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A Widespread Horrendous Crime
Human Collateral follows a P.I. who is tasked with finding a girl that’s gone missing at the hands of a loan shark who uses organs as collateral. What was the inspiration for the setup to your story?
Human trafficking is and has been historically a widespread horrendous crime. I wanted to shed light on it but using a form not often talked about. Because it is also a little more sophisticated crime, requiring a multi-tiered syndicate, it offered a lot of out of the ordinary investigating.
Miles Darien is an intriguing and well developed character. What were some driving ideals behind your character’s development?
Since he is a forensic scientist not merely a traditional “gum-shoe”, it allows him to be more analytical in his approach to crime solving. I also liked the idea of portraying a gay character in a positive light. The New Yorker transplanted into a small Wisconsin town added another layer to who he had become.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
Human trafficking as I’ve said. Friendship, both old and newly acquired. And, of course, good versus evil. Oh, and the power of observation, and science in crime solving.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
I’m about 25% into my third book, and it should be out sometime next year.
Author Links: GoodReads | Facebook | Website
Private Detective, Miles Darien, is hired by Cora Sims to find her missing daughter Olivia, who has been living alone in Chicago.
Miles enlists his best friend, investigative journalist, Ryan Duffy to assist in the search. Mrs. Sims has no idea where her daughter works or how she makes a living. First, they must uncover the clues which will lead them to her workplace, hoping to connect with someone who can take them to Olivia.
They eventually succeed in uncovering her workplace and who she is staying with. When they find Olivia, she’s barely alive as a result of an infection after having a kidney surgically removed. Turns out the kidney was payment for an illegal loan given by criminals who prey on people in dire financial trouble by forcing them to use their bodies as collateral.
Olivia can’t seek medical care or go to the police because the criminals have threatened to kill her if she does. Miles and Ryan must bring down the criminals to keep them from silencing Olivia.
They join forces with the FBI to look for the syndicate behind these loans. The syndicate is also hunting them down to erase any trail that would lead back to them. Who will erase who first?
Human Collateral
When a young woman goes missing it’s up to two lifelong friends, Miles Darien and Ryan Duffy, to get to the bottom of things. When Miles starts his PI service in Lakeville, he didn’t anticipate a desperate mother to come knocking at his door. Cora Sims asks Miles to find her missing daughter, Olivia, after she up and leaves one day to start a new life in the big city of Chicago. With the help of his best friend, Ryan, Miles tracks down Olivia and undercovers a loan-shark organization that asks for organs as collateral. A penniless Olivia doesn’t realize how dangerous her situation is until it’s too late. In Harry Pinkus’ thriller novel: Human Collateral characters dodge bullets left and right, but will everyone make it out alive?
Author Harry Pinkus has written a riveting crime fiction story that is clear, concise and to the point. There is not a single plot structure or character that doesn’t fit in the story. The book is realistic when it comes to the political chain of command and police procedures. Even though Miles notes how the FBI blocks him from their investigation, he’s not trying to step on anyone’s toes or override police procedures to get the information he’s looking for. Generally, in murder mysteries, you have the noisy detective who jumps through loopholes to get to the bottom of things, not caring who they have to step over to find their killer. Not Miles though, he respects the police force and doesn’t push the investigation. Even though, as a reader, I wanted more information to help find the killer, I respect Miles for not bulldozing through the chain of command and letting the FBI do what they do best.
This is a realistic police procedural that puts the facts over the need for thrills. We follow the investigation with few surprises due to the methodical method with which everything is provided. Miles and Ryan’s day-to-day life is one that readers can understand, if not relate to, because of how grounded they are. Every character in this story has a very polite air about them. Their conversations reflect this and everyone has the same cordial sensibility.
Human Collateral is a compelling mystery novel that takes readers into the trenches of the private investigator world and tells a crime fiction story that feels realistic while still being interesting. If you are a reader looking for a meticulous who-dun-it that takes a pragmatic approach to solving a heinous crime, then this will certainly entertain you.
Pages: 289 | ASIN: B09JHV754X
LITERARY TITAN 