Promotion Time

My loyal faithful readers, I have good news to share with you.  I am in possession of promotional material from my publisher, Austin Macauley. 

As shown in the pictures are posters, preorder forms, book markers and the book itself in soft cover. 

Four Seasons Book One: Edge of Darkness begins with a saga of Mark Marteau and Hector Gonzales opposing Che Lopez and his drug cartel.  

Mark Marteau has a meeting with destiny as he and his longtime partner Hector Gonzalez need to return to Todos Santos, Mexico and confront their archenemy, Che Lopez of the Lopez Cartel.  But there is another more pertinent reason that could throw the entire region into chaos, as a little-known terrorist group rears its ugly head.  

While Mark must deal with his own personal demons that make it known in the first of nine suspense-filled stories, Mark relives his past adventures from informant, then bounty hunter and finally FBI agent.  While Hector holds a secret he promised, he would never tell Mark that very well could end their friendship of over twenty-six years. 

“Four Seasons,” is the first of six novels whose sole theme is the sweet nectar of retribution. For Che Lopez, it is an all-consuming desire to satisfy this need, like an addict needing his narcotic to satisfy his craving.  As many of the characters find out though, revenge holds them in a grip far worse than any addiction to an opiate.  It becomes an all-consuming need that threatens to destroy them. And it is for this reason that Mark must never know this dark secret that Hector holds.  

In addition, hidden in the shadows is an organization whose so purpose is to terrorize countries into submission and fear.  Mark experienced them before, but now they are in Mexico ready to give new meaning to Day of the Dead.  

 I will have my web master set up a preorder through my website for you to get these books. They should also be available through Amazon and Austin Macauley’s website. 

Thanks again, my loyal readers for your support.

The Trip Home 

I still could not get my sister to change her mind about my new car, but like a lot of my friends told me, she does not have to drive it so no big deal. But the trip to my sister’s in Burley, Idaho was fun, and I enjoyed her company. 

I left last Monday morning to Spokane and was not too terribly concerned about the traffic since I left just after 7:30. Traffic was not an issue and even in a couple of places where road construction had enforced speed limit zones. 

No, most of the problems were with more than a fair share of truck drivers. There was a time not too long ago where truck drivers were very professional in their driving habits and skills, as well as their general attitudes that they had in their possession a forty-ton killing machine they had to control. 

The first incident occurred after the rest stop outside Buell. The trucker for some unfathomable reason drove his tractor and trailer on the inside lane of I-84. Faster drivers, like me, were forced to move in the right lane to pass this truck. 

After that there were no other issues until I was about five miles north of Ontario, Oregon. I was doing the posted seventy miles per hour speed limit when this trucker blew past me as though I was going fifty rather than seventy. He too was pulling a trailer and all I could figure was that he had to get somewhere fast. Not that a trucker should be bothered by a deadline. 

As it turned out I ended up passing him later near the concrete plant at Concrete. I spotted this same truck driver. The caveat being a drenching downpour and then snow squall that made driving white knuckle scary to say the least. As I was ready to pass this driver, he engaged his left turn signal, I assumed to get into my lane. I had to honk my horn, and he stayed in his lane until I passed him. 

Now this same driver, after getting off Dead Man’s pass, came barreling down the freeway again, passing me and everyone else as though we were bothersome slow pokes. 

I wonder where the speed traps are these days. It used to be that such reckless behavior was not tolerated by state and highway patrol troopers. One friend of mine thought these drivers are not educated to be safe and responsible operators like they were back when I was in my twenties. 

Have You Seen Master

Cosmo here again. I have waited for him to come home these past three days and nights. Master, he up and disappeared. POOF! Gone and I have no idea where he went to. I did noticed that he took that big blue box with him. I observed him placing his garments inside. 

Where could he have gone? He drove off telling me and bird he calls Elsa that he’s going to see his sister. I haven’t seen my sister since that girl took me over a year ago. The one calling himself Nicolas, has called out to me. I ignore him. I pretend to come toward him, then I feign and confuse him. Humans are so gullible! I just jumped over the neighbor’s fence and know if I meow loud enough she will come out and hand me a treat, so I won’t starve. But I hear Nicolas calling out more insistently. Maybe I should go and let him think I need to come in. 

