Absolution (Father Jake Austin Mystery)

Father Jake Austin's alcoholic father suddenly returns to town, decades after deserting him as a young boy. His dad is fleeing a vindictive drug lord and begs him for help. Although Jake detests his old man for abandoning him, he can't allow him to be murdered, so he enlists the help of his friend, Sheriff Tremont Macon. Because of his dad's deteriorating health, he is admitted to the hospital and placed in a room adjacent to an injured drug mule, allowing Macon to station an armed guard outside their rooms for protection.

Despite police security, the gang murders the drug mule and Sheriff Macon decides to place Jake's father into protective custody in jail. There, he learns that Jake's dad has not only stolen uncut cocaine from the drug dealers but has also witnessed the kingpin order a murder. The mob wants the coke back and Austin Sr. dead.

Because the mob cannot get to Jake's father, they unleash their wrath on the people closest to Jake and the violence escalates. Will the sins of the father be visited on his son, as prophesied in the Bible? In a desperate attempt to shut the drug ring down, the FBI asks Jake to be the bait in a sting operation. Will Jake turn his back on the father who deserted him as a child, or will he turn the other cheek and save him from a vengeful drug lord, risking his own life and the lives of those he loves?

John Vanek is a physician, novelist, and poet with works published in numerous literary journals in four countries and showcased on public radio.  He has garnered awards in both fiction and poetry, and has been invited to read his work at colleges, the Akron Art Museum, the Cleveland Clinic, and the George Bush Presidential Library.