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What the critics said NOTHIN' LEFT TO LOSE
Author Comments and Reviews for Lowcountry Boil
Lowcountry Boil a synopsis
Nothin' Left To Lose a synopsis


LOWCOUNTRY BOIL

A Synopsis

 Lowcountry Boil Set in the lowcountry of coastal South Carolina, Lowcountry Boil explores corruption and moral inequities in a small southern town. Not the typical of the conflicts in so many novels of the small town South, Lowcountry Boil is the story of legal and personal conflicts, political intrigue and complex personal relationships played out by a colorful cast of characters. Carl T. Smith combines lyrical writing and a compelling plot with strong characters-both men and women-to create a powerful novel that will grasp the reader until the final page.

 Sam Larkin is an enigma. A high school dropout, he joined the Merchant Marine, later earned a college degree in biology and worked as an environmental officer in Louisiana until he was unjustly sent to prison by Judge Thornton Hunnycut, who has eyes on the United States Senate. Released under extraordinary and mysterious circumstances after serving four years of a fifteen year sentence, Larkin moved to Covington, South Carolina to begin a new life teaching school and painting. He has set out on a path of non-involvement and a search for peace, which is shattered when knowledge of a conspiracy of major proportions falls to him. Despite efforts to ignore it, he is ultimately drawn in.

  Karen Chaney, working undercover for the federal government, learns of Larkin's past and seeks to make him an ally in her investigation. Amidst a set of circumstances that include a questionable drowning, a corrupt school superintendent, two children whose lives are put in danger by an innocent discovery, a scandal involving bankers, lawyers, doctors, a school official and a law enforcement officer, a major conspiracy is exposed. During the course of the investigation, an improbable and impossible relationship develops between Karen Chaney and Larkin.

  Driven by passions, fears and internal conflict, Smith's characters will pose a number of personal questions for the reader.

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Nothin' Left To Lose

A Synopsis

NASHVILLE 1968

  John Ryan Stone, ex-army officer, ex-teacher, ex-husband and wannabe songwriter has been pushing his music for three years with no success. Down and out, his luck changes when he is invited to audition his songs for Don Hendrickson, one of Nashville's top producers. Although he is a reluctant performer, the raw earthiness of his voice and his sensual lyrics suggest a new direction in country music.

  Stone is suddenly catapulted into a whirlwind of cutting demos and making career plans that he has little say in. Soon he is flying to New York to sign a contract with Trayhorn International, a recording giant making its first foray into Nashville music. At Trayhorn he meets Kate Belden, a beautiful and focused promotion manager who is assigned to direct his career. What he doesn't know is that Trayhorn is infused with members of the Tedesco Crime Family, which is trying to take over the company and targets the rising star to that end. All too soon John Ryan and Kate find themselves enmeshed in the dark side of the music business involving bribery, threats, counterfeit records, cut-out schemes and murder.

 The story moves seamlessly from the recording studios of Nashville to the underworlds of New York and Philadelphia. A variety of colorful, romantic and dangerous characters weave a tale of rising stardom, suspense, new-found love and innovation in the music industry.


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