The continual growth of online crime has police nationwide preparing for a twenty-first century show down. One of those law enforcement people is a fictional Chicago police detective.
Chapter 1
Scene 1
“Mike, don’t move!” Kerry shouted and aimed her weapon a few inches above his shoulder. The small piece of metal she launched pierced the gloom and found a figure almost hidden in the unlit alley. He collapsed to the pavement.
When a noise came from behind, Kerry spun with her weapon ready. She fired at a shape rising alongside the dumpster and watched her bullet shatter the gunman’s wrist. His weapon flew from his hand and he staggered out of the alley clutching his arm.
Above her, the burned out, or probably shot out, streetlight did nothing to illuminate the dark shapes behind the garbage bin. She scanned the area, saw it was clear, and returned to find Mike leaning against a wall. He’d caught a bullet.
“We better get you to the car.” Kerry put an arm around her partner to help, but as they made their way to the street, a figure appeared on the fire escape.
Struggling to hang on to Mike’s large body, she fired off two rounds. The first shot went wide, but the second slammed the gunman against the wall. The impact bounced him forward over the iron railing and onto the ladder where his weight forced it to unfold. Face down, he slid until his foot wedged between two of the rungs. A large black boot kept him suspended inches above the ground as coins slipped from his pocket and scattered on the bloody pavement below.
Mike climbed in the car and radioed for backup while Kerry returned to the shadows. A gut feeling told her more bad guys lurked nearby. Seconds later a gun barrel pressed against the back of her head, confirming her suspicion.
“Lose the gun, and drop to your knees, cop.” His hand clenched her shoulder, ready to assist.
Instead of kneeling, Kerry threw herself to the ground. She turned as she fell and wrapped her legs around his ankles. His gun swung wildly and shots ricocheted off the bricks and concrete. One buzzed past her face, missing by inches, but she held him tight. She held her gun tight, too. When he hit the ground, she shot him.
“I don’t think so,” she told the dead man and climbed to her feet. Kerry heard Mike honking and looked to the street, but she made a fatal mistake. She turned back to the shadows without raising her gun.
A figure in the darkness was invisible, except for the flash as a bullet left his unseen weapon. It found her instantly and the detective collapsed to the pavement, dead as the loser she put there moments before.
“Shoot,” Kerry yelled at the computer. “That’s the fourth time that jerk’s killed me.”
“Grant, what are you doing?” She stared at her limp body on the screen and heard Mike yell. “We’re supposed to be at a meeting.”
Her head popped up. “Oops, he’s at the door.” She closed the game window with a click, and checked the laptop’s clock before shutting down.
The computer, along with papers piled on the table next to it, went into her leather briefcase. “We’re going to be late.” She hung the bag on her shoulder, stretched one hand for her jacket and the other, her gun. “I’m ready,” she told him on the way out of her apartment. As she hurried to lock the door, Kerry glanced over her shoulder and saw the pissed look she’d expected on Mike’s face.
“What were you doing, Grant? You said you’d be downstairs, and the meeting starts in five minutes. Didn’t you hear me honking?”
“Okay, let’s go.” She didn’t want to tell him she’d been playing CyberCop, her computer game addiction of choice. He saved her the trouble of manufacturing a believable lie.
“You were playing that computer game weren’t you? God, Kerry, don’t you see enough of that kind of stuff?”
She tossed the briefcase in the back seat without a word and stayed silent while she slipped on her jacket, deposited her gun in the holster behind her back, and clipped her badge on her belt. Physical discomfort wasn’t what made her squirm in the passenger’s seat.
Mike didn’t understand why she played a computer cops and robbers game as much as she did. Chicago police detectives didn’t need to make up criminals, crimes, or shootouts. Those were part of their everyday reality. A part of Kerry’s reality, that Mike didn’t share, was her constant need to keep her mind busy. She gave up trying to make him understand that the game helped her survive.
Excerpt
Kerry sat at a computer and saw they’d started to build the casino site. She wanted to check it out, but before she did anything else, she needed to hide a remote access point. With that finished, she returned to opening a port that would misdirect Ed. “I like the setup for the casino, Ed. You did a good job.”
“Thanks, Kerry.” Ed stayed glued to his monitor. Suddenly he stood and pushed the chair back hard sending it halfway across the room. “Someone is hacking into us.” He looked around, “and it’s coming from right here.”
Every head turned to Kerry. She stood and started to move toward Marty as her hand reached into her jacket, but he already held his gun pointed directly at her heart.
“Marty, don’t,” she pleaded.
