Welcome to Rene Natan's Webpage
Rene Natan is a pen name for Irene Gargantini, a professor of computer science who,
close to her retirement, decided to revert to the
passion of her youth: story-telling. She took six e-courses on fiction writing from
Mariska Stamenkovic and then jumped into writing with the enthusiasm of
a novice,
often re-creating situations or events she experienced in her life.
Together with about a hundred scientific or technical papers and three awards in science
(25 years of excellence in research, NSERC, Recognition to Contributing to Canadian Research,
and Pioneer of Computing in Canada, IBM Centre for Advanced Studies, Toronto),
she has five novels and four short stories to her credit.
In 2008 she received the first WOW award for mystery writing. Her genres vary from
romantic suspense to thrillers with romantic interludes. Here are a few snapshots of her tales.
Novels —
The Collage, the 2004-best seller of Creative Guy Publishing, is a story of
a young heiress caught in a web of lies and violence; Operation Woman in Black, a recent release
dedicated to all parents of disabled children, portraits the struggle
of a man who has to share every minute of his day between police work
and the parenting of a handicapped teenage daughter.
Cross of
Sapphires describes the inner turmoil of a man of the law
in love with a fugitive accused of a horrendous crime.
Mountains of Dawn brings to life the
distress of an orphan with no roots and no place to go. The protagonist of The Jungfrau Watch
(a political thriller) has the tormented soul of a man whose political belief has been destroyed, and whose motherland, Russia, has been precipitated into chaos while his
life floats in an absolute vacuum.
Short Stories — In "Killing on Mount Yula" a hearing-impaired teenager struggles
as he tries to escape his pursuers on skis. In "A Pair of Wings for
Christmas" (a celebration of the centennial of the first powered flight
) science is embedded in a framework of fantasy. In "The Black Notebook
", ghost detective Denys Bellami solves a complicated case with the
help of a thirteen-year-old girl. In the true story "He Was One Of Eight," eight young orphans
leave their native Holland to settle in Canada.
Rene Natan makes her home in Strathroy, Ontario.
Contact her at renenatan@aol.com
To appear soon: The Red Manor
Published Novels
The Jungfrau Watch, The Collage, Operation
Woman in Black, Cross of Sapphires and Mountains of Dawn
The Jungfrau Watch
The collapse of the Soviet Union leaves two prominent members of
the Red Brigades without funds, without a job and without a cause.
They both find asylum, under false identities, in Canada. One
continues in his criminal activities, the other wants to make a
clear break from his past. Fifteen years later, in 2003, their
paths cross again. Meanwhile industrial espionage plagues several
Ontarian companies, prompting the intervention of Invicta,
a prestigious investigating agency. When the prototype of the Jungfrau
Watch—a masterpiece of technology and art—is stolen, Alesh Sinkovich
is hired to establish a fake laboratory based on the production of
highly efficient fuel cells. Soon after a project is stolen from the
lab, providing Alesh Sinkovich and Invicta with the much wanted
breakthrough.
But the Red Brigades aren’t dead. Their means of corrupting
and luring, coupled with their expertise in kidnapping and killing,
infiltrate the peaceful town of Vermeil. Alesh Sinkovich will have
no choice but adopting drastic measures to save what’s very dear
to him.
Prologue Chapter 1
Review1
Review2
Review3
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The Collage
A cleverly masterminded plot entraps young
heiress Allison Summer in a web of deceit and violence--slowly but
without mercy. Even if surrounded by a multitude
of people, beautiful Allison is alone in her struggle, not
knowing whom to trust: not her father, not her husband, not even the
handsome man who pledges his love to her... A
nosy reporter makes Allison’s life difficult, a mysterious fire
destroys her home, a killer seemingly coming from nowhere
knocks on her door, while an accusation of murder hangs over her head.
Overcome by guilt and disheartened by the loss of
loved ones, Allison suffers in solitude, hoping for better times. But
when the life of the man she loves becomes at stake, Allison musters
her strength and takes control of her destiny. And she will not stop
until the innocent is free and the guilty secured behind
bars.
Prologue
Chapter 1
Reviews
Operation Woman
in Black
Nothing and nobody seem
to penetrate the criminal ring that plagues the town of Varlee,
Ontario. When Varlee’s Chief of Police, frustrated by five years of
unsuccessful attempts, resigns, Conrad Miguel Tormez becomes in charge
of the investigation. Aware of the po-tential that Pappa-Pappa, a new
speech emulation system, offers, Conrad Tormez engi-neers a daring
operation: he’ll replace the Woman in Black, a recently deceased member
of the criminal ring, with Savina Thompson, an ex-agent and amateur
performer. But Operation Woman in Black isn’t the only challenge Conrad
Tormez has to face. For the last year he has been searching for Isabel,
his teenage mentally impaired daughter. Then one day he finds
her—living in a log cabin in the Rocky Mountains, together with a baby
and a wolf. A loving father yet a cunning detective, Conrad Tormez has
to balance every minute of the day between parenting and police work.
As Operation Woman in Black progresses Conrad Tormez realizes that the
master-mind of the criminal ring is a formidable opponent—his deadly
tentacles can reach any-body, anywhere, anytime.
http://www.PublishAmerica.com
Chapter 1
Reviews
-
Cross of Sapphires
Chief Steve Carlton seems to have successfully
carried out his mission--he has finally managed to take fugitive Livia
White aboard his aircraft. Shortly after take off, however, Steve’s
plane crashes in the wildest region of Venezuela. Severely injured, he
is nursed back to health by an attentive and caring Livia. For five
long weeks Steve tries to picture her as a killer. To no avail. Her
limpid blue eyes, her rare but genuine smile, and her kindness capture
his heart. But when Steve returns to New Brunswick he discovers that
the evidence accumulated against Livia is staggering. The law being his
one and only creed, Steve battles his feelings as the life of accused
Livia White unfolds before his eyes. Follow Steve in his struggle and
his adventures, where the stakes are high and the rewards none too
sure.
