Last
of the Seals:
The
year is 1957 in San Francisco .
Sam Slater is a lifetime minor league baseball player for the San Francisco
Seals. The Seals have just one more season left as San Francisco is about to become a major
league city. The Giants are coming to town in 1958 and the Seals will be
displaced. Sam has come to the end of his baseball career and is going to join
the private detective agency of his best friend. When his friend is brutally
murdered, Sam must go it alone and try to find out why. Along the way he is
swept off of his feet by a beautiful Elvis-obsessed TWA stewardess named Amelia
Ryan. Sam and Amelia try to unravel the mystery together. Sam’s best friend,
Jimmy inadvertently saw something he shouldn’t have. Sam and Amelia have
pictures in their possession that have crime families in San
Francisco and Chicago
very worried. Then a young woman Sam has been searching for is found dead on
the beach. Suddenly, Sam and Amelia find themselves in danger. On dark and
foggy San Francisco
nights, trouble is lurking just around the next corner.
Book Trailer Link:
Last of the Seals:
Deadly
Plunge:
Former
baseball player and newly-minted private investigator, Sam Slater is hired to
find out why a rich, politically-well connected San
Francisco man, Arthur Bolender, suddenly ended his life by plunging
off of the Golden Gate
Bridge . All those who
know Arthur say unequivocally that he did not commit suicide. However,
Bolender’s body was found floating in San Francisco Bay
and his car was abandoned in the traffic lane of the bridge. Meanwhile, Sam’s
romance with glamorous TWA stewardess Amelia Ryan continues to blossom and
deepen. She is now his secret fiancee. Amelia also eagerly helps Sam solve his
cases when she’s in town. The key to unraveling the mystery seems to be a
strange old Victorian-style house. Bolender’s widow, a rich, seductive
socialite named Maggie Bolender, was not even aware that her husband owned the
house. What is really going on behind the doors of the mysterious house?
Finding the answers will plunge Sam and Amelia into a dangerous world of
political intrigue in the exciting sequel to “Last of the Seals.”
Book Trailer Link:
Deadly
Plunge:
Tell
us about your current release.
It is “Deadly Plunge” which is a sequel to “Last of the Seals.”
It is now the winter of 1958. Former baseball player and newly-minted private
investigator, Sam Slater is hired to find out why a rich, politically
well-connected San Francisco man, Arthur
Bolender, suddenly ended his life by plunging off of the Golden Gate Bridge . All those who know Arthur say
unequivocally that he did not commit suicide. However, Bolender's body
was found floating in San
Francisco Bay
and his car was abandoned in the traffic lane of the bridge. Meanwhile,
Sam's romance with glamorous TWA stewardess Amelia Ryan continues to blossom
and deepen. She is now his secret fiancee. Amelia also eagerly helps Sam solve
his cases when she's in town. The key to unraveling the mystery seems to be a
strange old Victorian-style house. Bolender's widow, a rich, seductive
socialite named Maggie Bolender, was not even aware that her husband owned the
house. Uncovering these secrets is going
to expose Sam and Amelia to some very dangerous, shadowy characters. I like the
political overtones in this story. The politics of the late 1950s was very
interesting.
Tell
us about your next release.
I’m working on the third book in the series--San Francisco
Secrets. It will pick up the story where it ends in “Deadly Plunge.” In fact,
“Deadly Plunge” has a bit of a cliffhanger ending. The last chapter introduces
the coming conflict for Sam and Amelia which continues in “San Francisco Secrets.” The new book involves a blackmail plot which
Sam is investigating. A prominent San
Francisco doctor has a secret in his past. A recurring
theme in “San Francisco Secrets” is that everyone has secrets. Few can
withstand a bright light on their life. A mystery woman returns from Sam’s
past. Meanwhile, Amelia’s new boss, a roguish pilot on the European route,
begins sexually harassing her. Women had very few options to deal with sexual
harassment in the 1950s. Amelia’s new adventures take her to London ,
Paris and Rome .
I have several things to work out this winter while I’m finishing “San
Francisco Secrets” but I’m excited about the story and where it’s headed.
Does
travel play in the writing of your books?
I guess you could say that. I grew up in the San Francisco Bay
area and it is very familiar to me. I draw on my memories of San
Francisco and California
in the 50s and 60s while I was writing “Last of the Seals” and “Deadly
Plunge.” My book “Expiation” used my
memories of San Francisco and Berkeley in the late 1960s and early
1970s. I took almost the same trip to
Europe--traveling around England
and going to Paris --as
the characters in my book “The Illusion of Certainty.” I love to try to capture
a sense of place. I read a book recently but there was no sense of “place.” It
could have happened any where. I disliked that about that book. I think the
location is a character in the book. San
Francisco and it’s foggy nights, the bay, the bridges,
all add a lot to the texture of the story.
When
in the day/night do you write? How long per day?
I’m ready to get into my “winter mode” of writing. I generally
take the summer off to recharge my batteries, enjoy the great weather and think
about my next book. I’m really ready to jump back into finishing “San Francisco
Secrets.” I have lots of ideas. I usually write in the afternoon for a few
hours each day. Rainy fall and winter afternoon in Seattle are great times to write.
If
you were to write a series of novels, what would it be about?
Before I wrote “Last of the Seals” I had been diligently
searching for a concept so that I could write a series. A couple of years ago I
was walking around San Francisco
and I was remembering what it was like growing up there. I also started
thinking about the world of the Bay Area in the 1950s and tried to imagine what
that was like for my parents, grandparents and aunts and uncles. It was then I
imagined a detective series set in the 1950s and in San Francisco .
Beatles
or Monkees? Why?
You’re kidding right? I grew up when both came onto the scene.
Not a hard choice. I have every Beatles’ song and “Daydream Believer” on my
iPod. Guess that’s my vote. The Monkees were OK but had a dopey TV show and had
to take guitar lessons. The Beatles are incredible musical geniuses. I’ve seen
Paul McCartney in concert twice now. It was practically a spiritual experience
for me. Incredible three hours performances. Not bad for an old guy.
It’s exciting to go to both places. There is no place like New York City . I’ve been
to Los Angeles
several more times as a Californian. I love to go to LA in the winter. Great
place to be in the fall and winter. New
York City feels like the center of the universe when
you are there. I think I’d pick New
York City by a narrow margin
Do you have a Website or Blog?
I have a blog and a web site. My blog is at www.gregmessel.com.
I have a web site with information about all of my books at
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