Quietus

by William Van Poyck

Overview

Wily Miami burglar Danny Sullivan, born with the extreme gene but increasingly covered by the darkness of fate's lengthening shadow, determines to conclude his parlous career by heisting a priceless coin collection, enabling him to retire and marry his sweetly ingenuous fiancée, while still resolutely hugging his secret. The target, an enigmatic German millionaire, as reclusive as a badger, sits ensconced in his palatial Palm Beach estate, his big double-door Heidelberg safe bulging with promises – cash, gold, diamonds, emeralds, pearls and mysterious amber artifacts – and a crushingly heavy burden of cloaked, malevolent secrets … But Danny’s actions unleash a tsunami of unforeseen consequences encompassing the spectrum of the human condition – love, death, betrayal, greed, altruism, revenge – while illuminating a constellation of singular characters – robbers, smugglers, killers, crooked cops and corrupt lawyers - and painting a poignant portrait of a complex man doomed by his own flaws ….With his dreams inexplicably cratered and his life circling the drain Danny wrestles with his own warring impulses, clutching at his final chance for redemption. A mounting cascade of double-crosses, murders, ambushes and betrayals, simmering in an aspic of international intrigue, inexorably leads to the final denouement, one resonating with life’s timeless themes.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940011466526
Publisher:	William Van Poyck
Publication date:	04/25/2011
Sold by:	Smashwords
Format:	eBook
File size:	364 KB

About the Author

Born and raised in Miami, William spent his early youth climbing trees and exploring limestone caves, swimming in lakes and canals, and catching turtles in the cabbage palm and palmetto bush woods that made up post-war, pre-boom, semi-tropical South Florida. Possessed with an incorrigible, rebellious spirit, at age 11 he was locked up in Youth Hall. At 12 he was confined in Kendall Children’s Home and at age 14 he was shipped off to the notorious Okeechobee Boys’ School. In January 1972, at age 17, William was sentenced to life imprisonment for a Miami robbery, even though no one was hurt in the crime. He spent the next 15 years touring and escaping from Florida’s ever-expanding prison system, becoming a certified legal aide and renowned jailhouse lawyer in the process.In 1988, William was sentenced to death for his part in the 1987 botched attempt to free a friend from a prison transport van in downtown West Palm Beach, during which a guard was shot and killed by William’s accomplice, Frank Valdes. In 1999 a raft of Florida State Prison guards murdered Frank in his prison cell. In the subsequent investigative furor, the governor ordered William transferred to Virginia’s death row, where he penned and published his first novel, The Third Pillar of Wisdom, and an award-winning autobiography, A Checkered Past, which won first place in Writer's Digest 2004 International Self-Published Book Awards. William has also published and won awards for his short stories, including the PEN American Center’s “Fielding Dawson Special Citation for Outstanding Achievement” in 2004 for his body of literary work.In 2008, William was transferred back to Florida State Prison where he currently resides. His mailing address is:William Van Poyck 034071Florida State Prison7819 NW 228th StRaiford FL 32026-1160