Guest Blogger Mark S. Bacon - Sharing How He Created Death in Nostalgia City - A Personal Favorite for Moi!

Theme park dreams 

lead to murder mystery

By Mark Bacon 


When I was growing up in Southern California, the dream summer job of every teen was to work at Disneyland. Whether you were sweeping up trash on Main Street—or had one of the cream assignments on a riverboat in...

Adventureland—the Magic Kingdom was where you wanted to be. As we lived too many miles from Anaheim to make a daily trip to the park feasible, I settled for wrestling boxes as a shipping clerk in West L.A.

Years later, my half-forgotten theme-park dreams were realized when I went to work for Knott’s Berry Farm, a Disneyland rival a few miles up the Santa Ana Freeway. Most of my time, however, was not spent near the rides or even on the park grounds. I was a copywriter; I wrote Knott’s ads and commercials. I had been a city-side newspaper reporter covering the police and other beats, and I traded journalism for advertising, where I thought I’d have more room for creativity.

Although I spent much of my time in a quiet cubicle thinking up catchy phrases for Knott’s radio spots, occasionally I worked on promotions in the park. I got to know costumed employees who entertained visitors and saw, from behind the scenes, what it took to keep a sprawling entertainment enterprise rolling smoothly. Sometimes it’s controlled chaos, in part because—hard to believe—not everyone who goes to an amusement park is on his or her best behavior. Maybe it’s the “what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas,” syndrome on a smaller scale.

No one knows for sure where writers get their inspiration, but I think it comes from a slow-simmering cranial soup, a mixture of all our experiences in which various ingredients bubble to the top. That’s my explanation, anyway, for how my jobs as a police reporter and Knott’s Berry Farm copywriter combined to create Death in Nostalgia City, a theme park murder mystery.

See My Review!

One of my favorites from the 60s...

Not an ordinary theme park, Nostalgia City is a recreation of an entire small town from the late 1960s and early 1970s. Covering several square miles, it’s complete with period cars, clothes, food, music, stores, fads, restaurants, hair styles—the works. It’s a peaceful place to relive the past, something that attracted Lyle Deming, an anxiety-ridden ex-cop who thought driving a cab in a giant theme park would be the perfect stress-free job. He loves his new occupation, exchanging jokes with tourists as he chauffeurs them around. But as this is a murder mystery, of course, bad things happen and successive chapters bring surprises.

One twist for Nostalgia City’s young employees that’s not a concern for Southern California kids working at Disneyland, is the time warp. In the retro park, everything is as it was more than 40 years ago. Before they walk out into the park, therefore, all employees have to surrender to their lockers their cell phones, iPads and all 21st century electronics.

“Macs are hamburgers,” Lyle tells an employee orientation class, “blackberries are fruit and a tablet is a pad of yellow paper with lines on it.”

i LOVED THIS ONE!

One of My Favorites...

See what happens when I go Nostalgia? Wouldn't it be great to have a real Nostalgia
City??!!!

Hey Mark, What's your plans to beat this one? Sure hope we get to go back to be with Lyle Deming soon!

Thanks so much for giving us a little background on your book...and allowing me to enjoy the time period with you!

Mark Young's Experiences Creates Memorable Gang Thriller--Broken Allegiance!

Broken Allegiance:

 A Tom Kagan Novel

By Mark Young

Whether it is right out of today's news or fiction created as back stories, Mark Young knows what it's all about! His latest, Broken Allegiance, takes readers directly into the family life of members of gangs... Truthfully, it made me think about my personal opinion on the Death Penalty...

