The Amalfi Secret Blog Tour

For readers drawn to layered mysteries and moral intrigue, The Amalfi Secret by Dean and Catherine Reineking delivers a rich blend of personal stakes and international tension.

 When Gabe Roslo travels to Amalfi to reconnect with his grandparents, tragedy turns his visit into a race for the truth. His grandfather’s untimely death and a cryptic diary launch him into a world of coded secrets, buried betrayals, and dangerous knowledge that powerful forces would kill to protect. With Anna’s help, Gabe must piece together a conspiracy that stretches from small Italian towns to the halls of global power. But the deeper they go, the clearer it becomes that solving the mystery means risking everything—including their lives and the people they love most.

Writing partners in both marriage and craft, Dean and Catherine Reineking bring a lifetime of shared experience to their stories. Dean’s decades in finance give their thrillers structure and realism, while Catherine’s background as a writing instructor and counselor lends their characters heart and dimension. Together, they’ve traveled extensively, gathering the sense of place and history that infuses their work. They live in Memphis, Tennessee, and continue to explore new corners of the world whenever they can. Learn more on their website.

 

Amazon: https://amzn.to/46QlGGb

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/238969332-the-amalfi-secret

 

Author Q&A

How did you research your book?

Our story is set against the historical events of the early 21^st century (think 9/11 forward), and it’s blended with ancient prophecies, spiritual mysteries, and present-day politics. Naturally, we dug into history, the foundational elements of the prophetic and spiritual mysteries, as well as the politics and organizations that could be pulling the strings.

 

What’s the hardest scene or character you wrote—and why?

The story reaches a crescendo in a scene set in a hidden, underwater grotto. All the key players are there, and it reveals some startling realities both about the story and the world as we know it. Striking the right tone and balance in this scene took tremendous effort, editing and revising. And when they found themselves trapped inside, we had a lot of working parts to contend with in order to solve their predicament.

 

Where do you get your ideas?

Many of our ideas come from our travels and love of history. We have spent a lot of time in Italy, primarily in Rome and along the Amalfi Coast. Enjoying the vistas and nooks and crannies of those places inspired story line and scene setups. We also loosely based some of our characters upon fascinating people we have encountered in our travels.

 

What sets your book apart from others in your genre?

Our story is a great page turner, which is not unique to the genre. But within that fictional story is another story. It’s the story or our time, and the readers are bound to see the world in a different light. It’s both provocative and informative. And at the end of the day, it’s a really great story.

 

What helps you overcome writer’s block?

Dean: I talk to my wife, Catherine. She’s incredibly imaginative and every time the story needed further development, she brilliantly comes up with the trajectory for its next stage of development.

 

What’s your favorite compliment you’ve received as a writer?

Regarding The Amalfi Secret, one professional review described it “as cinematic as it is cerebral.” We thought that captured the story and our writing perfectly, and we were very honored.

 

Why did you choose this setting/topic?

We chose the setting because we loved the Amalfi Coast. We chose the topic because we had something to say about modern times and where people seek truth and the story gave it a voice.

 

Do you write every day? What’s your schedule?

Dean and Catherine truly collaborate every step of the way. Catherine is the imaginative one. She’s great at generating story ideas and plotlines. Dean is the logical one. He’s great at organizing the story board and keeping the facts straight as the story unfolds. Dean does much of the actual writing. Catherine then reads it and embellishes it with her flair, always an improvement. They like to discuss the story in the morning. That tends to be Catherine’s “best time of day” and then Dean writes for three to five hours. This is often followed up with bicycle riding, which affords more time to think about the story and where it’s headed next.

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