Editorial Content for Unbalanced: A Jake Longly Thriller
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
In UNBALANCED, Jake Longly enters the seventh inning of his namesake series, following 2023’s CULTURED. Jake was a Major League Baseball pitcher, while his BFF, Tommy “Pancake” Jeffers, was drawn to football given his enormous size. In their youth, they caroused the many bars along the Redneck Riviera, which alludes to the strong Southern culture and host of taverns and restaurants near the Gulf coast area of Flora-Bama at the eastern Alabama border.
"D.P. Lyle...weaves intricate forensics details into this enticing thriller. He hits a home run in his seventh inning."
Pancake now works at the PI firm that Jake’s dad, Ray, founded. Jake owns Captain Rocky’s bar-restaurant and is content to enjoy a laid-back lifestyle sipping margaritas and tequila. He and gal pal Nicole unwittingly get pulled into an “easy” assignment: pick up accounting documents at a realty office. “Everything with Ray and Pancake is easy until it implodes.”
Jake and Nicole find realtor Carl Davis on the floor with a bullet hole in his head. Initially, they’re suspects when Detective Brooke Peters and other investigators survey the scene but soon dismiss their involvement. Fortunately, Carl’s daughter, Savannah, has access to her dad’s backup files and gives the documents to Jake. Pancake discovers the accounting ledger also indicates that Carl’s partner, Mitch Littlefield, had skimmed and stashed $300,000 in offshore accounts.
Mitch is the prime suspect, but the list grows as Ray and Pancake cooperate with Brooke. Savannah’s fiancé, Dustin Hobson, also works at Carl’s office and confirms that he and Mitch left the office at the same time, about 20 minutes before the murder. Mitch appears to have an alibi, given that Dustin is Carl’s future son-in-law. Jake gets further involved with the investigation, while Pancake gets involved with Brooke --- on a personal basis. Now the suspect list has grown to several, and Jake conjures ways to bypass police restrictions of gathering evidence.
Saucy humor tones down the criminal investigation with many “of Pancake’s feeding frenzies.” D.P. Lyle, the author of the award-winning FORENSICS FOR DUMMIES, weaves intricate forensics details into this enticing thriller. He hits a home run in his seventh inning.
Teaser
Ex-pro baseball player Jake Longly and his girlfriend, Nicole, are asked by Jake’s father, Ray, a private investigator, to pick up some papers from a realtor for his business. When Jake and Nicole reach the office, they find it empty --- except for the dead body of the realtor lying on the floor, a single gunshot wound to his head. Who could’ve wanted him dead? The long suspect list and the numerous possible motives make untying the knot difficult. Working with the police department, Jake, Nicole, Ray and their friend, Pancake, dive into the deceivingly simple investigation, which grows more complex by the minute. With millions of dollars at stake, weeding through the realtor’s entanglements requires all hands on deck. And yet again, Jake is dragged into the PI business he can’t seem to escape.
Promo
Ex-pro baseball player Jake Longly and his girlfriend, Nicole, are asked by Jake’s father, Ray, a private investigator, to pick up some papers from a realtor for his business. When Jake and Nicole reach the office, they find it empty --- except for the dead body of the realtor lying on the floor, a single gunshot wound to his head. Who could’ve wanted him dead? The long suspect list and the numerous possible motives make untying the knot difficult. Working with the police department, Jake, Nicole, Ray and their friend, Pancake, dive into the deceivingly simple investigation, which grows more complex by the minute. With millions of dollars at stake, weeding through the realtor’s entanglements requires all hands on deck. And yet again, Jake is dragged into the PI business he can’t seem to escape.
About the Book
Jake Longly is never saying yes to his father again.
It was a simple task. Five minutes tops.
Ex-pro baseball player Jake Longly and his girlfriend, Nicole, are asked by Jake’s father, Ray, a private investigator, to pick up some papers from a realtor for his business. Jake would rather be lying on the beach outside of his Gulf Shores restaurant, but he begrudgingly agrees. It’ll only take a few minutes.
But somehow, things are never simple in Ray’s world. When Jake and Nicole reach the office, they find it empty --- except for the dead body of the realtor lying on the floor, a single gunshot wound to his head. Who could’ve wanted him dead? The long suspect list and the numerous possible motives make untying the knot difficult.
Working with the police department, Jake, Nicole, Ray and their friend, Pancake, dive into the deceivingly simple investigation, which grows more complex by the minute. With millions of dollars at stake, weeding through the realtor’s entanglements requires all hands on deck. And yet again, Jake is dragged into the PI business he can’t seem to escape.
Audiobook available, read by Marcus Barton
