Dual

A murder mystery narrated by the victim, Dual: A Love Story concerns Gerry Martinez, a New York City police detective assigned to the Queens County Prosecutor’s Office, who is investigating the murder of a New York photographer, committed presumably by his wife. Complicating matters, the wife has a twin, a virtual clone down to her DNA, and the prosecution’s challenge is to definitively prove which of the exotically beautiful twins committed the murder. Gerry finds himself drawn into a deepening mystery involving a large, politically connected family hiding a closely-held secret they are all willing to lie and, possibly, kill to protect. Gerry runs afoul of the U.S. State Department and incurs the wrath of a mysterious death squad who come gunning for him as he begins to unravel the mystery the family is so determined to hide. In the midst of it all, Gerry finds himself inescapably drawn first to one of the twins, then the other; discovering that, to fall in love with one is to fall in love with them both. And, falling in love with them both can get you killed.

Themes: the meaning of family, the relevance of love, romantic police/crime drama. 92,000 words / 28 Chapters / 300 pages. Recommended for mature readers. Includes explicit language and sexual content.

This novel was inspired by the late Elmore Leonard’s eclectic humanism; a kind of gathering of imbeciles from which description the antihero himself is not excluded. As with my previous work, Zion, we again visit the theme of love—love as part of the supporting cast—and the myriad ways this particular form of insanity can derail lives or, in this specific case, entire countries. I am not, in any way, counting Mr. Leonard as any sort of peer; I am, after all, just a comic book guy stirring a toe in the pool of novelists. I’m just saying Leonard’s work is amazing fun and it is the voice I am, in my own way, echoing by this (literal) dead man’s tale.

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8 Comments

  1. Dave Van Domelen says:

    Well, it’s set to be available on Feb 10. Pre-ordered it.

  2. David Phelps says:

    Unfortunately, my love for your work isn’t enough to offset my aversion to digital books. Any hope for a hardcopy at some point?

    • Priest Priest says:

      There are ongoing discussions for some limited print runs, likely 4Q 2015. I like real books, too, but I acquiesce to what I see as inevitable: digital is where everything is going. But i’s all a mess, right now in terms of formats and pricing and so forth, so everybody’s kind of making it up as we go.

      Just curious: what specifically do you dislike about digital books (or, dislike the *most*) ?

      • David Phelps says:

        It’s partially due to emotional preference for turning pages, having an obvious physical indication of progress, etc. but in the end it boils down to the fact that I read books to get away from glowing rectangles. Needing special equipment to read a book just doesn’t feel right to me.

        Of course, I’m a late adopter in general. Heck, the only reason I have a cell phone is because I left my wife alone in the mall too long back in 2002. (And I’m still on my first phone.)

        • Priest Priest says:

          I deeply resent cell phones. It is the biggest racket in the world. I am considered a freak because I only turn mine on when I’m in the car. I don;t surf the web with it, I don;t download anything, Ik don;t watch TV on my phone, and I don’pay $100 a month to use the thing that tracks my every move and is constantly trying to sell me things. Evil, I tell you. Re: eBooks: Kindle PaperWhite is about as close as you’ll come to the printed book experience. There’s nothing glowing, it looks perfectly natural, and you can carry a library in your pocket. I am not anti-paper books, and wilt probably do some print-on-demand later on this year. Digital was just easier to get into–an immediate audience, virtually no upfront cost. http://christopherpriest.com/amazon

  3. JakeB says:

    Priest, only my love for your writing could overcome my boycott of Amazon.

    • Priest Priest says:

      LOL!!! why are you boycotting Amazon?! Was “Bosch” really that bad…? Anyway, “Dual” will soon be distributed by Smashwords to a variety of esellers. I’ll keep you posted.

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