“The Romanovsky Stain” is the first of a series of five spy thrillers coming from an expert in the field. Duke has really brought this story to life. I can’t wait for people to get their hands on this one, they won’t be able to put it down, I couldn’t.

I had a lot of fun illustrating this cover, it’s different from any other cover I’ve ever done and I really like the sketching of the characters. The eyes are removed from the character on the front and enlarged to stress the spy theme. I used this color scheme to stay with the books genre and also to reflect that it plays out in Russia. The splash of yellow coming across and down the front cover is meant to be a sort of spotlight that brings the character into view. The splash of white light coming across the page is another larger spotlight. The gun on the back is the protagonists gun lying on a crossword which was a way of spies communicating. The shadowy figure walking away on the back cover is the protagonists nemisis, who always seems to be just out of reach.

This style was really fun to work with and I’m looking forward to the other four covers I’ll be creating with Duke. I’m not certain of the release date for this book, but I will post about it and include all the necessary links so you aren’t missing out on this one.

Illustrations copyright © 2015 by Michelle Rene Goodhew

Cover design “eyes” inspired by © Can Stock Photo Inc./NesaCera

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