The Importance of Reading my Novels in Order

The other day I was having a chat with one of my readers and it occurred to me that she had not read my books in order.  

Does that mean that you have to read them in order? No, but you should, if you want to get the most out of them.

When I started out, I had a vision for the direction that I was going to take the books.  Unfortunately, and you can blame my wife for this, that vision took a sort of detour when I wrote SmallTown Secrets. That book was only intended to be a short story, sort of like what I did with Cold Case, but my wife fell in love with the main character and it took on a life of its own.

So instead of having just the James Maguire series, we now have the Alex Taylor series. Each series is their own, but their stories also converge into the world of the other. 

The reason I suggest that you read them in order is that, while each book has its own storyline, they also contain sub-stories and characters who, while they might not be significant now, will play a larger role down the line.

That’s the fun of story-telling, you’re telling a story.  Even though it is fictional life, we know that life doesn’t end at the last chapter, it just moves on to the next book.

So pick up Perfect Pawn and start where it all began. You'll get the most of them that way and isn't that what reading is all about? 

I hope that you enjoy the journey! If you do, please don't keep it to yourself. Kindly tell a friend and leave a review. I cannot begin to tell you how much it means to authors when they get feedback from their readers. After all, we write for you.

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The Curious Case of Donald Trump

Donald J. Trump

Unless you have been hiking the Amazon for the last few months, chances are you have watched the juggernaut that is Donald Trump crashing through the caucuses and primaries being held throughout the United States.

What had started out as a fad, in most voter’s minds, has become a steamroller; crushing the competition one voting booth at a time. So why has someone like Donald Trump, a man who has never held any type of political office, suddenly become the front runner in the 2016 presidential race?

Truthfully? Most likely the reason is the fact he has never held political office.

What I find truly interesting are the protestations that are coming from both sides of the aisle.

What you are witnessing is not so much a validation of Mr. Trump’s bona fides, as much as it is a repudiation of the party system here in the United States. Plain and simply put, Americans are growing increasingly weary of the political bullshit being heaped on them by anyone with the letter (D) or (R) after their name. And why shouldn’t they? 

For decades we have been cheated, ignored, marginalized, and lied to by those we have elected. Rather than do the work of ‘We The People,’ they have instead done the work of ‘We The Party.’  Anyone who truly believes that politicians go to Washington to help you, probably needs to sit down and binge watch a season or two of House of Cards. 

For as long as I can remember, and certainly for as long as I have been voting, I have witnessed one politician after another promise that they were: a) going to Washington to fight for me, b) change the tone of politics, c) be my voice in Congress.  

And just how many of those promises were kept? None.

To be fair, it’s not all their fault. We have a level of complicity in all this. I liken it to the parents who send their kid off to college with a credit card to be used for emergencies. Then, when they get the bill showing it was maxed out, they yelled at their kid to be more responsible and sent them a new card. The truth is we stopped holding our elected representatives accountable for their actions a very long time ago; so is it any wonder that they look down at us with contempt?

No, the majority of folks in D.C. have only one thing on their mind when we elect them and that is getting re-elected. Old Joe or Janey might have needed you to elevate them to their perch, but they really need the party to keep them there. That means doing what the party wants, rather than what you want.

Ever wonder why that ‘fiscal conservative’ you sent to D.C. suddenly is listed as a co-sponsor on a bill that is wasteful? Party politics, plain and simple. Vote the way they want you to, or watch your re-election war chest wither away like a slug in a sandstorm.

People in D.C. are a special brand of hypocrite.

They are the same ones who lose their mind when Donald Trump doesn’t disavow David Duke or the KKK ‘fast enough,' yet are completely silent on the fact that Hillary Clinton once referred to the late Senator Robert Byrd, himself an actual member of the KKK and an Exalted Cyclops, as her mentor.

They are the same folks who claim that judicial nominations in a presidential election year should not go through, when the sitting President is not a member of their party, yet demand that it go through when he is.

This is not a swipe at any one party, but examples of hypocrisy that both sides are guilty of. The real problem is when We The People are too blinded, too entrenched by party politics to see that neither side has our best interests at heart.

