Awake and Die

AWAKE AND DIE

Peters returned from Korea with shrapnel in his head. The doctor said they can’t get it all out, that he’d get better in time. But Peters is itching to get back to his Jersey river, back to his active life. Which is how he hooks up with Mae. That was a year ago. Now Peters is so sick of Mae, he can’t stand it. So when he meets Claire, he knows it’s time for Mae to go. But Mae has other plans, like moving in with Peters.

He doesn’t mean to kill her. Not really. Mae is drunk as usual, and yelling. And all he can think about is Claire. All of a sudden he finds his fingers around her neck… there is a splash, and Mae is gone. Now Peters has got to figure out a good alibi. Which is how he runs into Chris at the bar. But nothing seems to go right that evening. She knows too much. And now he’s got to figure out what to do with Chris…

“Robert Ames” was born Charles Lee Clifford on October 23, 1890, in Boston, Massachusetts. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1913 and later obtained a commission in the Army, rising to the rank of Colonel. While in the Army he trained Philippine troops prior to and during World War II, becoming Commanding Officer of the 2nd Filipino Infantry Regiment in 1942. Besides the three hardboiled novels he wrote for Gold Medal as Robert Ames, Clifford wrote several books and stories about the Philippines including The Real Glory (1937), filmed with Gary Cooper and David Niven in 1939. A veteran of both World wars, Clifford retired as a colonel in the Army after serving 32 years. He lived with his wife Elizabeth and three daughters in Tinton Falls since 1948, and died at age 100 on April 11, 1991, in Shrewsbury, New Jersey.