Kirjahaku

In December of 2019, I lost my father in a traumatic accident. In the turmoil that followed, I dealt with it all as a writer, by creating a travelogue through the process. December PT 11083 explores not only the emotional aspects of losing someone close, but the practical aspects as well. It isn't vulgar, but it isn't filtered either. Be careful.

Jack LeClere is a cop dodging bullets in what could best be described as friendly fire. He took out the serial killer who murdered his parents, and half of New Rhodes paid the price. Not to mention the rioting that gripped the city over the Julia Mae Jefferson murder, his last big case. So in the spirit of the aftermath, his superiors have called into question every sliver of his conduct. Jack is wealthy; he doesn't need to be a detective, and the top brass are implying that maybe if he followed procedure like his livelihood depended on it, he wouldn't want to be a cop. Leonard Beloit is a pillar of the community and a very wealthy man also, which does him no good when Jack gets called to the Grand Royal Theater to find him on the floor, his chest pierced with a gem pickaxe. Jack's search for the person who killed Beloit starts with the search for the person who was Beloit. As he speaks with Beloit's wife and daughter and digs even further, Jack finds a lustful, vagrant degenerate that would be unrecognizable in the society pages. Gangs, petty crimes, and not-so-petty crimes seem to be Beloit's off-hours pastime. None of this would call for Beloit's death, but Jack will keep digging, and soon realize he is peeling into the rot of the onion of New Rhodes high society, of which he is a reluctant member. The deeper he gets investigating what his peers are doing in the shadows, the more they investigate him, asking, in their own way, whether he'll stop playing cop and do something with the vast inheritance he rarely uses, and claims to never want. Beloit's exploits take a very dangerous turn in the form of a conspiracy to transport toxic chemicals through the Adirondacks; it may be that the smoking gun is wrapped up in a smokestack. The case to find, and hold accountable, Beloit's killer will pit him against not only the killer, but a version of himself that it seems everyone around him sees, that perhaps he can't remain blind to anymore.

An eclectic collection of pulp, grit and noir stories inspired by the Capital Region of New York, a rust-belt crossroads in the shadow of the city that never sleeps. Here's a trip led by fat slobs in smoky, vomit-stained cabs, heading to the oasis of the strip club on a street lined with rusted out factories, ventilated with beer cans and rocks. No heroes and villains in these pages, just shades of grey and characters making choices between bad and worse. Tales of woe and macabre, the profane and ordinary dance with each other in a building where the forgotten stay, passing their street whispers like bottles from the bottom shelf. Praise for STREET WHISPERS: "Liam Sweeny is my new favorite crime writer, hands down." -CS Dewildt, author of Kill 'Em with Kindness

An arson in New Rhodes reveals the body of Julia Mae Jefferson, an eight-year-old African American girl in the city's North Central District. Jack LeClere, the top homicide detective in the New Rhodes Police Department, is paired with a new partner for the case, Clyde Burris, a former New York City homicide-turned-New Rhodes PD Internal Affairs detective. Jack and Burris have a mutual distrust of each other, but that's the least of their worries. In the heat of the ashes of that row-house, the search for a brutal killer awaits. New Rhodes is a city on the edge. An influx of new police recruits aren't adjusting to the community they serve. A fight during a protest at a defunded community center begins a back-and-forth struggle between the New Rhodes Police and the North Central community that threatens the relationships that Jack and Burris need to find leads in Julia Mae's case, including the already fractured relationship with the community's lead activist, Marcus Ellison. A well-intentioned move by Jack to help with her funeral backfires as Ellison discovers the true nature of her murder that same day. Julia Mae's world was one of neglect--of a child, and in fact, many of the North Central children--falling through the cracks. Jack and Burris follow her through those cracks and discover an underbelly of abuse and an industry of exploitation in the guise of a daycare center called Mount Vision. Jack and Burris, through their own struggle to build trust in a city where little can be found, find something that even the most cynical activists could never have imagined--a true wolf in sheep's clothing, and a monster with an SS tattoo and a rebel flag in his window. To give Julia Mae justice, Jack, Burris and Marcus Ellison must make a temporary peace, and the city must come face-to-face with the fruits of its indifference.

Compassion, understanding and forgiveness flourish in this taut tale set along the Hudson River.Craig Hill's death and its circumstances are catalysts for change in the lives of the people closest to him in Troy, New York.Danielle is left deeply in debt while handling her husband's death, her small children's experience of loss, and guilt from her mother-in-law.Donny, one of Craig's closest friends, has his own demons to fight and puts his hand through a window at his construction site, starting his downward fall.Rob, a dutiful son who lives with his elderly parents and is trying to raise enough money to pay for his mother's expensive life-prolonging surgery, grapples with the past and future as he comes to terms with Craig's passing.Asher, the wallflower musician who performs on stage but off becomes a passive "chore boy" buffeted by the winds of change, gets caught up in the trials of Craig's circle of friends. Ginny, the hard drinking but lonely drummer in his band, plays him like the straight man in a comic duo.Jordan, who found fame and fortune in New York, has returned to build her success in her hometown. But this proves harder than she anticipated.The tapestry of these characters' stories and how Craig's death affects their bittersweet transformations create a vivid exploration of personal dynamics amid upheavals that are difficult to bear.TROY LOVE STORY speaks to the resiliency and strength of people displaced by societal changes, illuminating the plight of those struggling under the monied class, which uses property and people as fodder for its choice of "economic development" without regard to the tradition and past of the people it affects.

Compassion, understanding and forgiveness flourish in this taut tale set along the Hudson River.Craig Hill's death and its circumstances are catalysts for change in the lives of the people closest to him in Troy, New York.Danielle is left deeply in debt while handling her husband's death, her small children's experience of loss, and guilt from her mother-in-law.Donny, one of Craig's closest friends, has his own demons to fight and puts his hand through a window at his construction site, starting his downward fall.Rob, a dutiful son who lives with his elderly parents and is trying to raise enough money to pay for his mother's expensive life-prolonging surgery, grapples with the past and future as he comes to terms with Craig's passing.Asher, the wallflower musician who performs on stage but off becomes a passive "chore boy" buffeted by the winds of change, gets caught up in the trials of Craig's circle of friends. Ginny, the hard drinking but lonely drummer in his band, plays him like the straight man in a comic duo.Jordan, who found fame and fortune in New York, has returned to build her success in her hometown. But this proves harder than she anticipated.The tapestry of these characters' stories and how Craig's death affects their bittersweet transformations create a vivid exploration of personal dynamics amid upheavals that are difficult to bear.TROY LOVE STORY speaks to the resiliency and strength of people displaced by societal changes, illuminating the plight of those struggling under the monied class, which uses property and people as fodder for its choice of "economic development" without regard to the tradition and past of the people it affects.