Book Spotlight : Why She Left Us by author David Dennis

Dear readers, today's book spotlight is on a recently released soft, romantic contemporary fiction titled "Why She Left Us" by author David Dennis. This novel is available at Barnes & Noble, Amazon stores.

From the author's desk 

David Dennis (pen name for David D. D'Aguanno) is a retired English teacher who did most of his writing during the 1980s while on summer vacations. Upon the urging of various friends and relatives, he has recently reworked his earlier writings and is now making them available to a wider audience. The author has also written a series of comedy-mysteries featuring a character by the name of Brett Cornell ("Brett Gets Hammered" & others), which interested readers can find on various sites (Amazon, Barnes & Noble) as well. 

Connect with author David Dennis

 

Twitter:  @DaveDAguanno

Facebook: www.facebook.com/WhySheLeftUs

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/7618068-dave-d-aguanno

Book Spotlight : Online purchase links, excerpt highlights

Ebook : WHY SHE LEFT US

Author : David Dennis

Genre : Contemporary Fiction

Publication Date : December 3, 2012 at Amazon

Amazon Kindle store :  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AHYQ7LA

Amazon Paperback : http://www.amazon.com/dp/1480251577 

Barnes & Noble (Nook) : http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/why-she-left-us-david-dennis/1113891906 

Excerpt from Why She Left Us

 

    There is no reason for it either. It’s unfathomable, inexplicable that this love should have come over me as it has; and just as I expected, I am unable to deal with it and have now begun to wonder if I should seek to cast it off as an undesirable invasion of the safety and serenity that have always clothed my existence up until now. I know nothing of such matters. I am completely naïve and inexperienced as to the ways a woman adopts in her efforts to please the man she loves. This feeling I have within me may very well never even have the chance to blossom forth, as I am sure my sheer ineptitude and awkwardness will doom it to failure.

    Oh, dear Lord, what am I to do? I have spent this entire day thinking about him, fantasizing what it will be like when he returns – if he returns! But nothing material has resulted from any of this. I am alone in this house right now, just as I was alone all day long, although a number of familiar faces were around me from time to time. I am still alone, and I long for the unexpected, knowing that I am doomed in so wishing something to happen that will, no doubt, never happen at all.

    He will not come back. This longing inside of me will never be appeased. It will simply remain there, stagnant and distressing and unsettling – yet, at the same time, so sweet and uplifting that it frightens me. When I woke early this morning and realized that I had actually fallen in love with him, I had such an extreme desire to do some good on this earth. I sprang out of bed, threw on some rags, and went outside to do the gardening that Wayne was to have done. I would have painted the whole house, too, except that he had taken everything with him in his van when he left our house yesterday, and I didn’t have enough money to go to the hardware store. And since it was Saturday, I couldn’t gain access to the money I have in my account.

   So, I just went out there on my hands and knees and did all the gardening that needed to be done. I even relished doing it, too, because I kept saying to myself: If Wayne does come back and finds that I’ve done all of the gardening for him, maybe he’ll smile at me. God, he might even look right at me. Then I would see the color of his eyes and the glow of his emotions and the piercing and blinding light of his soul. Maybe he’ll come back here unexpectedly and find me here on my hands and knees. And maybe he’ll then put his strong, pure hands under my elbows and lift me up from the ground and tell me that I have found favor in his sight. In his sight, yes, because he’ll be looking directly into my eyes as he tells me this. And then I’ll laugh and tell him that I’m doing all of this for him and that, in doing it for him, it affords me the greatest possible joy. And then it’ll be his turn to laugh, and he’ll suggest that we do the rest of the gardening together, and the two of us will sink to our hands and knees and dip our hands into the dirt. Together.

