No detailed description available for "The Dark Side of Paradise".

We have all been there, reading a newspaper, listening to the radio, watching television. There was a murder today at, wherever? Some criminal was blasted to death in a blaze of gunfire. A man was shot in his driveway this evening. Some person has gone missing. Another kid dies of a drug overdose. The police are again investigating pedophilia on the internet. This is the today's news. We look. We listen. We see. But do we care? In some cases people will exhibit apprehension. Or in the case of the criminal, mumble good riddance, and as long as it's not our kid using, we turn to the next page. Listen to the next item if its radio or, change channels on the TV. Whatever! That is generally all we think, until you find yourself staring at the results of a gangland hit spread all over a kitchen bench and the victim is an acquaintance. Then you find out, things about him you could never imagine. You begin to discover, what horrific things happen to ordinary people, in the place you call home. It's then you have to make a decision. Do you continue to ignore these issues or, do you try to make a difference? Well, do you?

The Dark Side of Paradise blends together Richard Kerr's professional experiences from his over-thirty-year career as a high-ranking official in the CIA with his idyllic life as a Florida retiree living in beautiful Vero Beach. Using his involvement in a local writing group as a common thread weaved through the stories, the author shares tales that explore the inner workings of the mind and examine good vs. evil. How do we decide between right and wrong? What do we do when we think no one is watching? Richard Kerr crafts short stories that are unsettling, amusing, whimsical, and illuminating. Divided into four sections, the book begins with spy-centric tales, moves to stories of surprise, segues into tales of death, and finishes on a lighter note. All the while, regardless of the section, the author's writer group and some of its members are weaved in and out of the stories to provide a common bond. Only someone of his unique background could provide such an enlightening and intriguing look inside the mind of a CIA intelligence official as filtered through captivating tales that remain with the reader long after the last page has been turned.

In the early seventies, the anti-establishment counterculture evolved into a new movement of health and agricultural purists. Rebelling against the politics and pollution of the U.S., these young people sought to create their own natural paradise outside its borders. This is the story of one such expatriated American, a starry-eyed wild child who searches for a fantasy lifestyle and gets more than she bargains for. The storyline, a colorful tapestry of romantic adventure set in the jungles of Belize, Central America, is flavored with vivid imagery, picturesque characters, wild animals, and Mayan archaeological intrigue. But it is also a compelling story of a maturing young woman and her battle with the darker side of human nature, of innocence lost, deception, infidelity, and heartbreaking exile. Full of poignant moral dilemma, it is a story of one woman's survival, of exceptional courage, strength in overcoming adversity, spiritual growth, and eventual triumph.

Tells the story of the neurotic David Nowak who lives with his wife and children in the Northern California wilderness giving his family an insular and idyllic existence.