The Real Wickedness by Randy Overbeck #racism #RomanticSuspense #sale

WICKED WEDNESDAY

Please welcome my guest, Dr. Randy Overbeck with a very special Wicked Wednesday post. He entertains while making you think by drawing from society's wickedness. And be sure to read to the end for info on an incredible sale. Read on and enjoy!

“CRIMSON AT CAPE MAY does a great job of showcasing how even the most prominent members of a community cannot be excluded from suspicion when the evidence points toward their involvement, especially in the wake of cases such Jeffrey Epstein and Harvey Weinstein.”—ReadersView.com

There is more than one kind of wickedness in the world. Our earth has birthed murderers and psychopaths, embezzlers and robbers, child abusers and sex traffickers. These evils persist in almost every culture and society around the globe and stretch across the centuries.

But there exists wickedness and evil that, though not as obvious, is just as threatening. That wickedness is where my words reside.

I realize readers come to my novels, BLOOD ON THE CHESAPEAKE or CRIMSON AT CAPE MAY, in search of a little mystery or a great beach read or even a bit of romance—and they say they are hardly ever disappointed—but I also try use my fiction to raise important social issues and expose very real wickedness.

The first novel in my series may illustrate. In BLOOD
ON THE CHESAPEAKE, the narrative thread of the cold-case murder is intertwined around the issue of racial injustice. So, when I selected my antagonist for this story, I wanted to be sure he was a reflection of the real world of racial bias, of wicked racial bigotry.

Dr. William “Bud” Williams, the villain of my tale—or at least one of them—is, by most social norms, a good guy, a really good guy. He comes from a well-heeled family, is a respected town physician and serves children as president of the local school board. He heralds from a long line which goes back to the town founders and Bud is a man you’d want to know and have on your side to get anything done in Wilshire. 

But, like thousands of other privileged white males, Williams’ belief system is skewed to assure him he is more gifted and more privileged than …well, others, especially those with a different skin color. While he displays the appropriate social graces, his sense of superiority still seeps out and, though he tries to keep it under
wraps, his racial bias rears its inevitable ugly head from time to time. 

Sadly, Williams’ wickedness is hardly atypical. Many in the fictional town of Wilshire—and in our real world—share his prejudiced “sensibilities.” But, as the reader learns, Williams’ wickedness runs deeper, as he hides an ugly secret from his past. When Bud was only a teenager, he and a few of his friends decided another classmate needed to be taught a lesson. The guy was fooling around with a white girl and he was, well, black. Back then, things got out of hand and somehow, the young black kid ended up at the end of a rope. But it was “an
accident and a long time ago.” 

Now, the adult, Dr. William “Bud” Williams has long ago dismissed any guilt for the act. That is until Darrell, our hero—who also happens to be a high school teacher and coach and a sensitive—exposes the secret and secures justice for the murdered young man.

My hope is that the crafting of this credible antagonist will help expose this strain of wickedness, a particularly insidious type of wickedness which all too often goes unacknowledged and unchallenged in our world.

Not all wickedness is obvious. But all wickedness, especially racism, poisons the human condition. The poison of racism may not destroy our nature outright, but it is toxic enough to rot the soul from the inside out. 

"The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it." ~Albert Einstein

BLURB—BLOOD ON THE CHESAPEAKE

Wilshire, Maryland seems like the perfect shore town on the Chesapeake Bay—quiet, scenic, charming—and promises Darrell Henshaw a new start in life and a second chance at love. That is, until he learns the town hides an ugly secret. A thirty-year-old murder in the high school. And a frightening ghost stalking his new office. Burned by an earlier encounter with the spirit world—with the OCD scars to prove it—he does NOT want to get involved. But when the desperate ghost hounds him, Darrell concedes. Assisted by his new love, he follows a trail that leads to the civil rights movement, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and even the Klu Klux Klan. Then, when two locals who try to help are murdered, Darrell is forced to decide if he’s willing to risk his life—and the life of the woman he loves—to expose the killers of a young man he never knew.

Incredible sale on the entire Haunted Shores Mysteries series! 

BLOOD ON THE CHESAPEAKE-$.99, CRIMSON AT CAPE MAY--$1.99, SCARLET AT CRYSTAL RIVER (pre-publication price)—$2.99.

BOOK LINKS:

AMAZON

BARNES AND NOBLE

BOOKBUB

BIO

Dr. Randy Overbeck is an award-winning educator, author and speaker. As an educator, he served children for more than three decades in a range of roles captured in his novels, from teacher and coach to principal and superintendent. His thriller, Leave No Child Behind (2012) and his recent mysteries, the Amazon and B & N No. 1 Best Seller, Blood on the Chesapeake and Crimson at Cape May have earned five star reviews and garnered national awards including “Thriller of the Year--ReadersFavorite.com, “Gold Award”—Literary Titan, “Mystery of the Year”—ReadersView.com and “Crowned Heart of Excellence”—InD’Tale Magazine. As a member of the Mystery Writers of America, Dr. Overbeck is an active member of the literary community, contributing to a writers’ critique group, serving as a mentor to emerging writers and participating in writing conferences such as Sleuthfest, Killer Nashville and the Midwest Writers Workshop. When he’s not writing or researching his next exciting novel or sharing his presentation “Things Still Go Bump in the Night,” he’s spending time with his incredible family of wife, three children (and their spouses) and seven wonderful grandchildren.

randyoverbeck@authorrandyoverbeck.com

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