    Later on, I fancied, I would step into the garden against the side of the house while Wayne wasn’t looking. In that garden grow the most gentle and delicate white roses I have ever seen. There is one in particular that is scarcely more than a bud, but it is pure and unblemished and, as yet, untouched by human hands. That is the rose I would pluck, while he wasn’t looking, and it is that rose that I would offer him, quietly and gently, without having to say a single word to him because my soul, not my lips, would be speaking to him as I extended the pure, white rose and watched him take it from me and place it between the curls of his blond hair. And it would stay there for the next few days so that I could always see it there and be reminded of the beautiful intimacy of that moment.

    We both would be silent, too, if by chance we were to find a fresh, clear fountain of distilled water in an imaginary park very far from here – a park that exists only in one’s dreams. We would dip our hands into the fountain and cleanse them of all of the soil from the garden. Then, still without saying a word, I would dip my whole body into that holy fountain so that all my past sins would be wiped away; and in that one instant, I could stand before him in total purity, I myself a pure, white rose freshly plucked, and I would extend my heart to him and watch silently as he took it and pressed it against his own, and our two hearts would be joined forever.

    I would like to kiss the earth at this time; and if it were humanly possible, I would kiss the sun. There is so much that is beautiful, so much that is heart-stopping in its gorgeous simplicity, so much that I want to share with this man. If God would only let me have the opportunity to do this! If only I could see him again! Just once! I want to open so many doors for him. I want him to be able to see the light of Heaven, to breathe its untainted scent into his lungs, and to hear the divine music that is now in my soul – the music that is known only to angels. I want to give him my hands so that he can press them between his own, my face so that he can hold it against his chest, my heart so that he can consecrate it with his love, and my soul so that he can unite it with his own. These are the fantasies and dreams that form the substance of my longing – a longing which my rational mind tells me can never be pacified. Not in the real world we are all forced to inhabit.

 

Book Spotlight Part I : The Brett Cornell Mystery Series by David D. D'Aguanno

Dear readers, today's book spotlight is a popular detective series with humor and comedy thrown into this interesting mix concoted and created by author David D. D'Aguanno -- The Brett Cornell Mystery Series.

The 5 popular Brett Cornell Mysteries featured today - Read an excerpt from each book posted in this blog along with links to the author's website, purchase links to the bookstore and links to multiple star reviews that the Brett Cornell Series has received.

AUTHOR LINKS : Connect with author David D. D'Aguanno

Author page: http://www.amazon.com/David-DAguanno/e/B0078L97ZI

Author blog: http://brettcornell.blogspot.com

Twitter handle: @DaveDAguanno

Goodreads : http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/7618068-dave-d-aguanno

Facebook: www.facebook.com/BrettCornellSeries

THE BRETT CORNELL MYSTERY SERIES- book features and excerpts

Ebook : BRETT AEROBICIZES (Brett Cornell Mystery#2)

Genre : Mystery, comedy-mystery

ISBN (print format): 978-1470005375

Formats: Kindle, Nook, Paperback

Amazon : http://www.amazon.com/Brett-Aerobicizes-Cornell-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B007ECTXWI

CreateSpace paperback: https://www.createspace.com/3786598

Barnes and Noble :  http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/brett-aerobicizes-david-daguanno/1109152823

Reviews : 4-5stars

Blurb : A man is found dead with a bullet hole in his chest, and private detective Brett Cornell is the #1 suspect.

It might have something to do with the fact that there were witnesses who had seen him punching the guy around only a few days earlier. Or -- more likely -- it might be because the police have discovered that the fatal bullet had been fired from HIS gun!

In the second novel of this detective series set in the late 1980s, self-proclaimed unscrupulous bastard Brett Cornell has to figure out who's trying to set him up:Could it be his lovely but meek new client? Or perhaps her equally lovely but far from meek room-mate? Or might it actually be the beautiful and dynamic aerobics instructor he's recently taken up with?

In the meantime, Brett's legendary Adonis-like features get severely damaged when he ends up catching the beating of his life -- emotionally as well as physically -- before he finally nails the identity of the real killer!

