Buck Ramsey

The second novel in my Matías “Matt” O'Brien detective series, "A Date for Justice," finds Matt and his indispensable detective partner, Niles Thomas, once again battling 21st-century crime in Southern California from their shared cubicle in the Oceanside Police Department's small squad room.

This latest story opens on Santa Catalina Island in Southern California. Matt and his fiancée, Sophie Perez, a forensic pathologist in North San Diego County, are enjoying the first night of a long-overdue vacation. Matt has thoughtfully reserved a harbor-view table at Steve’s Steakhouse, the island’s premier steakhouse. From their second-story perch, they enjoy an unobstructed, panoramic view of Avalon Harbor. It’s the start of the Labor Day weekend, and the restaurant is packed.

The evening is balmy, and the crescent moon, in Sophie’s view, hopefully foretells a time for healing, rest, and make-up sex. Matt has just returned from Los Angeles after helping the FBI solve a child kidnapping case in Boyle Heights, East Los Angeles. He grew up there, and spent much of his seventeen-year career with the LAPD investigating crime in that area.

After dinner, the two cross the boardwalk, hand in hand, and head toward the calm water’s edge for a toe-dipping for two. What could be more romantic, she thinks, until, in a split second, everything changes. Over the next 72 hours, murder, espionage, and a major ransomware attack unfold. The wheels of justice and crime—spanning Moscow, Brighton Beach in New York, Washington, DC, and Southern California—begin to turn. None of the criminal activity is as it seems, and none of the villains behave as you would expect.

For those who enjoyed reading about the international adventures of Brice Miller and Annie Youngblood in my first four mystery novels, their adventures will continue in future novels. In my fourth and final novel in that series, "A Band of Traitors," published in 2021, readers learned in advance about Iran's "under construction" heavy-water nuclear plant at Arak, a plant that the French delegate to The Iran Nuclear Deal of 2015 (JCPOA) characterized as nothing more than a nuclear bomb manufacturing facility. Within sixty days of the signed "deal" in 2015, readers also learned that the Iranians violated their stipulated personal onsite inspection protocols at the Parchin military nuclear bomb development facility. The designated and lead UN nuclear inspector at the time publicly announced their perfidy, but was generally dismissed by the world leaders who signed the agreement and the mainstream press. Perception was more important to them than reality!

Author Background— I graduated from Boston University with a degree in business administration in 1969. Shortly thereafter, I was commissioned into the United States Navy as a Supply Corps officer. My Navy service included an extended 17-month tour of duty in Vietnam in 1970-71. After being honorably discharged from the Navy, I settled in San Diego and eventually found my niche in commercial real estate: first as a broker and then as an owner/developer. In 2013, I retired from real estate after working and investing in that field for thirty-seven years.

My retired interests include hiking, fly fishing, writing, and volunteer service for Purple Heart Family Support at Balboa Hospital and the USS Midway Museum.

I’ve been happily married for forty-seven years and have two adult daughters.

For further details on my books, I can be reached at: bramseymail @ gmail. com.