SPOTLIGHT - MYSTERY - THE WOKE AND THE DEAD (Nostalgia City Mystyeries, #5) by Mark S. Bacon

Suspenseful political mystery starts when a sunbelt governor attacks Nostalgia City theme park.

The Woke and the Dead
Nostalgia City Mysteries, #5
by Mark S. Bacon
Genre: Mystery, Suspense

The Governor vs. Theme Park = Murder

 A public war between a governor and a theme park lights the fuse on a story of hate groups, murder, corruption, racism, and political espionage.

 

Ex-cop turned theme-park cab driver Lyle Deming finds the body of a park visitor during an LGBTQ event. The dead man catered gay weddings. Was it a hate crime?

 Arizona governor Rod Gudgel—running for re-election—calls it a random shooting. He mocks Nostalgia City theme park for its inclusiveness, uses homophobic and racial slurs, and later challenges the safety of its rides.

 When park employees demonstrating for gay rights are killed and injured, Kate Sorensen, the park’s 6’-2½” public affairs VP, slams Gudgel’s unsympathetic response. Lyle searches for shooting suspects and finds himself too close to an armed hate group while Kate digs into the governor’s past, unearthing an impossible trail of malfeasance and enraging Gudgel allies.

 Kate and Lyle run into plenty of blind alleys, deception, and dead ends, as they hurry to take down the governor and help the FBI solve hate crimes.

 With Lyle’s wry humor and Kate’s unflappability the story moves quickly as puzzles and subplots multiply and loop together threatening the park, their relationship, and their lives.

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Mark S. Bacon began his career as a Southern California newspaper police reporter, one of his crime stories becoming key evidence in a murder case that spanned decades.

Before turning to fiction, Bacon wrote business books, one of which was  printed in four languages and three editions and named best business book of the year by the Library Journal. His articles have appeared in the Washington Post, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Denver Post, San Antonio Express News, and many other publications. Most recently he was a correspondent for the San Francisco Chronicle.

Death in Nostalgia City, the first in his five-book series, was recommended by the American Library Association. Desert Kill Switch, the second series book, was the top fiction winner in the 2018 Great Southwest Book Festival.

Bacon gets some of his ideas from experience as a police reporter and also from his work as a copywriter for Knott’s Berry Farm theme park. He taught university journalism in California and Nevada and is trying to teach his golden retriever to stop pulling the leash.

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SPOTLIGHT - MYSTERY - DARK RIDE DECEPTION (Nostalgia City Mysteries, #4) by Mark S. Bacon

Dark Ride Deception
Nostalgia City Mysteries, #4
by Mark S. Bacon
Genre: Mystery

Is Tom Wyrick Dead? The computer genius is missing. So are his priceless tech secrets. Time for Lyle to go undercover again.

Tom Wryick’s mind-bending technology will rocket Nostalgia City theme park decades ahead of the competition. But the computer genius is missing. So are his secrets. Is he dead? On the run? His billion-dollar, breathtaking discovery is the Perception Deception Effect.

An FBI agent theorizes the People’s Republic of China is responsible for the disappearance.The Nostalgia City CEO, however, is convinced a rival theme park is behind the theft. He drafts ex-cop turned theme park cab driver Lyle Deming to fly to Florida to find the missing computer scientist and recover his secrets.

Does this have anything to do with the severed human finger Lyle finds in his cab?

Back in Nostalgia City, park executive, 6’ 2” Kate Sorensen, a former college basketball star, is persuaded to investigate the death of an actor starring in a Vietnam-era crime movie being filmed at the Arizona park. Nostalgia City is a meticulous re-creation of a 1970s small town.

Shrugging off jet lag, anxiety, and oppressive Florida humidity, Lyle goes undercover using a parade of false identities to snoop behind the scenes at another theme park’s engineering and computer offices. He’s forced to jump from one covert scheme to another as his identity is exposed, his safety jeopardized.

In the meantime, Kate confronts a mentally unstable actor—fresh out of rehab. But she may be forced to give up the murder case—Lyle needs help.

Kate and Lyle have little time to explore their nascent romantic relationship as both their investigations turn deadly, threatening them and the future of Nostalgia City.

* * *

“Mark S. Bacon’s well-told mystery is clever, smooth, and intriguing, with a reluctant detective who has just the right touch of self-deprecating humor. The author’s wry wit and engaging voice will keep you turning the pages of Dark Ride Deception until the very last satisfying twist.”

--Mary Adler, author of the Oliver Wright WWII mystery series

***Recommended: Death in Nostalgia City, the first book in this series, was recommended for book clubs by the American Library Association.

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Mark S. Bacon began his career as a Southern California newspaper police reporter, one of his crime stories becoming key evidence in a murder case that spanned decades.

After working for two newspapers, he moved to advertising and marketing and became a copywriter for Knott’s Berry Farm, the large theme park down the freeway from Disneyland. Experience working at Knott’s formed part of the inspiration for his creation of Nostalgia City theme park.

Before turning to fiction, Bacon wrote business books including "Do-It-Yourself Direct Marketing," printed in four languages and three editions, named best business book of the year by the Library Journal, and selected by the Book of the Month Club and two other book clubs. His freelance feature articles have appeared in the Washington Post, Cleveland Plain Dealer, San Antonio Express News, Orange County (Calif.) Register, Denver Post and many other publications. Most recently he was a correspondent for the San Francisco Chronicle.

"Dark Ride Deception" is the fourth book in the Nostalgia City mystery series that began with"Death in Nostalgia City". The first book introduced ex-cop turned cab driver Lyle Deming and PR executive Kate Sorensen, a former college basketball star. "Death in Nostalgia City" was recommended for book clubs by the American Library Association.

Bacon is the author of flash fiction mystery books including, "Cops, Crooks and Other Stories in 100 Words - Revised Edition".

He taught journalism as a member of the adjunct faculty at Cal Poly University – Pomona, the University of Nevada – Reno, and the University of Redlands. He earned an MA in mass media from UNLV and a BA in journalism from Fresno State. 

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