New Release Spotlight — SHADOW OF THE GYPSY by Shelly Frome
A nemesis out of the past suddenly returns, forcing Josh Bartlett to come to terms with his true identity.
Josh Bartlet had figured all the angles, changed his name, holed up as a small town features writer in the Blue Ridge. He’d just give it a few weeks more and then begin anew, return to the Litchfield Hills of Connecticut and Molly (if she’d have him) and, at long last, live a normal life. After all, it was a matter of record that Zharko had been deported well over a year ago. The shadowy form Josh had glimpsed yesterday at the lake was only that—a hazy, shadow under the eaves. It stood to reason his old nemesis was still ensconced in Bucharest or thereabouts. No matter what, he simply wouldn’t travel over eight hundred miles to track Josh down, hook into his life, put him under the gun and ruin everything. Surely not now, not after all this.
“Sharp writing, and a keen pace keep this story rolling.”
– Lee A. Jacobus, author of Crown Island and Hawaiian Tales
“Shadow of the Gypsy is intriguing, complicated, and mysterious. . . ”
– Tina M. Zion, award winning author and international teach of intuition
“By turns charming and chilling, Shadow of the Gypsy is that rarest of gems, a crime novel that curdles the blood, even as it tugs on the heartstrings. . . “
– Jaden Terrell, author of A Taste of Blood and Ashes, River of Glass, A Cup Full of Midnight, and Racing the Devil
“Once you start, you won’t want to stop reading . ..”
– Jana Zinser, author of The Children’s Train: Escape on the Kindertransport and Fly Like a Bird
Book Details:Shadow of the Gypsy Book Trailer:Read an excerpt:Genre: Crime Fiction
Published by: BQB Publishing
Publication Date: May 5, 2022
Number of Pages: 330
ISBN: 1952782570 (ISBN13: 9781952782572)
Book Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads
Quickly, he was outside in the snow again, searching frantically for the Christmas present. Trudging through the stands of evergreens in his slippers, shivering so hard he couldn’t stand it, frozen crusted pine combs under foot till he spotted the van in a clearing. There were shouts and threats. There was a bloodcurdling scream. He thrust himself forward to see, though for the life of him he didn’t want to see, didn’t want to ever know. A dagger flashed in the moonlight. Zharko’s hand raised up and plummeted down over and over, finally cutting off the screaming for good.
Spinning around, Josh scurried over the pine combs and raced off, shaking with fear and cold, searching for the Christmas present. Longing to join the kids beyond the woods, snug inside, embraced by their mothers and the warmth of the hearth, glistening presents dangling under the tree laced with tinsel and garlands of spangled light.
He thrashed around seeking this first-ever Christmas present that would make everything nice but found only his pillow and woke with a start. He sat up. There was no going back to sleep opting for dreamy images of walking to school with Molly as the weather turned to spring, buttercups lining the path. No way to erase anything. He was left with the same chill again from this morning turning into an ache that had no name.
An ache it was useless to gloss over.
Quickly, he was outside in the snow again, searching frantically for the Christmas present. Trudging through the stands of evergreens in his slippers, shivering so hard he couldn’t stand it, frozen crusted pine combs under foot till he spotted the van in a clearing. There were shouts and threats. There was a bloodcurdling scream. He thrust himself forward to see, though for the life of him he didn’t want to see, didn’t want to ever know. A dagger flashed in the moonlight. Zharko’s hand raised up and plummeted down over and over, finally cutting off the screaming for good.
Spinning around, Josh scurried over the pine combs and raced off, shaking with fear and cold, searching for the Christmas present. Longing to join the kids beyond the woods, snug inside, embraced by their mothers and the warmth of the hearth, glistening presents dangling under the tree laced with tinsel and garlands of spangled light.
He thrashed around seeking this first-ever Christmas present that would make everything nice but found only his pillow and woke with a start. He sat up. There was no going back to sleep opting for dreamy images of walking to school with Molly as the weather turned to spring, buttercups lining the path. No way to erase anything. He was left with the same chill again from this morning turning into an ache that had no name.
An ache it was useless to gloss over.
***
Excerpt from Shadow of the Gypsy by Shelly Frome. Copyright 2022 by Shelly Frome. Reproduced with permission from Shelly Frome. All rights reserved.
Interview with Shelly FromeWhich is your favorite minor character and why?
J.J. is streetwise, a former “juvie” from the wild side of Waterbury, Connecticut who doesn’t stand on ceremony and tells it like it is. Which forces Josh, my main character, to get off his mild-mannered conventional behavior patterns and begin to face the realities of life, especially when in the company of nefarious criminals who are either using him or about to, in one way or another, do him in.
What is your favorite personality trait of your bad guy/girl?
Zharko is a paranoid, rogue gypsy who thinks everyone from America and from the old country of Hungary and Romania is out to get him. Therefore he is always on edge, thinking and conniving all the time in broken English.
Tell us something funny about one of your characters.
Noah Ackerman has spent so much time living in New York City that he thinks being pushy is the best way to get his new Southern lady therapy clients to wise up and dump their husbands.
Were you surprised by the behavior of any of your characters or the direction of your plot at any point while writing?
I was surprised to learn that any of Ackerman’s pushy advice was actually applicable, especially references to Teddy Roosevelt’s daring greatly which transported the work into a semi mythic hero’s journey.
Of all the books out there, why should readers choose this one?
Perhaps this pre-publication response says it best: “By turns charming and chilling, Shadow of the Gypsy is that rarest of gems, a crime novel that curdles the blood as it tugs on the heartstrings.” Jaden Terrell, Mystery Writers of America
Is there an underlying theme in your book? If so, tell us about it and why/if it’s important to you.
I’ve been unable to deal with traumatic early childhood memories. By coming up with a fictional dynamic I’ve been able to vicariously live through the fact that the past is never past and is always out there waiting, restless, until all that unfinished business is finally acted out and resolved.
When you first begin writing a new book, is your main focus on the characters or the plot?
My main focus is on acquiring enough knowledge about the setting, the times and the life until whatever I’ve lost or never had or is troubling or intriguing me has a resonant foundation that will foster my irrepressible quest.
Do you write a book sequentially, from beginning to end? Or do you sometimes write scenes out of order?
A dramaturge at the Hartford Stage once suggested that I go where the energy is. Sometimes I have to go back to a passage that never came to life and add some provocative intensifier. Sometimes when it seems like “and then this happened, and then that” I have to shake things up or deepen what I’m working on until I have the impetus to go on until, once again, everything is self-generating and I’m fully engrossed in “the ride.”
If you could go back to any place and time in history, where would you go and why?
I would go back to those heady days in Greenwich Village and the theater district and re-experience my encounters with artists and people like my old pal Joan Rivers in order to be less naïve and impressionable this time and come to terms with what really matters in life.
What personality traits do you most admire in others?
Sensitivity, honesty and a sense of wonder and imagination so that any and all encounters deepen, flourish and inspire.
The photo, by the way, is of my pal and companion Baxter.
BaxterAbout the Author
Shelly Frome is a member of Mystery Writers of America, a professor of dramatic arts emeritus at UConn, a former professional actor, and a writer of crime novels and books on theater and film. He also is a features writer for Gannett Publications. His fiction includes Sun Dance for Andy Horn, Lilac Moon, Twilight of the Drifter, Tinseltown Riff, Murder Run, Moon Games, The Secluded Village Murders, and Miranda and the D-Day Caper. Among his works of non-fiction are The Actors Studio: A History and a guide to playwriting and one on screenwriting, Shadow of the Gypsy is his latest foray into the world of crime and the amateur sleuth. He lives in Black Mountain, North Carolina.
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