Moonlight City Drive by Brian Paone

Moonlight City Drive

by Brian Paone

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GENRE: Crime/Thriller Romantic Paranormal

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BLURB:

11:18 p.m. Subject is checking into the Desert Palms Motel, accompanied by an unknown female.

Snapshot in the parking lot. Man and woman embrace. Betrayal, I see it every day, like my own
reflection in the mirror staring back at me. Another case, another bottle of booze, life is no longer a
mystery to me …

… Because I’m the private eye, hot on your trail; the top gun for hire. You’ll find me lurking in the
shadows, always searching for a clue. I’m the bulletproof detective. I got my eye on you …

What’s a little sin under the covers, what’s a little blood between lovers? What’s a little death to be
discovered, cold stiff body under the covers?

I’m digging you a desert grave, underneath the burning sun. You won’t be found by anyone. Vultures
circle in the sky, and you, my dear, are the reason why.

… I was always easily influenced.

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Excerpt Two:

Smith spit out another peanut shell onto his Chevy’s floorboard as his gaze stayed trained on the
Desert Palms Motel’s front entrance. His fingers instinctively found the opened bag in the complete
darkness and pinched another nut. He squeezed his eyes closed to ward off the simmering residual
headache from the most recent blackout. The sound of the rain pelting the windshield was soothing.

“Come on. Where are you? You took the last two nights off. I can’t imagine you being on vacation.”

Headlights turning into the parking lot diverted his attention from the motel’s front door. He squinted to
decipher the make and model of the vehicle through the downpour. A Bentley. He sighed and returned
his focus to the motel as he fingered the brim of his newly purchased replacement fedora and then
tossed it next to him in frustration.

Smith removed his revolver from his shoulder holster and checked that all six chambers were loaded
for the umpteenth time. He secured the weapon and grabbed the small notebook from underneath his
discarded fedora, lying on the passenger seat, where Wynn should be sitting. But she had maintained
radio silence throughout the past two days since storming from Hank’s office. He shook his head in
disgust for letting Wynn’s drama distract him from the job at hand.

He swiped the Chevy’s dashboard with his palm to clean off the thick layer of dust that had collected
from months of neglect. He wiped his hands on his pants, leaving a graying smear across the fabric
covering his thighs. He reached into his trench coat’s inner pocket and removed a silver flask. He
opened the top and looked at the engraved insignia on the front. His index finger traced the shining
eyeball hanging freely in the cut-out middle of a pyramid. Taking a swig from the decorated flask, he
grimaced as the brown liquid hit the back of his throat.

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Brian Paone was born and raised in the Salem, Massachusetts area. Brian has, thus far, published
four novels: a memoir about being friends with a drug-addicted rock star, Dreams are Unfinished
Thoughts; a macabre cerebral-horror novel, Welcome to Parkview; a time-travel romance novel, Yours
Truly, 2095, (which was nominated for a Hugo Award, though it did not make the finalists); and a
supernatural, crime-noir detective novel, Moonlight City Drive. Along with his four novels, Brian has
published three short stories: “Outside of Heaven,” which is featured in the anthology, A Matter of
Words; “The Whaler’s Dues,” which is featured in the anthology, A Journey of Words; and “Anesthetize
(or A Dream Played in Reverse on Piano Keys),” which is featured in the anthology, A Haunting of
Words. Brian is also a vocalist and has released seven albums with his four bands: Yellow #1, Drop
Kick Jesus, The Grave Machine, and Transpose. He is married to a US Naval Officer, and they have
four children. Brian is also a police officer and has been working in law enforcement since 2002. He is
a self-proclaimed roller coaster junkie, a New England Patriots fanatic, and his favorite color is burnt
orange. For more information on all his books and music, visit www.BrianPaone.com

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Moonlight-City-Drive-Brian-Paone-ebook/dp/B076B7X9RQ

B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/moonlight-city-drive-brian-paone/1127206870

Interview with Brian Paone

What are four things you can’t live without?

• Music, books, movies, tacos/roller coasters/football (that’s 4, right?)

What is your favorite television show?

• Of all time? The Muppets. Is there really any other answer? Oh wait. Roseanne, The Brady Bunch, Voltron, The Office, The Cosby Show, Father Ted …

If you could be any character, from any literary work, who would you choose to be? Why?

• Christine. I mean, how many chances do you get to be an awesome car AND avenge the teasing of bullies? Of course, I’d skip the getting crushed in a junk heap, of course. But …

What have you got coming soon for us to look out for?

Soon? Well I have the next handful of years plotted. There’s something for everyone. In 2018 I’ll have 2 books and 2 short stories published: the first book is a comedic-military novel titled The Nightly News about the eight months my wife was deployed to Djibouti, Africa, in 2010 and left me home alone with two toddlers, and the learning curve and craziness that ensued during those months. Every night, for the 221 days she was gone, I emailed her, reviewing that day's shenanigans. The main composition of the book will be centered around the content of those emails. The second book will be a quasi-sci-fi novella adaptation of Digital Underground's Sex Packets album, focusing around the bumbling antics of the Packet Man as he distributes the drug on the streets. The first short story is a western rock-fiction adaptation of Tom Petty’s song “Two Gunslingers” that will appear in the anthology A Contract of Words, and the second story (currently untitled) is a ghost story that will be appearing in the anthology A Flash of Words.
Additionally, Moonlight City Drive is being expanded into a trilogy, with part 2 being published in 2019 and part 3 being published in 2021.
Deep on the horizon, I am planning my largest undertaking I have ever attempted. A rock-fiction adaptation of Pink Floyd’s The Final Cut and Roger Waters’ solo effort The Pros & Cons of Hitchhiking. The novel will center around an officer who has returned from the Falklands War and the emotional weight of that return and how it has impacted every aspect of his life from his marriage to his job to his addictions and paranoia …

What books or authors have most influenced your own writing?

• Stephen King is my favorite author and I think he influenced a lot of my earlier writing, which still bleeds into my current novels, however, not as much any more. Some of the novels which really had an impact on me were The Bell Jar, The Great Gatsby, Les Miserables, Earth’s Children series, The Witching Hour, and Clive Barker novels. To honestly answer this question, I think more bands and albums have influenced my writing than other authors or novels. Even though I am a bookworm, and when I’m not writing, I’m reading, but I think my favorite bands have molded how I write more than another legit author.

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