Hard Sell Hardback - 2005

Private detective Samuel Miller would like nothing more than to spend his vacation on the beaches of Rhode Island with a drink in his hand and a girl by his side. Even finding the host of a party dead in his home fails to impede Sam's quest for rest and relaxation. But when a second body is dumped on his doorstep, Sam cannot help but acknowledge that someone is trying to interfere with his leisure time. Evangelical showman Abraham Punditt seems to be connected to the disruption to Miller's vacation, but the only thing harder than taking the celebrity priest seriously is proving his involvement in any nefarious activity; especially when he's being lauded as the TV messiah guaranteed to answer the prayers of New England's upper crust aristocracy. Under the counsel of his partner Everett, Sam reluctantly marshals his forces, taking the battle to Punditt's glorified holier-than-thou convention for the damned in the capital city of Providence. Of course, the more the merrier, so why not bring the girls along too? Everett's wife Nicole views this as a wonderful educational opportunity, but Miller's girlfriend Lil threatens bodily harm to anyone who compromises her holiday plans. Along the way Sam encounters a renegade state trooper, a drunk of a lawyer with a fake British accent, and a washed up sex symbol who isn't that sexy to begin with. He is shot at, beat up, and comes to find himself ensnared in a web of blackmail, treachery, and deceit. All while giving himself a tour of the Ocean State. It's a hell of a vacation.