Chapter 1
Reviews
-
Mountains of Dawn
“Pack and leave” are the words that Tanya
Caldwell, orphaned at the age of six, heard many times over
as she wandered from foster home to foster home. She hears them again
from Malcolm Clark, the head of the prestigious agency ‘Invicta’, after
she narrowly escapes two murder attempts. On Malcolm’s advice, she
retires to the hills of the Riviera. The Mediterranean shores offer
endless inspiration to Tanya
the artist. Here she meets Kevin Matwin, a publisher of arts books, and
a friend of his, Luigi Amedeo, Count of Monteturro. The count’s
dignified manners and his daredevil enterprises hide more than one
secret . . . Accidents similar to Tanya’s also occur to Brian,
Malcolm’s brother. Tanya’s and Brian’s misfortunes have a common
denominator in a . . .
Chapter 1
Reviews
Short stories: free
download!
The Collage
A cleverly masterminded plot entraps young
heiress Allison Summer in a web of deceit and violence--slowly but
without mercy. Even if surrounded by a multitude
of people, beautiful Allison is alone in her struggle, not
knowing whom to trust: not her father, not her husband, not even the
handsome man who pledges his love to her... A
nosy reporter makes Allison’s life difficult, a mysterious fire
destroys her home, a killer seemingly coming from nowhere
knocks on her door, while an accusation of murder hangs over her head.
Overcome by guilt and disheartened by the loss of
loved ones, Allison suffers in solitude, hoping for better times. But
when the life of the man she loves becomes at stake, Allison musters
her strength and takes control of her destiny. And she will not stop
until the innocent is free and the guilty secured behind
bars.
Operation Woman
in Black
Nothing and nobody seem
to penetrate the criminal ring that plagues the town of Varlee,
Ontario. When Varlee’s Chief of Police, frustrated by five years of
unsuccessful attempts, resigns, Conrad Miguel Tormez becomes in charge
of the investigation. Aware of the po-tential that Pappa-Pappa, a new
speech emulation system, offers, Conrad Tormez engi-neers a daring
operation: he’ll replace the Woman in Black, a recently deceased member
of the criminal ring, with Savina Thompson, an ex-agent and amateur
performer. But Operation Woman in Black isn’t the only challenge Conrad
Tormez has to face. For the last year he has been searching for Isabel,
his teenage mentally impaired daughter. Then one day he finds
her—living in a log cabin in the Rocky Mountains, together with a baby
and a wolf. A loving father yet a cunning detective, Conrad Tormez has
to balance every minute of the day between parenting and police work.
As Operation Woman in Black progresses Conrad Tormez realizes that the
master-mind of the criminal ring is a formidable opponent—his deadly
tentacles can reach any-body, anywhere, anytime.
Chapter 1 Reviews
-
Cross of Sapphires
Chief Steve Carlton seems to have successfully carried out his mission--he has finally managed to take fugitive Livia White aboard his aircraft. Shortly after take off, however, Steve’s plane crashes in the wildest region of Venezuela. Severely injured, he is nursed back to health by an attentive and caring Livia. For five long weeks Steve tries to picture her as a killer. To no avail. Her limpid blue eyes, her rare but genuine smile, and her kindness capture his heart. But when Steve returns to New Brunswick he discovers that the evidence accumulated against Livia is staggering. The law being his one and only creed, Steve battles his feelings as the life of accused Livia White unfolds before his eyes. Follow Steve in his struggle and his adventures, where the stakes are high and the rewards none too sure.
Chapter 1
Reviews
-
Mountains of Dawn
“Pack and leave” are the words that Tanya Caldwell, orphaned at the age of six, heard many times over as she wandered from foster home to foster home. She hears them again from Malcolm Clark, the head of the prestigious agency ‘Invicta’, after she narrowly escapes two murder attempts. On Malcolm’s advice, she retires to the hills of the Riviera. The Mediterranean shores offer endless inspiration to Tanya the artist. Here she meets Kevin Matwin, a publisher of arts books, and a friend of his, Luigi Amedeo, Count of Monteturro. The count’s dignified manners and his daredevil enterprises hide more than one secret . . . Accidents similar to Tanya’s also occur to Brian, Malcolm’s brother. Tanya’s and Brian’s misfortunes have a common denominator in a . . .
Chapter 1
Reviews
Short stories: free download!
Killing on Mount Yula, A Pair of Wings for Christmas and He Was One of Eight
Hearing impaired Chris Valoir has a clever plan to escape his pursuers: crossing the Alps on skis. But midway through his journey a blizzard forces him to stop at Yula Station, full of stranded people. Frightened and alone, 15-year old Chris hopes for the storm to end, and daylight to come. But when they do, his pursuers close in.
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A Pair of Wings for Christmas is a small tribute to the celebration of the first powered flight. It blends fantasy and science, as one angel explains to a would-be angel what he has to do to gain a pair of wings before Christmas.
Click here to download
Click here to download
He
Was One Of Eight is a story about immigrants.
They were eight, they were orphan, they were four boys and four
girls...and together they left Holland to reach that immense land
called Canada.
Click
here to download
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Readers' corner
To order a book or for more information contact renenatan@aol.com
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More Links!
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Last update: August 5, 2008