Moonlight City Drive

Moonlight City Drive

by Brian Paone

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GENRE: Crime/Thriller Romantic Paranormal

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BLURB:

11:18 p.m. Subject is checking into the Desert Palms Motel, accompanied by an unknown female.

Snapshot in the parking lot. Man and woman embrace. Betrayal, I see it every day, like my own reflection in the mirror staring back at me. Another case, another bottle of booze, life is no longer a mystery to me …

… Because I’m the private eye, hot on your trail; the top gun for hire. You’ll find me lurking in the shadows, always searching for a clue. I’m the bulletproof detective. I got my eye on you …

What’s a little sin under the covers, what’s a little blood between lovers? What’s a little death to be discovered, cold stiff body under the covers?

I’m digging you a desert grave, underneath the burning sun. You won’t be found by anyone. Vultures circle in the sky, and you, my dear, are the reason why.

… I was always easily influenced.

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EXCERPT:

Smith twisted the key as hard as he could and heard a popping noise as the locking mechanism finally gave way. He pushed open his office door and entered the dark room. He tossed his keys onto his desk; they slid a short distance before a stack of time-faded papers and case-file folders abruptly stopped them.

Flicking the light switch, the room illuminated with an anemic-brown glow from the single dusty bulb. He took a step toward the coffee percolator on the windowsill, and his toe caught the corner of a tied-up pile of newspapers dating back at least ten years.

Smith exhaled loudly with a frustrated grunt and kneeled beside the newspaper bundle; the air escaping from his lungs carried the stench of day-old consumed alcohol, topped off with more last night that led to closing time this morning. He really hadn’t slept. He napped for a couple hours, then came here. He removed the Swiss Army knife from his pants and cut the twine, freeing the newspapers, watching as they avalanched to the floor.

He used his palm to shuffle and smear the newspapers around his office floor. His gaze quickly scanned his name plastered on all the headlines, praising the ex-deputy-now-turned-private-eye for all the scum he had gotten off the street, as well as locating abducted kids, reuniting long-lost biological parents of orphans, and exposing spouses who may have forgotten their vows. Smith had seen more than he cared to remember while he had been a sheriff’s deputy and could now safely check the box marked Seen It All since becoming a private eye.


A Word With the Author

What is the sweetest thing someone has done for you?

-        My beautiful wife has given me four amazing children. And fellow author Justin Ames have me a $25 gift certificate to Taco Bell. I feel those are in line with each other.

How would you spend ten thousand bucks?

-        I’d be 1/3 the way to buying my 1983 DeLorean!

Where do you get your best ideas?

Song lyrics. As a rock-fiction author, which means I adapt albums or songs into novels or short stories, my best ideas come from either listening to an album while driving around or while wearing headphones and blasting my favorite bands. It’s the same approach as a film being adapted from a novel; I just take albums and adapt them into novels. (Think if Pink Floyd’s The Wall or The Who’s Tommy were turned into novels instead of films and plays.) Two of my four novels (and all 4 of my published short stories) are rock-fiction adaptations.

What comes first, the plot or characters?

-        A hybrid of the two. I think the way the characters are going to react to the plot is what I tackle first. Then I build their character development around how they are going to act, and I build the plot around what would make them act that way.

What does your main character do that makes him/her special.

-        My antagonist can summon a cult of ghouls to help him with his Jack-the-Ripper-style killings. The catch is, whoever he kills, is reborn into his cult. My protagonist can separate the difference between moral and evil, even if it’s “illegal.” Together, they are a perfect storm and a dangerous combination. And then there’s the leader of the cult. She’s just a bitch.

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Brian Paone was born and raised in the Salem, Massachusetts area. Brian has, thus far, published four novels: a memoir about being friends with a drug-addicted rock star, Dreams are Unfinished Thoughts; a macabre cerebral-horror novel, Welcome to Parkview; a time-travel romance novel, Yours Truly, 2095, (which was nominated for a Hugo Award, though it did not make the finalists); and a supernatural, crime-noir detective novel, Moonlight City Drive. Along with his four novels, Brian has published three short stories: “Outside of Heaven,” which is featured in the anthology, A Matter of Words; “The Whaler’s Dues,” which is featured in the anthology, A Journey of Words; and “Anesthetize (or A Dream Played in Reverse on Piano Keys),” which is featured in the anthology, A Haunting of Words. Brian is also a vocalist and has released seven albums with his four bands: Yellow #1, Drop Kick Jesus, The Grave Machine, and Transpose. He is married to a US Naval Officer, and they have four children. Brian is also a police officer and has been working in law enforcement since 2002. He is a self-proclaimed roller coaster junkie, a New England Patriots fanatic, and his favorite color is burnt orange. For more information on all his books and music, visit www.BrianPaone.com

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Moonlight-City-Drive-Brian-Paone-ebook/dp/B076B7X9RQ

B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/moonlight-city-drive-brian-paone/1127206870

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