Winner’s Curse: A Lynn Dayton Thriller

Available from Barnes & Noble, Amazon, or your favorite indie bookstore! Get your signed copy at Brace Books (north central Oklahoma) or one of several Barnes & Noble stores in Texas and Oklahoma!

Winner’s Curse is a pulse pounding new thriller that will hurl you through the eye-opening and unexpectedly dramatic world of the energy sector. While taking you from the desolate, windswept plains of west Texas to the salons of Hungary, Starks expertly infuses her insider knowledge of this trillion-dollar industry into a thriller that seamlessly blends action/adventure, conspiracy, and techno/science fiction thriller sub-genres.

Just chosen to lead the drilling division of TriCoast Energy, protagonist Lynn Dayton is determined to prove herself capable but finds herself facing more than just the usual water cooler backstabbing.

Undercutting her at every turn is former TriCoast Executive, Henry Vandervoost, who blames her for his humiliating fall from power. Ruthlessly competing with Lynn for control of Bradshaw Energy, his own playboy son’s company that has revolutionary energy technology, Vandervoost enlists the help of attractive young chemist Hannah Bosko to assist him in taking over the company.

Lynn must battle Vandervoost and international power players who conspire to eliminate her and her colleagues, foil conspiracies to sabotage natural gas plants and complete a merger that will ensure that the technology remains in the hands of those who will use it to benefit the world.

Winner’s Curse is an action/adventure thriller that will keep readers on the edge of your seats.

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Reading & Discussion Questions for Winner’s Curse by L. A. Starks

Share with your book club: Winner’s Curse Reading & Discussion Questions (PDF)

What is Lynn’s motivation in WINNER’S CURSE?
What is your view of protagonist Lynn Dayton? How is Lynn Dayton like every woman? How is she unique to the present?
What was your reaction to the new character Hannah Bosko, and the returning character, Henry Vandervoost, (first seen in 13 DAYS)?
Did WINNER’S CURSE describe West Texas in a new way to you?
Starks purposely set up multiple antagonists. Did you feel like they worked together or ultimately sabotaged one another? (“no honor among thieves”) How did they differ from one another?
Which scenes resonate most for you? Why? What are the most suspenseful moments?
What surprised you most in WINNER’S CURSE?
Conflicts are the engines of plot. What conflicts do you see in WINNER’S CURSE?
What did you find to be most compelling about WINNER’S CURSE: the action scenes, the characters, the setting, or something else entirely?
Secrets and their unveilings form the core of mysteries and thrillers but also of romance novels and literary fiction. What secrets are revealed here?
Although its publication predates the series, WINNER’S CURSE has been compared to the later Taylor Sheridan streaming television series, “Landman.” How is Landman similar to and different from WINNER’S CURSE?
What do you see as the message or theme of WINNER’s CURSE?

Awards & Praise

Starks’s latest thriller, the fourth in her Lynn Dayton series, after (The Second Law), takes readers on a raucous ride of misadventure with Lynn Dayton, senior executive at energy company TriCoast, as she navigates the high-stakes oil and gas industry. Dayton, stepping into a new position at TriCoast after the shocking murder of her predecessor, has a full plate: she’s overseeing a crucial merger with another energy company—one in possession of a highly-in-demand water recycling technology—and has previous TriCoast VP Henry Vandervoost breathing down her neck, thanks to Dayton’s role in ousting him from the company. When the merger goes south, Dayton’s quickly swept into a fiery blaze of scheming, rivalries, and geopolitical tension.

Fast-paced and dramatic, Starks’s novel offers a slew of fascinating characters, including spies, estranged fathers, and both upstanding and morally corrupt politicians, all while establishing Dayton as a strong female lead, succeeding in a male-dominated, treacherous industry. Starks not only showcases the profession’s heavy sexism but also its complex web of power, effectively weaving in her own experience in the global energy sector to build a sharp plot that’s bolstered by obvious insider knowledge. Those not well-acquainted with the energy industry may find the book jargon-heavy at times, but Starks works hard to balance technical details with a gripping narrative.