I jumped back over the fence and sneak in like I do to Master. He always appears bewildered when I sneak in and he’s still calling for me as if he is completely oblivious of my fleet paws pouncing and bounding inside unnoticed. I do just that. It helps that it’s dark out and he appears more frustrated than normal. Once again my stealth has the human caught flat footed as I spy the food dish sitting on the countertop. I leap gracefully onto the counter and proceed to eat the kibbles in a ravenous manner. I didn’t realized how hungry I was. 

Nicolas has taken a picture of me eating. Can’t I have a moment of privacy please? I look up and glare at him. He chuckles, rubs my chin and ears just like Master does, then he leaves with me inside alone! 

“What do you mean alone? I’m here dummy.” 

I look over and spot Elsa’s presence in the dark trailer we share with Master. “Oh you, sorry I was hoping he took you and I could be done with you forever.” 

“No such luck, pal. As a matter of fact I may well outlive you and Master calling himself Jerry. I’m still a youngster compared to you two. I’m expected to live at least another thirty years. You, you will be lucky to live past eighteen. Master Jerry is already old and might live another twenty or more years.” 

“Have you seen Master?” 

“Of course not. He said before he left he was going to his sister’s. I had a sister once, but I haven’t seen her since we were chicks. Besides, he’ll be back. He always comes back after leaving for many days.” 

“Well, hopefully he’ll be back soon. I miss him.” 

“Well, he’ll show up and all will be well again.” 

Another Positive Review

““I carry in my satchel many secrets I wish to reveal between now and when he will make his confession known to me.”

Albert’s decision to take a life was made with intended malice. A doctor couldn’t save his daughter’s life, so the pain that Albert experienced needed to be felt by the doctor. He targeted the doctor’s daughter and snuffed out her life with no remorse. Years removed from this premeditated act, Albert Peabody is living out his golden years in a psychiatric hospital where he is confessing his past crimes to his doctor. As Albert reveals his pathological nature to the doctor in painstaking detail, the doctor has questions of his own about what drove Albert to these heinous acts. Albert’s crimes have been concentrated for decades, and his cunning mind has helped him elude capture. However, now Albert is being held accountable for his nefarious deeds.

A voyage into the sinister mind of a killer proves both disturbing and illuminating in this mystery/thriller narrative. Albert’s disclosures reveal a detestable human being who whitewashes his ghastly crimes due to grievances, real or perceived, with either the victim or the victim’s kin. Albert’s doctor believes he can see through Albert and that Albert’s motives may not be as clear as Albert has conveyed. The question of Albert serving as an unreliable narrator surfaces from time to time, conjuring a comparison to American Psycho and where Albert’s confession will ultimately lead. The mind games played between the killer and his doctor form the dramatic dynamic in this story and propel the plot forward to a fulfilling conclusion. This story is intended to leave the reader unsettled and succeeds on multiple levels.

Book review by Philip Zozzaro
RECOMMENDED by the US Review

What Do We Do Now

Cosmo here. Master has been home all week, and I don’t understand why. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve enjoyed having him home so I can come and go into our home as I please. He continues giving me loves and food, which I require all the time. I’ve discovered, though tasty, mice aren’t very filling, and it takes a lot of work out for me to eat one measly little rodent that’s amazingly fast. 

I’ve forgotten about the girl that had me. She was nice and pretty for a human, but she didn’t seem to want me anymore. Master here, I guess the other humans call him Jerry, he has bent over backward to obey my every whim. He even cleans my litter box every time I use it. She never did that for me. Then that human boyfriend of hers always complained I smelled. I’m a cat, we don’t smell! 

So now he’s home clacking away on his thing called a keyboard appearing busy. I’m lying on the couch. My eyes are closed but I hear everything. Even that bird’s preening I can hear that too. 

