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The Deathbed Confessions
How do you question a man who is already dead?
Harry Beech is dying, but he is dying too soon. When he does his secrets will die with him and Harry has a lot of secrets that he’s been keeping. Harry was the fixer, the arranger, and the confidant for the Chicago crime scene. Everyone trusted Harry with their innermost secrets and Harry kept them all. But the world and his lifestyle finally caught up with him one fine spring morning and he was sentenced to consecutive life sentences for his crimes. He will be getting out soon, but when he leaves it will be in a hearse. When that happens all of the secrets that Harry kept will go with him.
Thomas Quinn is a new FBI agent. His first assignment is to meet Harry and collect his secrets. Secrets that may solve crimes that are still open on the books. The only problem is that Harry isn’t talking. Thomas is out of his league and the secrets may be lost. Until they discover one secret that the two of them share, a secret that may open the door to the answers both of them want. But there are other powerful factions that want those secrets to remain hidden.
As Thomas’ involvement deepens, the black and white lines between right and wrong become increasingly gray to him. There are some answers that are just beyond his reach. All he has to do is stay alive to get them.
Harry Beech is dying, but he is dying too soon. When he does his secrets will die with him and Harry has a lot of secrets that he’s been keeping. Harry was the fixer, the arranger, and the confidant for the Chicago crime scene. Everyone trusted Harry with their innermost secrets and Harry kept them all. But the world and his lifestyle finally caught up with him one fine spring morning and he was sentenced to consecutive life sentences for his crimes. He will be getting out soon, but when he leaves it will be in a hearse. When that happens all of the secrets that Harry kept will go with him.
Thomas Quinn is a new FBI agent. His first assignment is to meet Harry and collect his secrets. Secrets that may solve crimes that are still open on the books. The only problem is that Harry isn’t talking. Thomas is out of his league and the secrets may be lost. Until they discover one secret that the two of them share, a secret that may open the door to the answers both of them want. But there are other powerful factions that want those secrets to remain hidden.
As Thomas’ involvement deepens, the black and white lines between right and wrong become increasingly gray to him. There are some answers that are just beyond his reach. All he has to do is stay alive to get them.
259 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 3, 2024
1 person is currently reading
4682 people want to read
About the author
Michael Deeze
5 books163 followersI am a 74 year old retired physician that recently discovered that he likes to write. It appears that I have a flair for it, as many of my friends and colleagues have urged me toward publishing.
Bless Me Father is my first ever novel although I have had several short stories in circulation for a few years. Last year I was named one of the 25 most promising Independent Authors by Independent Authors Magazine.
I am feeling my way through the process of this new self-publishing world and hoping to meet and make new friends. Although I am affable and social I don't have many true friends, so this could open doors into a whole life endeavor for me.
Who says you can't teach an old dog a new trick?
Bless Me Father is my first ever novel although I have had several short stories in circulation for a few years. Last year I was named one of the 25 most promising Independent Authors by Independent Authors Magazine.
I am feeling my way through the process of this new self-publishing world and hoping to meet and make new friends. Although I am affable and social I don't have many true friends, so this could open doors into a whole life endeavor for me.
Who says you can't teach an old dog a new trick?
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
September 3, 2024
In ‘The Deathbed Confessions’,we are introduced to rookie FBI agent Michael Quinn and former VIP in the Chicago crime world, Harry Beech.
Harry is on his deathbed and knows a lot of information that the bureau can use to close age-old case files. Harry “knows where the bodies are hidden,” all of them, and this has the Chicago crime world on its toes. The problem is Harry isn’t talking; he is a keeper of secrets and plans to take them with him to his grave. Michael Quinn’s first assignment as an FBI agent is to get Harry talking and find out what he knows before he dies.
I came into this story with no expectations; I didn’t even read the synopsis. What I found was a well-written, intriguing story wrapped in layers of secrets. The author did an excellent job of keeping the reader engaged with an intricate plot and interesting characters. This appears to be the first in a series about Michael Quinn, and I truly believe he is going to get to the bottom of things while making friends and enemies along the way. If you are a fan of crime fiction, I highly suggest you check this one out.
