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WORK TITLE: The Silent Second
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE: 1971
WEBSITE: http://adamwphillips.com/
CITY: Los Angeles
STATE: CA
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY:
Married with a son.
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born 1971; married; children: two.
EDUCATION:American University, B.A., 1993; Columbia University, M.F.A., 2001.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Corporate executive.
AVOCATIONS:Reading, cooking.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
Adam Walker Phillips, a veteran of corporate America, writes mysteries about human resources professional Chuck Restic, who moonlights as a private detective. Soon after starting the series, Phillips realized the concept “wasn’t so far-fetched,” he wrote in a blog post at Criminal Element. He explained: “What better job to personify disillusionment and existential crisis than the person watching over all the disillusioned people undergoing existential crises in their meaningless jobs?” In addition, “the skills of your average HR person actually translate quite well to the world of private detection,” he observed, as human resources executives and private investigators both have to be good at spotting liars.
The Silent Second
Phillips introduced Restic in The Silent Second. When Ed Vadaresian is fired from Restic’s company, the human resources executive has the task of cleaning out Vadaresian’s desk and delivering the employee’s belongings to his home. Vadaresian is not there, however, and his teenage son, Rafi, tells Restic his father has left to take care of some business in Armenia, his native country. Several months go by without any sign of Vadaresian, and Restic becomes suspicious. He finds that real estate mogul Bill Langford was planning to foreclose on several properties owned by Vadaresian. Restic’s investigation uncovers crime and corruption, and it becomes even more complicated when Langford is murdered. The amateur detective also discovers that the law firm that employs his estranged wife, Claire, may be involved in all these unsavory dealings. He enlists an investigative reporter known as Easy Mike to help him uncover the truth, all the while facing hostility from police and danger from many sources.
Some reviewers thought The Silent Second intriguing and entertaining, with an appealing protagonist-narrator and a richly drawn setting. Restic is “an amateur sleuth worth following,” remarked the blogger behind Lesa’s Book Critiques, noting that his “melancholy attitude and knowledge of HR” make him “a perfect narrator.” The critic added: “The author, and the character, show a knowledge of Los Angeles that adds to the atmospheric story.” A Publishers Weekly contributor called the novel “absorbing” and particularly praised Phillips’s “insights into the workings of the corporate mind and the machinations of L.A. real estate.” A Kirkus Reviews commentator noted: “Chuck’s engaging first-person narrative effectively puts the reader into his unsteady shoes in this promising series kickoff.”
The Perpetual Summer
Carl Valenti, a wealthy businessman who appeared in The Silent Second, drives the plot of The Perpetual Summer. Valenti, who has made a fortune in real estate and is planning to open a museum to showcase his art collection, wants someone to find his missing teenage granddaughter, Jeannette. Valenti does not care for traditional private investigators, so he turns to Restic, offering to pay him $100,000 for the job. Restic is recently divorced and is even more disgusted with corporate life than usual, so he takes on the assignment. As he interviews Jeannette’s parents, who are separated, and Valenti’s ex-wife, he realizes he is dealing with a deeply dysfunctional family and that Valenti is a controlling patriarch. He also finds that a fight over land use is related to the case. Accompanying Restic in his sleuthing is Valenti’s chauffeur, Hector Hermosillo, a rather menacing presence who is tasked with keeping Valenti informed about Restic’s progress. Restic and Hermosillo have some comic moments together as well, though, such as when they pretend to be building inspectors.
Several critics offered praise for Phillips’s second installment. “Nuanced character portraits and slowly building suspense make this both an involving human story and a crackling crime yarn,” remarked a Kirkus Reviews contributor. The blogger at Lesa’s Book Critiques commended Phillips for mixing humorous anecdotes about the corporate world with a compelling mystery, saying: “You can read The Perpetual Summer for the dark suspense, the amusing details, or, for the fascinating character of Chuck Restic, a man who recognizes his own flaws.” Don Crinklaw, writing in Booklist, thought the novel had “a bit of a tangled plot,” but he commented favorably on its style. “The juicy bits are all in the evocative writing … and the offbeat information,” he explained. A Publishers Weekly reviewer concluded: “Phillips’s clever blend of the absurd and the serious will have readers looking forward to Chuck’s next adventure.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, December 15, 2017, Don Crinklaw, review of The Perpetual Summer, p. 89.
