Items related to The Fitzgerald Ruse

The Fitzgerald Ruse - Softcover

Book 2 of 8: Blackman Agency Investigations

Castrique, Mark De

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9781459656079: The Fitzgerald Ruse

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Synopsis

Former Chief Warrant Officer Sam Blackman lost a leg in Iraq and emerged from the V.A. hospital in Asheville, NC, as a bitter civilian without a job or a future. But when he solved a series of local murders, Sam not only brought the guilty to justice but found meaning for his life. Now he and his partner, Nakayla Robertson, are opening a detective agency. They have high hopes that the thriving mountain region will provide a steady stream of cases. Their first client, a quirky elderly woman in a retirement community, makes a strange request. She wants Sam to right a wrong she committed more than 70 years ago. Her victim was F. Scott Fitzgerald. Her crime was stealing a manuscript. Sam's task seems simple enough: retrieve the woman's lockbox and deliver the manuscript to Fitzgerald's heirs. But nothing is simple for Sam. The lockbox is sealed with a swastika, a symbol his client insists predates the Nazis and reflects a scene from The Great Gatsby. Then a security guard is killed and the lockbox disappears. Not only has this investigation triggered a murder, but Sam's final military case has followed him from Iraq and neither he nor anyone close to him is safe. Are the mysteries connected? Or is one a ruse luring him into the crosshairs of his enemies?

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About the Author

The author of the first Barry Clayton mystery Dangerous Undertaking, Mark de Castrique is a television and film producer whose work has earned Emmy, Clio, and Telly awards. Mark grew up in the mountains of North Carolina, earned B.A. degrees in English and Radio, Television and Motion Pictures at UNC-Chapel Hill and an M.A. in English Literature at UNCCharlotte. His play, A Dying Business, was presented during the 2001 New Plays in America Festival. In addition to writing and producing, he has taught at UNC-Charlotte and the North Carolina School of the Arts School of Filmmaking. Mark and his wife live in Charlotte. They have two daughters and a spoiled schnauzer.

From AudioFile

The second installment of the Sam Blackman mystery series finds the former military CID officer opening a private detective firm in Asheville, North Carolina, with his professional (and romantic) partner, Nakayla Robertson. If eclectic Asheville had a voice, it would sound like the understated Southern accent chosen by narrator William Dufris. His slow pace reflects the region; however, a faster speed would have aided the plot, which is a bit slow to start. It's worth hanging in to see Blackman search for a long-lost F. Scott Fitzgerald manuscript. Dufris struggles to make a few of the female characters sound believably feminine but does a perfunctory job with co-detective Nakayla. Intrigue surrounding the military contractor Blackwater makes the story especially timely. J.T. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine

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