Troubled ex-con Zack Taylor is haunted by the accidental death of his brother years before. Zack’s guilt and anger have pushed him into a shadowy, wandering life, with little purpose and few attachments. When he hears of the death of his close friend Ben Sterling, a supposed gunshot suicide, Zack finds he now has a purpose– to find out what happened. Then his purpose becomes an obsession.
Zack goes to Maine, where Ben died, and is a fish out of water, with no connections, no information, and no credibility. People don’t want to talk about Ben’s death, so Zack gets ever more frustrated, making enemies, getting into fights, and breaking the law in his search for the truth.
The only bright spot seems the potential for a relationship with a sympathetic nurse– if he can control his violent streak. To draw out the killers, Zack offers himself as bait. But without a gun, he must rely on his wits and his physical skills to survive a dangerous game of drugs and death. Though managing a measure of justice, Zack is changed in the process, and must learn to live in a very different world.
Praise for A Memory of Grief:
“Zack Taylor is hot. With anger, grief, testosterone, muscle—and booze when he lets himself, though he tries not to. And he’s hot on a case of suicide that his gut tells him is murder. No pro, he acts out of some time-worn sense of honor—as Hammett might’ve said: When a man’s friend is killed, he ought to do something.
Wounded by life, Taylor is a loner who makes friends easily, and enemies even more easily. Beginning in the heat of Miami, he treks north to Portland, Maine, where things get way hotter.
Dale Philips writes a clean, efficient prose and spins a yarn that’s as gritty as any I’ve read in recent years. There’s humor, violence, ghosts, and sex—all the good stuff that has driven stories forever. ”
—David Daniel is author of the prize-winning Alex Rasmussen series and, more recently, Coffin Dust.
Listen to a free sample: http://www.daletphillips.com/
Author Bio:
Dale studied writing with Stephen King, and has published novels, a non-fiction career book, poetry, and over 20 short stories. He has appeared on stage, television, and in an independent feature film, Throg. He was a contestant on Jeopardy and other quiz shows. He co-wrote and acted in The Nine, a short political satire film, and has traveled to all 50 states, Mexico, Canada, and throughout Europe.
My blog on writing and life: daletphillips.blogspot.com
Various interviews at: www.daletphillips.com/grief_publicity.html
Read more about Dale Phillips on his website.
