Link to the Ebook
BLURB:
"Dignity is best defined as how well you rise after you have fallen.''
Police Detective Gino Spinelli must rebuild his police career and credibility after he's linked to the suicide of his ex-girlfriend. He escapes disciplinary action by taking a sergeant's position with a nearby small suburban city. After a few months at his new department, Spinelli receives a late-night phone call informing him one of his fellow officers is accused of murdering his wife.
Spinelli is assigned to monitor the case and takes the unfavorable position of the officer's innocence. He relies on his instincts, putting his career on the line and following leads to other potential suspects.
Spinelli, who is no stranger to trouble and controversy, confronts obstacles to the case including the US Marshals Service protecting a federal witness, a stagnant and paranoid police chief, disputes with other police agencies, and technology advances he's not equipped to understand. During his investigation, Spinelli whose self-described love life includes two ex-wives and a handful of past live-ins encounters his former high school sweetheart, Annie, and is tempted to rekindle the relationship.
Will Gino solve the murder of Theresa Pucci, and seize this second chance with Annie, after the ‘Brush Back' pitch life has thrown him?
TEASER:
The ringing cell phone jarred me from a sound sleep. I looked toward my nightstand at the digital clock, showing 1:08 as the phone started its second ring. I reached over and grabbed the flip phone from its charger.
"Yeah." My voice was gravelly from about two and a half hour's sleep.
"Gino, it's Chief Hogue."
Phone calls at one in the morning usually weren't good, and when they were from the boss, it usually meant it was serious. I sat up, and my spine felt like it was tingling.
"I just got a call from the Sheriff's Office," Hogue told me. "Pucci's been hooked up for killing his wife." Hogue's tone was direct. It was obvious he'd been awake for a while and had time to get his head clear. I figured he'd been told the particulars of the arrest by one of the responding deputies after they found out Pucci was a cop.
"No shit!" I said. Now I was fully awake. I couldn't believe Pooch would kill Theresa.
"No shit, I'm serious. I need you to go out there and get some info."
"What are the details?" I asked. I presumed I was getting the assignment because Hogue didn't think Skinner, who should have been on duty, was able to handle the incident or at least competently represent the department to an outside agency. That, and the fact that Pucci lived in the unincorporated area of the county, about two miles from me.
"From what I got, Pucci called the Sheriff at 12:35 am, and reported his wife was shot," Hogue said. "The SO arrived and found Theresa in their hallway with a gunshot wound to her chest. There were no signs of any struggle or break-in."
"So why are they arresting him?" I was beside the bed, scrambling to get dressed while cradling the phone to my ear. Damn flip phones. Why couldn't they be like regular phones, where you didn't have to act like you had a broken neck while doing a balancing act with that quarter-inch-thin receiver.
"He hasn't been arrested yet, but they're holding onto him for questioning," Hogue said. "I need you to get out there and find out what he has to say about this. Let's do this official. Tell him he's on leave pending the investigation. Get his badge and ID. Even if they don't book him, I can't have him around while they try to figure out who did this."
While listening to Hogue, I pulled on my jeans and slipped my feet into my Nikes. No shower or shave; I'd be a real professional sight to the deputies at Pucci's place.
"And don't let Pucci bullshit you with what happened. If that son-of-a-bitch did off his wife, he'd better be man enough to admit it. Those deputies may want to believe a fellow cop and try to cover up things, but not in my department."
Unless he wasn't telling me everything, I couldn't figure out why Hogue would've thought Pucci would commit such a crime, or that the Sheriff's Office would conceal a homicide. Hogue was always bitter toward the sheriff's department, ever since they made a proposal to contract for police services in Tieton Grove about two years ago. From what I gathered, the sheriff had a proposal to provide police services for about three-quarters of what the police budget was at the time. The officers would have been offered jobs as deputies, but Hogue would have been out on his ass. I guess the city didn't go for it, but ever since then, Hogue had his paranoid personality disorder in hyper-mode when it came to the Sheriff doing anything except dispatching for us.
Chief Dennis Hogue was what you became when you transplanted yourself to a behind a desk job that you weren't ready for when you made the move. He lived on twenty year old war stories of his past, and the embellished events of other officers' tales. He did his best to keep things stagnant, to avoid any fall-out from the city manager or city council. 250 lbs of fast food, hypertension, and nicotine stuffed into a once 170 lbs frame. His short-sleeve shirts and polyester pants made him appear like the Michelin Man with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth, waiting for the final vapor lock to hit. As Hogue laid out my orders, thoughts of my own destiny came to mind. Whatever happened, I vowed this: there was no way I'd ever end up like him.
AUTHOR BIO:
Richard Paloma has worked in law enforcement for over 20 years, in Northern California. He has had various assignments, including many years as a patrol officer, a detective, and a police sergeant. He currently resides in the San Joaquin Valley of California with his wife Robin.
Mr. Paloma is a member of the Public Safety Writers Association, Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, and also belongs to various writers' groups in California. He has attended many writers' seminars and conferences, and has a Bachelors Degree with honors from St. Mary's College in Moraga, California.
Brushed Back is his second novel. Visit his website at www.richpaloma.com.
REVIEWS:
November 2008
Real-life police officer, Richard Paloma, takes his experience in law enforcement to turn out a well-written crime novel set in the Joaquin Valley, his hone beat for the last 20 years.
The police work rings true, the local flavor fun to recognize, and above all, a competent readable story.
Published by the Sacramento Book Review
