Dark Ride Deception
Nostalgia City Mysteries Book 4
by Mark S. Bacon
Genre: Mystery
Is Tom Wyrick Dead? The computer genius is missing. So are his priceless tech secrets. Time for Lyle to go undercover again.
Tom Wryick’s mind-bending technology will rocket Nostalgia City theme park decades ahead of the competition. But the computer genius is missing. So are his secrets. Is he dead? On the run? His billion-dollar, breathtaking discovery is the Perception Deception Effect.
An FBI agent theorizes the People’s Republic of China is responsible for the disappearance.The Nostalgia City CEO, however, is convinced a rival theme park is behind the theft. He drafts ex-cop turned theme park cab driver Lyle Deming to fly to Florida to find the missing computer scientist and recover his secrets.
Does this have anything to do with the severed human finger Lyle finds in his cab?
Back in Nostalgia City, park executive, 6’ 2” Kate Sorensen, a former college basketball star, is persuaded to investigate the death of an actor starring in a Vietnam-era crime movie being filmed at the Arizona park. Nostalgia City is a meticulous re-creation of a 1970s small town.
Shrugging off jet lag, anxiety, and oppressive Florida humidity, Lyle goes undercover using a parade of false identities to snoop behind the scenes at another theme park’s engineering and computer offices. He’s forced to jump from one covert scheme to another as his identity is exposed, his safety jeopardized.
In the meantime, Kate confronts a mentally unstable actor—fresh out of rehab. But she may be forced to give up the murder case—Lyle needs help.
Kate and Lyle have little time to explore their nascent romantic relationship as both their investigations turn deadly, threatening them and the future of Nostalgia City.
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* *
“Mark S. Bacon’s well-told mystery is clever, smooth, and
intriguing, with a reluctant detective who has just the right touch
of self-deprecating humor. The author’s wry wit and engaging voice
will keep you turning the pages of Dark Ride Deception until
the very last satisfying twist.”
--Mary Adler, author of the Oliver Wright WWII mystery series
***Recommended: Death in Nostalgia City, the first book in this series, was recommended for book clubs by the American Library Association.
How do you ask a famous
movie star if he’s a murderer?
Even though it was Saturday, Appropriate
Brand Pictures scheduled a half-day shoot, so Kate set off early to talk with
Cory Sievers. She found him between scenes chatting with crew members next to
an equipment-laden panel truck.
He must have seen her coming because he stopped talking. She’d chosen a
navy midi skirt and simple long-sleeved blouse. Feminine, but businesslike.
“Mr. Sievers, I’m Kate Sorensen. I’m in charge of public relations for
the park and I wonder if I could talk with you for a few minutes? Do you have
time?”
He smiled, and Kate could see Johnny Caspary, the brash young race car
driver he’d played in one of his recent pictures. “Public relations. Kate
Sorensen. Yes, Wyatt—my agent—told me about you.”
She waited with a polite smile.
“Sure. I did my two scenes for today. You want to walk over to my
trailer?”
As they turned to go, Sievers said, “later guys,” to the men he’d been
talking to. Did one of them give Sievers a knowing grin? No matter. She had
Sievers’s attention, although he obviously thought they were going to talk
about something else.
“These little video vignettes were Wyatt’s idea,” he said as they walked
around the corner from the set toward a parking lot that held several stars’
trailers. “He said there’s not going to be any script. So I just get to talk.
Think I can handle that?” He gave Kate a waggish smile.
Kate hesitated about going inside Sievers’s trailer. If a makeup person
or someone else was in there, she’d feel safer, but Sievers might not be as
candid with the questions she had in mind.
His trailer appeared to be the biggest on the lot. Next to the door, a
modest plaque held his name. She made a split-second decision and stepped
inside. The main room’s furnishings looked like a standard, upscale travel
trailer with leather overstuffed chairs, a small couch, lots of polished, dark
wood, and a makeup counter and mirror at the rear. She didn’t see anyone else
inside.
“Have a seat,” he said.
Kate sat in a soft upholstered chair next to the door. Sievers took off
his sport coat, and she saw he was wearing a gun. He must have seen her
reaction. “I hate lugging this around.” He pulled off the holster and
semi-automatic from his belt and set it on a table at the back of the room.
Is he supposed to have that off
the set? Isn’t there someone in charge of guns?
“Would you like coffee or a drink?”
“No thanks.” He might not be very hospitable once she got down to cases.
On second thought, she accepted a cup of coffee. Why not have a little more relaxed intro?
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