“Talking to me?” She asks me. Of course humans aren’t trained to hear our thoughts like other animals can. It’s one of their weaknesses of having an unusually large brain. 

I opened my eyes and watched her. Master calls her Elsa, among other things. I call her a snack and trouble. She isn’t supposed to be the aggressor, yet she refuses to back down when I’m trying to pounce upon her and have her for dinner. Or breakfast. Or snack between the two. No, she attacks me and gives me that ‘don’t mess with the queen’ expression. “As a matter of fact I’m wondering why master hasn’t gone to that place he calls work.” 

“It’s because he is on something called a vacation, dumb ass.” 

“Why do you insult me so?” 

“Because you are a dumb ass!” 

“So, what do we do while he is on this vacation?” 

“We let him do whatever he wants. It’s not like he understands what it is we do when he’s not around.” 

“Why do you suppose that is?” 

“Humans, you got to love them, are just gullible creatures who see a pretty face or cutesy mannerism, like you playing inside a box, and they get enamored with us. They think we are entertaining and for that we get a place to live and eat all we want without worry of being eaten by a predator or starving to death.” 

“But, yet they claim to be the superior species,” I pointed out to her. 

“No, we animals allow them to believe that. Remember we adopted them, not the other way around.” 

“Well, I was tricked into that cage and…” 

Because you are a dumb ass,” Elsa countered. She then let out a laugh. That always grates against me, her ability to actually talk like a human, or even laugh like one as she just did. I closed my eyes. 

“You can kiss my dumb ass then.” 

May 23, 2025

My loyal readers the date is important because that’s the date I’m launching my second printing of Edge of Darkness Four Seasons Book One. As you all recall I self-published the first edition through Amazon Kindle in 2018.  

The sales were mostly through me and some through the local bookstores in Spokane area. I also had a signing done at Aunties, an independent bookstore in downtown Spokane. Sales were probably average considering that I wasn’t reaching out to a broader audience. 

I’m announcing this now so you, my loyal readers can preorder it and be ahead of the game, so to speak. Now the gist of the storyline. 

Mark Marteau has dreams of doing something useful with his life other than doing grunt work for a landfill scavenger. He becomes the unwitting witness to the murder of Old Joe Murdock and convinces the city detective, Tracy Dickerson, to let him be an informant to find the person responsible. 

In the second story of this ongoing series, Mark’s lifelong friend Dave is assassinated in front of his wife and four-year-old son, Dylan. It comes to Mark’s attention that the murder was retribution for the Murdock case ten years prior. Mark is now a bounty hunter, and he has been given an assignment to go after a man from a drug cartel out of Totos Santos, Mexico. 

Book Two will hopefully be available soon. The idea was to create a series of short stories with a running plot that takes Marteau and his partner through until the actual puppet master is discovered and apprehended, or not. That’s called Search for Justice.  

Evil that Men Do will feature the women partners of this series, though Mark won’t know this until later. Book Four is called Road to Nowhere. Clockmaker and Red Widow features the two antagonists of the series, who are just following orders in book five. And book six, Desperado, will be with Dylan as the lead protagonist helping to finally achieve retribution for the murders of his parents. 

I hope I live long enough to see all six books published. Whether I make a decent amount in royalties is another matter altogether. So far each book I’ve written has cost me thousand of dollars to publish, and since I wasn’t fortunate enough to be born with a silver spoon in my mouth, I have to work extra hard to make this dream of mine come true

Mystery Solved

You awoke just as the sun arose over the hill near your house. “What is that smell?” You ask yourself as you slowly, methodically pull yourself up from the bed and looked about you, trying to remember, remember. 

“What am I supposed to do today? That lady should know, but I haven’t seen her in days. Did she leave? Maybe she went to get groceries. “Mia was a good and pretty woman. I wonder what happened to her? 

“What the hell is that smell?” You grab your cane and pull yourself up from the bed. It’s an effort and yet you finally managed, standing tall on your spindly legs. “Did I eat last night?” 

You go outside the bedroom and see someone in the bathroom asleep. “Oh, there you are!” 

You look at her, but the shadows play tricks on you. “Are you taking a nap? At least that blasted dog finally stopped barking. I could hardly get any sleep with that racket. I’ll let you be. I’ll go and find something to eat in the kitchen.” 

You stepped away from the prostrate form and meander into the kitchen. On the table you see a plate of crackers and dried up looking cheese. The dim light of the morning  only shows part of the problem, and you are having a hard enough time focusing with your elderly eyes that seemed cloudy.  

You find a glass in the sink and turn on the faucet. You sit at the table, drinking the water and eating the crackers that tasted stale and unappetizing. “Why don’t my friends ever come over and visit. I surely do miss Warren. Santa Fe, yes that’s where I live now. Perhaps my wife will invite them over. Where is she? Honey? Honey? No answer. She needs to investigate where that odor is coming from!” 

You finished eating the last remaining crackers and cheese on the plate. You then get up from the chair and go into another room. There were coats and boots in here. “I know this place. What is it called? Mud room, that’s it. What did I come here for? What do I need in here?” 

You suddenly felt dizzy, and you lost your balance, falling heavily upon the cement floor. You looked about. The dizziness hasn’t passed. The room continued to spin seemingly out of control. “Am I having a heart attack? But my pacemaker.” You feel your chest. Your eyes closed and the end came without fanfare or final last words before an audience. 

Nothing Like A Cozy Mystery

I’ve enjoyed creating great stories of mystery, suspense, and intrigue. But as the old saying goes, “Life sometimes is stranger than fiction.” 

This is especially true after the latest news that came out about Gene Hackman. So far, no foul play was involved, so far. Though Mr. Hackman was over 95 years old, his wife, Betsy Arakawa, though, was only in her sixties, and by all appearances was extremely healthy. 

As the weeks and months come into play, the autopsy results, the toxicology tests, and any other pathological or forensic evidence will obviously come into play here, revealing how they died, and if it was a “murder most foul,” the person or persons responsible will be found and face justice. 

I really liked Hackman and the roles that he portrayed. Like the news reporter stated in her piece, he put himself 100 percent into any role he did, be it hero or villain. I remember him playing both types of characters in the French Connection and Hoosiers and Unforgiven and Lex Luthor in the Superman series. 

What I think I liked best about Hackman was his ability to keep his private life private. I think the fact he wasn’t a drop-dead gorgeous hunk of burning love had a lot to do with it. The tabloids tend to ignore actors such as him, focusing more on the Redfords, Cruises and DiCaprios of the world.  

If indeed this is a case of murder for the sake of celebrity, it would be incredibly sad for his memory and his legacy as a superb actor and human being. 

Another Positive Review 

This week I received another positive review for I Albert Peabody, Confessions of a Serial Killer. 

“I carry in my satchel many secrets I wish to reveal between now and when he will make his confession known to me.”

Albert’s decision to take a life was made with intended malice. A doctor couldn’t save his daughter’s life, so the pain that Albert experienced needed to be felt by the doctor. He targeted the doctor’s daughter and snuffed out her life with no remorse. Years removed from this premeditated act, Albert Peabody is living out his golden years in a psychiatric hospital where he is confessing his past crimes to his doctor. As Albert reveals his pathological nature to the doctor in painstaking detail, the doctor has questions of his own about what drove Albert to these heinous acts. Albert’s crimes have been concentrated for decades, and his cunning mind has helped him elude capture. However, now Albert is being held accountable for his nefarious deeds.

A voyage into the sinister mind of a killer proves both disturbing and illuminating in this mystery/thriller narrative. Albert’s disclosures reveal a detestable human being who whitewashes his ghastly crimes due to grievances, real or perceived, with either the victim or the victim’s kin. Albert’s doctor believes he can see through Albert and that Albert’s motives may not be as clear as Albert has conveyed. The question of Albert serving as an unreliable narrator surfaces from time to time, conjuring a comparison to American Psycho and where Albert’s confession will ultimately lead. The mind games played between the killer and his doctor form the dramatic dynamic in this story and propel the plot forward to a fulfilling conclusion. This story is intended to leave the reader unsettled and succeeds on multiple levels.
Book review by Philip Zozzaro
RECOMMENDED by the US Review

As with the Kirkus Review done in November 2023. It’s well received and got a “recommended” from the critic. 

