Here on Linda’s Book Bag I love a wide variety of blog posts but I don’t very often have protagonists introducing themselves so it’s a real treat to meet Zenka today. Zenka features in lovely Alison Brodie’s latest novel, entitled Zenka funnily enough.

I have previously reviewed another of Alison’s books Brake Failure here and Alison herself featured on the blog with a fabulous guest post all about second book syndrome that you might like to read here.

Published on 6th November 2017, Zenka is available for pre-order from your local Amazon site.

Zenka

Devious, ruthless, and loyal.

Zenka is a capricious Hungarian with a dark past.

When cranky London mob boss, Jack Murray, saves her life she vows to become his guardian angel – whether he likes it or not. Happily, she now has easy access to pistols, knives and shotguns.

Jack discovers he has a son, Nicholas, a male nurse with a heart of gold. Problem is, Nicholas is a wimp.

Zenka takes charges. Using her feminine wiles and gangland contacts, she will make Nicholas into the sort of son any self-respecting crime boss would be proud of. And she succeeds!

Nicholas transforms from pussycat to mad dog, falls in love with Zenka, and finds out where the bodies are buried – because he buries them. He’s learning fast that sometimes you have to kill, or be killed.

As his life becomes more terrifying, questions have to be asked:

How do you tell a mob boss you don’t want to be his son?

And is Zenka really who she says?

Introducing Zenka

A Guest Post by Er, Zenka!

Hello darlinks,

I am Zenka, the fabulous star of Alison Brodie’s book, ZENKA!!!

Linda Book Blagger told Alison to write about me. Vy? Vy should Alison do this? It is ME who must write about ME.

I tell you. From beginning, Alison make big mistakes. She has me as tiny voman in background, but I don’t like that, and I tell her.

She make me a little bigger. But still it is not enough. How can she be so stupid? I am first class character with vit and culture and sexy body. I drill and drill and drill into her head until she sits heavily on chair in front of computer, opens up Flesh and Blood (that vas the title then) and re-writes book. I give her idea that I send letter to my friend in Hungary at the start of each chapter. Clever, huh?

I tell her Flesh and Blood is not good title.  She must call it ZENKA!!!   She doesn’t do exclamation marks but she puts my name on cover. That is good.

Then she must design cover for designer. She vants me walking down London street with my BACK to camera. And the colour is sepia (that means colour of old tea-bag). I am not sepia person. I vant black! I vant orange! I vant a gun in my hand. And I vant the vorld to see Zenka Valentina Varga’s beautiful face!

(Before, the cover had Jack vith his crumpled MacDonald bag face. Who vants to see his ugly mug? (That is my joke, Jack. And hear me talk Cockney?)

Alison thought that vas the end of me. Ha!

She goes on holiday to Barcelona. She is lying on beach bed, vanting to empty brain, thankful to have finished book. Then POW I pop into her head. I tell her to change the end of the story.  She is shocked. But then she sits up and starts thinking about it, and not finding pen in bag, grabs the vaiter by his ankle as he hurries by vith tray of mojitos, and takes his pen. Her husband, Barry, says to forget that bloody book.

Forget that bloody book! He is imbecile. And he vers yellow socks. What sort of REAL man vers yellow socks, huh?

So, Alison gets home and changes the ending. Now I am happy. Alison is not happy. She has to write to 40 blaggers to tell them to delete last book she sent and replace with the new one.

I go now. Alison, I leave you in peace forever. But remember, you think you know me, but you will never know me.

From your loving friend,

Zenka

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(Well, I don’t know about Linda’s Book Bag readers but I daren’t NOT read Zenka now!)

About Alison Brodie

Alison Brodie, an international best-selling author, is a Scot, with French Huguenot ancestors on her mother’s side.

Alison’s book have been published in hardback and paperback by Hodder & Stoughton (UK), Heyne (Germany) and Unieboek (Holland). Alison has now gone “indie” but you can find all her books here.

Find out more by visiting her website or following her on Twitter. You’ll also find her on Facebook. Alison has a Goodreads page too.