The Cover

by

Alan Cupp

I’m sure you’ve heard the saying that you never get a second chance to make a first impression. And I’m even more certain that you’ve heard repeatedly throughout your life, that you can’t just a book by its cover. While I do believe the initial statement about first impressions, I find the latter one to be a load of crap. It may be true that you can’t always “accurately” judge a book by its cover, that doesn’t prevent all of us from drawing certain conclusions, right or wrong, based solely on the collective artwork and title of any book we see. It’s a natural human response to immediately and without intentional effort, assess the value of a piece of literature by merely casting our discerning gaze upon the cover.

Just like the story inside the pages of a book, the cover is also trying to convey a message to potential readers. That cover needs to communicate in a matter of seconds that the content inside is worth the time and money that the author, publisher, and book seller are asking the customer to part with in exchange for a unique and pleasant reading experience. When an author publishes a book, they should always make sure they’re happy with the cover. The level of confidence an author has in promoting their book may be diminished. As an author, you need to be involved in the process.

I remember when I published one of my earlier novels, the publisher designed a cover and sent it to me to review. When I looked at it, my heart sank. I hated it. I understood the idea behind it, but nothing about it was an accurate reflection of me or the story. This was my first book with that particular publisher, so I was a little apprehensive to push back. But I knew if I didn’t, I would be hating myself and spending my energy trying to explain away or apologize for the cover. This is not the vibe you want to have when trying to generate interest in your work. So I communicated my objections regarding the cover and the publisher went back to the drawing board, creating a cover a liked more, but didn’t love. I settled. Maybe because I was excited about my first book with that publisher and I was growing impatient to get my story out to the public. It was an okay experience, but not great. When I signed a contract for a follow up book featuring the same main character, the publisher did another redesign of the first book and matched it up with the cover for the second book. I was much happier with the fresh new look.

Eventually, my contract with that publisher expired and I chose not to re-sign with them for the two books they had published. That’s when I decided I would self-publish both books. But since the publisher owned the cover art, I had to come up with new covers. I approached a talented friend of mine (Anne) who is quite the artists, and she designed two covers that I absolutely love. They are by far, much more intriguing and dynamic than anything my former publisher provided.

When I needed a cover for my latest novel, Two Years Dead, I went back to Anne. But even with my extremely talented friend, she initially presented me with some cover concepts, based on ideas and direction I had provided, that didn’t really stoke my enthusiasm. So we explored another idea and tweaked it along the way, until she had created the perfect cover I had envisioned. It’s good to have talented friends.

The point is that as an author, you need to be involved with all aspects of your book and like the end product. If you can’t be excited and compelled by your cover, how can you expect a reader to be?