“A fascinating and relentlessly dour peek into an evil mind.“

In Schellhammer’s novel, an elderly serial killer chronicles an alarming string of murders he’s committed over the course of decades.
Albert Peabody sits in a Washington State mental hospital. Authorities suspect the 85-year-old of killing 10 people whose remains were left in urns stashed inside a mausoleum. Albert writes out his confession to Dr. Schwartz: He’d been a POW in the Korean War, then he returned to Spokane, his hometown, and married his high-school sweetheart. Their daughter got sick, and when a doctor failed to save her life, Albert took revenge on the doctor’s child. He confesses to multiple murders spanning the 1960s to the 1980s, mostly committed as responses to what he perceived as slights. He freely admits to other shocking atrocities as well. While Albert acknowledges he’s a monster, he doesn’t think he’s crazy. Schwartz reads pages and pages of descriptions of the man’s crimes but is certain that Albert is keeping something to himself, regarding an apparent deathbed confession of Albert’s father’s. Schellhammer maintains a consistent tone throughout these writings of a narcissistic serial killer—Albert continually addresses Schwartz as “Herr Doctor” and takes unmistakable joy in recounting every awful thing he’s done. While the author avoids graphic details, the killer’s myriad deeds and cold indifference make for a mercilessly dark tale. Beneath Albert’s playful narration, readers get glimpses into his psyche, as when particular questions from Schwartz infuriate him. The killer, on occasion, seemingly contradicts himself, but he’s very clearly not the most reliable narrator, and at least some of these contradictions make sense as the story progresses. There are a few surprises awaiting readers in the final act (some more convincing than others), leading to a gratifying ending. A fascinating and relentlessly dour peek into an evil mind.

I hope that many of you my loyal readers have already bought my book and enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Thanks for all of your support and I’m looking forward to writing more to you. 

I’m A.L.I.C.E.

Now that I’m of an age to get social security and still work full time, I have lived by shoestring budgets, prayers I have a job when I come to work the following day and hope I don’t become ill or be in an accident where I would be homeless or without the means to rebound. 

I was a lucky man when I suffered my stroke in 2002 because I was living with my parents at the time. Without them to keep me fed, clothed and housed, I doubt very much I could have survived on my own. 

But I know many people at the casino I work for who are in that mode. They work but their means are limited. They live in apartments that are in poorer parts of town. They can’t afford a car. If they have a car, it’s nickel and diming them because fuel, parts that need replacement, registration and insurance saps their budgets. Many have to work two or more jobs to survive. 

A.L.IC.E. that stands for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed is how many if not most families in Spokane and Coer d’Alene have lived since I can remember since moving here myself in 1998. It’s a form of poverty I’m very much aware of from my own experiences living in the Tri Cities. If my experiences are an example, many of these people have other issues that go hand in hand with their predicament. That was drug and alcohol dependency issues. I can’t for certain say all are in that category, but it seems to make sense that these issues or problems would become a constant. There are other reasons of course that includes lack of formal education, immigration status and plain bad luck defines the overwhelming reasons these people struggle. 

ALICE families are above the poverty line, but that isn’t very comforting when you have to decide what bills can be paid or rent or groceries. I soon discovered a creditor’s patience was limited when it came to paying bills or utilities. They’re understanding to a point, but then they too expect payment in full eventually. 

What’s the solution? It’s complicated, made more so now there is a very conservative government in power now, who see anything smelling of social help as somehow smacking of socialism. In the view of rich conservatives, people need to pull up their boots and make do with what they have and be happy about it.  

Ideally the solution is simple; raise the poverty standard to allow limited aid to these families. But as I stated above, a very conservative electorate and government insists otherwise, hence the conflict will undoubtedly continue for the near future. In the meantime, families will continue to struggle though they are gainfully employed.