Kirkus Reviews, June 15, 2017, review of The Silent Second; November 1, 2017, review of The Perpetual Summer.
Publishers Weekly, June 5, 2017, review of The Silent Second, p. 33; October 16, 2017, review of The Perpetual Summer, p. 52.
ONLINE
Adam Walker Phillips Website, http://adamwphillips.com (March 26, 2018).
Criminal Element, https://www.criminalelement.com/ (August 18, 2017), Adam Walker Phillips, “From HR to PI.”
Lesa’s Book Critiques, https://lesasbookcritiques.blogspot.com/ ( December 4, 2017), review of The Silent Second; (January 10, 2018), review of The Perpetual Summer.
Adam Walker Phillips is a 20-year veteran of Corporate America. He has endured countless PowerPoint decks, offsite retreats and visioning sessions, synergies and synergistically-minded cross-functional teams, to bring you the Chuck Restic mystery series. He lives with his wife and children in Los Angeles.
www.adamwphillips.com
Resume
“Position your colossal failures as part of the necessary path to success .” – Dale Carnegie
Key Qualifications
15 plus year cubicle denizen / 1 year in an office
Long track record of inappropriate humor
Los Angeles native (since 2001)
Numerous appearances on HR’s watchlist
Poster child for the Peter Principle
Has read The Long Goodbye ten times
Dislikes cops, Glendale PD in particular
Work Experience
Un-named Global Corporation (2001-present)
Executive at a fantastic company (and want to keep it that way)
Only interaction with Human Resources has been on the wrong side of them
Surliness (once a liability) now helping to establish a reputation as a “critical thinker”
Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Creative Artists Agency (2001)
Covered scripts; fired for being too negative
Provided validation that my writing was just as bad as the stuff getting bought
Harlem Methadone Clinic (1998-2000)
Researcher at “Lexington 125” (as the Velvet Underground would say)
Location of many of my most depressing and hilarious memories
Oceana (1995-1997)
Waited tables at an upscale NYC restaurant
Bolstered my disdain for humanity and love of kitchen banter – “corner!!”
Segol Distributors (1994-1995)
Worked to place a generic drug line at Russian pharmacies; undone by too many crooks
Well-positioned to focus a future installment of the series on the Russian mob
Will continue to pepper books with obscure Turgenev references
Johannsen Brothers Painting (1989)
Painted houses for a summer; only fell off a roof twice
Long hours of silent contemplation while inhaling paint fumes helped creativity process
Education
Columbia University, MFA in Film (2001)
Directed two mediocre short films that played in numerous mediocre film festivals worldwide
Wrote his first screenplay; lives in fear that someone has a copy and will blackmail him
The American University, BA in International Studies (1993)
Soviet Politics major until the collapse of the Soviet Union wiped out the degree
“Studied” at Kiev State University but mostly drank vodka, froze ass off, and had ego boosted by beautiful women who wanted to live in America.
Interests
Family - resides with wife and two kids in Eagle Rock
Los Angeles - knows all the shortcuts (even before Waze) and where to find the best tacos
Detective fiction - the two MacDonalds, Chandler, Raoul Whitfield, James Crumley
Cooking - everything by Lidia Bastianich
Quoted in Sidelights: “wasn’t so far-fetched,”
“What better job to personify disillusionment and existential crisis than the person watching over all the disillusioned people undergoing existential crises in their meaningless jobs?” , “the skills of your average HR person actually translate quite well to the world of private detection,”
CriminalElement.com | Mysteries, Thrillers & All Things Killer...
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SWEEPSTAKES!
From HR to PI
ADAM WALKER PHILLIPS
Read this exclusive guest post from Adam Walker Phillips, then make sure to sign in and comment below for a chance to win a copy of The Silent Second!
Human Resources and private detection were never meant to be a good match.
