THE DRUMMER by Anthony Neil Smith / Z-View
THE DRUMMER by Anthony Neil Smith
First sentence…
The bleach-blonde fancy boy stood in the doorway of this small bar at the edge of the French Quarter hoping to be recognized, but those days were long gone.
The Overview: Beware of Spoilers…
Fourteen years ago Cal Christopher disappeared. Cal was the drummer of Savage Nights. The popular heavy metal band wasn’t top tier. It was just below. But outside the group’s inner circle, no one knew the in- fighting. Or that the band was facing bankruptcy. Cal saw the writing on the wall. He moved enough of his assets to live comfortably for life, burned down his mansion and vanished.
Cal moved to New Orleans. He became Merle Johnson.
Merle is happy. New Orleans is home. All is good. Then one day Merle is confronted by Todd Delacroix, the formed lead singer of Savage Nights. Todd threatens to expose Cal if he doesn’t out himself. Delacroix wants the group back together for a reunion tour. A last chance to cash in on the group’s fame.
Merle has many reasons not to come back as Cal. The IRS and the fact that he burned down his mansion are two. Merle says he’ll consider and agrees to meet Delacroix later. When Merle shows up at Delacroix’s hotel room he finds him unconscious, surrounded by empty booze bottles. A suicide note outing Merle as Cal rests beside Delacroix. Merle panics and makes two bad decisions. One is taking the note…
Now the police, reporters, his former band mates and others are on Merle’s trail.
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