Bitter Legacy by H. Terrell Griffin

By J. H. Bográn

When you think of what you want to leave behind after you’re gone; when you think how you will be remembered, then you are thinking about legacy. Common folks don’t spend much time thinking of what their legacy would be. However, when you think of grandeur, your brain, or at least mine, usually associates the word legacy with something good.

Thus, a “bitter legacy” such as in the title of the H. Terrel Griffin’s latest entry into the Matt Royal series is intriguing to say the least.

After a week away, Matt Royal’s ready to get back to the good life—good fishing, good food, good beer, and more good fishing. But Matt comes back to bad news: a sniper decided to kill one of his best friends. And now that Matt’s back, someone’s trying to kill him.

Matt soon finds he’s at the center of a mystery involving a lawyer’s murder, a tourist left for dead, a ruthless biker gang, a reclusive billionaire, and an ancient document that could bring ruin to some of the most entrenched financial interests in Florida.
What inspired the premise?

No particular incident inspired the premise, but a recurring theme in every culture is the David vs. Goliath scenario. Can the little guy take on the big one and win? In this book, the protagonist, Matt Royal, is faced with fighting forces that he cannot quite discern, but which he knows are massive and deadly. Matt is the little guy taking on a big force, and his life, and the lives of his friends, hang in the balance.

Please tell us about Matt Royal.

Matt Royal is a lawyer who retired young and moved to the island paradise of Longboat Key, Florida to spend his days in peace, drinking a little beer, fishing, hanging out with friends and trying very hard to be a beachbum. He was once a soldier, a special ops guy who fought for his country, saw a lot of death and destruction and never anticipated that threats to his hard-earned life of leisure would make their way into his island life.

Without giving away the ending, what can you tell us about the antagonist?

The antagonist is a large business interest built by one man who is afraid that some documents uncovered by Matt’s friend will undo his life’s work. The antagonist is near death and does not want to see his empire dismantled by the legal ramifications of the documents.

What kind of research did you make for this entry?

I did a lot of research into the Black Seminoles. During the 18th and early 19th centuries, many slaves had escaped from the plantations of Georgia and Alabama and came to live with the Seminole Indians in Spanish Florida. They were a heroic part of the tragedy that was the Seminoles in Florida during the First and Second Seminole Wars. However, this is not a historical novel, but rather a mystery set in the present day with some roots in the 19th Century.

What are you currently working on?

I’ve just finished a book that will be published in December, 2011, that again takes place on Longboat Key and its environs.

Any presentation or forums you will be attending in the quarter?

I have a lot of book signings scheduled, and a few presentations. These are all listed on my website, www.hterrellgriffin.com.

For the newcomers to the series, would you recommend go straight to the first outing or the order does not affect the fun?

I specifically wrote all the books as stand-alones. They have the same characters and pretty much the same geographical settings, but each book stands on its own two feet. There is no need to read them in any order.
“Bitter Legacy is another solid cruise in the sun with H. Terrell Griffin. This story takes you in and holds you to the very last page. I enjoyed the ride!” – Michael Connelly, New York Times best-selling author of Nine Dragons
Award-winning novelist H. Terrell Griffin is a former soldier and board-certified trial lawyer who practiced in Orlando for thirty-eight years. He and his wife, Jean, divide their time between Longboat Key, Florida, and Maitland, Florida. Griffin is also the author of Wyatt’s Revenge, Blood Island, Murder Key, and Longboat Blues.