Today the spotlight shines on…………………………………….. Ben and Noelle Corbin

Rick Acker is a man of many talents including being an author of insightful and action packed thrillers! Do yourself or a loved one a favour, and buy one or both of Rick’s books for Christmas 🙂

Reading about his characters will intrigue you – thanks Rick:~

Ben Corbin

Brief physical description:

Ben is in his early thirties and has brown hair, blue eyes, good shoulders and a strong jaw. He’s about five feet, ten inches, which he thinks is a little too short for a trial lawyer. He has no tattoos, scars or birthmarks that I know of. He made some money in college posing for Speedo ads, but that was twenty pounds ago.

Actor/famous person who might resemble him:

Tom Cruise, but not quite as pretty.

Strengths and weaknesses:

Ben is easygoing, keeps his head even under extreme pressure, and has a quick wit. He’s a coffee lover and Chicago Bears fan (both character strengths, in my eyes at least). He is also a very good lawyer when he’s focused, organized and motivated. His biggest problem is that he’s rarely all three of those things until the last possible moment, sometimes later.

Quirk (if any):

He likes his wife’s breakfast cooking. You’ll know why that’s a quirk once you read Noelle Corbin’s profile.

Your inspiration for the character:

Different parts of Ben came from different lawyers I know. His seat-of-the-pants courtroom brilliance comes from my first boss, Jim Stamos. Ben’s even keel and way with words come from my good friend, Colin West. And his disorganization and procrastination . . . well, those come from me.

In Dead Man’s Rule (the first Ben Corbin book), Ben has just left a comfortable life at a big firm. He liked the work and the money there, but got tired of “redistributing wealth from the rich to the rich” as he put it. So he decided to hang out his shingle and start taking cases that made a real difference in the lives of real people. He gets that and much more when a quirky and secretive Russian named Mikhail Ivanovsky comes in with a seemingly simple case over ownership of a safe deposit box. Ben agrees to take it because Ivanovsky offers a retainer big enough to pay Ben’s office rent. Ben pays little attention to the case until one day he realizes that he is deep into a near-hopeless legal battle where the lives of millions hang in the balance.

Noelle Corbin

Brief physical description of your main character:

Noelle is petite—five feet, four inches tall—and small-boned. She has blue eyes and brown hair with natural auburn highlights. She is also visibly (and eventually hugely) pregnant during Blood Brothers. Her family was poor and she didn’t have many nice things growing up, so she compensates now by dressing to the nines for society events whenever possible. She prefers diamonds and elegant, simple silk dresses—nothing either ostentatious or cheap.

Actor/famous person who might resemble her:

She looks like Audrey Hepburn or Penelope Cruz, but with blue eyes.

Strengths and weaknesses:

Noelle has a sharp sense of humor and is at least as good at cross-examining Ben as he is at cross-examining witnesses, but she’s also loving and loyal. She’s bright, efficient and organized—traits that serve her well in managing her and Ben’s offices. She’s also ambitious to a fault. Her desire to give her unborn child all the advantages she never had has unfortunately turned her into something of a social climber. She is also an awful breakfast cook, mostly because she can’t fry anything without burning it.

Quirk:

She’s been craving salmon throughout her pregnancy and could easily eat it at least three times a day—grilled salmon steaks, salmon kebabs, salmon bisque, salmon salad, salmon ice cream. (Okay, maybe not the last one, but she’d have to think about it.)

Your inspiration for the character:

Noelle was inspired by two of the women in my life: my wife, Anette, and my younger daughter, Ingrid Noelle. Noelle looks like how I imagine a grown-up Ingrid, and she has Ingrid’s spunk and sense of humor. From Anette, Noelle got her loving heart, style, brains, salmonphilia, and cross-examination skills.

Background to the story:

Blood Brothers (the Corbins’ second book) reunites Ben, Noelle, and some of the other surviving characters from Dead Man’s Rule. Ben is no longer a poor, struggling lawyer; now he’s a rich, unmotivated lawyer. He’d much rather build a chair in his workshop or watch a Bogart-Bacall movie than go into the office. He’d kind of like to retire, but Noelle isn’t willing to let him join the shuffleboard crowd just yet. She encourages him to take on another high-profile case, which he does. Ben and Noelle find themselves caught in a brutal war between two indomitable Norwegian brothers, Gunnar and Karl Bjornsen. The brothers are fighting over a pharmaceuticals empire worth hundreds of millions of dollars—and a new wonder drug that may be worth billions. But the case involves more than bitter sibling rivalry. Signs of embezzlement, black market deals, and the grisly side effects of the Bjornsens’ new drug begin to emerge. Soon, Ben and Noelle find themselves in Norway, where the case takes a personal and violent turn.

Fabulous, Rick – thanks for the insight and kudos for creating an excellent female character in Noelle!

On Monday, my last character spotlight for the year I will be spotlighting Mary Lu Tyndall’s Captain Kent Carlton and Lady Isabel Ashton ~ you are going to love the actor she has picked for her pirate captain!

I have some wonderful authors spotlighting their characters in 2009, including Robert Liparulo, Tosca Lee, Jennifer Lavent, Maureen Lang and more. Jamie Carie, MaryLu and others will be back too. So stay tuned…..

Relz Reviewz Extras

Review of Blood Brothers

Interview with Rick

Visit Rick’s website

Buy Rick’s books at Amazon or Koorong