Good day, my bookish peeps. I hope you've all had a wonderful week. For me, it's been an emotion-packed (funeral for a beloved family member) and stress-filled week (several non-medical family emergencies), and one I'm glad to see coming to an end. One of the many reasons I enjoy reading (and re-reading) fiction is that it provides a temporary escape. I can submerge myself into the lives and problems of fictional characters without the real-world stress, even when I become emotionally invested in the characters or story lines. I'm incredibly pleased to welcome John Lansing, author of 25 to Life, the latest addition to the Jack Bertolino series. Mr. Lansing will be providing us with some insight into his Jack Bertolino character. Thank you, Mr. Lansing, for taking the time to join us today. I'm looking forward to learning more about your character and will now turn the blog over to you.
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Hi Vivian. Thanks for hosting me on your blog. I thought since some of your readers may not have read my Jack Bertolino series, I'd spend some time letting them know what my protagonist was all about.
The five books in my series are all standalones, but it's retired NYPD inspector Jack Bertolino who binds them together.
In my first book, The Devil's Necktie, I gave Jack's description to Mia, a confidential informant who worked with Jack when he was still on the job. Mia had the kind of beauty that could make a man contemplate leaving his wife, his job, and his kids. Jack had never taken the bait but had to admit he'd been tempted. With the help of Mia, Jack and his team put away a heavy hitter in the cocaine trade. Jack always said if things ever got too hot to handle, Mia could reach out and he'd be there to help her out of the jam. Mia flew to LA and turned in her chit. The huntress was being hunted. She needed Jack's help to disappear.
"Mia reached up and touched Jack's flushed cheek with her warm hand. Jack was a handsome, big-boned man with a thick shock of dark hair. Mia traced the thin strands of gray that feathered his temples. She ran her hand along the creases on his chiseled face, a road map of the years spent doing undercover work in New York City. Then kissed the bump on the bridge of his nose, a gift from a crack dealer named Trey he had traded punches with outside the Red Hook projects."
Jack was six-foot-three with intense brown eyes that if directed at you, gave the feeling he knew more than you were letting on. It was a great trick as a detective and a talent that served him in his second career as a private investigator.
Jack was always being tested when he was on the job. He had plenty of opportunities to cheat, but never took the bait. He was a married man who respected the union. A rare quality in law enforcement. It was the reason the failure of his marriage was so devastating.
In the blame game, Jack took the divorce squarely on the chin because he had in fact chosen work over family. And he carried that knowledge around like a fifty-pound weight. The pump, the excitement of the job, that was Jack's drug of choice. He loved outsmarting the bad guys, putting a ton of drugs on the table, dismantling Colombian money laundering cells, going up against Harvard-trained MBA's who were on the cartel's payroll, and beating them at their own game. That was his overriding focus and his marriage suffered because of it.
His biggest regret in life was being an absentee dad. He missed a lot of firsts. T-ball games, little league, confirmation, and just plain hanging out with his boy. It burned a hole in his heart he was never able to fill. Jack believed in redemption but couldn't find a way to forgive himself. It was one of the reasons he moved to Marina del Rey, in Southern California. He wanted to reinvent himself, and be close to his son who had a baseball scholarship at Stanford. He wanted to be close, but not crowd his son.
His relationship with his ex-wife was contentious at best. Things got worse when her boyfriend moved into the house he built with his own hands, and paid for with blood, sweat, and tears. The fact that the guy bore a physical resemblance to Jack set his teeth on edge.
And when Jack found himself at the end of his rope, when his past came back to haunt him, he did what he'd always done to calm down. Something he learned at his grandmother's side. He would make a big pot of sauce and meatballs. By the time the garlic, onions, and oregano softened and filled his loft with a scent that was pure heaven, Jack sucked in a deep breath, and poured himself a big glass of red wine. 
25 to Life
by John Lansing
August 21 - September 15, 2023 Virtual Book Tour
Synopsis:
25 to Life is the fifth and latest installment in the Jack Bertolino series, written by John Lansing in the propulsive, cinematic, page-turning style he has become known for.
Gloria Millhouse, a beautiful African-American law student, is working with the Project for the Innocent. She has done extensive research on inmate Carl Forbes, who she believes was wrongfully arrested, convicted and incarcerated for a crime he didn't commit, the sexual assault and brutal murder of a teenage girl in Los Angeles twenty-three years ago. Gloria dies in a car crash on Malibu Canyon Road after questioning powerful, politically connected men who were witnesses at Carl's trial and knew the victim personally. Private investigator Jack Bertolino is brought on to discover the truth behind Gloria's death. Was her crash simply a random accident or a conspiracy to prevent the courts from reopening the case and granting Carl Forbes a new trial? Jack believes that Gloria was murdered, and as the body count rises, it becomes clear that if Jack can find Gloria's killer, he will also find the man responsible for the teenager's assault and murder. And Carl Forbes can walk out of prison a free man.
Book Details:
Genre: Crime/Thriller
Published by: White Street Press
Publication Date: September 5th, 2023
Number of Pages: 276
ISBN: 9798988516606
ASIN: B0C8LQWNZ8 (Kindle edition)
Series: The Jack Bertolino Series, 5
Purchase Links #CommissionEarned: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | More
Praise for 25 to Life:
"Los Angeles–based private investigator delves into a murder with ties to a wrongfully convicted man in Lansing's detective novel."
"The author packs this latest installment in the Jack Bertolino series with new and returning characters. Gloria's mysterious death is the catalyst, but it's this vibrant cast that truly propels the tense narrative. The author's incisive writing sets Jack on the investigation right away, and succinct chapters breeze by as he compiles a suspect list and looks into a host of crimes. Even as the culprits become more apparent, Jack must still prove they're guilty. It all leads to a superb ending and the unmistakable sense that this series is nowhere close to slowing down."
"Razor-sharp characters propel a taut, suspenseful thriller."
~ Kirkus Reviews
Author Bio:
John Lansing is the author of four thrillers featuring Jack Bertolino—The Devil's Necktie, Blond Cargo, Dead Is Dead, and The Fourth Gunman—as well as the true-crime non-fiction book Good Cop Bad Money, written with former NYPD Inspector Glen Morisano. He has been a writer and supervising producer on Walker, Texas Ranger, the co-executive producer of the ABC series Scoundrels, and co-wrote two MOWs for CBS. The Devil's Necktie is in development at Andria Litto's Amuse Entertainment, with Barbara DeFina attached as a producer.
A native of Long Island, John now resides in Los Angeles.
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