The basic premise for a new kind of amateur sleuth was to throw a disaffected corporate cog—someone searching for a meaning in a job that has none—into the heart of a murder mystery where he might very well find that purpose in life. When I was refining the premise further to a specific job within a company, Human Resources became the clear choice. What better job to personify disillusionment and existential crisis than the person watching over all the disillusioned people undergoing existential crises in their meaningless jobs?
Soon after I started writing the Chuck Restic mystery series, I realized that an HR exec as a private detective wasn’t so far-fetched an idea after all; in fact, the skills of your average HR person actually translate quite well to the world of private detection.
One of the main attributes of being a detective is the ability to extract information from people and know when someone is lying. Those in Human Resources demonstrate this skill every day when interviewing potential employees. Sure, the room is likely nicer, there’s no two-way mirror, and in most cases, no handcuffs—but at its core, one person is trying to discover the truth while the other is trying to present an image that’s, at best, one-third accurate.
This isn’t exactly easy, either. Over the last two decades, resumes and interview responses have gotten so bloated with fluff and jargon that it’s become nearly impossible to glean what someone actually does:
“Facilitated discussions among teams of senior managers…”
“Liaison for strategic external clients…”
“Workflow oversight of core content deliverables…”
A good HR person can see past the jargon from even the most experienced interviewee. They are able to navigate the subterfuge and discern the truth behind people’s words:
“Scheduled meetings.”
“Answered phones.”
“Did nothing.”
Investigation is another core function of the HR role. Granted, the “crimes” being investigated never quite reach the level of a triple homicide, but discovering who stole the half-and-half from the communal fridge comes close when failure means facing down legions of angry caffeine addicts. And unmasking the person who’s been using the Mother’s Room to do phone interviews is a high-stakes operation when you factor in the risk of a million-dollar lawsuit from a pissed-off mom who’s just returned to work from maternity leave and is leaking through her silk blouse. Even in these lesser crimes, the core tenets of good detective work—observation and deduction—and all the techniques—stakeouts, interviews, research—are essential if an HR exec is ever going to solve the case.
Unfortunately, the final attributes of all great detectives—courage and the tenacity to see things to their end—are woefully lacking in many HR folks. While most of them hold black belts in passive aggression, they aren’t generally known for their bravery. In their defense, the corporate structure doesn’t typically reward people for standing tall, fighting for what’s right, or being the lone voice. Those types of people are pushed aside, marginalized, or outright terminated. Anyone with a long tenure at a big firm (and a desire to keep it that way until they retire) learns early on that there’s safety in numbers and that what’s “right” is what the most senior person in the room says is right.
That’s where the existential crisis and the need for a purpose come back into play. My character Chuck Restic—a longtime HR guy for a large downtown-LA firm—might not exactly demonstrate courage at work, but he sure does outside the office when he’s on a case in the real world where people’s lives are at stake. And if Chuck’s able to take those same skills he practices every day in a meaningless job monitoring employees’ petty internet excursions and apply them down on the dirty streets below his hermetically sealed corporate skyscraper in search of truth and justice, he may just find that purpose in life he’s been longing for.
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Adam Walker Phillips is a 20-year veteran of Corporate America. He has endured countless PowerPoint decks, offsite retreats and visioning sessions, synergies, and synergistically-minded cross-functional teams to bring you the Chuck Restic mystery series. He lives with his wife and children in Los Angeles.
Quoted in Sidelights: “a bit of a tangled plot,”
“The juicy bits are all in the evocative writing … and the offbeat information,”
The Perpetual Summer
Don Crinklaw
Booklist. 114.8 (Dec. 15, 2017): p89.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist_publications/booklist/booklist.cfm
Full Text:
The Perpetual Summer.
By Adam Walker Phillips.
Jan. 2018. 280p. Prospect Park, paper, $15.95 (9781945551123); e-book, $11.99 (9781945551130).
