While hacking his neighborsâ cellphone calls, a political blogger overhears the plot to his own murder in this thrilling mystery novella.
A Fly on the Wall begins with a murderous bang. This psychological thriller centers on a political blogger who eavesdrops on his unsuspecting neighbors in a suburb of Washington, D.C., including a drug dealer, secret lovers, a suicidal teen, a family desperate to find help for their aging mother, and even his own wife. But when Sloan Malone overhears plans for his own murder, he wonders if this is the opportunity heâs been waiting for.
A captivating crime novella where the reader knows someone is dead but not who, the story explores themes of voyeurism, passion, and redemption.
While hacking his neighborsâ cellphone calls, a political blogger overhears the plot to his own murder in this thrilling mystery novella.
A Fly on the Wall begins with a murderous bang. This psychological thriller centers on a political blogger who eavesdrops on his unsuspecting neighbors in a suburb of Washington, D.C., including a drug dealer, secret lovers, a suicidal teen, a family desperate to find help for their aging mother, and even his own wife. But when Sloan Malone overhears plans for his own murder, he wonders if this is the opportunity heâs been waiting for.
A captivating crime novella where the reader knows someone is dead but not who, the story explores themes of voyeurism, passion, and redemption.
It was 3 am on a humid summer night when Darcy was startled awake by the sound of a lamp being knocked over downstairs. In a panic she whispered to her husband, âThereâs someone in the house.â
Sloan opened the drawer next to the bed and reached for his gun. It was not there.
âWhat happened to the gun?â he whispered, his anxiety rising.
âI donât know. I thought you kept it in the drawer.â
âGoddamn it, Darcy. We already had a break-in; itâs supposed to protect us.â
âWell, I donât know, thereâs still someone in the house. Iâm scared, please see whatâs going on,â she plead.
Sloan crept to the top of the stairs and peered down into the darkness at the bottom. He called out, âWhoâs down there? I have a gun.â
As he stepped onto the landing the floorboard creaked, and a shot rang out. The bang echoed through the house, and the smell of gunpowder filled the air. There was a groan and something heavy fell to the floor. At the bottom of the steps a dark figure ran out, tossed a gun into the bushes near the house, and ran off down the street. The screen door flapped in the night.
A Fly On The Wall by Kalman Stein is an offbeat psychological thriller about a guy named Sloan Malone. Most people, including his wife, described him as âcreepy.â Sloan wrote a political blog in Washington D.C. called âThe Buzz.â The blog was very popular among conservatives, and Sloan was frequently interviewed on conservative TV. He had an inside track to the Washington elite.
Sloan and his wife, Darcy, have very little in common and live in the same house but lead separate lives. When Darcy starts having an affair with her hot young yoga teacher, Kevin, things take a surprising turn.
Sloan loves gadgets, and he acquired an electronic scanner from a spy website on the internet that could intercept cell phone calls within a half mile. He entertained himself for hours listening to the private phone conversations of his neighbors. But one day he overheard a plot to murder him! He didnât realize that the scanner would become an âevilâ part of his life and turn him into something âevil.â He learned that you pay a price for being âa fly on the wall.â People deserve more respect. I loved the transformation that occurred in Sloan throughout the story. He shows signs of evolving from a tough-minded right-wing conservative into a likable, caring human being.
The story is about how random events in one personâs life can cause ripples in other people's lives that you could never predict. It reminded me of an episode of the 1963 TV series, âThe Outer Limitsâ â one strange random event led to other strange random events.
I am giving this book a rating of 4, mainly because it could use another round of proofreading and editing. But the characters were developed very well. They were believable and interesting, and the story was also interesting. I would recommend this book to avid adult crime readers. The book deals with infidelity and sexual attraction and would not be appropriate for children.