"The gunman reached down and ripped the tape
from the victim's mouth. "Any last words, Paco?"
All of them seemed to be Hispanic, the gunman's
voice heavily accented. "Before I..."
"The kneeling man stiffened, glaring up at this
captor towering above him. "You're making a big
mistake, Rascal. This is not sanctioned. Check
it out, bro."
"I'm not here to flap my gums about the green light
on your ass...bro. I'm giving you an opportunity to
say your last words. Maybe shoot up a little prayer
to the big guy in the sky."
"The other two men, standing next to the bound
victim, gave nervous chuckles as if they couldn't
decide whether to laugh at Rascal's joke or
keep still. They lapsed into silence.
"Here are some last words for you." Paco spit in
Rascal's face. "Nos vemos en el infierno!"
~~~

While the young couple worked their way to the old winery building, carrying their blanket, giggling and happy, they thought they would have alone time...

But there was also a car heading to the same vineyard--to carry out orders. Rascal had brought along a couple of his street gang to back him up, but they'd already captured and bound their victim. They were fools, following blindly the orders to kill Paco. Paco was all good and well respected...

Broken Allegiance - When the lust for power turns even family against each other, there is no pride or respect. Fear, anger and so much more enters and reigns...

It is hard for most of us to even consider, and never to imagine, what it would be like to be in a family where it was known that, ultimately, you would be called upon:

Blood In; Blood Out. There will be no choice for you. If you are to gain respect of your peers, but, seemingly, more importantly, your family--the large family as well--you will be required to murder somebody...

How does it ever reach the point where men are allowed to gain so much power that they can freely order others to kill on command...even from prison?

This is from the same article as is the video above. These are real members of the family as identified in the novel. For purposes of this review, I'm choosing from the second level of the hierarchy, first box, the one of the right...He's fairly high in the Family, but still reports to others higher... Let's pretend for this review, his name is... Ghost...

Ghost had ordered the hit from prison... There were many others there from the family, but he had acted on his own to order Paco's death. He had heard that Tom Kagan had been assigned as lead for the kill. Although Kagan would not know him, Ghost remembered him quite well... He looked forward to being able to mix it up with this guy again...

Pelican Bay State Prison, California

"A guard shoved a white envelope into a small, tomb-like cell. The envelope had been cut open before delivery... What has my little bird to say? The man, known as Ghost to other gang members, pored over the letter's words. My faithful Rascal, have you obeyed my orders?

"Ghost rubbed a hand over his shaved hear. The smoothness felt good and gave his enemies nothing to hand on to if anyone dared to attach...They can read all they want; they'll never break the code...

"This was the second letter he received from the outside this week. The first one came under the protection of legal mail--precluding guards from taking a peek inside--directly from his attorney. After a frantic investigation, the attorney reported that gang and VCI investigators were taking a look at Paco's murder. Looking at the attorney's findings--including the fact that a cop by the name of Tom Kagan was assigned to the case--Ghost grimly smiled to himself. What a small world?...Ghost sent a protected letter back ordering the attorney to hire in investigators to find out everything they could on Kagan, his family, his residence. Kagan didn't know that he and Ghost had indirectly crossed paths in the past. This cop might be trouble, and Ghost wanted a dossier on this guy just in case. Know your enemy!

"My order has been carried out. Paco is dead and Rascal has earned his bones..."

~~~

For the young Rascal, he could now demand respect from his own street gang, looking forward to perhaps some time in the future being accepted into the Nuestra Familia...

Totally unaware that the Ghost had already commanded another to kill him...

In fact, orders were being carried in an out quite often, one for another high leader, who had chosen to leave the Familia two years ago. Ghost had been concerned about Paco and Mikio for quite some time. Mikio had left the Family, but had not been terminated...Blooded out... These men knew secrets of the organization, one of which was very personal to Ghost...

