Deadly Forever

by Dave Gehrke

Cookie O’Shaughnessy has just about everything an adventurous young lady might want; a modest stock portfolio, a semi-legal Mercedes, a partnership stake in a mostly-legal hamburger joint, a wad of cash the IRS doesn’t know about and a private detective’s license. What she doesn’t have is a steady boyfriend or any clients with adrenalin-pumping, danger-laden, gut-twisting cases. Which makes life terribly dull. But that’s all about to change. Because when it rains, it pours and suddenly the formerly bored Cookie is hired to do what she does best, go undercover. First by a helpless rape victim being stalked by her attacker, then by a local Godfather who may or may not have turned over a new leaf and finally by the FBI on the trail of an international assassin. Instead of boredom now the big question is whether the former vice cop is in over her head with crooked cops, mobsters, FBI agents that don’t completely trust her, secret agents, hit men and rapists. To solve all three cases, O’Shaughnessy is forced to do something she’s always tried to avoid; relying on others. And along the way she discovers a talent she never thought she possessed; leadership.

Genres: Fiction

386 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 17, 2017

About the author

I grew up "reading" comic books in my uncle’s toy and hobby store. I hadn't started school yet so I just stared at the pictures and tried to figure out what the words might meant. I think the first word I learned might have been “Pow!”. “The” came next. And from there I slipped my way into literacy. My uncle, when he grew tired of me being in the way of paying customers, started sending me home with a comic, purportedly so my parents could read them to me. Fortunately both my parents were prodigious readers themselves and soon had me reading to them.

I gained two skills from those early days; how to manipulate my uncle into sending me home with new reading material and how to read at an early age.

Reading itself opened up a whole new world for me; a world of knowledge, fascination, entertainment and imagination. And that world lay just across the alley from our home at the Dyckman Free Library. The comic books were soon replaced by works of fiction and my vocabulary grew accordingly. By the time I reached the second grade my uncle had christened me “Professor” and before I reached the eighth grade I’d proven to Mrs. Dombrowski, the librarian, that had I was ready to graduate from the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew and move into the adult fiction section.

By high school my standard explanation to any teacher wondering how I happened to know something esoteric or arcane was “I read that somewhere.” Which usually also brought a groan from my fellow classmates.

Writing, it seems to me, is the next step up in the reading chain. And when I discovered I could wow both my classmates and my instructors with my completed writing assignments, I decided at sixteen that I would someday become a writer of books.

That was before life got in the way; college (I’ve earned three degrees), marriage, kids, various business pursuits, teaching, coaching, school administration and half a dozen hobbies. But I never lost the desire to become a novelist. So I studied people (future characters); their mannerisms, how they spoke, the way they conversed, what motivated them, how they reacted in various situations, how they expressed their hopes and their dreams, the way one wrinkled her nose when she laughed, the way another tended to begin the answer to any question with “basically”.
And I gathered reams of notes; character descriptions, possible storylines, potential plots, locations, time periods, etc. And I continued to read, sometimes for entertainment and sometimes to study the different techniques used by my favorite authors in crafting their books.

Then, when my kids were off having kids of their own and I retired to my own semi-isolated place in the countryside, I focused on what I felt had always been my "true" calling; writing.

Life, as they say, goes full circle. It's just that some circles have larger diameters.

Reviews

[Noreen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book in a goodreads giveaway.

This was pretty damn good book hidden inside 379 pages. Between unnecessary asides and information that the author kept duplicating, the book could probably edited down quite a bit without losing anything.

But I still enjoyed it! I really liked the MC and her supporting cast was fun as well. The MC is juggling 3 twisty cases and I really liked how the author tied them them all up. I’m going to go buy the first novel, even though this book contained spoilers for it.

I hope there are more books coming for this character.

[Terry · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one was such fun to read! The protagonist Cookie is a blast to go through the story with. The plot holds your attention with excitement and action galore. I love the way this author writes and will definitely look for more of Dave Gehrke's books. A great read!

[Katy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun

Three independent undercover jobs, three competing Intel agencies, a cowboy, football player, and a Cookie all come together in a well crafted, tale of espionage, mafia dudes and policemen.

[Tracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Won this book on Goodreads) Fast pace woman detective thriller that keeps you from putting the book down. A master of her craft is able to work on three investigations at the same time and using her friends to help her catch the bad guys.

[Patricia Mccammon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A real interesting story. Cookie with her friends have to handle 3 cases at the same time. One of her own, one for the FBI and one for the CIA. Book keeps your interest all the way. Won this

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

great book. second in series but can be read alone. won this from goodreads. want to read next one for sure.

[Csimplot Simplot · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book!!!!