Chanticleer Book Reviews

Tag: Jake Fortina

Ralph R. “Rick” Steinke 10 Question Interview with Chanticleer – Global Thriller, Terrorism, International Mystery & Crime

CHANTICLEER 10 QUESTION AUTHOR INTERVIEW SERIES

with Award-Winning Author, Ralph R. “Rick” Steinke

Hello friends, we have another fabulous interview for you today. Rick Steinke took home the 2023 Chanticleer Grand Prize in the Global Thriller Awards for his fascinating novel Jake Fortina and the Roman Conspiracy. Here, he tells us how his Jake Fortina character came to be and the subsequent heights it is now reaching! Take a minute or two and get familiar with Rick. You won’t be sorry!

Chanti: Your books go deep into international intrigue. How did you come to write such high stakes thrillers?

Steinke: I started writing when I was passed over for a senior US government service position that I coveted and thought I’d be a good fit for. Shortly thereafter, I began to write, and it was like pushing through an open door for me. I felt spiritually led in that direction and realized that I very much enjoyed writing!

Chanti: The thriller genre seems to fit right into your professional history, but they include so much more. Tell us about your military background and how you are able craft such authentic environments in your novels.

Steinke: Political and political-military, high stakes global thrillers best describe my genre and work to date. I also love to write suspense stories in general. My almost 42 years of combined service in the US Army and US Department of Defense, as well as 28 years of overseas service, led me to write in the global thriller and suspense genres. While writing is obviously about fiction, I try to keep my work as authentic as possible. As my stories also have US-European settings to them, I also like to write about local culture. Thus far, that has meant a lot of French and Italian culture.

Chanti: How do you come up with the trouble your character, Jake Fortina, faces in your novels?

Steinke: For now, I like the “ripped from the headlines approach,” focused on real world scenarios, particularly when they involve major US national and international security issues or interests. But I’ve also written about national security issues that I’ve come across in my professional experiences. I also try to feature certain professional groups that I’ve served with or interacted with during my public service, including the military, law enforcement, diplomatic, and intelligence communities, as well as US military noncommissioned officers (sergeants) and military families.

Chanti: With your background in the military, are you able to apply the same high discipline to your writing time?

Steinke: A full “writing day” is often a luxury, but I do my best to remain consistent, given the many family and travel opportunities throughout any given year. When traveling, I try to fit my writing into “downtime” as much as possible. I tend to always travel with my laptop, so most days – but not all days – allow for at least one and some days even two hours of writing. If I’m home, I try to get an early start, often rising around 5 a.m. and sometimes as early as 4 a.m., with the goal of getting in 3-4 hours or so of focused writing or editing. If I do much more than that in a day, I feel like I’m less effective.

Chanti: What do you do to grow your author chops? Do you have any authors you turn to learn from?

Steinke: For starters, I keep learning. I believe learning should be a proactive daily and lifelong process. I still occasionally let the passive voice creep into my writing, but thankfully I have an excellent editor who is attuned to it. My best writing investments were in three Master Classes, taught by James Patterson, Dan Brown, and Ken Follett. I would say my writing style tends more to James Patterson’s style than the latter two. I strive to keep my chapters relatively short (3-5 pages, on average) and crisp.

Chanti: What craft books have helped you the most?

Steinke: Without a doubt, Stephen King’s On Writing was the most consequential and revelational “craft book” for me. As Mr. King says, “Don’t write b—s—t.” That concisely sums up his style and wisdom!

Chanti: How do you relax when you aren’t writing? Tell us a little about your hobbies.

Steinke: I love spending time with my family, traveling the world with my wife Susan, going fly fishing, and participating in other outdoor activities like hiking and increasingly, pickleball. I’m trying to get in a bit more snow skiing but I’m not sure how much longer my body will stand up to the wear and tear of the ski slopes!

Chanti: What can we look forward to seeing next from you? Will Jake Fortina be taking on more terrorist groups?

Steinke: Change of Mission, the third book in the Jake Fortina series, was released last summer. Just like the first two books, Major Jake Fortina and the Tier One Threat and Jake Fortina and The Roman Conspiracy, this story is about an ordinary US Army officer who finds himself facing extraordinary national security threats. Thus far, thankfully, Change of Mission has been well received. In it, we follow Lieutenant Colonel Jake Fortina as he decides whether to continue with his same career path or make a change in his life’s mission. Meanwhile, he and his Italian bride, a Carabinieri officer, must confront a confluence of threats from Iranian extremists, as well as the Italian and Russian mafias.

I’m currently more than halfway through writing my fourth book, Vital Mission, A Jake Fortina Series Love Story. Jake Fortina will be called upon by a dear Ukrainian friend to help with the rescue of two Ukrainian children who were abducted from their bombed-out Ukrainian city and taken to Russia. This latest book in the Jake Fortina series is projected for publication in the July-September 2025 timeframe.

Chanti: What is the most important thing a reader can do for an author?

Steinke: Leave a review—and hopefully it will be a good one — on a major book selling or endorsing platform, such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Goodreads, or Audible. In today’s social media world, authors live and die by readers’ reviews.

Chanti: What excites you most about writing?

Steinke: The conceptual challenge and the entire creative journey! It’s like putting a puzzle together, but you must first create the pieces from pretty much a blank slate… or a good outline! I also enjoy entertaining, educating, and even occasionally enlightening readers. I would like them to experience the organizations and professionals out there who keep the United States and our Allies safe, with much of their work done behind the scenes, while we sleep comfortably.

