Black Rain

by Tom J. Lyons

Nine seemingly unconnected (?) short stories, written like the classic novels of Stephen King, showing the dark side of human nature; this is the novel Black Rain. A fiction novel by published author Tom Lyons.

Authortomlyons.com

The Reunion
Jeremy Butler flies halfway around the country to attend his 50th year grammar school reunion. Why? To exact revenge on a teacher who had shamed and embarrassed him more than 50 years ago. That’s why.

The Psychiatrist
Court psychiatrist Liz Carpenter is assigned to a possible child abuse case and uncovers something completely different. An eleven year old girl, Sami, who always wants to look pretty so that boys will want to have sex with her.

Isn’t life strange?
Therapy is supposed to help people. This time counselor Ralph Sampson gets more than he bargained for when the group finds out that Bruce, one of the participants, has secretly been carrying a torch for a woman who committed suicide over twenty-five years ago. Eerie.

Nana
100 year-old Helen Potter is on her deathbed. Her two surviving daughters are there, waiting. Helen is sure that the police are on their way to arrest her. Helen has secrets; she’s been a bad girl. How is she going to explain the fact that the bodies of two of her husbands are buried in her back yard?

Somewhere over the rainbow
Now thirteen years old and becoming a young woman, Sami ignores her depressed parents to attend a teenaged rainbow party. And there is nothing adolescent about what these teenagers are planning to do. Based on a true story.

Old bones
Francis Thomas ‘Paddy’ Finnegan, a six -fingered car mechanic, and US Army veteran from the Battle of the Bulge in France in 1945 is one of Helen Potter’s dead husbands and is buried her back yard. His story from the grave details how his good luck talisman changes his life.

Boys will be boys
Jeremy Butler is in NY state penitentiary for committing murder. His childhood was destroyed by his mom’s shocking physical abuse, which wounded Jeremy forever. When his daughter Liz Carpenter (the shrink for story #1) visits him in prison will he share with her the information, about her missing mother, she so desperately needs?

350 pages, Unknown Binding

First published December 7, 2014

About the author

Novelist. Member of The Mystery Writers of America.


Now available! - "Grumpy Old Man."

On Amazon at:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09PFDL64L

Grumpy Old Man is a satire on present day life in SF East Bay Area. (Think Carl Hiassen writing about California)

When seventy-five-year-old multi-millionaire land owner Ramsay Marshall turns up dead in Lake Tahoe, his daughter Sophia suspects foul play. Sophia contacts Palmer Doyle. Palmer is a recently widowed, disabled Afghan War vet turned private investigator. He is hoping to retire soon, get out of the rat race, move to the mountains, when Sophia and her cancer-stricken father-in-law, show up at his office and ask him to investigate the death.

Sophia and Palmer have history together. Fifteen years ago, when Master Sergeant Palmer Doyle is seriously injured in a bomb explosion, Sophia is part of the U.S. Army medical team that nurses him back to health. At the time they were both married, but both are single now.

With his oddball staff of investigators, who have their own phobias, personal quirks, and agendas, Palmer sets out to uncover what really happened. Did the old rich guy die of natural causes? Or was foul play involved?

Set in the East Bay of San Francisco Bay area, Doyle, an old school guy, must navigate the crazy, non-sensical, often hilarious happenings, that occur in modern day life in California.

But people in the novel are not who they appear to be; plot twists keep the reader guessing until the final pages. And, what happened to one family decades ago, during World War 2, may hold the answer as to why certain injustices can never be forgotten … or forgiven, and that exacting revenge is often the best remedy.

This is Grumpy Old Man, a psychological thriller, a murder mystery, a love story, and a satire on the craziness of present-day life in the SF East Bay Area of California.

Praise for Grumpy Old Man …….

There are shocking plot turns springing from the character’s background that lead to a solid ending. - Kirkus Book Review

The plot here is solidly engaging with unexpected development, alluring characters, and unique details throughout! Reminiscent of the work of Carl Hiassen. An original murder mystery. **** 4 Star Book Life Review

Mr. Lyons writes in a lively, satirical, manner that echoes the idiosyncratic nature of the characters. **** 4 Star Publishers Weekly Review


I would really like to read more about Palmer Doyle and his motley crew of investigators. The story is far from simple and takes many interesting turns. **** 4 Star Book Sirens Review

Grumpy Old Man is a fast-paced satire with quirky characters and solid plot that is entertaining, interesting and has an unexpected ending. ***** 5 Star Reedsy book review

There’s plenty of action, drama, and plot twists that make Grumpy Old Man a page turner until the very end. ***** 5 Star Dana’s Book Review


Grumpy Old Man reminds me of Ove in – A man call Ove – by Fredrick Backman. **** 4 Star Virika, Goodreads review


A spirited whodunit with an amusingly discontented detective. Kirkus Book Reviews


Lyons’ lighthearted mystery teems with vibrant characters. Kirkus Book Review


This sympathetic gumshoe (Palmer Doyle) incessantly, and humorously, complains about the State of California earning his titular grumpiness. Kirkus Book Reviews