Harry is on his deathbed and knows a lot of information that the bureau can use to close age-old case files. Harry “knows where the bodies are hidden,” all of them, and this has the Chicago crime world on its toes. The problem is Harry isn’t talking; he is a keeper of secrets and plans to take them with him to his grave. Michael Quinn’s first assignment as an FBI agent is to get Harry talking and find out what he knows before he dies.
I came into this story with no expectations; I didn’t even read the synopsis. What I found was a well-written, intriguing story wrapped in layers of secrets. The author did an excellent job of keeping the reader engaged with an intricate plot and interesting characters. This appears to be the first in a series about Michael Quinn, and I truly believe he is going to get to the bottom of things while making friends and enemies along the way. If you are a fan of crime fiction, I highly suggest you check this one out.
September 7, 2024
This was a hit mystery!!
This story is full of secrets and cover ups! The author left me wanting to read more and more of it! Thomas Quinn was the new FBI agent in the bureau, of course he has to do the low grade entry jobs… right? Not him. His task is to get inside the head of a highly notorious criminal to see if he will spill his secrets before death takes over. What Thomas didn’t know was the relationship between them would grow. Even if Harry Beech wouldn’t say a single word to him during the visit. If you want to sit on the edge of your seat for this amazing book pick it up now!!
This story is full of secrets and cover ups! The author left me wanting to read more and more of it! Thomas Quinn was the new FBI agent in the bureau, of course he has to do the low grade entry jobs… right? Not him. His task is to get inside the head of a highly notorious criminal to see if he will spill his secrets before death takes over. What Thomas didn’t know was the relationship between them would grow. Even if Harry Beech wouldn’t say a single word to him during the visit. If you want to sit on the edge of your seat for this amazing book pick it up now!!
October 2, 2024
‘The Depth Enquiry Agency…we go deeper than the police’ – One fine thriller!
California author Susan Rowland, PhD is the Founding Chair of the international Association for Jungian Studies, the Chair of MA Engaged Humanities at Pacifica Graduate Institute and teaches Jungian psychology and Archetype Studies. Her books include The Ecocritical Psyche, Jung as a Writer, Remembering Dionysus, Jungian Criticism, C.G. Jung in the Humanities, From Agatha Christie to Ruth Rendell, and The Mary Wandwalker Mysteries –The Sacred Well Murders, The Alchemy Fire Murders, and now Murder on Family Grounds is Book 3.
Furthering her commitment to Jungian psychology, Susan enhances her characters as well as her themes. The opening of this volume explains the primary character’s mind well: ‘Mary Wandwalker’s office smelled of November – earth mixed with dead leaves from damp shoes. Tonight there will be fireworks in Hyde Park. That’s what I want, she reflected, to explode into a final shower of light because I am losing what matters most. For weeks Mary refuse to accept defeat. After nearly 40 years of service, surely she could dig up reasons to remain Chief Archivist. She loved her work in the National Archive, felt at home in its vaults beneath London.’ Character and mood established, this fascinating mystery begins!
The plot is well distilled by Susan – ‘Who is killing off members of the Falconer family and why? Such is the challenge confronting highly skilled, extraordinarily intuitive Mary Wandwalker when she finds herself single, sixty and jobless. Long ago as an Oxford student with an unplanned pregnancy, Mary knew the Falconers as the family who refused to help when her fiancé, David Falconer died in a car crash. Now the baby boy she gave up for adoption is a policeman, George Jones, and he wants to meet her. Can Mary bring herself to confront her past? She must, for lost in her memory is a clue that could save her son’s life. Back in 1979, Mary wrote to the Falconers and was rejected. Now forty years later, key phrases from her letter appear in the faked suicide note of Perdita Falconer. Neither Perdita nor her killer had access to Mary’s document. Too exact for coincidence, the link is the pseudonym of the drug dealer who supplied her fatal dose. He or she is known as “the Kestrel.” When Mary was romanced by David Falconer in the 1970s, “the Kestrel” was codename for a Russian spy entertained at Falconer House. Could the resurrection of the nom de plume be connected to Viktor Solokov, the Russian oligarch renting the Falconer estate with his beautiful wife, Anna? For the Falconers have dark secrets, some centuries old. When George Jones’s wife Caroline begs Mary to save her husband from treacherous Anna, and the murderous talons of the Kestrel, Mary must act.’
