Editorial Content for Night Tremors: A Rick Cahill Novel
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
Matt Coyle is a reincarnated Raymond Chandler. Following his Anthony Award-winning debut, YESTERDAY’S ECHO, Coyle astounds readers with NIGHT TREMORS, which packs the punch of a rocket-propelled grenade.
Protagonist Rick Cahill is “A snoop. A Peeping Tom. A private investigator…sneaking around in the dark, taking pictures of naked adulterers.” He has seismic night tremors --- nightmares caused by his near murder two years before, having to kill someone then, and now a mysterious figure trying to repay the favor. Rick seeks redemption from the haunting echo of his wife’s murder a decade ago. Acquitted of Colleen’s homicide, he wasn’t exonerated. He’s a former cop, and the son of a corrupt cop who had “left behind a legacy of disgracing the badge.” Rick carries more baggage than a major airline.
"With more plot twists than a California cloverleaf, there’s one hairpin turn that left me breathless --- and Rick Cahill on the verge of taking his last breath. One of my best reads in years, NIGHT TREMORS has a spectacular 'Matt' finish."
“[S]haking hookers and junkies loose from the legal system on the ugly side of San Diego,” attorney Timothy Buckley lures Rick into taking on an investigation as shady as his character. Not long ago, Buckley’s “wardrobe looked like it had been piecemealed together by Goodwill.” Now he drinks expensive bourbon --- early and often.
Randall Eddington was convicted of brutally slaying his adoptive family, but Buckley is convinced he’s innocent. The murder weapon was never found, and the only evidence is Eddington’s sock found in his car, tainted by his family’s blood. Convenient. And San Diego cops played musical chairs during the homicide investigation, under the guidance of nemesis police chief Tony Moretti.
Trey Fellows is a dubious defense witness, and lives in a tiny cottage, where “The musk of marijuana bud and smoke hung in the air like Elizabethan curtains.” Not exactly sterling character. Well…tarnish, perhaps.
Thickening the mix is Moira MacFarlane, a feisty 90-pound PI who rubs Rick the wrong way --- with porcupine quills. “I’d dealt with crazy before. I needed braille to read this one.”
Rick’s gut says that Eddington is innocent, but does Chief Moretti railroading Eddington the way he railroaded Rick have a bearing on his decision? He tangles with the Raptors, a nefarious biker gang. He crosses into a dark realm, his life irreversibly altered. And he realizes that “Death was without comfort. Unless it ended unbearable suffering.” Does Rick suffering the loss of his beloved wife find a comforting end?
With more plot twists than a California cloverleaf, there’s one hairpin turn that left me breathless --- and Rick Cahill on the verge of taking his last breath. One of my best reads in years, NIGHT TREMORS has a spectacular “Matt” finish.
Teaser
Nightmares of the man he killed two years ago still chase Rick Cahill through his sleep, and the memory of his murdered wife haunts him during waking hours. When an old nemesis asks for his help to free a man from prison, a man he thinks is wrongly convicted of murder, Rick grabs at the chance to turn his life around. With the police on one side of the law and a vicious biker gang on the other, all trying to stop him from freeing this individual, Rick risks his life to uncover the truth that only the real killer knows --- what happened one bloody night eight years earlier.
Promo
Nightmares of the man he killed two years ago still chase Rick Cahill through his sleep, and the memory of his murdered wife haunts him during waking hours. When an old nemesis asks for his help to free a man from prison, a man he thinks is wrongly convicted of murder, Rick grabs at the chance to turn his life around. With the police on one side of the law and a vicious biker gang on the other, all trying to stop him from freeing this individual, Rick risks his life to uncover the truth that only the real killer knows --- what happened one bloody night eight years earlier.
About the Book
Nightmares of the man he killed two years ago still chase Rick Cahill through his sleep. The memory of his murdered wife haunts him during waking hours. His private investigative work, secretly photographing adulterers, paid for his new house but stains his soul.
When an old nemesis asks for his help to free a man from prison, a man he thinks is wrongly convicted of murder, Rick grabs at the chance to turn his life around. His investigation takes him from the wealthy enclave of La Jolla to the dark underbelly of San Diego. His quest fractures his friendship with his mentor, endangers his steady job, and draws the ire of the Police Chief who had tried to put Rick behind bars forever. With the police on one side of the law and a vicious biker gang on the other, all trying to stop him from freeing the man in prison, Rick risks his life to uncover the truth that only the real killer knows --- what happened one bloody night eight years earlier.
