BOOK COVER for "BRETT ENTERS THE SQUARE CIRCLE"

This is what the book cover will look like for "BRETT ENTERS THE SQUARE CIRCLE" (Brett Cornell Mystery #5):

                                                              (click to enlarge)

The e-book should be available on Amazon some time next week, & the paperback won't be ready till a week after that, in all probability.

THE START OF A BEAUTIFUL FRIENDSHIP? (Not likely)

As self-proclaimed unscrupulous bastard Brett Cornell mentions time and time again, he doesn't have any friends -- at least not "of the male persuasion" (as he would put it). Is it any wonder then why that should be the case, when the lovely Amber Lane decides to introduce him to her friend and personal trainer Robin Hadley?

(This extract comes from "WEDDING BELLS FOR BRETT" - Brett Cornell Mystery #4)

. . . Amber immediately pulled her hand away from the guy, moved back slightly, and announced,

 “I’d like you to meet my friend Brett. Brett? This is one of the club’s personal trainers: Robin Hadley.”

With that ridiculous introduction having been made, she attempted to keep her smile going for all it was worth, but it quickly faded away – as did Pretty Boy’s, in fact – when the guy put his hand out in my direction and soon came to realize that I naturally had no intentions of shaking his stupid right hand, but instead stood at a comfortable distance from the dude, kept my arms folded across my chest, and gave him the old Brett Cornell wise-assed grin.

“Robin?” I said with a little chuckle, then a little louder I continued,” Robin? Ain’t that a girl’s name?”

“Uh –“ the guy stammered, and he looked hesitantly over at Amber and then back at me. “It can be either a guy’s name or a girl’s name. Haven’t you ever heard of Robin Hood?”

 “Sure, boy, I’ve heard of Robin Hood,” I replied, grinning more widely than ever. “She was that little girl who went skipping through the woods on her way to her nanna’s before she got raped by the big bad wolf.”

 “That was Little Red Riding Hood,” the guy went so far as to tell me. “And she didn’t actually get raped, and –“ Then he stepped back, shook his head from side to side in sudden exasperation, and cried out,” Why the hell am I even bothering to explain this to you, man? My name’s Robin, deal with it, or –“

And that's when the so-called conversation gets cut short. 

Why might that be? 

Could it be because 

A) Brett suddenly has a change of heart and apologizes to the guy for his rudeness? 

B) A violent earthquake suddenly erupts and brings the conversation to an abrupt close as everyone runs for cover?

 

C) Amber is suddenly seized with an uncontrollable urge to kiss Brett and flings herself at him, causing Robin to gape at them both in speechless amazement?

 D) None of the above.

If you chose "D" (none of the above), you are ABSOLUTELY CORRECT -- which is amazing, since you probably haven't even read the whole novel yet! ! !

Ciao for now!

DAVE

"POOLSIDE WITH BRETT" - 5-STAR REVIEW on AMAZON

Well, aside from one "Good" rating (only 3 stars) which is nothing to get excited about, "POOLSIDE WITH BRETT" has also received a 5-STAR REVIEW, which I quote as follows:


 "WAS THERE EVER A CHARACTER MORE OUTRAGEOUS THAN BRETT CORNELL?"

 By Pen Wizard - See all my reviews This review is from: Poolside with Brett: Brett Cornell Mystery - #1 (Volume 1) (Paperback)

Once I started reading this book, I found it very hard to put down. I'm not sure if this was because the plot was suspenseful (which it was), the book was well-written (which it was), or because the lead character was so completely over the top that I found myself wondering what he could possibly do or say next! The book was both suspenseful and hilarious, in a campy sort of way, and I can't wait to read more books in this series.


 The actual link is here: http://www.amazon.com/Poolside-Brett-Cornell-Mystery-Volume/dp/1468034650/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1334761518&sr=1-4


So, a big hearty THANK YOU to "Pen Wizard" for providing the Brett Cornell Series with its first-ever 5-star review.

And BRETT thanks you, too ! ! !

"BRETT ENTERS THE SQUARE CIRCLE" (blurb)

This is what I've come up with, so far, as a blurb for the upcoming "BRETT ENTERS THE SQUARE CIRCLE" (Brett Cornell Mystery #5).










"Where in the world is Stacey Ashton?

Stacey herself told her employer that she was leaving for Philadelphia on personal business.

But Melanie Foster suspects that the girl has run off to Florida with her husband instead.

