DEAD RINGER

A seasoned Chicago private eye and an upcoming news reporter combine their talents to solve an unsavory crime.

Private eye Ron Shade, World Heavyweight Kickboxing Champion, has been hired by an insurance company, out big bucks on what may be a phony claim, when one of their agents spots a man in Vegas who looks suspiciously like the Bob Bayless that reportedly died in a fiery car crash. Reporter Alex St. James is looking for her birth parents, but lawyer Larry Farnsworth, an old family friend, is more interested in setting her up with his creepy son Nick, now the successful owner of Sunset Manor Funeral Home. Forced to pose as a homeless person for a story, Alex is rescued from three toughs with evil intentions when Nick, who works with the homeless, arrives just in time with a Russian heavy. Shade meanwhile checks out the Bayless accident scene and finds enough doubts to send him on to the nervous, unsuccessful dentist who provided the X-rays used for identification. Soon after, he’s attacked by Russians intent on killing him. Once Alex hires Shade as a bodyguard, they slowly realize that their cases may coincide. As the murders pile up, Shade and Alex wonder if they’re marked for death as well.

Black (A Final Judgment, 2006, etc.) and Hyzy (State of the Onion, 2008, etc.) unite their disparate detectives in a fast-paced tale with intriguing twists.