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"The plot...is very well
 thought out with many twists 
 and turns. It keeps you 
 guessing right until the end."
 --- ReaderViews.com 

"A hurtling plot and enough
 cliffhangers to keep you
 gasping."
 --- Foremost Press.com 

About this Book

Kyle Rieker returns home in time for a last look at his sister before she is buried. Officially she was murdered along with five other innocent people by a crazy. But Kyle learns she was executed by a professional. When a CIA operative tries to kill him, he knows he is also slated to die, likely for the same reasons his sister did.

The police and private investigators are powerless when confronting the CIA. Yet he must survive, find answers and act accordingly.

He turns to an unusual source for assistance. He collects a team of competent, seasoned professionals with whom he has fought in Special Forces, men who have routinely accomplished combat assignments considered impossible by some.

But there are those among the elite of Los Angeles who have their own plans and the CIA has theirs; a rag-time group of ex-soldiers is not considered a serious threat. Against such opposition, Kyle and every man on the team, knows that this time he may not make it.

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About the Author

Bob has been a fan of fiction since childhood, and is always working on another story. He is the author of Fatal Games (Pageant Press, 1989) and six other novels available from Foremost Press.

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Feel free to use all or part of the following, and edit to suit. This content was prepared for your use. We ask no acknowledgement of any kind.

If you enjoy fast-paced action tales, you'll love Slaughter on Maple Street. While there is minimal hard action initially, the story moves right along. And when the hero, Kyle Rieker, finally identifies a target, the rest of the tale flies. Once it takes off, you'll have trouble putting it down.

The story opens as Kyle, on leave from U.S. Special Forces, arrives at his sister's funeral in time to see her briefly before the lid of the casket is closed one last time. Ripped by grief, he turns reluctantly to the task of wrapping up her affairs.

As he sorts through her things, talks with her friends, and begins to check on details, he finds she was not simply one of six innocents slaughtered on Maple Street one morning by a crazy. She was executed by a professional. When a CIA operative tries to kill him, it seems certain to him they are responsible for his sister's death. From what little he has gathered, she had top secret information and knew things the CIA does not want released. He feels his name has been added to their hit list because he may find what she had, and act on her behalf.

He needs help, big time. Yet he knows private investigators and even the LAPD can't provide what he needs; all must bow to the demands of the CIA.

While he uses these resources as possible, he augments them by gathering a team of competent professionals, men he came to know in elite Special Forces units in the heat of battle. Their initial objective is to keep him alive, a relatively simple task for such capable men. But as the situation becomes more complex, there is an increasing need for more direct action, tasks that increasingly challenge even their superior expertise.

You'll love the characters. Kyle falls in love with Lynn Nefton, a computer researcher, seeking to earn extra money to enhance and expand her grape vineyard. She is tough in all the ways that matter.

The cop seems delightfully incompetent when the reader first meets him. And Kyle has a buddy with the CIA who helps in unexpectedly bold ways. Then there's Paco, a close friend, a man well schooled in the ways of violence, and in winning through whatever the odds. Even the lesser characters are clearly defined. And you'll love or hate every one of them.

Readers of other books by Bob McElwain will find this opening quite different from those in his other works. There are no explosions. No instant or immediate threats. Only Kyle is on scene, seeking to discover what really happened to his beloved sister.

The slowness of the opening may seem a weakness to some. But to be fair, words, not bullets, are required to properly set the stage and clearly define the characters to effectively move forward with this intricate plot. This approach works beautifully in this book.

What may make this tale stand out in the reader's mind is the non-typical hero. Kyle doesn't solve problems by knocking down people or doors. Instead he works as one of a team of experts. Plans are made, then executed with professional precision.

Readers seeking fast paced action will find more here than they bargained for. Because in the end, far more than doors and people are "knocked" down.

Slaughter on Maple Street was published by Foremost Press. It can be ordered through local bookstores and at ForemostPress.com, Amazon and Barnes & Noble.com.
ISBN 0-9748921-9-X, 316 pp, $15.97

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