Giveaway, Guest Author, JKS Communications, JKS Communications, Showcase

Guest Author JONATHAN CURELOP showcase & giveaway ENDED

CMash April 2, 2014 Leave a Comment

WELCOME JONATHAN CURELOP

JONATHAN CURELOP

Jonathan Curelop is a graduate of the City College of New York’s Creative Writing Program. He has studied at Gotham Writer’s Workshop and the New York Writers Workshop. His fiction and non-fiction have appeared in various publications, including Solstice, Amarillo Bay, Liquid Imagination, UMass Amherst Magazine, apt, Raging Face, The Melic Review, The American Book Review and Aura. Originally from Massachusetts, where he graduated from the University of Massachusetts/Amherst’s Theater department, he now lives in New York City with his wife, Pamela, and works as an editor and as a compliance officer at an international investment bank.
Connect with Jonathan at these sites:

ABOUT THE BOOK

Meet Jimmy LaPlante – sensitive, bookish, baseball obsessed – the neighborhood fat kid and easy prey for his bullying older brother. The story opens in Brockton, MA. It’s 1976. When Jimmy tries to stand up to Cliff, the verbal abuse turns physical and an accident occurs, sending Jimmy to the hospital with an injury that changes the trajectory of his life. TANKER 10 follows Jimmy during his pre-teen and teenage years as he struggles to understand the physical and psychological effects of his injury. Throughout this period, baseball is his outlet. By the time he begins high school, Jimmy is an up-and-coming right fielder on the freshman baseball team. Despite having no physical signs of his condition, he is so ill at ease with himself that he can’t help but feel like a freak. Jimmy spends his life grappling with what it means to be normal as he tries to find his place in his family, among his friends, and with his brother Cliff. TANKER 10 is a funny and heart-breaking story about self-acceptance in the wake of trauma. Readers will root for Jimmy as he struggles to understand that the key to becoming who you are is learning to get out of your own way.

BOOK DETAILS:

Genre: General Fiction, Sports
Number of Pages: 282 pages
Publisher: Book Case Engine
Publication Date: October 2, 2013
ISBN-10: 1628480327
ISBN-13: 978-1628480320

PURCHASE LINKS:

THANKS TO SAMANTHA AT JKS COMMUNICATIONS,
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DISCLAIMER

I received a copy of this book, at no charge to me, in exchange for my honest review. No items that I receive are ever sold…they are kept by me, or given to family and/or friends.

ADDENDUM

I do not have any affiliation with Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble. I am an IndieBound affiliate. I am providing link(s) solely for visitors that may be interested in purchasing this Book/EBook.

Giveaway, Winners

And the winner is…….

CMash March 31, 2014 1 Comment

**…….of Snickering Out Loud by Jenny Sauer**

CONGRATULATIONS!!

14 Anita Yancey Like Partners In Crime Tours on Facebook
An email has been sent and the winner has 48 hours to respond or another winner will be chosen. Thank you to all that entered.

Author, Book Review, The Story Plant

Review: PRESSED PENNIES by Steven Manchester

CMash March 31, 2014 1 Comment

Pressed Pennies by Steven Manchester
Published by The Story Plant
Publication Date: May 13, 2014
ISBN-10: 1611881358
ISBN-13: 978-1611881356
Number of Pages: 355
Review Copy from: Author
Edition: ARC
My Rating: 5

Synopsis via GoodReads:
Rick and Abby grew up together, became best friends, and ultimately fell in love. Circumstance tore them apart in their early teens, though, and they went on to lives less idyllic than they dreamed about in those early days. Rick has had a very successful career, but his marriage flat-lined. Abby has a magical daughter, Paige, but Paige’s father nearly destroyed Abby’s spirit.

Now fate has thrown Rick and Abby together again. In their early thirties, they are more world-weary than they were as kids. But their relationship still shimmers, and they’re hungry to make up for lost time. However, Paige, now nine, is not nearly as enthusiastic. She’s very protective of the life she’s made with her mother and not open to the duo becoming a trio. Meanwhile, Rick has very little experience dealing with kids and doesn’t know how to handle Paige. This leaves Abby caught between the two people who matter the most to her. What happens when the life you’ve dreamed of remains just inches from your grasp?

