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Steve Zettler
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Careless Love Kindle Edition

by Steve Zettler (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.7 out of 5 stars 30 ratings
The answer seemed simple for Grace Rolston when she dropped the .38 revolver into her travel bag and retreated to Hawaii. It was time to escape Californian demons, abandon her philandering husband, and say goodbye to the life of a canary trapped in a cage.

Demons have also invaded the life of Lee Corbet, and he too has retreated to Hawaii, hoping to jettison the past memories that eat away at his soul.

Grace and Lee collide, but love is careless; it will take these two innocents, toss them into a typhoon of passion and emotion, and then rip them apart, all for entertainment’s sake.

When a bird flies westward, Hawaii is the end of the line.
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  1. Print length
    119 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publication date
    July 6, 2021
  4. File size
    4.0 MB
  5. Page Flip
    Enabled
  6. Word Wise
    Enabled
  7. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"A powerful tale of the many ways love can go wrong." "In this literary novel, a man seeks to uncover the vacation romance that resulted in his birth. In 1979, Grace Rolston flies to Hawaii not long after her Hollywood director husband asked her for a divorce. Grace was carrying on a not-so-secret affair, to be sure, but Nick Rolston is no easy man to live with. She's planning to do a bit of soul-searching on Oahu, but she packs a .38 revolver in her suitcase just in case the trip doesn't go as planned. Alone on the veranda of the Pickering Club, she asks a brooding man for a cigarette. Well, the first thing she asks him is actually "What happened to your finger?" Peter Lee Corbet is missing a finger. He says it's a long story. Everything with Lee is a long story. He doesn't have a cigarette, but he leads Grace on an adventure to bum one from the kitchen staff, and so begins a whirlwind romance between two damaged people far from home. Years later, shortly before her death, Grace tells her adult child that he is not, in fact, Nick's son as he's always assumed. That son, who narrates the novel, resolves to discover the truth of what happened in Hawaii: How Grace and Lee came together and why he has never heard of the man until now. Zettler's prose is razor-sharp, especially the dialogue: "Lee had never disclosed any specifics about the day he lost his finger. No one ever seemed to get the details....'It's depressing as hell and it's never going to bring Cokely or Hanratty back to their families. Not in a million years. So what is the goddamned point?' " The author excels at hinting at his characters' backstories in a way that provides them with uncommon depth and whets readers' appetites to learn more. The audience can more or less guess where things are going, but the journey is surprising and worthwhile. For a book with a premise straight out of an Elvis Presley song, it packs an unexpected emotional punch. A powerful tale of the many ways love can go wrong." "Kirkus Reviews"

From the Back Cover

The answer seemed simple for Grace Ralston when she dropped the .38 revolver into her travel bag and retreated to Hawaii. It was time to escape California demons, abandon her philandering husband, and say goodbye to the life of a canary trapped in a cage.
Demons have also invaded the life of Lee Corbet, and he too has retreated to Hawaii, hoping to jettison the past memories that eat away at his soul.
Grace and Lee collide, but love is careless; it will take these two innocents, toss them into a typhoon of passion and emotion, and then rip them apart, all for entertainment's sake.
When a bird flies westward, Hawaii is the end of the line.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B092DSGYYY
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Vine Leaves Press (July 6, 2021)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ July 6, 2021
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 4.0 MB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 119 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 out of 5 stars 30 ratings

About the author

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Steve Zettler

Steve Zettler

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Steve Zettler is a professional writer and actor. His most recent thriller is "Two for the Money." Coming in March of 2025 is "Tick... Tick... Tick..." He is the author of the romantic tragedy, "Careless Love", and international thrillers "The Second Man", "Double Identity" and "Ronin". He is also the coauthor of the bestselling Nero Blanc Mystery Series. He has worked extensively as an actor in New York and in regional theaters, and he created a memorable role in a Pulitzer Prize winning play. He has also worked on countless television shows and many feature films.

Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
30 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book suspenseful, with one review noting it keeps readers interested from beginning to end. Moreover, the book features great characters and runs the gamut of emotions.

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10 customers mention "Suspenseful"10 positive0 negative

Customers find the book suspenseful and intriguing, with one customer noting it keeps readers interested from beginning to end, while another describes it as an engrossing slice of life.

