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Why is needed medication so expensive?
On holidays, I always have a second serving of dessert.
I’m eternally grateful for my family.
‘Tis the season for to keep each other safe by wearing a mask when out.
A crooked reporter who fronts for the mob and who’s been married eight times gets a visit from his oldest friend, a disgraced and defrocked shrink. The man is in deep trouble and it’s clear somebody is going to pay with his life.
After smuggling cigarettes, maple syrup, and coffee, Aggie discovers a much more sinister plot to exploit what some consider a precious commodity: the trafficking of under-aged children for the purposes of sex.
Months after America’s entry into World War II, a young reporter uncovers that the recently disbanded German-American Bund might still be active and is planning a number of dangerous actions on American soil.
Book Details:
Genre: Crime
Published by: Down & Out Books
Publication Date: October 5, 2020
Number of Pages: 320
ISBN: 978-1-64396-162-0
Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads
I met with the managing editor, Bob Sheldon, and then he handed me over to Jack Sanders, the chief of the metro desk. Both nice guys. Both came from the same mold that gave us Dave Barrett and Bob Doering, my Litchfield bosses. I walked out of there thinking I’d done pretty good. As much as I hated to admit it, I think they were impressed with my having gradu- ated from Yale. “We don’t get many Ivy Leaguers wanting to work here,” the managing editor said. “I’d be happy to be the first,” I replied. And that was true.
That afternoon, it was the Herald Tribune’s turn and I didn’t think went quite as well. I could tell they were looking for someone a little older, a little more experienced. And I was sure my nerves showed, not especially what you want when you’re trying to impress someone and convince them you’re the right man for the job.
That morning, as I was leaving for my interviews, my aunt asked what I’d like for dinner. “I’m sure you could use a home- cooked meal,” she said, then started to probe me for my favor- ite foods.
“No, no, no,” I said. “I’m taking you out for dinner…”
“I appreciate it, Jakey, but you really don’t have to do that.” “Are you kidding? I want to do it. And believe it or not, they actually pay me for what I do at the paper. So, I’ve got money burning a hole in my pocket and what better way to spend it than taking my favorite aunt out to dinner. Just think about where you’d like to go. And do not, under any circumstances, make it one of the local luncheonettes. If I report back to my mom that that’s where I took you, she’d disown me.”
“You choose, Jakey. After all, you’re the guest.”
I got back to my aunt’s around 3:30. She was out, so I decided to catch a quick nap. I was beat, having been up before five that morning, meaning I got maybe three fitful hours of sleep. And even the excitement of being back in the big city didn’t keep my eyelids from drooping. And I had no trouble falling asleep, despite the sound of traffic outside the window.
I was awakened by the sound of Aunt Sonia unlocking the door. I looked at the clock. It was 5:30 p.m. I got up, straightened myself out, and staggered into the living room just as she was headed to the kitchen carrying two large paper bags filled with groceries.
“Remember,” I said, “we’re going out for dinner.”
“Are you sure, Jakey,” she said as I followed close at her heels into the kitchen.
“One-hundred percent sure. Here, let me help you put those things away.” She smiled. “You won’t know where to put them,” she said as she placed both bags down on the kitchen table.
“You think with all the time I spent here as a kid I don’t know where the milk, eggs, bread, flour, and everything else goes? And even if I didn’t, I’m a reporter, remember? I think I can figure it out.”
“I’m sorry, Jakey. I guess I can’t get the little kid out of my mind. I’ll put this bag away, you put away the other.”
“So, what’s new around here, Aunt Sonia?” I asked as I ferried eggs and milk to the icebox.
“New?”
“I mean, it’s not the same old Yorkville, is it?”
“I’m not sure what you mean, Jakey.”
“You do read the papers, don’t you? We’re at war with Germany, Italy, and Japan. This is Yorkville. It’s crawling with German-Americans, right?”
“Oh, that.”
“Yes, that.”
“I really don’t see much of a difference,” she said, stowing away the last of the groceries in the cabinet next to the stove. I got the feeling this was a subject she was not interested in dis- cussing, which made it all the more appealing to me. Maybe that accounts for my going into journalism.
