Bøker av Frederic W. Burr

'Strained Mercy' opens with a more introspective Boone as he adjusts to married life with Deborah, while carrying the office by himself. Marianne works from home to care for infant Caden, recently out of NICU. Things for her go from bad to worse as developments threaten her marriage.Aside from a voicemail from a climate scientist Sarah Richardson, worried about threatening phone calls from a climate change cult, his principal concern is Abe Freed, his journalist friend. Abe is investigating MS-13 and the Albany drug trade, and Boone worries for Abe's safety.At the same time, Abe seeks advice from Boone about helping Chantelle, a high-end prostitute, escape a vicious pimp. Boone decides to consult Tom McAvoy and Clive Townsend for assistance. Both cases involving Freed come together in unexpected ways, with tragic results.When the climate scientist disappears without a trace, Boone and Albany police detective Mark Wallace are frustrated by the lack of any clues as to who has taken Richardson, or her whereabouts. The case leads to an explosive resolution, presenting ethical challenges for Detective Wallace.

"Uphill' is the final book in the Don Walker series. This story looks in on the lives of the principal characters some thirty years after the second book (Grab an Egg and Shave It). Don struggles with depression and significant health issues. His daughter Lisa, now married and raising a seven-year-old of her own, runs her own business as an interior decorator and designer.Because of good faith efforts to assist one of Lisa's clients, both she and her husband Rob become targets of a ruthless and predatory businessman with a broad reach, who threatens Rob's livelihood and her family's future. Struggling to balance the needs of her father's care with her own busy family life, she attempts to renew relationships between her father and his wayward sister, Leslie, with uneven results."Uphill" is a story of life's challenges and personal struggle, when there is no guarantee of a good outcome.

"Grab and Egg and Shave It" is the sequel to "For the Love a Pete." Don Walker, having relocated from downtown Louisville, settles into rural Oldham County, and a new position in human resources recruiting and job placement. His relationship with Karen, a younger woman, deepens as she reveals her troubled past.Earlier choices by his fifteen-year-old daughter Lisa result in a vicious cycle of cyber-bullying that Don tries to overcome, without the help of community or law enforcement resources, while the unexpected death of a friend under tragic consequences throws him into depression.His dissolute sister Leslie, arrested on human trafficking charges, seeks his help in resetting her own life.The story introduces a new character, Gerald Alexopoulos, a naturalized Greek citizen with a penchant for home-country aphorisms, and Don's new boss, who becomes an important ally in unexpected ways.

Don Walker is a human resources manager for a mid-sized IT firm in Louisville, Kentucky. He is disenchanted with his profession and his employer. Divorced, he struggles with his fractious teen-aged daughter, and the seemingly intractable problems of his ex-wife, an alcoholic in an unhappy second marriage.His dissolute younger sister only adds to the mix.The only bright spot in his life is a new relationship with a younger, free-spirited woman. At thirty-nine years of age, he fears approaching middle age, and the loss of that relationship.This story covers a brief period when Don's life seems to be spinning out of control. Only through an unexpected inspiration does he manage to develop a renewed focus on life, and an understanding of what truly matters.

A young naval officer comes to grips with his feelings about racism, and struggles to resolve the conflict between the needs of his family, and his career. Based upon real events, it is clear that race problems in the US Navy were unresolved in the mid-1970's.Lieutenant (junior grade) Mitch Payne reports to the USS Scarslund, a Navy destroyer long past its prime, ready to work hard and restart his stalled career. He has to navigate treacherous wardroom politics, even as building racial tensions on the ship deteriorate.Everything comes to a head when all of the black sailors stage a massed disobedience of orders which hazards the ship. Payne, as the ship's legal officer, is then drawn into the Navy's prosecution of the ringleaders. The Navy's ham-fisted efforts to expunge traces of its discriminatory past, very similar to the discredited critical race theory of today, are also described in acid detail.