A number of professions have intriguing similarities to detective work--like reporter, or psychiatrist, or even historian. But an HR executive for a megacorporation? Chuck Restic, narrator of this densely packed novel, has been absorbing what Orwell called "duckspeak"--"core deliverables," "key dependencies"--long enough to know that if he doesn't take this quacking seriously, he'll be at the mercy of people who do. Salvation comes in the person of megabucks developer Carl Valenti, whom Chuck helped out in Phillips' earlier The Silent Second (2017). Valenti wants him to find his missing 16-year-old granddaughter, and Chuck pokes deeper into this unhappy family. It's a bit of a tangled plot--a battle over land use is at the heart of it--and some of the set pieces require a knowledge of L.A. to be appreciated fully. But not to worry. This one's all about style, and the juicy bits are all in the evocative writing--"the wonderfully sad pink of an early Sunday morning"--and the offbeat information: to see in darkness look out the corner of your eye. For the idiosyncratic mystery reader.--Don Crinklaw
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Crinklaw, Don. "The Perpetual Summer." Booklist, 15 Dec. 2017, p. 89. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A521459586/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=d69c3033. Accessed 20 Feb. 2018.
Quoted in Sidelights: “Nuanced character portraits and slowly building suspense make this both an involving human story and a crackling crime yarn,”
Gale Document Number: GALE|A521459586
Phillips, Adam Walker: THE PERPETUAL SUMMER
Kirkus Reviews. (Nov. 1, 2017):
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Phillips, Adam Walker THE PERPETUAL SUMMER Prospect Park Books (Adult Fiction) $15.95 1, 9 ISBN: 978-1-945551-12-3
The search for a vanished teenager leads a reluctant shamus back to the powerful man who hired him.
Elderly real estate tycoon Carl Valenti makes junior HR executive Chuck Restic (The Silent Second, 2017) an offer he can't refuse: $100,000 to find his missing granddaughter, Jeanette. Not till after Chuck agrees does Valenti confess that he received a ransom demand that he's already paid and that part of the deal includes the uninterrupted presence of Hector, his faithful chauffeur. In for a penny, in for a pound, figures Chuck. His investigation proceeds modestly as he gathers information via methodical interviews, beginning with the girl's parents, who are separated from each other. Valenti's daughter, Meredith, is evasive about the possibility of a genuine disappearance but mentions dismissively her daughter's Mexican boyfriend, "Nelson something." Jeanette's father, Jeff, is much franker about the dysfunction in their family and the intrusions of his powerful father-in-law in their lives. Valenti's ex-wife, Sheila Lansing, paints an even darker picture and reveals that she's afraid of Valenti. Restic has reason to be wary of both Valenti and of Nelson Portillo, who tries to run him down in a parking lot. Through it all, Hector lurks in the background, presenting a constant, simmering threat of violence. All roads seem to lead back to Valenti, but Restic is reluctant to share what he has with the police until tragedy strikes.
Nuanced character portraits and slowly building suspense make this both an involving human story and a crackling crime yarn.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Phillips, Adam Walker: THE PERPETUAL SUMMER." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Nov. 2017. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A512028666/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=2577b3ad. Accessed 20 Feb. 2018.
Quoted in Sidelights: “Phillips’s clever blend of the absurd and the serious will have readers looking forward to Chuck’s next adventure.”
Gale Document Number: GALE|A512028666
The Perpetual Summer: A Chuck Restic Mystery
Publishers Weekly. 264.42 (Oct. 16, 2017): p52.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
The Perpetual Summer: A Chuck Restic Mystery
Adam Walker Phillips. Prospect Park, $15.95 trade paper (280p) ISBN 978-1-945551-12-3
In Phillips's entertaining second Chuck Restic mystery (after 2017's TheSilent Second), Carl Valenti, who doesn't trust private investigators, hires the L.A. HR exec to look for his missing 16-year-old granddaughter, Jeannette. Valenti has caused Chuck trouble in the past, but, post-divorce, Chuck could use the extra cash. As he starts to dig, with Valenti's right-hand man, stone-faced Hector Hermosillo, in tow, what at first seems the case of a rebellious teen acting out starts to look more serious. Chuck must also contend with Jeannette's parents, who are separated and have their own agendas involving Valenti's vast wealth. Chuck's sharp, wry insights into the absurdity of the corporate world reveal his existential need for more meaning in his life, and many scenes are genuinely funny, such as the one in which Chuck and Hector pose as building inspectors, riffing off each other with ease and breaking the ice between them. Phillips's clever blend of the absurd and the serious will have readers looking forward to Chuck's next adventure. (Jan.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"The Perpetual Summer: A Chuck Restic Mystery." Publishers Weekly, 16 Oct. 2017, p. 52. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A510652875/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=4414f5c6. Accessed 20 Feb. 2018.
