After writing The Samogon Affair, my betas and early readers bombarded me with the same question: What happened to DEA Agent Kelly Reed?

The Samogon Affair was meant to be a stand-alone gangland novel with three young characters at the forefront. My law enforcement characters, while memorable, played just supporting roles to connect all the plotlines and conflicts. But here was Agent Reed standing out in every scene she was in, demanding her fifteen minutes of fame. As I prepared to answer what happened to her, I first had to ask myself who is Kelly Reed.

I went back through The Samogon Affair and extracted every scene with Kelly, and discovered a solid foundation to spin a novel about her, even an entire series. There was plenty to work with: conflict, an affair with her partner, and a proper catalyst.

Playing for Blood

Playing for Blood is Kelly’s story. It starts by overlapping the latter half of The Samogon Affair, filling in the missing pieces from Kelly’s point of view, and then running off on its own fast-action tale of vengeance. Playing For Blood pulls back the veil so we can see Kelly as this larger-than-life hero. The Samogon Affair painted Kelly as infallible and all-powerful, but Playing For Blood shows us she’s not as perfect as we might think. Her vulnerability finally surfaces.

In the movie Sicario, FBI agent Kate Macer, played by Emily Blunt, was a whiney-ass by-the-book idealist. The sicario, played by Benitio Del Toro, said it best at the end of the movie when he told Kate she wasn’t a wolf and this was the land of wolves. Unlike Kate, DEA Agent Kelly Reed is a friggin’ wolf.

In Playing For Blood ‘s first chapter, Kelly reveals what she wants and doesn’t want, which conflicts heavily with the one thing she deeply desires. Kelly’s superpower is that of the protector. She’s all about preserving the status quo and eradicating the evil that threatens what she holds dear. But she’s not God; she can’t be everywhere all the time.

Her journey in Playing For Blood takes her on a hell-bent pursuit of a Russian gangster, who shot her partner/lover and left him for dead. This journey is rife with conflict: physical, emotional, spiritual, legal, you name it.

But Kelly isn’t alone in her struggle. Another teammate, Lori Bishop, is along for the ride. The Samogon Affair didn’t allow Lori to develop beyond just a member of Kelly’s DEA FAST team, but the disaster in Playing For Blood allows us to see Lori as the best friend who compliments Kelly’s strengths, providing qualities Kelly lacks. And in the subsequent novels, Whispers That Kill and Tainted Justice, Kelly and Lori’s relationship continues to develop, becoming an integral part of the series, much like Joe Pike and Elvis Cole in the Robert Crais novels.