PRESSED PENNIES is a nuanced, intensely romantic, deeply heartfelt story of love it its many incarnations, relationships in their many guises, and family in its many meanings. It is the most accomplished and moving novel yet from a truly great storyteller of the heart.

My Thoughts and Opinion:

I seem to ask myself the same questions whenever I start to read the latest Steven Manchester book… can he do it again?… can he make me feel the emotions of his characters?…. will I relate to the cast?….will I imagine the settings from his descriptions?… will this read stay with me? …will this book be at the level of the bar that HE, himself set with his first book, Twelve Months?…what about his other books..Goodnight, Brian and The Rockin’ Chair? OK..let’s see so those questions can be answered!

From the first sentence, the reader is swept away to become one and part of the story because of the talented writing style by this author. Not only does Steven Manchester have the gift to pen stories about matters of the heart and relationships, I believe what puts him above many others, is that he truly writes from the heart. It is apparent that he writes about what he knows best, life, but he also has the ability to make his written words come to life in poignant stories.

The Cast: are believable and relatable even though I hadn’t experienced the situation of a divorce, which both Rick and Abby were going through when they were reacquainted, I could feel their emotions as the author described. I did know, and feel, the level of love between mother and child and kept putting myself in Abby ‘s shoes asking myself what I would do in this situation? Does a mother protect her child at the expense of personal happiness? (You will have to answer this question yourself)

There were so many other emotions, situations, experiences and feelings that were brought to mind in comparison and relatability to my own life, both present and past. One example, that brought back vivid memories and emotions of my childhood, of Christmas shopping with my Dad and sister in downtown Providence:

pg 126 Smiling faces, framed in woolen scarves and colorful earmuffs, released a chimney of steam into the starry night and most waved at him. Shop windows, adorned in the year’s latest clothing styles and ingenious toys, beckoned the masses…..Massive garlands, strung from lamppost to lamppost, dangled red-bowed wreaths at each center.

The Setting…it was easy for me to visualize since the setting mainly took place in southern New England with a quick getaway to Aruba, both places I personally have visited during different stages of my life. Places like Lincoln Park , a large amusement park that I haven’t thought about in years and has been long gone, Fenway Park, the corner neighborhood store and the beautiful beaches of Aruba. But I can guarantee that even if you don’t know this area, you will have no problem creating the exact imagery of what he describes.

The Answers: Yes to all!!! A lasting memory and a read that met the bar!! Once again Steven Manchester delivered!! As with all his books, they are written about love, compassion, parenting, growing, pain, relationships, family, disappointments, all the experiences and emotions of life as we all know it. Steven Manchester’s books are written with those very emotions and he allows his readers to remember, relive and feel. His books are timeless!

I have to be very honest, however. I did have one very big disappointment. It was when I started reading the final chapter and knew that the final word would be soon approaching. Why? For me, since I have read every one of his books, I now have to wait another year, waiting for his next novel Goosebury Island, which will be released in May 2015. I highly recommend and urge you to pick up this or any of his other books…..you won’t be disappointed. But like me, I’m sure you will become a Steven Manchester fan and waiting for and wanting more! In my opinion, PRESSED PENNIES, as all his books have, will be winning awards!

Bravo Mr. Manchester and thank you!

REVIEW DISCLAIMER

This blog was founded on the premise to write honest reviews, to the best of my ability, no matter who from, where from and/or how the book was obtained, and will continue to do so, even if it is through PICT or PBP.

DISCLAIMER

I received a copy of this book, at no charge to me, in exchange for my honest review.

No items that I receive are ever sold…they are kept by me, or given to family and/or friends.

ADDENDUM

I do not have any affiliation with Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble. I am an IndieBound affiliate. I am providing link(s) solely for visitors that may be interested in purchasing this Book/EBook.