Quoted in Sidelights: “Chuck’s engaging first-person narrative effectively puts the reader into his unsteady shoes in this promising series kickoff.”
Gale Document Number: GALE|A510652875
Phillips, Adam Walker: THE SILENT SECOND
Kirkus Reviews. (June 15, 2017):
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Phillips, Adam Walker THE SILENT SECOND Prospect Park Books (Adult Fiction) $15.95 8, 15 ISBN: 978-1-945551-04-8
Compassion blossoms into obsession, turning a corporate middleman into a neophyte sleuth.Chuck Restic works in human resources for a large Los Angeles corporation. So it falls on him to take employee Ed Vadaresian to task for stinking up the 32nd floor with his cologne, Mamba for Men. It's not inspiring work, but it's secure, and being at the office keeps Chuck's separation from his attorney wife, Claire, off his mind. Shortly after, when Ed's let go, Chuck visits his house to drop off his belongings. But he doesn't see Ed, whose teenage son, Rafi, says his father's attending to personal business back in his native Armenia. Months pass, and Ed remains missing. When Chuck begins to nose around, he's surprised to learn that Ed owned several buildings, currently under the threat of foreclosure by Bill Langford, the slick chief of Emerald Properties. Suspecting fraud and worse, Chuck takes his evidence to Glendale Detective Alvarado and learns that the police, sharing his suspicions but waiting for more evidence to proceed, also suspect that Ed killed himself. For the sake of peace, Chuck tries to ignore links between Claire's law firm and both Ed and Langford. Everything changes with Langford's murder, which makes the police more aggressive in their investigation but less interested in Chuck's assistance. By now he's far too invested to disengage. Beginning with Rafi, Chuck retraces his steps and, helped by the gritty operator Easy Mike, uncovers layer upon layer of deception. Chuck's engaging first-person narrative effectively puts the reader into his unsteady shoes in this promising series kickoff.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Phillips, Adam Walker: THE SILENT SECOND." Kirkus Reviews, 15 June 2017. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A495427783/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=fddee792. Accessed 20 Feb. 2018.
Quoted in Sidelights: “absorbing”
“insights into the workings of the corporate mind and the machinations of L.A. real estate.”
Gale Document Number: GALE|A495427783
The Silent Second: A Chuck Restic Mystery
Publishers Weekly. 264.23 (June 5, 2017): p33.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
The Silent Second: A Chuck Restic Mystery
Adam Walker Phillips. Prospect Park, $15.95
trade paper (280p) ISBN 978-1-945551-04-8
Human resources executive Chuck Restic, the narrator of Phillips's absorbing first novel and series launch, looks into the disappearance of Ed Vadaresian, a valued mid-level employee at the large corporation in Los Angeles where Chuck works. Concerned by what his initial casual inquiries reveal, Restic turns to investigative journalist Easy Mike for help in making sense of Ed's complex real estate dealings with the scent of extensive fraud and possible ties with the so-called Armenian mafia, as well as corruption in city government. The case becomes personal when Restic fears that his estranged wife, Claire, is somehow involved. Then one of his contacts is murdered, but he still has no idea of what happened to Vadaresian. The stakes rise further when Restic is beaten up and Easy Mike is killed. The motivations for the crimes are complex and hard to follow and the solution is a bit glib, but the insights into the workings of the corporate mind and the machinations of L.A. real estate are worth the price of admission. (Aug.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"The Silent Second: A Chuck Restic Mystery." Publishers Weekly, 5 June 2017, p. 33. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A495538322/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=09c6e5a2. Accessed 20 Feb. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A495538322
Quoted in Sidelights: “You can read The Perpetual Summer for the dark suspense, the amusing details, or, for the fascinating character of Chuck Restic, a man who recognizes his own flaws.”
