Tag Archives: Murder in Silence

Hall of Fame Celebration: Gary Kassay Launches Murder In Silence!

Posted on July 5, 2012 | 13 comments

Roll out the red carpet!
Open the champagne!
It’s time to enter the Hall of Fame!

Please join us in celebrating as my fellow Sapphire Star Publishing author, Gary Kassay, launches Murder in Silence, the first book in the Duke Becker Series! I’m partial to a cracking crime thriller, so I can’t wait to get stuck into this one later today… Meanwhile, I give you:

Gary Kassay!!!

First I would like to thank Nicky Wells for inviting me to her Hall of Fame blog.  It is an honor to be included here and to be a part of the same family with Nicky, Sapphire Star Publishing.

You’re welcome, Gary, I’m excited you’re visiting today, on such a big and important day for you! Tell us a bit more about your work…

The first of the Duke Becker series, Murder in Silence, is being released on today!  Let me give you a little background on myself and the inspiration for Inspector Duke Becker.  Back in 1982 I was in training with the New York Transit Police Department for the Canine Unit.  The training was intense and probably the best time I ever had.  One day an event occurred and I immediately thought to myself what a great plot for a book! (No, I am not going to tell you what that event was…it would spoil everything.)  In any case, I thought about that book till 2004, 22 years of developing the plot, characters and dialogue.  The result is Murder in Silence and the sequels that will follow.

22 years… wow, Gary: good things come to those who wait! And what a fabulous cover! Can we have a little excerpt to get a flavour for what’s in store?

Of course! Here is a small sample from Murder in Silence…I hope you enjoy it!

The front door opened and Ms. Marielle Wilson, a.k.a. the Wicked Witch, entered Dudley’s looking as if she was ready for a night at the Academy Awards and this was the red carpet. She looked to be in her thirties, which I knew she wasn’t, with long, silky blond hair that framed her oval face. She was pretty, but way too thin for my taste. Her eyes were a very deep blue, probably colored contacts, and her lips were ruby red. I figured that she was about 5’10” without her heels, which now made her closer to 6’2″. Her dress was made of some iridescent material that sparkled and was the exact shade of blue as her eyes. There was no broomstick or flying monkeys present.

Somehow she must have known who I was because she walked directly up to me. I stood up. “Good evening, Ms. Wilson. Would you care for a drink or would you prefer we get a table for dinner?” She gave me a smile, which had the effect of sending chills down my spine. Something about those white, perfect teeth, of which there seemed to be too many, and the total insincerity in her smile made me think of her not as the Wicked Witch from Oz, but as a shark. Beautiful but dangerous.

“Actually, Inspector, I’m on my way to dinner with someone in…um…about twenty minutes, so let’s just stay here.”

At that moment, I was happy that we were on dry land because if we had been in the water, I had no doubt that I would be eaten alive.

Wow! I certainly did enjoy the excerpt, and can’t wait to read more on my Kindle tonight! Congrats on launch day, Gary, and I hope it goesfantastically well!

Murder in Silence is now available in Kindle and paperback editions from amazon.co.uk and amazon.com.

Let’s find out more about Gary Kassay, the man behind the book:

Gary Kassay, author of the Duke Becker Series, is a former member of the NYPD Transit K-9 Unit.  Besides a career as a Police Officer, he has been the owner of a commercial photo company, an X-ray tech for humans and animals, and a TSA employee. He now resides in Casper, Wyoming with his wife Raella, three dogs, and one black cat.

When Gary is not working on the next installment of his Duke Becker series, he enjoys spending quiet times with his wife, writing the Duke Becker series, reading, and when there isn’t snow on the ground, a good round of golf.

You can follow Gary on Twitter and on Facebook, visit his website or blog. Gary also has an author page at Sapphire Star Publishing and a Murder in Silence fan page on Facebook.

Now, then, crime written by an ex cop: the epitome of ‘write what you know’! Do you have any questions for Gary? Let’s hear them…

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CentreStage on Nicky’s Blog: Gary Kassay

Posted on March 13, 2012 | 12 comments

Welcome to CentreStage! CentreStage is a new feature on my blog that will showcase fantastic authors from around the world, introducing in particular my fellow authors in the Sapphire Star Publishing family, as well as fellow featured authors at loveahappyending.com. In this new, exciting feature, these authors might write for you about their lives, or their writing journey, or anything else that matters to them. Every feature will be different in format and flavour, so watch out for a variety of stories and tales.

Today, it is my tremendous pleasure to welcome Gary Kassay to this first edition of CentreStage!

CentreStage: Please give it up for…. Gary Kassay!

GARY KASSAY WRITES: “HOW DID I GET HERE?”

Before I let you in on my words of wisdom (well, maybe there is some wisdom here), I want to say a big thank you to Nicky Wells for asking me to be a guest on her blog. Nicky is a wonderful author and a member of Sapphire Star Publishing.
Nicky says: Thanks, Gary! I am delighted to give you centre stage on my blog today! 🙂

Okay, on to the words of wisdom. My name is Gary Kassay, and I am the author of the Duke Becker Series, signed by Sapphire Star Publishing. When I was growing up (many, many, many years ago), the thought of being an author never, ever crossed my mind. For one thing, I was terrible in English (I was thrown out of my seventh grade class), and for another, I wanted to be a cop. Well, the world works in mysterious ways.

Back in 1982, when I was a Police Officer in NYC in the K-9 unit, a thought was put into my head, a tiny little seed of a thought. I let that seed germinate now and then for over 22 years! Life sometimes throws us curveballs, hard times, tragedies. It did that to me in 2003 and for some reason, one of the things it did was to take that little seed, which was now a full-grown tree in my head, and bring it back into my thoughts.

I started to write down the story that I had let grow, (after 22 years it really was fully grown!) and began to put it to paper. That’s right; I started to write it down in longhand, a mistake that I never made again! The story flowed easily and after only six weeks I had about 450 pages of what was to be my first novel, “Murder in Silence”.

I never thought about publishing the story; in fact I was never going to write another book. Of course, I gave copies to my family and close friends (after getting it typed up!). They all said it was good, that I had written a real suspense-filled murder mystery, that it needed to be published, and so on. (What else were they going to say?—I have a gun!) I didn’t really believe them, at first, but soon there were about 200 people who had read it and raved. They also wanted a sequel!

So, I began to write another Duke Becker book, then another, and another. I also tried for almost eight years to find a publisher, and I am happy to say that the wait was well worth it!

Well, that is how I got to be where I am, writing the fifth book in the Duke Becker Series, having the first one released on July 5, 2012,with the sequel due out in January 2012. It has been an exciting ride and I know it will only get better thanks to my fans, fellow authors, and Amy and Katie over at Sapphire Star Publishing.

Oh, if you were still waiting for the words of wisdom. I guess these will have to do. “Never close the door on your dreams, let them lead you where they may, you never know what you might have been destined for.”

About “Murder in Silence” by Gary Kassay, to be published by Sapphire Star Publishing on July 5, 2012

Two New York Police Officers have been murdered, their throats torn out. With only two clues to follow, both which make no sense, Inspector Duke Becker may be facing his first failure.   Becker is in charge of Special Investigations, Homicide…a unit that investigates high profile murder cases. Will Becker and his squad stop the brutal killer or will more Police Officers die?

About Gary Kassay

Gary Kassay, author of the Duke Becker Series, is a former member of the NYPD Transit K-9 Unit. Besides a career as a Police Officer, he has been the owner of a commercial photo company, an X-ray tech for humans and animals and a TSA employee. He now resides in Casper Wyoming with his wife Raella, three dogs and one black cat.

You can follow Gary on Twitter and on Facebook, visit his website or blog. Gary also has an author page at Sapphire Star Publishing and a Murder in Silence fan page on Facebook.

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