Jericho Road (Paperback)

Jericho Road is the story of 17-year-old Austin Pierce, his girlfriend, Veronica, and his best friend, Rico. The teens were recruited by their handler, a CIA agent named Konstantine, to infiltrate a murderous Mexican street gang. As a result, Rico is missing and presumed dead. Austin knows in his heart that his friend is still alive, and he's willing to do anything to find him. That's where our story begins. Doing "anything" proves quite the challenge for Austin since he's a born rule follower. If that weren't enough of a test of character, the rules get muddied when Austin can't be sure who is on his side, doubts that extend even to Veronica. The story is set in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Washington's suburbs. As the teens get chased from city to city, they have to decide in whom to place their trust. Sometimes the consequences are disastrous.

Sam Morton haswritten professionally for 20 years, publishing articles in a variety of consumer publications, most notably USAir and WebMD magazines. He has won a number of awards, including the Silver Moon magazine horror fiction contest and honorable mention in the Writer's Digest 76th Annual Writing Competition features category. He has published pieces in peer-reviewed online journals such as The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature, Like the Dew, and Writers Who Kill. Sam has published three previous novels through Echelon Press, a regional publisher. Echelon issued my novel Disavowed, a police thriller in 2006, Betrayed in 2010 and Ten Weeks Til... in 2012. He is co-author of six anthologies, including, State of the Heart: South Carolina Writers on the Places They Love (University of South Carolina Press, 2013), a best-selling compendium for USC Press. He has been an invited speaker at the South Carolina Book Festival, RoundCon 2011 and a Literary Panel with Pat Conroy, sponsored by the University of South Carolina Hollings Library. His past occupations include a 12 year-stint as a robbery/ homicide detective, a ten-year career as a professional wrestler, and one long week as the blade changer on the potato cutting machine at the Frito Lay plant in Charlotte, NC.