“Get it!…”
“A rousing crime tale with an indelible cast and a sharp, edgy environment…O’Neill infuses his series opener with a perpetual sense of unease.”
—KIRKUS REVIEWS
From KIRKUS Reviews:
“Get it!…”Romance fans will enjoy the Alby-Ginger dynamic, which illustrates the stops-and-starts of nurturing a relationship amid the distraction of running for one’s life…Character descriptions are clear and often clever, as in the noirish line, “She did not like guns, but they seemed to like her.” Things take a potentially deadly turn in the feverish final act, which ends with a hint of another sequel. A quiet but effective novel that slowly rises in intensity.”
—KIRKUS REVIEWS
Framing my life and my writing is the fact that my father was a con man and mob money launderer who used his wages to pay for my very upright Quaker education, which emphasized a principled life. Growing up was filled with wiretaps, FBI agents, and, finally, my father’s fall from grace and his federal trial. Moral ambiguity and redemption are very personal themes.
My life? Disregarded most of society’s rules—except for the importance of decency, empathy and humanity.
After several decades of film school, professional writing, public speaking, and travel blogging experience, my first two novels, Even a Pandemic Can’t Stop Love and Murder and Even Climate Change Can’t Stop Love and Murder, are the first two installments of the adventures Ginger Rogers and partner, Alby O’Brien as they find each other, fall in awkward love all the while hounded by a very polite murdering sociopath. A romance/thriller that takes place in the mid-2020s, it was inspired by a true story. told to me by my father years ago, the plot centers on a robbery at a mob-owned bank and the violent consequences that followed.
Will Ginger and Alby survive their new home in the West?
At times, it seems doubtful they will make it to Sedona, Arizona. Even worse, they have no idea of the danger that waits for them there.
Crossing the United States to relocate to their new witness protection home in Arizona, Ginger and Alby’s search for love is marred by violent interludes with insurrectionists, white supremacists, and jihadists. Yet the worse threat of all is the fury of climate chaos-- storms beyond measure, a bitter fact of life in 2026. And as our characters soon discover, these storms’ death and destruction becomes very personal.
Even Climate Change Can't Stop Love and Murder: Paying the Price is the second novel of this romance thriller series and offers a uniquely American vision of love and murder, trauma, and healing. Traveling with Alby, Ginger shares her life with him, but not the dark secrets of her childhood which explain so much of her strong, determined character. Their dialogue is based on the snappy patter of the 1930s.
All the threads of their old life and new, culminate at Tuzigoot Pueblo national monument, where Ginger and Alby face certain death, —and someone does pay the price.
Full Pacific Book Review
Alfred O'Neill's Even Climate Change Can't Stop Love and Murder Vol.2 Paying the Price is a sequel to O'Neill's Even a Pandemic Can't Kill Love and Murder Vol.1 Break the Bank. The book is a pelleting of the psychological, political, and crime thriller sub-genres. The writing is spiced with observations on catastrophic climate change.
The book picks up the story right where the first book left off - Alby and Ginger escaping. It begins with Alby and Ginger preparing to run, helped by 'The Handlers.' They receive new names, vax ID cards, driver's licenses, and Social Security cards, as well as details about their families, education, the high school they attended (including Ginger's favorite teacher's name), jobs, and how they met and got married. Next, Ginger and Alby begin their road trip in a truck. Their destination is Sedona, where they secretly have to start a new life.
Since the book is the second in the series, the plot starts right with the action and builds it further in a well-structured manner. In addition, readers glimpse the inner lives of the central and supporting characters through the narration of the story's different points of view. Each character is provided with flashbacks which add depth to their significance. Also, Ginger's personality and her troubled past have been fully developed. Jagger's childhood trauma and complex relationships with his father are well-written, offering more profound insight into Jagger as a person. The chemistry between Alby and Ginger develops as they gradually learn about each other's personalities and grow closer. The initial trip serves their relationship as they are forced to let themselves be vulnerable in front of each other.
The book's setting in the period of the climate crisis gives this exciting tale a new level of suspense. The connection between Alby and Ginger and key storyline twists keeps readers interested in the characters. Whatever the case, the book closes on a suspenseful one-liner cliff-hanger that could reveal more about Alby and Ginger's complex relationship. I suggest this book to people who like slow-burning thrillers with a touch of romance, contemporary world issues, and American politics.
The Great Reviews are Coming in!
“Romance fans will enjoy the Alby-Ginger dynamic, which illustrates the stops-and-starts of nurturing a relationship amid the distraction of running for one’s life…
…Alfred O'Neill's EVEN CLIMATE CHANGE CAN’T STOP LOVE AND MURDER (the second in a series) is a literary thrill ride full of sharp social commentary wrapped in a mystery with a touch of romance.”
—IndieReader (4.8 out of 5)
“Character descriptions are clear and often clever, as in the noirish line, “She did not like guns, but they seemed to like her.” Things take a potentially deadly turn in the feverish final act, which ends with a hint of another sequel. A quiet but effective novel that slowly rises in intensity. “— Kirkus Reviews
"The book's setting in the period of the climate crisis gives this exciting tale a new level of suspense. I suggest this book to people who like slow-burning thrillers with a touch of romance, contemporary world issues, and American politics.”
—Manik Chaturmutha, Pacific Book Review, 5-Star Review
"Weaving such a human and real love story into a thriller was a perfect way to hook the audience...Highly recommended."
—JJ Barnes, Editor at The Table Read
Book One
“…A rousing crime tale with an indelible cast and a sharp, edgy environment…”
—Kirkus Review
“O’Neill kicks off this series with suspense, romance, and the right dose of humor. A must listen!”
—Sean Pratt (award-winning narrator, for such companies as Blackstone Audiobooks, Tantor Media, Gildan Audio, Harper Collins, Penguin Random House)
BASED ON A TRUE STORY
Does anything stop the overwhelming human impulses that drive love and murder? It is the mid-2020s. Alby O'Brien is hiding in southern New Jersey to avoid the wrath of terrorists who are after him. Believing he is safely hidden in his cave-like garage apartment, he supports himself on under-the-table fix-it work while wrestling with nightmares of what happened in Iraq. But his minimal existence is about to end with very dire consequences.
Within the first twenty-four hours of this one-week, fast-paced thriller, he is involved in a major robbery, meets a woman with a mysterious past andcrosses paths with a psychotically polite killer called Jagger. Something very valuable has been taken from a mob-run bank and now everyone is after Alby. Despite his life being on the line, all he can think about is the alluring and volatile dancer. As it all comes to a head, Alby knows his choices are few and his fate could go either way.
Break the Bank—volume 1 of 3—is based on a true story. Told to the author by his father, it is the true story of a mob bank getting ripped off and the ensuing violent consequences.
“…an intriguing crime story…also a romantic drama… while these conflicting narrative strands seem incompatible, O’Neill confidently weaves them into a complementary whole. Alby and Ginger’s romance is brimming with witty dialogue, comedic interludes, and conflict.”
—BlueInk
