Deception Among Friends
by “K M Rachel”
The book takes place in the 90s in a Western North American city and is based on events in the lives of several characters over about a six month span of time. There are some references to the past to tie things together.
A woman thinks she is being followed. A body is found in the ravine. Chance meetings are not as they seem. A package hidden is revealed. A child is kidnapped. A woman's body is discovered in a hotel room, drowned in the tub Organized crime is hidden and uncovered.
An interesting parade of characters collides and mingles in a series of events loosely linked together. Secrets are revealed. Friendships are tested.
The book is somewhat of a mini soap opera. It combines romance, sexual fantasy and reality, friendship, violence, suspense and mystery with a touch of humour. The author introduces many characters, allowing the reader to choose a favourite to follow through the chapters of the book to its finish.
The book is fiction. All characters are created by the author. As is typical, some of her characters have similarities to people that have been in her own life, and yet all are completely unique.
The book only touches the surface of a lot of its characters. Some stories are deliberately left for the reader to finish. Perhaps the author has a sequel in mind.
Details of the characters are provided here to assist the reader in finding the way through the maze.
The characters are:
Rita Haley 42, She is tall slim and attractive. She lives in a suburb of Seattle with her best friend, her dog Houston. She likes men and has had many admirers but has kept herself busy and unattached. She is somewhat secretive, reserved, a private person.
She was in a mid management office job until five years ago, when she gave a presentation to a small group of women. Since then she has become a popular public speaker on creativity and intuition. She considers herself to be quite intuitive and has always been able to read people well, at least she thought. Things are not always as they seem.
Rita is creative and has dabbled with writing, and would love to finish a book someday.
She is lover of all animals, and nature.
Barb Richardson 46, Rita sister.
She is married to Rob and has been with him now for thirty years.
They have a landscaping and nursery business. Her children are grown and living their lives in the same city.
Laura Goodman 45, She is one of Rita’s close friends. Laura has been called cute, rather than pretty. She loves clothes and looks great in anything she wears. In her younger years she was quite wild, and didn't settle down until she met Don.
She had always been interested in fashion and Don helped her build her fashion consulting business. She is very impressionable, and would do almost anything to please.
Don Goodman 65, He keeps himself in good shape, and like Laura he loves clothes and always looks well put together.
In business everything he does seems to turn out right.
He has a few business associates and friends, but no one is allowed to get too close and knows him well, not even Laura.
Sam Munro 44. He is the typical ladies man. He always had a different girl until he met Sheila. He is a very good looking man, blond wavy hair, 6 2, 180, and in great shape. He works out constantly and his body is very important to him. He was a user of women and people mostly but he has one or two good friends that could count on him, and Rita is one of them.
He had a short career in law before hooking up with a business partner. They are entrepreneurs, and wheeler dealers.
Sheila Munro. 37, Sheila had been a very attractive woman when she was an airline stewardess. She was a lot like Sam then. In the first couple of years she had put on a lot of weight. Now she does not care much about herself.
Erin 5, Sheila and Sam's daughter
Jim Redman. 41. Tall dark handsome as the saying goes. He has been in the police force for several years and is fairly new to Seattle.
Brian Larimer, 37, He had also tried law as a career earlier, but now he is trying out different things. He is an exceptionally handsome man and a smooth talker, a natural salesman.
Mike Gibson, 43, Mike has the boy next door personality. He is good and kind to everyone. He is a very intelligent well spoken man. He is the man that every mother would want to marry her daughter. He had been successful and had significant finances behind him. He is now very involved in photography. An avid animal lover as well. His dog's name, Mona.
Eric Jameson, 38, a lawyer with a good reputation. He is a friend of Brian's.
He’s a bit of a comedian, has an interesting sense of humour, and often rubs people the wrong way, and doesn't much care about it.
Glenn Reed 40, he is a chauffeur, who had worked for Boeing as a pilot.
Ken 55, Sam's business partner
Amanda, 43, Don's business manager, she organizes all the fashion shows.
Donna, Chantal, Mariane are models.
Paula is Brian's old girl friend
Carrie Lane is Paula's sister
Bert and Mary Hilly are Brian's friends
Jack Clifford is an hotelier
Randal Gordon is a reporter
Lenny, a private investigator
Helene, a French designer
Other characters mentioned in book
Keith and Mrs Balwin
Man in ravine and wife
Nancy-Jim's wife in LA
Dogs, Houston is Rita's dog
Mona is Mike’s dog
Nora and Tom
About the author
This is the author’s first book. She was inspired to write it by a feeling she had of being followed. The book came together easily for her leading itself to its end.
She is a creative woman motivated and committed to making a difference in life. She feels that this book is just an indication of the complexity behind our every day lives, and the deep hidden secrets that many people carry. She believes that we are spiritually connected in this complicated changing world.
The author has created an interesting web of characters and stories that keep the reader on their toes through the pages of this intriguing and entertaining book.
“K M Rachel” is the author’s pen name.