Grayduck

Running from the mob is deadly. But running from your past...that's impossible. For twenty years, adoptive gangster Jimmy the Grayduck has become the best bag man for the Chicago Polish mob. He's earned the trust of Boss Vikk Korsack and is engaged to his youngest daughter Melina. The envy of every wiseguy in the Windy City, Jimmy's secret, runaway past still haunts him: the cursed satchel he and his childhood friends unearthed from an Ojibwe burial mound. It destroyed his family and childhood but helped him clean up after the mob and make a name for himself. But when Vikk retires and appoints the Grayduck his successor, Jimmy's past kicks back. His last job is to dispose of a hooded woman locked in a storage unit. A woman who threatens to topple everything he built in Chicago and force him to confront his past. Can Jimmy have the best of both worlds? Or will he be forced to cash out and run from the mob? Why readers can't stop turning pages: · High-stakes tension in a gritty, mob world: Catch up with Jimmy the Grayduck as he navigates the Chicago underworld filled with wiseguys, mob hits, evidence disposal, and the panic-induced anxiety it takes to survive, when one misstep can kill you. · A past that won't stay buried and secrets that could kill: Uncover the dark truths of Jimmy's past in Minnesota as a teen, that left a community, and its people, traumatized before he took matters into his own hands and ran away from home. · Rekindled romance amid desperation and survival: Witness a couple tackle the danger of trying to escape the mob, while rekindling the deep romance they thought died years ago. · Midwestern escape with hitmen, safe houses, and second chances: Journey with our couple as they make their way to Alaska, avoiding the hitters on their tail, but making one last stop back home, before they erase themselves from the world forever. · A slightly supernatural mob thriller: Take Goodfellas and smash it up with Stranger Things in a story that pairs real-world mob threats with supernatural ones, that lead to a nail-biting, on-the-road romance, with a backstory so dark, you may not recover. If you need a dark love story told against a mob backdrop, bone-chilling tension, and a trauma-filled childhood, then step across the line and venture into the gray!

Scott R. Welvaert is a writer of middle grade, young adult, and adult fiction who has authored numerous books, including The Curse of the Wendigo, The Mosquito King, The Alabaster Ring, Grotesque, The 13th Floor, The Ghost of the Wicked Crow, Escape from Atlantis City, and The Traveler's Kiss. An avid outdoorsman, reader, and comic book nerd, he enjoys writing stories that bend the fabric of reality and offer something more than this world can conjure. He currently lives in Chaska, Minnesota with his wife and a deaf husky named Rocket.