“There’s got to be a little tension, doesn’t there? I mean, wasn’t there that big Nazi rally at Madison Square Garden a few years ago?”
“I don’t really pay much attention to the news, Jakey. Of course, I read everything your mother sends me that you wrote. But the news, well, it’s very upsetting.” She shook her head back and forth slowly.
“That’s putting it mildly,” I said as I pulled out a chair and sat down at the kitchen table.
“Have you decided where we’re going?” Aunt Sonia said. I could see she was still uncomfortable talking about anything having to do with the war. And then it hit me. Her son, my cousin Bobby, who was several years older than me, pushing thirty, in fact, recently enlisted and was now somewhere in Eu- rope. No wonder she was reluctant to talk about it.
“I thought the Heidelberg might be fun. I remember you taking me there as a kid. It was like one big party. I remember someone was at the piano playing these songs I’d never heard before. And this very strange music…”
She smiled. “Oom-pah music. And you were so cute. You got up and started swaying back and forth.”
My face got warm. “I don’t remember anything of the sort,” I said, embarrassed at the thought of doing something so attention-grabbing.
“You can ask your mother if you don’t believe me. But just let me change and freshen up and we’ll get going.”
***
Excerpt from ”Third Degree” by Ross Klavan, Tim O’Mara and Charles Salzberg. Copyright 2020 by Ross Klavan, Tim O’Mara and Charles Salzberg. Reproduced with permission from Ross Klavan, Tim O’Mara and Charles Salzberg. All rights reserved.
There are people who don’t like to hear that I’ve been married eight times, but for myself, I don’t trust anyone who’s only been married once.
Ex-Doctor Solly had only gone to the altar a single time, but he made up for it by having an obsession with hookers and by sleeping with at least three of his patients, which is a very bad thing to do especially for a shrink, hence the “ex” in ex-doctor. Women either can’t get enough of him or they immediately sense they’re standing beside Satan and they take off. But Ex-Doctor Solly has been married this one time and that was to the last woman that I’d married and why she agreed to that, frankly, to this day, I’ve never figured out.
They’d even had a kid together. She’d never wanted kids, not with me. And Ex-Doctor Solly? To him, having a child sort of balanced out with finding a tumor who wanted toys. Maybe she had the kid to get at me. Maybe she married him to get at me. Maybe it had nothing to do with me. But here’s Ex-Doctor Solly, heaving for breath with his skinny ass in my chair and graced by the holy light of Netflix flashing across his face.
“Jesus, gimme a fucking drink already, what are you waiting for, the Messiah?”
“I only have some…”
“Fine. Wait. Hold on, wait a minute.” What’s left of my Denver edible pops open his saucer eyes; he’s turning it round and round and round. “Where’d you get this?”
“Tanya brought it back for me from…”
“Good, great, OK, easy to get more,” as the rest of the cookie is crushed into his
mouth, mercilessly, fingertips pushing, shoving. It all disappears. “ButIstill- needadrinkgivemeanythingyouhave,” he says.
“I can’t understand you, schmuck, your mouth’s so full that…”
“A DRINK!” like he’s chewing on stinging bees, forcing a swallow. “Dick! What kind of friend are you, don’t you see? This is as bad as it gets.”
I come back with his drink, fit it into his hand, and Ex-Doctor Solly then slumps and slouches and leans forward, and if he could have X-rayed the floor, he would have.
“It’s bad, Dick, really, really bad,” he says. “Not bad like all those bads before. This is, like, bad whether we say so or not.”
“I’m not lending you money.”
“Dick. I’ve killed someone.”
“You’ve…”
“NO! Wait! Did I say ‘killed someone?’ Don’t listen to me, I don’t know what I’m talking about. I’m in a manic state…”
A small plastic box of meds makes rattling sounds in his hand, and he pops two of
something, I don’t know what. Swallows with the scotch, leans back, and blows a breath like he’s doing his own, personal nor’easter. Let me also tell you this: he’s looking worse than lousy. Even worse now that he’s actually stepped into the room. Everything’s settled on him, all of it, settled on him like in his mind he’s sliding awake and open-eyed into the back of an empty hearse—and a cheap one at that.