Now I don’t know if Donald Trump will become the party nominee, but one thing is for certain, the Republican Party is on very thin ice right now. In fact, I would venture to say that the fracture that is growing is at a critical juncture.

The rank and file members of the Republican Party are tired of the nonsense. In 2011 they sent a strong message by electing 242 Republicans to congress, the most since 1947. John Boehner was sworn in as Speaker of the House and the members waited. Unfortunately, the news was bleak. The Congress couldn’t do anything, because the Democrats controlled the Senate. They changed that in 2015 when they also gave Mitch McConnell the Senate. Yet despite the unequivocal mandate, many felt that the establishment was ignoring them.

Charles M. Schulz / United Feature Syndicate

It soured a great many, who began to consider whether the party was really interested in doing their will or the party’s will. The rank and file began to see themselves as Charlie Brown, while the establishment took the role of Lucy Van Pelt, giddily snatching away their political ‘football’ at the last minute. In the end, it took down the speakership of John Boehner and ended his congressional career.

Last September the RNC strong armed Donald Trump into signing a loyalty pledge, a pledge that was ultimately signed by all 17 Republican presidential candidates. Each one pledged to support the GOP's eventual presidential nominee in what RNC chair Reince Priebus called a sign of party unity. Unfortunately, in September of 2015, no one really thought Donald Trump had a snowballs chance in hell of being that nominee.

Surprise, Surprise, Reince………. Didn’t see that one coming, did you?

So now come the knives in the back, fitting in a way, since we are quickly approaching the Ides of March.

Donald Trump has won ten of the last fifteen state elections, while Cruz has won four and Marc Rubio has won only one. I could be wrong, but I’m pretty sure that at this point there is no way, short of Trump and Cruz walking off hand-in-hand into the sunset, that Rubio could amass enough delegates to get the nomination. So why is he still running? Why are all the ‘establishment’ people supporting him?

Because he is the establishment’s choice. He has been ordained, just as Hillary has been on the left.

It’s the same reason that they whipped out old Mitt Romney, a man who single-handedly managed to rip defeat from the jaws of victory, to excoriate Donald Trump. Really? This is the same man who, back in 2012, said: “Donald Trump has shown an extraordinary ability to understand how our economy works,…. It means a great deal to me to have the endorsement of Mr. Trump.”

Hypocrite much, Mitt?

The truth is the establishment does not know what to do. Donald Trump is a threat to them, to their very way of life. He’s brash, he's bold and he's a media darling: @RealDonaldTrump He is also rich enough that he doesn’t need them. At the end of the day, that’s what scares them: a candidate who doesn’t need them or, more importantly, their money.

However, what they fail to realize is that there is something even more dangerous to them and that is a membership base that has become completely disenfranchised with them. This isn’t true for just the republicans either. Polling indicates that a lot of democrats are beginning to feel this way as well, as witnessed by the defection of 20k plus in Massachusetts since January. Is this a trend that we will see continue through the election cycle? Only time will tell, but it should serve as a wake-up call to those in charge that the people of this great nation are fed-up with politics as usual.

I don’t know how Donald Trump would be as President. Some contend that he will be the same bombastic individual he presents on reality television while others say that he is a savvy businessman who will help lead us away from the precipice of financial doom. Who is right? I don’t know.

What I do know is that over the last eight years we have seen the promise of ‘hope and change’ fade away into more of the same. The political rancor is at an all-time high and growing nearly as fast as our national debt. Watch any political interview once and you can recite the other dozen appearances because all that is regurgitated is party approved talking points. Our elected officials repeatedly lie to us, about things big and small, and we tolerate it. Yet ask the same people if their kids acted the same way and they’d tell you they would immediately put foot to ass. Obviously we have much more lenient standards when it comes to those ruining, I mean running, our country.

So here are your choices:

• Marco Rubio – Attorney / Career Politician - 1 term US senator.
• Ted Cruz - Attorney / Career Politician - 1 term US senator.
• John Kasich – Investment Banker / Career Politician – 9 term US congressman / governor
• Hillary Clinton - Attorney / Career Politician - 2 term US senator / Secretary of State
• Bernie Sanders – Community Activist / Career Politician – 8 term US congressman / 2 term US senator

Notice a trend here? Does it sound a bit familiar?

