Bøker av Jt Debold

From the author of: "Illicit and Covert", "The Pink Reich", "Has Been" and several other titles. --- The haunted history of The Hotel Kelly began with two impoverished immigrants who left behind their beloved Ireland to come to America. The dream of a better life in another land was shared by many and for good reason. Poverty was a way of life had they stayed in their motherland. They wanted more. Never was there a more ambitious couple. Big dreams of success seemed attainable to those who were willing to prove themselves. Time and hard work afforded them a hotel of their own. After years of hard-earned prosperity and social climbing, their life together ended in a suspicious death. --- The years that followed saw numerous owners of the hotel. Each had a story that was often difficult. From a millionaire whose wife had a big secret to a gangster's discovery that not all that glitters is gold. There was the mother whose capacity for love was limitless and the doctor who defied the odds as a woman of color. From a bastion of respite for the formerly enslaved, to a counter culture haven and a hospice for those abandoned by society, The Hotel Kelly saw many incarnations. Throughout the years, the hotel was invaded by an aura of death from lingering spirits. Great hope was placed in the efforts of a self-professed medium but would torment reign supreme? --- These haunted halls are the setting for an ominous history that follows this vessel of the supernatural. Eventually, fate transfers its burden to those who don't fear death. After several decades, souls lost in the afterlife become a draw for those who hail the paranormal.

From the author of "Has Been", "The Pink Reich", "Just Talking" and many more titles. --- This story is a fictional account of some true to life characters. --- Brick and Todd represent two different arms of the law; Brick being a federal agent and Todd a state crime investigator. Fate throws them together while covertly working overlapping cases that follow the same suspect. Going beyond expectations of duty, these two agents find themselves in compromising positions of more than one nature. --- During a search for two missing men thought to be trafficked or murdered, Todd thinks he's willing to do whatever it takes to get answers. His limits are tested when the time comes for illicit activity. Brick is a rogue agent who skirts the law to do his job. He's the polar opposite of Todd who has much to learn about how to get evidence. Going far above and beyond duty, these two government agents find themselves being exposed in ways that prove intimately revealing. --- Trying to bring justice to those who feel they are above the law has its challenges and rewards but the former is consumed by danger. It takes the determination of both agents cooperating and using drastic measures to bring to justice a suspected drug lord and pornographer. --- The search for two victims is filled with characters best described as menacing and unique. From a crossdressing prostitute who stands her ground to a cultured gentleman suspected of being a serial killer; it's a situation of not everyone being what they seem on the surface. --- As danger escalates, Brick and Todd find themselves trying to save a key witness to a crime ring. Unwilling to accept defeat, they persist to the point of discovering more than the evidence originally sought. Closing-in on a killer brings an unexpected twist of events that has them both facing death with absolute certainty. There is no hope. Are they to be next?

From the author of "Just Talking", "The Pink Reich", "Transgressive Murder" and several other titles --- For young Hollywood actors in a mid-century era, the studio system is well-oiled but unapologetically cruel to those who lack talent. The list of hopefuls includes three rising stars whose careers overlap but never share a parallel destiny. One is resting on innate talent, while another does whatever it takes to claw her way to the top. Among this trio is a licentious heartthrob harboring a career-killing secret. --- Ana was discovered at a summer acting camp by a studio talent scout who took notice of her innate believability. Her skills at delivering lines were equal to that of the very best of A-list actresses, all without the benefit of training. She was an obvious star in the making in need of an opportunity to showcase her talent when offered a contract. --- Upon her first day at the studio, Ana was greeted by two other young actors, Tate and Lola. Lola was a buxom, raven-haired beauty who had talent but relied more on her ability to manipulate than on her acting skills. As such, she took advantage of every opportunity to be the next big star but not always for the right reasons. Her way was cold, calculating and would drive one person to end his life. Tate was a paradigm of masculinity. His classically-handsome good looks drove the ladies wild and to the theaters to see every angle of his chiseled frame. His talent was minimal at best but he got by on his looks. Women everywhere would sell their soul for the chance to be this movie star's leading lady. He loved the attention and knew how to work it but, if truth be told, he was never the ladies' man type.

