Dan Riker

When Brandon Webster, a former CIA covert agent, and secret paramilitary operative for the Pentagon, investigates the murder of his estranged older brother, “Big Mike”, the powerful Supervisor of the Western New York Town of Lakeside, he discovers a conspiracy of violence, kidnapping, fraud and hiding inside a religious sect that threatens his hometown, and reaches into his family.
Big Mike Webster, who built Lakeside into a prosperous commercial center on the shores of Lake Erie, 30 miles south of Buffalo, during his 30 years as Supervisor, is found inside his locked SUV in the parking lot of a hotel, shot to death by his own gun, taken from his bedroom. There are no witnesses. All of the suspects have alibis except the one who isn’t hiding something.
Big Mike's widow, Sarah seeks help from Brandon, who operates a security consulting business in Washington, DC. Brandon is a tough, cynical and suspicious master of deception, lies and disguise, which become the perfect skills to unravel the mysteries of a community rife with lies and deception, and populated by many people in disguise. Deception echoes throughout the novel, including Brandon’s discovery of his brother’s own deception.
Brandon first assumes the role of a private detective, joining forces with State Police Lieutenant, David Marino, sent by the Governor to investigate the murder, and the heavily armed, religious group, the Disciples of Christ, that occupies a fortified compound just outside of town.
After the police are stymied, Brandon goes covert, drawing on resources from the shadow world, and exposes the evil behind the Disciples of Christ and forces the killer to confront him in the open.
Dan Riker is a graduate of Lake Shore Central High School in Angola, NY, an area somewhat similar to that described in this novel. He also is a graduate of The Johns Hopkins University and the University of Baltimore School of Law. He has been a reporter, bureau manager and sales executive for United Press International, Assistant Public Relations Director at Johns Hopkins, Assistant Press Secretary to the Governor of Maryland, an executive at the MCI Communications Corp., and CEO of Pocket Communications, Inc., a wireless company. He and his wife, Jan, now operate Basset Books LLC, a dealer in out-of-print and collectible books. Dan is the author of A Light Not of This World,a futuristic novel about a terrorist nuclear attack on the U.S., published in 2010.