Hey all: Spent a chunk of the weekend on Brandon’s beat in Portland, Maine, thanks to the Portland Police Department and K-9 officer Christian Stickney. Not to mention his partner, Taz.
Highlight of the night in terms of police action was when the police apprehended a guy who had reportedly threatened people in an Old Port bar with a knife. He was arrested a few blocks away at gun- and K-9-point (is that a word?).
Highlight of the night in terms of writer action was sitting in a parking lot at 10 at night–cruisers pulled up side by side–while a couple of officers walked through the tentative opener for my next book (Blake No. 3). Good news: they didn’t laugh at my original idea. Even better news: they came up with ways to make it a lot better.
Young officer Brandon Blake is in good company.














In PORT CITY SHAKEDOWN, the first Brandon Blake novel, Brandon gets a full dose of bad guys. A brawl in a funeral home introduces him to Joel Fuller, a sociopathic hustler. Fuller is fresh out of jail and determined to take Brandon out—after Fuller and his sidekick Kelvin shake him down.
Rocky isn’t a tough guy. He’s a skinny little kid with crooked glasses, and he shouldn’t be homeless in Portland, Maine. When McMorrow and Roxanne pluck him from under the stomping feet of a gang of street kids, Rocky latches onto McMorrow–and drags him into a world of murder, both old and new. Why is McMorrow protecting Rocky? The cops want to know. Why is Rocky on the run? McMorrow wants to know. Why does death follow in Rocky’s wake? Jack and Roxanne need to find out before they’re added to the list.