"Stevenson, still squatting, said, "This was a cold-blooded execution, Tom. It looks like they forced him to kneel before they shot him. He must have known it was coming."
"Tom squinted at Sevenson. "Maybe there is hope for you yet, Sherlock."
"His friend opened his mouth as if to retort and then closed it. Something else appeared to catch his attention as he leaned over the body.
"Hey, I recognize those tats." Stevenson pointed to the side and back of the victim's neck. This bird, it's an image Norteno gangsters like to copy, slightly modified from the farm worker's huelga bird." He pointed to the side of the victim's neck. See the tatoo of a sombero with the knife through it?"
"Tom nodded. "Only an NF, a Nuestra Familia prison gang member, wears those tattoos. This guy must be connected. Tom stood. "So we have an execution of a prison gang member. Where do we go from here, gang expert?...
"Stevenson looked up. Actually, it's a war, rookie. A war between prison gangs like the Mexican Mafia--whose gang claim blue--and Nuestra Familia with its gang claiming red."
"Tom glanced down at the body. "But this guy's not showing any colors, which makes me think it is an internal conflict unless the Surenos already had him in their sights..."

~~~

Obviously, learning about Paco's murder put the entire Familia on alert--the kill had not been authorized! And Paco had been a very important outside man...

Tom Kagan and his partner Bill Stevenson are being run ragged trying to keep up with the kills and soon even more were working as a team... Obviously much of the book is dedicated to the actual criminal investigations and if you love that, this novel will place right up there in action and suspense.

The appalling results within that Familia were what amazed and almost mesmerized me... Nephews were ordered to kill uncles... Even the female family members were forced into action, setting up murders, including from within their immediate family! They had no choice, either they, too, followed instructions or they would be killed. Everybody knew they would sooner or later be killed.. Blood in...Blood out... And for the majority of many of their lives, they would sit in jail...

To step up the story in tension and suspense, soon the Ghost has escaped! First, he kills Kagan's partner... And the whole family is closeted... But Ghost is smart--very smart...

"His hands were not clean of the blood of others. They dripped with the killings of many, many people. He had even forgotten some of the names he'd given a thumbs-down to when the secret vote came around. Or the many votes he had self-initiated in the interest of building up his own power structure.
"Now his blood was required. Blood in, blood out.
"It would always end the same way.
..."He was a warrior who had somehow lost his way, lost his bearings, his honed ability to sense and elude danger. He saw this coming but refused to believe his people would take these steps against him. His people? What a laugh. He should be worth something to the organization, but to them he was now a useless piece of garbage to be case away as others scrambled over his grave, grabbing what he once possessed.
"To some in the NF, he was just a coldhearted killer who'd lost his edge, an old man who needed to be removed from the seat of power to make room for others. New blood coming in. Old blood being spilled...
"The allegiance of brothers had been broken. Maybe deep down inside each member, there never was a true allegiance to the brotherhood. Just an opportunity to grasp power... now prepare for the end..."

~~

I have to tell you, by the end of this book, learning how even the gang leaders are treated differently by prison staff--to help ensure inmates are kept calmer...

How police are routinely targeted...

And how those living gang life are constantly in fear???

It seems to me, the Code should be universal... Blood In... Anybody who murders to enter a gang is automatically set for the death penalty... Blooded Out...

Mark Young has created a memorable indepth look that goes far beyond what we see in movies or even in today's newspaper... Prison doesn't stop them from Murdering More People! Why don't we take care of business in the U.S.? This may be fiction--but it's based on FACT. Thank you Mark Young for telling us like it really is! A Must-Read in my opinion... Especially by cops, public officials...and...gang members who don't yet know any better...

