Authorpreneur Dashboard – Charles Puccia

Charles  Puccia

Outlier Man

Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

A high school parent hires PI Vinnie Briggs to find a connection between the deaths of two teachers in different towns. According to the cops, the murders are unrelated, just tragic, random muggings.
When a third body shows up, Vinnie knows the murderer is smart and kills with impunity. He believes more deaths will come and hires Rita Light, a martial art and fitness champion, for protection and as co-investigator.

The investigation stalls until Vinnie and Rita learn about an outlier man that suggests vengeance as the motive. But who is this person? They have no time to lose and must hurry to save lives.

High school athletes, insecure teenagers, charming men and women, and martial arts adapted for sex drive the investigation.

Vigilantism leads to a surprising conclusion in a modern morality tale that questions the efficacy of rules in the absence of common sense.

Book Bubbles from Outlier Man

It's not accidental, it's murder

Statistic of small numbers don't show a pattern unless you have a theory. Vinnie Briggs investigates two deaths with tenuous connection other than the deceased were teachers and women. Rita Light, an associate at Briggs Investigative Group, sees a possible pattern. Vinnie and Rita navigate into a world of sorrow and intense grief. Nothing seems right, and nothing is right.

When is a Case Solved?

I wrote this thinking about high school bullying, which in today's world extends beyond the classroom to the Internet--Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, to name a few. PI Vinnie Briggs and his co-investigator, Rita Light, aren’t satisfied with the results of their investigation, even though they solved the case. Are all rules and laws enforceable? How would you stop bullying from the perspective of a parent, grandparent, teacher, administrator, or lawyer? Outlier Man raises issues for schools and social media today.

Ice Cream Man

Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

OBSESSION IS A VICE THAT FEW CAN ESCAPE. VINNIE BRIGGS stands little chance to be DAN LIVORNO’s assistant at Del Vecchio & Neale, Inc. Except Dan gives Vinnie a break and his dream job. Vinnie loves his dream boss, even though Dan’s straight and married to a drop-dead gorgeous GINNY; Dan’s out of reach. Dan and Ginny have obsessions. Dan’s is economic modeling. Ginny’s is sthenolagnia, an obsessive-compulsive disorder over muscular men. Dan lives for work and Ginny to train with BEN HAUSEN, a pro- bodybuilder. Dan must remove Ginny from Ben to save his marriage. He seeks the DV&N executive director position in Paris. Dan will beat his only competitor, LINDA LORDS, except BILL BARRINGTON, vice-president conspires to give Linda an advantage. Dan’s defeat brings on mental and physical deterioration; his marriage implodes. Vinnie can’t watch Dan’s decline. Using PI skills from the Internet, Vinnie uncovers recordings that prove the cheating and explains Dan’s loss. But amateur PI skills leave a trail, and Bill uses a mob contact to destroy the tapes and Vinnie. But what about eliminating Dan? Linda creates a false rape to have Dan fired. Ginny sets aside issues with Dan and uses bizarre logic. Will it work? More injuries? Cure her sthenolagnia? Will the ̵Livorno marriage survive? Can Vinnie recover or find true love? Vinnie stood little chance to be Dan Livorno’s assistant. Does he stand a chance at life?

Book Bubbles from Ice Cream Man

Money, Love, Desire

A link between three obsessions, sometimes overlapping and frequently disasterous.

Detour Man

Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

A muscular, twenty-six-year-old Gunter fears crowds and a homeless man that he calls Detour Man. Seeking a girlfriend, Gunter finds murders. PI Vinnie Briggs and co-PI, Rita Light, work to exonerate Gunter which means stopping a terrorist plot. No one expects Gunter to fall for Rita or the cost of his vindication.

Book Bubbles from Detour Man

Fear Strikes Even the Strongest

What happens when a fear comes true? Is it as bad as imagined or worse? And pretending nothing happened doesn't work. A long journey winds through love, hate, revenge, and innocence. Lives at risk, lives lost, and lives saved.

An Unusal Client

I wrote this book wanting to provoke discussion on difficulties everyone faces in their life. I also wanted lighthearted, a relief from unrelenting gloom. Were you frightened as a child? Have you been lonely? What happens when desperation for a companion leads to complications? For most people, the past contains dark elements, periods of stress. Some come in childhood, other in teenage years, and the rest into adulthood. Everyone finds their own survival mechanism unless events overwhelm. My character Gunter Hoffman’s childhood haunts him. Badgered by a PTSD vet, bullied at school, and his father’s accidental death brings Gunter to bodybuilding for survival. He soon learns big is not the answer to pain. He’s lonely and wants companionship. His search for peace and happiness leads to murder, a murder he didn’t commit. The two investigators, Vinnie Briggs and Rita Light, will defend their friend but the evidence stacks against him. How far does anyone go to help a friend? At what point do they cross the boundary from legal to illegal? I hope you enjoy Detour Man as much as I did writing it. The book has humor, sex, strong language, and quirky characters.

Baseball Man

Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

When Vinnie says he’ll help, he means it, even if it kills you. Generosity has limits. Neighbors have boundaries. Vinnie Briggs ignores these details with fatal consequences. Vinnie is in San Francisco, away from his husband, a professional bodybuilder based in NYC. With only a homeless ex-ballplayer and a Boston Terrier for company, Vinnie is lonely and miserable until two women move next door. They seem to have the perfect relationship, and their pregnancy inspires Vinnie. Acting like a good neighbor, he offers to help with the baby, stand in as a father figure in place of the unknown donor. Then everything goes sideways. The donor is a rapist, and the mother-to-be refuses to press charges. Is it fear or blame-the-victim syndrome? The father’s true identity shocks Vinnie. Something is terribly wrong. With the ex-ballplayer and dog’s help, Vinnie uncovers a web of deceit, duplicity, and a sexual identity crisis. Forget the women. Vinnie wants a baby with his husband—not easy for two gay men. Then a dead body changes his focus, especially with his arrest for murder. Vinnie's new priority is to stop a killer freely roaming San Francisco. To trap the murderer, he needs exoneration and release from jail, because the cops don't get it. The plan might succeed, depending on how success is measured. Baseball Man comprises murder, ambiguity, muscular men, gay sex, an eccentric ex-baseball player, and a dog with issues. The second VB Mystery Book following the success of Ice Cream Man.

Book Bubbles from Baseball Man

Salt&Pepper; Man

Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Vinnie Briggs meets former high school colleagues at his Sicilian hotel, ripping apart his holiday. One asks a “simple” favor, the other gets murdered. It’s a bad idea to get involved, yet Vinnie can’t refuse to investigate learning the Brooklyn mob has ties to human trafficking in Sicilian refugee camps. A rising body count mixed with pasta, sex, a youthful bodybuilder, and two women in stiletto heels crash the investigation. If he fails, fatal consequences will follow, and not only for him.

Book Bubbles from Salt&Pepper; Man

An Inauspicious Holiday Start.

Vinnie Briggs' chance meeting on his Sicilian vacation with former schoolmates, now in the mob, changes his holiday plans. Instead of sightseeing, sex, and pasta, he tangles with Mafia refugee camps and human trafficking. Add a steroid-addicted spouse. His holiday becomes a matter of life and death for him and those he loves.

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