Author Spotlight: Melissa Roen

As the world comes unhinged, a lucky few will be quaffing Cristal and nibbling Beluga as they stock their Feadships and gas-up their Gulfstreams for a last-minute dash to safety. For American expat Maya Jade, the Cote d'Azur remains a fast-eroding zone of normality amid global chaos. Welcome to the Madhouse. Welcome to the year 2018. Last Call for Caviar is the debut work of fiction by author Melissa Roen, conjures an all-too-plausible scenario of end-times on the glamorous, treacherous and geographically blessed French Riviera. Anyone looking for a thrilling, fast-paced read with a powerful savor of impending doom will relish this smart, page-turning primer on living like there's no tomorrow.

Maya has the Cote d'Azur at her manicured fingertips, from the glittering nightlife of Monte Carlo to the splendid beaches of Cap Ferrat to the vertiginous trails of the coastal mountains. Her heart, however, is hopelessly in hock to former lover Julian, who's gone missing on the wrong side of the security perimeter since they quarreled months before. When a psychic tells Maya that Julian is her destiny rather than the cad she recalls, hope floods in alongside doubt. Navigating the treacherous minefield of her disintegrating world, she finds herself drawn to Abdul, a sexy and enigmatic, Emirati, who's up to his Guthra in the struggle for control over the gold-plated Principality of Monaco. Back in the US, anarchy is spreading, forcing Maya's family to flee Vegas for the Oregon coast. Her domineering and capable sister, Leah, wants her to come home, but getting there may well be impossible.

The plot thickens when an exotic and seductive spiritual figure arrives in town and allies herself with psychotic Russian gangster Slava. Anjuli del Solaire claims she's working to raise the consciousness of the world's remaining inhabitants-- especially the very rich-- but Maya recognizes the Amazonian beauty with a dangerous past. Though her knowledge could expose Anjuli's scam, Maya just wants to avoid the notice of Anjuli's ruthless new friends. Mutually suspicious and mutually admiring, both women discover they need each other as people and circumstance escape their control.

As natural disasters, extreme weather, environmental collapse, disease, famine and resource wars roil the planet and armies of the dispossessed and murderous approach from Southwest, Maya must decide where to make a stand and with whom. Can she bum a ride on a billionaire's jet? Will she sacrifice her independence for a Sheik's protection? Will she risk survival to honor her obligations? Can she heal a broken heart on an irreparably broken planet? With wit, invention and old-fashioned glamour, Last Call for Caviar describes a world where a gal's Glock fits a diamond holster and that second helping of caviar may be your last. This sharply-observed narrative of an uncannily realistic future is as fierce as it is fabulous.