Heartless in Naperville

A romantic noir novel: second-chance love and heartless murder-one. In response to his younger brother's desperate plea, and after a ten-year absence, 33-year-old Alex Reinhart, an unemployed writer, explorer, and cable TV personality, reluctantly agrees to return to his childhood home, the boring, but All-American Midwest town of Naperville, Illinois. Alex, the prodigal son, broke and broken by tragedy, is approaching a dead end or a new beginning in his life. He has financial issues, his father is dying, his brother Otto is seriously ill with a heart condition requiring an immediate heart transplant, and Alex's sister-in-law Kathy, a long-lost but never-forgotten love, might be toying with his emotions...or not. Otto's doctor and business partner, a strange man named Jarek, is the wild card in the deck and adds a new dimension to the love triangle. And their father, Frederick, who is dying, remains an impact player in everyone's life. Tightfisted, he controls the family purse strings and everyone's destiny. The spooky Reinhart Funeral Home and Crematory becomes the nexus of a Halloween plot. Greed, fear, and passion unravel family ties, and open the question: Will Alex Reinhart live to see the end, and if so, will he and his lost love find happiness together? Heartless in Naperville is a sometimes frightening, romantic noir novel that explores the quest for rekindling an old love, resolving family tensions, and the medical industry's hidden world of organ transplants, body brokers, and funeral home operators, the caretakers of the dead. "A winding road filled with intrigue and suspense." -- from reviews "The ending is a masterclass in surprise..." -- from reviews