Buzz Kill

When Sandeen agrees to look into the disappearance of 'Buzz' Holland, he never expects to wind up confronting dangerous members of a criminal conspiracy. When he travels to Pittsburg State University to investigate, he also doesn't expect to encounter a long-ago girlfriend from his own college days--now a mature woman who is unwittingly involved in Holland's disappearance. In trying to make sense of the torrent of clues, Sandeen finds that his own well-being may be at stake. Pressing on with the help of his former girlfriend and a priest who teaches self-defense classes, Sandeen confronts soldiers of the conspiracy--violent young men who are determined to do whatever is necessary to keep their secrets secure. As he devotes more time to solving the mystery of 'Buzz' Holland's disappearance, Sandeen learns that maintaining two lives--investigative writer and espresso shop owner--is proving more difficult than he anticipated. Sooner or later, he may have to choose one or the other, and the wrong choice could lead to personal disaster--or even death.

Dennis E. Smirl has been an Air Force officer, a salesman for a Fortune 500 company, a school psychologist, a computer science instructor at several community colleges, and a business owner. Married to his college sweetheart for more than half a century, he has spent time in Mexico, Japan, and South Vietnam, but prefers to take family vacations in the USA and Canada. A writer for as long as he can remember-he attempted a first novel at age ten-his first taste of national publication was a race report written and published in 1965. A science fiction fan for almost the same length of time, Mr. Smirl joined the Science Fiction Book Club when member numbers were much shorter. Beyond his interest in Science Fiction, he has had a lifetime interest in horseback riding, auto racing (as a driver), golf, photography, computers and information processing, and mystery novels. He has written eleven novels and more than seventy short stories and novellas.