• Barrack Obama - Attorney / Community Activist / Career Politician - 1 term US senator.

There is an old saying that goes: “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”

We are nineteen trillion dollars in debt and growing. Eighteen trillion of which we have added in the last 34 years!! Think about that for a moment. We rack up debt like the energizer bunny main-lining speed. Seriously, it’s like ten grand a second. Take a look at the Debt Clock. The numbers rotate so fast that you’ll need to take Dramamine to watch it.

In 2015, we brought in 3.1 trillion dollars and spent 3.7. This isn’t an anomaly. Over the last seventy-five years there have only been 12 years we have kept our spending under control. That means both parties have pissed our money away like drunken sailors all while pointing the finger at the other person when it comes time to pay.

And what do we get from our politicians? Reforms? No, don’t be silly, we’re just going to spend our way out of debt…… If we ran our personal lives like this we would be homeless or in jail.

It has been said that Donald Trump started out with around $200,000.00 after college. By 1982 his worth was estimated at around $200 million. When his father died he inherited an additional amount, possibly as high as another $200 million. Today his worth is in the billions. Some might squabble about it, is it two billion? Four billion? Eight billion?....... seriously? I don’t care if it’s only one billion. The bottom line is that he obviously has a knack for taking money and making more. Perhaps we should take the reins away from the career politicians and give it to a career businessman.

I’ve had enough with the career politicians and their hollow promises. Trump might not be the answer, but I know the other five knuckleheads certainly aren’t.

The one thing I do know about Trump is that he surrounds himself with the right people and he listens.  Is that any different than what any President does? Maybe it’s time to give Trump a chance.

What’s the worst that can happen? We rack up trillions in debt, the Middle East falls apart, illegals flood across the border, our enemies don’t respect us and our allies don’t trust us………. ? Sounds like a normal Tuesday under the current administration.

But hey, at least Whoopi Goldberg, Kanye West, Cher, Al Sharpton, Miley Cyrus and Rosie O’Donnell will be another countries problem. I'd call that a win! #MakeAmericaGreatAgain

But what do I know? I'm just an old retired NYPD sergeant who writes books about cops, criminals terrorists and politicians. 

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Deadpool – 50 Shades of Utter Awesomeness!!!

After my last angry movie rant, involving Star Wars: TheForce Awakens, I thought I would take a second chance and see if Hollywood could redeem itself, so I load up the family in the old SUV and we headed off to see the new Ryan Reynolds movie, Deadpool.

20th Century Fox
Anyone know where Francis is?

For those of you who may not be familiar with the protagonist, Deadpool, he is a fictional anti-hero who first appeared in comic books published by Marvel. Originally, the character was depicted as a super-villain in ‘The New Mutants’ (Issue #98) and later in issues of ‘X-Force’, but he has since evolved into the current role. 

Deadpool is a disfigured, and mentally unstable, mercenary with the super-human ability of accelerated healing and physical prowess. He is known as the ‘Merc with a Mouth’ because of his highly talkative nature.

Before I get into it, I’d like to send out a big Fuck You to the 20th Century Fox execs who thought it was a great idea to slash seven million dollars from the budget, effectively removing nine pages of glorious Deadpool action from the movie.  There’s a special place in Hell awaiting you.

That being said, if you are looking for a completely irreverent, action packed movie starring the anti-hero of all anti-hero’s then brothers and sisters do I have a movie for you. The acerbic wit of Deadpool was enough to make this old grizzled New Yorker feel downright homesick.

I admit that I was a bit apprehensive. Fans of the comic book character know that he frequently breaks the fourth-wall, interacting directly with the audience, and I wasn’t sure how that was going to come off on the big screen.

For the record: Reynolds Nailed It!

I know a lot of you folks might have seen his original appearance in the 2009 film X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Don’t worry, despite the suck factor of that one, this incarnation of Deadpool is brilliant. Don’t believe me? It brought in over $150 million in box office sales over the four day opening weekend, utterly brutalizing the previous records in typical Deadpool fashion.