Excerpt from BRETT AEROBICIZES (Brett Cornell Mystery#2):

   

There was a kind of wheezing sound as Ginger let out some air through her nostrils, and then she followed me as far as the bedroom, where I stopped and turned around towards her when she reached out and touched my arm.

     “Hands off, babe,” I said to her in a tight-sounding voice, and after backing off from me, she told me that if I should happen to bring Marilyn into “our” bed, it would constitute the end of our entire relationship.

     “When you move out,” I replied, walking the rest of the way on into the bathroom,” do like Karen did, and clear all of your feminine paraphernalia out of here before Marilyn moves in and takes over.”

     By the time I finished that sentence, I was already in the bathroom, leaning in a trifle towards the mirror as I thought I saw a couple of hairs of my mustache slightly out of alignment with all the others. I expected Ginger to dart right in there after me, but she took me a little by surprise because it was almost a full sixty seconds before she came in, and even then, she only leaned against the door-frame and crossed her arms in front of her to put her hands on opposite shoulders.

     I’d been concentrating just then on the important task of straightening out the old mustache, but for one moment, when I took a real quick glance at her reflection standing behind me, I said to myself,” God! Is she beautiful!” – But it was just that one moment, and then reality came rushing back into my brain as I heard her begin to speak, looking down at the floor as she did so.

     “When you asked me to move in with you last Friday, I didn’t realize that you were intent upon inflicting all sorts of mental punishment upon me – but I made up my mind that I would put up with it as long as I possibly could, because I – Well, never mind that.” She paused to lower her head even more, and then she went on,” I have never been treated so horribly by a man, and yet, I don’t know what to do – to please you, Brett –“

     Feeling restless, and instinctively telling myself that I needed to escape the discomfort I was beginning to feel, I walked on past her, and her body made room for me to get through the doorway as I did so. Then I retrieved my pack of Marlboros from the top of my bureau and put it in the front pocket of my shirt. Seeing that she continued to face into the interior of the bathroom, with her hands still grasping her two arms, I said to the back of her,

     “Don’t even try it.”

     “Try what?” she immediately asked me, still without turning around and facing me.

     “You know what you’re trying to do to me, and I’m telling you to knock it off.” Then I deliberately paused, just to give her enough time to respond to what I’d just said if she felt so inclined, but since she didn’t, I went ahead and told her,” You know why I asked you to move in. It was to spite Karen. That’s all. So, just ‘cause I’ve been letting you sleep here for the past week, don’t get any stupid ideas in your head about – Just don’t, O.K.? Things are the way they are – ‘cause that’s the way they are.” And then, cursing at myself for talking gibberish, I set my jaw more firmly and continued relentlessly,” You know as well as I do that all I have to do is say the word, and Marilyn will move right in and take your place, and then, for all I care, you can go soak your sad self in a hot basin somewhere on Skid Row.”

Amazon Reviews for Brett Aerobicizes

Ebook : BRETT ALWAYS WINS (Brett Cornell Mystery#3)

Genre : Mystery, comedy-mystery

ISBN (print format): 978-1470098346

Formats: Kindle, Nook, Paperback

Amazon :  http://www.amazon.com/Brett-Always-Cornell-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B007P3NOLM

CreateSpace paperback: https://www.createspace.com/3801789 

Barnes and Noble : http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/brett-always-wins-david-d-daguanno/1109864793 

 Reviews : Multiple 5stars

Blurb : According to the police report, the attractive, blue-eyed blonde had been shot to death in her apartment at around 7:30 p.m. Then how was it possible that nearly 50 people saw her dining and dancing at a nearby club over 3 hours later?

Set in the late 1980s, the third Brett Cornell novel finds the studly private detective surrounded by the usual bevy of beautiful women, as well as a few seedy characters who foolishly decide to butt heads with the supreme unscrupulous bastard himself.

But Brett's road to victory isn't easy, especially when he receives a frantic call for help which leads to his being severely beaten right outside his office building and, later, being held and threatened at gunpoint.

