No More Illusions

Dylan Blake, a rookie cop at age 40 promoted to detective, finds his vacation interrupted when the Chief of Police asks him to take a look at an accident scene along the Pacific Coast Highway near Big Sur.Part-mystery, part-romance, part suspense. . .a story that twists like the Pacific Coast Highway from Big Sur to Northern California and across the mountains to Utah featuring a likeable detective, his independent, twice-divorced girlfriend and a murder. The cast of characters includes a successful business woman, a treacherous ex-husband, a billionaire brother, a kid from Compton, an aging Mafioso yearning for a good fight, a small-town police chief, and a shaggy mutt of a dog appropriately named Watson.Kirkus Reviews (America's premier and oldest book reviewer) describes the book as "Accomplished, ambitious crime fiction...a multilayered tale that has shades of California noir à la Chinatown." 5 STARS, "Best Books" from IndieReader. "...Written in the style of Elmore Leonard," says the San Francisco Book Review.There are no cardboard characters or stereotypes, no serial killers, pure sociopaths, gang members, or terrorists. And that, in and of itself, distinguishes this novel from most of what's out there these days. Perhaps surprisingly, and despite what you might suppose given the subject matter, the story has a positive noir vibe--it's the antithesis of bleak and cynical, and it's a seriously layered, good read. You won't be disappointed.