Seneca Point

by Dan Riker

In Seneca Point, Brandon Webster, a former CIA covert agent, and secret paramilitary operative for the Pentagon, uses the skills and techniques of his profession to solve the murder of his older brother, "Big Mike," the powerful Supervisor of the Western New York Town of Lakeside.
Big Mike is found inside his locked SUV in the parking lot of the Lakeside Hotel, shot to death by his own gun, taken from his bedroom. There are no witnesses and no physical evidence. Police rule out suicide and immediately suspect his widow, Sarah, because the two were fighting over the rumors that he was having an affair with a mysterious and attractive younger woman, and she does not have an alibi for the time of the murder. She asks Brandon for help.
Webster, as a successful professional spy, is a master of deception and disguises and a very good liar. Unlike his garrulous and popular brother, Brandon has shunned attention, operating with quiet intensity in foreign countries, often in disguise, either alone, or with just a small group of close associates, and is affectionately described by Barbara Truscott, the woman with whom he now lives in Georgetown, as a mysterious, and seductively dangerous, “lone wolf.”
Brandon is perfectly qualified to unravel the mysteries of Lakeside, a town rife with lies and deception, and populated by many people in disguise. The theme of deception echoes throughout the novel. In his investigation Webster exposes and destroys a conspiracy of murder, kidnapping, fraud and bribery that threatens his hometown and reaches into his family.
This is a revision of the book published in 2011 with a completely new beginning and with a number of minor revisions and corrections.

258 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 13, 2011

About the author

Dan Riker is a graduate of The Johns Hopkins University and the University of Baltimore School of Law. He was a reporter, bureau manager, regional news editor and sales executive for United Press International, Assistant Public Relations Director at The Johns Hopkins University, Assistant Press Secretary to the Governor of Maryland, an executive at the MCI Communications Corporation, and CEO of Pocket Communications, Inc. He and his late wife, Janis Ahalt Riker (1944-2014), operated Basset Books LLC, a dealer in used, collectible and out-of-print books from 1998 to 2012 when they moved to Portland, Oregon. A LIGHT NOT OF THIS WORLD was Dan's first novel. SENECA POINT was his second, and he has finished a third, THE BLUE GIRL MURDERS, a historical mystery set in Baltimore in 1966. He also has just finished his first work of non-fiction, DO WHAT WORKS AND CALL IT CAPITALISM, and has been publishing excerpts of the book on his blog, www.danriker.blogspot.com, on www.progressiveamericanthought.blogsp..., on www.Truth-out.org and on www.dailykos.com. He can be reached at danriker@danriker.com

Reviews

[Geof · Rating 3 out of 5]

This short and easy read was gifted to me by the author. The story itself is pretty interesting although a bit far fetched. The reasoning behind the big sinister plot is especially suspect.

The book also suffers from a lack of editing which surprised me as this is the "Second Revised Edition." There are a number of inconsistencies and outright contradictions in it. At several points something is for the first time in the book mentioned and is presented as if the information was previously mentioned. There are typos and dubious punctuation. A second set of eyes would have caught these errors readily enough.

None of the above criticisms really gets in the way of the entertaining story though, being only annoying distractions. Overall it is not great, but not bad and should be an entertaining read if you have an hour or so to kill.

[Sheryl Harvey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this story. However, I will not be purchasing any of Mr. Riker's books. I do not understand why writers feel the need to add f*** in their stories. I find it offensive. It does not add any thing to the story and the ones who are not offended by this language will not notice it is not there. I was disappointed.