“It’s not exactly that I killed someone,” Ex-Doctor Solly says. “It’s that I was around someone who was killed. I was with somebody who died. Some people think I’m responsible for this death. Even if I’m not, they’re gonna make me responsible. Do you see what I’m getting at?”
“No,” I say.
“Do you have any more dope?”
In the kitchen, I stare at my one surviving edible lying peacefully in the drawer, and I now hide that away after a weak moment, which means I was toying with the stupid idea of playing “good host.”
I call to Ex-Doctor Solly, “Nothing left, I’ll get you another drink.”
By the time I’m back to the ex-doctor, he’s shivering enough to make the ice in his scotch glass clatter.
“You’re not gonna puke, are you?”
“Probably later,” he says. “I’m mixing scotch with THC and two anti-anxiety medications. OK. I’m all right for…” he looks at his watch, takes his own pulse, nods professionally, and finishes, “…maybe the next three hours and 17 minutes. That’s my educated guess.”
***
Excerpt from ”Third Degree” by Ross Klavan, Tim O’Mara and Charles Salzberg. Copyright 2020 by Ross Klavan, Tim O’Mara and Charles Salzberg. Reproduced with permission from Ross Klavan, Tim O’Mara and Charles Salzberg. All rights reserved.
Ross Klavan has published two other noir novellas with Down and Out: “I Take Care Of Myself In Dreamland” and “Thumpgun Hitched” both in collections with Charles Salzberg and Tim O’Mara. His darkly comic novel “Schmuck” was published by Greenpoint Press in 2014. Klavan’s screenplay for the film Tigerland was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award and was directed by Joel Schumacher, starring Colin Farrell. He’s written screenplays for InterMedia, Walden Media, Miramax, Paramount, A&E and TNT. As a performer, Klavan’s voice has been heard in dozens of feature films including “Revolutionary Road,” “Sometimes in April,” “Casino,” “In and Out,” and “You Can Count On Me” as well as in numerous TV and radio commercials. In other lives, he was a reporter and anchorman for WINS Radio, RKO Network and LBC (London, England) and a member of the NYC alternative art group Four Walls. He lives in New York City.
Catch Up With Ross Klavan On: Goodreads, Instagram, Twitter, & Facebook!
Charles Salzberg, a former magazine journalist and nonfiction book writer, has been nominated for two Shamus Awards, for Swann’s Last Song and Second Story Man. He is the author of 5 Henry Swann novels, Devil in the Hole, called one of the best crime novels of 2013 by Suspense magazine, Second Story Man, winner of the Beverly Hills Book Award, and his novellas Twist of Fate and The Maybrick Affair, appeared in Triple Shot and Three Strikes. His short stories have appeared in Long Island Noir (Akashic), Mystery Tribune and the crime anthology Down to the River (edited by Tim O’Mara). He is a Founding Member of New York Writers Workshop and is on the board of MWA-NY, and PrisonWrites.
Catch Up With Charles Salzberg On:
CharlesSalzberg.com, Goodreads, BookBub, Instagram, Twitter, & Facebook!
Tim O’Mara is the Barry-nominated (he didn’t win) author of the Raymond Donne mystery novels. He’s also the editor of the short crime story anthology Down to the River, published by Down & Out Books. Along with Smoked and Jammed, Beaned completes the Aggie Trilogy.
Catch Up With Tim O’Mara On: TimOMara.net, Goodreads, BookBub, Twitter, & Facebook!
Visit these other great hosts on this tour for more great reviews, interviews, guest posts, and giveaways!
Mailbox Monday
Click on title for synopsis via GoodReads.
Thursday:
Mothers Don’t Lie by Jo Crow~eBook from Relay Publishing via NetGalley
Paradox Lake by Vincent Zandri ~ eBook from Oceanview Publishing via NetGalley
Sweet Water by Cara Reinard~ eBook from Author
Friday:
Lola On Fire by Rio Youers ~ eBook from Harper Collins/Scene Of The Crime via NetGalley
“REALISTIC & CHILLING!” – Mystery Thriller Week
This Trilogy was phenomenal!! High octane reads!!! Both thrilling and chilling!! Outstanding!!!!
