Righteous Assassin
Mike Stoneman Thriller Book 1
by Kevin G. Chapman
Genre: Crime Thriller
" Move
over Harry Bosch, there's a new guy in town. . . . Detective Mike
Stoneman can match wits with Harry any day of the week."
-- Authors
Show Linda
Kindle
Book Award Semi-Finalist / CLUE Book Awards Semi-Finalist
A
MOB BOSS IS EATEN ALIVE BY TIGERS AT THE BRONX ZOO.
. . .That was the fourth unsolved murder in four months - each on the
last Saturday. The other three were even more unusual . . . .Could
they be related? The victims share no similar traits and have no
connections. Why would a single killer choose such strange and
disparate methods? Why spread your victims across all of New
York?
Each
new murder adds a piece to the killer's jigsaw puzzle, but unraveling
the clues and finding the killer's pattern may not be enough to catch
himNYPD homicide Detectives Mike Stoneman and Jason Dickson have to
stop the elusive killer before he completes his decathlon of death.
And, they have to deal with an FBI profiler, who has been called in
to help. Mike must also avoid being distracted by Medical Examiner
Michelle McNeill, who seems to be on his mind a lot lately. She's an
asset to the investigation, but is this any time to be starting a
romance?
The
task force is racing against the calendar. Only one thing is certain
- on the last Saturday of the month, there will be blood.
Check out the Audiobooks and listen to excerpts HERE!
THREE DAYS AFTER finding the partially eaten body of Slick Mick Gallata at the Bronx Zoo, Mike and Jason sat in uncomfortable chairs in a briefing room in City Hall, waiting for the Police Commissioner, the chief of the homicide division, and the Mayor. The meeting was scheduled for 10:00 a.m. It was fifteen minutes past ten. A window-mounted air conditioning unit whirred in the corner, fighting a losing battle against the summer heat. Mike was fidgeting and tapping his finger on the conference room table, feeling like an animal trapped in a cage, which brought his thoughts back to the zoo and the corpse in the tiger pit. Jason was reading emails on his cell phone. Mike thought he looked as calm as a rattlesnake stalking a family of mice. He had been thinking in zoo similes all weekend.
Jason’s baritone voice snapped Mike away from his jungle thoughts. “You’re going to back me up, right, Mike?”
“Sure, Kid. I agree with you. I don’t like it, but I can’t deny the facts.” Mike turned away and stared out the window. He knew this was not going to go well with the Mayor and the Commissioner. Maybe he should have retired last year, after all.
He had lobbied for the department to let him stay on part-time and teach his classes to the young detectives and the detective candidates. He loved working cases, but teaching the younger cops was more fulfilling than chasing down leads. He knew that the kids called him “Culo de Piedra,” which translates to “Ass of Stone.” He liked that. As an instructor, he was a hard-ass, but his classes were always full. He lectured on crime scene protocol, evidence collection, chain of custody, how to testify in court, and interrogation technique. He was passing down his knowledge to the next generation. But the Chief said that he could not teach if he was not an active member of the force. Mike suspected that was just a bluff, but he kept both jobs. Today was one of the days he again wished he could just be a full-time teacher. He hated dealing with city politics.
“You should have believed me last month,” Jason mumbled under his breath, but loud enough for Mike to hear in the quiet room.
Mike turned his head quickly. “What did you have a month ago, Dickson? Huh? You had three unsolved murders, each with totally different circumstances, victims, methods, and locations. The only things they had in common were that they were unsolved and they all happened on the last Saturday of the month. I’m supposed to go to the Chief and the Mayor with that? It was crazy. It still is, except that I can’t in good conscience keep you from taking the theory up the chain now that it’s been four months. I’m still not convinced, but I can’t say that you’re wrong about the pattern.” Mike turned away toward the window again, not waiting for any response.
“Why don’t you give me more credit, Mike?”
Mike continued to stare out the window at the steamy city. “Because you haven’t earned it yet, Kid.”
“That’s bullshit and you know it!” Jason worked hard to control his tone of voice. Stoneman was his superior, and basically a legend in the department. Jason had attended all of Mike’s classes on investigative techniques when he was an aspiring detective. He was hard on all his students, but Jason always thought he was particularly aggressive with the Black officers. “You don’t think I deserved my promotion, I know. Fine. I get it. But you have to give me some respect when I’m right.”
