Half Staff

by Rick Mitchell

As the last note of Hail to the Chief reverberates through the crowd gathered at the South Lawn ceremony it is suddenly punctuated by gunfire. An American soldier, a member of the U.S.A.F. Presidential Honor Guard, has assassinated the President of the United States, and gravely wounded the visiting President of Mexico. As A1C Doug Morgan lies dead on the lush green lawn, two countries immediately demand answers.The Secret Service investigation yields nothing to indicate that Doug Morgan’s actions were tied to outside influences, or personal ideology and they want the case closed. Dallas attorney Reed Morgan also wants closure for his family, but refuses to accept that his brother was wholly responsible for the assassination. Dangerous outside forces draw these opposing sides into aguarded truce inadvertently forcing small truths to begin floating up from depths, and decades, of lies. Truths that the United States can never allow to break the surface.

252 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 10, 2013

About the author

Before becoming a lecturer in the English Department of California State University, Mitchell worked extensively as a playwright and professional comedian and ventriloquist. He performed throughout the U.S. and Caribbean, also appearing on television. Previous plays include: Urban Renewal, Potlatch, Cruising the Caribbean: Old Pleasures in the New World, Behind-the-Scenes, Brecht in L.A., The Composition of Herman Melville, and American Labor.

Reviews

[Tulay · Rating 4 out of 5]

You can't put it down.

So many life's charged, after the assassination. After Kennedy Dallas again in this story. Ending is shocking, doesn't tell what happened to President, maybe next book will. There are some spelling errors, needs a good editing, but I still will read the next book.

[Judith F Cook · Rating 1 out of 5]

I spent more time trying to proofread and edit this book than anything else. How sad! I can usually work through the occasional grammatical errors, but extra words were added to many sentences and it ruined the flow of the story. Immediately upon finishing this title, I took the two other books in this series and erased them and this book from my Kindle. I figure Amazon and the author got what they wanted out of the series - the money - so they aren't upset. As a clue, always read the reviews, starting with the worst reviews and working up to the best reviews. Read the sample that Amazon provides, too. This could have been a great reading experience. The plot was rather unique, but it left a few unanswered questions at the end. None of them were important enough to torture myself to finish the series...

[Arthur · Rating 5 out of 5]

Half Staff by Rick Mitchell

Imagine a scene where you watch an assassination of not only the President of America, but also the President of Mexico on the White house lawn. The assassin, an Air Force cadet, a member of the Presidental honor guard. Lone wolf or part of a conspiracy, that's what Secret Service agent Pat Drice has to determine. You're welcome to read the book and make your own conclusions as agent Drice works to resolve the issue. Thanks for another great read.

[Kathleen Guilmette · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fairly good tale...but lacking finesse

Good story,but characters needed to be developed a bit more. The writing was awkward and confusing at times. Needs editing,particularly in grammar,punctuation and spelling.

[Dave Eaton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well...

Good read, pretty good plot, but my God, fire your editor or proofreader. I couldn’t believe all the missed spelling errors or grammatical errors. It was hard to read at times.

[Anita Devers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good guy, bad guy.

This one takes the prize for who's on first and what,s on second. I can see the door being left open for another book.
Very good book.

[Jeanelle Reanier-Briggs · Rating 1 out of 5]

Might be a good story but....

I couldn't get through the second chapter. I am a HUGE stickler for grammar and punctuation. While the storyline is interesting, this book needs to be thoroughly edited. Once that is done, I would consider trying to read it again.

[Gloria Hargrave · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read!

Kept me up most of the night. It has it all,a tion,believable characters,and good flow. Not my usual choice,I liked it much more than I expected.

[Jeanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad but the opening scenario just thru me off, it seemed so entirely implausible!

[Ellen Mcgarvey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good

I liked the book. It's a very good example of how complicated things can be and how power can change people especially when they think they are always the only ones correct.