Ronald Farrington Sharp
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Ronald Sharp juggled three careers as an attorney, sculptor, and writer until his recent retirement from the law. He is the author of two consumer legal guides on divorce and estate planning and his sculptural work is in the collections of numerous public and private collections.
His first novel, No Regrets, No Remorse won the 2012 Discover Mystery Award from Poisoned Pen Press. The sequel, Serpent's Tongue, is now available and he has won awards for his short stories. He is represented by Sara D'Emic of Talcott Notch Literary Services.
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No Regrets, No Remorse
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Mystery
No Regrets, No Remorse, winner of the first Poisoned Pen Press Discover Mystery Contest. Sydney Simone, wounded herself, is dedicated to helping via a cloaked website and identity those whose wrongs can’t be righted by orthodox means. First she verifies the client’s story; then she accepts payment: half up front, half on completion of her work. Usually it’s a form of human pest control. For cover, Sydney works as an assistant at the Rose Madder Gallery in West Palm Beach run by Oscar Leopold. Oscar, a sculptor, has left his law practice behind. But now his former partner Roy is arrested for murdering Big Jack, an attorney with a sleazy television advertising presence. At the same time Sydney is dealing with a client who has seemingly penetrated her defenses and demands she complete a job—rubbing out Big Jack.—an assignment where she has accepted, and pocketed, an unusually large fee. So now Sydney the client gives Sydney a new target and Sydney switches gears: dedicated to saving herself, Oscar, and Roy, even as she continues to operate HumanPestControl.com. Teaming with Oscar isn’t easy since she can’t tell him all she knows, but soon their investigation leads to a complex insurance fraud scheme that implicates Roy – perhaps he really is guilty. But Oscar becomes an investigative target himself and is arrested, then kidnapped and assaulted as he tries to find the true killer. The story ranges from the corporate offices of South Florida to the backwaters of the panhandle. The bad guys are dangerous and desperate to keep their careers, their freedom, even their lives. Oscar and Sydney, their own lives and livelihoods at stake, must up their game—Sydney may even have to reveal her game—to survive.
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Serpent's Tongue
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Mystery/thriller
MacGyver meets Dexter in the guise of Sydney Simone, contract killer and righter of wrongs. When the system fails to provide justice, Sydney steps in--for a price. The call for a contract hit on Earl the Cannibal came through Sydney’s website, HumanPestControl.com. Taking out Earl, a child killer who had been wrongfully acquitted of horrific crimes was almost a public service--so she did it. But that wasn’t the end. A week later she was called upon to eliminate a notorious con-man. Both hits fit her standards of bringing justice to those whom the system had failed. Apparent accidental death is Sydney’s preferred method of killing, and the authorities buy that explanation--at first. Sydney thinks her work is done and settles back into her routine, running the Rose Madder Gallery with her partner/possible future husband, Oscar. But her life is soon turned upside down. The press ties both killings to the murder of a teenage boy. A police task force is created to track down what they call the Bible-Rose serial killer. Sydney is being framed. The first two killings were paid for by Pastor Luke Anger, a snake-handling revivalist preacher with nasty habits involving children. Convinced that Pastor Luke is using her as a serial-killer surrogate to cover up his own crime, Sydney must find a way to bring Luke to justice and keep herself out of the eyes of the authorities. It's a fight or flight situation and Sydney never flees.
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Living Trusts for Everyone
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Estate Planning, legal
The misconceptions surrounding the last will and testament need to be put to rest: Wills benefit lawyers. Trusts benefit you. Period. Too often lawyers sell wills to clients only to sit back and wait to sell their probate services to their client’ s heirs. Modern estate planning should utilize the Living Trust as the effective, efficient, and inexpensive alternative to a will. Living Trusts for Everyone: Why a Will is Not the Way to Avoid Probate, Protect Heirs, and Settle explains why wills are not the best way to handle an estate and details the many advantages trusts have over wills in not only eliminating probate, but protecting your assets for your heirs. Anyone with minor children, disabled beneficiaries, blended families, or spendthrift heirs must have a trust to be sure the assets left behind are put to good use, and that your intentions are carried out. Lawyers may have vested interests in perpetuating the probate system, but this book will explain why legal services are not needed to do the clerical work in settling a trust after death. No legal jargon or confusing double-speak, just specific step-by-step instructions and sample form letters to settle a trust are included to take the mystery out of the process. This is not a do-it-yourself book and it doesn’t try to cram every type of trust onto its pages. Living Trusts for Everyone explains in specific terms what benefit a trust will have for you and gives you the tools to settle a loved one’s trust with no lawyers and no expense. For those who already have a trust, there is a list of what to look for to see if your trust is any good, or if it needs to be updated. Trust seminars are examined with warnings on what to look out for in setting up your trust. Everyone who cares about what happens to their assets at death should read Living Trusts for Everyone: Why a Will is Not the Way to Avoid Probate, Protect Heirs, and Settle!
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Hanky-Pank
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Mystery Thriller
Hanky-Pank is carnival slang for the type of game everyone wins but the prize is worth less than the cost of playing. Pop a balloon with a dart and win a pencil with a feather attached. That kind of thing. The story is of the relationship of Dime and Roxanne. He’s a door to door cemetery lot salesman while she administers euthanasia rather enthusiastically at the local animal shelter. He had been her prom date from hell years ago and she had never gotten over it. Roxanne is now in her late twenties and is burdened with the care of her brother with muscular dystrophy, her autistic sister, and her father - a retired carnival worker with cancer. Dime reappears, being forced through serious criminal, legal and financial problems to move in with Roxanne's family, hiding out while he looks for options. The option he chooses is the carnival life since carnivals ask for no references, operate on cash, and spend winters in warm climates, all positives for Dime and Roxanne. While making the arrangements he gets in even deeper trouble, Roxanne misinterprets his intentions and takes irrevocable actions of her own. Dime grow however and comes to appreciate, love, and understand the individual personalities and qualities of the family members; seeing beyond their disabilities. Hanky-Pank becomes a story of love, obsession, misunderstanding and bad decisions, leading both Roxanne and Dime to achieve what they thought they wanted, but at a tragically high cost.
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