The research was extensive, whereas the reader will learn many things, at least I did. Lies, secrets, betrayals, friendships, and murder fill the pages. Don’t let the 400 pages deter you from picking up these books because it was so captivating that the pages were turning at warp speed.
An exceptional ingenious story!!! I can honestly say that these books are in the Top 10 of my all-time reads!!!!
These books should be both on the NYT Best Sellers list and/or made into a series or movie!!!! Remember his name because I am sure, you will be hearing more about him!!!
Not only do I highly recommend it, but I also suggest you put your life on hold and devour it!!!!! But then, you may not have a choice because you won’t want to miss what happens next!!
BRAVO Mr. Franko!!! BRAVO!!!!!!
Roy and Susie are on a skiing holiday, trying to take a break from the constant reminders of their daughter, tragically killed by a careless driver. Out of the blue they meet Deb and Tom, another couple with a tragic past and a shocking proposal to put things right.
As the bodies accumulate, secrets are revealed and alliances crumble. Ultimate survival depends on following the rules for a perfect murder. And the first rule is… leave no singing bones.
The story starts 30 years ago in 1980 when an eleven-year-old Joan saw something shocking while she was at camp and was running to tell the adults because she knew what she saw was sinful. But she never did because a tragic and fatal accident interfered. Or was it more than just an accident?
The story then proceeds to 2018 where the reader is introduced to a married couple, Susie Font and Roy Cruise. From the outside, they have everything, the perfect marriage, wealth, and notoriety to all of their accomplishments. Or should I say had? All of that meant nothing after they lost their only child, sixteen-year-old Camilla in a fatal car accident. The other driver, Liam Bareto, hit her head on because of texting. He fell into a coma with severe injuries but the doctors thought he would survive. During this time, Susie became a shell of a person and Roy tried everything to help her through this dark time. Then a few months later, Liam also died. His mother believed it was not due to his injuries but to something more sinister.
Should life’s bad choices be an eye for an eye or should one believe in the justice system? And if there is no justice, should there be revenge? And if this route is taken, make sure there are no singing bones!
An exceptional read. With most books, the jaw-dropping usually happens at the end of the story. However, this book had multiple jaw-dropping moments throughout. There were stories within stories, each interwoven with precision. The writing fluid and sharp.
Highly, HIGHLY, recommend!!!!
A college Halloween party. A night of fun, dress-up, and laughter. But for Kristy Wise, it quickly became a night of horror.
Now, Joe Harlan Junior, entrepreneur and son of a prominent senator, is at risk of losing everything as he stands accused of a crime he insists he did not commit.
Yet the facts are undisputed: Kristy was drugged, and she did have sex with Joe.
But was it consensual?
Read the story. Listen to the testimony. Is everything that happens next justified?
YOU decide.
This is how and when it all began. The outcome of this case set everything in motion that caused upstanding individuals to take justice, and revenge, into their own hands and become murderers.
This was a quick read. The majority was the transcript of the court proceedings and the outcome. I did feel that I was in that jury box but I’m still not sure what my verdict would have been. But then I might not have seen the silent, instantaneous reaction that the defendant gave to the victim. Would that have changed my decision?
What would you do if you got away with murder? Would you stop there? Could you?
Susie and Roy thought that they committed the perfect crime.
Their planning was meticulous. Their execution flawless.
But, there is always a loose end, isn’t there? Always a singing bone.
Now, while enemies multiply and suspicions abound, their perfect world begins to crumble.
The hunters have become the hunted.
More bodies are piling up at the hands of Roy Cruise and Susie Font in the name of revenge.
In Tooth For Tooth the who, how, and why of the murders in Eye For Eye are revealed and the details are shocking and will totally surprise you. And even more jolting is that one young victim joins in the fray of vengeance.
But have this successful husband and wife, turned murderers, committed one murder too many to put themselves in the crossfire?
Tune in to Book 3, Life For Life.
Another thrilling and chilling read in this Trilogy!!!!
Roy Cruise and his pregnant wife Susie barely survived an assassination attempt in their own home. The police now have them under surveillance. Meanwhile, Kristy Wise is a loose cannon—she knows too much and is trying to “set things right.”
