Alaska Bloodlust: Received a 4+ star review, making it an IndieReader Approved title.
Following find an interview with author J. L. Askew.
1. What is the name of the book and when was it published?
The title is “Alaska Bloodlust”, published September 9, 2025.
2. What’s the book’s first line?
“Twenty-nine-year-old Race Warren was on the last leg of a journey home.”
3. What’s the book about? Give us the ‘pitch’”.
“Private eye Race Warren returns to Tennessee after barely surviving a deadly case in Alaska. When people start dying, Warren realizes the evil he’d faced in the North Slope is now close by, a knife-wielding cult leader bent on revenge and Warren’s the only one who can stop him. After several violent encounters, Warren drives the diabolical killer back to Alaska, but not before the young PI finds a new love, putting her in equal danger. As threats multiply, Warren goes back to the North Slope to face the psychotic villain in a final showdown.”
4. What inspired you to write the book? A particular person? An event?
This book was inspired by the same thing that motivated me to write the previous “Alaska Deadly”. A wolf photograph symbolizing the indigenous mystery and danger of Alaska. In the summer of 2009 in downtown Anchorage I thumbed through scores of wildlife images, taken by a wilderness guide and photographer. The wolf picture grabbed me like an unseen hand and I bought it on the spot.
5. What’s the main reason someone should really read this book?
I try not to write formulaic commercial books but rather strive toward literary fiction. Admittedly, I miss the mark, but for anyone looking for (if I may say so myself) well-written escapism in the form of an action-packed adventure thriller, I believe “Alaska Bloodlust” is the book.
6. What’s the most distinctive thing about the main character? Who-real or fictional-would you say the character reminds you of?
Race Warren is a clear headed independent private eye reminiscent of the eponymous hero of Joseph Conrad’s novel “Lord Jim”. While in a different vocation, to me he seems to have the same characteristics.
7. Is this the first book you’ve written?
This is my third book. I first wrote “War in the Mountains”, a partial history of the artillery unit my great-grandfather fought with in the Civil War. My second book was “Alaska Deadly”, written after my brother urged me to branch into fiction. I’m now planning the final book in the Alaska trilogy.