Dark as Night

Morris White escaped the crime and working-class roots in the Philly projects by learning to cook. Hes got great taste and impeccable kitchen skills and now hes a Sous Chef at a first-rate Philadelphia French bistro. The stove burners arent the only thing thats on fire in Morriss life since his affair with Vicky Ward has just heated up. Shes the manager at the bistro and comes from money and a privileged background. Together theyre dreaming of opening their own restaurant where shell run the front-of-the-house business and hell run the kitchen. But their dream gets sidetracked when Morris takes in his half-brother Vince Kammer whos just been released from prison. Vince did time for a jewelry store robbery that went sideways and the local mob boss who bankrolled the crime Johnny Stacks Staccardo is insisting that Vince pull another job to make up for the loss of the jewels he never received. Johnny Stacks has his gangster wannabe henchmen Lenny and Mo riding Vince pretty hard and to make matters worse Dick Franks the corrupt cop who originally investigated the jewelry store heist has gotten wind that Vince is out of the can. Franks believes Vince has the missing diamonds and theres not much that Franks wont do to get his hands on those stones. When Morris discovers Vinces predicament he has to summon the inner tough guy from his youth (and dig up a gun he had hidden away) to keep Vince from doing anything stupid. Caught between the gangsters the vicious Dick Franks and Vinces own desire for revenge Morris risks losing his new love his dreams even his life in order to save Vince from himself. Praise for DARK AS NIGHT: Dark as Night is a funny violent and damn near perfect noir. If you like your heroes flawed your villains amoral and your body count high you might well think that Mark T. Conard has been reading your mind. A fantastic debut. -Tod Goldberg author of Living Dead GirlIf you crossed Anthony Bourdains Bone in the Throat with Abel Ferraras Bad Lieutenant and threw in a little bit of Carl Hiaasen for good measure you might get something like Mark T. Conards funny and brutal Dark as Night. Hes one to watch. -Scott Phillips author of The Walkaway