by: Randy Overbeck
Series: Lessons in Peril
Genre: Amateur Sleuth Mystery
Release Date: October 11, 2023
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
On a school camping trip, fifth graders experiment with a dangerous new hallucinogen and die in a horrific accident, their deaths shattering the quiet town. Assistant Superintendent Ken Parks, hoping to redeem a fatal mistake from his past, grasps the opportunity to conduct the district investigation of how students are getting the drugs. Almost before he begins, the cops make a stunning arrest. But Parks battles on, convinced the real pusher is still out there, poisoning more kids until he receives an anonymous threat: if he continues, those close to him will pay. Is Parks willing to risk those he loves for a chance at redemption?
Cruel Lessons is an atmospheric, amateur sleuth mystery, the first in a new series set in schools called “Lessons in Peril.” The story involves a rogue, hallucinogenic drug being pushed in a middle school and, after it results in the death of four students, the rush to stop the drug pusher before more children die. The narrative takes place in a small school district in a rural Midwest town during October, 1994 and all the characters (heroes and villains) come from the school arena. The story is told primarily from the perspective of two protagonists, Assistant Superintendent Ken Parks, and fourth grade teacher Stacy Thompson, two ordinary educators caught in the middle of a life and death crisis.
Assistant Superintendent Ken Parks is hoping for redemption. Please tell me about him?
Ken is a man who has dedicated his life to serving children and, though he has risen through the ranks, he is often frustrated by the how often decisions in schools are not based on what’s best for kids, but rather what’s best for adults or, worse, politics. He knows all the staff and many of the students and, when four 5th graders die “on his watch,” he takes the deaths personally. Part of this burden is caused by a secret shame he has carried since college. The fact that his guilt and these deaths are both connected to drugs haunts him further.
Cruel Lessons is the first book in your Lessons in Peril series. How do you envision the series being connected? Is Ken Parks the link?
The series, like all my work, will feature stories from the world of education, where there is always plenty of drama. In succeeding entries in the series, both Ken Parks and Stacy Thompson—the two primary POV’s in Cruel Lessons—will be central characters in the narratives. Future stories will be set in the same timeframe as Cruel Lessons, the mid to late 90’s. Although I’m only in the planning stages, but one future installment will address the terrifying reality of a school shooting and another will feature educators caught in the middle of the battle over immigration.
You are a former educator, how did your past career influence the story?
I had the privilege of serving children for almost four decades in a variety of roles from teacher to coach to college prof to superintendent. During that time I got to work with thousands of dedicated and unselfish individuals who shared my commitment to children—and more than a few who did not. Over these years of experience I collected a great number of stories, anecdotes, characters and rumors. In fact, nearly all of the characters in my tales are composites of actual people I worked with and that’s one reason they seem so real to readers, I think.
The book is listed as being 470 pages long. Can you tell me what the first three sentences from Chapter Four are?
Chapter Four opens with haunting scene at the cemetery with four small gold coffins lined up in a row with the entire town gathered in mourning.
“The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; he leadeth me beside still waters." The resonant voice chanted above the crowd in a stirring baritone, but Ken Parks was not sure many were listening.How much of the story did you plot out, verses allowing it to happen organically?
To Ken’s amazement, life in the town, his town, had turned ugly seemingly overnight, even transforming the weather into something foul. A chilling frost and a frigid wind had replaced the almost balmy, Indian summer weather earlier in the week.
I’ve found I’m somewhere between a plotter and a pantser. By the time I start my story, I’ve developed some basic structure points that I’ve “outlined” in a very loose manner, I’ve determined main characters (for which I’ve created a character board) and laid out some other plot details. Since creating accurate settings is critical to my storytelling, I also have copious notes on these. From there, I let the muse take over.
When readers get to the end of Cruel Lessons what do you wish and hope they take away from the story?
I believe as authors we have a responsibility to do more than entertain—though I recognize that’s important. I think our books can inform, inspire and educate our readers as well as entertain them. That’s why, when I wrote the novels in my Haunted Shores Mysteries, I crafted murder mysteries tied to larger social issues we as a country struggle with such as racial injustice and human trafficking, hoping to provide some new insight and understanding. In Cruel Lessons, I shaped a narrative that tackles the issue of student drug abuse head on. Although the story is invented and the drug in question is a fictional hallucinogen, I hope readers will see parallels between my tale and the current opioid crisis affecting so many children and adults today.
Randy congratulations again on your new release. Thank you so much for answering some of my questions.
Struggling desperately to force her mind to think, Amanda tried to consider her options. It was all happening too quickly. The next treacherous turn came at her fast. She had no way to slow down. White knuckles gripped the steering wheel.
The bend ahead showed a hard curve to the right, not quite as tight as the last one, but steeper. And she felt the car accelerating, though she hadn’t touched the gas pedal. Right before the car hit the curve, Amanda spun the steering wheel. The car lurched around the bend. The driver side of the car lifted up. Halfway through the long bend, Amanda watched the hood tilt in the turn until it was almost vertical. No seat belt on, she was catapulted down the leather seat, crashing into the passenger door.
“Hell!” she cried, reaching to grab her bruised shoulder.
She froze as the two wheels still on the ground shuddered in the gravel, sliding off the small road. Slammed against the side door, she heard the tall weeds and low branches whip against the body. But the car didn’t slow. Blood streamed from a gash on her forehead. For an instant she lay there stretched across the passenger door, holding her breath.
Then she sensed the car teetering. The front tire bumped something hard. Amanda stared, unbelieving, as the car began to flip. As the Regal made the first revolution, she screamed.
The bend ahead showed a hard curve to the right, not quite as tight as the last one, but steeper. And she felt the car accelerating, though she hadn’t touched the gas pedal. Right before the car hit the curve, Amanda spun the steering wheel. The car lurched around the bend. The driver side of the car lifted up. Halfway through the long bend, Amanda watched the hood tilt in the turn until it was almost vertical. No seat belt on, she was catapulted down the leather seat, crashing into the passenger door.
“Hell!” she cried, reaching to grab her bruised shoulder.
She froze as the two wheels still on the ground shuddered in the gravel, sliding off the small road. Slammed against the side door, she heard the tall weeds and low branches whip against the body. But the car didn’t slow. Blood streamed from a gash on her forehead. For an instant she lay there stretched across the passenger door, holding her breath.
Then she sensed the car teetering. The front tire bumped something hard. Amanda stared, unbelieving, as the car began to flip. As the Regal made the first revolution, she screamed.
Purchase Cruel Lessons from:
(Affiliate Links Used)
Places to find Randy Overbeck:
You can follow the Cruel Lessons Virtual Book Tour here.
Thank you so much for featuring this interesting interview and the book today.
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome.
DeleteThis sounds like a book I would enjoy, I'll check it out!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the post and interview.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a great read.
ReplyDeleteWhat are your favorite books you have read and why?
ReplyDeleteThis subject of children dying from drug overdose is a problem we need to help our children not to become a victim of this terrible tragedy-thank for this book
ReplyDeleteIntriguing cover
ReplyDeleteThe plot is intriguing because it involves elementary students and school personnel.
ReplyDelete