Mailbox Monday, Meme

Mailbox Monday

CMash March 31, 2014 Leave a Comment

Mailbox Monday

Mailbox Monday was created by Marcia of A girl and her books and is now hosted on its own blog.
According to Marcia, “Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.
Click on title for synopsis

Saturday: The Insanity Plea by Larry D. Thompson (signed ARC from Author)

GCP/Forever, Guest Author

Guest Author KATIE LANE

CMash March 30, 2014 1 Comment

WELCOME BACK KATIE LANE

KATIE LANE

Katie Lane’s interest in romance was sparked in high school in the backseat of a ‘65 mustang—okay, so maybe it wasn’t romance as much as raging teenage hormones. Still, coupled with a wild imagination, those make-out sessions inspired many a steamy storyline along with a strong belief that true love does prevail. Katie lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with the owner of that mustang and is the bestselling author of the Deep in the Heart of Texas series.
Connect with Katie at these sites:

ABOUT THE BOOK

A MATCH MADE IN TEXAS is the sixth book in Katie Lane’s bestselling, witty and sexy Deep in the Heart of Texas series.

Living with four over-protective brothers is enough to make a good girl go bad. But the day Brianne Cates hits the road for a taste of freedom, she gets more trouble than she bargained for when she’s arrested by a sexy sheriff in mirrored shades. Now doing a stint of community service, she’s not going to let a cowboy cop like Dusty Hicks mess with her newfound independence-even if he awakens every wicked fantasy she’s ever had.

In Bramble, Texas, Dusty is the law. That means no leniency for the gorgeous rebel whose highway antics almost got them both killed. The divorced lawman doesn’t need another rich, pampered princess, even if Brianne has the lushest body and sweetest smile in the whole darn state. But even as Brianne proves that she lives to walk on the wild side, Dusty begins to wonder if maybe he has what it takes to tame her….

BOOK DETAILS:

Genre: Fiction
Published by: Grand Central Publishing
Publication Date: March 25, 2014
Number of Pages: 352
ISBN-10: 1455575801
ISBN-13: 978-1455575800

PURCHASE LINKS:

DISCLAIMER
I received a copy of this book, at no charge to me, in exchange for my honest review. No items that I receive are ever sold…they are kept by me, or given to family and/or friends.
ADDENDUM
I do not have any affiliation with Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble. I am an IndieBound affiliate. I am providing link(s) solely for visitors that may be interested in purchasing this Book/EBook.

GCP/Forever, Guest Author, Showcase

Guest Author LORI WILDE

CMash March 27, 2014 Leave a Comment

WELCOME LORI WILDE

LORI WILDE

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Lori Wilde has written sixty novels. She holds a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Texas Christian University and a certificate in forensics. She volunteers as a sexual assault first responder for Freedom House, a shelter for battered women. Lori is a past RITA finalist and has been nominated four times for the Romantic TimesReviewers’ Choice Award. She’s won the Colorado Award of Excellence, the Wisconsin Write Touch Award, the Lories, the More Than Maggie, the Golden Quill, the Laurel Wreath, and the Best Books of 2006 Book Award. Her books have been translated into twenty-five languages and featured in Cosmopolitan,Redbook, Complete Woman, All You, TIME, and Quick and Simple magazines. She lives in Texas with her husband, Bill.
Connect with Lori at these sites:

ABOUT THE BOOK

LICENSE TO THRILL
Las Vegas private eye Charlee Champagne is absolutely fearless. But when handsome Mason Gentry strides into her office, demanding to know where his grandfather is, she can’t control the goosebumps. It’s not like Mason to be in Sin City while the biggest deal of his banking career wraps up without him, but one moment with Charlee brings out his wild side. Before he knows it, Mason is on a mission, driving pedal to the metal across the desert with the toughest, sexiest woman he has ever met . . .

YOU ONLY LOVE TWICE
Comic book creator Marlie Montague’s life isn’t as exciting as her heroine’s . . . until someone points the business end of a pistol right at her. Now she needs help from a real-life action hero: her rock-hard Navy secret-agent neighbor, Joel Hunter. Soon he and the beautiful Marlie are blowing the doors off a full-blown conspiracy with more double agents than a Bond flick. But the real mystery is: How does Marlie manage to leave Joel both shaken and stirred?

