With a bullet lodged too close to his heart,
LAPD Detective Nino Angelo is no longer able to do the job he loves. He
believes being forced to retire after a 25-year career might be the worst thing
that could happen, until his twelve-year-old son goes missing.
Mathew vanishes in the middle of the night from the Hollywood Hills condo of Nino’s ex-wife, but Nino blames himself for the boy’s disappearance, knowing his addiction to police work cost him his marriage and ruined any chance he had to be a real father.
School friends tell the police Mathew ran away, but none of his son’s clothes or other belongings are missing. Nino’s ex-wife is frantic but even his rusty police instincts are warning him both she and Mathew’s friends are not being completely truthful.
After months of searching, he’s unable to find a trace of his son. He looks in every Hollywood shelter and follows leads from homeless encampments along the LA River to the mansions north of the city in Canyon country, his son’s Catholic School, and finally to a children’s home in Texas. The police department isn’t helpful except for Charley Harper, a female detective at the Hollywood station, and Detective Reggie Madison, his ex-wife’s current boyfriend. Reggie is a hard-charging cop and although Nino doesn’t approve of the man’s “end justifies the means” approach to police work, he knows his help is crucial.
Nino’s life is about to change. He goes through a personal hell and battles evil in unlikely places to find out what kind of man he really is.
Mathew vanishes in the middle of the night from the Hollywood Hills condo of Nino’s ex-wife, but Nino blames himself for the boy’s disappearance, knowing his addiction to police work cost him his marriage and ruined any chance he had to be a real father.
School friends tell the police Mathew ran away, but none of his son’s clothes or other belongings are missing. Nino’s ex-wife is frantic but even his rusty police instincts are warning him both she and Mathew’s friends are not being completely truthful.
After months of searching, he’s unable to find a trace of his son. He looks in every Hollywood shelter and follows leads from homeless encampments along the LA River to the mansions north of the city in Canyon country, his son’s Catholic School, and finally to a children’s home in Texas. The police department isn’t helpful except for Charley Harper, a female detective at the Hollywood station, and Detective Reggie Madison, his ex-wife’s current boyfriend. Reggie is a hard-charging cop and although Nino doesn’t approve of the man’s “end justifies the means” approach to police work, he knows his help is crucial.
Nino’s life is about to change. He goes through a personal hell and battles evil in unlikely places to find out what kind of man he really is.
The Third Hell
(Mystery/Police Procedural)
By Connie Dial
The Permanent Press www.permanentpress.com
ISBN #978-1579624941
276 Pages
Price $8.66 (hardback)
Price $7.99 (Kindle)
Rating 5-Stars
“A Page Turner”
I received this book from the publisher for an honest review.
Detective Nino Angelo’s son has disappeared and he wants to find him. Although
a retired police detective, the police department doesn’t seem to want to help.
His ex wife's boyfriend Detective Reggie Madison, and Detective Charley Harper
are his only allies in the search. They know where to search, but run into
blank walls at every turn. A rumor mentioned a preacher’s name, and they start
digging. What they find is chilling.
Connie Dial is a retired police captain; she spent 27 years
on the force and her stories have a tendency to be realistic. We see all the
evil in the world, of men and women who prey on little children. Readers will
see the real world in all its terrible reality, and the ending is not always
television nice. A page-turner. Highly recommended.
Tom Johnson
Author of THE PULP DETECTIVES
