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Billy Keene #1
All Debts, Public And Private
How far will you go when betrayed by people you thought you knew?
An inexperienced sheriff working his first kidnapping. A lottery-winning grandmother determined to handle things in her own savage way. And the ruthless party-girl in the middle of it all.
Sheriff Billy Keene is in way over his head. He knows it and so does everyone else in the small town of Caulfield. So when the spoiled granddaughter of a local-lottery winner is kidnapped, everyone is telling Billy how to do his job. Or, worse, not telling him anything at all.
Newly-rich Arlita Hardy’s certainly not saying much and why should she?
Rather than leave her granddaughter's life in the hand's of a lawman as green as Billy, Arlita decides to use her money and a local thug to rescue her granddaughter — and punish the kidnappers.
And in the middle of it all: Sharla Ricketts.
As usual, she’s drinking and drugging, playing one side against the other and lying to the liars. But Sharla’s life has gotten out of hand since we last saw her in Getaway. She doesn’t realize that this time all her craziness may cost her more than she's willing to pay.
With time running out and the meth-head kidnappers growing more brutal each day, Billy scrambles to be the first to find Arlita’s missing granddaughter. But Billy’s always a step behind Arlita…and his next step might just get him killed.
With All Debts, Public And Private, the first crime novel in The Billy Keene Stories, award-winning crime fiction author Chad Sanborn gives readers a welcome addition to the American crime fiction tradition of Elmore Leonard, Jim Thompson and Joe R. Lansdale.
Get All Debts, Public And Private to take the first wild ride in this twisting, darkly wry and riveting series!
WHAT AMAZON READERS ARE SAYING ABOUT ALL DEBTS, PUBLIC AND PRIVATE:
“The tale is twisted, funny and most important, HUMAN”
“Twists and turns you don't see coming”
“…like a mashup of a Jim Thompson novel with a John Hiatt song…cunning, funny, human, and brutal, often at the exact same time”
“I definitely stayed up too late several nights just to read ‘one more chapter’”
“(Billy Keene) is not what one would expect as sheriff…He's not macho, but he sure is human”
“What a fun book! Really enjoyable read. Give this book a try”
“(Billy Keene) is no super-sleuth or clichéd ‘plays by his own rules’ tough guy, and his humanity is what makes us root for him all the more”
“I didn't want to put it down”
“I read fiction books with action…authors like Vince Flynn, David Baldacci, James Patterson, Patricia Cornwall( Kay Scarpita series),Tom Clancy and others….I will be a fan of the Billy Keene series and anything else Mr. Chad Sanborn choses to gift us with”
PRAISE FOR CHAD SANBORN:
Chad’s writing is “exceptionally light on its feet, striking exactly the right note without appearing to try too hard." — Michael Harvey, author of The Chicago Way and We All Fall Down
“…strong voice, assured prose…&qu
An inexperienced sheriff working his first kidnapping. A lottery-winning grandmother determined to handle things in her own savage way. And the ruthless party-girl in the middle of it all.
Sheriff Billy Keene is in way over his head. He knows it and so does everyone else in the small town of Caulfield. So when the spoiled granddaughter of a local-lottery winner is kidnapped, everyone is telling Billy how to do his job. Or, worse, not telling him anything at all.
Newly-rich Arlita Hardy’s certainly not saying much and why should she?
Rather than leave her granddaughter's life in the hand's of a lawman as green as Billy, Arlita decides to use her money and a local thug to rescue her granddaughter — and punish the kidnappers.
And in the middle of it all: Sharla Ricketts.
As usual, she’s drinking and drugging, playing one side against the other and lying to the liars. But Sharla’s life has gotten out of hand since we last saw her in Getaway. She doesn’t realize that this time all her craziness may cost her more than she's willing to pay.
With time running out and the meth-head kidnappers growing more brutal each day, Billy scrambles to be the first to find Arlita’s missing granddaughter. But Billy’s always a step behind Arlita…and his next step might just get him killed.
With All Debts, Public And Private, the first crime novel in The Billy Keene Stories, award-winning crime fiction author Chad Sanborn gives readers a welcome addition to the American crime fiction tradition of Elmore Leonard, Jim Thompson and Joe R. Lansdale.
Get All Debts, Public And Private to take the first wild ride in this twisting, darkly wry and riveting series!
