Posts by Charles Levin
The Seventh Appointment: A Labyrinth of Names
The 7th installment in the Geier and Lark Mystery Series… Snow drifted past the tall windows of Geier’s office, flakes spiraling like bits of ash in the gray light. He sat behind his desk, coat still on, sipping bitter coffee that had been reheated twice. The radiator clanked in protest. He didn’t light his pipe.…
Read MoreThe Sixth Appointment: Vanishing Point
The rain struck the windows of Dr. Saul Geier’s office in intermittent slashes, as if the sky couldn’t quite make up its mind about the swirling chaos. Inside, Geier grunted, adjusting the flame of his desk lighter before leaning into his armchair. The scent of Captain Black pipe tobacco curled into the wood-paneled stillness. Susan…
Read MoreThe Fifth Appointment: Puzzle of Death | 6 Letters
Dr. Saul Geier had a grudging respect for wordplay, though he rarely admitted it. While others sipped morning coffee and scrolled headlines, he attacked the crossword in the back of the Times like a general planning a siege. Words were puzzles, and puzzles were a way to keep entropy at bay. Susan Lark, on the…
Read MoreThe First Appointment
A prequel to the Amazon #1 Bestseller—The Last Appointment Dr. Saul Geier adjusted the angle of his leather armchair to catch the morning light streaming through his tenth-floor office. The floor-to-ceiling windows overlooked Central Park South. The city sprawled below, chaotic yet oddly comforting in its rhythm. At seventy-two, Geier had seen it all: the…
Read MoreThe Notebook That Knew Too Much
The courtroom was chilly, the cold that crept under your skin and made the long day ahead feel even longer. Amelia Grant pulled her cardigan tighter around her shoulders as she glanced at the bustling set of Law and Order. The crew adjusted lights, cameras, and props, filling the air with sharp orders and the…
Read MoreWhat’s Love Got To Do With It?
Last weekend, my wife and I went to see the new movie Saturday Night. Yes, we love movies and the experience of seeing them at the theater. We have been 50-year fans of Saturday Night Live, upon which the movie is based. The movie was OK, not great. The positive part of the experience was…
Read MoreCharlton Heston and Nova are Riding Down the Beach or Movie Mishaps
… Or Movie Mishaps Over breakfast with friends at our local built-in-the-1700s general store, we shared some stories of the funny and unusual things that happened to us in our decades as moviegoers. They laughed and smiled at the surprising and unusual experiences I had spent those many hours in the dark with the scent…
Read MoreRead‘em And Weep: A Song About Love Forlorn and Poker
I reconnected with an old friend recently, Ken Finkel, who is a wonderful guy and an accomplished musician. I am a writer and book publisher first, but I happened to mention to Ken my side hustle. I am a semi-professional poker player and have competed against the best players in the world with some success.…
Read MoreYou’re Invited: Talk to AI Sam Sunborn
I recently discovered the AI website character.ai. It’s an intriguing place where you can have a virtual conversation with William Shakespeare, Napoleon Bonaparte, or even a psychologist. So I wondered: what if I could create and train a virtual, human-like Sam Sunborn, the protagonist in my NOT SO DEAD thriller series? Guess what– I did…
Read MoreArrive Late / Leave Early
One of the best pieces of advice the bestselling writer Walter Mosley gave me was to “arrive late and leave early.” What did he mean? Well, we both write psychological mystery thrillers. And to keep a story interesting, you don’t need a lot of extraneous detail in the beginning or at the end. So, no…
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