What goes around comes around. And in this case, Roy and Susie may have pushed things too far. There are too many dead bodies. Too many foes plotting against them.
Roy and Susie must outwit the police and neutralize their enemies once and for all. If not, their days of retribution may end behind bars… or six feet under.
The drama continues and like I mentioned in my review for Eye For Eye, more jaw-dropping moments. More truths are revealed and more bodies are piling up. But is it true what they say about Karma?
In Life For Life it may have just caught up with Roy Cruise as he has to make a horrendous decision. And on the tails of that, he is charged with the murder of Joe Harlan Junior. Is there a “singing bone” that will cost him his freedom?
As much as I wanted to see how this ended, as I was getting to the last few chapters in the book, I also didn’t want it to end. I was invested in these characters.
And if you heard a scream, it was me, more books are on the horizon and I CAN’T WAIT!!!!!
| Genre: | Thriller, Suspense, Crime, Legal |
| Published by: | Talion Publishing |
| Publication Date: | October 5, 2020 |
| Number of Pages: | 1050 |
| ASIN: | B08KSCHTRX |
| Series: | Talion Trilogy #1 |
| Find out more or get your copy: |
Amazon & Goodreads |
When I try to piece together how this whole mess began, a part of me thinks it may have started over thirty years ago. At least the seeds were planted that far back, in the early 1980s. What happened then, at that summer camp in Texas, set the stage for everything that was to come.
Odd, how something so remote in time and geography continues to impact me here, today.
Sometimes I try to imagine her, how she felt—that eleven year-old girl—as she ran, stumbling and tripping through the woods that night. I try to put myself in her shoes. When I do, I wonder if she was frightened.
Did she understand the consequences of what she’d gotten herself into? I imagine it felt otherworldly to her, like a dream. But not a good dream. No, one of the bad ones—the ones that make your heart machine-gun as you try to outrun some dark thing that’s chasing you. But the faster you try to run, the slower you go, your legs feeling leaden, clumsy, useless.
Panic sets in. Tears of frustration form. Fear takes hold and won’t let go. You open your mouth to scream but realize, to your horror, that you’re paralyzed. It’s not that you can’t scream; you can’t even breathe. Not a dream—a nightmare.
Then again, all that may simply be my imagination. It could just be me projecting what I might have felt onto Joan. Maybe she wasn’t scared at all.
True, it was dark out. The night smelled of rain, but there was no lightning, only the far-off rumble of thunder hinting at a distant storm. There were no trail lights, no visibility but for the moon peeking out intermittently from behind a patchwork of clouds. But, Joan had been down this trail before. She was running toward the main cabin.
She had been at Camp Willow for almost two full weeks. She had been up and down that trail at least ten times a day, every day. Of course, that was during the day, and always with her buddy, or a camp counselor (the children called them troop leaders). Joan had never been on the trail at night. And never alone.
Maybe I imagine Joan was scared because, as an adult, I believe that she should have been. I would have been terrified.
***
Excerpt from Eye For Eye by JK Franko. Copyright © 2019 by JK Franko. Reproduced with permission from JK Franko. All rights reserved.
J.K. FRANKO was born and raised in Texas. His Cuban-American parents agreed there were only three acceptable options for a male child: doctor, lawyer, and architect. After a disastrous first year of college pre-Med, he ended up getting a BA in philosophy (not acceptable), then he went to law school (salvaging the family name) and spent many years climbing the big law firm ladder. After ten years, he decided that law and family life weren’t compatible. He went back to school where he got an MBA and pursued a Ph.D. He left law for corporate America, with long stints in Europe and Asia.
His passion was always to be a writer. After publishing a number of non-fiction works, thousands of hours writing, and seven or eight abandoned fictional works over the course of eighteen years, EYE FOR EYE became his first published novel.
J.K. Franko now lives with his wife and children in Florida.
Mailbox Monday
Click on title for synopsis via GoodReads.
