Part of Series
Seattle superstar runningback Isaiah Drake was on top of the world and about to marry his high school sweetheart Susannah Sloan. But everything came crashing to a halt when he was arrested for murdering Susannah—but he couldn’t even remember what happened that night himself. Twelve years later, he's on death row in Georgia and nearing the end of his appeals when he makes a final desperate cry to get someone to help him before it's too late. Seattle-based sports writer Cal Murphy and his wife Kelly venture south on assignment to feature Drake's story. However, before they leave on their flight, the Innocence Alliance—an organization that helps innocent death row inmates who've been wrongly convicted—asks Cal to return to the scene of the crime deep in the Okefenokee Swamp and find out if it's a case worth pursuing. Scared about what he might learn regarding his favorite football player from yesteryear, Cal must unravel a mystery that had far-reaching implications on a small town and not a single reliable witness. Facing mounting pressure from the sheriff to leave, Cal and Kelly must navigate political landmines and uncover deep and guarded secrets in an effort to prove Drake's innocence—or his guilt. This mystery thriller from award-winning and bestselling author Jack Patterson will have you guessing until the very last page.
Authors
*** Signup for my newsletter and receive a free copy of The Warren Omissions, the first book in my James Flynn thriller series, by visiting http://eepurl.com/bZwpdf *** THE FIRST SIGNS that I might like writing—and that I might be slightly competitive—appeared when my year two (or first grade) teacher, Mrs. Holland, asked my class to write and illustrate our day. Mine read like this: “The Red team beat the Blue team, 1 to nil. And I won.” The next 47 entries covered my exploits on the soccer pitch while growing up in Ipswich, England. In South Carolina as a teenager, my dad told me that I could get paid to watch sports provided I could write about it. Sounded easy enough and by the time I was 16, I landed a job at my town’s daily newspaper and had a column on Major League Baseball players from our area. I also covered my first riot there at a sporting event—and it’s safe to say I was smitten with journalism. After graduating from one of the best journalism schools in the country, I took a job as a sports editor in South Georgia and learned firsthand about the passion of high school sports in rural America. I thought I knew before, but I didn’t. This was another world. I also had the opportunity to cover major sporting events like the Olympic Games, the World Series, the Super Bowl, and the Final Four. It was a thrill! But nothing was as thrilling to me as uncovering the truth in investigative assignments. I once broke a story about a prominent southern football team’s NCAA violation—and found out the violating coach had committed suicide only a few months earlier. The story won a national writing award and stoked my desire to write about these issues. It made me realize that the sports world was just another fantastic backdrop for drama. After writing non-fiction books with athletes, for athletes, and ghost writing for many others, I decided to enter the world of fiction writing. It had been something I wanted to do but never found the time. So, I made the time—and had a blast in the process. I’m not out to become the next Faulkner or Hemingway—I’m just out to tell a good story. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoy writing them!
