Kindle Edition Amazon Amazon.com Category:  Action/Thriller Publisher: Amazon Digital Services, Inc. ISBN-10:  B008I5CS3G Type: Fiction Pages: 536 Copyright: 07/05/2012 A young daughter with silver eyes seeks revenge for the untimely death of her father, the leader of a feared criminal organization. Zephyr Estrada was never a normal little girl. First, she was born with a terrifying pair of silver eyes. Then, it is discovered that she is the daughter of the leader of a feared criminal organization. Not only that, she has a power-hungry older brother who murders his own father and usurps the throne, forcing young Zephyr and her mother to flee the country and preserve their lives. Not a normal childhood indeed. Years later, Zephyr cast aside her innocence and emerged from exile a cold, soulless woman. Believing herself to be the true heir to her father's empire, she uses her uncanny powers of strategy to exact hellish vengeance on those responsible for his untimely demise. But how can she accomplish all of this when she made a solemn promise not to kill her older sibling? Sometimes, punishment is worse than death.   Excerpt "He is no longer my brother. He revoked his birthright the moment he pulled the trigger. He will die in the same manner that my father died - cold, alone, surrounded by those who hate him. I imagine the blood pouring out of his chest and spilling onto the floor - hot, steaming blood spilled by my own blade. I do not care. This thought entertained me from the moment I set foot on this soil. I have had dreams about this for years, and I woke up crying because it was a dream I had yet to realize. But, I digress. The fact, gentlemen, is that Pedro did not care. He only cared about being a Don. And nothing drove him away from his lust. Now all he does is rule an empire stolen from the true king and claiming the throne as a laughing jester. Even now he is smiling. Even now, as we sit here, he is smiling at my father. More importantly, he is smiling at me. He is mocking us both, and that is intolerable. And that is where I find myself, gentlemen. I desperately want to spill his blood. Oh, if you only knew how much I lust for it. In all honesty, I want him to die slowly, painfully. And when it seems that he will pass on to the next realm, I will revive him back to full health. I will thoroughly mend his wounds, down to the last scar on his finger. I will tell him how sorry I am, how regretful I am at causing him pain. I will buy him new clothes, send money to his bank accounts, and even hire a prostitute to give satisfaction to his hungers. I will do anything to make him better. Anything. "Then I will repeat my torture. I will personally burn the clothes off his back and throw him to the floor. I will have my men take knives in their hands and slice the skin off his legs. I want his wounds healed with salt.   I want him to look into my eyes and beg me to stop. And that is when I sever his strings that bind him to this life. I want his soul out of his miserable body. Right now, you are possibly looking at me as a sick-minded woman, someone who is not mentally well. But let me assure you, gentlemen, that my mind is sound. Perhaps I am a monster for speaking these words, but my actions are charitable compared to what others before me have done, including you.” Zephyr paused and looked around the room. “We all have black souls, do we not? Have you confessed your sins, all those immoral acts you have performed for the sake of profit? Have you dropped to your knees and implored God for forgiveness? Neither have I. But I have promised to bring myself back into the sight of God, if He deems me worthy to acquaint his presence. Until then, these things I will do. And believe me when I say that I can do much worse to him. Oh, the plans that I have… but I am magnanimous in my strategy, for I am still a child of God. However, this is indeed what I want, and I will not apologize for it." Cooke, Andrew (2012-07-05). Zephyr (Kindle Locations 5313-5330). . Kindle Edition.

A must read! Very entertainig!
Zephyr was one of the wind - slightly evil and an exceptional balance
between humility and beauty. And so the Estrada family story goes.
Andrew Cooke has written a very intriguing and entertaining book.
Zephyr is the girl with the "freakish" eyes and a cold heart. Her
sinister brother , Pedro, murdered her father (the Don). Pedro is now
part of the 42nd street gang and Zephyr must take it upon herself to
exact her revenge on him - and avenge her father's death. In short,
Zephyr wants her brother to die. Slowly and painfully. Just as her
father did.

Zephyr is an epic tale about family empires, patricide, jealousy,
honor and revenge.

The way that Cooke strategically itemizes all of the attributes of the
characters shows a keen attention to detail that makes the characters
feel like they are going to jump off of the page.

The engaging descriptions of characters and settings make you feel
like you are actually there - (A gleaming silver chandelier which had
definitely reminded her of zephyr's eyes) and the dialogue keeps you
interested in the characters and story. I think it is really hard to
write a slighlty damaged character like Zephyr and still manage to
keep the balance between feeling bad for her and rooting for her.
This book manages to explain her history and intentions with just the
right amount of fire.

I haven't read a ton of books in this genre but I think that anyone
would enjoy this story because it is very intense and has great
characters that keep you entertained and interested in the story. It
also has a uniquely written sense of humor. The characters are
realistic and interestingly complicated with their baggage and
interweaving stories. My favorite part of the book, hands-down, was
the characters. I really loved Mrs. Estrada because she was totally a
badass and definitely a fun character.

The greatest strength of this book is how visual it is. It is a great
read and I would highly recommend it to anyone.