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Editorial Content for Odyssey's End: A Rick Cahill Novel

Contributors

Reviewer (text)

L. Dean Murphy

Rick Cahill! “What kind of trouble are you in now?”

Following 2022’s DOOMED LEGACY, Peter Stone reappears “[l]ike cancer after decades of remission” in ODYSSEY’S END. He was portrayed in Matt Coyle’s Anthony Award-winning debut, YESTERDAY’S ECHO. “Only fools and dead men ever trusted Peter Stone.”

"Astute readers may interpret the title to mean an end of private investigation in San Diego.... Don’t let your readers down, Mr. Coyle. Rick has become a friend. We need to know what’s in store for our buddy."

Stone has changed, though. In his 70s, he’s developed Parkinson’s. But there’s another reason he wants to hire Rick: to locate his daughter, Angela Albright, who doesn’t know of her biological dad or that he needs a kidney transplant. One of hers. Angela is in hiding, not from the father she doesn’t know exists, but maybe because Russian mob boss Sergei Volkov has been released from prison after only 54 months, a truncated sentence perhaps arranged by conniving Seattle FBI agents. And Stone’s testimony was instrumental in convicting the mobster. Volkov and his devil-daughter, Tatiana, were featured in 2018’s WRONG LIGHT.

Those FBI agents interrogate Rick, but he learns more from them than they do from him. They’re after Theodore Raskin, the founder of a bogus cryptocurrency exchange. Had Volkov from behind bars invested in Raskin’s crypto scheme --- which one renowned investor called “rat poison squared” --- and now uses that info for an FBI get-out-of-jail-free card?

Rick suffers from CTE, chronic traumatic encephalopathy, which causes outbursts of rage. His wife, Leah, flees San Diego with their infant daughter fearing the rage episodes that may harm them. The CTE has restricted his income, the reason he accepts Stone’s $50,000 fee to find Angela.

As the body count climbs, Rick’s venues for survival evaporate like desert dew. A shoot-’em-up rivaling the finale of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid appears to be the end of his odyssey. Despite his ex-cop dad’s mantra of doing what’s right even when the rules say it’s wrong, Rick is hellbent on bringing fairness to an unfair San Diego.

The word “odyssey” is defined as a long and eventful journey or experience. Is this the end of Rick’s adventures? Astute readers may interpret the book's title to mean an end of private investigation in San Diego. What lies ahead in Santa Barbara, where his wife and daughter now reside? Don’t let your readers down, Mr. Coyle. Rick has become a friend. We need to know what’s in store for our buddy.

Teaser

San Diego private investigator Rick Cahill’s wife, Leah, has fled with their daughter, Krista, to her parents’ home in Santa Barbara. She fears Rick’s violent outbursts brought on by his potentially fatal brain disorder, CTE. Rick desperately wants to reunite his family and help provide for Krista’s future --- one he fears he won’t be alive to see. A jumpstart toward that future appears in the form of Peter Stone, Rick’s longtime enemy. Stone offers Rick $50,000 to find a woman he claims can save his life with a kidney transplant. Rick can’t pass up the chance to buttress Krista’s future. When what seems like a simple missing person case spirals out of control into cryptocurrency machinations, dead bodies and an outgunned faceoff, Rick is forced to battle evil from his past.

Promo

San Diego private investigator Rick Cahill’s wife, Leah, has fled with their daughter, Krista, to her parents’ home in Santa Barbara. She fears Rick’s violent outbursts brought on by his potentially fatal brain disorder, CTE. Rick desperately wants to reunite his family and help provide for Krista’s future --- one he fears he won’t be alive to see. A jumpstart toward that future appears in the form of Peter Stone, Rick’s longtime enemy. Stone offers Rick $50,000 to find a woman he claims can save his life with a kidney transplant. Rick can’t pass up the chance to buttress Krista’s future. When what seems like a simple missing person case spirals out of control into cryptocurrency machinations, dead bodies and an outgunned faceoff, Rick is forced to battle evil from his past.

About the Book

Brain disease worsening, Rick Cahill risks everything --- even his life --- to provide for his fractured family’s future.

San Diego private investigator Rick Cahill’s past comes back to haunt him when he’s at his most vulnerable. His wife, Leah, has fled with their daughter, Krista, to her parents’ home in Santa Barbara. She fears Rick’s violent outbursts brought on by his potentially fatal brain disorder, CTE --- and she doesn’t trust that he’ll ever be able to tame his manic desire to bring his own brand of justice to an unjust world.

Rick desperately wants to reunite his family and help provide for Krista’s future --- one he fears he won’t be alive to see. A jumpstart toward that future appears in the form of Peter Stone, Rick’s longtime enemy. Stone offers Rick $50,000 to find a woman he claims can save his life with a kidney transplant. Rick can’t pass up the chance to buttress Krista’s future.

When what seems like a simple missing person case spirals out of control into cryptocurrency machinations, dead bodies, and an outgunned faceoff, Rick is forced to battle evil from his past. Can he stay alive long enough to see his family one last time?

Audiobook available, read by Evan Lavelle