"An Uncertain Sea" is the third and final book in the Don DeFreese/USS Mulligan series. The story opens with Commander DeFreese facing a Court of Inquiry over his conduct during the ship's most recent deployment ("The Persian Paradox").In the meantime, to address challenges being posed by the People's Republic of China, the US Navy undertakes to shift resources from the Atlantic to the Pacific Fleet. The USS Mulligan, in a yard repair and maintenance period, is rushed out for Refresher Training at Guantanamo Naval Base, and from there, to the U.S. Seventh Fleet for operations in the South China Sea.After the 2020 election cycle, a Democrat Administration takes power in January of 2021. Turmoil in the Middle East drives the Administration, in an ill-considered decision, to then divert Seventh Fleet assets to the Middle East. While the Administration's attention is not focused on the Western Pacific, China, having misread the new President's view of the PRC, decides to 'restore' the renegade province of Taiwan to Beijing's control.Unable to develop a coherent strategy as tensions escalate, the Administration dithers while the Naval arm of the People's Liberation Army launches an invasion of Taiwan. The White House eventually decides a Seventh Fleet show of force will be sufficient to calm the situation. Instead, it provokes a further escalation of hostilities, and puts Carrier Strike Group Five, and the USS Mulligan, in harm's way.Meanwhile, the ambitious Democrat Vice-President, dissatisfied with the inability of the elderly President to come to any decision, and with an eye to the 2024 elections, attempts to order expanded air strikes against Chinese forces. Any resolution of this great power competition will come at a great cost to the US Navy.

"The Persian Paradox" is the sequel to "Old Salts, New Navy." Don DeFreese is now the Commanding Officer of the fictional USS Mulligan, one of the Navy's newest destroyers. The ship, having miraculously survived a near impact with a large meteorite the year before, is fresh out of overhaul, with its sophisticated Aegis Combat System fully operational.As a ballistic missile defense ship, the Mulligan is part of a carrier strike group headed for the Mediterranean and Black Sea, with the ship acting as an air defense unit for the strike group during the transit. Shortly after inchopping to the Sixth Fleet, the Mulligan is dispatched to monitor Russian naval activity near the Libyan capital of Tripoli, and encounters Russian technology that threatens to neutralize its sophisticated Aegis systems.As a result, the ship is detoured to Sicily to accommodate a visit from the Commander of the Navy's Sixth Fleet, Vice Admiral Jennifer Franklin herself. After debriefing the Admiral, and her staff, the Mulligan, along with an older destroyer, are dispatched to scout foreign shipping engaged in arms smuggling into Syria.Iranian Commander Tehrani, the CO of the IS Bahadur, a newly commissioned destroyer, is also in the Mediterranean, and, unknown to Captain DeFreese, seeks to exact revenge over the death of his father at the hands of the US Navy during operation 'Praying Mantis,' when Tehrani was but a teenager.Meanwhile, moderate elements of the Iranian regime are trying to engage the US State Department in constructing a bilateral approach to easing US sanctions, in exchange for unrestricted nuclear program transparency.How these three narratives unfold will keep the reader turning pages late into the night.

"Old Salts, New Navy" is a companion piece to Frederic Burr's first novel, "Mutinies." In this story, an older Mitch Payne, along with one of his former shipmates from the USS Scarslund, joins with two retired chief petty officers to go on one of the Navy's 'Tiger Cruises,' in which relatives of crewmembers are invited to 'ride along' during a transit from Rota, Spain to Norfolk, Virginia. The fictional USS Mulligan is one of the Navy's newest destroyers, complete with every advanced weapon system and technology ever developed. However, the ship is short-handed due to drawdowns of experienced officer and enlisted crew for the Navy's Seventh Fleet units. Although everything seems in order as the ship gets underway, problems show up in some of the ship's electronics systems at the outset. On the second day, the Mulligan is shadowed by a Russian submarine. Then, more than 2,000 miles from home, the ship suffers a catastrophic and cascading series of hi-tech failures and personnel casualties as the result of an unpredictable event.Not only pitching in to assist with make-shift repairs, these aged mariners try to show today's sailors how to communicate with the outside world, and navigate, without the crutch of technology, even while assisting the command team with personnel conduct issues unknown in their days in the surface fleet.

