LINDENHURST, N.Y., Nov. 9, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- A train conductor's life turns upside down when he is suspected of robbing and shooting dead a jewelry salesman on his train. Author F.H. Wallace spins a gripping and fast-paced murder mystery novel that unfolds in the ordinary, the elitist, and the bohemian nooks of New York in his new book aptly-titled Tickets, Please . . . The main character, Michael Dunhill, works for the Long Island Rail Road and is three months shy of retirement. When Michael finds a dead body at the end of his trip, he unfortunately becomes suspect in the eyes of an efficient and thorough crime detective. As Michael feels the noose slowly tightening on his own neck, he sets out to find an unusual woman passenger he encountered on the night of the crime and uncovers a life tainted with rape, murder, revenge, and a secret transsexual life.
Michael Dunhill is one of the few senior conductors of the LIRR. Unfailingly polite, he is well-liked by both the regulars and his crew. But for Detective John LeBatte, the amounting evidence begins to point at the old conductor. The victim, shot at close range, is a regular commuter and often carries expensive jewelry samples, a valise of which is missing when he was murdered. To save his own life, Michael is forced to investigate on his own and find the unusual female passenger he believes is the key to the crime. What he discovers is a hotshot and avaricious Wall Streeter with a clandestine transsexual life. Before Detective John LeBatte puts him behind bars, Michael must succeed in an investigation that takes him from the familiar Long Island train tracks to bustling business districts and the liberated niches of New York.
Author F.H. Wallace holds the reader with a fast plot, varied and interesting settings, and unique characters. The protagonist has a rebellious streak and his opinions about rules and regulations do not always sit well with management, which leads him "walking out on the streets" a.k.a. getting suspended without pay. But Michael is affable and always polite towards his commuters and crew. The antagonist comes from a totally different socio-economic spectrum with his life being a stark contrast of the protagonist's. Other characters such as the crime detective and his superior and the spinmeister for the rail road system add to the suspense. Tickets, Please . . . is a one-of-a-kind journey through the country's largest commuter rail road.
About the Author
F.H. Wallace has spent twenty-eight years pounding the rails of the Long Island Rail Road, much like the main character he has created in his first novel Tickets, Please . . .
F. H. Wallace wrote Tickets, Please . . . in memory of her daughter, Kelly Ann. Forty percent of the proceeds of his book shall be donated to melanoma cancer research and treatment at the Memorial Sloane Kettering Hospital in Manhattan, New York.
Tickets, Please . . . -- By F. H. Wallace
Publication Date: September 9, 2004
Trade Paperback; $21.99; 275 pages; 1-4134-4605-1;
Cloth Hardback; $31.99; 275 pages; 1-4134-4606-X
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