Frank R. Heller Pens His Action Thriller “The Secret Empress” From a What-if Moment

If you fancy novels that give off the same thrill and perplexity as Bourne, Jack Ryan, and Mitch Rapp series? Then pick up “The Secret Empress” (iUniverse; 2019) by Frank R. Heller.

To write “The Secret Empress”, the author drew upon his thirty years of experience working in and traveling to China in the import business – and a ‘what if’ moment.

“The book was really a question of curiosity,” Heller said during his guesting on Kate Delaney’s radio talk show America Tonight, “All the trips that we (he and his father-in-law) made to China, we did some sightseeing as well as business. I had been fascinated by the history of the country, which is incredible when you get into it.

“One day, we were in Beijing. We were touring the Forbidden City, and there is the Hall of Harmony where the imperial throne sits. It’s called the Dragon Throne. If you remember, there was a movie called “The Last Emperor,” the story of Puyi and what happened with him. In the film, his wife was pregnant, went into labor, and died in childbirth along with the child.

“I was standing in the Hall of Harmony, looking at this incredible throne and the question came up, ‘what if?’ What if the child hadn’t died? What would happen to the line of succession? That kind of spurred a long train of questions that ultimately culminated into the storyline.”

This ‘long train of questions’ formed the narrative for “The Secret Empress”, which revolves around international espionage, ancient Chinese history, and modern drug trafficking. In this story, Joe Wilder, a founder of a billion-dollar health and fitness conglomerate, travels to Guangdong, China upon learning that the Chinese government plans to excessively raise the price on his contracts.

Wilder meets with Wen Shu Xian (“Wendy”), the deputy minister of trade, and it turns out that the contracts are merely a ruse to bring him to China. Wendy reveals to Wilder that she is secretly the empress of China, the daughter of Emperor Puyi, the last emperor of China. She asks him for his help in bringing her 12-year-old son and heir, Chao Li, (“Charley”) to America where he could live freely and without fear.

It seems like an easy job for Wilder, given his CIA background, and the job guarantees him the renewal of his contracts. However, when Wendy is found murdered, things get really serious, and a criminal organization is on the hunt for them to either kill or exploit the secret heir to expand their operations in Asia.

“The Secret Empress” brings no political message but only entertainment to readers who love action thrillers. “It wasn’t intended to be a message,” Heller told WOCA The Source Radio. “It was intended to be entertaining because I spent a lot of time on airplanes and going through books, either flying out or flying back. It was intended to be a quick read, enjoyable, intriguing, thrilling, and kind of a travelogue.”

An action thriller that ticks, “The Secret Empress” by Frank R. Heller is available on Amazon.

“The Secret Empress” will be displayed by self-publishing and book marketing company ReadersMagnet at their exhibit for the 2022 Los Angeles Times Festival of Books on April 23-24, 2022, at the University of Southern California campus, Los Angeles, CA.

“The Secret Empress”
Author | Frank R. Heller
Published date | March 2019
Publisher | iUniverse
Book retail price | $26.99

Author Bio
Frank Heller has published biographical and exhibition catalogs on American and European artists, some of which are housed in the library of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. He was a Hospital Corpsman in US Navy during the early years of the Viet Nam war. Mr. Heller resides in Beverly Hills where he is currently hard at work on his next thriller.

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