Gina Cox

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

Title: Mortal Verdict
Subtitle: When the Executioner Appears… The Judgment is Final.
Author: Gina Cox
Publisher: Alight
Classification: Fiction/​LIterature/​African-American Studies
Publication Month: February 2009
Price: $14.95
Index: No
Page Count: 370
Trim Size: 5.5"x8.5"
Binding: Perfect
ISBN-10: 0-9785919-0-9
ISBN-13: 978-0-9785919-0-8
Distributor: Independent Publishers Group (IPG)

SYNOPSIS

When the Executioner Appears... The Judgment is Final.

A homicide witness who becomes the hunted. A military weapons specialist with a cache of ammunition and a deadly grudge. An international banker with the power to destroy anyone he pleases. These three become inextricably entwined when a teenage boy is murdered senselessly.

Fast forward eighteen months.

New York City. Hot July evening. The streets catch fire when someone walks in a notorious narcotics den and blows away one of the biggest drug dealers in New York and two others, gangland-style. Carefully planned and perfectly executed, the killer leaves the NYPD is at a loss and the New York underworld in chaos. There’s a sole witness who can only tell police the following:

“African-American female. Average height. Average build...”

The witness can’t describe the killer’s face. That makes her as concrete and easy to catch as a hologram. A dirty cop has a vested interest in finding out more. His instincts tell him this is just the beginning and there’s more to the assassinations than meet the eye. It turns out he’s right when the sole witness turns up dead. What this cop doesn’t realize however, is that he’s being watched. And the time to pay for his transgressions is drawing near...

A handsome New York City Firefighter falls in love with a mysterious woman he meets in a nightclub. She’s nebulous. Exciting. The perfect combination of hot and cold. She ignites a passion he’s never known and he realizes he wants to marry this woman and spend the rest of his life with her. She’s everything a man could possibly want and more. But, there’s one problem: he doesn’t know who she really is. Why is she so evasive? What does she fail to reveal? He never dreams that uncovering her true identity can cost him his life.

Someone continues to cut down the underworld with extreme prejudice, a cunning and thorough killer who eludes capture at every turn. Confusion’s the game and it’s clear she knows how to play. In a world where sex, narcotics and greenbacks rule, treachery and deceit are inevitable. Everyone is suspect and no one is safe. A hungry reporter smells a sensational story and begins to salivate. Who does this assassin work for? What does she want? Is she in it for herself? As the corpses are stacked, fingers start pointing and turf wars begin. The underworld becomes gripped with fear and a lot of people decide to find this woman. And get rid of her.

For good.

An elderly lady who lives near an abandoned cemetery may hold the key. Or, a young basketball player with an insatiable appetite for sex. As different as they appear, these two will share a common fate when they cross paths with a woman who is not what she seems.

And only one man knows the truth—an aging Catholic priest bound by a code of silence. He alone knows the killer’s next move. But, he cannot reveal his deadly secret.

Across the Atlantic Ocean, a Swiss banker earnestly awaits the return of a beautiful woman whose wealth and mystery build while her story unfolds. A temptress in command of her craft, she is the queen of seduction—an unrivaled manipulator. The question is: will the banker live long enough to uncover her ultimate plan?

She has many identities, but only one will unlock the mystery. Her code name is Atalanta: judge, jury and executioner rolled into one, unrecognizable face. A woman with a secret past and terrible sentence to impose, Atalanta takes no prisoners. And those who deserve her vengeance quake with fear. For whenever she appears, hell-bent on enforcing her brand of deliverance, the verdict is swift and punishment is absolute.

And no one, not even the man she loves, can stop her.

Return to top of page

EXCERPT

Bless me Father, for I have sinned…

She began just like any other parishioner who entered Saint Mary of Perpetual Grace, seeking the Sacrament of Penance on a Saturday afternoon. The old church in Vailsburg was empty; she was the only person who had entered in the past hour and suddenly, she filled the space with her presence. Her voice was low and guarded: “It’s been many years since my last Confession...”

Father Eamon A. Thomas was in his forty-eighth year as parish priest; he’d held the “power of the keys” for decades—conferred grace, forgiven countless venial sins and could often sense what was about to be said. This time though, he had no clue of what was on the sinner’s mind.

She was wearing perfume, a light scent of musk and spice that reminded him of incense. He suspected the woman was young, but she sounded weary, the way a troubled soul does after many years of hard living. Father Thomas shifted in his seat. “Proceed, my child.”

It was then that he felt her energy, just as he could feel the stillness of the air inside the confessional. His heart jolted unexpectedly and he placed a hand to his chest. The woman hesitated and then she uttered a few words—muffled words that rumbled together in a low hum. Father Thomas smoothed his vestments and leaned into the lattice partition so that he could hear her clearly. She fell silent. The priest waited. A moment later, there was the faint sound of air being pulled between her teeth. Father Thomas bowed his head and continued to wait, wondering why his heart was beating so fast.

The woman exhaled in a long sigh.

And then, she told him a story…

Return to top of page

STORY FACTS

While MORTAL VERDICT is a work of fiction, it contains a number of current and historical facts. To ensure the accuracy of information contained in the book, the author has conducted comprehensive research in the following: criminal psychology, weaponry, ballistics, forensic science, police procedure (particularly that of the NYPD), investigative journalism, hospital emergency room procedure and more. The author has also interviewed with NYPD members, print and television reporters, a NYFD captain, a NYC Department of Corrections officer, a physician, a clinical psychologist and others. Newspaper articles were compiled for use as factual references.

At the end of the book, the reader finds a listing of the facts related to situations in the story entitled: Current and Historical Facts as well as a bibliography. Current and Historical Facts provides snippets of a range of topics which may be of interest to the reader:


• AIDS and African-Americans
• Africville, Canada
• Black Wall Street, Tulsa, Oklahoma
• The Bridge Street and Concord Baptist churches in Brooklyn (both were part of the Underground Railroad)
• Carrville, Brooklyn
• Catholicism
• Date rape
• Domestic abuse
• Eminent Domain
• Greek and Roman mythology
• Native American myths and legends
• The over-incarceration of Black men in America
• The Patriot Act
• Sandy Ground, Staten Island
• The Second Amendment to the Constitution
• Weeksville, Brooklyn
• The 2,221 Association (African-Americans fighting in WWII)

Contact: Renne Michaels
(212)316-1017 Phone/​Fax
publicity@​ginacox.com

Return to top of page