READ AN EXCERPT

“You live your entire life by someone else’s rules, is

what you do,” she mumbled.

“What?” He cocked his head. “I didn’t quite catch what

you said.”

“Nothing.”

“You muttered something. Let’s hear it.”

Charlee folded her arms over her chest. “I said, lest you

forget, we’re being followed.”

“That’s not what you said.”

“Pretend it is.”

He knew exactly what she’d said and she was right. He

was a law- abiding man. Where would society be if everyone

threw the rules of civilized behavior out the window?

Charlee probably went for those swaggering bad boy types

who broke the law and broke her heart with equal ease.

“So let them follow us.”

“Need I remind you my grandmother’s trailer was ransacked,

we were shot at, and someone torched my father’s

apartment complex?”

“Your father did that.”

“No he didn’t.”

“Whatever you say.”

“What does that mean?”

“I’m tired of arguing with you.” The woman could

wear a professional fi libuster into the ground.

“Oh, no, no, no.” She shook a fi nger. “You don’t believe

me and simply saying you do doesn’t change your mind.

You can’t just give in because you don’t want to argue.”

“Yes I can. See, I’m shutting up. No more arguing

with you.”

Gleefully, Charlee found the chink in his logic. “Good,

then let’s ditch the Bentley.”

“No.”

“Thought you weren’t going to argue.”

“Sit back and hush.”

He wondered if he was going to have to kiss her in

order to shut her up. Why was kissing her such an appealing

idea?

This had to stop. He was almost engaged.

Think of Daphne.

Determined, he tried to call up Daphne’s image and

his mind went blank. He struggled to summon her scent

but instead of the fl oral aroma of Daphne’s expensive

perfume, he could only smell Charlee’s fresh soap scent.

Instead of mentally seeing Daphne’s sleekly coiffed blond

hair, he saw long, jet- black tresses twisted in beguiling

braids. Instead of hearing Daphne’s dulcet acquiescence,

his ears vibrated with the sound of Charlee’s deep,

throaty- voiced fi rmly held opinions.

Something about Charlee called to that wildness inside

of him he’d buried along with Kip. The wildness that

scared him because he knew what trouble it could cause.

The wildness he missed and feared with equal intensity

BOOK DETAILS:

Genre: Contemp. Romance
Published by: Forever/GCP
Publication Date: March 25, 2014
Sold by: Hachette Book Group
Number of Pages: 660 pages
ISBN: 1455553077
ASIN: B00DTUHMMC

PURCHASE LINKS:

DISCLAIMER
I received a copy of this book, at no charge to me, in exchange for my honest review. No items that I receive are ever sold…they are kept by me, or given to family and/or friends.
ADDENDUM
I do not have any affiliation with Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble. I am an IndieBound affiliate. I am providing link(s) solely for visitors that may be interested in purchasing this Book/EBook.

Giveaway, Winners

And the winner is…….

CMash March 26, 2014 Leave a Comment

**…….of War Of Wings by Tanner McElroy**

CONGRATULATIONS!!

8 Jason D Nickolay Tweet about the Giveaway
An email has been sent and the winner has 48 hours to respond or another winner will be chosen. Thank you to all that entered.

Giveaway, Guest Author, Partners In Crime Tours, Showcase

Guest Author JOHN MANOS showcase & giveaway

CMash March 26, 2014 1 Comment

WELCOME JOHN MANOS

JOHN MANOS

John K. Manos was a magazine editor in Chicago for 20 years. Since 2001 he has earned his living as a writer, editor, and occasional musician. He is a graduate of Knox College. Dialogues of a Crime is his first novel.
Connect with John at these sites:

Q&A with John Manos

Writing and Reading:
Do you draw from personal experiences and/or current events?
I tend to start with personal experience and then expand from there. I’ve found that with very few exceptions, truly autobiographical writing—my own included—is simply not very interesting. It’s like hearing about someone else’s dream—intriguing to the individual, but not to the audience. However, everything I write sparks from a personal experience or an event I happen to notice, perhaps in the news.