Monday:
Do Not Disturb by Claire Douglas~ TPB from Harper Collins
The Nantucket Inn by Pamela Kelley ~ Kindle from Amazon free download
Friday:
Beyond The Headlines by R.G. Belsky ~ eBook from Author/Oceanview Publishing
Corey Logan was set up. She knows Nick Season’s terrible secret. Coming home from prison, all Corey wants is to be with her son. To get him back, she needs to make a good impression on the psychiatrist evaluating her. Dr. Abe Stein doesn’t believe she was framed — until his well-heeled mother falls for the charming state attorney general candidate, Nick Season. As the dogs of war are unleashed, Corey and her son run for their lives — taking her boat up the Pacific Northwest’s remote Inside Passage.
“A stunning, fast paced thriller that took me on an intense ride and kept me on the edge of myseat the entire way through … If you love beautifully executed thrillers that will play with your mind as well as your heart, this is the book for you.” ~ Midwest Book Review
Inside Passage is the first in Weissbourd’s haunting, heart-stirring Corey Logan Trilogy.
Click here to find out more about the Corey Logan Trilogy.
Book Details:
Genre: Crime Thriller
Published by: Blue City Press
Publication Date: October 20th 2020
Number of Pages: 290
ISBN: 1733438246 (ISBN13: 9781733438247)
Series:A Corey Logan Thriller, #1 || STAND ALONE MYSTERY
Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | Goodreads
Burt Weissbourd is a novelist, screenwriter and producer of feature films. He was born in 1949 and graduated cum laude from Yale University, with honors in psychology. During his student years, he volunteered at the Museum of Modern Art in Paris and taught English to college students in Thailand. After he graduated, he wrote, directed, and produced educational films for Gilbert Altschul Productions. He began a finance program at the Northwestern University Graduate School of Business, but left to start his own film production company in Los Angeles. He managed that company from 1977 until 1986, producing films including Ghost Story starring Fred Astaire, Melvyn Douglas, John Houseman, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., and Patricia Neal, and Raggedy Man starring Sissy Spacek and Sam Shepard, which The New York Times called “a movie of sweet, low-keyed charm.” In 1987, he founded an investment business, which he still runs. Burt’s novels include the thrillers Danger in Plain Sight, The Corey Logan Trilogy (Inside Passage, Teaser and Minos), and In Velvet, a thriller set in Yellowstone National Park.
What was the inspiration for this book?
Writing a woman who was very capable in the wilderness, on the water, in rough neighborhoods in the city, but not very self-aware, I wanted to write about how becoming more insightful would help her realize her capacity.
She’s a fisherwoman in Alaska, strong and capable in that wild water. She comes out of prison and has to get an evaluation by a psychiatrist in order to get her son back, and that relationship is the beginning of her path to becoming more introspective.
What has been the biggest challenge in your writing career?
The biggest challenge so far has not been the writing, but in marketing the books. The Corey Logan Trilogy were originally published by a small, capable publishing company run by a bright publisher. He got me started, listened to me about what the books should look like, He encouraged many, many book readings and signings in LA, NYC, Chicago, Boston, Bozeman MT, Yellowstone General Stores, Seattle, and so on. He supported me to interview more than 50 people—well-known movie people, prominent Seattleites, bookstore owners, other writers, TV personalities, accomplished Seattle architects, newspaper writers, and so on for his channel on blog talk radio. I liked him; I still like him. There was one problem for me—he wasn’t selling enough books.
Of course, anyone who knew publishing, knew that it was always possible that even if you had a great product, your publisher might not be able to sell that type of book. So, I decided to take the next, final step. I would control the final product, and for better or worse, I would decide how to sell it. So here I am, selling my new book, Danger in Plain Sight, then recovering and republishing all four of my earlier books. It’s too early to predict the outcome, but I’m hugely happy that I’m making the decisions and that my success will not depend on someone else’s product nor a hesitant or unconvinced publisher. I couldn’t be happier about the process so far, and as they say, “let the chips fall where they may.” I’m responsible. I’ll take the blame, or I’ll lead the celebration for the outcome.
What do you absolutely need while writing?
Free time and lack of distractions.
Do you adhere to a strict routine when writing or write when the ideas are flowing?
