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Stephanie Banner is twenty years old the night Dakota Shane stands center stage while six bullets ring out through the stadium. Five deaths occur from those shots, although only four ever go on record.
All four are women.
It happens in Portland, Oregon, at the Rose Garden Arena. The show is a sellout. Twenty-two thousand seats gone in less than four hours.
For the eight days leading up to the concert, a handful of disparate lives intertwine as their world unravels. Their sanity, their relationships, their work, their children, the law, and even death hangs in the balance. Among them the learning-disabled black kid from East St. Louis trying to move past having his little sister die in his arms when she and his Momma become collateral damage during a drive-by; the quick-witted black man who, after losing control of his car on his way to visit family in Portland, finds himself duct-taped to a chair, a hostage to a meth-addled lunatic wanted for a double homicide; the Latino son now desperately struggling to rise above his abusive father and help his mother and sister move on to a better life, while unable to let go of the tremendous guilt he bears over the fate of the other sister he once had; the slash-punk singer who manages to score her band the best gig of its career, only to learn she may not have a band left to play it; the Korean psychiatrist finally confronting how much of her life has slipped by her—how many years she lost—while focussing on far less important things; the ex-LAPD detective now working for the Portland PD finally facing the ghosts that still linger from the time of the Rodney King riots—a past that forced him to drag his family up out of LA; the bitter ex-wife of a disc jockey who still secretly listens to her ex-husband’s midnight radio show as she drinks herself into a whiskey coma; the out of control daughter having unprotected sex with strangers hoping that pregnancy might draw the attention of parents unable to see past themselves…
And then, Dakota chart-topping superstar with a dark secret, caught in a media and tabloid frenzy full of rumor, speculation, and lies. She’s off her meds and grappling to find any semblance of herself that might still exist inside an identity forged over the past five years by an extremely successful record company’s marketing department.
Each of these lives is a story and the stories collide with each other like silver balls bouncing off bumpers on a pinball machine.
But in the end, The Rose Garden Arena Incident is a tale about passion, about bravery, about redemption, about fixing those things in the world that are fixable and learning to live with the things that are not—A heartbreaking story of tragedy, despair, and loss that still somehow leaves you with a glimmer of faith, love, and hope.
The Rose Garden Arena Incident is a “serial thriller." The story takes place over seven separate books, each encompassing a full day or more leading up to the Dakota Shane concert.
All four are women.
It happens in Portland, Oregon, at the Rose Garden Arena. The show is a sellout. Twenty-two thousand seats gone in less than four hours.
For the eight days leading up to the concert, a handful of disparate lives intertwine as their world unravels. Their sanity, their relationships, their work, their children, the law, and even death hangs in the balance. Among them the learning-disabled black kid from East St. Louis trying to move past having his little sister die in his arms when she and his Momma become collateral damage during a drive-by; the quick-witted black man who, after losing control of his car on his way to visit family in Portland, finds himself duct-taped to a chair, a hostage to a meth-addled lunatic wanted for a double homicide; the Latino son now desperately struggling to rise above his abusive father and help his mother and sister move on to a better life, while unable to let go of the tremendous guilt he bears over the fate of the other sister he once had; the slash-punk singer who manages to score her band the best gig of its career, only to learn she may not have a band left to play it; the Korean psychiatrist finally confronting how much of her life has slipped by her—how many years she lost—while focussing on far less important things; the ex-LAPD detective now working for the Portland PD finally facing the ghosts that still linger from the time of the Rodney King riots—a past that forced him to drag his family up out of LA; the bitter ex-wife of a disc jockey who still secretly listens to her ex-husband’s midnight radio show as she drinks herself into a whiskey coma; the out of control daughter having unprotected sex with strangers hoping that pregnancy might draw the attention of parents unable to see past themselves…
And then, Dakota chart-topping superstar with a dark secret, caught in a media and tabloid frenzy full of rumor, speculation, and lies. She’s off her meds and grappling to find any semblance of herself that might still exist inside an identity forged over the past five years by an extremely successful record company’s marketing department.
Each of these lives is a story and the stories collide with each other like silver balls bouncing off bumpers on a pinball machine.
But in the end, The Rose Garden Arena Incident is a tale about passion, about bravery, about redemption, about fixing those things in the world that are fixable and learning to live with the things that are not—A heartbreaking story of tragedy, despair, and loss that still somehow leaves you with a glimmer of faith, love, and hope.
The Rose Garden Arena Incident is a “serial thriller." The story takes place over seven separate books, each encompassing a full day or more leading up to the Dakota Shane concert.