Do you start with the conclusion and plot in reverse or start from the beginning and see where the story line brings you?
It’s often a combination of both approaches. But most often, I know where the story is going to end and on occasion have even written the last line almost at the outset. However, even though I also know where the story begins, it unfolds according to its own reality as much as it unfolds according to an plot outline I have on paper or in my mind.

Your routine when writing? Any idiosyncrasies?
I treat writing as a job, albeit a job that can consume seven days a week. So I start writing once the dogs have been walked and I have a cup of coffee at hand. I take breaks but will work into the evening when I’m accomplishing something. But there’s nothing particularly idiosyncratic about my usual routine.

Is writing your full time job? If not, may I ask what you do by day?
If I can include editing other people’s work, then yes, I have done almost nothing other than writing to earn a living since 2001. Prior to then I was a magazine editor.

Who are some of your favorite authors?
This list is almost too long. The prose writers who immediately spring to mind are Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Thomas Pynchon, J.M. Coetzee, Pete Dexter, Cormac McCarthy, Kurt Vonnegut, Ann Patchett, Joseph Conrad, Flannery O’Connor, Saul Bellow, and Toni Morrison, but a recitation of my favorite authors could go on and on. I love many different authors and many different writing styles.

What are you reading now?
I read multiple books simultaneously. The ones that are underway at the moment are Bad Reputation by Matt Hader; House of Meetings by Martin Amis; Bird Sense by Tim Birkhead; TransAtlantic by Colum McCann; The Long Home by William Gay; Seeing by Jose Saramago; Bleeding Edge by Thomas Pynchon; and Life by Richard Fortey.

Are you working on your next novel? Can you tell us a little about it?
Yes. It’s the story of a 35-year-old woman in 1960 who is in no way prepared to raise four children by herself. The novel follows the twists and turns of her efforts to make her way under what, for her, are nearly impossible circumstances.

Fun questions:
Your novel will be a movie. Who would you cast?
Ryan Gosling as Michael Pollitz; Kevin Dunn as Detective Klinger.

Manuscript/Notes: hand written or keyboard?
Both, but mostly keyboard.

Favorite leisure activity/hobby?
Playing guitar.

Favorite meal?
There are far too many to list—it would take dozens of pages just to compile the finalists. So here’s just one out of at least a thousand: A souvlaki dinner with Greek fries, slathered in white wine sauce and tzatziki, at The Athenian Room restaurant on Chicago’s north side.

ABOUT THE BOOK

(from Kirkus Reviews)

In Dialogues of a Crime, Michael Pollitz must decide whether to protect the mobster who has protected him.

When Mike, a college student in 1972 Illinois, is arrested on drug charges, his father insists he use a public defender. His childhood friend’s father, Dom Calabria, head of the Outfit in Chicago, wants to help Mike by providing a first-rate lawyer, but Mike goes with his father’s wishes. The outcome is a plea bargain for a short stay in Astoria Adult Correctional Facility—but after he’s brutally beaten and raped by three inmates, Mike spends most of his sentence in the infirmary. He doesn’t give up his assailants’ names but threatens their lives right before he’s set to be released. When Mike is picked up by the head of the mob, people notice.

Flash forward to 1994, when Detective Larry Klinger begins investigating the murders of two former Astoria inmates who were violently killed shortly after being released. An informant—the third man who beat Mike—tells Klinger that the murders were committed by Calabria, the kingpin whom Klinger would like to see taken down. Klinger investigates, coming in contact with Mike, and the two form a friendship. When Klinger realizes that Mike will never give up Calabria, he begins to wonder whether it’s even worth investigating the murders of such evil men.

