Amongst the Killing By Joe Compton

Title: Amongst the Killing

Author: Joe Compton

Genre: Crime Thriller

For as long as he could remember, Detective Charles Street wanted to be a police officer, moreover a detective. He wanted to be knee-deep in the action, working the biggest cases, and reaping the biggest rewards. But he didn’t think when his dream job came calling that it would ever turn into his nightmare.

For as long as he could remember, Jack Casey just wanted to be free, his own man to do what he pleased, when he pleased. He too craved action, and when his dream life came calling, he didn’t think he would meet anyone who was his equal, and definitely didn’t think he would ever have difficulty leaving behind the world he loathed and mocked.

Amongst The Killing documents both of their stories, told in their own words, as the moments unfolded when their paths first crossed and their lives intersected. How could two men, with two different philosophies, be so different and yet so connected?

As the ultimate cat and mouse game unfolds, each has to deal separately with the other’s decisions and the effects they have in turning their lives sideways and upside-down. Will one of them crack? Will one of them succeed?  Ultimately, the journey may mean more than the game, and show both of them the outcome neither was ever expecting.

AMONGST THE KILLING BY JOE COMPTON

Excerpt 1: A Dream State

As I opened my eyes, I gazed upon the brightest light in the room. There she was. She glided across the floor like a ballerina, in her red sundress I loved so much. The dress swayed and whisked around her legs with every step, free and flowing, yet perfectly trimmed to accentuate the curves of her hips and legs. Her smile made me drift into a state of bliss. Suddenly I accepted being back as if it were now. There was no greater beauty I had ever wanted to see; if I was really dreaming I did not want to wake.

She was graceful and sensual as long staggered blonde locks flowed freely off her shoulder, glowing with an incandescent vibrancy. The makeup, from the dusty brown eye shadow, to the soft pink lip gloss, right down to the creamy powder on her cheeks that made her skin soften and accentuated in all the right spots, I noticed it all.

My eyes followed as her freshly-manicured long fingers drifted among the strands of hair and pushed them back. A sharp shine came from off her neck. She touched this shine and I realized it came from a locket containing the first picture of us ever taken. It hung off a long twenty-four carat gold chain; the first gift I had ever given her. I had the same picture on my desk at the precinct in a gold frame.

She daydreamed while looking out the window. Her smile grew and welcomed a warm wealth of joy. The sun shined through the window, backlighting her like an angel standing saintly upon a cloud.

I muttered under my breath, interrupting the silence. She turned and her smile grew even more. I nearly fell over.

How could I be standing there in Antioch, in our former house, in the past? With Tamara looking right at me in a manner of three-dimensional time and space I had never experienced in any dream before?

Author Bio

Born in Hawthorne, CA in December of 1973 Joe grew up in Southern California; the majority of that spent in Torrance, CA. Writing has always been that thing he could do at an early age. He spent many a summer stints with his Grandma and Aunt where he was left mostly to his imagination and would escape by writing scenes and short stories; then acting them out in the backyard.  Sometimes bringing in his brother to help act or just be an audience member. Then when his mother went back to work, Joe would spend the summer with his brother, write scripts ( even before he knew what a screenplay was), and perform all the characters for his brother. Joe went on to South Torrance High School and while he wasnt the world's best student, he did manage to have 3 short stories published in the school's annual creative anthology. They  were mostly horror driven, in the vein of Poe or Lovecraft. It would be Joe's first published works. One of those stories Joe would end up turning into a screenplay and short film. Joe served his country in the United States Marines for 4 years, were he wrote the very first draft of Amongst the Killing. Once he was out of the Marines Joe moved to Denver, got another short story published in a underground magazine called Harvest Moon, a sort of reader's digest for Horror fans. Joe started writing screenplays and decided he would like to try making movies. He shot his first movie, Karl's Liquor in 2001 ;  which had one screening and one screening ever, at the awesome, world famous Mercury Cafe  in Denver, CO in August of 2001. You can still see the trailer on youtube. Joe went on to make 2 more short films, Devilwind  and aforementioned (short story turned into movie) Out of Range.  Joe at one time had a deal in place with a publishing company to publish Amongst the Killing  but didn't want to change the principle concept and thus walked away.  Now a few years later he has started this company and decided to his first release would be Amongst the Killing .  In 2010 Joe met the love of his life, his wife Shawna. Knowing that they will have children very soon he wanted to have something to hand over to his child, should they want it. So he felt the time was now to do this. 

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