The Blurb
The problem with Alex Nicholas is that he won't stay dead.
Alex Nicholas was the consummate Queens bookie: fast cars and even faster women, and friends in all the wrong places. As an illegal sports betting and loan shark king in New York City, Alex was fearless - until the night his luck ran out and someone leveled the silver barrel of an automatic on him and pulled the trigger.
Michael Nicholas was everything his brother Alex was not: a powerful, married straight-arrow corporate CEO living the American Dream. Their two worlds collide when Michael discovers his brother's secret laptop.
As Michael crosses the globe to find his brother's murder, can he avoid his brother's fate? And can the information contained in the laptop help Alex reach out to help Michael - from beyond the grave.
Alex Nicholas was the consummate Queens bookie: fast cars and even faster women, and friends in all the wrong places. As an illegal sports betting and loan shark king in New York City, Alex was fearless - until the night his luck ran out and someone leveled the silver barrel of an automatic on him and pulled the trigger.
Michael Nicholas was everything his brother Alex was not: a powerful, married straight-arrow corporate CEO living the American Dream. Their two worlds collide when Michael discovers his brother's secret laptop.
As Michael crosses the globe to find his brother's murder, can he avoid his brother's fate? And can the information contained in the laptop help Alex reach out to help Michael - from beyond the grave.
Death Never Sleeps by E.J. Simon
Category: Adult fiction, 385 pages
Genre: Technological Crime Thriller
Publisher: Simon/Zef Publishing
Published: August 15, 2013
Category: Adult fiction, 385 pages
Genre: Technological Crime Thriller
Publisher: Simon/Zef Publishing
Published: August 15, 2013
Format: Paperback/Kindle
Rating: PG-13
*PG-13 means that this novel includes some f-words,
religious profanities, non-explicit sex scenes, and violence.
Rating: PG-13
*PG-13 means that this novel includes some f-words,
religious profanities, non-explicit sex scenes, and violence.
Purchase at Amazon Barnes&Noble Chapters Indigo
The Excerpt
Whitestone, Queens, NY
November 7, 2009, 5:45 pm
Alex Nicholas sat in his den admiring his sleek Apple laptop. Although it looked like the same machine that millions of people owned, it wasn’t. Inside the polished aluminum case and underneath the exquisitely designed white keyboard, lay over a million dollars of powerful, state of the art upgrades and enhancements. They had been sourced from diverse specialized companies located all over the world and combined together by an obscure but highly talented computer genius who happened to live across the street.
For a full minute, Alex stared ahead at his image on screen. Using his laptop, he had taken the picture of himself and was thinking of what words he wanted to place at the bottom of the screen shot. Then it came to him, the saying that had stuck in his mind when he read it, days ago. He continued to stare at his mirror image as he began to type, each word appearing below his image as he typed it: “Life is a dream, and death is waking up.”
Alex Nicholas laughed, and thought to himself, that will get their attention . . .someday. Hopefully, not too soon. Anyway, I can’t wait to show this to Michael.
Alex often though about his brother, Michael, the only remaining link to his childhood family. He wished they were closer and often wondered why they weren’t. Alex suspected it was either the business he was in or the women he married. He knew Michael wasn’t comfortable with either. But now that he had completed his secret project, Alex Nicholas was determined to get closer to the brother that he sorely missed. Maybe I’ll call him tonight, but now, I’m hungry, he thought.
Moving quickly now, he signed off and closed the laptop. He took it into his master bedroom, entered his walk-in closet and quietly closed the door behind him. Inside there was a series of custom-made wooden shelves, running from the ceiling down to the floor, each shelf jutting out at an angle, designed to hold and display two pairs of shoes. He removed the shoes sitting on the fourth shelf from the bottom and, gripping the polished teak, pushed it upwards. The specially designed panel easily lifted up, revealing a hidden compartment. Alex Nicholas placed his unique laptop snuggly into the empty cavity and returned the shelf to its original position.
As he headed down his stairway and out the front door he thought about the amazing breakthrough that was contained inside his computer.
Alex Nicholas wasn’t sure how it all worked but he knew now that he would never die.
For a full minute, Alex stared ahead at his image on screen. Using his laptop, he had taken the picture of himself and was thinking of what words he wanted to place at the bottom of the screen shot. Then it came to him, the saying that had stuck in his mind when he read it, days ago. He continued to stare at his mirror image as he began to type, each word appearing below his image as he typed it: “Life is a dream, and death is waking up.”
Alex Nicholas laughed, and thought to himself, that will get their attention . . .someday. Hopefully, not too soon. Anyway, I can’t wait to show this to Michael.
Alex often though about his brother, Michael, the only remaining link to his childhood family. He wished they were closer and often wondered why they weren’t. Alex suspected it was either the business he was in or the women he married. He knew Michael wasn’t comfortable with either. But now that he had completed his secret project, Alex Nicholas was determined to get closer to the brother that he sorely missed. Maybe I’ll call him tonight, but now, I’m hungry, he thought.
Moving quickly now, he signed off and closed the laptop. He took it into his master bedroom, entered his walk-in closet and quietly closed the door behind him. Inside there was a series of custom-made wooden shelves, running from the ceiling down to the floor, each shelf jutting out at an angle, designed to hold and display two pairs of shoes. He removed the shoes sitting on the fourth shelf from the bottom and, gripping the polished teak, pushed it upwards. The specially designed panel easily lifted up, revealing a hidden compartment. Alex Nicholas placed his unique laptop snuggly into the empty cavity and returned the shelf to its original position.
As he headed down his stairway and out the front door he thought about the amazing breakthrough that was contained inside his computer.
Alex Nicholas wasn’t sure how it all worked but he knew now that he would never die.
The Author
About E.J. Simon
E.J. Simon was the CEO of GMAC Global Relocation Services (a division of GM) and the Managing Director of Douglas Elliman, the largest real estate company in NY.
He is a consultant to many leading private equity firms and has held senior level positions at prominent financial services companies.
He is a world traveler, food enthusiast and lives in Connecticut. Death Never Sleeps is his first novel. His second novel, Death Logs In, will be available in October 2014.
He is a consultant to many leading private equity firms and has held senior level positions at prominent financial services companies.
He is a world traveler, food enthusiast and lives in Connecticut. Death Never Sleeps is his first novel. His second novel, Death Logs In, will be available in October 2014.
The Review
I really enjoyed Death Never Sleeps! I was caught up in the action immediately, it's so fast-paced. I couldn't put it down! I couldn't wait to find out what would happen next. I thought it was so interesting after Michael figured out how to use Alex's secret laptop computer, when Michael began taking on parts of Alex's businesses and even exhibiting parts of Alex's personality. Confused? Intrigued? Read the book!
E.J. Simon has written a techno-thriller that is quite suspenseful . The characters are well written and believable. Alex and his minions - the "bad guys" in the bookie and loan shark business - are shown as having good sides too, not as totally bad. The technical jargon was kept to a minimum, and was not over my head. The artificial intelligence aspect didn't seem too far-fetched to me. As Alex put it in the excerpt, he wasn't "sure how it all worked" but it worked somehow.
Note: I received a complimentary copy of Death Never Sleeps from iRead Book Tours
in exchange for an honest opinion of the book.
in exchange for an honest opinion of the book.
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