In 'Calling Hours,' attorney Clive Townsend, Boone's friend and source of business for the office, refers what looks like a garden variety case of insurance fraud. Burglars had raided a local warehouse, and the insurance company suspects inside involvement in the heist. As Boone investigates, the case turns out to be more complex than it first appeared. And when people inside the company start dying, Boone has to wonder who is the killer's next victim, and whether this is a case of insurance fraud, or something else?A teen-aged girl seeks Marianne's help in recovering some private and embarrassing digital images of herself on social media. Marianne tries to help the girl, who she suspects has been groomed for pornography by an online predator using social media as a hunting ground. Only after it's too late to help does she learn the teen-ager was on the verge of being forced into prostitution. Knowing the criminal justice system is weak, if not ineffectual against predators, what can she do? What must she do?Meanwhile, Marianne is spearheading the effort to locate larger office space to accommodate agency growth. Boone is resistant to the move, but with the spiraling crime in downtown Albany, and Marianne making him an offer he can't refuse, gives in. At the same time, Marianne comes to realize her life alone since the murder of her fiancé Toph (Journeys and Unaccountable), lacks the fulfillment of loving someone, and being loved in return.

'Dead Close' finds Boone and Marianne Bell, who is four months along in her pregnancy, settled in their new office space outside downtown Albany. Representing the owner of a vintage clothing shop accused of murder, Clive Townsend seeks Boone's help investigating his client's background to determine any possible motive for the crime. In addition to assigning surveillance tasks to three of Boone's former snitches, Marianne undertakes a forensic audit of a small woodworking company whose founder suspects his partner of embezzlement.The further Boone digs into the shop owner's background, the worse things look for Clive's client. The only bright spot is meeting the shop owner's single employee, Pearl Jagoda, a young Polish immigrant who recently became a citizen. As he untangles the shop owner's background with Marianne's assistance, people who might be able to provide him with valuable information wind up dead.Marianne's audit of the woodworking company, and the CPA who appears to be part of the embezzlement scheme, takes on a sinister turn when her client, and his wife, die in a house fire later determined to be arson.As Boone comes close to cracking the case, he is stunned to realize just who the killer is. And Marianne, believing the worst is behind her on her own file, learns too late that the worst is yet to come.

"Unaccountable" wraps up the Abby Series, and presents retired New York Police Detective Carl Boone in his own right, while introducing Marianne Bell. Together, Boone and Bell form the basis for the Boone-Bell series.Life for Abby and her husband Russell has returned to normal. Now in her first trimester, Abby is called on to sort out the estate of an elderly client, a retired FBI agent. Meanwhile, the fiancée of 'Toph' Lefan, Russell's murdered friend, is seeking answers. Russell refers her to former New York State Police Detective Sergeant, Carl Boone, who has just opened his own office as a private investigator.Knowing the power and far-reaching influence of those indirectly responsible for Toph's murder, both Russell and Boone try to dissuade her, to no avail.No one could have foreseen how Abby's work on the estate, and the fiancée's quest for information, would trigger individuals within the FBI into raising a wall of silence around evidence suspected to be in the deceased agent's possession, evidence they would do anything to hide.

Wracked with guilt over his failure to prevent the murder of his friend's widow, Mazie Tucker, and convinced it was dangerous for anyone to become close to him, Boone leaves Albany and everyone he knows behind, searching for anonymity and seclusion. He believes he has found such a place in the sparsely settled community of West Harper on the eastern shore of Chautauqua Lake.But his black dog of depression, stalking him throughout his career in law enforcement and as a licensed private investigator, continues to hound him.The death of a victim, or a friend, had always affected him deeply, causing Boone to consider himself an abject failure. As he sinks into a deep depression, he becomes convinced that suicide is the only way to end the pain. Eventually, it falls to Tom McAvoy, Boone's friend, and Trooper Alexandra Burton to try to convince Boone to return to Albany, and those who care for him.At the same time, his partner Marianne tries to keep the office afloat, hoping to give Boone time to come to grips with Mazie's death. She hires a co-worker to assist her. Investigating a case referred by Clive Townsend, Marianne uncovers a smuggling operation that results in tragedy for her co-worker, and puts her own life in jeopardy.Tom McAvoy tries to keep Marianne in hiding, staying one step ahead of those who mean her harm. As a consequence, she learns more about the sex industry than she ever wanted to know, and the Amish.The smuggling operation uncovered by Marianne turns out to be something much worse than any of them could have ever predicted.

