About the Book

He's a refreshingly different hero, definitely not young and six-packed, but...

Retired reporter Jake Scott knows a thing or two about exposing the truth and unmasking frauds. Unfortunately, he walks a fine line between helping and interfering in investigations. Homicide Detective Dani Perez, with whom Jake has a shaky personal relationship, doesn’t always appreciate it, but he can’t seem to help himself.

The affable and shrewd, yet old fashioned, Jake is hot on the trail of a case when a body discovered in a bog and three suspects lead him to the doorstep of The Guardians of Truth, a shady organization with an opportunistic and charismatic leader. While the organization purports to offer everlasting support to its followers, Jake discovers just the opposite is true.

Now Jake and an insider, Cassie Wright, want to expose the leader and protect his followers from financial ruin or worse. Their harrowing quest isn’t without peril, as one will disappear and the other will be forced to fight for survival.

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Excerpt

The front of the raised platform remained dark, save for one strategically placed brilliant spotlight that created an eerie shimmering glow in the remaining dry ice cloud at the center of the stage. The music stopped, and the crowd quieted until the man of the hour magically appeared and started speaking. His sonorous voice soothed the masses. It surprised Cassie when Robert wandered away for a few minutes. Perhaps he went to the bathroom, Cassie thought.

She examined the faces staring at the front of the room. They hung on every word, enraptured by the man speaking. But something about the man had always bothered her. She listened closely again, as she had done for a few weeks. The face didn’t match the familiar voice, yet she knew this man. She recalled her shock when she had recognized something at one assembly as his sleeve inadvertently rode up on his arm. It confirmed her suspicions.

When Robert returned, Cassie stared at the man on stage, even though his gloomy dissertation barely registered. As he wound down, she glanced again at the attendees. Some closed their eyes, others wrung their hands, while still others raised their arms to the ceiling, their lips silently acknowledging every wonderful word Julian spoke. While she didn’t consider herself an expert by any means, she understood people brought together by anxiety and lack of trust could be led to a common goal, almost like hypnosis. That’s what was happening here. Robert interrupted her reverie when he reached for her hand and squeezed it, until she pulled away from his painful grip.

The room became stifling hot. Some attendees appeared to be on the verge of fainting. Young women passed through the crowd offering bottled water at seven dollars a pop. Then, Julian masterfully lowered his voice to a medium level, saving the best for last.

“We can all be saved if you will continue to support building the underground bunker here on our farm. You will be the ones to carry forth a civilization that can start over and make things right. We need young people to ensure civilization continues. We need older people who lived their lives when things were good to teach the young people.” Then, with his voice barely above a whisper, he said, “You are the chosen few. Give everything you can. We don’t have a lot of time, folks. God has spoken to me directly and Doomsday is coming. We’ll have another meeting on Sunday to discuss it more. We can all be saved if you give generously. An underground bunker will keep us safe from the catastrophic event that will end the world as we know it.”

The crowd murmured, and some shouts echoed through the enclosed space. The same young women who sold the extravagant bottled water passed through the audience again, and the sound of whirring credit and debit card machines filled the air as attendees poured their life savings into Julian’s words. When a pretty teenager of about seventeen arrived in front of Cassie and Robert, Cassie shook her head, which caused the teenager to frown.

“Don’t you want to be saved?” she breathed.

Cassie replied, “Save yourself by getting out of here.” The girl gasped and moved on.

When the spectacle ended, and the crowd filed out of the building, Cassie turned to Robert and said, “I’ve had enough. I’m going backstage to confront this fraud.”

Robert’s chest heaved with a heavy sigh. “Wait,” he intoned. He sat expressionless with his arms crossed as the last of the crowd made their way through the exit. Cassie glanced around, thinking that only the two of them remained. She didn’t see Robert motion to someone behind them. He said icily to Cassie, “I’ll tell him you want to meet with him. You wait here.”

As Robert stalked away, Cassie sensed movement behind her. Before she had a chance to turn, a sharp pain shot through her neck. Everything became fuzzy in an instant. The room blurred as it closed in on her. She grabbed at her gasping throat, desperately trying to draw a breath. She reached out to hold on to something, anything, to stabilize herself, but her hand grabbed at empty air. Her legs buckled. It was as if a hole opened in the floor, and she couldn’t prevent her boneless body from sliding in.

For Cassie Wright, everything faded to black.

About the Author

In 2009, Barry Finlay went up a mountain as an accountant and came down as a philanthropist. After over thirty years in various financial roles with the Canadian federal government, he took his life in a different direction and climbed Africa's Mount Kilimanjaro at age 60 with his son Chris. The climb and their fundraising efforts to help kids in Tanzania changed his life in a number of ways, including the start of his writing journey. He wrote his first book, the popular Kilimanjaro and Beyond: A Life-Changing Journey with his son in 2012.

He followed that up with the hilarious travel memoir, I Guess We Missed The Boat, and then The Marcie Kane Thriller Collection was born. Each of the thrillers has a socially relevant theme and has achieved Kindle bestseller status.

Now, he has introduced a new character, a retired reporter named Jake Scott, in a new mystery series. The first in the series, Searching For Truth, released in 2021, is now being followed by The Guardians of Truth.

Barry's books have received multiple literary awards and he was named to the Authors Show's list of "50 Great Writers You Should Be Reading" in 2012. In 2013, he received the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee medal for his philanthropic work in Africa. He lives in Ottawa, Canada with his wife Evelyn.

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