READ AN EXCERPT

From the top of the empty building the river cannot be seen, but its presence seeps through the air like a sense of winter on the northern wind. Blood swells around the wire binding the muscular man’s wrists, and his long blond hair is matted with more blood, just now coagulating in streaks across the duct tape sealing his mouth and muffling his periodic cries. Able to see little more than a red mist through his swollen eye sockets, he flinches away as something round and hard, a thick dowel perhaps, leaves stinging stripes across his back and thighs. Thick hands clutch at his shredded clothing. Not yet in shock and with his lungs straining to somehow split the tape he senses a void at the edge of his consciousness, pebbles on the brittle tar spraying and clattering as in agony he is forced to shuffle forward, shoeless but not feeling the frozen roof.

A pounding on the thin panels of the dormroom door invaded the young man’s sleep. He dreamt briefly of the caissons being driven for the Hancock Center construction when he and his father and older brother visited the site in Chicago in 1968, but the banging woke him in time to hear the door opening. What he saw first against the weak early-spring light from the windows was a tall, disheveled middle-aged man with short salt-and-pepper hair wearing an inexpensive suit. Cop? was his first thought. The man glanced around the messy room, then stared down at the student as another heavier officer moved through the entranceway, holding aside a burlap screen the young man’s roommate had hung between the room and the closets. Finally a remotely familiar short bald man with a beard entered quickly, looked down at the young man and said, “That’s him.” The bald man pivoted and disappeared. The young man thought he recognized the beard, but not the bald head or the tie.

“What?” the young man breathed as the heavier cop twitched away his blanket and with an air of perfunctory finality clutched his upper arm, pulled him upright, turned him toward the windows and clipped handcuffs around his wrists. Salt-and-pepper rummaged through the top drawer of his desk and pulled out his checkbook. The young man sat naked on the bed with his hands cuffed behind his hips.

The heavier cop stared down at him, then seemed to relent and said, “You’re under arrest.” An inane idea entered the young man’s mind—he thought it was an April Fool’s joke. The door to his room stood open, and he could hear activity down the hall, more pounding on doors.

Salt-and-pepper opened the checkbook and said, “Michael J. Pollitz. That you?”

“You don’t know who I am?” Michael felt a rush of sleepy terror. His narrow face reddened.

“We know,” said the heavy cop. Both men moved around the room, opening drawers in the desks and small dressers. They walked across his clothing. The heavy cop kicked aside some junk-food wrappers on the floor and used his foot to rearrange a pile of papers and books. Salt-and-pepper opened one of the closets, looked down at the pile of clothing, luggage, books and trash, and shut the door again. It occurred to Michael that they weren’t searching for anything, their indifferent examination a matter of going through the motions. Both seemed bored.

“Can I put on some clothes?” Michael asked. He was well muscled in a way that echoed high school athletics, but he was small and felt shriveled and unbearably vulnerable, nude and handcuffed. His nineteen-year-old mind flashed a brief homophobic panic, even though he knew he was dealing with police. The freeze-dried fantasy included a grisly murder. The heavy cop exchanged a look with salt-and-pepper, then nodded. Michael stood and turned, and the detective removed the cuffs. Michael self-consciously shifted his body as he grabbed a pair of threadbare blue and white striped bell bottom pants from the floor and pulled them on. He picked up a wrinkled blue work shirt and buttoned it, and he tied his tennis shoes without sitting. He combed his long hair away from his face with his fingers before he detective replaced the handcuffs, and Michael sat again.

“Feel better?” salt-and-pepper asked with an ironic smile. Then he left the room. The heavy cop positioned himself in the entrance, in front of the flimsy curtain, and stared impassively. Michael looked at the windows, brighter now as dawn filled the sky. Almost to himself, he said, “What is this?”

“You’re under arrest,” the detective repeated.

“Why?”

The detective didn’t answer, and Michael wasn’t able to endure his stare. He looked through the windows again. His room was at the end of a long hall on the top floor in one of the older dormitories on the small campus, a three-story building with just two floors of rooms, the building shaped like a T with a central staircase that led down to the Student Union. The noises from the hall had died down, but he could hear voices. Still bleary, he couldn’t sort out his thoughts. Why was he being arrested? He hadn’t done anything. It was something with the bald guy, but he couldn’t fill in the blanks.

