A Layer of Darkness

In 1945 during the closing months of World War II, British statesman Nigel Cunningham lies dead, burnt and smoldering in the fetal position on a cold garage floor in San Francisco. As the crime scene begins to reveal numerous irregularities, Police Inspector Andrew Johnson senses a twisted case of appearances and realities and a frightening truth ultimately revealed by the grisly corpse at his feet. After FBI agent Ryan Kinahan is brought in with a rush of justice to convict local war veteran Mario Romano, Johnson becomes convinced of federal corruption. He finds himself pitted against his lifetime nemesis of dirty cops, but at a new level as the case opens links going up the chain of command in war time politics.

My love of mysteries and crime fiction began with the 1951 TV series ＂Boston Blackie＂ a reformed jewel thief who chased bad guys jumping rooftops. ＂Boston Blackie; friend of those who have no friends, enemy of those who make him make him their enemy!＂ an announcer said at the beginning of episodes. I read Sherlock Holmes stories early on, and as a small boy wandered around the yard with a magnifying glass searching for ＂clues＂. I remember having no idea what I was looking for. I’ve been writing as long as I can remember, but until A Layer of Darkness, I’ve only published non-fiction- two books on triathlon training, the latest being Triathlon Training Fast and Easy released in 2012, also available on Amazon. As a man in my twenties, I took Ernest Hemingway’s advice to ＂Live it up, so you can write down.＂ Encountering some near-death experiences in that endeavor, I still had no story ideas outside of snippets with no plot, no beginning, nor end. I simply created characters and dialogue. It’s not quite clear why it took me so long to realize that all I needed to do was simply tell a story that came naturally. People will tell you that writing a novel is a difficult process. It is a long process, no doubt of that. But once begun, the story can take a life of it’s own. I just jumped on the train and rode it to the end of the line. Although A Layer of Darkness is written in a noir style, I’m not trying to be Chandler or Hammett or in a more current sense, Ellroy. I’ve borrowed a style- maybe a template and lightened up some. I’ve introduced more humor and introspection and even frailties in my main character, Andrew Johnson. My stories, while fitting into a cross genre of mystery, political intrigue and historical fiction, are uniquely different from anything within those classes.