Josh Kavanagh Series, Book #3
Military Action Suspense Thrillers
Date Published: 02-10-2025
Publisher: Three Clover Press
Smug tyrants. Battered heroes. With an insider thwarting their every move, can these resourceful special operatives defend democracy?
Josh Kavanaugh refuses to give up. After surviving severe injuries trying to protect a lover, the determined former military man vows to find the people responsible and deliver payback. But with a mole in his group of contractors and corruption running deep, any operation could prove deadly.
Slipping into Russia on a dark mission with a hybrid team and going undercover as a circus act complete with an untamed grizzly, Kavanaugh makes the long trek to Moscow. But with their target well-connected to Vladimir Putin himself, they find themselves caught in a crossfire between the secret police and the mob.
Can he survive yet another betrayal to root out a threat to U.S. intelligence?
Fiddling with Death is the nail-biting third book in the Josh Kavanaugh Thrillers series. If you like gritty heroes, high-octane action, and accurate descriptions of weapons and tactics, then you’ll love Lloyd Lofthouse’s twisty tale.
Buy Fiddling with Death to play with fire today!
Catch up on the previous books, Book One, The Patriot Oath will be on sale at $0.99 starting February 11 through the 17th!
Interview with Lloyd Lofthouse
What is your favorite part of the book?
That’s a hard one to answer. There are several. Still, this one came to mind first. When they are in the thirty-foot-long Inuit skin boat, with a full-grown grizzly bear for a passenger, rowing across the Bering Sea from Alaska toward Russia.
Does your book have a lesson? Moral?
This story teaches courage, responsibility, and group support. That’s what I learned while I was in the U.S. Marines.
Are your characters based on real people or did they all come entirely from your imagination?
None of the characters in this thriller series are based on any one person. However, every character is a composite of individuals I’ve encountered, spanning my time in the Marines to now. For Jake, I knew someone who served in the U.S. Marines and, four years later, transferred to the Army’s Special Forces for nine more years. This friend is fearless, honest, full of courage and compassionate. I took what I learned from knowing him a step further and found someone who served in the Marines, Special Forces, as a SEAL, and DELTA. There was one person who did that. That was Kevin Holland, who I never met or contacted. He is one of the few documented individuals to have served in both Navy SEAL Team 6 (DEVGRU) and Delta Force.
These few typically possesses a combination of exceptional physical fitness, extreme mental toughness, unwavering loyalty to the team, exceptional decision-making abilities under pressure, a high level of technical proficiency, adaptability to changing situations, and a strong sense of situational awareness, all underpinned by a deep commitment to mission accomplishment and a willingness to put their life on the line for their teammates, which defines my main character, Josh Kavanagh.
That also explains why the marriages and “relationships of special operators in elite forces like Navy SEALs and Delta Force often suffer significantly due to the high stress, frequent deployments, long absences, and the demanding nature of their work, leading to a considerably higher divorce rate compared to the general population; many studies report a divorce rate among special forces operators exceeding 90% in some cases.”
Some readers haven’t been pleased with Josh’s rocky, complicated relationships with the women he loves. It’s too bad they felt that way. My thrillers reflect my lived reality, not the tropes of a fantasy romance.
Of all the characters you have created, which is your favorite and why?
Two came to mind as I read the question, and I can’t decide between Mia and Adrienne. Why? Both talented, they emerged stronger from immense physical and mental suffering. These two are both also willing to die to protect those they love.
What character in your book are you least likely to get along with?
Readers will first meet Vice Admiral Dan Duncan in Chapter 12. He hates Josh Kavanagh and wants to destroy his life. I won’t go into why he hates Josh. I think readers should discover that on their own. Duncan is someone I’d be tempted to execute. In combat, that kind of death is called “fragging.”
The term for a soldier shooting their superior officer in combat, usually out of hatred for their leadership, is “fragging.” It originated during the Vietnam War when many such killings were done using fragmentation grenades, hence the name “fragging.” Hmm, I just had an idea for the fourth book. Enough said.
This happened in my company in Vietnam, at least two times that I know of. Still, I don’t know who wanted them dead and why. One of the officers was in my platoon. I was a field radio operator. This officer supervised that platoon’s wiremen. His fragging was a warning and didn’t kill him. He went from mean and petty to your best friendly buddy overnight. The other one was in the transportation platoon (mostly truck drivers). His men hated him so much, they pooled their money to pay anyone who killed him. Our colonel, hearing the news, ensured his protection; the man remained under guard, in a bunker, until his early return home. The hit money followed him. I never heard if he ended up being assassinated by one of his own. And I never learned what he did to earn such hatred from his platoon.
What would the main character in your book have to say about you?
Josh might say, “Lloyd is a stubborn old SOB, but in combat, we can depend on him to risk his life watching our backs.”
If we were friends, he would likely be aware of the incident in 1966 Vietnam when I held a grenade with the pin pulled in my left hand at 0300, while I stood guard and the others in the bunker slept. I moved out in front of the bunker and down the hillside to a slight berm, which offered us protection from snipers situated on the other side of the wire at the foot of our hill, attempting to eliminate us individually.
I thought if I fell asleep, my left hand would relax and release the spoon, arming the grenade. A few seconds later, the blast would wake the others up. The idea that I might fall asleep on watch bothered me. I didn’t want to be responsible for anyone dying because of me. That was a tough night. I was exhausted. Before resorting to the grenade, I used a straight pin I kept for that purpose stuck in my shirt collar. I’d stick the sharp end under my fingernails to keep me awake. Don’t try it. That really hurts. When that shocking pain stopped working, I pulled the grenade’s pin and slipped the pin in a pocket so I wouldn’t lose it. I replaced the pin after my shift. Fear of death is a great motivator to stay awake.
Do you want each book to stand on its own, or are you trying to build a body of work with connections between each book?
I envision each book as independent. Still, I also want the stories to connect with the others in the series.
I may have achieved that. One reviewer Catherine said, “Picking up in the jungle of Southern Venezuela, we learn pretty quickly what has happened to Josh’s character since we last saw him at the end of the first book. … I think that even if you haven’t [read the first book], you’ll still love Never For Glory.” She added: “The Patriot Oath, … was excellent, but Never for Glory was even better!”
I hope my editor is right. He rated Fiddling with Death higher than the first two books.
About the Author
Lloyd Lofthouse is a US Marine (1965—1968) and combat veteran. After the Marines, he attended college with a little help from the GI Bill (1968 – 1973). During his first year of college in 1968, Lloyd heard Ray Bradbury speak, and got bit by the writing bug. Lloyd went on to earn a BA in journalism and later an MFA. During his early years as a full-time teacher (1975-2005), Lloyd worked nights and weekends as a maître d’ for a night-club restaurant.
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2 comments:
Like to win a signed copy. Looks fascinating.
Thank you for hosting the interview.
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