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John Scheck
“Lines in the Sand” continues seamlessly from La Frontera Saga.
Ax and the Brotherhood—the murderous biker gang that carved a bloody
path across the borderlands—have expanded their gun-theft operation,
bringing them into collision once again with narcos, corrupt officials,
and federal agents.
DEA agent Juan Rodríguez and ATF agent Cliff Owens are drawn into a storm of kidnappings, cartel warfare, and shifting loyalties, relying on intelligence from unlikely sources, including Vicente Morales, a trusted Sinaloa insider.
At the center of the chaos stands Diego Valverde, a Spaniard determined to transform cartel wealth into schools, infrastructure, and opportunity. His vision offers hope in a land scarred by violence—but also paints a target on his back.
As Colonel Ignacio García and his elite soldiers wage a relentless war against the cartels, alliances fracture, corruption spreads, and survival becomes uncertain.
A fast-moving, violent, darkly funny border thriller where every alliance has a price—and every line in the sand is meant to be crossed.
Twenty-Seven Calls
John Scheck
Escaping one of Philadelphia’s most blighted neighborhoods through
U.S. Army military police training, Elizabeth Owens rises to become a
detective in her hometown’s police department. But her career is quietly
sabotaged by James McMillan, a wealthy real estate mogul she once
arrested for assault. Now stuck in the Domestic Violence Unit—one of the
department’s least desirable assignments—Owens fights to protect
victims in a system that often fails them.
After a haunting triple murder, Owens and her partner vow to step in when victims make twenty-seven unanswered calls for help, starting with a serial abuser linked to a missing woman. As Owens digs deeper, she uncovers McMillan’s ongoing sabotage and evidence tying him to the disappearances of multiple women. With the help of her partner, a crusading lawyer, and McMillan’s abused mistress seeking revenge, Owens devises a bold plan to take down the untouchable billionaire once and for all.
After a haunting triple murder, Owens and her partner vow to step in when victims make twenty-seven unanswered calls for help, starting with a serial abuser linked to a missing woman. As Owens digs deeper, she uncovers McMillan’s ongoing sabotage and evidence tying him to the disappearances of multiple women. With the help of her partner, a crusading lawyer, and McMillan’s abused mistress seeking revenge, Owens devises a bold plan to take down the untouchable billionaire once and for all.
Lives of Crimes
John Scheck
John Scheck’s Lives of Crimes
is a darkly compelling collection that examines how crime and
punishment ripple through families and friendships. Moving from the
bleak shadows of noir to the unlikely humor found in breaking the law,
these stories peel back the layers of ordinary people caught in
extraordinary situations, some of their own making, others born of
proximity and bad luck.
From a young man who uproots his life to visit his brother in a federal prison, to a gambler betting everything on impossible odds, to a weary guard discovering he’s no freer than the men he oversees, Scheck reveals the human pulse beneath violence and retribution, the loyalty, fear, and fragile hope that survive in even the most hostile surroundings.
From a young man who uproots his life to visit his brother in a federal prison, to a gambler betting everything on impossible odds, to a weary guard discovering he’s no freer than the men he oversees, Scheck reveals the human pulse beneath violence and retribution, the loyalty, fear, and fragile hope that survive in even the most hostile surroundings.
Criminal Code
John Scheck
When the elite legal firms of Beverly Hills need problems erased
for their most select clients, not argued in court or boardrooms, they
contract downward to lesser law offices—ethically compromised “ambulance
chasers” with no qualms about getting their hands dirty. Shadowy
intermediaries are summoned like genies and the best of these is Tag, a
veteran fixer with a brutal past, a dark personal code, and a clear
warning to clients: vengeance comes at a cost they may not be able to
afford in the end. But in Los Angeles, the rich are used to getting what
they want, making Tag a very busy and rich man.
Contracted for a devastating act of retribution against Walter Greene, a Hollywood mogul with a dark legacy of sexual abuse, Tag penetrates Greene’s guarded world to exact the revenge his client sought, winning a battle but starting a war. Far from learning his lesson, Greene enlists his own fixer. Morgan is competent, detached, and even more ruthless. But instead of two champions from mythology facing off, like David and Goliath, or Achilles and Hector, Tag and Morgan don’t see themselves as enemies but friendly competitors in an illicit market that’s booming.
What follows is a shadowy war of revenge and spiraling violence, well outside the boundaries of the law and society.
Contracted for a devastating act of retribution against Walter Greene, a Hollywood mogul with a dark legacy of sexual abuse, Tag penetrates Greene’s guarded world to exact the revenge his client sought, winning a battle but starting a war. Far from learning his lesson, Greene enlists his own fixer. Morgan is competent, detached, and even more ruthless. But instead of two champions from mythology facing off, like David and Goliath, or Achilles and Hector, Tag and Morgan don’t see themselves as enemies but friendly competitors in an illicit market that’s booming.
What follows is a shadowy war of revenge and spiraling violence, well outside the boundaries of the law and society.
La Frontera Saga - Part 1
John Scheck
Can the world’s biggest drug organization do business like a
Fortune 500 company? Diego Valverde, a native of exceptionally peaceful
and heavily taxed Spain, convinces the head of the Sinaloa Cartel to
implement a program to improve the lives of the rural poor in Mexico
through direct payments from drug profits, a form of self-taxation on
their enormous illegal gains. Diego’s plan also calls for a unilateral
renunciation of violence. While this strategy removes them from the
radar of America anti-drug forces, it’s seen as a sign of weakness by
the nihilistically murderous Zeta Cartel.
Two exceptionally talented DEA agents, one a cynical U.S. Army war veteran, the other an ambitious young woman, lead the American law enforcement interdiction effort with the aid of an incorruptible colonel in the Mexican Special Forces with a hand-picked team of elite soldiers. Another major player siding with the authorities is the head of security for Sinaloa who proves to be a ruthless warrior and invaluable in this war with the Zeta Cartel that becomes a deadly cat and mouse game of ambushes, intimidation, renditions, and assassination.
Two exceptionally talented DEA agents, one a cynical U.S. Army war veteran, the other an ambitious young woman, lead the American law enforcement interdiction effort with the aid of an incorruptible colonel in the Mexican Special Forces with a hand-picked team of elite soldiers. Another major player siding with the authorities is the head of security for Sinaloa who proves to be a ruthless warrior and invaluable in this war with the Zeta Cartel that becomes a deadly cat and mouse game of ambushes, intimidation, renditions, and assassination.
Nothing Personal
John Scheck
Without
a doubt, humor is the most subjective literary form. The author
reassures readers that if they don’t find these eighty essays funny, it
probably means they’re normal, well-adjusted human beings. For the rest
of us, these penetrating, sometimes disturbing comedy pieces touch on
topics ranging from gym teachers to the war on Christmas. Sharp as a
razor, edgy humor directed at every aspect of modern society, and
out-of-work rodeo clowns.***
I have a short story called "Visiting Day" in this collection. I'm very proud of the story that I wrote in two days while I was working on my first crime novel.
Towards the end of 2017 Fahrenheit Press launched a
short story competition to showcase talented crime fiction writers from all
around the world.
Our crack panel of judges whittled down the hundreds
of entries we received to the 15 stories contained in this anthology. We
believe these authors represent some of the most exciting crime fiction being
written today.
The paperback edition will be published on March 30th
2018 and you can now pre-order your copy direct from us.
Click here to buy a copy of Noirville (eBook or paperback).
***
I grew up reading National Lampoon so my modest, one essay contribution to National Lampoon Not Fit For Print was cool for me.
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