FICTION · GENERAL
Joyce Thies
Also known as: Joyce Thies, Melissa Scott
Joyce Thies met her husband in college and it was love at first sight. Readers might recognize her as the Joyce half of Janet Joyce (or Jenna Lee Joyce), the other half was Janet Bieber. She also wrote a romance as Melissa Scott, "Territorial Rights", but is now but is now writing under her own name. While researching a historical about early Montana, Joyce fell in love with the beautiful philosophies held by the Absaroka Indian tribe and wanted to share them with her contemporary readers.
The reporter shoved the microphone into her face.
— from False Pretenses, 1988
Most acclaimed
The Drifter
"An explosive thriller debut introducing Peter Ash, a veteran who finds that the demons of war aren't easily left behind . . . " -- "Peter Ash came home from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan with only one souvenir: what he calls his 'white static,' the buzzing claustrophobia due to post-traumatic stress that has driven him to spend a year roaming in nature, sleeping under the stars. But when a friend from the Marines commits suicide, Ash returns to civilization to help the man's widow with some home repairs. Under her dilapidated porch, he finds more than he bargained for: the largest, ugliest, meanest dog he's ever encountered...and a Samsonite suitcase stuffed with cash and explosives. As Ash begins to investigate this unexpected discovery, he finds himself at the center of a plot that is far larger than he could have imagined...and it may lead straight back to the world he thought he'd left for good." -- Peter Ash came home from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan with a buzzing claustrophobia due to post-traumatic stress that has driven him to spend a year roaming in nature, sleeping under the stars. When a friend from the Marines commits suicide, Ash returns to civilization to help the man's widow with some home repairs. Under her dilapidated porch, he finds more than he bargained for: the largest, ugliest, meanest dog he's ever encountered... and a Samsonite suitcase stuffed with cash and explosives. Soon Ash is at the center of a plot that is far larger than he could have imagined-- and it may lead straight back to the world he thought he'd left for good.
Territorial rights
1984
Robert wants nothing more than to become a serious art historian. But his hopes for a staid academic life are put on hold when he's driven from London to Venice to escape one lover and seek out another: the enigmatic Bulgarian refugee Lina Pancev. In Venice, Robert encounters a grand carnival of lust, lies, blackmail, cocktail parties, and regicide. As he chases Lina, his heart's desire, the city itself provides a priceless education in love, art, and beauty. Witty yet elegant, Territorial Rights is a celebration of human imperfection and complexity, with as many shifting identities, wardrobe changes, and sumptuous settings as a comic opera.