Trick of the Light

"She was the kind of woman who could knock a monk off a celibacy vow at twenty paces." The woman in question is Valerie Tyrell and she wants San Francisco private eye, Nick Sands, to find someone. She wants him to help her find God. "Your ad in the phone book says you can find anybody. If God is everywhere, this ought to be a piece of cake." Thus begins Trick of the Light, two people's spiritual journey played out against the backdrop of the hardboiled detective genre. On the road to locating the "missing person," Valerie and Nick encounter some of the most bizarre and thought-provoking characters this side of the looking glass. It is a journey that challenges their assumptions and beliefs about themselves, the nature of reality, and the universe itself. "A masterpiece of inspirational fiction." -Thomas Morris, author of Ganz Weit Draussen (All the Way Out) "Somewhere between Mickey Spillane and Tielhard de Chardin, Trick of the Light provides a kind of nourishment best described as 'private eye soul food.'" -Ralph Blum, author of The Book of Runes "And yes, at the end of the search the place of beginning is found at last-and seen for the first time. Not since Colin Wilson's The Mind Parasites have I so thoroughly enjoyed a metaphysical novel." -Ken Carey, author of Return of the Bird Tribes
About the Author: Stephen Smoke is the author of 20 novels, including Black Butterfly, Pacific Coast Highway, Pacific Blues, Trick of the Light, The Prince of Palos Verdes, and Cathedral of the Senses under his own and other names. He has also written 8 non-fiction books. Stephen has written and directed feature films, including "Street Crimes" (starring Dennis Farina) and "Final Impact," and has written screenplays for others, including "Magic Kid." In 2011 he published the first novel with its own embedded soundtrack: Cathedral of the Senses. The songs on that album were written by Stephen and recorded mainly by musicians and singers living in Sedona. All the songs are available for download via iTunes, Amazon, and other popular music download sites. In July of 2012 Stephen re-released this novel, Trick of the Light, which is the prequel to Cathedral of the Senses. In 1989 he recorded an album (in support of the Trick of the Light novel) on which several well-known musicians, including Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member, Garth Hudson (the keyboard player for The Band), played on various tracks. The new edition of this novel was released in softcover and eBook formats, plus an enhanced multimedia version of Trick of the Light for the iPad. The enhanced edition contains portions of the songs embedded at appropriate points in the novel. The songs are available at all popular music download sites. The re-release of Trick of the Light coincided with the publication of Stephen's third inspirational novel, I, Walt Whitman (in softcover and eBook formats, along with an enhanced multimedia version for the iPad). The iPad edition contains parts of songs written by Stephen, embedded at appropriate places in the digital eBook. With the publication of Cathedral of the Senses, Trick of the Light, and I, Walt Whitman in all three formats (softcover, eBook, and enhanced multimedia format for the iPad), Stephen has the unique distinction of being a novelist with three multimedia eBooks, each containing its own embedded soundtrack. Stephen is the founder/publisher of Mystery Magazine, and the author of the Bill of Responsibilities series. Stephen is an expert in the field of digital publishing. He advises and works with writers and publishers, specializing in the following: scanning and repurposing printed work for digital publication, converting content to digital formats, and creating multimedia eBooks. You can contact Stephen at www.StephenSmoke.com.