Ralph Richard “Rick” Steinke is the award-winning author of the Jake Fortina global thriller series, including Jake Fortina and the Roman Conspiracy, awarded the Grand Prize for 2023 in the Global Thriller – High Stakes category at the Chanticleer International Book Awards (the CIBAs) in April 2024. The Jake Fortina series, beginning with Major Jake Fortina and the Tier One Threat, was also selected as a Book Series Finalist at the CIBAs.

Steinke has spent a lifetime in US national security roles, including twenty-eight years in the US Army and fourteen in the Department of Defense. His official duties have taken him from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point to over thirty countries on the Eurasian landmass, including Afghanistan and Ukraine.

He holds master’s degrees in West European studies and diplomacy from Indiana and Norwich Universities, respectively, as well as post-graduation certificates in national and international security affairs from Harvard and Stanford Universities. His passions include faith, family, fly fishing, and travel.

He can be contacted at Ricksteinke@alumni.harvard.edu.

February 25, 2025
JAKE FORTINA And The ROMAN CONSPIRACY by Ralph R. “Rick” Steinke – Global Thriller, Terrorism, International Mystery & Crime,

Talk about a ripped-from-the headlines thriller in Jake Fortina and the Roman Conspiracy!

In this multinational geopolitical thriller by Ralph R. “Rick” Steinke, a power-crazed Russian oligarch wants to usurp the current Russian dictator to take his place as the head of the government. He forms his own paramilitary force to steal priceless paintings from a Vatican church with plans to resell them for billions to fund his campaign. But why stop there? He also explodes illicit small-scale atomic weapons to further destabilize the Russian leader and cast himself as the country’s new czar.

Meanwhile, a crazed U.S. right wing military adjutant buys loads of AK-47s from the Italian mafia to arm U.S. paramilitary groups intent on enforcing their own far-right views in America.

Jake Fortina, an Army foreign area officer with special training to handle international and political-military duties at embassies and in international duties, is on vacation in Italy with his new bride when he runs into an old military chum who pretends he doesn’t recognize Jake and speaks with a Russian accent. That sets off alarm bells for Jake who manages to photograph the man along with his car’s license plate. That information is turned over to his superiors which opens the door to the rogue oligarch’s nefarious plans. He overhears the right-wing U.S. officer launch a drunken tirade against the American “left wing” government while in the company of an Italian military officer with suspicious ties to the Mafia. That leads to investigations of the weapons transfers to the U.S. paramilitary movement and a reported assassination attempt on a U.S. politician.

Steinke breaks the mold by pairing a thriller with nuclear stakes to a careful and scholarly level of detail.

From the price of AK-47s on the black market, the history of a fine wine, to a detailed examination of an officer’s dedication to this country, this novel delivers a healthy dose of information, history, and the fabric of being a member of this elite corps of public servants. More of a clear cut story without the murkiness of a John LeCarre. Fortina is part of a world fashioned and lived in the military. Highly educated, loyal to country, with a military life forged in the hills of Afghanistan and at the tables of the world’s finest restaurants in his role as attaché in Rome. Steinke presents a different kind of thriller hero. There is little ambiguity regarding who the good guys are, nor of the clarity of decision-making and the chain of command to which Jake and others ascribe to.

For readers intrigued by how the real world handles existential threats, including but not limited to roiling Kremlin politics, rogue nuclear weapons in evil hands, and the U.S. paramilitary threat, Jake Fortina and the Roman Conspiracy is an important and intriguing novel.

September 4, 2024
MAJOR JAKE FORTINA And The TIER ONE THREAT by Ralph R. “Rick” Steinke – Terrorism Thriller, International Mystery & Crime, Global Thriller

Why would Iranian terrorists break into a Paris cemetery and steal the bones of an American Jewish WWI veteran? The answer lies in the deadly parallel history of WWI and the Spanish flu, but it’s a mystery that Jake Fortina will have to uncover in Ralph R. “Rick” Steinke’s thriller, Major Jake Fortina and the Tier One Threat.

During WWI, the Spanish Flu killed millions of people—some estimates as high as 100 million—but a Jewish nurse tossed off the flu like a cold and continued to serve her country. Iran’s leaders believe the DNA in her bones will let them develop a virus that could kill Americans and Israelis by the millions while simultaneously developing immunity for Iran’s own population.

This threat drives the story as it reaches deep into multiple countries and their governments, who collectively try to figure out the importance of the bones theft and, ultimately, what to do about it.

Jake Fortina is an Army foreign area officer, a special position designed to handle international and political-military duties. He’s called to work with an FBI agent in France to track down the terrorists, but must be careful so they can derail the plot and arrest the perpetrators.

The chase starts in Paris and winds its way eventually to the Italian coast. Jake’s skills are more diplomatic than James Bond as he navigates the complex relationships between multiple governments.

Even the carrying of a weapon by an American agent into some countries is forbidden unless specifically approved by a government agency. Jake and his fellow officers must swim in these political waters in order to track down the terrorists.

This novel favors patriotism, professionalism, and process over slam-bang cinematic action. Virtually every aspect of Jake’s actions, his relationships with colleagues, the cooperation of governments—from heads of states to ordinary agency and military officials— is spelled out in detail. Author Steinke paints Jake’s intricate world with undeniable authenticity.

Readers will enjoy a well-written thriller and come away with a better understanding of how the real world works (or should work) when confronted by an existential threat. It is at once a novel and an education in international diplomacy and coordination, balancing all aspects well.

August 2, 2024