GABixlerReviews

Mark Young is an Amazon bestselling author. 

Both his Travis Mays and Gerrit O'Rourke novels reached the top 100 list, and his debut novel, Revenge, hit #1 for bestselling mystery/suspense police procedurals. Mark worked as a police officer and sergeant with the Santa Rosa Police Department in California for twenty-six years after working as an award-winning journalist. He is a Vietnam combat veteran, honored to have served with Fox 2/5, 1st Marine Division, and later with Headquarters company. 

He worked on several law enforcement task force operations, including the presidential Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force targeting major drug traffickers, and the federal Organized Crime Task Force charged with identifying and prosecuting prison gang leaders. He lives in the Pacific Northwest with his family. Visit Mark Young at his web site at www.MarkYoungBooks.com

Jack Savage Shares His Memories With Readers in Latest Book!

"I have memories that go way back about movies I saw at the theater when I was a kid. I also seem to remember that I went to these movies by myself, and was trying to figure out life, in particular the lives that adults were living, through the movies. Anyway, there was this one film in black and white, and it was kind of funny. It was also a love story and had to do with a beautiful young girl who hadn't been around for quite a while and then had returned all grown up...

but it didn't matter--I got it and I loved the ending..."

The High Sky of Winter's Shadows

By W. Jack Savage

This is the fourth book I've read by Jack Savage--Will it be his last? You know, when a writer decides to write his autobiography, that is sometimes when he is ready to put up his...pen, or computer... But I'm not placing any bets on it, even if I were a betting person, which I'm not... You see his autobiography is made up of short clips from his life--from which he's learned something, or enjoyed a moment, or maybe even was irritated by an organization! Now, tell me, does that sound like an autobiography?

But one thing is positive, I believe, you must be Jack's age, and mine, to have learned some of the things he shares... And he openly admits that he is quite different from the risk-taking man he once was... Young readers could certainly learn from this short book, but is it possible to use something in another's life to help with your own? I think so. In fact, I read many self-help books when I was young and, in many ways, this book is more self-help than autobiographic. But I did learn much about the author's opinions.

In fact, the man who wrote this latest book... He and I could be friends... He's a talker; I'm a great listener (and reader!). I tend to recognize that I choose to remember what I want and calmly forget about anything else. He wonders why he doesn't remember actually walking back and forth to grade school..."Come on Jack", I would say, having heard (or read) him say that. Then I would respond, "What difference does that make?" I figure the reason why he wrote that short skit was to get somebody to respond to him... Sooo, I'll be doing that for you Jack! LOL

Jack even wrote one for me about a subject that concerned me... As an aside, there are a number of articles about athletics, games, etc., but the one about an individual who was convicted of sexual abuse at a major higher education institution showed me that even if a fan of sports, this writer also felt there was no way to justify what happened! Thanks Jack for being willing to speak out about this sensitive topic in your book...

It is always harder to review a book with multiple topics, short stories, in essence. I normally choose my most favorite topics and spotlight them, even though I realize that others will find the articles, such as on sports, of greater interest. Thing was, though, I was tagging just too many stories to comment on! For instance, Jack explained his book title in his Foreword. I appreciated that! Too many titles that come to me may mean something to the writer, but if you don't share it, the reader is wondering throughout the book--what does it mean???

Then he started talking about the Kennedy's

"There's clearly a pattern here: crime can't be seen to pay."
~~~

