Dry Heat

A Novel

by Len Joy

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Pub Date Mar 01 2022 | Archive Date Aug 31 2022

Mystery & Thrillers

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Description

“A boy who loses everything but his heart."

The day All-American Joey Blade turns 18, he learns his ex-girlfriend is pregnant, is betrayed by his new girlfriend, and is arrested for the attempted murder of two police officers. Then things get bad.

The high school bonfire is supposed to be the kickoff to a great night: Joey has just won a football scholarship and he's hoping for a sex breakthrough with his new girlfriend. Then his true love--but ex-girlfriend--Mallory tells him she's pregnant. He's reeling from that news when the bonfire explodes.

Joey, his new girlfriend and her drug dealer friend TJ, flee in her truck. When the police pursue, TJ shoots at the cop's car. It crashes and in the ensuing chaos TJ slips away undetected. Joey, the only adult in the truck, is hauled off to jail.

Joey is charged with attempted murder and released on bail. TJ is nowhere to be found. When Joey discovers that Mallory's father is pressuring her to terminate the pregnancy, Joey has to remain free to prevent that from happening. In desperation, he reaches out to notorious gang leader, Chico Torres, whom he met in jail, for help locating TJ.

When Joey is offered a deal--his freedom in exchange for his cooperation in nailing Chico--he faces a decision that will change the course of his life and Mallory's.

A Note From the Publisher

eBook ISBN - 978-1-952782-53-4

Advance Praise

“Dry Heat is a page-turner with heart. A tale of star-crossed lovers and best-laid plans run amok, this smoothly written novel is full of friendship, family, and redemption.” – Nickolas Butler, author of Shotgun Lovesongs and Godspeed

“Through misunderstanding and bad luck, a young man of real integrity gets on the wrong side of the law. But the real test of Joey Blade’s integrity will involve the people he loves—his girlfriend Mallory and his locally influential father. Dry Heat exposes in picturesque Phoenix a corrupt level of society, which a young man must navigate using only his own moral compass.” – Louis P. Jones, author of Innocence and Prodigal in the City

“Len Joy delivers in this page-turning coming of age story. Joy’s signature style brings the story of an innocent teen forced to navigate the criminal justice system to life. Engrossing and heartbreaking. Dry Heat is unputdownable.” – Jen Collins Moore, author of the Maggie White Mysteries

“Award-winning author Len Joy is back with another action and character-driven thriller. Joey Blade is a high school sports superstar with a free ride to a major university’s football program. Everything changes when he makes bad decisions about the company he keeps, and he is charged with a serious crime. Adding more bad choices to the first, he finds himself negotiating a world filled with hardened criminals. Two decades later, difficult choices still bedevil him. In the end, he faces a choice that could end his life or his freedom but which promises to save his family from ruin. Memorable characters, some deeply flawed but also worthy, given the world in which they must live, populate the story. Fans of courtroom drama will especially enjoy the book.” – Drew Bridges, author of A New Haunt for Mr. Bierce and Billion Dollar Bracket

“. . . The novel is straightforward but effective, employing direct prose to show how incompetence and innocent mistakes snowball into life-changing personal catastrophes. . . “ – Eileen Gonzalez, Foreword Reviews

“The novel reads like a play, with the characters’ own words, particularly in court scenes, conveying most of the action. Joey’s tenderness and candidness toward Mallory convincingly set him apart from his mates’ brash talk and lack of sportsmanship. Visually captivating attention to people’s appearance and references to 1990s pop culture enhances the stark Arizona scenery depicted. . . Celebrating the hard work of maintaining human dignity, this is a fiery story of just rewards.” – Mari Carlson, The US Review of Books

“Len Joy’s Dry Heat takes the reader through Joey Blade’s tumultuous journey of lost love, lost dreams, and betrayal. Joey is not a character you will soon forget. Len Joy is a master storyteller whose skillful use of gripping action scenes and captivating dialogue result in relentless pacing that keeps the reader glued to the page. Tension mounts throughout the story as the reader aches for Joey to find his way, ending in a riveting climax. Well done, Len Joy.” - Gregory Lee Renz, author of Beneath the Flames.