The Safety Expert by Doug Richardson
Published By: Velvet Elvis Entertainment
Release Date: December 5, 2011
Format: Paperback - 354 pages / Kindle - 871 KB / Nook - 3MB
ISBN: 0984807101
ASIN: B006I0GYZQ
Genre: Mystery / Thriller / Suspense / Contemporary Fiction
About The Author:
Doug Richardson was born in Arcadia, California. The son of a career politician, Doug grew up outside Sacramento and inside the state Capitol. He used to talk his way into then-Governor Ronald Reagan's office, just to get a handful of jellybeans.
Doug left Northern California for Los Angeles to attend the University of Southern California's School of Cinema. For as long as he could remember, Doug had wanted to be a movie director. But in pursuing his goal he discovered how movies are really made: in the writing.
After finishing college, Doug signed a two-year contract with Warner Brothers. In 1989 he garnered national attention when his spec screenplay was the first in Hollywood to sell for a million dollars. Doug's first feature film, the sequel to DIE HARD, DIE HARDER, was produced in 1990. He has since written and produced feature films including the box office smash BAD BOYS and, most recently, HOSTAGE. To date, Doug's features have grossed over 800 million dollars worldwide.
In 1997, Doug's debut novel, Dark Horse, was published by Avon/Morrow in hardcover, followed two years later by his follow up, True Believers.
Doug continues to write and develop for feature films and television. He lives in Southern California with his wife, two children and four mutts.
BUY THE BOOK: The Safety Expert
Disclaimer: At the request of the author, a Kindle edition of the book was sent, at no cost to me, for my honest review and participation in the virtual book event.
Virtual Book Event: On Wednesday, March 7, 2012, author Doug Richardson participated in a virtual book event with an Author Guest Post on Jersey Girl Book Reviews.
Book Description:
Ben Keller lives by one simple rule. Safety first. Ben is keenly aware of life's hidden dangers. Ben never smokes. Ben always uses the crosswalk. Ben always drives within the speed limit. He has to because safety is his business. From his home in Simi Valley, California, one of the safest cities in the United States, Ben works hard at living a perfectly normal, perfectly uneventful, perfectly safe life.
And life is good until the past reaches into the present. In the dark of the night, a man crosses a lonely intersection and is struck by a car, setting events in motion that will unravel the finely stitched strands of Ben's cocoon, from a recently retired porn actress who is desperate to be a mother, to the butch cop determined to shield her young son from the whisperings of the queen bee moms at his private school, to the addict who is clawing to hold onto the sobriety that cages the violence within him.
A long dismissed demon has resurfaced, presenting Ben with a most unsafe dilemma: preserve the haven he has carefully built for himself or confront the evildoer who decimated his carefree young life all those years ago.
Ben is in danger. Ben's world is unsafe. Ben's life will be changed forever. Again.
My Book Review:
What would you do if your past comes knocking on your safely rebuilt life's door? Would you be able to relive the traumatic events again, after trying so hard to let go of the grief and move forward? What if reliving the past may cost you your safety, which is how you live your life, can you deal with the consequences no matter the cost? These are the questions that Ben Keller had to deal with in his life as The Safety Expert.
Ben Keller is living a good life in Simi Valley, California: he has a loving wife and three beautiful step-daughters, he has a successful safety consultant business, he couldn't ask for anything more. Then one day he receives in the mail a cd recording of a deathbed confession from a prison inmate in Indiana, a man he doesn't know, who reveals the identity of the man who killed his first wife and twin daughters twelve years ago in a home invasion. Ben's world as he knows it is now turned upside down, all the therapy and working through his grief and moving forward in his life has been stymied by the traumatic events of the past. Ben's carefully balanced and safe life is threatened when he makes the decision to investigate and go after the accused murderer. The decision to investigate has costly consequences for Ben, his family, and the people he enlists to help him get justice for his lost family. Will his investigation bring his family's murderer to justice, or will Ben's actions open up a pandora's box filled with murderous evil that will have deadly results?
The Safety Expert is a fast-paced suspense thriller that will have the reader sitting on the edge of their seat anticipating what will happen next. The storyline is well written, it has an intriguing and complex plot with many twist and turns, it takes the reader on a thrilling and very chilling roller coaster ride to the very anti-climatic and breath-holding ending. The characters are complex and fascinating, their individual stories coupled with the intertwining interactions with each other make the story that much more powerful and compelling. The author provides a very thorough description of the safety industry, he includes factoids and data that makes Ben's character and occupation very realistic. The wonderful description of the various settings in California: Simi Valley, San Fernando Valley and Burbank, were fascinating and full of travel guide information, it made me want to google them just to see the pictures of those areas. This story is full of thrills, chills and suspense, it provides the reader with an in depth look into the deep dark mind of people, and leaves you feeling like no one is really ever safe!
In true mystery thriller suspense form, The Safety Expert is a book that I would recommend to all fans of this genre. Doug Richardson is truly in the class of such authors like Harlan Coben, David Baldacci and Michael Connelly. I could easily see this book being turned into a made for television movie, or even a movie for the big screen! This is one book that won't leave suspense thriller fans disappointed!
RATING: 4 STARS ****
Ben Keller is living a good life in Simi Valley, California: he has a loving wife and three beautiful step-daughters, he has a successful safety consultant business, he couldn't ask for anything more. Then one day he receives in the mail a cd recording of a deathbed confession from a prison inmate in Indiana, a man he doesn't know, who reveals the identity of the man who killed his first wife and twin daughters twelve years ago in a home invasion. Ben's world as he knows it is now turned upside down, all the therapy and working through his grief and moving forward in his life has been stymied by the traumatic events of the past. Ben's carefully balanced and safe life is threatened when he makes the decision to investigate and go after the accused murderer. The decision to investigate has costly consequences for Ben, his family, and the people he enlists to help him get justice for his lost family. Will his investigation bring his family's murderer to justice, or will Ben's actions open up a pandora's box filled with murderous evil that will have deadly results?
The Safety Expert is a fast-paced suspense thriller that will have the reader sitting on the edge of their seat anticipating what will happen next. The storyline is well written, it has an intriguing and complex plot with many twist and turns, it takes the reader on a thrilling and very chilling roller coaster ride to the very anti-climatic and breath-holding ending. The characters are complex and fascinating, their individual stories coupled with the intertwining interactions with each other make the story that much more powerful and compelling. The author provides a very thorough description of the safety industry, he includes factoids and data that makes Ben's character and occupation very realistic. The wonderful description of the various settings in California: Simi Valley, San Fernando Valley and Burbank, were fascinating and full of travel guide information, it made me want to google them just to see the pictures of those areas. This story is full of thrills, chills and suspense, it provides the reader with an in depth look into the deep dark mind of people, and leaves you feeling like no one is really ever safe!
In true mystery thriller suspense form, The Safety Expert is a book that I would recommend to all fans of this genre. Doug Richardson is truly in the class of such authors like Harlan Coben, David Baldacci and Michael Connelly. I could easily see this book being turned into a made for television movie, or even a movie for the big screen! This is one book that won't leave suspense thriller fans disappointed!
RATING: 4 STARS ****
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