Dear Reader, Love Gary Morgenstein

 

Dear Reader,

So I have an interesting back story. My emotional thriller Jesse’s Girl was originally published in 2009. My son, my only child, was battling substance abuse. I don’t know if you’ve had this experience with a loved one but, if you have, you know the pain, the frustration, the fear.

I wrote Jesse’s Girl, fictionalizing his story by putting the emotions into a creative food processor. I asked him to read the book, hoping that by seeing what he was doing to his family and especially to himself, it would motivate him to get clean.

It didn’t work. He never read the novel.  A few years later, he passed from substance abuse at 22.

I put Jesse’s Girl in an emotional vault, we all have them, right? That place where scarred memories are hidden because really, what can you say about the loss of your child, what can others say except, “I’m sorry”. Time doesn’t heal all wounds, but at least it gets rid of the infection.

Fast forward with me. Recently a friend whose opinion I respect read Jesse’s Girl.  She insisted I revisit the novel and do something with it because “these characters are more real than most of the people I know.”

I took some deep breaths. Lots of deep breaths, fresh tears, and I went back and did numerous drafts, digging deeper into the characters and plot, polishing and updating to bring out this new edition.

I want to share this story with you, a father’s desperate search for his adopted teenage son who’s run away from a wilderness program to find his biological roots, because I hope it touches you. Perhaps you’ve had difficulties other than addiction and adoption with your child, loved one, maybe even issues of your own. Or just the all-too-normal experience of trying to reach some one who keeps moving away.

Jesse’s Girl is intense, I warn you that. That’s why I call it an emotional thriller, because it has the pace of a thriller with the heart of a family drama. The book asks the question: How much should a parent sacrifice for this child? In Jesse’s Girl, the answer is: Everything.

But beyond darkness there is hope and that’s what writers must do. Show hope, give comfort, say there’s a path to the light. I hope some part of Jesse’s Girl helps you, touches you. After all, it is a love story. Thank you for listening.

Love, Gary Morgenstein

The novels and plays of the award-winning writer Gary Morgenstein have been featured in national media from the New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, New York Post and Sports Illustrated to NPR and Fox News. 

Including Jesse’s Girl, Morgenstein’s seven novels include the critically acclaimed trilogy The Dark Depths comprised of A Mound Over Hell, A Fastball for Freedom and A Dugout to Peace, which begins in 2098 after America and the West have lost World War Three to the Islamic Empire and baseball begins its final season at Amazon Stadium.

Morgenstein’s stage dramas, which have been performed all over the country, include A Black and White Cookie, A Tomato Can’t Grow in the Bronx, Dancing on Glass, Walking Charlie, The Silence of Our Friends and the bi-partisan political satire AOC and the Untold Story of the 2028 Election.

Connect with him on social media at:

╰┈➤ Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/gary.morgenstein/

╰┈➤ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/garymorgenstein

Teddy Mentor finally thought his troubled teenage son was safe. No more drugs. No more police. No more fear. Only guilt. Then came the midnight call from the wilderness program.  Jesse had run away.

But what can Teddy do? Risk his shaky job and head to Montana to search for Jesse?  Let the authorities handle this. They know what they’re doing. That’s why Teddy sent Jesse away. Because he already failed. No. Teddy can’t jeopardize what little he has left for the adopted son who said Teddy wasn’t his real father. But Teddy is a parent. A single parent. And Jesse is all he has left.

The novel asks the question how much should a parent sacrifice for their child? In Jesse’s Girl, the answer is: Everything.

╰┈➤Book Details 

● Title: Jesse’s Girl
● Author: Gary Morgenstein
● Genre: Thriller
● Sub-genre: Crime Action/Adventure
● Language:English
● Pages: 318
● Paperback ISBN: 978-1441492241
● Publisher: Amazon
● Price: Paperback $17, Kindle $3.99, FREE on Kindle Unlimited
● Amazon: https://a.co/d/03JVVL7e
● Barnes&Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/jesses-girl-gary-morgenstein/1018257163