Despite the many subplots that eventually unfold, from corporate rivalries to international politics, the novel ultimately comes together well, offering plenty of twists and turns along the way. Dayton’s undertakings are as risky as they are critical, but Starks offsets the danger with hefty character-driven scenes that will resonate with readers. Though part of a series, this riveting page-turner can be read as a standalone—and will appeal to genre fans as well as those seeking a glimpse into the make-or-break world of global energy.

Takeaway: Gripping sprint through the make-or-break oil and gas industry.

Comparable Titles: Gary Kraidman’s Anaerobe, Tom Boles’s Brad Willis Adventures series.

Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A

Booklife by Publishers Weekly

A pulse-pounding technothriller centered in the oil fields of Texas – but with global implications.

An executive shakeup at TriCoast Energy leaves Lynn as the first woman to lead the drilling division. Lynn’s eager to prove herself but also to keep the company profitable and safe. However, a former executive is equally eager to knock Lynn out of power, and it’s not just in the hopes of regaining the company and power he lost.

Henry Vandervoost owes money to bad people and the company. He knows its secrets. The upcoming purchase of a rival energy company might just keep him alive. Henry and Lynn are locked in a battle but unaware of international players enacting their own sinister machinations with damaging ramifications for the world at large.

Lynn’s skills and talents as an engineer help her immensely in her dealings with other companies even if being a woman keeps her on the back foot. She’s always confronting typical machismo displays of power, but the upcoming purchase of Bradshaw Energy brings more than patriarchal insults against her.

Someone wants the technology Bradshaw’s working on in secret: a way to reclaim the water used in the fracking process leading to massive savings. Lynn is in a race against time to not only complete the merger but stay alive. An international conspiracy ignites with Lynn firmly in the crosshairs. She must contend with bickering and power plays but also literal backstabbing as an unknown assassin begins stalking the oil fields of Midland Texas.

Starks deftly pulls from her insider expertise of the oil and gas sector to inject real life into this thriller. The necessary context and explanations of the technologies and processes crop up subtly without slowing down the pacing or overloading the story with needless detail. The industry in-fighting and power plays against each other are tense and dramatic.

Understandably so, because at the core of every conflict here is money. Whomever comes out on top and controls the revolutionary new technology can dictate the world’s production, use, and price of oil/gas […]

You can read the full review here: Editorial Review – Winner’s Curse

Independent Book Review

The notion of a “winner’s curse” is explained on the first page of L.A. Starks’ engaging new novel, the fourth Lynn Dayton thriller. It stems from the fact that drilling for oil was (and may still be) a real crap shoot with high overhead and little promise of financial return. It also serve as a metaphor for the many interesting complications in the novel . . .It’s a well wrought thriller with an unusual cast of characters and story line.
Winner’s Curse: A New Novel by L.A. Starks – The Fictional Café (fictionalcafe.com)

Jack, The Fictional Cafe

Winner’s Curse puts an oil and gas executive in the crosshairs of a dangerous conspiracy
Novels Alive | 4-STAR REVIEW: WINNER’S CURSE by L.A. Starks

Amy, NovelsAlive

Winner’s Curse Tops Regional Bestsellers’ List, September 2024
Oklahoma best sellers: Sept. 1 | About Town | tulsapeople.com

TulsaPeople

In this installment of Starks’ thriller series, an energy executive finds herself entangled in international corruption. Lynn Dayton, newly appointed executive vice-president of TriCoast Energy’s drilling division, takes the reins on an acquisition. Her late predecessor already had eyes on Bradshaw Energy, attracted in part by its water recycling technology; this top-secret recycling process puts Lynn in unexpected danger. In an apparent bid to compel other countries to buy their liquefied natural gas, unscrupulous Russian officials go after Bradshaw’s tech.

