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"With the opening line ... you're in for a great read...a wonderful story, a real page turner."
Jeff Bruce, Dayton Daily News
"...a story of intrigue and suspense. ...a real page-turner."
Ohioana Quarterly, Fall 2006
The
events which took place on a northern Ohio university campus on
May 4, 1970, have haunted a generation. On that day the National
Guard fired into a group of college students who were protesting
the invasion of Cambodia by the United States. Four students were
killed and nine wounded. But a psychological wound was sustained
by this country on that day as well — and its pain lingers
today.
The
Killing of Strangers, a novel set in 1995, involves the
continuing mystery of that day and those events. Sam Haggard has
every reason to believe that his life has run out in the southern
Ohio rust belt city he calls home. Fired from his job as a security
cop and dumped by his wife, he's just about as down as out can get.
Then he is offered the dubious assignment of guarding Crystal Jones,
a woman who was at Kent State on that day — a then-radical
whose activist husband, the chillingly nicknamed Lucifer, disappeared
on May 4, never to be seen again. Until now, or so Crystal claims.
Through her current fog of pills and alcohol, Crystal swears that
Lucifer is alive, and trying to contact her.
As
Sam is drawn into her story, he finds himself reliving his own past
— and also becoming more and more involved with Crystal's daughter,
Corrie, a tough yet strangely tender representative of a very different
generation. When Crystal is killed on Sam's watch, he and Corrie
find that they, too, are in danger: there is someone out there —
someone who holds answers to the long-buried secrets of Kent State.
These are the kinds of secrets that have cost people their lives
— and which now, twenty-five years later, are just as deadly
as they ever were.
A
NOTE FROM THE PUBLISHER:
Lucky
Press is very excited about publishing this Ohio-based thriller
by Jerry Holt, which was chosen in November 2004 as a finalist in
the St. Martin's First Mystery Competition.
The
Killing of Strangers focuses on a mystery (several mysteries)
surrounding the Kent State University shootings, May 4, 1970. The
main character gets caught up in the search for an elusive participant
and ends up running (from Southern Ohio to Cincinnati, to Columbus)
for his life. The book comes to an exciting conclusion in the Hocking
Hills area of Southeastern Ohio.
Holt's ability to present a variety of characters in all their strengths
and weaknesses and set them in an exciting plot in an authentic
location results in a book that grips the reader's attention and
will surely earn the author many fans.
About the Author
Jerry Holt is the author of "Rickey," a play based on the life of baseball guru Branch Rickey, the man who changed civil rights history when he brought Jackie Robinson into the Major Leagues in 1947. "Rickey" has been performed across the US, most memorably in Brooklyn at LIU and in Cooperstown at the Baseball Hall of Fame. By day Holt is Dean of Arts, Sciences, and Integrative Studies at COTC in Newark, Ohio. The Killing of Strangers is the author's first novel.
Reviews
"...very vivid...conveyed a powerful emotional punch. [and] lingered in my mind for a long time after reading it." --Margaret Lucke, author of "A Relative Stranger" and "Writing Mysteries."
Sharon Short, Stain-Busting Mystery Series (Antioch Writers Workshop instructor)
I was leading [a] mystery writing class in which Jerry participated...I still remember the opening scene and great dialogue.
Gilbert Geis, Professor Emeritus, University of California, Irvine; former Pres. American Society of Criminology., Author of 26 books including Fury with Legs
I enjoyed the book immensely, and it kept me absorbed from beginning to end....a splendid piece of work..."
Scott Allan Wright, Yellow Springs (OH) News
"You can't put this book down. ...a page turner"
Charlie Toft: The Other Paper, July 2006, Columbus (OH)
The novel’s second act...[beginning] with a car chase... is tightly plotted and highly readable.
Virgil Hervey, Co-director Antioch (OH) Writers' Workshop
I read it in one day...The last novel...I could say the same about was Ann Patchett's Bel Canto.
Hadji Williams, Author of Knock the Hustle: How to Save Your Job and Your Life from Corporate America
"...a sharp mix of factual events, crisp writing and grizzled characters. The pacing's great; the dialogue is swift...a definite pick."
USABookNews.com
"An interesting and well-written suspense!"
The Killing of Strangers by Jerry Holt
Paperback: 256 pages
Copyright: 2006
ISBN-10: 0977630048 ISBN-13: 978-0977630042
$14.95
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