Published by Seventh Street Books,
17 April 2017.
ISBN: 978-1-63388-263-8 (PB)
17 April 2017.
ISBN: 978-1-63388-263-8 (PB)
This
novel is a mystery wrapped in a series of character studies set in
Steubenville, OH, a small town, once the center of the steel-making industry in
the Ohio Valley. Each has a dream and each faces roadblocks in fulfilling the
desired outcome. The mystery is the murder of a local ne’er-do-well,
Rayce Daubner, and plays a crucial role in the lives of the six persons through
whom the plot is unveiled in alternating chapters devoted to just one, told in
the first person.
There is Johnny Earl, the greatest athlete ever
to graduate from the local high school, who.dreams of a big league baseball
career, but learns he lacks the ability, relgated to the minors and eventually
blows a knee, turning to peddling drugs in Pittsburgh, only to be convicted and
sent to prison for seven years after having been set up by the murder
victim. Francis Roberson decides as a youngster he is going to be President
and goes on to become a star FBI agent before returning to Steubenville to
begin a political career as an elected sheriff. His wife, Allison,
detests the small town and hopes he pursues his ambition to run for Congress
and later for Governor, so she can escape for broader horizons. Beautiful
Dena Marie Conchek Androski Xenakus, homecoming queen, who is oft married or
bedded by most. Her husband, Vincent “Smoochie” Xenakis, picked upon his entire
life until he is accused of the murder and then becomes an aggressive
individual. And lastly, Toots Majowski, Roberson’s deputy, a key player in
bringing it all together.
Johnny and Smoochie are the obvious candidates
for murderer, the former because the victim testified against him in his trial,
the latter because the murdered man was having a torrid affair with his
wife. Even the sheriff was a candidate since he was being blackmailed by
Rayce. There are one or two red herrings along toward the end of the
book, but few clues give the reader a chance to figure out the surprising
choice as the killer. It is fast-reading, well-written and enjoyable, and
is highly recommended.
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Reviewer: Theodore Feit
Robin
Yocum was
born in 1955 in Steubenville, Ohio, and grew up in the in the Eastern Ohio
village of Brilliant. He is an award-winning journalist and the author of
the 2017 Edgar® Award-nominated A Brilliant Death. He is
also the author of the critically acclaimed novels Favorite
Sons and The Essay as well as Dead Before
Deadline... and Other Tales from the Police Beat and Insured
for Murder (with Catherine Candisky). The president of Yocum
Communications, a public relations and marketing firm in Westerville, Ohio,
Yocum is well known for his work as a crime and investigative reporter with
the Columbus Dispatch from 1980-1991. He was the
recipient of more than thirty local, state, and national journalism awards in
categories ranging from investigative reporting to feature writing.
Ted and Gloria Feit
live in Long
Beach, NY, a few miles outside New York City. For 26 years, Gloria was
the manager of a medium-sized litigation firm in lower Manhattan. Her husband,
Ted, is an attorney and former stock analyst, publicist and writer/editor for,
over the years, several daily, weekly and monthly publications. Having
always been avid mystery readers, and since they're now retired, they're able
to indulge that passion. Their reviews appear online as well as in three
print publications in the UK and US. On a more personal note: both having
been widowed, Gloria and Ted have five children and nine grandchildren between
them.