They turn to Henry Vandervoost, a former TriCoast executive now based in London. He blames Lynn for losing his job, though the gambling debts he racked up all on his own provide the Russians with leverage over him. Vandervoost makes efforts to thwart Lynn’s ongoing acquisition deal while sending someone to investigate Bradshaw, whose current owner happens to be Vandervoost’s estranged son. The Russians’ scheme only grows more sinister as they sabotage gas plants around the world (including the U.S.), and attempt to sully Lynn’s reputation (“the fake video me says we’re planning layoffs! I never said that! Who would go to all the trouble to do a deepfake of me, and why?”).

Starks’ fourth outing with Lynn Dayton once again boasts an impressive cast. The women shine brightest: Joining the resilient Lynn are Hannah Bosko, a forensic geologist consulting for Scotland Yard, and Sara Levin, TriCoast’s CFO. As Lynn and Hannah investigate energy companies and gas plants, the text incorporates beaucoup technical jargon that, while plainly and intelligently described, gives the story an unmistakably slow pace. Still, obstacles abound in the tension-packed narrative as a person close to Lynn works against her, a killer tries to cover their tracks, and acts of sabotage prove deadly. The author rounds out the story with a potential newfound romance (not involving series lead, Lynn, who has a doting husband and lovable stepchildren at home).
A measured but gripping tale of malfeasance on a global scale.

You can read the full review here: Editorial Review – Winner’s Curse

Kirkus Reviews

Plot/Idea: 9 out of 10
Originality: 9 out of 10
Prose: 8 out of 10
Character/Execution: 8 out of 10
Overall: 8.50 out of 10

Originality: Winner’s Curse is singular. In addition to an unusual setting/industry, Stark takes the reader all over the world: Texas, Chicago, London, Barcelona, Murmansk, etc. Her knowledge of the field is obvious from the first, and she does a fine job educating the reader on subjects ranging from forensic geology to the U.S. electric grid.

Prose: Starks wastes no time ramping up the excitement, beginning with the first paragraph.

Character/Execution: Lynn is intelligent, brave, and capable, and does not suffer fools, gladly or otherwise. She and her family/allies come across as fully fleshed individuals.

The BookLife Prize 2024, Critic's Report

Customer Reviews

5 Stars The setting of this thriller ranges from Midland Texas to the oil and gas deposits off Israel and Cyprus. I learned about parts of the oil industry that were new to me, and the pace was fast but not so fast that it would be confusing. (A problem with some thrillers.)
I was particularly interested in the character development, and not just Lynn Dayton’s character (the series protagonist). Two other characters were very fully developed and had a true character arc: a woman geochemist and a young entrepreneur with a very difficult father.
The references to University of Chicago (where I went to college and grad school) also endeared this book to me, but I wasn’t reading it in order to read more about Hyde Park. I read it to find out what happened next. Yes. It’s a page-turner.
You will enjoy this book if you are looking for fast-moving thriller, or if you are looking for a book set in the present-day oil and gas industry, or if you are looking for a book with three-dimensional believable characters.
In other words, I recommend it highly.

Meredith Angwin, Amazon

She writes what she knows to perfection

I’ve been a fan of L.A. Starks thrillers since I discovered 13 Days: The Pythagoras Conspiracy and soon after, Strike Price. I have often said that a writer should write what they know. Starks does just that. After a career in the global energy marketplace (including oil and natural gas) Starkes is well placed to write conspiracies involving every aspect of the global energy from the mean oil fields in Texas to the boardrooms of the top players. Of course, she introduces some real antagonists to the conspiracy, of course. All of this brings a realism to her books that can’t be matched. What is a ‘star shark?’ How does one drown in a ‘sand avalanche?’ Starks knows. Winner’s Curse is a world class thriller by a true industry insider. One last comment: My favorite book and author of all time is Ayn Rand and Atlas Shrugged. Dagny Taggert has been a literary hero since the day I opened Atlas Shrugged. L.A. Starks and Lynn Dayton rank right up there near the top of that comparison. So reminiscent. Winner’s Curse by L.A. Starks is a conspiracy crafting winner.

Jeff Bailey, Barnes & Noble

Winner’s Curse, US Copyright Registration Number TX 9-557-407