Silent Partner
Stan
Schatt
Genre: Paranormal Mystery
Publisher: Pen-L Publishing
ISBN: 978-1-940222-45-4
Number of pages: 239
Word Count: 60,000
Cover Artist: Kelsey Rice
Book Trailer: None
Book Description:
Detective “Frankie” Ryan tracks a
sadistic killer while the press attacks her as a feminist vigilante who takes
the law into her own hands. The only one who can help her is a tabloid reporter
who can’t decide if he’s a psychic who sees ghosts or is just going insane.
As they search for the killer in
a sunny seacoast city’s seamy S&M underside, they begin to question
everything they know about sexual identity. How can they find the killer before
he strikes again when he defies any description?
Silent Partner is a paranormal
mystery, a police procedure novel with a female detective that will remind you
of Harry Bosch, a ghost story that suggests what lies beyond death, and a comic
look at a tabloid where the “truth” is whatever sells.
Excerpt:
Frankie glared
at Landry. His neck turned red, but he didn’t say anything. “How could I live
without her? I was addicted to her. Once you had her in your system, you never
wanted her to leave. When I was away from her, I thought of her constantly. It
wasn’t just the sex. She was the smartest, wittiest woman I’ve ever known. She
was the most interesting and exciting woman I’ve ever met. She was also the
most manipulative woman I’ve ever met. I hated myself for not throwing her out,
but I just couldn’t. Love is a horrible thing, and not the wonderful things
poets say.”
“Did she leave a
note?” Frankie was trying to develop a timeline.
“I came home
around five-thirty, and she didn’t leave a note. I never believed her notes
anyway. You have to understand something about Lorna. She never admitted she was
wrong about anything, and she never apologized. She could convince herself in a
minute that anything she said was true. Lorna once left me a note that she was
going shopping with a girl friend. That friend called later and didn’t know
anything about the shopping. I told my wife I knew she lied to me, and she
became furious that I didn’t believe her. I’m sure she totally believed that
she was right and I was wrong. I think the shrinks call someone like that a
sociopath.” “We’ll need your
statement. Does your
wife have any
enemies?”
Frankie said.
Marco looked up.
His eyes glistened from his tears. “It’s probably a long list. As I told you,
Detective, she didn’t play by the same rules as everyone else.”
“Let’s start
with the names of people you know had reason to dislike her,” Frankie said.
About the Author:
Stan Schatt grew up in Phoenix,
Arizona and now resides in Carlsbad, California. He has written thirty-five
books on a wide variety of subjects ranging from fiction to technology. He is co-author of Journey to a Different
Dimension, an Amazon bestseller. He also authored Egypt Rising, a YA novel
focusing on a teen’s experience in Egypt at the time of the Egyptian revolution
of 2011. This novel contains paranormal elements including a secret buried
under the Sphinx. The paranormal mystery Silent Partner is Schatt’s latest
novel.
He has led several careers including futurist and executive for many of the world’s leading technology market research firms, police department administrator, autopsy assistant, software trainer, Telecommunications Department Chairman, and English professor. He taught at Tokyo University as a Fulbright exchange professor. His non-fiction includes books on such diverse topics as strategies for changing careers for a green industry job, studies of Michael Connelly and Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., network and data communications technology, telecommunications, computer programming.
Website | Twitter | Publisher
Interview:
Please welcome Silent Partner author Stan Schatt to Diane's Book Blog.
What is your favorite
part of the story, Silent Partner?
My favorite part of
Silent Partner is when Josh Harrell turns thirty. Sitting alone with a drink in
his hand and mulling his life, he suddenly sees a ghostly figure. When he tells
her she’s not real, she tells him to close his eyes and take a second look. Of
course, she’s still there. That’s the way Josh’s relationship with Andy begins.
What inspired you to
write your first book?
I was an eighth-grader
who loved to read science fiction. One day I couldn’t find a book in the
library that caught my interest. I decided to write my own. Okay, it wasn’t
very good, but I knew the one reader I was writing for and the book pleased me
when I read it. My first published novel was based on stories I told my two
grandchildren. They insisted on a new story every night, so I kept creating new
episodes. The result was The Smartest Kid in the World. The lesson I learned
from both books is to have specific reader in mind when you write a novel. That
way you pitch the book at the right level.
What is your favorite
book that you wrote?
Silent Partner, my
latest book, is my favorite. I found myself getting more and more interested in
the paranormal part of the story. I also realized that both major characters,
the female detective as well as the psychic reporter, gave me a lot of room to
expand their stories. As a result, I’ve already completed the sequel and I’m
starting to think of the third volume in the series.