20th Century Fox
No..... It's not a ROM-COM

Now, just so you know, this is not a family movie……  Don’t be confused by the graphic showing Deadpool with his hands in the shape of a heart. This is a hard ‘R’ movie. A very hard ‘R’ movie. I don’t want anyone coming back leaving comments that they thought this was a Rom-Com.

It’s not……

It is filled with unrelenting sophomoric humor that only seems to further endear the character to the audience. Honestly, sometimes don’t we just need a kick-ass anti-hero?  Apparently the ass-hats in Hollywood didn’t think so. In fact, Deadpool is the box off smash that almost never was.

The fight to get Deadpool on the big screen has been going on for years.  It seemed as if this film had to get pushed all the way up the hill. Back in 2010 an early version of the script had been leaked on-line. For a typical movie that would have been a disaster, but the exact opposite happened. Fans got behind it and added their voice, calling for the film to be made. A couple of years later some test footage of the freeway fight scene was also leaked and fans went nuts. This proved to be the push needed and the project was finally green-lighted.

Now I am sitting, impatiently waiting, and wondering when the sequel will come out…….. Note to movie execs, mention J.J. Abrams name and you’ll end up a character in my books. Trust me when I say that it will not end well for you!

Moving forward the real issue will be how to add Deadpool into the X-Men world. Marvel’s cinematic universe has become a huge juggernaut and one that doesn’t seem quite sure just how to open up for the real Deadpool. To be fair, their universe seems much darker and serious, whereas Deadpool would make a joke out of a massive heart attack.   The movie does take a swipe at the conundrum when Deadpool says to Colossus and Negasonic Teenage Warhead: “Wow, this is such a big house [referring to Xavier’s school], but I only ever see the two of you here. It's like the studio didn't have enough money for any more X-Men....”

20th Century Fox
This is how you do Bad-Ass

The cast is superb. Reynolds was born to play Deadpool and, fortunately for him, he stole the Deadpool suit after production ended so they have to bring him back. Morena Baccarin was incredible as Vanessa. Okay, she is really hot and appears naked and spoke some words. Actually I’m really hoping that the sequel expands her role to include Copy Cat, but time will tell. Ed Skrein as Ajax was intense and Brianna Hildebrand as Negasonic Teenage Warhead was perfect. At least we didn’t have to contend with some pretentious, emo, teenage pain-in-the-ass, ala Kylo Ren. The movie also stars MMA fighter, Gina Carano, as Angel Dust. She’ll kick your ass, but what a way to go.

If you’re looking for an action packed movie that will also make you laugh your ass off, then you need to check out Deadpool. You’ll probably end up going back to see it a 2nd time, I know I am, so that you can see and hear all the things you missed the first time, while you were wiping tears from your eyes. For hardcore movie geeks there are a ton of Easter Eggs in this movie. 

Well, I’d like to say more, but you really need to go see it for yourself. So, in the immortal words of Deadpool: It’s time to make the chimi-fucking-changas! 

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Star Wars: The Force Awakens (Spoilers and one pretty pissed off rant)

LUCAS ARTS

Ok, I tacked that ‘Spoiler’ thing on top because you might be one of the last few remaining holdouts, like I was, who hadn’t seen Star Wars: The Force Awakens yet. If you haven’t, then close the page, because I’m going to discuss it now, and you are going to be REALLY pissed if you keep reading, because it will spoil the experience.

Okay, you have been properly warned.

I held out going, because I’m old and grizzled now, sort of like Luke, but with less hair, and I didn’t want to have to fight with the young kids over good seats. As reality would have it, I should have waited another month. Seats were still limited and I had to watch the movie with my neck craned, staring up at the screen. I’ll probably go again in another month when I can sit back and enjoy the cinematography better, instead of feeling like I am sitting on the nose-cone of an X-wing traveling through space.

So, what did I think of the movie? Let me start by getting this off my chest right away: Fuck you very much, Disney and a slightly less, but still a very much fuck you, J.J. Abrams.  I’m glad you guys trashed the entire Expanded Universe so you could ‘phone in’ what you want us to accept as a good story, but it didn’t work. You suck, strong message follows.

That being said, I liked it….. sort of, kinda, maybe….. Well fuck, it was still better than The Phantom Menace which brought us that loathsome creature, Jar Jar Binks. Damn, now I have to go rinse my mouth out, with whiskey, to make the painful memories go away again.