assassination, as sooooo many people still are doing! Was that when we started not to trust???

"Not everything needs to be questioned. But I see sequential, three-act storylines happening all the time that I could write as fiction and accurately predict the outcome. For those in my generation, after John Kennedy was assassinated, came the quick arrest of Lee Harvey Oswald. Two days later Oswalk was murdered on national television by this night club owner, Jack Ruby... Once the shock of the whole thing went away, everybody smelled a rat..."
                                                    ~~~

Readers, I think, will enjoy all of the stories about his life in radio, acting, etc. admitting that, for instance, "Fast Eddie Felson" in The Hustler was one of his role models...

"I remember one of my first role models or guys I wanted to grow up to be like, was Pete Dawkins, the last Heisman Trophy winner from West Point, and a Rhodes Scholar. Not long after that, I wanted to be like pool shart Fast Eddie Felson in the movie The Hustler. I saw no real conflict between the two, because as much as I admired the accomplishments of Pete Dawkins, I'd have probably traded them for Paul Newman's looks without hesitation..."

~~~

And then there are the one-liners, or zingers, that were thrown in to end a story, like, "If you're really going somewhere, you'll need to know who is full of shit and who is not." It's interesting how some people can throw out a lot of knowledge in such a finale...don't you think?

"I was in love with a girl once. I knew nothing would ever come of it but I liked the feeling anyway--to love from afar. Women like that do exist and I lived as if my life was a movie, so I knew how to act and how to feel...I felt like James Stewart following Kim Novak around in Hitchcock's Vertigo..."

Ok, I'm never going to write anything like an autobiography, so I might as well take this opportunity to share that my role model was none other than Kim Novak...wonder why... Oh well, I never met Jimmy Stewart though my first boyfriend was named Jimmy Stevenson, does that count...of course, that's when I was in 1st grade...LOL... Sorry Jack, but it's your memories that are creating my flashbacks!

And that's one of the reasons that people like to read about others, isn't it? We get a vicarious thrill when we find that other's thoughts are similar to ours and/or exactly opposite, so that we have a reaction--a need to connect with that person and discuss those topics with him or her...

Even frustration feels better if you're hearing it from another...Such as when Jack applied for Medicare online. Failed. Tried their automated telephone system... and then the punch line! "They want you to have a stroke and die during the process. I'm not kidding. If you die during the process but nowhere near completing it, they're off the hook..." Oh, my, did I enjoy this one!

And then there was our mutual love of the Globetrotters... And his willingness to share about Vietnam...

Of course you realize that I haven't even touched on so many of Jack's stories! But that's all right because if you have an interest in the era in which the mentioned events took place, then I think you will find that this writer has given readers a stimulating and inspiring look at his own life and the times in which he has lived. Some are funny, some are sad--some you'll agree with and some you won't. But you will have had the opportunity to read another's personal opinion about many of the "great times and events" during the past 50 years or so... Jack I loved this one! Tell your family to hold on to copies, because they are going to cherish this book some day in the future!


GABixlerReviews

W.Jack Savage is a retired broadcaster, artist and educator. He is Vietnam Veteran and graduate of The University of Minnesota, Mankato and received his Master's Degree from California State University, Los Angeles. Jack has now authored six books: three novels, two short story collections and the autobiographical The High Sky of Winter's Shadows. To date, thirty-eight of Jack's short stories have been published in various online and print magazines. This includes all of them from his two short story collections, Bumping and Other Stories and The Petorik Thesis and Tales of the Global West. He has also designed the covers of his books using his original art work. These include his three novels: More With Cal and Uncle Bill, State Champions and The Children Shall Be Blameless. Jack's art has been featured in numerous publications as well. Jack and his wife Kathy live in Monrovia, California.

Jeanie Harris Provides Look at Life of American Poet...

Chasing Fireflies


The Dust Bowl 
Childhood of a Poet




By Jeanie Harris






I don't review many poetry books; I don't have the background professional qualifications to consider all types of poetry so, like a "technical language" book, I pass on most of them. When I do review them, it is because of the message, the words, that are being shared by the poet, nothing else. It was fun, therefore, to read about Wilma Elizabeth McDaniel's early life in Chasing Fireflies. Even though she read many poems and studied somewhat during her early years, she decided she would write as she wished, because it was "the words" that were important... My kind of woman...

Actually, Chasing Fireflies was more a memoir than a collection of poetry, although there are a few included, so I found myself becoming quite involved in McDaniel's early life. She was older than I and did not have access to "the conveniences" that we had by the time I was born, but there was still much for me to share as mutual memories from our childhoods.

Wilma Elizabeth McDaniel grew up in Oklahoma. Her family were sharecroppers. What that meant was that they lived on a farm, had animals, grew crops...but all of the property belonged to somebody else. The family got a percentage of the main crop.

As with today's landlords, there were problems with the house which were never addressed, but the family made it work, A short narrative, for instance, tells how the stove pipe started a fire, and while the family worked to put it out, Wilma's mother had stayed right there, holding things together--and still saving their dinner!

When the Depression came, and then the big crash of the stock market came, there was nation-wide fear, but for the farmers there in Oklahoma, those things meant little to their lives. It was the weather that controlled their future, and during those same years where America was facing financial ruin, there in Oklahoma, the winds started to blow. With little water and no sight of rain, major dust storms blew the top soil away until crops were no longer growing and much of the state became known as the dust bowl...

But in the heart and head of a young girl, Wilma still found wonder in what she saw. Using every scrap of paper she could find, she would work to find the exact words to describe what was happening around her.

Forces

Wind

Wind played a major role

in my early life

Changeable

as its very name

Sometimes

it was sighing gentle

and soothed my fears

under a patchwork quilt

Once

it became so violent

it blew my young life away