Who is your favorite
author and what is it that really strikes you about their work?
Lately it has been
Michael Connelly. In fact, I sat down and read everything he wrote including
his two dozen novels, his short stories, and even the articles he wrote as a
police reporter for the Los Angeles Times as well as a Florida paper. After
mulling over the material and re-reading much of it, I sat down and wrote
Michael Connelly: A Reader’s Companion. It’s the only book I know that goes
through and explains everything Connelly wrote. What influenced me when I read
Connelly’s novels is how well he develops his main characters. He develops back
stories for them and ages them in each book. Someone reading all Connelly’s Bosch
novels, for example, see a man age and change over twenty years. After all that
time looking into Bosch, the reader feels he knows the detective as well as a
member of his family. The other trait that impressed me when I read Connelly’s
novels is his plotting ability and his ability to leave just enough red
herrings to keep his books moving.
What is your typical
day like?
I spend a lot of time
writing, but not necessarily on a single book. I usually am dangling several
books at once. As an example, recently I was completing the sequel to Silent
Partner (tentatively called A Bullet for the Ghost Whisperer). At the same time
I was working on the sequel to my Amazon best selling Journey to a Different
Dimension ( a children’s novel set in the world of the popular game Minecraft).
I also was working on my part of a book I’m co-authoring entitled Jane Blond,
International Detective. Since I like to multitask, it keeps me fresh and not
bored.
Can you share a little
of your current work with us?
Sure. Silent Partner
is a paranormal mystery. That does not mean that a ghost tells you who the
murderer is. In fact, Silent Partner is a police procedure mystery where a
detective solves crimes using her skills as well as solid police procedures.
Still, a psychic columnist for a tabloid becomes a part of the investigation
when he “sees” a murder through the killer’s eyes. What makes this tabloid
reporter kind of special is his relationship with a sexy ghostly figure that
identifies herself as Andy, his guardian angel. She offers him advice on a
variety of topics including his relationships. The story evolves as the
detective adds the psychic reporter to her team, much to the disgust of her
partner. The problem with being psychic is that it’s not dependable. Even
worse, it doesn’t help you avoid death when it’s your time to go. I hate
buckets that we have to put books in. After all, how many can Silent Partner
fit in? It’s a mystery, a paranormal mystery, and a thriller.
What book are you
reading now?
I’ve been reading a
lot of Jonathan Kellerman’s novels lately. I’ve just finished Guilt and moved
on to Killer. What I like about Kellerman is that he has continuing characters
who grow, interact with each other, and change over the course of several books.
I also like the psychological angle he likes to focus on. His major character
is a psychologist while Milo, the detective, is a fascinating character as
well. Kellerman also has an excellent sense of place. His novels are set in Los
Angeles, and it’s clear he knows the city very well, so well in fact that Los
Angeles itself becomes a character. The same can be said of Michael Connelly’s
novels.
What do you prefer
paperback, hardcover, or ebooks?
That’s an interesting
question. My son just published a non-fiction hardcover book that retails for
$60. I think the days of hardbacks are just about over because publishing costs
have made their retail prices prohibitive. I love paperbacks because I’m still
old-fashioned enough to life the feel of the book as well as the thrill of
picking one up and seeing my name on the cover. I publish all my books as
ebooks, because a generation is growing up thinking that ebooks are the only
way to read material. I’d like to see some compromise between Hachette and
Amazon. I don’t like the idea of charging readers $13.95 for a product that
costs pennies to produce. On the other hand, I don’t like the idea of pushing
the price down to .99 cents to the point that publishers and authors both fail
to make enough money to survive. I don’t necessarily buy Amazon’s point that
people take the savings from a low-priced ebook and then buy a second ebook. I
think they tend to buy other non-book products on Amazon so that it wins and
authors and publishers lose. Let’s shoot for a fair price point where readers,
publishers, and even Amazon can do well.
Do you have anything
specific that you want to say to your readers?
I hope they enjoy
Silent Partner. Mysteries generally are easy reading, but that doesn’t mean
they don’t have a lot to say. I think this book provides a lot to chew on.
What’s the nature of evil? Why do people do what they do? How much free will do
we actually have in our lives? What is the relationship between life and death
and what is the point of everything? How do women succeed in mostly male
workplaces like police departments? What makes Frankie a better detective than
her male counterparts? Also, one of the major themes in the novel has to do
with gender identification. Are you defined by something as simple as your X or
Y chromosome?
Giveaway:
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