I try to write every day. I prefer a character-driven approach to writing. As a producer in Hollywood developing a screenplay, I always looked for stories with strong, complex characters and a “rich stew”—that is to say a situation with conflict, emotional intensity, and the potential to evolve in unexpected ways. That is exactly how I approach the books that I write. While some authors choose to map out their plots before all else, I choose to craft complex, unexpected characters first. From there, I write sequentially, allowing my characters to take the lead.
The most surprising and most satisfying part of writing for me has been how characters take over when you’re writing really well and go down unexpected paths to unintended, often more complex, more satisfying outcomes than you anticipated.
The most rewarding part of the entire writing process for me has been learning to write, rewrite, then rewrite again until I know that I’ve written precisely what I hoped for and found exactly the emotional complexity I was reaching for. And that all begins with clear, emotionally and mentally developed characters.
Who is your favorite character from your book and why?
My two favorite characters in Inside Passage are my protagonists, Corey and Abe. Corey is a strong woman who’s coped with painful, debilitating hardship. After serving 22 months for drug smuggling, a crime she didn’t commit, Corey Logan is finally released from a Federal Correctional Institution. All she wants now is to get her teenaged son out of foster care and make a home for the two of them in Seattle. But there’ll be a Psychiatric Evaluation first, with some shrink named Dr. Abe Stein, and assuming she gets by him, there’s the threat of Nick Season, the candidate for State Attorney General who set her up, tried to have her killed in prison, and now, more than ever, wants her out of the picture. Her problem—she can neither prove nor say what she knows, for fear of losing her son forever.
Corey is very able in the world, but she doesn’t do well with her feelings. She doesn’t talk about her inner life. In fact, she really doesn’t see insight as the first and essential step to solving problems. She’s never had a wonderful relationship with a partner. She’s not able to sort through and understand her emotional life. She’s not able to see how to make decisions that might dramatically change the reality she’s stuck in. But everything changes for her when she meets Dr. Abe Stein. The last man that Corey could ever imagine having a relationship with is Abe Stein. He’s distracted. He sideswipes cars. He sets fires in ash trays or in waste baskets, where he carelessly throws lit matches from his pipe. He’s uneasy on her boat because he can’t swim. He misjudges her at the start, not believing that she was framed. While it is Dr. Stein whose work with Corey liberates her, it is Corey who brings Abe back to life.
Who is your least favorite character from your book and why?
I don’t think I have a least favorite character in this book. Even the villains, though horrifying and unlikeable, become understandable. I strive to deepen the emotional lives of all my characters to their fullest extent, so much so that I enjoy writing all my characters, protagonists and antagonists alike.
Give us an interesting fun fact or a few about your book?
I’ve been a fly fisherman for many years, and I’ve been fishing up the Inside Passage. Much of those descriptions of that area are from my own experiences.
Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?
Thank you, and I truly hope you enjoy the book.
Tell us a little about yourself and your background?
I came to Hollywood in 1977 to produce feature films. I was 28 years old. I didn’t know anyone in the movie business, but I’d stumbled onto a timely idea — I was going to work with, and most importantly, back screenwriters. That is to say, stand behind their work — and I say this with hindsight — protect them from being rewritten, include them in the process of choosing a director, casting the picture, all of the decisions that go into making a feature film.
Early in my producing career, I had the privilege of working with author Ross Macdonald, a legend in crime fiction, on his only screenplay. Working with him, I began to see how characters could drive plot.
I left Hollywood in 1987 — the golden age was over, and I wanted to write. With hindsight, the best screenplays I’d worked on never got made. Nevertheless, it was a great experience. As a producer developing a screenplay, you learn to look for stories with strong, complex characters and a “rich stew” — that is to say a situation with conflict, emotional intensity, and the potential to evolve in unexpected ways. That is exactly how I approach the books that I write. I learned how to do that as a producer working on screenplays.
What’s next that we can look forward to?
My next book, In Velvet, a wildlife thriller set in Yellowstone National Park, will be released in February of 2021.
I’m also finishing a book, ROUGH JUSTICE, I started years ago. It’s also a thriller, with a wide canvas going from Hollywood in the 80s and 90s to Seattle, Chicago, Paris, Vancouver Island, and then Laos. When I finish this, I intend to write the sequel to my novel DANGER IN PLAIN SIGHT when main characters Cash and Callie are together.