~~~

Actually, it was the wind that has deprived us of the earlier poems of this poet--she had started to write when she was 8. Wilma would hide everything she wrote in a hole between the paper and the wall behind her bed. When her family suddenly had the chance to move to California, in one day, she had not felt she could share her words with anybody and left them there, probably never to be found...(One touching thing for me was that, as she grew older and became known for her poetry, many would send her beautiful new writing paper...which she never used, but would save for something special, while she continued to write her poetry on envelopes, advertisements, paper bags, any scrap she could find.)

People talk about the "good ole days" but they really weren't. Sometimes though, we need a dose of reality to realize just how much has changed. "The best part of Wilma's gift was that she always saw something special in the most everyday things. She saw nobility in ordinary people, like her friends...(p. 129) 

Arguably the most iconic American poet of the 20th Century, Wilma Elizabeth McDaniel stands without peer. Of German, Irish and Cherokee heritage, this extraordinary woman’s keen perspective through prose and poetry turned her life experiences into a wealth Wilma mined with a writer’s clarity, a poet’s insight, and a conviction and intensity etched through raw experience.  (Back40 Publishing)

I loved the personal story of Wilma Elizabeth McDaniel found in Chasing Fireflies (One of the things she missed most when she moved from Oklahoma to California was that there were no fireflies sharing their flicker of lights in the evening hours...) You may click the title of this article to visit Back40 Publishing where you can find 13 collections of Wilma's poetry, as well as further background information on the works of  the “Dust Bowl” poet Wilma Elizabeth McDaniel, 1918-2007.

Truly a must-read for poets and American history fans! And enjoy...

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Review: Modern Day Prodigal Son Story Creates Heartwarming Novel!

Image via WikipediaFrom The Dead

By John Herrick


Segue Blue
ISBN: 9780982147016
376 Pages

Finalist – 2010 Next Generation Indie Book Awards



"That's what faith is: believing before you see it, knowing in your heart it's there, even if it's not evident to your eyes." (P.284)








Jesse Barlow was just 18 when he left his Ohio home to become an actor in California. He found his way there and did get a few walkon parts through the years. He worked in a photo shop and had become quite a good photographer--enough to get a few jobs taking pictures. But, his girlfriend continued to bring in more money than he did; in fact, he was living in "her" apartment.

But Jesse had become restless; he had lived with Jada for years and yet they had never grown closer. They had agreed at the start of the relationship that there would be no marriage, no children. It was no longer enough for Jesse. Perhaps it was because his career had never taken off and, in fact, his agent had withdrawn from representing him.

There was only one offer left for him to consider to get a part in a movie; he finally took it, only to have it backfire. Then he learned that Jada was seeing somebody else and asked him to leave. Nobody knew that he had also failed at suicide...

Jesse had kept in touch with his sister, so when he had no place else to go except back to Ohio, he went first to see Eden. Their father was a minister; while there had been some telephone contact between he and Jesse, they had not seen each other for eleven years. When Eden offered her spare bedroom, Jesse gladly accepted. However, he did go visit with his father and even asked him for a job. He was given a job in the maintenance of the church. For Jesse, though, who had begun to feel the peace of being home again, even cleaning a row of toilets was something that worked to help clear his mind.

Eden had immediately encouraged Jesse to contact his old girlfriend, Caitlin. Finally, he felt ready to see her, but then was totally blown away when he learned that she had never aborted their child as they had agreed, before he left home. Jesse, who had been thinking about having children, was to meet his ten year old son, Drew.

So many secrets had been kept. None of Jesse's family had known about Drew. Caitlin's family had forced her to leave when she wanted to keep the baby, and had raised Drew completely on her own. Now she was being very careful--she wasn't willing to trust Jesse in the role of father...

But Jesse had kept his secrets as well. Nobody would ever know about the suicide attempt or about some health issues that had begun while he was still in California. And now that secret could very well cost him his life. And he had figured out how to handle things to move toward his death...