“You used me,” he screamed and fired. No one moved. They watched the impact push her backward over her chair. “You used me,” he fired again, but the shot hit the floor next to her and exploded, sending sparks and small shards of concrete into the air.
Professional Reviews
By Nancy Eaton, Bestsellersworld.com
BOOK REVIEW: IDENTITY MURDER
BY JEAN SHELDON
Kerry Grant of the Chicago Police Department is a computer whiz. She loved to play a computer game called "CyberCop".
Kerry and her partner, Mike Sullivan, were scheduled to attend a lecture given by detectives from six Chicago police districts. The topic was about crimes on the Internet. Not only was organized crime looking for opportunities on the Internet but individuals were also dreaming up any possible crime to make money. One of the largest crimes is identity theft. In one year there were fifteen million victims and it resulted in losses of over a billion dollars.
Mike informed Kerry that the Mayor has decided to add neighborhood task forces to the city's computer crime commission. Lt. Romero chose Kerry and Mike to head up the new identify theft and computer crime task force for the six districts who were attending the meeting being held that day.
Things get very interesting when Kerry gets an undercover assignment with the mob. Kerry finds they are very willing students because they want to learn all they can to be the best cyber crooks.
What happens when the mob finds Kerry hacking into their system?
In addition to trying to catch cyber criminals, Kerry has many things going on in her life. One of them is a new romantic relationship.
Will Kerry be successful in her new undercover assignment and make it out alive?
This is the first book in the Kerry Grant series. You will enjoy Kerry. She is so "into" computers. She has a strong determination to get things done and a great sense of humor. The story has a good plot and combines fact and fiction since we hear so much about cyber crime in today's world. Identity Murder is one that will make you keep turning the pages to find out what is going to happen next. At the end of the book there is a section titled "What to Do If Your Identity is Stolen". If your identity is ever stolen, you will find this resource invaluable. Two more releases are scheduled soon: "Should Old Acquaintance Be Dead" and "A Chilling Goodbye". We look forward to these books. In the meantime, be sure to add Identity Murder to your reading list. This is a book you will enjoy!
Reviewed by Nancy Eaton
Bestsellersworld.com
Midwest Book Review
Jean Sheldon presently hails from Albuquerque, New Mexico. She is the author of poetry and drawings; a book on car repair; a "how to" on the subject of cats; and most recently, her Chicago Police Detective Kerry Grant mysteries. Sheldon has actually published two additional Kerry Grant mysteries, entitled SHOULD OLD ACQUAINTANCE BE DEAD and A CHILLING GOODBYE.
Kerry Grant is a Chicago Police Detective who has a dark secret. She lost her entire family in a RV accident three years before. When her old childhood friend, Jennifer Kincaid, comes back into her life (with another 78 year old friend who has suffered from identity theft), Kerry's sad life begins to turn around. Because of her computer savvy, Kerry is asked to join an undercover agent who has been embedded with the Chicago mob scene for a number of years in order to train him. Little does she know that love will find her, and that a little Chicago Cubs teddy bear will symbolize a new start to her life:
“'I understand not sleeping with anyone for a while, but I figured that was life after forty.' Jennifer stopped herself and remembered there wasn't anyone else for Kerry to share her great news. She couldn't talk about it with Mike, or her sisters and mom. 'I do understand, Kerry, and it's wonderful. What I don't understand is why Marty turned Cubby Bear around, or why Cubby Bear watched you to begin with. By the way, the Cubby Bear we're talking about is the little stuffed bear they sell at Wrigley Field with the Cubs hat and shirt, right?'"
Not only does Jean Sheldon write against the backdrop of Chicago and the Eastern border of Wisconsin up to Fond du Lac, she has an excellent knowledge of police procedural in Chicago. Her writing is infused with a sense of humor; a fanciful take on romance; characters that share comradery in the midst of danger; and an excellent view of the mob. IDENTITY MURDER is a wonderful first effort in what will become a beloved series about plucky Kerry Grant, her best friend Jennifer Kinkaid; Kerry's partner Mike; and the inimitable Veronica Cooke. Sheldon includes a mini-course on computer fraud and identity theft that will give readers much needed information on how to avoid cyber-crooks. She also writes a darn good mystery yarn.
Shelley Glodowski
Senior Editor
Midwest Book Review
Wow! This starts out like the old westerns: "I dropped to one knee and fired off three quick rounds at the charging buffalo."
Sounds like a lot of modern-day action, Jean, in a hot-off-the-press new release. With a woman sleuth, this ought to generate a lot of takers in the Den.
This cozy murder mystery takes place aboard luxury liner, Queen Elizabeth II, as wealthy couple celebrate their silver wedding anniversary with family and friends.
