The Dark Side of Paradise: Odd and Intriguing Stories from Vero Beach

The Dark Side of Paradise blends together Richard Kerr’s professional experiences from his over-thirty-year career as a high-ranking official in the CIA with his idyllic life as a Florida retiree living in beautiful Vero Beach. Using his involvement in a local writing group as a common thread weaved through the stories, the author shares tales that explore the inner workings of the mind and examine good vs. evil. How do we decide between right and wrong? What do we do when we think no one is watching?

Richard Kerr crafts short stories that are unsettling, amusing, whimsical, and illuminating. Divided into four sections, the book begins with spy-centric tales, moves to stories of surprise, segues into tales of death, and finishes on a lighter note. All the while, regardless of the section, the author’s writer group and some of its members are weaved in and out of the stories to provide a common bond.  

Only someone of his unique background could provide such an enlightening and intriguing look inside the mind of a CIA intelligence official as filtered through captivating tales that remain with the reader long after the last page has been turned.

“Richard Kerr is a gold mine of storytelling waiting to be discovered in the imagination of Dick Kerr. His considerable wit and gifted insight I have known for many years in his other lives urges the reader to go on without hesitation or a break. The book is further proof of the character and Tom Sawyer-like American spirit that lives inside Dick Kerr’s imagination. Read ‘The Dark Side of Paradise’; you won’t regret it.” Lt. General Kenneth Minihan (Ret), former head of the National Security Agency (NSA) and the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA).

“’The Dark Side of Paradise’ promises to unsheathe the mind of the reader into the bizarre and hilariously creative world of Richard Kerr. A mind that the CIA employed for 33 years in the troubled parts of the world, including briefing U.S. presidents in the White House, where through insights and analysis Kerr attempted to make meaning out of the anomalies of different people and cultures that sometimes did or attempted to do damage to the United States. Kerr’s sketches and short stories remind me of the insightful and artistic talent of James Thurber.” Stanford Erickson, author, reporter and editor who covered the White House, Congress and international trade and economics.

“Dick Kerr has written a number of entertaining short stories, a rarity these days, that are alternately funny, bemusing, disturbing and sometimes downright weird. Nearly all are food for thought.  I thoroughly enjoyed them.” Robert M. Gates an American statesman, scholar and university president who served as Secretary of Defense, and Director of Central Intelligence.

“Dick has written a delightful series of short stories and vignettes. There is a strong hint of irony in many of them, recalling the best from the old Twilight Zone series. At many places, I found myself laughing out loud -- always a good sign.”  Mark Lowenthal former Assistant Director of Central Intelligence for Analysis & Production, Vice Chairman of the National Intelligence Council, Staff Director of House Intelligence Committee and 1988 Jeopardy Grand Champion.

“Dick Kerr gives a broad new meaning to intelligence.  His quirky, humorous writings with illustrations range in subjects from murder to the absurd, leaving the reader with a jolt of laughter.  The surprise endings are reminiscent of O. Henry.  Kerr’s writing has been honed and his mind and imagination twisted by his association with an eclectic group, the Sandfly Scribblers.” Rody Johnson comes from a long line of Vero Beach residents is an author of several books