Antonio F. Vianna

Vianna's Career Management and Employee Portfolio Tool Kit, 2nd edition (2005) posits that your career is a dynamic process that requires constant re-evaluation and fine tuning as experience dictates. With practical exercises focusing on his model, Five Sigma of Success, this Workbook helps the first-time job seeker, those re-entering the workforce or changing jobs/careers, and those currently employed who seek advancement evaluate who they are, what they want to be, and how to get there. This is a must-have book.

In Leader Champions: Secrets of Success (2004), Vianna teams up with Dr. Mark B. Silber to create a dynamic text about your choices for leader champion actions. Their goal focuses on what it means to be a leader in the 21st Century, and what some practical techniques used by those who have made it to the executive suite. This is a no-nonsense text to stimulate your leadership, human relations, and personal growth competencies.

Switching to fiction, A Tale from a Ghost Dance (2003) centers on the title's reference to the ancient Native American ceremonial dance where the spirits of the ancestors are called upon for their wisdom and advice. But, in this tale, it is an Anglo woman who has unwanted visionary powers. The protagonist, Victoria, is a high-powered marketing executive who does not accept her gift until she encounters a Native American elder, Joseph. However, some tribal members resent Victoria. This ensures intra-tribal conflicts as well as mysterious circumstances involving one of her clients that place her and others in peril.

In The In-ter-view (2003), something as ordinary as a job interview is turned into a life and death drama. Laura Simmons is interviewing with Fred Wheeler and Associates when a disgruntled former employee bursts in and takes her and seven others hostage. As the action plays out, each character reveals his/her own true self and demonstrates how each individual reacts under duress. It soon becomes apparent if they want to survive the ordeal, this disparate group must become a cohesive force.

The backdrop of Talking Rain (2004) is a twenty-year-old murder case that sent a man to death row. One evening, however, alone, with no one to talk with, Lucy Lodine unexpectedly walks into Precinct 21 to break her silence. She confesses to the murder, unsuccessfully convincing the authorities that her husband on death row is innocent of the crime. When people who had been involved in the crime start to die, she gets the authorities attention, particularly of Detective Jack Bogle. Mix in academic rivalry, problem gambling, an alleged affair, and a callow policewoman with her on-again off-again relationship with a reporter, and you have an incredible topsy-turvy ride.

What if your darkest secret was about to be uncovered? What would you do? This is the theme of Uncovered Secrets (2005), a mystery novel that takes place in a local movie theater. Blend in a ghost, the theater's sexy and manipulative employee, the theater's film projectionist, a callous cop, the theater's manger who shows signs of being in a profession too long, a brash young female executive, and an emotionally needy woman. The final secrets are revealed on North Country Airport Road.

In Midnight Blue (2005), after two bodies are exhumed, the police begin to suspect foul play and question their original findings. Were lies purposely told and the real suspects purposely not questioned? Throw into the mix a love affair between a cop and the daughter of the prime suspect, and you have a story you will want to read straight through.

The Veil of Ignorance (2006) is a suspense novel about Tommy Hogan, an outstanding University educator, whose loneliness and search for happiness gets him embroiled in life and death situations. As his vulnerabilities surface, he easily becomes a target by those seeking revenge, greed, and status at the expense of others. It takes Tommy a while to realize he is being conned, and when he does, he understands that his misguided affection is actually towards the very person who seeks his demise. The face-off at the end helps him remove the veil that shrouds his ignorance.

In Yellow Moon (2006), one year after the conviction of Jimmy Lupo, a man accused of robbing a bank, Bella Lupo, the daughter of the convicted man reaches out to Ned Francis, a private investigator, to dig up evidence that her father had taken a fall and been wrongly imprisoned for the crime. Although the hard-nose detective is initially skeptical, he eventually believes that her father was in fact a patsy. Although he slams into one dead end after another, the detective never gives up the search for justice. However, he begins to fall in love with the prisoner's daughter, and it seems he is captivated by the daughter's good looks and seductive ways. Is he really convinced of her father's innocence, or is he too much in love to see the real truth? With strange obsessions and lust for power, a climatic standoff will shock you.

Hidden Dangers (2007) takes you into the world of espionage when two veteran spies face off in a cat-and-mouse game to dupe the other. Then, throw in an unexpected love affair, a troubled paranoid personality, a greedy and manipulative boss, and a young agent who desperately wants to free himself from the spy game. You will be surprised when you read the final chapter.

In Haunted Memories (2007), thirteen-year-old Dave Stagetto goes missing, even though his best boyhood friend, Billy, knows something, but keeps it a secret. While the small town of Hadley grieves for a short time, Dave's mother falls deeper into depression to the very core of her soul. She does not know what to suspect. Worse of all, the haunted memories, thought to be discarded with time, emerge twenty years later to everyone's surprise. Childhood relationships change as they grow older. The search for the truth shifts between San Diego, California and Lisbon, Portugal until the terrible secret is unveiled. This is a riveting suspense thriller.

In Bound and Determined (2008), Susane Attrice unexpectedly becomes pregnant. A person who likes being in control, she is not sure of the identity of the biological father. Her life quickly turns upside down. Then, suddenly, her infant child is abducted. She suspects who the child snatcher might be, so she now is bound and determined to be reunited with her infant baby. It proves tougher than she ever imagined. As she begins putting pieces of the puzzle together, she shoves aside those who are willing and able to help her the most. Does she have enough inner strength to go it alone or will she reach out for help? This story will take you places you never thought existed.

Stranger On A Train (2008). Book 1 of a series. Are there bounds of human behavior that you will not cross, or aren't there? What someone may believe in and subsequently do as acceptable, another may find despicable. Paul Autore, an aspiring novelist, meets Marcus Varro on a train, and later receives an unusual letter inviting him to Sanibel Island, Florida to tutor Anne, his beautiful daughter. Even before he arrives at the spacious white mansion Paul suspects something else is up; and when he and Marcus almost die from an automobile accident on their way to the Varro residence tensions rise even further. Simmering family hatreds against one another heat up and put Paul in the middle. Caught up in things shockingly different than what he has ever written about or experienced, he might have to cross a boundary he never thought he would. Is Paul prepared to go to extreme lengths to protect himself? How far would you go?

The Hiding (2009).  Book 2 of a series.There are places, deep below the earth's surface where vampires exist, unknown to mortals. It is their Hiding place. No one knows for  certain their origins, although myths and legends abound. Yet, one thing is for certain. They battle each other to maintain some sort of balance of power among them.This all changes, however, as a beautiful young woman begins a mysterious transformation to become a hybrid, part human and part vampire. A bitter feud erupts as two vampire clans fight to claim her as their own.

The Vampire Who Loved (2009). Book 3 of a series.  As this novel opens, Anne is awakened from a horrifying nightmare. She wonders if the dream is a predictor of events to come. All the while, her enemies, some old and some new, are intent to have their own way ... vampires who set in motion seemingly irreversible measures to do away with her. She calls upon Vincent Blackfoot, her closest friend and ally, to help figure out a plan. As the story rushes to a surprising climax, a suddent twist appears. Will she survive?