DEAL

About the Book

Set in present day Los Angeles, this fictional narrative is a ten day countdown to the heart-wrenching hollowness of an air traffic controller who's just caused a "Deal."

Like the fast paced action in the Los Angeles Air Traffic Control Tower, Roy Santana lives on the perilous edge of chaos and control. Heaping insurmountable tension onto an already high stress career, he wrestles with his failing marriage unaware that a day by day countdown slowly ticks away. By day minus seven, Santana finds himself in the arms of the sensuous Ms. Teddy Reed where lust beckons him onward yet rips at the very fabric of his soul. Pressures of wife, lover, and career soon become too great and by day zero, the crushing weight of two hundred fifty lives rests on the essence of Roy's very breath, as he's buried in the aftermath of an unthinkable "Deal."

Deal follows Santana's spiraling descent into the living hell where he bears Earth-shattering guilt for those who died. But is he responsible for the tragic fate of so many? Is Roy capable of getting back to the life that he once knew? And if he does, what, if anything, awaits his return?

Written with a passion for authenticity and realism, Deal is captivating, imaginative, and terrifyingly close to home. Its memorable characters are fully developed, true to form and very believable. DEAL is nonstop reading, an extraordinary mixture of suspense, intrigue, and trials of the human spirit.

About the Author

I was born in 1959 to first generation Italian immigrants. I'm a graduate of the Don Bosco Technical Institute just outside of Los Angeles, California. Fascinated with airplanes, I learned to fly in 1979 and still enjoy the thrill of high performance single engine aircraft. In 1985, I married a wonderful woman and have four beautiful children. I graduated the FAA's Air Traffic Academy in 1988 and have been an air traffic controller ever since. During my career with the FAA, I have worked at three of Southern California's major airports. Aside from working at an airport and writing Deal, I donate one day a week to my local elementary school where I teach in the computer lab. I chair the Cypress District Advisory Committee, a group of parents, teachers and administrators bringing the concerns of the community to the local School Board. I'm an avid reader, enjoying the works of Crichton, Grisham and Cussler; and from time to time, I sit down with a romance novel by Taylor, Blake or Steel. Experience I bring to the story: Although being an air traffic controller doesn't necessarily qualify me to write just any novel, I am uniquely qualified to write Deal. I have first hand experiences of Deal's action packed venues and intricate settings. I thrive on the complexities of the aviation industry that are so much a part of Deal. From the subtle shades of a multicolored Seal Beach sunset to the thunderous roar echoing from the drag strip of the late Irwindale Raceway, I capture the essence of the landscape and bring it to life in the story. I offer the reader an intriguing insight into the workings of an air traffic control tower giving them a down to earth perspective to an otherwise mystifying job. Through carefully laid out dialogues and detailed settings, I guide the reader into the mind of an air traffic controller. I intoxicate them with the adrenaline rush of a tight squeeze play then let them experience the heart wrenching hollowness of a controller who has just had a Deal. Future projects: I am currently researching my next project, Time Tunnel - in search of the 1903 Wright Flyer. This will be a historical fiction novel based on man's quest for powered flight. It's present day character is an engineer at NASA's wind tunnel in Sunnyvale California, where an exact replica of the 1903 Wright Flyer is poised ready to simulate the first flight of Orville Wright. Then something mysterious happened and the wind tunnel transported him back to 1903.