WELCOME BACK, KATE CONWAY

My favorite female protagonist is back in action. Flame-haired investigative reporter Kate Conway returns in THE DEADLY BUDDHA. And my readers have fallen for her, head over Kindles.   

“Talk about new age heroines,” wrote one reviewer. “Kate is a natural blend of intellect, power, determination and, by the way, beauty and a real healthy sexuality. She represents the young women of today who are different, bright, well-educated and focused on following their dream, which isn't having babies, playing bridge with the girls and joining the right country club. I want to see more of Kate Conway as Mr. Ong develops her character and her next adventure.”

In THE DEADLY BUDDHA Kate gets trapped into writing the life-story of an Oscar-winning Welsh heart-throb. As much as she hates the Hollywood scene, she can’t avoid falling in love with the guy—despite discovering the ghastly truth about his conniving mother and her diabolical lover in their search for The Golden Buddha of Anyang.

This second volume in the Kate Conway trilogy features museums filled with intrigue, swimming pools filled with temptation, a Welsh city filled with witnesses that keep disappearing, helicopter rides that discharge passengers prematurely—and a 16-year-old Chinese charmer named Zookie, whose sensual body holds the secret of where the billion-dollar Buddha is buried.

But above all THE DEADLY BUDDHA features a female protagonist who makes her readers sit up and take notice while making her author proud—proud of having created a character that is right for the times.

Who is Kate Conway? I am!

My name is Kate Conway and I’m an investigative reporter for a serious New York monthly magazine named Clarion.

I would like to make it clear right away that nothing makes my day happier than putting CEOs in jail or in the grave by exposing wild and wicked crimes in the highest and often strangest of places.

Some people say I am driven. But it’s much simpler than that. I believe the world would be a much better place if people knew the truth about things. And that’s why I fight corruption and evil and lying and deceit and anything that falls short of the truth.

I live in Greenwich Village and I own a Mazda Miata painted bright red and a cat named Spats. My father is a retired member of the NYPD with a bullet (also retired) in his right lung—and he proves quite handy now and then.

When it comes to men I’ve had my ups and downs. Although I have these horrible freckles over my face and arms and chest, my father’s side of the family also chose to endow me with fiery-red Irish hair and eyes that smile a certain way. When these elements join with my no-nonsense personality I seem to wind up in one high-octane relationship after another.

But while I have your attention let me assure you that I would never allow anything like sex to interfere with tracking down high-profile scumbags. It just makes things more entertaining for both of us.

The Mounting Storm is the first of three thrillers with yours truly as the female protagonist. So stick around—we're just getting started.