86 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 18, 2016
10 people want to read
About the author
Michael Hiebert
28 books99 followersMichael Hiebert is the award-winning author of many books and short stories. He is the author of Dream with Little Angels, the first book of his acclaimed Alvin, Alabama Mystery Series. His recent work includes The Rose Garden Arena Incident (A Serial Thriller in Seven Parts) and Sometimes the Angels Weep, his first collection of short stories. He won the Surrey International Writers’ Conference Storyteller Award two years running, and his story My Lame Summer Journal by Brandon Harris, Grade 7 was listed by Joyce Carol Oates as one of the top fifty most distinguished mystery stories published in The Best American Mystery Stories. He lives in British Columbia, Canada, with his three children and dog, Chloe.
Be sure to check out his website at http://www.michaelhiebert.com and sign up for VIP access and be eligible for all sorts of free stuff. Michael can be contacted by email at michael@michaelhiebert.com
Be sure to check out his website at http://www.michaelhiebert.com and sign up for VIP access and be eligible for all sorts of free stuff. Michael can be contacted by email at michael@michaelhiebert.com
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 15, 2017
Ballads is the fourth installment in Hiebert's serial thriller, The Rose Garden Arena Incident.
I found Ballads to be both thoughtful and rather slow. There was a lot of backstory in this book, perhaps a little too much for this to be a "standalone." That said, it's not meant to be a standalone, and had I been reading it as part of a larger novel, I might not have any reason to complain. However, it's a large chunk of time spent without much "thriller" action to advance little of the plot--instead it focuses on backstory and explaining our cast of characters and perhaps setting up motives and continuing to present possible suspects for the future shooting.
While this was the only installment so far that I found my attention lagging, the chapters are short and pull you forward, further into the story. Most of the characters we have met and enjoy are there, simply in a more pensive manner than before. Each character seems to be having an introspective day, with what seems like a life changing idea or moment occurring for each. However, the intrigue and curiosity raised in earlier installments is still raised here: We're watching Karma recover from her blunders, see her deadbeat dad sort of kind of make an effort, we're watching Detective Benedetti's marriage implode and questioning how well he knows either his wife or his son, and we're exploring Dakota Shane's emotional crises and questioning her sanity.
All that aside, I remain interested to read the final installments of this story and see who dies, who lives, who the shooter is, and what the real story is.
Hiebert knows his characters and knows them well. There is definitely an undercurrent of threat for the characters, which draws us on to the finale.
I received a free copy from the author in exchange for my honest review.
Genre: thriller (serial)
Rating: 3/5
I found Ballads to be both thoughtful and rather slow. There was a lot of backstory in this book, perhaps a little too much for this to be a "standalone." That said, it's not meant to be a standalone, and had I been reading it as part of a larger novel, I might not have any reason to complain. However, it's a large chunk of time spent without much "thriller" action to advance little of the plot--instead it focuses on backstory and explaining our cast of characters and perhaps setting up motives and continuing to present possible suspects for the future shooting.
While this was the only installment so far that I found my attention lagging, the chapters are short and pull you forward, further into the story. Most of the characters we have met and enjoy are there, simply in a more pensive manner than before. Each character seems to be having an introspective day, with what seems like a life changing idea or moment occurring for each. However, the intrigue and curiosity raised in earlier installments is still raised here: We're watching Karma recover from her blunders, see her deadbeat dad sort of kind of make an effort, we're watching Detective Benedetti's marriage implode and questioning how well he knows either his wife or his son, and we're exploring Dakota Shane's emotional crises and questioning her sanity.
All that aside, I remain interested to read the final installments of this story and see who dies, who lives, who the shooter is, and what the real story is.
Hiebert knows his characters and knows them well. There is definitely an undercurrent of threat for the characters, which draws us on to the finale.
I received a free copy from the author in exchange for my honest review.
Genre: thriller (serial)
Rating: 3/5
December 20, 2016
BALLADS continues author Michael Hiebert's serial thriller, "The Rose Garden Arena Incident, and is a quieter book, though I use the term "quieter" with trepidation. I believe it was a wise move for Hiebert to give readers a chance to catch their breath before raising the stakes with more pulse-pounding action. Like a ballad, the story flows, but readers will be quick to pick up that this is the calm before the storm. Another winner!
I received an advance copy by the author in exchange for my honest review.
I received an advance copy by the author in exchange for my honest review.
December 29, 2016
Building up to the big climax of the Saturday night concert. All of the characters are looking introspective at their futures. Things are starting to come together and others fall apart. All of the major characters are about to collide in one way or another. The next few books will bring it all together and take it out in a bang!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews