Dark Ride Deception

Nostalgia City #4

by Mark S. Bacon

The entire $22 billion US theme park industry is about to be eclipsed by breathtaking new technology. The Perception Deception Effect will rocket Arizona’s Nostalgia City theme park decades ahead of the competition—and possibly alter the way we view what is real and what isn’t. But the secret technology is missing. And so is its scientist creator. Is he dead? On the run?

An FBI agent theorizes the People’s Republic of China is responsible for the disappearance. The Nostalgia City CEO, however, is convinced a rival theme park is behind the theft. He drafts ex-cop turned theme park cab driver Lyle Deming to fly to Florida to find the missing computer scientist and recover his secrets.

Does this have anything to do with the severed human finger Lyle finds in his cab?

Back at Nostalgia City, a sprawling re-creation of an entire small town from the 1970s, a movie company is shooting a Vietnam era crime story. It’s a welcome distraction from the tech theft until the film company announces its last-minute replacement star is Cory “Psycho” Sievers, fresh out of rehab and aching to exact revenge on Hollywood. When another actor is found dead, park executive Kate Sorensen, a 6’ 2 ½” former college basketball star, is persuaded to investigate.

Shrugging off jet lag, Florida humidity and chronic anxiety Lyle goes undercover using a parade of false identities—from attorney to maintenance worker—to snoop behind the scenes at other theme parks. Although he’s generally tech savvy, he’s flummoxed by Perception Deception science. He gets help from a Nostalgia City engineer who speaks the jargon, but Lyle must rein in his assistant’s enthusiasm for corporate espionage.

In the meantime, Kate confronts the mentally unstable actor. But she may be forced to give up the murder case—Lyle’s in trouble.

Kate and Lyle have little time to explore their relationship as both their investigations turn deadly, threatening them and the future of Nostalgia City.

Genres: Fiction

352 pages, Paperback

Published September 30, 2021

About the author

Mark S. Bacon began his career as a Southern California newspaper police reporter, one of his crime stories becoming key evidence in a murder case that spanned decades.

After working for two newspapers, he moved to advertising and marketing and became a copywriter for Knott’s Berry Farm, the large theme park down the freeway from Disneyland. Experience working at Knott’s formed part of the inspiration for his creation of Nostalgia City theme park.

Before turning to fiction, Bacon wrote business books including "Do-It-Yourself Direct Marketing," printed in four languages and three editions, named best business book of the year by the Library Journal, and selected by the Book of the Month Club and two other book clubs. His freelance feature articles have appeared in the Washington Post, Cleveland Plain Dealer, San Antonio Express News, Orange County (Calif.) Register, Denver Post and many other publications. Most recently he was a correspondent for the San Francisco Chronicle.

"Dark Ride Deception" is the fourth book in the Nostalgia City mystery series that began with"Death in Nostalgia City". The first book introduced ex-cop turned cab driver Lyle Deming and PR executive Kate Sorensen, a former college basketball star. "Death in Nostalgia City" was recommended for book clubs by the American Library Association.

Bacon is the author of flash fiction mystery books including, "Cops, Crooks and Other Stories in 100 Words - Revised Edition".

He taught journalism as a member of the adjunct faculty at Cal Poly University – Pomona, the University of Nevada – Reno, and the University of Redlands. He earned an MA in mass media from UNLV and a BA in journalism from Fresno State.

Reviews

[Toviel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actual Rating: 3.5

Disclosure: I received an advance reader’s copy of this book through my work in consideration for a review. This fact does not influence my rating or review.

DARK RIDE DECEPTION is the fourth book in the Nostalgia City book series. The series takes place in the titular Nostalgia City, a theme park recreation of a 1970s town. Lyle Deming is a former detective turned taxi driver in the theme park, and he occasionally solves crimes that occur in the park with his lover and the park’s PR manager, Kate Sorensen. This time, Lyle is called on to figure out who stole experimental ride software from the park while Kate struggles to keep problems with a movie filming on the park from hitting the press.

Oh, and someone left a severed finger in Lyle’s cab, with no ID as to whom it belongs.

The book is an okay mystery, although too much time is given to the main characters chasing red herrings. It’s actually a case of two mysteries that almost never tie together—Kate wrangles problems happening on the film set while Lyle undergoes corporate espionage. In fact, most of the story’s tension comes form the complete lack of suspects behind the crime.

Being the fourth book in the series, it’s possible the disjointed storytelling was intentional, as there’s an overall theme between Lyle and Kate learning when to respect their boundaries, and the author may have been trying to reinforce it by separating their stories. However, to a new reader, it comes off more like the author had two good story ideas and couldn’t (or just didn’t want to) flesh them out into their own books.

Finally, in the realm of supreme nitpicks, the book didn’t take advantage of its Arizonan setting. Aside from name checking a couple of locations in the Phoenix metro and having a bark scorpion show up in the beginning, there wasn’t a lot connecting the story to the setting. An Arizonan based theme park in general is an interesting concept, and so much more should have been done with it. C’est la vie.

The book may not be a masterpiece end of the day, but I enjoyed it for what it was.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my first dive into Mark S. Bacon’s Nostalgia City Mysteries, and it was a worthwhile read. The author chose not to identify the protagonist, Lyle, as a former cop, now working as a cab driver in the Nostalgia City theme park – and occasionally doing investigation work for the park’s owner – until a few chapters into the book. Once Lyle’s identity and a little backstory was filled in, I had no problem reading this as a stand-alone story without reading the earlier series installments.

The mystery begins when Lyle picks up two fares in his cab – three suspicious characters and then a tipsy redhead who pukes in the back seat. One of them left a severed human finger on the floormat. The story then focuses on the disappearance of a software developer, who has been working on some revolutionary ride technology. Lyle is tasked with finding him. Meanwhile, a movie production is shooting on the theme park grounds and one of the actors lands dead at the bottom of a nearby canyon. Suicide? Or murder? And how is that connected to the missing developer? These are the threads that Lyle and his girlfriend and sometime sleuth, Kate, try to unravel.

The first half of the book moves along a bit slowly, with few indications of how the various threads are related. There are several blind alleys to be traversed, which could have been omitted or streamlined. Eventually, when the pieces of the puzzle start falling into place in the last quarter of the story, the pace picks up substantially and the roller coaster starts to be worth the long wait. It was possible to guess the larger pieces of the mystery, but reading through the details to the exciting conclusion was still fun and some of the small bits were unexpected.

The book is generally well-written, with brilliant details and descriptions and a healthy dose of humor. I would have liked a little more subplot about the Lyle/Kate romance, but the author gave me just enough to care about them and how their relationship will develop in future books.

This is a complex plot with enough twists to keep you guessing and a nice payoff in the end. There is peril and action, mostly in the last section, making this an enjoyable read that makes me want to go back now and read the earlier books in the series.

[Stephanie Augustine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was apart of the Indie Terminal Tours

See full review here: https://booksintheskye.wordpress.com/...

Overall, Dark Ride Deception by Mark S. Bacon was a good read! I really enjoyed this break from fantasy into this new crime world. While this is the fourth book in the series, it was easy to follow along as this was my first entry. Bacon did a great job giving past details without making it boring or feeling lost. The story was enjoyable and I kept wanting to go to see what happened next. While there were just a few issues for me, it didn’t dampen the experience. The characters were perfect for the story and I enjoyed the dual point of view. I would recommend this book if you enjoy crime novels and theme parks! It was a unique setting and I will be going back to the beginning of the series to experience it.

[Al · Rating 4 out of 5]

The place most of this story takes place, a fictional theme park called Nostalgia City, is almost as much of a unique character as the human characters. The uniqueness of the park and what that adds to the story, even more so given that the park is being used as the set to film a movie at the same time, adds a lot of out-of-the-ordinary places, people, and situations to this story. The story also has multiple people trying to figure out different mysteries that may or may not be related to the main mystery of where Tom Wyrick has gone and how to recover the tech secrets he is assumed to have taken with him. These multiple threads keep things moving along at a fast pace as the reader tries to figure out, along with Lyle, Kate, the sheriff, the FBI, and others, how it all relates.

**Originally written for "Books and Pals" book blog. May have received a free review copy. **

[Elena Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bacon did a great job of telling a complex story with many characters without leaving me, the reader, confused. The concept was interesting and the story had many layers. It was a long book where every chapter counted toward the final conclusion. No strings left hanging. Likable, relatable characters. Suspenseful but not enough to interrupt my sleep patterns. I look forward to reading more books by this author.

[C. Gonzales · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t think I was quite prepared to become so addicted and consumed by this story.

The writing was smart and witty at times, which gave it another element.


I found the plot to be filled with mystery, drama, and much more along the way.

I loved the unpredictability with each aspect, it really made it amazing.

[Mike B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Economical prose - yes, unfortunately the characters were a bit short-changed...I just didn't feel much empathy for them. Overall an average thriller.. I feel like I've read this story before. It seemed like the author had a basic plot and was trying to find some devices and ideas to throw in the mix and see if they worked.

[Samantha Turley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed so many aspects of this.
The writing style was polished and had a very natural flow.
The setting was very lively and interesting.
The plot twists were an adventure that I never wanted to end.

[Rick Molitor · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good thriller. At times I thought it was two different thrillers. Lyle was investigating one and Kate the other. But thry tied it all together in the end. A good read.

[Kathy Stibal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fast pace with lots of suspense that keeps you from putting the book down.