Book 1
Final Notice
What Would You Do If You Knew That You Had 10 Days To Live?
Some of you would get their legal affairs in order. Others would contact family, friends, lovers and ex-lovers. Some might try a bucket list item or make an exceptional donation. Still others might clean the house. And some … might kill.
The year is the very near future. A brilliant young doctor and mathematician, Vijay Patel, has invented a new health/sport watch that monitors blood chemistry so accurately, it can actually predict when someone will die – within 10, 20, or 30 days. The intention of this “Final Notice,” as it is called, is to allow people to get their affairs in order and reach out to loved ones before it’s too late. But when those notified have easy access to a gun, the result is sometimes lethal for more than just the watch-owner.
These are the stories of several people who receive their Final Notice and their very different reactions ... including a desire to get revenge with impunity. They range from an 89-year-old resident in a retirement home to a U.S. Senator...from a benevolent widow to a crass tycoon to a noted climate change scientist.
But in this fresh, fast-paced page-turner, their stories are all set against the all-too-recognizable backdrop of a guns-gone-wild America, and the relentless push by the NRA and their surrogate politicians to make guns even easier to acquire.
Their stories are also connected by the involvement of several likeable protagonists. These include: the inventor of the watch ... the FBI agent charged with stopping the killings ... and a recently retired, middle-class couple, Vince and Trudi Fuller, with their brave immigrant friends and a very endearing Corgi, Miles.
Vince and Trudi live happily in their “California bubble” until Vince is knocked down by a young punk in a parking lot. His sense of shame and rage, resulting from feelings of age-related vulnerability, triggers a first-time interest in guns. Trudi resists, but later, an unprovoked attack on Miles and Vince – and a growing friendship with two courageous Syrian refugees –makes her change her mind. With very unexpected consequences.
There is plenty of dark humor and political satire in FINAL NOTICE, as well as touching scenes and outright suspense. So expect to laugh out loud, dry some tears, and bite your nails (not necessarily in that order).
It is, despite the slightly “sci-fi” premise of the watch, a very realistic reflection of American society and the many problems we face today.
Book 2
Book 3
Book 4
Book 5
Book 6
Book 7
Book 8
Book 9
Book 10
Book 11
Book 12
Book 13
Book 14
Book 15
Book 16
Book 17
Book 18
Book 19
Book 20
Van Fleisher
My journey to becoming an author took over seventy years, and it started in high school – a requirement if I wanted to play football and baseball. Mr. Smith, my literature teacher, was intrigued when I aced his essay test after six weeks of saying nothing in class. And so, he asked me how I did so well. My answer was simply that “I’d listened.” He asked if I read books, and I answered honestly, “No.” So, he handed me a copy of a book, “The Catcher in the Rye,” suggesting I might like it. I took it and read it, anxiously awaiting the baseball part that would surely be in a book with that title. I’d been tricked but kick-started to a lifetime of reading.
I’ve enjoyed two careers over fifty years that afforded me the opportunity to read voraciously on my thousands of flights (seriously) and learn so much about people, cultures, business, and life. I worked for an international airline and, lived in five U.S. cities three countries, and worked all over the world. My other career was as an international management consultant, working in and flying between thirty-plus countries.
Not surprisingly, upon retirement, I decided to write. FINAL NOTICE was my first thriller, followed by its sequel, FINAL ACT. FINAL CHANCE rounds out the trilogy.
I live in Carpinteria, California, with my partner (and editor), Jackie Morris, and our Goldendoodle, Yogi.