“Wouldn’t you like to get married in your own backyard?”
“Of course I would. You know that,” she snapped. “But I can’t.”
“Why not? Because Nick Season says you can’t. You have the right to live the life you want to live. Don’t give it up for that son of a bitch. Hell no. You don’t have to do that.” Abe leaned closer. There it was, those laser-like light blue eyes. “It won’t be easy, but together, we can figure out what to do. You and I can do this. We have to.”
“My God, what are you thinking? This isn’t like psycho-therapy.” She held his eyes. “We can’t ‘figure it out’ or ‘work on it.’ It’s not a head game. We have no evidence. Nothing. Nick’s a foolproof liar and a stone-cold killer. And he’s going to be Washington’s state attorney general.”
“And he has to be stopped.” Abe looked into their fire. “It’s not just about what you’d have to give up … think about what he’ll do if he ever finds out that you and Billy are alive. And though you might be okay for a year, or even two, eventually, he’ll start to wonder. And then to worry. It’s who he is. You’ve told me that. And then he’ll never stop checking. He’ll have me followed. Every year, he’ll run your prints, and Billy’s, through some Canadian database. And that’s just the beginning … unless we stop him.”
“And how do you propose to do that?”
Abe’s bushy brows furrowed in a “V” until they almost touched. “I understand the problem now.” They touched. Corey had never seen that. Very cool. He meant business. He turned to her, full face. “To begin, I’ll comb my hair and look this devil in his shiny black eyes.”
What? What was that? Corey was dumbstruck. Eventually, she softly mouthed, “What?” And louder, before he could answer, “Aren’t you afraid of him?”
“He’s very frightening, and I’m painfully aware of what’s at stake. And of course I see how very dangerous he is and yes, that scares me.” He scowled. “But I have other feelings that are even stronger than my fear.”
“What does that mean?”
“What I’m afraid of, what keeps me up at night, is losing you. Nick wants to kill the person I love most in the world. That makes him my archenemy, my nemesis. What I feel for Nick is inexhaustible rage.” He tapped his pipe against the log, emptying it into the sand, then he carefully set it down. When he looked up, his expression had turned fierce. Abe took both of her hands. “Nick Season be damned!”
“You’re being crazy.” She had never seen Abe like this.
“No, I’m telling you how I feel. I want to marry you Corey. I want to live with you and Billy in Seattle. I want to go to parent night at Billy’s school. I want to take you guys to dinner at Tulio and for pizza at Via Tribunali. I want to fish at your favorite spots near Bainbridge —”
“He’ll kill us all.” And Abe was really scaring her.
“I have to keep that from happening.”
“This isn’t a storybook. Nick isn’t like anyone you know. And this isn’t an insight kind of deal. Look what happened the last time you tried to help. They almost got Billy, and I had to kill someone. Look what almost happened last night. This time you and Billy and I, we could all die. Do you understand that?”
“Yes, I do. But I won’t let that happen.”
“Won’t let that happen?”
“No, I won’t.”
“How?”
“I’m working on that. “
“Working on it? How? You’re going to comb your hair? Look this devil in his shiny black eyes? What is that about?”
Abe considered her question. “It’s a way of starting.”
Corey put her head in her hands. She didn’t know what to say.
***
Excerpt from Inside Passage by Burt Weissbourd. Copyright 2020 by Burt Weissbourd. Reproduced with permission from Burt Weissbourd. All rights reserved.
Visit these other great hosts on this tour for more great reviews, interviews, guest posts, and giveaways!
Mailbox Monday
Click on title for synopsis via GoodReads.
Monday:
Open House by Katie Sise~ Kindle from Amazon Prime First Reads
Friday:
The Stranger In The Mirror by Liv Constantine ~ eBook from Harper Collins via NetGalley
I never thought I would say this, but after 8 months, I am starting to get my reading mojo back, FINALLY!!!!!
I can’t believe COVID-19 is still not under control.
Eating and smoking cigarettes, I know neither is good, is how I deal with stress.
Now is the perfect time to start my online holiday shopping.