WHAT AMAZON READERS ARE SAYING ABOUT ALL DEBTS, PUBLIC AND PRIVATE:
“The tale is twisted, funny and most important, HUMAN”
“Twists and turns you don't see coming”
“…like a mashup of a Jim Thompson novel with a John Hiatt song…cunning, funny, human, and brutal, often at the exact same time”
“I definitely stayed up too late several nights just to read ‘one more chapter’”
“(Billy Keene) is not what one would expect as sheriff…He's not macho, but he sure is human”
“What a fun book! Really enjoyable read. Give this book a try”
“(Billy Keene) is no super-sleuth or clichéd ‘plays by his own rules’ tough guy, and his humanity is what makes us root for him all the more”
“I didn't want to put it down”
“I read fiction books with action…authors like Vince Flynn, David Baldacci, James Patterson, Patricia Cornwall( Kay Scarpita series),Tom Clancy and others….I will be a fan of the Billy Keene series and anything else Mr. Chad Sanborn choses to gift us with”
PRAISE FOR CHAD SANBORN:
Chad’s writing is “exceptionally light on its feet, striking exactly the right note without appearing to try too hard." — Michael Harvey, author of The Chicago Way and We All Fall Down
“…strong voice, assured prose…&qu
565 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 6, 2015
121 people are currently reading
68 people want to read
About the author
Chad Sanborn
8 books10 followersI’m the author of the rural noir crime fiction series THE BILLY KEENE STORIES, including the novels "All Debts, Public And Private," "Broken Heartland" and "The Grifted Girl." All are available on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited.
I live in a Kansas City suburb. On the Kansas side. Around here you have to declare such things.
Born and raised in a small Kansas town. Graduated from Kansas State University (EMAW!).
Then got the hell out of Kansas.
Lived in Boston, made some friends for life and met someone willing to put up with me.
After a few years moved with her to Columbus, OH. Had a kid there, then convinced my wife to move to Kansas City. To be closer to home…but not so close family could drop by without calling first..
Once in KC, promptly had another kid.
Sum total: Married, father of two. Everything else is window dressing.
Window dressing: Write a lot. Cook even more. Eat even more than that.
To join my email list visit my site, www.mrchadsanborn.com.
For other random Mr. Chad Sanborn news, thoughts and fun stuff, please follow me on one or all of the following:
Twitter: @mrchadsanborn
Facebook: @mrchadsanborn
Instagram @mrchadsanborn
Most of all, I hope you enjoy my stories.
I live in a Kansas City suburb. On the Kansas side. Around here you have to declare such things.
Born and raised in a small Kansas town. Graduated from Kansas State University (EMAW!).
Then got the hell out of Kansas.
Lived in Boston, made some friends for life and met someone willing to put up with me.
After a few years moved with her to Columbus, OH. Had a kid there, then convinced my wife to move to Kansas City. To be closer to home…but not so close family could drop by without calling first..
Once in KC, promptly had another kid.
Sum total: Married, father of two. Everything else is window dressing.
Window dressing: Write a lot. Cook even more. Eat even more than that.
To join my email list visit my site, www.mrchadsanborn.com.
For other random Mr. Chad Sanborn news, thoughts and fun stuff, please follow me on one or all of the following:
Twitter: @mrchadsanborn
Facebook: @mrchadsanborn
Instagram @mrchadsanborn
Most of all, I hope you enjoy my stories.
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
March 3, 2016
Meet Billy Keene .... a dubious sheriff in a small town. He started out wanting to be a professional baseball player, but that didn't quite work out.
So here he is .... investigating the kidnapping of a local lottery winner's granddaughter. Billy has no idea how to go about investigating and the citizens are either pointing in different directions or telling him not to look at it at all.
There is a lot of humor in this story. Billy kinda reminds me of James Garner in his Rockford days. He's not what one would expect as sheriff .. he's not all that brave, to begin with. He's not macho, but he sure is human.
It seems like everyone in town has issues .. or .. secrets. Some of them are funny ...but strange, too.
I really liked Billy. He's well-written, fleshed out, and in no way resembles a cardboard cutout. So many things in this book make it an enjoyable read ... some of it brutal, some of it downright dangerous. All the secondary characters make the reader stop and wonder about their possible motives.
Billy does his best, working as fast as possible, digging for the truth. There are some twists and turns you don't see coming. And at long last, Billy is going to question his place in this town, in this world.
Many thanks to the author who provided a digital copy in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.
So here he is .... investigating the kidnapping of a local lottery winner's granddaughter. Billy has no idea how to go about investigating and the citizens are either pointing in different directions or telling him not to look at it at all.
There is a lot of humor in this story. Billy kinda reminds me of James Garner in his Rockford days. He's not what one would expect as sheriff .. he's not all that brave, to begin with. He's not macho, but he sure is human.
It seems like everyone in town has issues .. or .. secrets. Some of them are funny ...but strange, too.
I really liked Billy. He's well-written, fleshed out, and in no way resembles a cardboard cutout. So many things in this book make it an enjoyable read ... some of it brutal, some of it downright dangerous. All the secondary characters make the reader stop and wonder about their possible motives.
Billy does his best, working as fast as possible, digging for the truth. There are some twists and turns you don't see coming. And at long last, Billy is going to question his place in this town, in this world.
Many thanks to the author who provided a digital copy in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.
March 7, 2016
I have been reading Mysteries and Thrillers for over 30 years, and in all that time, I cannot recall a story that took place in the greater (yeah it's funny to type that) Kansas City, Kansas area. So it was quite a pleasant surprise when, in the opening chapter of All Debt, Public and Private by Chad Sanborn, one of the characters mentioned Overland Park. For most people, Kansas City (home of the Chiefs, and World Champion Royals) is actually Kansas City, Missouri. No, this book takes place in the Kansas City of by mother's childhood. The Kansas City for Quindaro, Bonner Springs, Overland Park and the Kansas City suburbs on the Kansas side of the Missouri River.
Billy Keene is the young, local high-school baseball hero who was due to his celebrity, the powers-that-be, and a scandalous, unexpected vacancy "elected" as the sheriff of a small Kansas town. Everyone knows Billy but they expect him to just be the Sheriff in name only and to cow tow to the local municipal power structure of businessmen and families of mean. When a local woman is kidnapped, her grandmother is willing to do anything to secure her release; anything that is except seek the assistance of Sheriff Billy and his deputies.
Lust, jealousy, greed, and vanity are the name of the game and as in life, the wages of sin can be death. Every choice made, every path not taken, every person trusted or distrusted will determine the fate of everyone involved.
The cast of characters, which includes the town of Caulfield and its surroundings, jump of the page and ring true with authenticity. The dialogue, descriptions, and inner thoughts that Mr. Sanborn uses to craft his tale have the practiced ease of someone that has grown with the people and places in this fictional world. If you walked into the local cafe in a real world Caulfield, you wouldn't be surprised to run into a Sheriff Billy or his best buddy Trace.
Once you pick up this book, you will not put it down. From the opening scene to the exciting finish, you will not be dissapointed. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and cannot wait to visit the world it creates in future stories.
Disclosure: I received a free digital copy of this book from the author thanks to a post on Goodreads. The only request was that I post an honest review. As such the above review is based on my objective opinion.
Billy Keene is the young, local high-school baseball hero who was due to his celebrity, the powers-that-be, and a scandalous, unexpected vacancy "elected" as the sheriff of a small Kansas town. Everyone knows Billy but they expect him to just be the Sheriff in name only and to cow tow to the local municipal power structure of businessmen and families of mean. When a local woman is kidnapped, her grandmother is willing to do anything to secure her release; anything that is except seek the assistance of Sheriff Billy and his deputies.
Lust, jealousy, greed, and vanity are the name of the game and as in life, the wages of sin can be death. Every choice made, every path not taken, every person trusted or distrusted will determine the fate of everyone involved.
The cast of characters, which includes the town of Caulfield and its surroundings, jump of the page and ring true with authenticity. The dialogue, descriptions, and inner thoughts that Mr. Sanborn uses to craft his tale have the practiced ease of someone that has grown with the people and places in this fictional world. If you walked into the local cafe in a real world Caulfield, you wouldn't be surprised to run into a Sheriff Billy or his best buddy Trace.
Once you pick up this book, you will not put it down. From the opening scene to the exciting finish, you will not be dissapointed. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and cannot wait to visit the world it creates in future stories.
Disclosure: I received a free digital copy of this book from the author thanks to a post on Goodreads. The only request was that I post an honest review. As such the above review is based on my objective opinion.
March 18, 2017
The plot was okay but the way the story was written just about drove me nuts. Almost the whole thing was told in participle phrases. It really messed up the flow for me. On top of that, there were a lot of typo's and missing punctuation so I had to keep rereading parts of it get some understanding. It seemed like a lot of work just to read a story.
July 9, 2017
My second complete read from author Chad Sanborn. I started reading Broken Heartland and soon realized I was missing too much about the town and the characters to continue before reading the earlier works in the series, so I got them and read Getaway first, which laid some background for some of the major characters in this book. Obviously, I like the story as explained above. Well-written, captivating characters, the storyline grabs you and runs away with you.
April 15, 2018
Interesting but a little dark
This was an interesting book but on the dark side. I read the getaway first (but you don't really have to) and I disliked the main character there, and she didn't gain any redeeming qualities in this book. The story didn't flow as well as it could have because most of the story was told in participle phrases. I am glad the sheriff finally grew a pair.
This was an interesting book but on the dark side. I read the getaway first (but you don't really have to) and I disliked the main character there, and she didn't gain any redeeming qualities in this book. The story didn't flow as well as it could have because most of the story was told in participle phrases. I am glad the sheriff finally grew a pair.
May 29, 2018
This book is kind of sad. The characters are not well developed. the plot is very simple. I'm not sure what the author was trying to do. He claims to have won writing awards. Is sure wasn't with this book. Perhaps he was using the "even a blind squirrel sometimes finds an acorn" theme.
April 2, 2017
Not Kindle Unlimited, pretty sure it was one of the freebie hope you read and review things. Interesting read, although not overly fond of 'thrillers' myself nothing against a decent one.
Getaway (A Prologue for Two: The Billy Keene Stories and The Felix Stories Book 0)
All Debts, Public And Private (The Billy Keene Stories Book 1)
Also received The Cutting
Getaway (A Prologue for Two: The Billy Keene Stories and The Felix Stories Book 0)
All Debts, Public And Private (The Billy Keene Stories Book 1)
Also received The Cutting
January 6, 2023
Just a very good read indeed, enjoyed reading it.
March 14, 2017
I enjoyed this book very much. The characters are kinda quirky, and have their own "issues" but the story goes along without any problems and keeps your interest. I will be ready more from this author.
February 3, 2019
I was hooked on the Billy Keene books from the first- it's a smart and fun series. He's a believable protagonist; if you have ever jumped in the water, and then thought to check the temperature and depth of the lake afterwards, you'll get an idea of how Billy must feel about being elected Sheriff. He's aware that he's learning as he goes along, and he's not above taking advice. He second-guesses himself, and he's somewhat insecure about his law enforcement abilities. To me, this really makes him human, and easy to relate to. The stories are great, the plotline and characters are just bizarre enough to be believable for a small town. But these are not one-dimensional small town characters. I love a series that continues to flesh out the characters as it goes along.
One thing I expected, but haven't seen is that Billy would apply lessons learned during his short-lived MLB career to the problems he's experiencing as sheriff. People who follow baseball are aware of the mental strength it takes to make it to the Major Leagues. And I realize Billy already has a mentor in the sheriff from the neighboring county-his "pitching coach" for law enforcement.
Throw in a few screwed-up romantic entanglements, parents who live close by and the occasional joint and you have a 4 star series. (More like 4 1/2). Which I believe will only get better.
Also: I absolutely love the cover art. It's what attracted my attention in the first place, and made me look inside the cover. Max Kunakhovich did a great job, and I hope he continues in that same vein with the rest of the series.
One thing I expected, but haven't seen is that Billy would apply lessons learned during his short-lived MLB career to the problems he's experiencing as sheriff. People who follow baseball are aware of the mental strength it takes to make it to the Major Leagues. And I realize Billy already has a mentor in the sheriff from the neighboring county-his "pitching coach" for law enforcement.
Throw in a few screwed-up romantic entanglements, parents who live close by and the occasional joint and you have a 4 star series. (More like 4 1/2). Which I believe will only get better.
Also: I absolutely love the cover art. It's what attracted my attention in the first place, and made me look inside the cover. Max Kunakhovich did a great job, and I hope he continues in that same vein with the rest of the series.
November 11, 2022
LOVE this book. I have dug every book Chad has written. But this one... I loved the excitement. It was a page turner. I didn't know whether to love or hate the protagonist at times... but ... ended up loving her. All of the characters were strong and because of them I found myself getting lost in the book.
I won't ruin it for ya... but the end was more exciting than I can even describe.
I won't ruin it for ya... but the end was more exciting than I can even describe.
July 4, 2016
3.5 stars
April 26, 2017
A great group of well developed characters and a plot thats somewhat crazy leads to a story that is fun to read. Add some twists with an unexpected ending all making this an easy readread. I received this book free in exchange for an honest review.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews