Defying Death in Hagerstown

"John Paul Carinci delivers yet another top-notch thriller! . . . It has everything—shocking crime, compelling characters and a clever, clever plot" (Brien Jones, author of The New Manuscript and Mammoth Hunt).   Louis Gerhani is a hard-drinking, heartbroken, newspaper reporter for the Washington Gazette. He is disinterested in life after his fiancé left him for a doctor and is struggling to keep his job. His new assignment is to write a full story on Lolita Croome, a philosophical 110-year-old—and the oldest living person in the country.   Lou reluctantly begins the assignment, traveling to Lolita's residence, a nursing home in Hagerstown, Maryland. There, he hears an unsettling story about how Lolita survived a killing spree that claimed the lives of three other young women in 1923.   With access to Lolita's diary from the year of the murders, Lou begins to uncover a shocking mystery that someone is clearly trying to keep unsolved at all costs. As violence erupts in this quiet town, Lou tries desperately to stay alive, solve the murders, fall in love—and learn from one very wise old woman.   "A masterful book. John Paul Carinci writes with beauty and elegance of one man's journey from hopelessness to the miracle of life. An amazing read you'll remember for its mystery and wonder long after its ending!"—Ellen George, author of Flutterby