It was nearly midnight on a Saturday night in early June. Boone received a call from Mazie Tucker, the wife of New York State Police Detective George Tucker, a close personal friend of Boone's.Mazie had returned home from a night out with friends to find Tuck in his recliner, dead, apparently from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The flat-panel set was blaring a cop show, the volume turned up as high as possible.Unable to accept her husband of thirty years would take his own life, and distressed by State Police focusing on suicide, Mazie reached out to the only person she could trust.Marianne Bell, Boone's partner, tries to help a young woman victimized through identity theft. Even though she eventually solves the case, her client's subsequent actions, undertaken despite Marianne's advice, result in tragedy.As Boone investigates the circumstances of Tuck's death, he is faced with two possible suspects, neither of which he feels responsible, even when one of them is charged with the murder as a result of DNA evidence. Only through dogged pursuit of available leads does he learn the identity of the killer. But will he be in time to prevent another killing?'Unmasked' reintroduces the character of Alexandra Burton from the earlier work, 'Lens Capture,' where readers also met Tuck for the first time. Alex is now a New York State Trooper and possible ally of Boone's. Or is she something different?

In 'Guardian Angel,' the sequel to 'BOONE', Boone reluctantly allows Marianne, his office assistant, to work with him on a fraud case that seems routine. Things go well, Marianne captures incriminating photographs of the target which wraps up the case. Her accomplishment however results in catastrophic consequences for her.While the effects of the fraud case have yet to unravel, a friendly confidential informant from Boone's days with the New York State Police turns to him for help after being fleeced by a crooked cop, one Antonio Caruso. The informant's body is discovered the following morning. As Boone begins to investigate, he finds himself being shadowed by Albany police tipped off by one of the city's gangs.After working on site at one of the office's clients, Marianne later finds herself charged with murder as a result. The evidence against her seems to be rock solid. Frustrated by the seeming intractability of both cases, Boone lashes out at Deborah, jeopardizing their flourishing romance. While defense attorney Clive Townsend tries to untangle the charges against Marianne, Boone struggles to find the link between both cases. Just as he seems to be able to fit all the pieces of the puzzle together, someone else has a very different plan, leading to explosive consequences for both Boone, and Marianne.

As "Disguises" opens, Boone is staying at Deborah's home while recuperating from his recent shooting. Given the extent and severity of his injuries, recovery is a slow and frustrating process for him. Deborah, having grown accustomed to having him in her home, suggests they consider living together. Hesitant but game, he tries to come to grips in his mind with what would be a very different lifestyle and living arrangement than he is accustomed to.Marianne, his assistant and aspiring partner-to-be, receives a call from a widow in financially desperate straits, seeking information about her husband's death a year and a half earlier. From all indications, this will turn out to be a charity case with little to no chance of a good resolution. Boone finds it impossible to say no.Attorney Clive Townsend, a source of referrals for Boone's office and close personal friend, meanwhile asks Boone to locate evidence helpful to a female divorce client. This request involves conduct that borders on illegality. For help, Boone calls on Tom McAvoy, an old friend from their days together in the military, having no idea of what will ultimately develop.As if he doesn't have enough to demand his attention, a divorcée asks Boone to locate her adult daughter who left home several weeks earlier. The woman is concerned her daughter may about to 'do something bad.' Boone agrees to take the case with reservations.As these cases unfold, he is forced to recall a lesson he learned much earlier in life. Everyone is not who, or even what, they seem to be.

Private investigator Carl Boone finds himself pulled into the sexual undercurrent flowing through American culture in two unrelated cases. His office is on solid footing, with Marianne Bell now working as his office manager and assistant. When the wife of a local publisher seeks his help in an extortion case, he is captivated by her extraordinary beauty, only to learn that beauty is not always what it seems. At the same time, local attorney Clive Townsend, a significant source of business for Boone's office, seeks his help. A friend of Townsend's fourteen-year-old daughter faces a charge of second degree murder. His investigation develops in fits and starts, branching off into unexpected and, in Boone's case, dangerous areas. What looked like a case involving drug-fueled sex between two teenagers becomes something else entirely.