“You’re not right yet. You have a theory. We’ll see whether it’s accurate, but it’s still just speculation,” Mike shot back coldly.
“But there is a pattern. I saw it, and you didn’t. Nobody did. Am I wrong?” Jason stared at the back of Mike’s head, noting the thin patches of hair that revealed the scalp below. He waited patiently, just as Mike had taught him in the classroom, and in their car.
“I can’t say you’re wrong on this, Dickson. I’m not ready to say you’re right, but you might be, and if you are, then it’s too important to keep to ourselves. Just don’t get cocky, because if you’re wrong, the Commissioner is going to remind us both about it for the rest of our careers, and yours has a lot more years left than mine. And if you’re right, then we’re in for some long nights.”
Deadly Enterprise
Mike Stoneman Thriller Book 2
"This
is a stellar follow up to Righteous Assassin. The pacing is perfect
and the character interactions are authentic and entertaining. With a
tight plotline and plenty of action, this is indeed an excellent
crime thriller. Can't wait to read more of Stoneman's cases. Highly
recommend!" - Anna
Willett, award winning horror and suspense author
Kindle
Book Award Semi-Finalist / Chanticleer CLUE Award Short
List
WHO
IS THE DEAD GIRL THEY FISHED OUT OF THE EAST RIVER?
Is
she just a drug-addicted hooker? Medical examiner Michelle
McNeill thinks it's a murder, and NYPD Homicide detective Mike
Stoneman agrees. When Mike and his partner, Jason Dickson,
start to dig into the case, they run into unexpected obstacles that
point in a disturbing direction.
In
order to uncover the truth, Mike and Jason must go outside the lines
and risk their own reputations, jobs - and lives. This case is
one that Mike can't walk away from, no matter how much he wants
to.
Harry
Bosch fans will love this fast-paced police thriller from
award-winning author Kevin G. Chapman. Book #1 in the Mike Stoneman
Thriller series, Righteous Assassin, was named one of the
top 20 Mystery/Thrillers of 2019 by the Kindle Book Review. The
series continues here.
Lethal Voyage
Mike Stoneman Thriller Book 3
"Filled
with action, drama, and surprising twists, "Lethal Voyage"
is a captivating addition to the Mike Stoneman series, guaranteed to
delight readers old and new!" - InD'Tale
Magazine (5-star Crowned Heart)
Finalist
- 2021 RONE Award / Finalist CLUE Award
WINNER of the 2021 Kindle Book Award (best mystery/thriller)
A
DEAD BODY can ruin a vacation. . . .
It
was a suicide, wasn't it? . . . Maybe the on-board production of
Chicago isn't the only place people are getting murdered!
NYPD
homicide detective Mike Stoneman and medical examiner Michelle
McNeill just want a relaxing cruise. But, Michelle is convinced that
there is foul play at work in the death of a Broadway talent agent's
wife.
The ship's head of security wants to keep it quiet. But,
how many bodies can he cover up during one sailing? When it looks
like Michelle might be the next victim, Mike needs to find the killer
and keep Michelle alive for the end of this Lethal
Voyage.
"Move over Harry Bosch, there's a new guy
in town. Detective Michael Stoneman can match wits with Harry any day
of the week." -- - "The Authors Show"
Don't
miss the next installment in the Mike Stoneman Thriller series!
Check out the Audiobooks and listen to excerpts HERE!
Ten minutes later, she heard the front door open, then close quietly. She heard four faint beeps as John disabled the burglar alarm. She had done the same when she arrived, then re-set it before she came upstairs. She had watched John do it when he brought her home. It was a simple four-digit code, and the numbers were his birthday. It was after midnight and she knew John would be creeping upstairs soon, hoping not to wake his wife. He told her many times how he had perfected the routine. He would go to the bathroom to change into his pajamas, which he kept on a shelf there. Then, he would slip into bed without turning on a light or making a sound.
