Jocelyn's War (Journeys Down a Long Dark Road, Book 3) by Jason Ryan Dale

Release date: November 23, 2019

Subgenre: Crime Thriller, Organised Crime

About Jocelyn's War: 

 

There’s a war in the streets. The vicious Ghost Knights biker gang, suddenly flush with cash and guns, is challenging the Mob for control of the city. No one is safe as bodies fall and houses go up in flames.

Danny Rinker is a young Mob soldier, but he’s keeping his distance from the fighting. Encouraged by Jocelyn, his new girlfriend, Danny spends his days in the local bar he finally owns after years of struggling. While his friends are out making names for themselves, Danny finds in the velvety touch of Jocelyn’s lips all the action he’ll ever need.

From a chance encounter, Danny learns a secret that goes to the heart of the Ghost Knights’ newfound power. If he can unravel a twenty-year-old mystery, Danny will be the one who takes the bikers down once and for all.

But Jocelyn is not all she appears. She knows things about this war that her lover can’t even imagine. Danny is about to discover that Jocelyn is a warrior, and even if it breaks her heart, she will carry on her fight to the end. 

 

Excerpt:

 

The tenders and the bar backs stayed until the doors were locked. They put up the tables, swept the floors, and wiped the countertop one last time. Soon Cliffy was alone, flipping through dollar bills, balancing the cash drawer. Tired and hungry, he slipped the money into the footlocker safe and spun the combination wheel. 

Razor cold wind slashed at his back as he locked the front door. To leave the prime spots ready for customers, he always parked away from the entrance, in an alleyway behind the building. Piles of dirty snow lined the driveway like a stockade. The broken rays of streetlights guided Cliffy’s weary senses. Dreams of a quiet drive home fueled his thoughts, until he saw the white-coated figure seated on the bumper of his car.

“Hi,” he said, blood rushing to his cheeks. “What are you…?”

“Told you,” Jocelyn said, stepping from her perch. “Complicated.”

A fuzzy black hat sat on her blonde mane. Her thinly-gloved hands found Cliffy’s chest and searched for the edges, top to bottom, sides to center. He lowered his neck to meet her lips. The chill forced them to press close or admit painful bursts of freezing air onto their tongues.

When the kiss broke, he put his hand to her chin, lifting her face to his with the least force imaginable. “Did you reconsider?”

“Are you sure your wife won’t miss you?” 

“She doesn’t follow me that close,” said Cliffy. He took her hand. “Let’s go.”

“Wait. I’ve got an idea.”

“Oh yeah? What?”

She ran her glove over his stomach, teasing his hunger. “Where are your keys?”

“Right here.” All Cliffy’s thoughts of quiet and rest were gone “Why?”

Jocelyn shoved herself backward. “Pop the trunk.”

“What?”

Her voice was all mock impatience. “Pop…the…...trunk.”

Chuckling and shaking his head, Cliffy pressed a button on his key chain. The car made two beeps and the back section yawned like an alligator. 

Jocelyn sat back on the bumper, leaning towards the opening like a game show hostess. “Roomy,” she said.

“You’re crazy,” said Cliffy. “We’re going to freeze. At least let’s get into the back seat.”

“Ahem,” Jocelyn quipped. “I made my decision. Come on.” The trunk bucked as she climbed on. “I’ll bet you’ve used ice cubes before. It’s the same thing. Just more intense.” She let her coat drop to the ground, resurrecting the imaginings of her body that Cliffy had made inside.

“You really are complicated.”

She balanced on her knees and bunched the front of his shirt in her hands, pulling him into another kiss, pivoting him to the side, guiding him inside the trunk. He fumbled on the bumper, groping for a comfortable position. 

“Lie back,” Jocelyn commanded.

“Oh yeah,” he murmured, falling into the chasm. She kissed down his neck and nuzzled his chest, cooing so that he felt the vibrations.

“You’ve got to tell me your work out,” said Jocelyn.

“First thing in the morning, dollface.” Cliffy was not concerned when she stopped caressing him. All his thoughts were hopes for where she would take up her attentions next. 

Squatting on the salt-smeared pavement, Jocelyn slipped her hands into the fallen coat. Her quarry was freed in less than a second.

Cliffy never heard the gun fire.

 

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About Jason Ryan Dale:

 

Jason Ryan Dale is a writer of character-driven crime stories living on the East Coast of the United States.

Dale on why crime fiction;

“There is a paradox in every crime, and therefore in every crime story. Stealing, murdering, and running a con job are all acts of betrayal. Yet, to do them well requires a small group of people who are loyal to each other. It is a beguiling contradiction that can play out in an infinite number of ways.”

Dale describes his influences, who are an eclectic mix;

“John le Carre is my favorite author.  His plots are always exciting, yet his character development is always strong.  Elmore Leonard I admire for his humor and his sense for life's absurdity.  His characters are always trying to bring their lives in order and only succeed in increasing the chaos, which I love.  Robert E Howard uses the English language in ways nobody else does.  Larry McMurtry is the best at capturing people's psychology.  I feel like I know his characters so well I could carry on a conversation with any of them. Joseph Conrad is the writer I most revere, though I admit he gives me a headache sometimes.”

 

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