Random

By John Osipowicz

RANDOM---------------------Mystery novel-----------------101,043 words."The danger to civilization is inside us."------------------Anonymous"I have a simple philosophy: Fill what's empty. Empty what's full. And scratch where it itches.------------------Socialite Alice Roosevelt LongworthTwenty years ago almost everyone in the work force looked forward to retirement. Things have changed. Pensions have been abrogated, employee benefits have been cut, and maybe most importantly the human race generally has been living longer. People still want to be productive now in their late sixties and early seventies. So retirement is postponed and sometimes cancelled.Nevertheless there still is that golden time when a worker can call it quits and begin to totally enjoy the fruits of his or her labor.Such was the case with former police detective, Dan Karls. He had worked over twenty years dodging bullets and putting in countless hours for the Philadelphia men in blue. And now at this moment in time he was beginning his well-deserved retirement. He started as a cop when he was in his twenties, so he still had plenty of years remaining for productive labor. However, in his mind he was finished with pursuing criminals and risking his life.Or so he thought.He was taking his first real vacation at Reykjavik, Iceland to explore an area he had never visited. No one really knows why things happen. Some people label it Fate, Destiny, or Karma. No matter what it's called, life can hit you smack in the face.On the second day he was there, Dan literally bumped into a skate-boarder with a violin case strapped to his back. After the collision, the skate-boarder gives Dan a few gruff words and then moves on to the next corner where he opens that case. Dan expects to hear some welcome music, so he pauses for the next moments of enjoyment.Instead of musical pleasure Dan is subjected to a horror scene when the man takes out a small sub-machine gun and begins to indiscriminately spray bullets into the thick crowd that has gathered in the shopping district. Dan dives for cover and is spared, but that is not the fate of others. When the shooting spree is over, and the gunman has skated away, three are dead and many more wounded.Since Dan has actually seen the killer and spoken to him, he feels a responsibility to contact the local investigator, Jon Einarsson, to see if he can help.Einarsson at first checks his files to see what past violent people have recently been released from prison. There are suspects but nothing definite is learned. Dan has extended his vacation to now partner with Einarsson. Since all three dead victims are from the USA and reside within a few hundred miles of each other, Dan begins to wonder if the supposedly random shooting was actually an attempt to target only one person, with the other deaths and injuries serving as a cover-up.Staying in touch with Einarsson, Dan flies back to the USA to see what he can discover about each of the deceased victims. The three victims are Jameson Parker, a fairly well-known actor, Josiah Randall, a three-time Senator, and Mason Broderick, an award-winning scientist.Back in the States now Dan investigates the lives of each. He finds plenty of enemies for all three. So despite his best intentions, his vacation is over. Dan's investigation takes him into corridors of power in the movie industry, government politics, and scientific inquiry. Again, suddenly he is risking his life once more. Dan is much older now than when he began as a rookie cop, and he makes mistakes that puts him and others into extra jeopardy. His life has abruptly taken a random turn. The question is whether he will live to be able to take another vacation. Death is also another kind of retirement.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 154975470X
• ISBN13: 9781549754708
• Release Date: September 2017
• Publisher: Independently published
• Length: 428 Pages
• Weight: 1.59 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 1.1" x 6.0"