She waited patiently, the cool wooden butt of the pistol in her hand. With a soft whirr, the air conditioning kicked to life, fluttering the end of a toilet paper roll. She detected a slight creak from a nearby floorboard. The bathroom door crept inward, blocking her view of the threshold. When the door swung shut, she could dimly make out John’s silhouette against the soft green glow of his electric razor, charging next to the sink.
“Were you fucking Cheryl tonight?”
Although she whispered, John jumped, then spun around, squinting into the darkness.
His voice came out in a hissing whisper. “Holy shit! Is that you? What the fuck are you doing here? How did – you have to leave. What if Maddy wakes up?” She could hear the panic in his voice and see his head turning quickly from her direction to the bathroom door, listening for movement from the bed. She wasn’t worried about Madeline waking up, but she was happy to keep up the charade.
She stood up slowly, keeping perfectly balanced on her bare feet. “Don’t worry, I had to be with you, John. I love you. How could you cheat on me?”
“What?” John’s eyes were adjusting to the darkness, but he couldn’t see any details, except for the reflection of the green charger light off her eyes. “Jesus! No. I told you I needed to work out the details with Maddy. I’m working on it.”
“I know you were with Cheryl. I saw you at the motel.”
“What?” John tried to control his voice, but failed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
She took two steps forward, until she was inches from John. She smelled his cologne – the one he always put on after having sex with her so his wife wouldn’t smell her on his body. She looked up into his shadowy face, the .357 Magnum dangling next to her right thigh. She slid her left arm around his neck, drawing him toward her. Some of Madeline’s spattered blood transferred from her blouse to John’s white dress shirt.
“Oh, John. I’ll go soon. I just had to see you.” She pulled against his neck and felt him lean in toward her. As he whispered something she didn’t listen to, she brought the gun up until the muzzle touched his chin. At the same instant, she stepped back a half-step and squeezed the trigger.
The explosion was louder than she expected, and the kickback from the discharge jerked the gun out of her hand. John’s body slumped forward as she stepped sideways, allowing him to fall with a moist thwack. Dark lines quickly formed in the indentations surrounding the 12-inch square ceramic tiles next to what was left of John’s head. Bits of bone, blood, and brain matter speckled her face and hair, but the bulk of the tissue covered the far wall and mirror.
She looked down at the gory scene and sighed. It was sad, really. John could have made her so happy, and she would have made him such a good wife. She shook her head and picked up a light blue washcloth, then carefully wiped her hands. She cleaned the butt and the trigger of the gun, removing the spattered blood as well as her fingerprints. She used the cloth to hold the gun and pushed it into John’s dead hand, pressing his fingers into the wood and chrome and placing his index finger on the trigger. Lifting the gun and his hand until his arm was fully extended, she pressed his finger into the trigger and squeezed. The bullet burrowed into the ceiling as John’s arm dropped back to the floor. The gun skittered across the tiles, settling beneath the waving toilet paper.
She walked carefully back into the bedroom. There, she retrieved the knife and carried it to the bathroom, where she wiped some of the blood from the blade onto John’s pants. Then, she repeated the process of wiping away her fingerprints, placing the knife in John’s hand, and squeezing his prints onto the hilt. She used the blue cloth to pick up the knife by its blade and tossed it back onto the bed. She retrieved her shoes and tucked the blood-smeared towel and washcloth into the waistband of her skirt.
As she carefully walked toward the door, she passed Madeline’s dressing table. She plucked a tissue from its box and used it to remove the top of a small heart-shaped porcelain container. Inside, she saw the glint of a gemstone in the moonlight filtering in through the window. She replaced the lid and picked up the jewelry box, shaking it softly to hear the tinkling sound coming from inside. Then she left the room, leaving no footprints.
Fatal Infraction
Mike Stoneman Thriller Book 4
He took a knee for social justice. Now he's dead. Controversial quarterback Jimmy Rydell’s body was found naked – on the Central Park carousel. Who killed him? How did he get there two days after he disappeared? . . . And why was the body frozen? Jimmy’s team just wants to move on, after collecting on the $20 million insurance policy. Jimmy’s teammate – the one who threatened to kill him – swears he wasn’t there. Jimmy’s bodyguard had the night off. Somebody is going down for this if NYPD homicide detectives Mike Stoneman and Jason Dickson can find a theory that explains all the bizarre facts. They just hope the case doesn’t tear the team, and the City, apart first.
WINNER of the 2022 CLUE Award (best police procedural)
Check out the Audiobooks and listen to excerpts HERE!
Perilous Gambit
Mike Stoneman Thriller Book 5
A Las Vegas murder mystery from Kevin G. Chapman, winner of the 2021 Kindle Book Award. "The narrative's pacing is outstanding, its tautly written plot is full of surprises. . . . In the end, readers are left with a heart-pounding nail-biter keeping you on the edge of your seat." -- BookPleasures.com
A
murder can sure put a damper on a Vegas wedding party.
An
unexpectedly hurried marriage in Las Vegas was not what Jason and
Rachel planned, but circumstances made it their best option. At least
Rachel would have her brother, Jackie, there for the happy occasion.
Jason had to find out eventually that Jackie is a drag performer.
That surprise turns out to be the least of Rachel's worries.
When
the star of the drag show is murdered and Jackie is accused of the
crime, Jason and his partner, Mike Stoneman, find themselves out of
their jurisdiction and all-in on a complex case that stretches from
Nevada to New York to South Dakota and back again. When somebody
tries to kill Jackie, being arrested and having to miss the show take
a backseat to staying alive.
All this excitement could scuttle
the wedding - and could get them all killed - unless Mike and Jason
figure away to take the heat off of Jackie and convince the killers
they've made a terrible mistake. But they are not taking no for an
answer, and Mike has to risk everything on a gamble that could save
the day - or end in tragedy.
Don't miss book #5 in the Mike
Stoneman Thriller series.
Check out the Audiobooks and listen to excerpts HERE!
Mimi LaRee walked quickly past the margarita bar, a Johnny Rockets, and several souvenir shops, the big red letters of the CVS drugstore welcomed pedestrians into a small oasis of normal reality within the alternate dimension that was the Vegas Strip. Inside, Mimi made a bee-line to the make-up section against the far wall. Her platinum-blonde wig and blue sequined gown made her stand out like a neon sign inside a dark theater.
Outside on the plaza, Rick and Eddie stopped next to a kiosk selling colorful frozen drinks in thin, three-foot-long plastic glasses. They had a clear view of the only public exit from the CVS. They had been watching the stage door back at the Mardi Gras, hoping one of their two targets would come out to get something to eat or get some air between shows. Failing that, they planned to wait until after the late show and take the first one who exited. They didn’t have a specific plan for how they would isolate their target. Rick was improvising.
“It doesn’t look like she’s getting food,” Eddie said as he ogled two brunettes in matching gymnastics leotards saunter past, their ass cheeks peeking out below the tight fabric.
“He,” Rick corrected.
“Whatever! I can’t keep the queers straight. Looks like a chick to me, so I’m sticking with ‘she.’ I’m pretty sure that’s how they say it.” Eddie glared defiantly at Rick, who was the boss of this operation. But Eddie viewed him as merely an aging obstacle blocking him from moving up in Freddy Costanzo’s organization.
“You spend a lot of time around drag queens?” Rick shot back calmly. While Eddie fumed, Rick surveyed the area and planned their move. Between the souvenir shop and the CVS, a gap in the plaza wall opened into a narrow corridor. Signs above the entrance pointed toward public restrooms that were seldom occupied, since the surrounding casinos offered much more attractive options. Rick nudged Eddie with his elbow. “Get across there and see whether there’s anybody in the ladies’ room. If there is, wait for ’em to leave and don’t let anybody else in. When it’s empty, give me a wave and then wait for me inside.”
Rick watched Eddie disappear down the corridor. He kept one eye on the restroom and one on the door to the CVS as four minutes ticked by. Eddie emerged from the restroom after a woman wearing a hair net and a housekeeper’s uniform and waved to Rick. Mimi had not left the drugstore. When Rick saw the platinum blonde wig bouncing away from the cash register toward the door, he made his move, intercepting Mimi outside the drugstore’s awning.
“Hey, Sugar, if you got five minutes, I have a guy looking to give you five hundred for a private photo.”
Mimi stopped abruptly, allowing Rick to take a step ahead before slamming on the brakes. When Rick turned back, Mimi glared through heavily painted eyes, then responded in a fully masculine voice. “You obviously have no idea who you’re talking to.”
