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Ray Palen

Biography

Ray Palen


Ray Palen is an award-winning actor, drama teacher, and former executive producer/director for 15+ years of a highly successful regional theatre group that is still based on Long Island. Additionally, he is a published playwright with several short plays being registered with the Writers Guild of America. One of his short plays that featured his fictional hero, Sherlock Holmes, won first prize in a Holmes short play contest.

Ray's go-to pastime, however, has been reading. He has been an avid reader and writer throughout his life --- reading at least three books per week for as long as he can remember (a love of reading and lifelong insomnia being the dual cause of this). His book collection numbers in the thousands, and he prides himself on his rare and signed first editions. Ray has been reviewing books, movies and theatre for decades with several online and print publications.

In 2015, Ray relocated from the New York City area, where he lived his entire life, to Central Florida for a job opportunity with Walt Disney World. He also satisfied his burning itch to act again when he starred as the psychopath Harry Roat Jr. in a production of Terrence Knott's "Wait Until Dark," which was performed at Walt Disney World's Contemporary Resort. Recently, Ray has been acting at a popular theatre in Central Florida where he had starring roles in both "And Then There Were None" by Dame Agatha Christie and "Dial 'M' for Murder" by Terrence Knott. Ironically, he was cast in both plays as the villain --- which he plays off as both preferring more complex, villainous roles and relishing the opportunity to show off his native British accent! Currently he works as a Customer Operations Supervisor for the sports-tech entertainment company FanDuel.

His greatest personal production to date is his beautiful daughter, Anna, who is now seven and loves growing up in the shadow of Cinderella Castle. She already has a fond appreciation for books and reading! Ray resides just 20 minutes outside of Walt Disney World in Clermont, FL, with his wife Debbie, his little Princess Anna, and three cats (Mickey, Rory and Lorelei). There is a very good possibility that he is probably reading a novel right now. Cheers!

Ray Palen

Reviews by Ray Palen

by Robin Cook - Fiction, Horror, Suspense, Thriller

Twenty-three-year-old Michael “Mitt” Fuller starts his surgical residency with great anticipation at the iconic Bellevue Hospital, following in the footsteps of four previous, celebrated Fuller generations. To his advantage he’s always had a secret sixth sense, a sensitivity to the nonphysical. But quickly one patient after another assigned to his care begin to die from mysterious causes. As he tries to juggle these inexplicable deaths with the demands of being a first-year resident, things rapidly spiral out of control. Visions begin to plague Mitt --- visions of a little girl in a bloodstained dress, bloodcurdling screams in the distance, and worse. As bodies mount, he finds himself drawn to the abandoned Bellevue Psychopathic Hospital building and discovers that he’s more closely tied to the sins of the past than he ever thought possible.

by Joseph Knox - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

On the run from his shady past, Lynch has just arrived in London, still looking over his shoulder to make sure he isn't being followed. He runs into a young woman named Bobbie, who mistakes him for her brother, Heydon Pierce, who disappeared five years ago without a trace. At Bobbie's suggestion, Lynch goes to the Pierce family home, posing as Heydon to try and con some money out of them. Far from tricking them, his subterfuge is instantly discovered. He strikes the devil's bargain with them --- their silence for his cooperation in finding out what really happened to Heydon. But Lynch's investigation goes too deep and uncovers the fact that Heydon Pierce was tangled up with some dangerous and powerful people in London. Everyone has their own motives to keep Heydon well buried in the past.

by Michael Sears - Fiction, Mystery, Suspense, Thriller

Ted Molloy has hit his stride with a foreclosure investment scheme that brings him into contact with a cast of shady characters across New York’s most diverse borough. On the side, he helps his activist girlfriend, Kenzie, with her work to halt construction on “the Spike” --- a corporate-backed development project in Corona that would displace the largely immigrant communities surrounding it. Kenzie fends off smear campaigns and tours community spaces in Queens to spread the word, which she can do thanks to Mohammed, a recent Yemeni immigrant and most expedient cab driver. But when Kenzie learns that Mohammed’s immigration lawyer may be taking advantage of him financially, she decides to snoop around at the law offices --- and comes face to face with a dead body and a shadowy figure, fleeing the scene.

written by Jussi Adler-Olsen, translated by Caroline Waight - Fiction, Mystery, Suspense, Thriller

On the day after Christmas, Detective Carl Mørck, head of Department Q, finds himself handcuffed in a police car headed for Copenhagen's Vestre prison. After 15 years, a violent case from his past has caught up with him. Charges of drug trafficking and murder threaten to destroy his life and career. But he is being framed. Someone has a million-dollar bounty on his head to make sure he doesn't talk, putting him in grave danger among the prison's incarcerated criminals and corrupt officers. Carl's colleagues at the Copenhagen Police Department instantly turn their backs on him, leaving the ever-loyal Department Q team as his only hope. In search of answers, Rose, Assad and Gordon must disobey direct orders from way up the chain to try to unravel the case. LOCKED IN is the 10th and final installment in Jussi Adler-Olsen’s Department Q series.

by Alex Segura - Fiction, Mystery, Suspense, Thriller

Annie Bustamante is a cultural force like none other: an acclaimed filmmaker, an author, a comic book artist known for one of the all-time best superhero comics in recent memory. But she’s never been able to tackle her longtime favorite superhero, the Lethal Lynx. Only known to the most die-hard comics fans and long out of print, the rights were never available --- until now. But Annie is skeptical of who is making the offer: Bert Carlyle's father started Triumph Comics and has long claimed ownership of the Lynx. When she starts getting anonymous messages urging her not to trust anyone, Annie’s inner alarms go off. Even worse? Carlyle wants to pair her with a disgraced filmmaker for a desperate media play.

by James Patterson and Emily Raymond - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

Two teens appear out of nowhere, ransacking a small-town grocery store and attacking the police officers who come to investigate. Their clothes are torn and filthy, their hands and bare feet callused, and they have fangs. They’re sister and brother, alone against the world. Where did they come from? Raised by wolves, they say. Kai and Holo are taken in by the police chief and his wife, and they begin adjusting to life in a small town, attending school and going on dates. But humans, they find, are the most vicious animals. And the mystery of their upbringing brings dark and powerful forces to Kokanee Creek, tearing the town apart and threatening the lives of everyone they love. How will the wolves survive? How will Kai and Holo?

by J.D. Barker and Christine Daigle - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

Five years ago, when Detective Jena Campbell put the Leviticus Killer behind bars, she locked her darkest secret away with him. Something never meant to surface. Something better left to rot with the madman who had destroyed so many lives. When a strange man calling himself Azrael appears on social media with threats to unleash 10 plagues and 10 deaths in 10 days unless Leviticus is released, Jena is forced to reopen that door and face her past. Unable to share what she knows, she turns to the only man who can help her find Azrael before he kills again, the man she condemned. Jena quickly learns that the only thing more terrifying than facing him is facing herself.

by Peter Lovesey - Fiction, Mystery

Detective Peter Diamond is taking a short holiday. His former colleague, Julie Hargreaves, has invited Diamond and his partner, Paloma, to visit the idyllic village of Baskerville. The woman who owns the village’s largest dairy farm has been convicted of manslaughter following a terrible accident in her grain silo. Julie’s ex-investigator instinct tells her there has been a miscarriage of justice and a murderer is on the loose. But Julie has been keeping secrets of her own and can’t take her inquiry any further. Diamond takes the bait. The case is a fascinating one, but maintaining his innocent tourist facade becomes harder as he closes in on his suspects. AGAINST THE GRAIN is the conclusion to the Peter Diamond series --- and Peter Lovesey’s final book.

by James Patterson - Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

In Washington, DC, the president-elect is planning her inauguration. The list of Supreme Court candidates is highly confidential --- until it becomes evidence in Detective Alex Cross’ toughest investigation. One candidate is gunned down. A second is stabbed. A third is murdered near midnight on a city street. Cross is the FBI’s top expert in criminal behavior. For the sake of his family, his city and his country, he must put himself in the most dangerous place there is: inside the mind of a diabolical killer.

by Ramsey Campbell - Fiction, Horror, Supernatural Thriller, Suspense, Thriller

Leo Parker's stay in Alphafen seems idyllic, but after he leaves, the nightmares begin. An airport turns into a labyrinth. His own words become treacherous, if not lethal. And what are those creatures in the photographs he took? Even the therapy Leo undertakes becomes a source of menace. Perhaps Leo has roused an ancient Alpine legend. Even once he understands what he brought back, his attempts to overcome its influence may lead into greater nightmares still.