I am happy to announce that my new book, Blaze In, Blaze Out is available for preorder. If you order before 1-6-22, you can receive a 15% discount from my publisher, Black Rose Writing. Use the promo code: PREORDER2021 and order it at the publisher’s website at: https://www.blackrosewriting.com/mystery/blazeinblazeout
This book is a bit of a departure for me. While my usual characters are a patchwork family of adopted kids, I spotlighted three detectives: O’Connor, Eiselmann, and Graff. It is their story, though you will still have Brian, Brett, George, and Michael (or Two) as his brothers call him. They are in jeopardy because O’Connor and Graff are in jeopardy.
Here is what Blaze In, Blaze Out is about:
Working with a joint multi-law enforcement task force, Detective Pat O’Connor infiltrated a Ukrainian crime family. Headed by Dmitry Andruko. O’Connor and his control, Detective Paul Eiselmann, were the linchpins in the guilty verdict. The two detectives thought it was over. Eiselmann planned for a quiet weekend with his family at home. O’Connor planned on attending a high school soccer game and then head to Northern Wisconsin for a fishing trip with another cop, Detective Jamie Graff and four teenage adopted brothers: George Tokay, Brian Evans, Brett McGovern, and Michael Two Feathers. But Andruko is ruthless and vindictive. From his prison cell, he hires two contract killers to kill both O’Connor and Eiselmann and anyone else in the way. The killers can be anyone. The killers could be anywhere, and the killers could strike at any time. The quiet weekend and the short vacation turn into a deadly nightmare as O’Connor’s and Eiselmann’s lives and the lives of the four boys are in peril.
The one- or two-line promo I am using is:
Eiselmann and O’Connor thought the conviction of Dmitry Andruko meant the end. They forgot that revenge knows no boundaries, vindictiveness knows no restraints, and ruthlessness never worries about collateral damage. A target is a target, and in the end, the target will die.
I think this is my best writing to date. There are several passages that will tug at your heart, and others that will keep you on the edge of your seat. There are several lines that are meaningful in this story. They are:
“You do the things I’ve done, you end up with the things I’ve got. It changes you. I don’t wish that on anyone, especially you.”
“They don’t give classes in human suffering. Nobody gets to happily ever after without a few scars.”
“I didn’t want anything like this to happen to you and the kids. Our kids. I didn’t. I wanted that part of my life, the cop part, separate from our life. I didn’t want it touching this, what we have.”
I hope you enjoy reading Blaze In, Blaze Out as much as I enjoyed writing it. Pick up a copy and let me know.

Cover by David King of Black Rose Writing – an incredible job!