Author: JP O'Donnell
Publisher: iUniverse
ISBN: 978-0-595-51409-0

Click Here To Purchase Fatal Gamble: A Novel

JP O'Donnell's debut mystery novel, Fatal Gamble: A Novel has been categorized as a “mystery” but really it is so much more where we have a series of murders interwoven with a political intrigue.

The teaser at the core of this tale is set in West Castle, Massachusetts where three of the town's prominent medical doctors have been slaughtered in different slayings. All three fatalities were linked to each other pursuant to a real estate partnership they created over twenty years ago involving the building of a medical office building. Their project proved to be very successful notwithstanding they did encounter some difficulties in acquiring all the land needed to erect their eighty-thousand square foot building with parking for three hundred cars.

It seems that one of the owners of a contiguous parcel of land was averse to selling his lot to the partners. However, using a bit of trickery, which was above board, the partners triumphed in making a deal with the owner. When this holdout owner subsequently unearthed that he was outsmarted out of a substantial sum of money due to the partners' creativity, he was not exactly elated. Is it conceivable that he bore some resentment for the next twenty years?

Once the building was up and running everything seemed to fall into place until the Savings and Loan crisis of the 1980s wherein the bank that initially granted the mortgage to the partnership went belly up and was taken over by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). At the time of the crisis there was extensive disarray as to where to send the mortgage payments and whom to contact as regards the loan balance. The partners' letters and phone calls went unanswered until one day three years later they received a statement requesting 1.5 million dollars in interest and penalties. These gentlemen were not exactly delighted to receive this notice. Nevertheless, these issues do have a way of working out provided you have the right contact in the right place at the right time. And that is precisely what ensued here.

The West Castle police seemed to be at a loss as to who committed the murders that had all the markings of underworld slayings. Yet, there was not even an inkling that these well-known doctors would be connected in any way with some dubious characters.

One of the murdered doctors' wives, Suzanne Becker wasn't very content as to how the investigation of her late hubby Jonathan's murder was being conducted by the local police. Consequently, she hires an astute private detective, Daniel Cormac Gallagher Jr. or as he chooses to be dubbed, Gallagher to determinewho killed her husband. Gallagher is painted as a no-nonsense, forthright tireless private investigator who loves his work so much that when he is onto something he is like a mad dog that never lets go.

Mrs. Becker tips off Gallagher that before her husband's death, he appeared to have been a bit upset. She surmised that something was going on with the real estate partnership, as during the past several months the partners were meeting very frequently. Gallagher's assignment was to keep his investigation in the background and under the radar screen in order to find out what was plaguing the late Dr. Becker and how was it related to his murder. According to Mrs. Becker, her husband was an honest and respected man and a wonderful father to his children. She needed to know if he was drawn into some financial problem or scandal before the local newspapers get hold of the story.

Fatal Gamble: A Novel evolves with calculated precision, setting up a set of likely suspects with riveting twists. O'Donnell has crafted a tangled skillful thriller of considerable momentum that keeps you glued to your seat until the final page where everything is packed into a neat package and all queries satisfactorily answered- except one. Is O'Donnell considering a sequel?
As he introduces each of his well-developed characters, he effectively positions them against clearly defined backdrops providing his readers with much curiosity and anticipation. In addition, he cleverly puts his readers inside the head of his principal protagonist Gallagher and lets them puzzle along with him over the clues concerning the murders. And although this is O'Donnell's debut novel, he certainly has crafted a great read with all the confidence and sophistication of a far more seasoned mystery author.

Click Here To Read Norm's Interview With JP O'Donnell