Mary Wandwalker is a fascinating sleuth, an exceptional creation by gifted author Susan Rowland, ready for cinematic transition! Very highly recommended.
California author Susan Rowland, PhD is the Founding Chair of the international Association for Jungian Studies, the Chair of MA Engaged Humanities at Pacifica Graduate Institute and teaches Jungian psychology and Archetype Studies. Her books include The Ecocritical Psyche, Jung as a Writer, Remembering Dionysus, Jungian Criticism, C.G. Jung in the Humanities, From Agatha Christie to Ruth Rendell, and The Mary Wandwalker Mysteries –The Sacred Well Murders, The Alchemy Fire Murders, and now Murder on Family Grounds is Book 3.
Furthering her commitment to Jungian psychology, Susan enhances her characters as well as her themes. The opening of this volume explains the primary character’s mind well: ‘Mary Wandwalker’s office smelled of November – earth mixed with dead leaves from damp shoes. Tonight there will be fireworks in Hyde Park. That’s what I want, she reflected, to explode into a final shower of light because I am losing what matters most. For weeks Mary refuse to accept defeat. After nearly 40 years of service, surely she could dig up reasons to remain Chief Archivist. She loved her work in the National Archive, felt at home in its vaults beneath London.’ Character and mood established, this fascinating mystery begins!
The plot is well distilled by Susan – ‘Who is killing off members of the Falconer family and why? Such is the challenge confronting highly skilled, extraordinarily intuitive Mary Wandwalker when she finds herself single, sixty and jobless. Long ago as an Oxford student with an unplanned pregnancy, Mary knew the Falconers as the family who refused to help when her fiancé, David Falconer died in a car crash. Now the baby boy she gave up for adoption is a policeman, George Jones, and he wants to meet her. Can Mary bring herself to confront her past? She must, for lost in her memory is a clue that could save her son’s life. Back in 1979, Mary wrote to the Falconers and was rejected. Now forty years later, key phrases from her letter appear in the faked suicide note of Perdita Falconer. Neither Perdita nor her killer had access to Mary’s document. Too exact for coincidence, the link is the pseudonym of the drug dealer who supplied her fatal dose. He or she is known as “the Kestrel.” When Mary was romanced by David Falconer in the 1970s, “the Kestrel” was codename for a Russian spy entertained at Falconer House. Could the resurrection of the nom de plume be connected to Viktor Solokov, the Russian oligarch renting the Falconer estate with his beautiful wife, Anna? For the Falconers have dark secrets, some centuries old. When George Jones’s wife Caroline begs Mary to save her husband from treacherous Anna, and the murderous talons of the Kestrel, Mary must act.’
Mary Wandwalker is a fascinating sleuth, an exceptional creation by gifted author Susan Rowland, ready for cinematic transition! Very highly recommended.
January 16, 2025
Michael Deeze writes a powerful and complex crime story
In The Deathbed Confessions, the reader is introduced two characters, FBI agent Thomas Quinn, and Harry Beech a prisoner for too many crimes to list, who is dying, and is now a source of information for Quinn. I haven't read anything by this author before, and what a hidden gem. I enjoyed it so much, that I have now followed the author and look for more books to read. Quinn, himself, has an interesting and tragic back story, losing most of his family to death, and Beech's life isn't the greatest either, but his antagonistic part of the story shows how he ended up where he is, and the only reason he is talking to Quinn. Quinn and Beech, along with other supporting characters, make the telling of this story, very powerful, detailed, and it gives insight to the humanity inside each of the characters, good or evil. This story is a grand suspenseful story. A reader can get lost in the story. Harrowing with strong, characters! Some of the pages, you end up reading slower than others, so not to miss anything. Sometimes you have to put the book down, just to take a breath. The Deathbed Confessions is a definite recommendation by Amy's Bookshelf Reviews. I read this book to give my unbiased and honest review. Amy's Bookshelf Reviews recommends that anyone who reads this book also write a review.