“Oh, but I do,” Rick replied smoothly. “You’re Mimi LaRee, star of the drag revue at the Mardi Gras. You’re the hottest thing going, and my guy wants to give you a big tip. You up for it? I promise he’s harmless. It’ll just take a minute.” Rick assumed a relaxed, nonthreatening posture and held his hands at his sides, palms out.
Mimi sized Rick up skeptically. She was wary of anyone putting her in a vulnerable position, but Rick was well-dressed and didn’t look threatening. “Lemme see the money.” Mimi stood with her arms crossed. Rick reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a thick roll of bills with a hundred on the outside. He snapped off the rubber band and peeled off five bills, which quickly curled back into tubular form in his left hand as he returned the remainder of the wad to his pocket. He extended the money toward Mimi, who stared at the cash, thinking about the new pair of shoes she had wanted to buy the day before, but passed because of the balance in her checking account. “Where?”
Rick smiled. “Right around the corner. My guy’s waiting in a private space.”
Rick led the way, trusting that Mimi wouldn’t run off with the money. He could hear her heels clacking heavily on the concrete behind him. Mimi opened her purse, stuffed the bills inside, and tilted up the handle of the little .22 pistol she kept handy. It wasn’t much of a gun, but at close range it could do enough damage to get her out of a tight spot.
When Rick turned down the corridor and stopped in front of the ladies’ room, he held the door open with a smile, inviting Mimi to step inside.
Mimi hesitated. She knew better than to step inside without knowing what was beyond the door. But the idea of a fan who had been fantasizing about her and was willing to pay so much for a brief encounter was flattering. Mimi didn’t have much money in the little gold purse, aside from her recently acquired five hundred. Muggers didn’t generally carry wads of cash and give out five hundred dollars before rolling their victim. But there were plenty of hateful bastards who came in all shapes and sizes. She scanned the interior, which seemed vacant. Then, a voice called out from the far corner, inside the disabled persons’ stall.
“In here, Mimi.”
She looked back. Rick was leaning against the door, preventing anyone from entering to interrupt the meeting. She clutched the gold purse with her left hand resting on the open top, next to the little gun.
As soon as she entered the stall and saw Eddie, holding a black pistol, she reached for her .22. Eddie saw the movement.
The flash of light and the stabbing pain occurred simultaneously. By the time Mimi’s knees impacted the tile floor, a second blow from the butt of Eddie’s pistol to the back of her head knocked off the platinum wig, already stained red from the flowing blood released by the first impact.
Rick rushed to the threshold of the stall and saw the crumpled figure on the floor and the spreading crimson pool forming next to Mimi’s head. “We’re going to have a hard time getting any information out of that now.”
Kevin G. Chapman is an attorney specializing in labor and employment law and an independent author. In 2021, Kevin finished the first five books in the Mike Stoneman Thriller series. Righteous Assassin (Mike Stoneman Thriller #1), was named one of the top 20 Mystery/Thrillers of 2019 by the Kindle Book Review and was a finalist for the Chanticleer Book Review CLUE award. Deadly Enterprise (Mike Stoneman Thriller #2) was also named a top-20 Mystery/Thriller of 2020 by the Kindle Book Review and made the Short-List for the 2020 CLUE Award. Book #3, Lethal Voyage, was the winner of the 2021 Kindle Book Award and a Finalist for the CLUE and for the InD’Tale Magazine RONE Award. Book #4 in the series, Fatal Infraction, was named Best Police Procedural of the year by the Chanticleer Book Review, and book #5 (Perilous Gambit) was published November 24, 2021. Kevin has also written a serious political drama, A Legacy of One, originally published in 2016, which was short-listed for the Chanticleer Somerset Award for literary fiction. A Legacy of One was re-published in a newly re-edited and revised second edition in 2021. Currently, Kevin is working on a stand-alone mystery/thriller titled Dead Winner, expected out in late 2022, and a romantic thriller titled A Good Girl. Kevin is a resident of Central New Jersey and is a graduate of Columbia College and Boston University School of Law. Readers can contact Kevin via his website at www.KevinGChapman.com.
I think this is a series my brother would like.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the contest.