The drama of the Prodigal Son has always captured many of us in its simplicity, but yet the strong emotional response it brings about. When Jesse Barlow becomes the Prodigal Son and is wonderfully accepted and loved once again, how much more he must do for the Prodigal Son's Son. John Herrick has created a modern-day story that readers will find as a thrilling reminder of a father's love. A joyful reunion, fear, forgiveness and divine love creates a memorable, heartwarming experience that I highly recommend to all! Don't miss the opportunity to read From the Dead by John Herrick.

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G. A. Bixler

Review: I Loved Jack Sloan, Main Character in Larry Seeley's New Book!

Gypsies, Tramps, and Thieves

By Larry Seeley




Eloquent Books
ISBN: 9781609760991
338 Pages




Would you like to meet a really cool dude? I recently met Jack Sloan who was created by Larry Seeley in his book, Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves. I have to tell you that if Seeley hadn't already said he was working on a sequel, I would have been suggesting it strongly!

Jack and his friends are fantastic characters you will quickly fall in love with! Ok, they might be a little flawed; Jack would be wanted for murder if the authorities knew who he had killed and later his lover Darlene had to kill a man to save her own life...but, she was traumatized by having to do it...so you really can't blame her!

Jack was in the business of building Tribal casinos as president of All Nations Gaming.. Jack's company had already put up $13M for two projects, but they needed an additional $43M and he was out scouting for funding, when it all began. The thing is, when you're looking for that much money, there are bound to be criminals sniffing around. Dwain B was their front man! Jack's partners thought it looked funny, but Jack didn't think they could afford not to meet and try to get the help they needed.

Dwain played him right from the beginning, noting that his firm normally dealt with packages from $25-75M but that he had a private investor who wanted to do the whole thing! In desperation, Jack agreed to fly to LA. Once he got there, however, he met Dwain, but no investor. Lonnie changed the plans and had invited him to his ranch north of Sacramento. Jack immediately reacted--he has somewhat of a temper! But cooling down, he decided to go on...

Of course, Jack was already on edge and when they arrived, it got worse. There he met Lonnie, Chris, his banker, Irwin. and Lucy, his fiancee. None of them looked right for their supposed positions. It was already late, so they stayed overnight to begin talking. The next day, Dwain was gone; Lucy later revealed she was not Lonnie's fiancee and asked to be taken with Jack when he left! They did their business, both signing to enter into an agreement. And Lonnie indicated that he would drive Jack back to catch his plane--perhaps it was that call that he overheard of Jack calling the FBI? Because, it wasn't very long before Lonnie made his play--and wound up dead. Chris of course had to go as well. Jack and Lucy left, but Jack also took Lonnie's briefcase...

The cash he split with Lucy...

The $6M in bearer bonds along with the list of other individuals conned was sent anonymously to the FBI!

Ok, that last sentence supports my comment about Jack being one cool dude. Just because he killed the two con men and stole the money...at least he made sure the bearer bonds were returned to the others who were conned. That good deed, by the way, was what led to Darlene almost getting killed!

For Jack, he knew he had to lay low after the deal went bad. He quit his job, moved, bought a home and a bar and settled down. But for the rest of Lonnie's crew, they were out for revenge!

As an aside to the con being played on Jack, another con game is being played by Lonnie's lover and partner; the merge of these two cons proves to be effectively choreographed by Seeley and is a significant twisted addition to the novel.

I have to say, readers, that this book is fun to read, exciting, romantic in a way-cool, different way! It is unique with a style of writing that is thoroughly enjoyable--sorta laid-back, yet get up and MOVE! The main characters are wildly diverse but somehow become Jack's family, including, even a law officer! The con crew is deadly and deserve everything that comes to them. I love to hate the bad guys, don't you?!

This one feels like a must-read to me so that's my recommendation to you. Larry Seeley is a new author, but I'm already anxiously waiting for the sequel. You'll be sorry if you miss this one! I loved it!

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G. A. Bixler