The Eastside of Town

Book excerpt: "A reader's delight. a story with nostalgia, history, lost love, suspense and a touch of American Graffiti." Maxine Paetro, New York Times bestselling author "First-time novelist Bob Williams' the Eastside of Town is a cracking good mystery and an even more compelling coming-of-age story. Set in Central Florida in the eventful 1960's, this rapidly paced novel uses the biggest issues of the day-Vietnam, Civil Rights, and the Kennedy assassination as a catalyst in the life of youthful protagonist Tommy Smith. Readers with a taste for mystery and fine fiction will love it." Mary Stanton ( Claudia Bishop ) author of THE BEAUFORT & COMPANY MYSTERIES "Even if you didn't grow up in Central Florida during the 1960's, the Eastside of Town offers a gripping tale of friendship, lost love, coming to terms with coming-of-age...and murder. Bob Williams knows how to tell a tale, but he also knows how to instill a deep sense of place in his writing. Those who remember Orlando as it used to be will enjoy nostalgic references to such favorite old hangouts as Ronnie's Restaurant and the Orlando Youth Center. Along the way, Williams does a masterful job of creating characters who seem like old friends and plotting a story that keeps us riveted until the end." Bob Morris, (Baja Florida, Bahamarama, Jamaica Dead) Five friends who grew up on the eastside of Orlando who experienced fathers returning from WWII, the mysteries of girls, Friday night lights, prom, integration, civil rights, assassinations of President Kennedy, Bobby Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr., the draft, and the Vietnam War are reunited when Jackie, the girl who taught all of them about passion and compassion, is brutally murdered. Tommy Smith convinces his friends they need to find out what happened to Jackie. This may not have been a good idea.