Tell us about Dead Man’s Hand.
What happens when the deck is stacked against you…

From NFL rising-star prospect to wanted fugitive, Calvin Watters is a sadistic African-American Las Vegas debt-collector framed by a murderer who, like the Vegas Police, finds him to be the perfect fall-guy.

…and the cards don’t fall your way?

When the brutal slaying of a prominent casino owner is followed by the murder of a well-known bookie, Detective Dale Dayton is thrown into the middle of a highly political case and leads the largest homicide investigation in Vegas in the last twelve years.

What if you’re dealt a Dead Man’s Hand?

Against his superiors and better judgment, Dayton is willing to give Calvin one last chance. To redeem himself, Calvin must prove his innocence by finding the real killer, while avoiding the LVMPD, as well as protect the woman he loves from a professional assassin hired to silence them.

What genre is it?
Crime-thriller, Suspense, Mystery, Police-Procedural

What kind of readers will it appeal to?
Thriller readers looking for an atypical thriller hero — an African-American who is no saint.

Sports fans will be fascinated by Watters’ struggle to recover his decency and win, a kind of Blind Side story with little sentimentality and few illusions.

A Las Vegas setting — the world of The Hangover movies and many youth films like Bridesmaids — will appeal to 20s-30s readers.

Watters’ romance with a former prostitute will appeal to younger female readers.  The marital tension between Detective Dayton and his wife will interest adults. Both men and women will enjoy the twist on the femme fatale figure of the murderer’s lover, who has her own
schemes.

Complete this sentence for us: if you like _________________, you’ll love Dead Man’s Hand.
If you like James Patterson, you’ll love my book.

So who is Luke Murphy?
Luke Murphy lives in Shawville, Quebec with his wife, two daughters and pug.

He played six years of professional hockey before retiring in 2006. Since then, he’s held a number of jobs, from sports columnist to radio journalist, before earning his Bachelor of Education degree (Magna Cum Laude).

How can we follow you online?
www.authorlukemurphy.com
@AuthorLMurphy
Facebook: Author Luke Murphy.

What’s next?
I would love to write a second novel. A full-time job teaching, part-time job tutoring, two small children and another one on the way has slowed the progress of book #2.