Time Release

Pittsburgh, 1986: The city is gripped in a panic as a maniac slips poison onto pharmacy shelves. All of the evidence has pointed to Ron Corbett, but shoddy policework let Corbett off the hook, left the crime unsolved. Ten years later, it’s happening again. This time, for the most personal of reasons, Detective Downing has made it his mission to see Corbett behind bars. He enlists the help of Jim Christensen, a psychologist who specializes in memory, to interview Corbett’s son, now a young man with a painful past and problems of his own. Does the boy remember his father poisoning pill containers? Has he blocked memories of a horrific crime spree enacted in his own house? As Christiansen explores the boy’s memory and Downing grows more obsessive investigating the case, both men fear that the killings now may not be as random as they once thought, and that unlocking memories may draw them too close to a vicious predator. “Time Release sizzles, cooks, and singes! It’s a whipcord thriller full of deftly drawn characters, intrigue, and taut action. This is a spellbindingly accomplished first novel”—James Ellroy, New York Times bestselling author of The Big Nowhere “Time Release is a fast, smart read and one fine thriller.”—Robert Ferrigno, New York Times bestselling author of Prayers for the Assassin “Unexpected plot twists and breathless tension combine for a suspenseful ride that doesn’t let up.”—The Kansas City StarAmazon.com ReviewHere's an exceptionally smart and exciting first thriller from a fine journalist who knows how to take items from recent headlines--poison in painkillers, repressed memory--and turn them into totally absorbing fiction. Psychologist Jim Christensen, raising two daughters on his own, has many reasons not to get involved in a mass murder case which could harm his family. But the troubled boy at the heart of the mystery is too much of a challenge for Christensen to resist. About the AuthorMartin J. Smith is a veteran journalist and magazine editor. He has won more than 40 newspaper and magazine writing awards, and four times was nominated by his newspaper for the Pulitzer Prize. Born in Birmingham, Alabama, and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he began writing professionally while a student at Pennsylvania State University in the late 1970s. His 15-year career as a newspaper reporter took him around the world, from the rural poverty of Southwestern Pennsylvania to Nevada?s Mustang Ranch bordello; from the riot-torn streets of Los Angeles to the revolutionary streets of Manila; from pre-glasnost Siberia to the new frontier of cyberspace. He currently is editor-at-large of Orange Coast magazine in Orange County, Calif., a regional monthly magazine he edited for four years. Smith lives with his wife and their two children in Southern California, where he remains part of an often overlooked minority -- the Soccer Dad. You can email the author at enos@ix.netcom.com