His friend John Calabria’s father came into his mind. He was suddenly overcome with a desire to be sitting in the office at Dominick Calabria’s farm northwest of Chicago, untouchable, waiting for the man’s sharp smile to fade as he offered a serious solution. What would Dominick Calabria do? Nothing. He would say nothing at all and wait for his lawyer. Lawyers. An army of lawyers.

“Can’t you tell me what’s going on?” Michael asked, overcome by confusion and anxiety. The heavy detective’s expression didn’t change even as salt-and-pepper returned.

“Set?” the heavy detective asked.

“Yeah. Let’s go.” Both cops stepped to the bed and raised the young man by his arms.

As they walked down the hall, Michael said, “I need to piss,” nodding toward the common bathroom. Both cops followed him to the urinals, and the heavy detective removed the handcuffs. When Michael finished, they didn’t replace the restraint. The young man felt a childish flush of relief that was almost pride for the miniscule favor: He was trustworthy, they could see that. And this added an absurd hope that the arrest was a mistake that would soon be clarified.

Outside, a friend from the sophomore class, Pat Kinnealy, whose room was down the hall from Michael’s, stood in handcuffs near an unmarked car in the small parking area next to the dorm. It was brightening into a lovely day. Michael glanced up at the sky, then back toward the parking spaces. Behind the unmarked car were one local squad car and three state cruisers. State troopers stood near their cars. Strangers were seated in the backseats of two of the state vehicles. He could see another acquaintance, a man two years older who lived in an apartment in town, with another stranger in the backseat of the local car. Both sat with the awkward tilt of handcuffed prisoners. Two freshmen from the floor below Michael’s stood in the parking area, also with their hands manacled behind their backs, and a small comprehension formed: The two roommates sold reefer, LSD, mescaline and amphetamines in small quantities from their room—he had purchased from them. Michael suddenly felt conspicuous without handcuffs, caught somewhere in the hostile twilight between Us and Them.

He and Pat were ushered into the backseat of the unmarked car. The two freshmen were placed in one of the state cruisers. “Why aren’t you handcuffed?” Pat asked. Beneath a taut strain of somnolent shock, his pallid face was a mixture of relief and accusation.

“They took them off when I peed,” Michael said. “They didn’t put them back on.” The cops were talking outside the cars.

“Did you recognize the bald guy?” Pat asked.

“Not really.”

“I think I sold him some white cross last fall,” Pat said mournfully. “Dan brought him over with another guy,” nodding toward their friend in the local squad car. “I think he was wearing a stocking cap, but I recognize the beard.” Pat seemed on the verge of tears, the skin pale around his eyes.

“I never sold him anything,” the young man mused, feeling relieved and silently reassuring himself that a mistake was being made. His roommate had from time to time sold an ounce or two of excess grass; they must have intended to arrest him instead. A straw to grasp. He didn’t know about the strangers in the state cars, but even though the two freshmen usually had hallucinogens or speed to sell, they weren’t serious dealers, and he, Pat and Dan weren’t dealers at all. Not in the sense of buying quantities and selling again for a profit or even for a supply of free drugs. But he had an uneasy feeling. He thought he recognized the bearded bald man as well, and Pat confirmed it. He thought he had met him once, when Dan brought him to his room in search of drugs. Michael had shown him to the freshmen’s room several months earlier, before Thanksgiving. Could that be it? It seemed too inconsequential to be real.

BOOK DETAILS:

Genre: Crime Fiction
Published by: Amika Press
Publication Date: July 26, 2013
Number of Pages: 300
ISBN: July 26, 2013
NOTE: Excessive strong language & Graphic violence

PURCHASE LINKS:

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DISCLAIMER
I received a copy of this book, at no charge to me, in exchange for my honest review. No items that I receive are ever sold…they are kept by me, or given to family and/or friends.
ADDENDUM
I do not have any affiliation with Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble. I am an IndieBound affiliate. I am providing link(s) solely for visitors that may be interested in purchasing this Book/EBook.