Wednesday, January 10, 2018
The Perpetual Summer by Adam Walker Phillips
HR executive Chuck Restic is back, fighting for his life, and his work life. Adam Walker Phillips manages to combine amusing stories of Human Resources in the corporate world with the dark world of an amateur sleuth. The Perpetual Summer brings back a few characters from The Silent Second in the second novel set in Los Angeles' diverse community.
When Restic's boss retires after forty-five years, and gives a speech showing how his entire career has been worthless, Chuck realizes he feels the same way. So, he isn't sure he wants to fight for a promotion. Then, he receives an offer that's harder to refuse. Real estate mogul Carl Valenti is a power in L.A. He's planning a museum to exhibit his art, and he actually seems more interested in that than in his request of Chuck. He offers him $100,000 to find his missing teenage granddaughter. And, he provides Chuck with his own driver, Hector. Valenti may say he trusts Chuck, but Hector will report back to the old man.
Restic is threatened by a gun-toting young man who faces down Hector, who only has a knife. He finds himself confronting a Chinese landlord and wannabe power broker. Time after time, he's defeated by that teenage girl and her boyfriend. Even as Chuck tries to hunt for her, he realizes he doesn't know the entire story. While she seems to be asking her grandfather for money, someone else seems to pushing for money as well. Worst of all, the sleep-deprived, busy Chuck finds himself failing at work opportunities. Now, he realizes he doesn't want his co-worker to get the promotion.
As I said before, the work aspects of Chuck Restic's life are amusing, and recognizable for any of us who have worked for a corporation or governmental agency. But, The Perpetual Summer has its dark side as well, including murder, and the hunger for power and revenge. Even Chuck find himself caught up in that trap. You can read The Perpetual Summer for the dark suspense, the amusing details, or, for the fascinating character of Chuck Restic, a man who recognizes his own flaws.
Adam Walker Phillips' website is www.adamwphillips.com
The Perpetual Summer by Adam Walker Phillips. Prospect Park Books, 2018. ISBN 9781945551123 (paperback), 280p.
Quoted in Sidelights: “an amateur sleuth worth following,”
“melancholy attitude and knowledge of HR” “a perfect narrator.”
“The author, and the character, show a knowledge of Los Angeles that adds to the atmospheric story.”
Monday, December 04, 2017
The Silent Second by Adam Walker Phillips
Who would ever expect a Human Resources manager to be a successor to Raymond Chandler? Adam Walker Phillips' Chuck Restic walks Chandler's mean streets of Los Angeles in the debut mystery, The Silent Second. It's an unusual combination, HR professional and amateur sleuth, but it works.
Chuck Restic had one good idea, an idea that shot him to HR executive in his company. Now, he's been there for twenty years. He's as bored with his life as his wife was. She left him, and now he's just going through the motions. As he tells it, he isn't surprised when an always-complaining associate complained about a co-worker. He is surprised when Ed Vadaresian doesn't show up for work again, and is officially declared a missing person.
Chuck's curiosity sends him to Vadaresian's home in the Armenian neighborhood in Glendale. He's told stories about Ed's business dealings and that the man is back in Armenia. Before he knows it, he's digging into Ed's personnel files, where he discovers real estate holdings. Restic is already in deep. Before he knows it, he's investigating real estate, checking on his wife's relationships with entrepreneurs, and asking questions. He's hanging out with a reporter friend and cops. When a friend is murdered, and Chuck is beaten up by thugs, he knows he's in dangerous territory. But, Chuck Restic has never felt so alive.
With his melancholy attitude and knowledge of HR jingoism, Chuck Restic makes a perfect narrator. The author, and the character, show a knowledge of Los Angeles that adds to the atmospheric story. There's a hopelessness at times that is perfect for this novel. Adam Walker Phillips' debut mystery, The Silent Second, introduces an amateur sleuth worth following.
Adam Walker Phillips' website is www.adamwphillips.com
The Silent Second by Adam Walker Phillips. Prospect Park Books, 2017. ISBN 9781945551048 (paperback), 280p.
*****