If you've been following me on Facebook, you saw the blurb for Hezbollah get posted yesterday. Only Create Space sent me an e-mail reminding me that King of the Hoboes was ready to launch. Who'd have thought??? Well, here's the Hoboes blurb...
King of the Hoboes is an
action/adventure crime thriller centered on the exploits of Veronika Heydrich,
an undercover cop investigating a possible conspiracy plot within the homeless
community in New York City. Adolf Hyatt is a charismatic activist known as King
of the Hoboes throughout the Hobo Underground. He orchestrates a series of
non-violent Days of Defiance throughout the City bringing international
attention to the plight of the homeless population. Only the New York Police
Department suspects that Hyatt’s ambitions may lead to ever greater
demonstrations of power. Veronika is offered a chance at a promotion to
detective rank, and she and her partner Evan Carlow are assigned to uncover
Hyatt’s plans and depose the King of the Hoboes.
The story is as much an in-depth portrayal of
the homeless community as a fast-paced suspense thriller. Veronika goes from her
yuppie lifestyle to that of a homeless person, roaming around with a travel bag
and panhandled money to establish credibility on the City streets. She learns
firsthand of the virtually non-existent accommodations for homeless women, as
well as the difficulty of going without the basic necessities that everyday
citizens take for granted. She comes across Khalid Sangani, a homeless teen who
makes his way as a male prostitute. Together they work their way into Hyatt’s
network as Veronika tries to find a way to take him down.
Khalid was a witness to the murder of four
hoboes who had been sent by the Hobo Underground to censure Hyatt for his
activities. He keeps the secret in fear for his life, realizing that Veronika
herself might become a victim of one of Hyatt’s hardcore Disciples. Comprised of
homeless war veterans, the twelve-man squad will stop at nothing to protect
Hyatt and their secret criminal enterprise. Each of them is a gang leader
earning money through drugs, prostitution, robbery and burglary, enforcing their
networks with beatings and murder. Evan, who is tailing Veronika on the street,
is discovered by the Disciples and nearly killed in a knife attack. He refuses
to be taken off the case and continues to follow her at risk of his
life.
After suffering a sexual assault in a hazing
ritual, Veronika and Khalid are accepted into the Inner Circle and learn of
Hyatt’s plans. The ultimate Day of Defiance entails leaving cardboard boxes full
of counterfeit money in strategic areas around Manhattan in an attempt to
paralyze the local economy. Hyatt announces that there will be a number of great
lessons to be learned from this Great Day, though in reality it is serving as a
cover for a car bomb attack by an Al Qaeda cell for which Hyatt is being paid a
small fortune. Veronika, unaware of the bomb plot, is determined to stop the
counterfeit gambit and have Hyatt arrested once she has enough
evidence.
It is Hyatt’s megalomania that brings the
project to ruin as he sets up a midnight rally at a secret meeting place where
the entire homeless community is asked to attend. Hyatt reveals his long-range
plans to bring the city to its knees, presenting a list of demands to the City
regardless of the unbearable cost.
Set against a realistic backdrop along the
streets of New York, the plight of the homeless becomes an integral part of the
storyline in this fast-paced thriller. Crime novel enthusiasts and current
events followers will find King of the Hoboes one to be long
remembered.
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