It’s not that TFA is a bad film; it’s just that it’s an old film pretending to be new.

Here, let me give you a hint:

• A droid with valuable information finds itself stranded on a desert planet.
• A darkly clad, masked villain, strong in the force, shows up a short time later looking for the droid.
• Stormtroopers arrive shortly thereafter and begin blasting the locals on desert planet.
• The masked villain interrogates (a.k.a. tortures) our hero looking for the information.
• Our force sensitive hero (or in this case heroine), who is an awesome pilot, lives a lonely existence on this desert planet and dreams of better things.
• There’s a big, planet destroying, space platform, run by a cruel and high ranking military commander.
• The really big boss, who controls our masked villain, appears via hologram.
• Han and Chewie are still being hunted down by crime figures, intent on killing them, for screwing them over.
• Our hero’s end up in a cantina looking for transport to the rebels.
• One of our heroes turns his back on the others, only to return to help them.
• The rebel base is situated in a lush tropical forest.
• A good guy is cut down by someone previously close to him who turned to the dark side.
• One of our heroes watches helplessly, from afar, as this person is murdered, and then they flee the planet killer in the Millennium Falcon.
• The big planet killer is attacked, with only moments to spare, by the rebels and the entire rebel attack is overseen by Princess (now General) Leia in a control room.
• X-Wings once again rush headlong, through another trench, being fired on by ground based weapons and TIE fighters, toward the awaiting target.
• Despite the rebels miraculously blowing up the station, our masked villain escapes,…..

Yep, that about sums it up………………… The Force Awakens, A New Hope (Part Deux)

Really, J.J.? That was the best you could fucking come up with?

There are like 70 friggen’ books (not counting comics) that occur AFTER Return of the Jedi and the best you could give us was  ANH 2.0?

A major FUCK YOU, Disney…….. And a minor Fuck You, J.J. Abrams for being that little shit-tard Mouse’s minion…….

Wow, that was actually quite cathartic………

Seriously, do you guys even know how to advance a plot? What happened to meaningful dialogue?

Aside from Obi-Wan Kenobi lying his ass off in ANH, about who Luke’s father was, I came out of the theater knowing who everyone was and what was happening. The same goes with the other movies. TFA seems to want to throw some vague semblance of a ‘story’ into a battle movie.  I get the whole J.J. Action film, but seriously this was an important film and you fucked it up!!

Where was the dialogue about the First Order? Why don’t we know more about the Knights of Ren? Where was the heart-to-heart between Han and Leia discussing in-depth what happened to Ben. Why is the ‘Resistance’ operating away from the Republic and why the hell don’t they have ANY capital ships?  And why the hell doesn’t ‘General’ Hux look old enough to even shave?

I admit that I was willing to suspend all of that, right until THAT scene………….. Yes, you know what I am talking about….. They killed Han Solo !!!

Lucas Arts

Now, I know what some of you might say, Harrison Ford had wanted to kill the character off at the end of Return of the Jedi. Yeah, and you know what? Fuck you too, Ford. You’re an ass. You’re an actor, so just friggen’ act and stop trying to ditch the role that made you who you are.

Reminds me of that pedantic little shit, Daniel Craig, who forces himself to play James Bond and then makes disparaging comments about the character. You’re an ass too. What’s next, you gonna give me political advice as well?

Which leads me to another point, that whole ‘murder’ scene was just painful to watch. If that was your pinnacle moment, like the death of Ben Kenobi in ANH, and you are killing off one of the MAIN characters, you’d better be able to reach down deep into that acting pool and pull off a performance worthy of a MF’ing Academy Award…… 

We fans deserve that much at least.  

Han Solo was an iconic figure, someone who brought a grey into the world of black and white. He was an immoral hero who somehow managed, for the most part, to keep himself on the righteous side of hell. Surely the rough as nails smuggler, with roguish grin and itchy trigger finger would be able to deliver a performance worthy of the moment.

I watched that scene, witnessing the murder of my childhood hero, and after the shock subsided I thought….. Meh

But that seemed to be a reoccurring theme in this movie. Consider the whole Han / Leia romance for a moment. Think of The Empire Strikes Back, that first hot steamy kiss on the Falcon. The whole dramatic “I love you,…” “I know…” moment in Cloud City.

So what do we get in TFA? Nothing ……. No tension, no passion, no fierceness. Han Solo and Leia were the two bad-asses and now we have…….. Meh. 

No wonder their friggen’ kid became a little whiney-ass, emo bitch.  I’d have tried to off them as well. For the record, I actually do like Adam Driver; I just think they beat the whiney-ass horse to death with Anakin in the prequels. There was no reason to resurrect that shit again. You can pull off torn and emotionally frustrated without sounding like a prissy, spoiled brat.

I grew up on Star Wars and I sat there thinking that something had just gone horribly wrong.

RKO Keiths in a state of disrepair, like TFA

I still recall seeing it for the first time in the summer of 1977 at the RKO Keith’s on Northern Boulevard in Flushing, New York. I walked out of that theater in a state of utter amazement and never looked back.

A lot of us didn’t associate with Luke, some of us needed that anti-hero and I found it in Solo.  

After Return of the Jedi, a lot of us immersed ourselves in the world beyond the films, devouring everything we could find on the continuing saga. It was this media that soon turned into the Expanded Universe, a place Disney decided was not worth the time and investment to consider, along with the storyline that George Lucas’ had envisioned beyond ROTJ, and trashed it. And therein lies the problem.

To the average movie-goer, TFA is an awesome movie, but to those of us who were immersed in the Star Wars’ world, it falls flat for any number of reasons, but there are a few that stand apart for me.

It would have been nice if someone sat down with Abrams and advised him of the relationship between Han and Chewie.

Chewie owed Han a life-debt, that’s a fact. He actually saved Chewie’s life twice. To a wookie, that is a serious matter. When Kylo killed Han there is no way you can tell me that Chewbacca would not have gone bat-shit crazy. We saw this in TESB, when they were putting Han in carbonite. In fact the only reason he stopped was because Han had ordered him to, basically extending the ‘debt’ to Leia. And yes, I will agree that he would have been torn, since Kylo Ren is Ben Solo and Chewie would have been his ad-hoc Uncle, and I think that is the reason Chewie shot him low, instead of putting a blaster bolt through his head. That being said, those stormtroopers would have been toast and that in-itself would have made that scene great.

Consider for a moment a wookie so enraged that he began ripping limbs off stormtroopers as he battled his way forward. That would have been a pinnacle moment. Instead we got a lackluster, I hate you daddy-issues patricide as Han’s body plunged lethargically from the catwalk, just as I hope Ford’s career does now.

Speaking of the enraged wookie, did anyone also tell JJ about a wookie’s strength? Well, apparently not…… again! Consider for a moment something so minute that it almost gets passed over: Chewie’s bowcaster.  You see, bowcaster’s are much more powerful than standard blaster rifles and few humans are capable of toting one around, let alone being able to hold one steady enough to take a shot. A fact apparently lost on the writers, as Han seems to enjoy shooting the shit out of it. 

It is those kinds of things that give Star Wars’ fans migraine headaches.

And why, for the love of Pete, did they have to go and change Han and Leia’s son, Anakin Solo, to Ben (Call me Kylo, damn-it) Solo?.... More on this to come, folks.  And while we are at it, what happened to the twins, Jacen and Jaina?

And can someone please explain to me Captain Phasma? Seriously, does any fan, worth their salt, believe that Captain Phasma would have just tossed her hands up in the air and happily lowered the shields?

Are you fucking kidding me?

This is the commander of ALL First Order stormtroopers. A bad-assed, absolutely loyal, veteran whose position is actually on the same level as Kylo Ren and General Hux, but she figured, fuck-it, they have blasters…….. Really?

Phasma would have taken one to the head before she ever lowered those shields.

Oh wait, they had to wiggle in another tired cliché joke about tossing her into the trash compactor….. Ha, ha…. No, Fuck you, J.J. It was a damn disgrace to demean the character like that.

Okay, enough……. I could go on, but blood is beginning to seep from my eyes like that bat-shit crazy fucker in Casino Royale.

