Wayne Zurl - A New Prospect

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A Look Inside Your Character’s Lives by Wayne Zurl

A Middle-aged Cop Can Go Home Again

A NEW PROSPECT (a police mystery)

Too much back-story in a new novel can consign you a spot in a publisher’s slush pile. So, how do you introduce a new series of novels and tell readers something about the protagonist’s past?

Find a place like Night Owl Reviews with an invitation to give their readers A Look Inside Your Character’s Life.

A NEW PROSPECT kicks off the Sam Jenkins mystery series. I jumped through hoops to filter in bits of back-story into the middle and latter chapters so I could get right down to business with the retired New York detective lieutenant taking the police chief’s job in rural Prospect, Tennessee as a partial remedy for his mid-life crisis. The other factors in his personal dilemma include, could he still function as a cop, is he still attractive to women, does he have a meaningful purpose in life, and several others.

Along with his new employer, the mayor of Prospect, we quickly learn about Sam’s former police career with a large Long Island department, but little else before Jenkins is tossed headlong into a dodgy homicide investigation. A bevy of suspects and a stumbling block of political corruption keeps us interested and puts the pressure on Sam. The stress manifests itself as he takes a few extra drinks after a hard day on the road and recounts for us the disturbing dreams that haunt his nights.

Readers should pay attention to the dreams. Additional back-story is implied in each. His time as a soldier in Vietnam figures prominently, as does the post traumatic stress he feels from a lifetime of witnessing violence and death.

On a lighter side, we learn that Sam has an easy time making friends with his new female acquaintances. He always remains faithful to his wife, Kate, but often can’t help himself and begins meaningful relationships with the other good-looking girls who wander through his professional life. No one has ever had to teach Sam Jenkins how to act like a world-class detective, but after years of idle retirement he sadly lacks an understanding of the latest technology in place at Prospect PD. But in addition to being a good cop, he’s a great supervisor who knows he doesn’t need all the answers, but must know where to find them and is eager to let his new friends and co-workers help out.

His admin officer, PO Bettye Lambert assists him with the department’s computer system and even shows him how to operate his first cell phone. FBI Special Agent Ralph Oliveri, another former New Yorker, becomes a source of federal favors. Local TV anchorwoman Rachel Williamson, not only takes a personal interest in Sam, but is willing to help with his professional needs. And PO Stanley Rose, a former LAPD officer who followed his wife back to her home in Tennessee, provides the partner Jenkins occasionally needs to watch his back. These people help put Sam right back in the saddle and make him more than competent enough to solve a convoluted murder mystery full of quirky characters and a plot with as many twists as a backcountry road through the Great Smoky Mountains.

A NEW PROSPECT, the first full-length Sam Jenkins adventure features the protagonist as first-person narrator, a character never at a loss for a cynical remark and quick with bits black humor at all the appropriate moments. It was named best mystery at the 2011 Next Generation Independent Publisher’s Book Awards.

-------------About The Author-------------


Wayne Zurl grew up on Long Island and retired after twenty years with the Suffolk County Police Department, one of the largest municipal law enforcement agencies in New York and the nation. For thirteen of those years he served as a section commander supervising investigators. He is a graduate of SUNY, Empire State College.

Prior to his police career, Zurl served on active duty in the US Army during the Vietnam War and later in the reserves.

In 2006 he began writing crime fiction. Eight of his Sam Jenkins mysteries have been produced as audio books and simultaneously published as eBooks. A ninth novelette is scheduled for publication in 2011 by Echelon Press. A NEW PROSPECT, traditionally published by Black Rose Writing, debuted in January 2011.

Zurl left New York to live in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee with his wife, Barbara.

For more information about Wayne Zurl or his writing, visit www.waynezurlbooks.net. Follow his book signing tour at www.booktour.com/authors/show/31206

Connect with Wayne at Twitter at http://twitter.com/#!/waynezurl or Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001483038544.

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