Author:  Michael Castleman

Publisher:  MP Publishing (mppublishingusa.com)

ISBN: 978-1-84982-240-4

David Kirsch was killed in cold blood. Why? Mayoral candidate, former dealer in marijuana, grower of the weed, business partner with Owen Pendleton, Doug Connelly and Ken Kelly each having their own reason for the partnership. Columbian dealers that were hooked up with the police and Mexican dealers just as dangerous did someone connect to them have a reason to silence him. David Kirsch was married to Olivia yet had a wandering eye for women.

As the author reveals his story, his dealing with all three of these men and another named Paul Nightingale it forms the picture of a man that sold weed, was an accessory to murder and whose lifestyle mirrored that of many other dealers. So, how and why would anyone elect him Mayor? What about his past came back to kill him in the present? The research and information the author shares will explain how many of these men run their businesses, the many ways that you can make money selling marijuana and the reason why one man named Ed Rosenberg was relentless in uncovering their stories, their secrets and their business practices to find out whether it was the Killer

Weed that got Dave killed, his wife learning about his philandering or something else? When Ed gets too close to the truth will his life be in danger as Owen wants to remain under the radar but has a secret he does not want revealed. What about Doug what happened to him? 

Ed and Julie Rosenberg on the outside appear to be a happily married couple. On the surface you cannot tell that their marriage is strained and their finances wearing thin. Working for the newspaper The Horn brought them not only financial security but pleasure. Letting them both go due to cutbacks set their finances back caused Julie to hit the bottle more often than not and caused Ed to partake in smoking more weed than usual. Used to calm him down, keep him even keeled Ed explains in detail the many different types of marijuana when he goes to the pharmacy to fill a prescription. Ed explains what he wants as the pharmacist takes us through the many types.

But, Julie decides to start her own business as billionaire Gene Simons employs Ed and here is where the story soars. Asked to create an exhibit based on the history of San Francisco’s Haight Ashbury during the hippie era, Ed plunges right into doing the research of the time period, the music, the drugs, the violence, the people that made the news and shares with the reader his enthusiasm for this project. Artifacts, vignettes and an overview of the area, the people and much more would fill the book that was being created and the exhibit to be displayed. But, Simons had more than one agenda when hiring Ed. His mother former dealer Jackie Zarella was killed in Golden Gate Park in a gruesome manner and he wants Ed to not only try and learn more about her life, her death but to learn what most people would want to know if adopted and had been changed, his real name. . 

Haight-Ashbury was a district in San Francisco named for an intersection of two streets: Haight and Ashbury. Some referred to it as The Haight and the Upper Haight. This area brings to life the history of the hippie subculture. Hired to create a special exhibit for billionaire Gene Simons, Ed focuses his attention on the research presented to him, the history of the time period, and the music by artists like Janis Joplin, Jefferson Airplane and the Grateful Dead. Listening to Ed and Gene discuss the project you become immersed in the era, you can picture the sites, smell the aroma of the scents being smoked and the liquor that was passed around and become one and the same with the time period. Added in we learn about the history of the underground newspaper the Oracle that links to all four men, their dealing and those that ran the paper. This was an underground newspaper.

From acid rock music, to the art, poetry and the literature author Michael Castleman does more than revive this exciting time period for readers.

There is an underlying undercurrent within this intricate plot as we learn more about Ed and Julie’s shaky relationship, his increased smoking of pot, her constant drinking and its affect on her making readers wonder if they were both using weed and alcohol to escape life when things became rough. What is the connection that all four had with Jackie Zarella and why did each one have a different viewpoint? 

A family that might be torn apart by one woman’s addiction and an 11 year old girl named Sonya who just might set them both straight. A report for school that brings to light the pros and cons about marijuana in order to teach her more about the weed and help her understand why her parents use it. Her opinions are great solid and she helps put the remaining glue in this outstanding plot. Who killed Dave? Who shot Ed? Where will we find our reporter/detective next? Killer Weed: Smoke at your own risk but definitely read this novel.

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