Lucas Arts

So, now to the big question on everyone’s mind: Who is that badass Rey?

Seriously? You don’t know?

Hey, I hear there is a new Star Trek movie coming out, go get ready…….

For the rest of you, let me try and piece this together.

Rey is Luke Skywalker’s daughter.

Didn’t know he had a kid, yeah, he had a son, BEN, but we already know they fucked that up by naming EMO-boy Ben. So why not really screw things up (keep those fans guessing) and make her a girl…….

Luke hooked up with Mara Jade, the Emperor’s Hand, who was sent to kill him. Romance ensued and she turned from the dark side and joined Luke, becoming a Jedi Master herself. They had one child, Ben.

I think we will find out that Rey was sent away to protect her until……. Sound familiar? Here is why:

• She is obviously force sensitive, hell it isn’t even sensitive, it is strong. Why not, her parents were both Jedi Knights.
• She has inherent amazing piloting skills, ala Luke Skywalker.
• While she is at Maz Kanata’s, she is called by the sound of a baby crying. When she opens the box it is a lightsaber,…. Not any lightsaber, but Luke’s. She was specifically drawn to it. So why did Maz have it?
• Maz Kanata says to Rey: "I have lived long enough to see the same eyes in different people. I see your eyes... I know your eyes!"
• Rey has a vision of Luke and R2-D2.
• R2, who has been powered-down since Luke left, suddenly activates when Rey arrives at the base. Why? BB-8 was already there, so something else caused him to activate. He was Luke’s droid, so something familiar had to have happened to power him back up.
• Rey even struggles with the dark side, just as Anakin and Luke did.

Also, why would Leia, send a complete ‘unknown’ to find Luke if she didn’t already know who she was?

There is another possibility that Rey is actually Kylo Ren’s sister, but I still question that. There would be WAY too much ‘Solo’ story to be altered for that to be true. In order for this to be true, it would have to be a re-imagining of the Solo twins, Jacen and Jaina.

The death of his younger brother, Anakin Solo, was partially responsible for Jacen Solo turning to the dark side and becoming  Darth Cadeus. He then killed Ben Skywalker’s mother, Mara Jade. Jaina Solo became a Jedi Master and ultimately killed her twin brother.  If Kylo / Ben is the re-imagined Jacen, then it is possible that Rey is the re-imagined Jaina.

But what about Han and Leia? Surely they would ‘know’ their daughter. As evidenced of the pain they have for what has happened to Ben, they surely are concerned parents. Neither shows any particular maternal / paternal connection.

I have also heard one theory that she is Obi-Wan’s granddaughter……. I cannot wrap my head around that. 

However, all that being said, ultimately, Star Wars is a story about the Skywalker’s, so it makes perfect sense that Rey would be the last in the line: Anakin (Ep 1-3), Luke (Ep 4-6) and Rey (Ep 7-9). Otherwise the end becomes the Solo / Skywalker or the Solo / Kenobi finale and I just can’t envision that leap.

Oh, just one final thought.

In the April 2015 TFA 2nd trailer Mark Hamill did a voice over: "The Force is strong in my family. My father has it, I have it, my sister has it. You have that power, too."

I rest my case.

Now I'm going back to writing my books. At least I know how to develop a continuing plot.

If you’d like to stay up to date on the newest releases, then please like my Facebook page and feel free to follow me on Twitter.

January 2016 Update - The Importance of Reviews

I sincerely hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas and a great start to the New Year. Despite all the busyness of the holiday season, I have managed to get some writing in. I can happily state that the latest installment in the James Maguire series is over 1/3 complete and I am currently brainstorming the next Alex Taylor one as well. 

The feedback coming in on the novella I wrote back in December: NYPD Cold Case - The Katherine White Murder, has been amazing and there will be more coming.

Creating stories is not what I consider work, as I enjoy the process very much, but I would be lying if I didn't say that it didn't require work. There is a tremendous amount of effort that goes into creating, organizing, editing, and polishing a manuscript, as my esteemed editor, and co-author, aka: my wife, Nancy Nelson, will attest to. The finished book that you read over a weekend takes hundreds of hours to physically produce. I think I can speak for all authors, especially ‪#‎indieauthors, when I say that the greatest thing you can do for us, besides reading our books, is to review the book and then

recommend it to your friends and families.

