The Story Behind To Catch the Setting Sun
The idea for my latest novel came from a confluence of several separate, yet simultaneous, sensory experiences that triggered images which ignited the creative foundation for this story. Please allow me to explain. I’ve been involved with acting since my move to Hawaii. In 2018 I was on my way to the set of a Hawaii 5-O episode where, as a background actor, I had been cast as an NCIS agent. I wanted to give this agent an identity and a life, so while on my way to the production set I began utilizing a technique from acting class; mentally becoming this agent—giving him a name, a history, habits etc. I then imagined myself being uncomfortably hot while driving to an investigation because the car air-conditioner didn’t work properly. So, to make this a real experience I shut mine off, rolled down the windows which then caused a blast of hot air to rush in along with the smell of trash left in piles beside homeless tents along the roadside (the image of paradise that tourists typically don’t see). Then I began to play some instrumental music which happened to be from the John Dumas CD Kohola Dreamtime. It was at that moment when my protagonist, HPD detective Hank Benjamin, came to life. Playing the right background music has always helped to stimulate my imagination. Over the next several weeks I had repeated this whenever I drove to my day job, or to a production set. As I did so, a story began to develop in my mind. That’s when I knew I had my next novel. To Catch The Setting Sun is published by The Wild Rose Press. I must admit, contacting them directly was a last-ditch attempt after I had received about twenty rejections out of the sixty literary agents I had queried. The other forty must have simply round-filed my letters because I never heard a word from them. I thought it was odd as every agent I researched claimed to specialize in the suspense, thriller, or crime genres. I kept telling myself to press on since the author of the best selling novel The Help was able to secure a literary agent on her sixty first query letter. Regardless, I was all set to indy-publish one more time when I decided to consult with a friend, romance author Lelani Black. She had read and loved all four of my indy-published novels, so I asked if she would read my latest work. She agreed, and soon after sending her the unedited manuscript she emailed: “Rich, you have a good strong novel that stands to be your best work ever.” Knowing the frustration I was experiencing in trying to find an agent, she recommended that I contact her publisher directly. “Given that most publishers no longer accept direct submissions, you may not get anywhere, but it’s worth taking a chance,” she said. I did just that! I sent a query along with the first chapter (and I mentioned her name), and a request for the manuscript came a month later. It wasn’t long before I received an email from my soon-to-be editor with praise—saying in part: “As you must know, you have a masterpiece with To Catch The Setting Sun. It was amazing and I liked how you ended it…”. The rest, as they say, is history.
There’s a killer loose on the island of Oahu. His targets? Young, native-Hawaiian women. But it also appears that he’s targeting and taunting Honolulu police detective Henry Benjamin who knew each victim and whose wife, Maya, had been the first name on that list. In addition to battling his personal demons, this New York transplant’s aggressive style didn’t sit well with his laid-back colleagues who viewed Henry’s uncharacteristic lack of progress in the investigation as evidence that fueled ongoing rumors that he could be the killer. Was he, or could it have been someone within the municipal hierarchy with a vendetta? As it was, after thirteen years on the job Henry had been disillusioned with paradise. His career choice long killed any fantasy of living in a grass hut on a wind-swept beach, being serenaded by the lazy sounds of the ocean and a slack key guitar. Instead, it had opened his eyes to a Hawaii that tourists will never see.
Book Information
Release Date: August 22, 2022
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Soft Cover: ISBN: 978-1509243297; 320 pages; $17.99; eBook $5.99
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3Rl42Aw
Barnes and Noble: https://bit.ly/3BRB0mv
Apple iBooks: https://apple.co/3dVBaBj
Richard I Levine is a native New Yorker raised in the shadows of Yankee Stadium. After dabbling in several occupations and a one-year coast to coast wanderlust trip, this one-time volunteer fireman, bartender, and store manager returned to school to become a chiropractor. A twenty-three-year cancer survivor, he’s a strong advocate for the natural healing arts. Levine has four Indy-published novels and his fifth work, To Catch The Setting Sun, is published by The Wild Rose Press and was released in August 2022. In 2006 he wrote, produced and was on-air personality of the Dr. Rich Levine show on Seattle’s KKNW 1150AM and after a twenty-five year practice in Bellevue, Washington, he closed up shop in 2017 and moved to Oahu to pursue a dream of acting and being on Hawaii 5-O. While briefly working as a ghostwriter/community liaison for a local Honolulu City Councilmember, he appeared as a background actor in over twenty-five 5-Os and Magnum P.Is. Richard can be seen in his first co-star role in the Magnum P.I. third season episode “Easy Money”. He presently resides in Hawaii.
Visit Richard’s Amazon Page or connect with him on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Goodreads.
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