To begin the new year, I am introducing a relatively new friend.  I met Mark Bouton last year when we both took a course on writing film scripts from Esther Luttrell, both thinking of adapting our novels, I believe.  Mark has since published his first novel, so now has a book in print.  He is also a new member of the Kansas Authors Club.

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Max Austin, a former FBI agent-turned-P.I., is hired by an attorney whose client is accused of killing her rich husband.  Vickie Jacobsen says a prowler shot her husband, Morrie, beside their pool with Morrie's own gun, but Max discovers enough clues to be suspicious.  So he delves into business records, associates, and the autopsy report to determine the true story.  He's soon enmeshed in a world of drugs, porn, and casino skimming.  The further he goes, the more he finds out . . . and the more people start dying.  Between crooked cops, gunplay, and stabbings, Max must move fast to prevent more sudden deaths--including his own.

Mark Bouton, author of the mystery novel Max Conquers the Cosmos, was an investigative FBI agent for thirty years.  He's nabbed killers and kidnappers and played a key role in solving the Oklahoma City bombing.  Now retired, he lives in Carbondale, Kansas, where he enjoys studying the stars and communing with nature.  He uses his law degree, his background in law enforcement, and his interest in astronomy and cosmology throughout this new book, just published by Five Star, Waterville, Maine.   Bouton is now working on the next book in this series.

For more information on the book and its author, including reviews, see http://www.markbouton.com