Sometimes it feels as if authors are pleading for reviews and the truth is, we are. In the case of indie authors, like myself, we do it all, including the PR work. A legacy publishing house like Ballentine, Putnam or Little Brown, have amazing PR departments who can get an authors book onto the desk's of reviewers for USA Today, the NY Times, etc..... Indies, not so much. 

I can certainly tell you that I much rather prefer writing a new book, for you to read, then I do trying to market them. When it comes to writing, it is truly a labor of love. The majority of authors are lucky if they make enough money to pay for the electricity usage to run the computer they write on. They don't do it for fame or riches, although I don't think that any of us are actually opposed to that concept, but because they have a story to tell. At the end of the day that is who we are, storytellers. Only a small percentage of authors actually make a living from it and it is an even smaller group, like the Martin's, Patterson's and Clancy's, who actually become famous. Once again, it is the readers who decide that.

Author's require readers and, while we appreciate each and every one of you, we really depend on you to review our books. Amazon, which most of us use to publish our print and ‪#‎kindle e-books through, have a very stringent set of analytics which they use to rate books. You can have the greatest book in the world, but without reviews the book will languish because Amazon only showcases / promotes books that have good review numbers.

So if you enjoy books by indie authors, show them some love and take the 2-3 minutes required to write a review.

As for me, it's time to get back to work.

Remember to also follow me on ‪#‎twitter @Andrew_G_Nelson where I tweet about some other great indie authors as well.

My Christmas Gift To You !! - Perfect Pawn

To celebrate Christmas this year, I have decided to play the part of Santa Claus and giveaway a free e-book copy of my debut novel, Perfect Pawn.

To get your copy, simply go to my Amazon author page on Christmas Day and choose the graphic for Perfect Pawn. The book will be free all day December 25th.

Thank you to my amazing fans for your continued support over the years. May you have a very blessed Christmas and may 2016 be a healthy and prosperous one for you all.

God Bless,
Andrew G. Nelson

Cop Authors – Why should you read them?

First, I have to admit that I am somewhat biased, being both a retired NYPD sergeant as well as an author.  That being said, I think there is a very good reason why you should take a look at authors who have worn the badge.

Not to take anything away from folks like James Patterson, J.A.Konrath and Robert Parker, but one of the issues I have is that they only tell a tale that they have learned.  Prior to their success as authors, none had any actual experience in the genres they successful wrote.  Patterson was an advertising executive, Konrath is a college teacher and Parker was a professor.  

Granted, the tale is the important part and each of these three men do an outstanding job, but for me, and I am sure a lot of other cops, the details are the one thing that cannot be learned.  No, a detective is not going to tell a sergeant or lieutenant what to do, no matter how wildly popular your protagonist is. There is a thing called rank and, to reference the old acronym RHIP, it does have its privilege.  I know that because I had the honor of being both a detective and a sergeant during my career.

Cops experience things in a much different way than the rest of the world and as a result it affects the way they write. Someone who has never done that type of work is going to have a much more difficult time of painting that mental image for you as opposed to someone who has dealt with it a number of times. Cops talk a certain way, have certain mannerisms, and these are the things that separate the layman from the professional.

Now, there is certainly a strong argument that can be made that, while not every author could be a cop, not every cop should be an author. Just because you have a story to tell, doesn’t mean that you have the ability to tell it, but that can be said about a lot of authors. For every Joe Wambaugh (LAPD), Dan Mahoney (NYPD) or Bill Cauntiz (NYPD) there are a lot more who should have stuck to policing.  That being said, readers who enjoy getting an inside look into the ‘real’ world of policing are doing themselves a disservice by only reading books by establishment authors.

I encourage you to widen your horizons and take a closer look at some other police writers, such as my fellow indie authors: Wayne Zurl (Suffolk County, N.Y. PD), George P. Norris (NYPD), Kimberly McGath (Florida LEO).

Just leave a little room at the literary table for yours truly. 

If you’d like to stay up to date on the newest releases, then please like my Facebook page and feel free to follow me on Twitter.