Kessler Effect

Sheriff Gus has a problem. Maximillian Sagan—robot owner and space entrepreneur—just informed the good officer a murderer is among the guests of his latest garden party. This poses a small problem—as far as Gus can tell, no one’s actually been murdered.

Fortified with a stiff drink, a lesson on space economics, and the world’s most boring treatise on Greek philosophy, Gus sets out to uncover the killer. Or at least find a body. The situation becomes more urgent when Sagan perishes in an apparent collision with a chunk of falling space debris.

Was Maximillian Sagan just incredibly unlucky, or was he murdered? If he wasn’t, who was—or will be—the victim? Gus has plenty of suspects among the Sagan household: an aging actor, a reality TV star, a psychic, Maximillian’s third wife, and a wannabe vampire. Gus isn’t sure which of them is the villain or which he’d like to see wind up dead.

Identity theft, a sabotaged rocket launch, singularly unhelpful FBI agents, and a crash course in philosophy might lead Gus to a killer. Or drive him to another stiff drink.

For a jaded, mostly honest sheriff, either option sounds good.

Raised in Saratoga Springs, New York, John D. DeSain earned a bachelor of science in chemistry from Siena College before receiving a PhD in physical chemistry at Rice University in Houston, Texas.

DeSain originally worked in a combustion chemistry field of a national laboratory, focusing on reaction kinetics, thermochemistry, and propulsion science. He's now employed as a research scientist in California's aerospace industry, investigating space propulsion systems, space debris, ozone destruction, and climate change, topics that have a tendency to creep into his writing.

A lover of mysteries, science, and classic literature, DeSain's favorite authors are Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, Agatha Christie, and Stephen Jay Gould. His favorite comedian is George Carlin. Like Carlin, he delights in exposing the silliness society takes all too seriously.