HARD is Mike Paul’s first full length novel. It starts in the 1970s, but mostly takes place in the mid-1990s, before cell phones and flat screen televisions became ubiquitous. It is a time before 9/11 when we were blessed with peace and prosperity. A time when newsprint did not have to compete with the internet.
The handful of readers who have had the opportunity to read early drafts of the book have found it engaging and entertaining. Some tremble at the subject matter. Some love the beginning with its very own coming of age tale. Everyone loves the music. But it’s not for the faint of heart. And it’s for a mature audience, only.
“Man, I aint lookin for no date,” were the first words out her mouth when Inquirer reporter Billy Moss bumped into Alice Primo at Ortlieb’s Jazz Haus after almost twenty years. The chance meeting would lead Billy down a road of recollection, adventure and romance. Alice, a sexual athlete, is being coerced into forced servitude by “The Suit,” a Dominant/Attorney with seemingly endless connections, and his own house of horrors. As well as running a successful criminal law practice, which includes defending local mobsters, he also heads a human trafficking ring.
Billy cannot save Alice alone, so he calls his college sweetheart, Rhonda, a prominent Lehigh Valley psychiatrist and the smartest person he knows. Alice fixed them up twenty years ago. The relationship to both was pivotal in each of their lives, but it did not last. When Billy and Rhonda get back together, the sparks fly and old romance is rekindled. They are joined by a powerful Dominatrix with a Ph.D. from San Francisco who is a past love interest of Alice. Star, a dominant and a psychologist, brings in the Millers, power brokers who are into the kink lifestyle. They welcome Billy and Rhonda into their sometimes-dark world. With their help and that of other characters: X, Y, the Chief, the Rascal and Chan, and those who they lead, the mission to rescue Alice comes together at breakneck speed. And it’s broader and deeper than anyone expected. And it’s dripping with suspense.
Please feel free to download the “Prelude” of HARD on my home page. The balance of the book is available at Patreon.com/mikeywrites.
Mike Paul 