Southside Hooker

Hooker is a survivor. He reigns from high in the cab of a custom-built giant tow truck that is as powerful as the heart that he keeps hidden under his "rebel without a cause" skin.Cruising the highways and streets in the heady days of the early Silicon Valley, Hooker lives out his life with one hand on the steering wheel and one hand on the gearshift. Four radios, two of which are illegal, are his ears. Life is cherries as he tours his fiefdom with a one-eyed battle-torn oversized orange cat named Box. Named for the box Hooker found him in, as well as the box between the seats of the cab that he spends his time in. The only three people Box lets touch him are Hooker, Manny the retired Detective and the love of Box's life; the 500lb owner of the Night Dispatch: Dolly.Spring is coming on in the valley, and it's rapidly becoming t-shirt under the leather jacket weather; Hooker's favorite time of the year. The police, have long turned a blind eye to his "rapid response time", and the waitress at his favorite midnight eatery is warming up to him. Life is going just great.That is until he witnesses the first of several cops shot to death by an unseen assailant. The killing spree is executed on Highway Patrol, police, as well as sheriff deputies. San Jose is paralyzed as everyone searches for answers. Only Hooker has his ear close to the evil that walks the streets at night taking the city and county's finest.But when it becomes personal, can Hooker find the killer; before the killer finds Hooker?

A psychopatic, sociopath mutilator is leaving cut up bodies in the south Bay Area-again. This time around, everything becomes very personal as Hooker is dragged into things, but can't drive with a cast on his arm. Mae West has a blown engine, and the Squirt is still in the hospital recovering from "Dime Poisoning". Then Hooker gets word from his sister that she needs help. She can help him-but he has to pay the price she is asking.... How do you save someone-by killing them. It is going to take everything Hooker's strange extended family can do to pull it off.... And even then, it may be too late.

Life is splashing along for Hooker, as he cruises the South end of San Jose in his custom built 1959 Marmon tow-truck with his trusty side-kick Box, snoring between the seats. The serious end of fall has settled into a myriad of jumpstarts and drivers re-learning how to park in the middle of rain washed freeways. Blood ally is working overtime on its name. A rash of "suicide by oncoming car" takes over as IBM starts another round of layoffs that runs a cold blade through the lower ribs of the indentured Santa Clara valley. Mudslides make recoveries of wrecks over cliffs-dicey; and the unusual cold has done unkind things to many people. But for Hooker and the local police-it is just another fall with colder rain. A car recovery over a muddy cliff turns up a dead body; or more exact-four skeletons, and bags of curious jewelry and gold statues. It would all be a "walk away" for Hooker, but one of the skeletons is sporting a watch and dog tags that make it personal; very personal. And then Hooker desperately wishes for the warmth of summer. The Squirt is back and gets some hot attention, as some old bones heat up a cold case that never saw the light of day. This could change everything.

"Milpitas was a thug town. Felix hadn't always been a thug, and he hadn't grown up in Milpitas. He had found Milpitas because of its reputation, and he had worked hard to fit into the reputation." Trouble continues to find Hooker and the Squirt. Through the slow drizzle of spring, business is just enough to prevent much needed maintenance on Mae West. Hooker and the Squirt both know in their guts-her cables are stretched and worn. They should have been replaced long ago. But will they still hold when their lives depend on them the most? Boomtown starts 1974 in the south Bay Area. As the Squirt makes his way and reputation at the police academy, and Candy continues to work on becoming a nurse, Hooker slogs his way around south San Jose. But things aren't right as business after business experience freak explosions that defy explanation.

It wasn't Hooker's first recovery wreck from water. At least this was in the sunny summer instead of winter in freezing water and rain. Everything was routine until the officer pulled a skull out of the water. Someone is killing the street walkers of downtown San Jose. As Hooker investigates, it becomes personal, and dangerous.