Brooks/Lotello Thriller Series

“We have your granddaughter. Here’s what you need to do.”   That’s the text message Supreme Court Justice Arnold Hirschfeld receives as hearings commence in the U.S. Supreme Court to determine the fate of the 28th Amendment – enacted to criminalize abuse of power on the part of our political representatives.   In court to defend the amendment, retired U.S. District Court Judge Cyrus Brooks observes his old friend and law school classmate Hirschfeld acting strangely and dispatches veteran D.C. homicide detective Frank Lotello to find out why.   In the meantime, Hirschfeld’s precocious and feisty 11-year-old diabetic granddaughter Cassie, brutally kidnapped to control her grandfather’s swing vote upholding or invalidating the amendment, watches her insulin pump running dry and wonders which poses her greatest threat, the kidnappers or the clock. As Brooks is forced to choose between saving our nation or saving the girl.

What would you do if they took everything you had, your family, your home, your business, your dignity, even your sanity? The Puppet Master is a gripping story of a political system gone awry and those who feel compelled to fix it.  "Have you ever killed anyone? I have. I'll do it again. If I need to." Three prominent political leaders in Washington, DC, murdered in as many days. Not a plausible story? What about the real-world villain who mailed a series of pipe bombs to prominent political figures? Ripped from the headlines? Barak gives new meaning to the word “timely.” The Puppet Master isn't ripped from the headlines; written first, it forecast the headlines that followed!  The Puppet Master begins with a bang. Three of them. Capitol Hill panics. Who will be next? Others whisper that our political leaders are only getting what they deserve. Anxious to see who will be next. And why.  Crafty DC homicide Detective Frank Lotello is tasked to find the killer. Cliff Norman, a local businessman with ample motive, is arrested. Politicians breathe a sigh of relief. However, when Lotello discovers a disturbing White House connection, he suspects Norman may not be who he appears to be. Things may not be what they appear to be. Norman's trial commences in the courtroom of savvy DC trial court judge Cyrus Brooks. An angry nation rallies behind Norman. The jury debates whether Norman's actions may be legally justified by a rampant abuse of political trust and threatens to unravel the fabric of our dysfunctional government.  In an unprecedented and questionable manner that may destroy their careers, Lotello approaches Brooks and they form a secret alliance to uncover the truth in this classic whodunit mystery. Before it's too late. Blurring fiction and reality, The Puppet Master will have you dangling from the first moment to the last.

WHAT KIND OF TROUBLE COULD YOU GET INTO AT A FAMOUS WRITERS’ CONFERENCE? Thriller Jubilee is a renowned week-long writers conference held every year at the luxurious Hotel Marisol on the sun-drenched island of Punta Maya. Attracting literary luminaries and reading fans alike, this year’s conference is attended by one guest too many, a writer wannabe whose efforts have not received the recognition the author expects—one might say demands. As conference officials discover participants are quietly disappearing, they wrestle with the question of whether to disclose that a serial killer may be on the loose, fearing that it could trigger a panic and permanently destroy the event—and the host organization. Payback, third in the popular Brooks/Lotello Thriller series, is a fantasy murder mystery blended with today’s real-world obsession with society’s moral decay, for example the college admissions scandal and the failure of sports, academic, and church leaders to expel offenders within their ranks preying on those entrusted to such organizations.

JK’S CODE CAN YOU UNRAVEL IT . . . BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE? Twenty-year-old computer genius Jake Klein, known to his friends as JK, drops out of college to pursue fortune and fame in the field of cybersecurity. Discovering and upending a conspiracy between the presidents of Russia and America to manipulate the results of the 2020 U.S. presidential election, JK finds himself in a deadly game of cat and mouse with the heads of state of two of the world’s most powerful countries—with the emphasis on deadly. Revealing the truth to the world definitely comes with a price. The fourth in the bestselling Brooks/Lotello novels, JK’s Code is a political thriller teeming with real-time events, satire, suspense, and just a hint of romance that couldn’t come any closer to the realities of 2020 if JK were covertly dividing his time between the White House and the Kremlin—which he may just be.