About the Book

This is two stories in one novel, two intertwined plots. The main story is about Martin, a timid boy who is befriended by Pope John in 1958. Pope John adopts him and another boy, Claudio. The two boys are at odds with each other from the beginning. After Pope John dies, they grow apart and become each other’s nemesis, each hurting the other, each taking revenge on the other. At the same time, each try to find the happiness they had as boys. While Martin spends his life looking for the same unconditional love he found from his adopted father, Claudio attempts to find happiness in wealth, fame, and power.

Wrapped around this story is the story of a journalist who inteviews Martin as an old man, for an article for a New York magazine. As he researches Martin’s background to add more depth to his article, he learns about family secrets and about Claudio. He comes to despise Claudio and eventually seeks to assist Martin in getting his final revenge on Claudio.

About the Author

The author, Russell Dyer was born in New Orleans and lived most of his life there, but now lives in Milan, Italy. Since his father died when he was only three, his mother remarried about five years later.

He graduated from Loyola University in New Orleans primarily with a degree in English, and went to Southeastern Louisiana University for a master’s degree in English. When he was younger, he worked for over ten years in the investment business in various roles from a clerk to a broker to a corporate executive. He now works in the software business as a writer and editor, in which he has written hundreds of articles and several books on software.

Related to fiction writing, besides having written several short stories, he wrote a humorous novel called In Search of Kafka, which can be purchased on Amazon’s site. This novel is his second one published. However, he started another one before it called, Not a Step. It’s nearly finished and should be published in early 2018.