From the author of: "The Pink Reich", "The Red Cardinals of Mary", "Beleaguered" and several other titles ---Written in a dialogue only format. --- Doctor Phillips is an accomplished psychiatrist who represents the only thread of commonality between all nine stories. Among the characters profiled is a young wife and mother who loses her entire family to a tragic accident. Repeatedly, she attempts the unthinkable only to fight her way back to a point of recovery but not all is well. --- The "Minister of Hypocrisy", as he is deemed by the press and the public, finds himself again fighting to accept his innate truth. Barely a decade has passed since he last struggled with controversy in two forms. Again, he brings scandal to his beleaguered family, his church and himself. Questioning his truth, he's uncertain if he'll sink deeper into the depths of despair or embrace the obvious reality of his life. --- Other stories include a priest who battled the demon drink; a woman whose deathbed confession tests the limits of decency but begs the question if she stole something from her child or gave them the gift of love; a wife whose decades-long marriage only finds love in its finality after she mercifully does the unthinkable. Additional stories include an accomplished politician's secret clairvoyance and a talk show host's big reveal. These stories and more take the reader on a journey of blended fact and fiction but which is which?

From the author of: "Just Talking", "The Pink Reich", "The Chosen Ones" and several other titles --- Living in the early years of the twentieth century, Dirk Davis is a licentious paradigm of self-entitlement. Good-looking and from old money, he forced himself upon others and got away with it. His life was privileged but his luck ran out one day; a day when fate came calling for him in the worst possible way. The day that at least one person had enough of the chaos and detriment caused by this man. --- Among the suspects were his wife, who was presumed the culprit but would the facts be sufficient to convict her? Her origin with her husband was rumored to be a gold-digger who trapped Dirk into marrying her but was it the truth? Was she the one who dared to put an end to her husband's predatory attacks or was she being framed? The mystery remained in perpetuity with no regret ever held by Dirk's killer(s). Sometimes, the only way to battle evil is to use a quiet vengeance

From the author of: "Illicit and Covert", "The Pink Reich", "Beleaguered", and many other titles. --- Forced from his home after being spurned by his parents for living his truth as he was created, Jax was a willing outcast. It was the price he paid in order to never again be deemed second class in his own home. Scared but not dissuaded, he left quietly one night in search of an estranged friend. Waiting patiently at a bus depot to begin his long journey, he was scouted by an ill-intended, licentious man. --- Having been lured away, never did he suspect that he would be used by on underworld operative. Jax's initial rebuke to illicit activities reunited him with the friend he was seeking only to be turned away for reasons equal to those of his parents. Seeing few opportunities to stave off homelessness, Jax voluntarily returned to a den of ill repute. --- His new life challenged his desire for a more reputable vocation but time softened his inner protest. Complacency prevails by befriending an eclectic inner group who, long ago, embraced the chance for easy money. It soon becomes obvious that this band of social misfits are united against a common enemy intending to harm them. After a failed attempt on their lives that backfires, Jax and the others are on a dangerous game of hide and seek. Eventually, they must fight or die.

From the author of "The Pink Reich", "Just Talking", "The Chosen Ones" and several other titles. --- Joe McCafferty is a third-generation purveyor of pioneer goods in a small Colorado community during the mid-1800s. Descendant of a hearty stock of Irish immigrants, young Joe inherits the position of carrying on the family's legacy. It's a hard life that is far too lonely without the company of others. Living miles from a town that is anything but thriving, Joe befriends a young Native American man with whom he must keep hidden a secret that is considered taboo. --- Working against them is an unscrupulous man who, years prior, outmaneuvered Joe's grandparents for half of their land claim. The result was Joe and his family's nemesis being at odds until a woman seeking revenge on this man acts upon her long-held hatred of him. Left to either attend this man's wound or let him die, Joe feels the need to save he who never showed a moment's kindness to his kin. --- Along the way, Joe takes a wife believing it is what is expected of him, all while knowing that he loves someone else. Someone forbidden by race and gender. Requited feelings that must be quelled in order to appease societal norms of their era. It is during an attempt to end his suffering that Joe discovers that his loving wife is willing to suffer gladly to save him. Her love exceeds the pain of knowing his truth.

From the author of "Life Times Nine", Falling Hard in Hollywood", "Class Imperfect", "Eight Founding Queens" --- For Burt and his mother, the adversities and blessings of life are acted out with each tenant occupying their modest guest house. The lives of those around them are often difficult but never ordinary. Some are kind and some are hardened souls in need of recovery before it's too late. For others, it's already too late and it shows. Burt's transition from a twenty-something recluse with a justifiable reason is followed through to his late-life celebration of unexpected love. His multi-decade journey is challenged by the struggles of his tenants as Burt does his best to help them persevere or to move-on. From the entertainer who fell hard from stardom into the depths of alcoholism to the murderous femme fatale who is trying to survive by illicit means. From the man who hides behind a wife to avoid his sexual orientation to the racial strife of mid-century life. From the mother who finds love through her garden to the daughter she lost.These nine overlapping stories are derived from shreds of truth and fragments of fiction. They will lead you on a colorful journey and mystery as to which is which. As the stories unfold, hold close to the fact that the person or premise may have once, or still, exists.