In The Deathbed Confessions, the reader is introduced two characters, FBI agent Thomas Quinn, and Harry Beech a prisoner for too many crimes to list, who is dying, and is now a source of information for Quinn. I haven't read anything by this author before, and what a hidden gem. I enjoyed it so much, that I have now followed the author and look for more books to read. Quinn, himself, has an interesting and tragic back story, losing most of his family to death, and Beech's life isn't the greatest either, but his antagonistic part of the story shows how he ended up where he is, and the only reason he is talking to Quinn. Quinn and Beech, along with other supporting characters, make the telling of this story, very powerful, detailed, and it gives insight to the humanity inside each of the characters, good or evil. This story is a grand suspenseful story. A reader can get lost in the story. Harrowing with strong, characters! Some of the pages, you end up reading slower than others, so not to miss anything. Sometimes you have to put the book down, just to take a breath. The Deathbed Confessions is a definite recommendation by Amy's Bookshelf Reviews. I read this book to give my unbiased and honest review. Amy's Bookshelf Reviews recommends that anyone who reads this book also write a review.
September 3, 2024
Sometimes when an author tries a unique idea, they do not pull it off. In Deathbed Confessions, Michael Deeze does pull it off. A young FBI agent is assigned to pry information from one of Chicago’s most notorious criminals, while that criminal fades into eternity on his deathbed. Why would the criminal admit to more crimes to the organization that sentenced him to life? An interesting relationship develops as both the agent’s and murderer’s paths intersect years before this initial meeting.
A great method to tell stories of the here and now while integrating stories of criminal behavior from the past … and the FBI agent must deal with threats to himself and his career as he fights to find the truth.
A great method to tell stories of the here and now while integrating stories of criminal behavior from the past … and the FBI agent must deal with threats to himself and his career as he fights to find the truth.
December 8, 2024
like a chess match
I found myself completely wrapped up in the exchanges between FBI Agent Thomas Quinn and crime boss Harry Beedh. Quinn’s assignment: get Beech to reveal his criminal secrets before he kicks off. Beech, on the other hand, wants nothing to do with it.
What I thought would chapter after chapter of interviews, turned out to be an incredibly layered and complex relations. One that stems further back than the encounter between these two characters.
Readers who love layered diagolue and introspective prose will find themselves captivated by this story of deception and secrets.
I found myself completely wrapped up in the exchanges between FBI Agent Thomas Quinn and crime boss Harry Beedh. Quinn’s assignment: get Beech to reveal his criminal secrets before he kicks off. Beech, on the other hand, wants nothing to do with it.
What I thought would chapter after chapter of interviews, turned out to be an incredibly layered and complex relations. One that stems further back than the encounter between these two characters.
Readers who love layered diagolue and introspective prose will find themselves captivated by this story of deception and secrets.
August 19, 2025
“The Deathbed Confessions” is a gripping start to the Thomas Quinn Mysteries that blends crime, suspense, and moral complexity in a way that keeps you hooked until the very last page. Michael Deeze delivers a powerful story about secrets, loyalty, and the gray areas between justice and corruption. Harry Beech is a fascinating character both enigmatic and tragic and his relationship with rookie FBI agent Thomas Quinn creates a tension that drives the narrative forward beautifully. With sharp writing, a compelling plot, and twists that keep you guessing, this is a must-read for fans of intelligent crime thrillers and character-driven mysteries.
September 18, 2024
This book kicks off with a secret—though it’s more like an onion with layers waiting to be peeled. As Harry lies dying, new FBI agent Thomas must unravel it all. I found myself so wrapped up in the secrets that the unexpected twists and angles caught me by surprise, adding depth to an already intricate plot. The layers of deception are well-crafted and kept me constantly guessing, and just when I thought I had it figured out, the story threw another curveball my way. It’s an engaging and satisfying mystery that’s both fun to solve and full of surprises.
October 24, 2024
In The Deathbed Confessions, Michael Deeze takes readers on yet another exciting adventure. As FBI Probie Thomas Quinn meets with convicted felon Harry Beach and his dubious accomplices, the narrative swiftly becomes captivating despite first seeming to be a regular job. I was captivated from the first page and kept my attention to the very end. Deeze skillfully blends the past and present to establish a compelling bond between Quinn and Beach. This intricately crafted tale, which features Deeze's best work to date, is full of peril, secrets, and surprising turns. Highly recommended.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews