Letter Thirty-one

March 6, 2008

Dear Editor:
American Publishing hates me. Please consider taking up their leavings in my new crime novel, THE ICICLE CRIMINAL.

Harry Swift is living a suburban nightmare. His high-school sweetheart wife is dead, and ten years of drudgery at a computer terminal have turned this dedicated father of twins into an angry survivor. Being passed over for promotion for the fifth time by his millionaire boss and then fired for something he didn’t do is the final straw. With his dreams in the dumpster, Harry trudges home to find a technicality in his mortgage agreement has brought the entire balance due now. The twins want Domino's pizza. Harry is broke. The hunger for mozzarella and hot wings in his children’s eyes brings him to a decision that will change him forever.

He is cold. Clever. A nobody. The perfect thief.

He botches his first crimes, but learns well from his mistakes. He’s temporarily staved off the mortgage wolf at the door. Now needs one big job to make a clean break for him and his kids. He can buy then sell the house, move the family and live a life of peace in warm climes. A local diamond convention provides the perfect venue for the crime that will make all his dreams come true. A forty-carat diamond awaits him, and he has the know-how to access their computerized security system.

He’s ready, but during the act, a cleaning woman finds herself right in the middle of the action. Dragged along for the ride, Maggie bargains for her life. Her presence ruins the plan. The heist is a failure. Maggie demands more for her silence. What else can a furious diamond thief do but make her a partner?

The final day of the diamond convention approaches. Harry and Maggie have two days to plan and steal their next target, a sixteenth century diamond cane tip being flown in under extreme security the following day. As the lights come up in the convention center, Harry and Maggie go to work.

Everything goes wrong; security is but a step away from their every move, the computer program that will give them the thirty seconds they need to lift the cane tip fails. The convention center is in lock down. Harry and Maggie make peace with their approaching grand theft conviction by sharing a tender kiss. They promise to write from their respective prisons.

But Harry won’t let go of his dream. Hidden in an elevator shaft, Harry writes a daring new program, outruns the police, steals the prize, and rescues the girl from capture.

At home that night, Harry and Maggie watch their secret gambit broadcast to the world on the evening news. In epilogue, Harry’s house has a sold sign out front, he and Maggie are wed, and the entire family is packing up the new Suburban to make the drive to Florida. Together.

If you like THE ICICLE CRIMINAL, upon acceptance I will fly to New York and dance an Irish jig for you.

Sincerely,

U.S. Writer