For as long as I can remember, I’ve always been a storyteller. I can recall collaborating with a buddy in grade school, and we would write fantastical graphic novels—usually about two buddies wandering in a jungle and battling monsters, or falling into quicksand. Even as an adult, when my daughters were little, I would make up bedtime stories for them about wee people who lived under rocks.
In business, as a consulting engineer, I was always called upon to write, but it was always non-fiction (well, maybe I stretched the truth just a bit when I wrote proposals).
Now that I’m retired, I’ve taken up writing fiction. My first foray into the world of make believe was Silent Warriors: Submarine Warfare in the Pacific. In writing the book, I drew upon my active duty Navy experience serving aboard a WWII-vintage diesel electric sub, the USS Angler (SS 240). I also did tons of research! The result is a novel that’s chock full of action, with lots of detail, and a story that’s guaranteed to hold your interest. Give it a read; I think you’ll enjoy it!
My second book was Operation Exodus. This book is pure fiction, since I hardly had any experience as a Navy SEAL. While attending Amphibious Warfare School on Coronado Island (back in the dark ages) I did become acquainted with some SEALS who were undergoing BUDS training. I watched while one of them ripped off 150 sit-ups in the BOQ. Give me a nice gentle submarine anytime!
Not having direct experience, however, can be overcome by diligent research. There was plenty of that, and I think you will find Operation Exodus both exciting and entertaining.
Then came The Laconia Incident, my second historical novel: It’s mid-September 1942. A German U-boat, U-156, sinks a converted British ocean liner, HMT Laconia, with just two torpedoes. The captain of the sub is horrified to discover that the troop transport he has just sunk was carrying 1,800 Italian POWs, along with British and Polish passengers and crew.
Why the sub captain chooses to launch an operation to rescue his surviving Italian allies is perfectly understandable. But why he also chooses to rescue the British and Polish survivors is truly a mystery. How and why he pursues the rescue while convincing the German U-boat command and Adolph Hitler to go along with it is an even more illogical conundrum.
Then came The Wounds of Jonas Clark. It’s a complete departure for me, a book more spiritual than sensational. Young Jonas wakes up in bed next to his girlfriend screaming, because she’s covered in blood. He soon discovers that it’s his blood, coming from puncture wounds in his hands and his feet. The story gets even weirder from there, as Jonas attempts to come to grips with what turns out to be a spiritual awakening.
And now, another complete departure: a mystery story!
When clients want a body to totally disappear from the face of the Earth, they call upon the services of The Dry Cleaner. There are no bones, no skin, no teeth, no pesky fingerprints—not even metal replacement body parts. And, best of all, there’s no DNA left behind. It’s as if the person never existed. What’s more, for special clients—and the right price—The Dry Cleaner can deliver the total package: a clean kill and an untraceable disposal of the remains.
It’s only when Metro Police Detective Rich Vitelli is tasked with investigating the mysterious disappearance of real estate tycoon Harry Cady Dealey that his and The Dry Cleaner’s paths actually cross. Without an actual corpus delicti, it’s up to Vitelli to piece together the clues he uncovers along the way, involving organized crime, a disgruntled wife and her lover, and, of course, The Dry Cleaner.
The story is told from the perspective of both Vitelli and The Dry Cleaner, with an unexpected ending that will leave readers shaking their heads in amazement.
I hope you will try and enjoy at least one of these books!