Enter private detective and self-proclaimed unscrupulous bastard Brett Cornell who attempts to discover Stacey's true whereabouts, only to learn that she may actually have been murdered -- and that the murder took place a lot closer to home.

In this fifth Brett Cornell detective novel set in the late 1980s, Brett finds himself pitted against a group of particularly deceitful and unpredictable characters.

And at the same time, he is scheduled to imperil those stunning Adonis-like features of his when he enters the boxing arena to fight a major bout that may very well turn out to be a life-changing experience for him."







The book itself will become available in early May, and is expected to be about 300 pages long (paperback version).

BRETT: a PHILOSOPHY MAJOR in High School ??

BRETT CORNELL, besides possessing the Adonis-like features he's so justifiably proud of, can also boast a deep and profound knowledge of LOGIC and RATIONAL THOUGHT --

-- as he shows in this brief extract from "BRETT ENTERS THE SQUARE CIRCLE" :

“Just calm down, babe,” I told her, leaning back once again and taking a quick puff on my cigarette. “I don’t even know why you insist upon arguing with me like this. You know, when I was in high school, I majored in philosophy, with a special emphasis on logic and rational thinking – “ (I ignored the rolling of the eyes she then gave me.) “ – so, when you argue with me, it’s the same as if you were arguing with guys like Descartes and Spinoza.”

  

 Upon hearing that, Melanie stepped back in utter amazement and, after a precarious moment during which her jaw dropped and almost hit the floor below her, she looked at me and said,

 “I don’t believe it! You actually knew who those two guys were!”

  “Of course, I did,” I threw back at her with a big, wide smile. “Those two guys sat right next to me in philosophy class: Lenny Descartes, and good old Joey Spinoza from Federal Hill. Did you know that, back then, Joey’s old man used to work for Angelo ‘The Bullet’ Di Lorenzo? Boy, oh, boy, those were the good old days, let me tell you.”

And that explanation makes perfect sense -- in BRETT'S WORLD, that is!

Thanks for reading this!

Dave

POLKA, CHA-CHA, or TANGO? (Same thing, ain't it?)

Anyone who has read any of the Brett Cornell "sagas" knows that our cultured and debonair hero occasionally gets words and names mixed up -- either intentionally or unintentionally.

In this extract from "BRETT GETS HAMMERED" (Brett Cornell Mystery #6), Brett leads a female client down the path of exasperation in another of his typically one-sided arguments.

It goes like this:

“What I’m trying to say here is that I’m not entirely to blame for what happened,” I replied, as casually as I possibly could. “I’m not going to go so far as to expect you to believe that the woman actually raped me –“

“Oh, for heaven’s sake –“ the unreasonable little thing started up on me.

 “ – but you gotta admit, toots” (sharp spasms becoming apparent all over Tammy’s body at that point) “as the saying goes: It takes two to polka.”

“Tango,” she mumbled. “Two to tango – but I wouldn’t expect you to know something as fundamental and elementary as that.”

 I pretended not to have even heard her and went on, 

“The only thing your brother could possibly accomplish by taking me to court is he’ll end up pissing me off. Then when I get pissed off, I’ll come barging in on you guys while you’re sitting around the house doing absolutely nothing – or out on the street doing absolutely nothing, depending on where you’ll be living when this happens – and I’ll beat his brains in for him.”

“What –“ But I wouldn’t let her finish. Instead, I gave her a big, toothy smile and said to her,

“Let me remind you once again: It takes two to cha-cha.”

“Tango! Tango!” she screamed at me at the top of her lungs.

 “You’re welcome, you’re welcome!” I screamed back at her. “And stop screaming in my office! You’ll scare away the cockroaches!”

“It takes two to tango, you stupid, insufferable, infuriating imbecile!” she fumed, losing all control of her faculties, you’d might as well say. “How can you survive in this world when you’re so incredibly stupid? How?”

 “I get by on my looks,” I chuckled over at her. “Plus, I got a stupendous-looking ass. Not to mention my charming disposition."

Next question: How many more pages till this woman falls into bed with him -- uh, I mean falls in love with him? ? ?

"WEDDING BELLS FOR BRETT" (front & back covers)

Here's what the complete set-up will look like once "WEDDING BELLS FOR BRETT" becomes available in paperback form -- hopefully, before the end of next week !!

                                                               (click to enlarge)





On Deck: "BRETT ENTERS THE SQUARE CIRCLE" - Brett Cornell Mystery # 5

Following that:  I'll be taking a "Brett Break" --

                          "Sounds like a plan, don't it?"  (as BRETT would say)


Ciao for now!

Dave