Soon, bullets start flying, fists start flying -- and even a sledgehammer is used -- in one of the most violent cases of his career, before Brett finally wins!

 Excerpt from BRETT ALWAYS WINS (Brett Cornell Mystery#3)

Cute little Paula Marshall came walking towards me in the parking lot, and she offered me a feeble smile when she came close enough to touch.

    “Well, it’s done, I’ve got the money,” she announced, although she didn’t look any too happy about it. For my own part, I wasn’t exactly ready to bust out singing the Star-Spanish Banner either. For one thing, I didn’t even know the words, and for another thing, my singing voice ain’t exactly at the same level as Burt Baccarat’s or that Deaf Leopard guy, to name just two of the best country-and-western singers you’d ever care to listen to! But I did manage to put a big smile on my face upon hearing the great news about the money finally being just a little itty-bit closer to being put in my own bank account.

    “Make sure it’s all there before we drive out of the parking lot,” I advised her.

    “Do you think somebody might try to rob us?” she asked me, suddenly all a-tremble.

    “Nah, I just wanna make sure you’re not trying to rip me off, that’s all,” I said to her, then I chuckled good-naturedly and told her,” What I meant to say was, ’We wanna make sure Donna Ruby don’t think we’re trying to rip her off, that’s all.’”

    Whether she believed me or not didn’t really matter a whole lot, as far as I was concerned, so we got back in the car, and Paula proceeded to direct me to the address she had found out on her own as being that of the woman named Donna Ruby who she had every reason to believe was ruining her pathetic little life. And so, just to convince me one more time that she was one totally mixed-up gal, the first thing she said to me when we stepped out of the car upon our arrival at Donna Ruby’s apartment building was: “Do I look all right?”

    “Not bad, considering you’re about to make an ass of yourself,” I told her, then hurriedly corrected myself since I was probably pushing my luck to its absolute limit,” That is to say, ‘Not bad, you can pass yourself off as a highly respectable woman who sincerely wants to save her marriage at any cost.”

    “Why, thank you, Brett,” Little Miss Clueless replied, smiling faintly. “It was very nice of you to say that.”

    Yup, I told myself. She definitely wants me to make mad and passionate love to her. They all do.

Amazon Reviews for Brett Always Wins 

Other reviews for Brett Always Wins 

Ebook : BRETT GETS HAMMERED (Brett Cornell Mystery#5)

Genre : Mystery, comedy-mystery

ISBN (print format): 978-1475097184

Formats: Kindle, Nook, Paperback

Amazon :  http://www.amazon.com/Brett-Hammered-Cornell-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B008CFDJJO

CreateSpace paperback: https://www.createspace.com/3834938

Barnes and Noble : http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/brett-gets-hammered-david-daguanno/1111782600

Reviews :  Multiple 4.5-5stars

Blurb : The beautiful and alluring Tammy Rankin and her brother Andy were positively grief-stricken when their well-to-do father died of a fatal heart attack.

In fact, their grief was intensified when they realized that their young stepmother stood to inherit his vast fortune -- that is, unless they could somehow suggest foul play and pin a murder rap on the woman, notwithstanding her probable innocence.

They obviously needed to enlist the services of someone who was totally devoid of any amount of scruples whatsoever.

A perfect cue, then, for the entrance of self-proclaimed unscrupulous bastard Brett Cornell who -- as expected -- is instantly attracted to the prospect of getting his own greedy hands on a portion of the Rankin inheritance -- and on the lovely Tammy Rankin herself!

However, will his unscrupulous nature alone, coupled with his stunning Adonis-like features, be enough for him to pull it off? -- especially when he's been spending the last few months of his life in a state of almost constant inebriation? 

Excerpt from Brett Gets Hammered (Brett Cornell Mystery #5)

The man gave out a short laugh, and then he looked down briefly at the floor beneath where he was standing, before looking back up at me and saying,

     “You certainly seem in better spirits than you were in the last time I spoke with you – and I’m glad of that. But I don’t know, Brett. I keep thinking and keep hoping that someday real soon you’ll trust me enough – maybe even like me enough – to open up and tell me why you had that falling out with that beautiful young woman you were seeing at the time of your bout against Gil Bailey – if only to make me understand how you could throw away something so precious –“

     “Stop right there, Joe!” I told him, holding my right hand straight out in his direction, palm facing out. “You don’t know what I know – or what I think I know – which I know don’t make no sense, but –“ and I had to stop myself as the realization came upon me that I was entering the kind of emotional territory that I’d always found to be completely alien and even hostile to my basically unscrupulous nature. Luckily, however, Raff didn’t give me any more time to stumble all over myself as I was starting to do just then, as he came to the rescue (so to speak) by saying to me,

     “You’re right, of course. There’s a lot I don’t know about this situation, and about what you were led to believe or suspect or whatever – but what I do know is this: There’s a young woman involved here who’s wasting away emotionally, who’s confused and scared and just about ready to give up, and I would consider it a horrible sin if I didn’t at least make an attempt to remedy the situation for her – and for you, too, of course -- in any way that I could.”

     I had originally planned on taking a nice brisk shower and then high-tailing it on over to Miss Lola Buchanan’s where I was fairly certain I’d be greeted warmly and tenderly. She, so far, had impressed me as being a really sweet and gentle young thing –

     But she wasn’t Ginger.

     Then, while I simply sat down on the wooden bench that ran parallel to the row of lockers I’d just been standing in front of, I kept my lips closed and looked down at my feet.

     And Joe Raff placed a hand on one of my shoulders and told me,

     “All I can tell you is this, Brett: I could be wrong, but -- I’ve always believed that the sincere and passionate love of a beautiful woman can transform a man’s life and his soul in a truly miraculous way.  Just give that some thought, would you please?”

    He didn’t say anything else after that, and he increased the pressure of his hand upon my shoulder – just a tad – without me even shaking it off me as I normally reacted whenever a man put his hands upon me, uninvited.

     And so, I just sat there for several minutes, even after Joe had left, and I can’t even recall exactly what it was I was either thinking or feeling at that time. But I can state with absolute certainty that I was NOT thinking about Lola Buchanan – and our date that evening never did take place.

     And I can’t even offer a rational explanation as to why it happened that way. 

Barnes and Noble Reviews for Brett Gets Hammered 

Goodreads Reviews for Brett Gets Hammered

Book Spotlight Part II : The Brett Cornell Mystery Series by David D. D'Aguanno

Dear readers, today's book spotlight is a popular detective series with humor and comedy thrown into this interesting mix concoted and created by author David D. D'Aguanno -- The Brett Cornell Mystery Series.

The 2 popular Brett Cornell Mysteries featured today - Read an excerpt from each book posted in this blog along with links to the author's website, purchase links to the bookstore and links to multiple star reviews that the Brett Cornell Series has received.

AUTHOR LINKS : Connect with author David D. D'Aguanno

Author page: http://www.amazon.com/David-DAguanno/e/B0078L97ZI

Author blog: http://brettcornell.blogspot.com

Twitter handle: @DaveDAguanno

Goodreads : http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/7618068-dave-d-aguanno

Facebook: www.facebook.com/BrettCornellSeries

THE BRETT CORNELL MYSTERY SERIES- book features and excerpts

Ebook : IT'S ALL BRETT'S FAULT (Brett Cornell Mystery#7)

Genre : Mystery, comedy-mystery

ISBN (print format): 978-1477631218

Formats: Kindle, Nook, Paperback

Amazon :  http://www.amazon.com/Bretts-Fault-Cornell-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B008HS307W

CreateSpace paperback: https://www.createspace.com/3904102

Barnes and Noble :  http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/its-all-bretts-fault-david-daguanno/1111971619

Blurb :  Marcus Wade was a man who wasn't easily intimidated -- that is, until he had reason to believe that someone was trying to kill him.

Upon talking the matter over with his wife Sybil, he decided to hire someone who would not only protect him, but who would also scare off any potential murderers. In other words, he needed a man who was tough, dangerous -- and more than a little unscrupulous.

 
Enter private detective Brett Cornell who jumps at the chance to push his weight around on the man's behalf, but is even MORE anxious to get it on with the lovely Sybil Wade as well as her younger and even more voluptuous sister Nora -- for starters! The fun and games come to an abrupt end, however, when someone really ends up dead, and everyone involved agrees: It's all Brett's fault!

Excerpt from It's all Brett's Fault (Brett Cornell Mystery#7)

 A little while later, when I was getting back inside after having stashed all that brew in the trunk of my car parked right outside, I thought the jig was up for sure when a fairly cute brunette, decked out in a little waitress outfit, suddenly materialized behind the counter and, looking around in some confusion, finally squinted her eyes in my direction as I approached.

     “Did you see where Al went?” she asked me, then her confused look turned into one of sheer pleasure, probably on account of she could see me more clearly when I stepped in closer to her, and the sight of my incredible mustache and my beautiful curly blond hair had obviously bedazzled her to the max.

     “What do you need Al for? I’m here right now, and Al ain’t,” and all I had to do just then was to continue to enchant her by giving her a brief sample of the devastating Brett Cornell smile, and then I topped it off by circling an arm about her waist and bringing her in closer to me.

     “I -- I wish I had time to get better acquainted with you,” she replied, summoning all the inner strength available to her in an effort to prevent herself from melting away completely. “But I am on duty right now. Maybe later?”

     Hearing that, I kept my smile going strong as I calmly reached over and extracted her little waitress’s pad from out of the back pocket of her skirt, along with the pen that was attached to it, and held it in front of her a moment before handing it over to her and telling her,

    “Name and number.”

    Then I slowly let go of her, but remained standing pretty close as I watched her write down the info I’d asked for. Then I shoved my hands in my pockets, looked around idly, and remarked,

     “As a matter of fact, honey -- I kinda wish Al was here right now. I loaned him fifty bucks last week, and he told me I’d get it back this afternoon. Now, the lousy bum’s nowhere to be found, and it’s my nephew’s birthday – the little tadpole’s just turned six -- and I really need that fifty to buy him a nice present, you know?” I was gonna add a few words to the effect that I needed to get him something that wouldn’t put too much of a strain on the poor, sickly little tadpole, seeing as he’d recently had an operation, and golly, he was just a helpless little tadpole, too, and he didn’t deserve all the unhappiness he’d had recently, which was quite a lot, considering he was just a little tadpole, right? And in so saying this, I think I’ve just exceeded the world’s record for the number of times the word “tadpole” has ever appeared in print in a single paragraph!

    But the truth of the matter is I didn’t actually say anything like that, but instead, I merely clamped my mouth shut and cast pleading eyes across the short space that separated my face from hers and sniffed a little, as if to hold back a few tears.

     Then the girl sighed and said,

     “I guess I’m just a sucker for sensitive guys like you. Listen, darling -- I’ll just take fifty dollars out of the register, and when Al gets back, I’ll just tell him I paid you, and he can just put the fifty bucks back in the register out of his own pocket.”

     “Gee,” I said to her in an awe-struck voice, and my smile got even wider than before. “You are not only beautiful, but you’ve got a real kind heart. I like that in a woman -- even more than good looks, you know?”

     “No problem at all, sweetie,” she said on her way back from the cash register, and she handed me two crisp twenty-dollar bills and a handsome ten-spot, accompanying the act with a cheery smile that I was rapidly falling in love with -- sort of. “Now -- just in case he asks, who should I say I gave the money to?”

     With a big smile, I folded the bills, dropped them into the front pocket of my shirt where I kept my smokes, and said,” Henry Lawton,” three seconds before I was out the door. 

Ebook : BEACH BUM BRETT (Brett Cornell Mystery#8)

Genre : Mystery, comedy-mystery

Facebook Page :  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Beach-Bum-Brett

ISBN (print format): 978-1478122500

Formats: Kindle, Nook, Paperback




Amazon : http://www.amazon.com/Beach-Brett-Cornell-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B008RLB1IO

CreateSpace paperback: https://www.createspace.com/3918340

Barnes and Noble :  http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/beach-bum-brett-david-daguanno/1112229469

Reviews : 5stars 

Blurb : Private detective Brett Cornell decides to go on vacation, and hits the sunny, golden shoreline of the Atlantic Ocean, where he quickly captures the 3 A's (the attention, admiration, & affections) of as many of the lovely young bikini-clad beauties as he could ever desire!

So, what could possibly go wrong?

Well -- as Brett himself would say -- as sure as rain is wet and water is...well...wet, Brett's self-appointed reign as King of the Beach is soon threatened when a few of the local tough guys decide to engage him in a bit of fisticuffs so that it doesn't take long before the unscrupulous bastard himself begins to catch a whiff of MURDER in the salty sea air.

Only, this time he himself may very well be the intended victim!

Excerpt from Beach Bum Brett (Brett Cornell Mystery#8)

“On an individual basis,” I said to the company at large,” you guys are totally useless. Is that why you always got to fight in packs?”

     “We don’t fight,” somebody said. It was a new voice -- or, at least, a voice I hadn’t heard in a while -- and I then noticed that Norman character coming forward a few steps away from the railing. With his piercing pretty eyes blazing away at me, he proceeded to inform me that he himself was not in the habit of driving into strange towns and punching out innocent people the way I apparently was. “And just because some of those innocent people want to strike back,” he continued,” you seem to think you’re being ganged up on.”

     With a laugh that had the word “scorn” written all over it, I stepped in towards the sucker, hands on my hips, and said to him,

    “Don’t be such a two-faced clown. Be honest for once in your life, and admit you’re the one who put Craig and his pals up to that stunt on the beach the other day.”

     “What stunt on the beach?” he asked with a kind of self-righteous attitude, and just because he seemed to think he was above a common piece of peasant trash like me and -- mainly -- just because I felt like it, I reached out, took him by the throat, and shoved him back up against the railing, and without letting go of his throat while I did that, too.

     “Jeez!” Konrad cried out, and noticing out of the corner of my eye that Craig was about to start towards me, I shot back at him,

     “Just try it, and I’ll break his neck with my bare hands.”

     And then, aside from some sputtering from Norman, there was silence. Craig dropped his arms loosely by his sides and stepped back to stand next to the lifeguard buddy of his that I hadn’t knocked out -- yet. Even Konrad shut his stupid baby-mouth and stood quietly, a look of pained intensity on his face the whole time I kept my hand around Norman’s throat. Finally, a scruple I didn’t know I even had persuaded me to ease up, so I let go of the hold I had on his neck, and as soon as I released him, he went stumbling back against the railing again, choking and putting on an Academy Award-winning performance like he was Marlo Thomas in “A Streetcar Named Denial” – or was it that other old movie that took place on a Southern plantation in Minneapolis, and starred Clark Kent and Betty Grable?

      Anyways, watching him carry on like that, I had some difficulty in stifling the urge to simply step over to him and nail him a good solid punch on the jaw, just to shut him up. Pretty boys like him turned my stomach, if you know what I mean, especially the ones who put on airs like they were better than everybody else, as if their descendants had all come over to this country on the Titanic, or something -- and from where I was standing, this Norman character fit that description to a Tee. Turning to the others, I told them that, as far as I was concerned, the party was over and they could all go take a flying leap off the Himalayas, assuming they knew what they were and where to find them (which I didn’t, incidentally).

Amazon Reviews for Beach Bum Brett