Shame (42 page)

There are two other characters in the book. I am one of them. In this book I am both narrator and participant. You will be the judge as to whether I told my part true or whether I again wove some fabric out of thin air.

The other character, who was over two decades dead when this story begins, still managed to cast his long shadow throughout these pages. I have told Gray Parker’s story before, and I never imagined I would have to tell it again.

But then our sins, and our shame, have a way of following us.

—From the introduction to Elizabeth Line’s

Shame Will Follow After

I am grateful that there were so many individuals willing to assist in the writing of this novel. My heartfelt thanks go out to Norman R. Brown, Don “Cookie” DeWolf, Erica, Sherry Gerrish, Lori Gore, Master Chief Doug Gorham, Eric Hart, Lieutenant Gerry Lipscomb of the San Diego Sheriff’s Department, Eugene Morris of the Florida Department of Corrections, Chip Owen, Abigail Padgett, Mary Jane Tatum, and Kathy Wilson.

Any mistakes made in the research of this book are mine and shouldn’t reflect on any of those acknowledged.

Photo by Stathis Orphanos, 2012

Alan Russell is an award-winning writer and California native whose wild imagination continues to get the best of him when it comes to his literary achievements. A proud father of three and an avid gardener, Alan blames his busy home-life for the long delay between works—though his readers agree each new book is worth the wait. Inspired by the “what if” factor,
Shame
is his sixth novel and explores the psychological inner-workings of a serial killer whose son is forced to live in his shadow. Drawn to the bold and daring, Alan continues to churn out new page-turners that are sure to continue to thrill his readers.