Dead Stick: A Swanson Herbinko Mystery

Dead Stick by Bathsheba Monk and Joe Taleroski is the latest in a series of riveting Swanson Herbinko page-turners. Centered around a small Massachusetts airport, divorce attorney Herbinko’s representation of a wealthy client entangles her in a terrifying and nefarious white slavery racket that caters to moneyed degenerates. Of course Herbinko has to deal with murder and mayhem not only in serving her client, but also in merely surviving. To do so, it takes all of Swanson’s intelligence and street savvy, along with the formidable assistance of Dick, her trusty P.I. sidekick, Devil Dog her pet Dachshund, and Pee Toe, the occasionally loveable Pit Bull. As usual in Swanson Herbinko mysteries, the bad-guys in Dead Stick are sinister and creepy, while the good-guys are engaging, quirky and charmingly eccentric. The plot moves along with the speed of a plane in high-speed cruise, and I found it difficult to put the book down without reading just one more chapter. -Paul R. Misencik, Chief, Operational Factors Division, National Transportation Safety Board and Author: George Washington and the Half-King Chief Tanacharison: An Alliance That Began the French and Indian War

Joe Taleroski’s hellaciously creative writing has appeared in print, online, and on stage, comprising prose, poetry, comedy, drama, and the occasional X-rated text message. He’s a Northeastern Pennsylvania native, but these days you can find him mining for story ideas on the outskirts of Philadelphia, where he lives with his beautiful wife Andrea. His extraliterary obsessions include pointing large telescopes at distant worlds, and breaking his seven-figure high score on the classic 1980s arcade shooter Galaga. Bathsheba Monk is the author of 6 novels, a playwright, editor and speaker.