"...I admire Zettler’s deft blend of plot and personality in this entertaining and revelatory tale." Read more

"...A great book." Read more

"The structure is part of the surprise. The diversity of narrative styles -- reflecting the different sorts of characters -- is a pleasure to read...." Read more

"I loved the dialog between Grace and Lee and the romance and the Hawaiian vibe. I felt as if I were back in the 60's and 70's ...." Read more

5 customers mention "Character development"5 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the character development in the book.

"...pursuit uncovers a cast of often unsavory, but always intriguing, characters...." Read more

"...Ran the gamut of emotions and a compelling cast of characters with passionate contradictions and are all amazingly familiar...." Read more

"...The diversity of narrative styles -- reflecting the different sorts of characters -- is a pleasure to read...." Read more

"An evocative, inventive tale! Great pace and characters!" Read more

4 customers mention "Emotion level"4 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the emotional depth of the book, which runs the gamut of feelings, with one customer noting its evocative and passionate nature.

"Thank you! I haven’t enjoyed a novel this much in some time. Ran the gamut of emotions and a compelling cast of characters with passionate..." Read more

"...And the truth is not always pretty picture. A shocking, passionate, colorful, moving, lightning-paced condemnation of war. A great book." Read more

"An evocative, inventive tale! Great pace and characters!" Read more

"Intricately plotted, emotionally complex. A can't-put-it-down combination of romance, mystery, and suspense." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Ann S. Epstein
    5.0 out of 5 stars A Carefully Constructed Tale
    Reviewed in the United States on September 21, 2021
    Verified Purchase
    Imagine being told by your mother as she confronts the end of her life that the person you thought was your father was not the man half responsible for beginning yours. (Not a spoiler; readers learn this at the novel’s outset.) With little to go on, the narrator of Steve Zettler’s carefully constructed novel Careless Love sets out to discover not only who his real father was, but also the identity of the man who killed him. His dogged pursuit uncovers a cast of often unsavory, but always intriguing, characters. Set in Hawaii, the sordidness of the lowlifes contrasts sharply with the pampered lives of the privileged guests at the beach getaway where Grace and Lee, the narrator’s parents, have each retreated to escape their respective demons. Likewise, the flashbacks to the grim realities of the war in Vietnam are in stark contrast to the sweet romance between these central characters. The detective work brings to mind an absorbing film noir production. As a fiction writer myself (see my Amazon author page www.amazon.com/author/asewovenwords), I admire Zettler’s deft blend of plot and personality in this entertaining and revelatory tale.
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Eugene Lee
    5.0 out of 5 stars This is fine reading!
    Reviewed in the United States on August 17, 2021
    Verified Purchase
    Thank you! I haven’t enjoyed a novel this much in some time. Ran the gamut of emotions and a compelling cast of characters with passionate contradictions and are all amazingly familiar.
    The language … use of words … often read like a song … a ballad at times? Dissonant but clear and also gritty and textured perfectly to paint pictures and transported me around the world in a narrative that I couldn’t let go of once I started. It was a special joy to read and I’m sooo grateful. Extremely well written.

    Write on my brother. Well done.
    4 people found this helpful
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  • T-Rex, Jr.
    5.0 out of 5 stars This Book Rocks
    Reviewed in the United States on January 11, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    I seriously could not put this damn book down. I read it in one sitting, it’s that absorbing. An artist learns some shocking news – On her deathbed his mother informs him that the man he assumed was his father, was in fact, not his father at all. The artist’s birth was the result of an illicit love affair the mother had in Hawaii many years ago. This news sends the artist to Honolulu to learn the truth. And the truth is not always pretty picture. A shocking, passionate, colorful, moving, lightning-paced condemnation of war. A great book.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Mr. Nobody
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great writing, great story, believable characters
    Reviewed in the United States on August 11, 2021
    Verified Purchase
    The structure is part of the surprise. The diversity of narrative styles -- reflecting the different sorts of characters -- is a pleasure to read. Suspense, romance, war, crime, Hollywood, Hawaii, class, sickos -- this book has got it all. Wish I could read it again for the first time!
    3 people found this helpful
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  • Gale W.
    5.0 out of 5 stars I hated Ray but really enjoyed the book
    Reviewed in the United States on July 24, 2021
    Verified Purchase
    I loved the dialog between Grace and Lee and the romance and the Hawaiian vibe. I felt as if I were back in the 60's and 70's . Good mystery, the way it was written. I always thought there would be a gun used in the end but I felt the ending was better than I imagined although a tear jerker. The Vietnam pages were so descriptive and real that I had to turn the page. I really disliked the Ray character. Zettler's ability to make you feel for and with the characters is amazing.
    3 people found this helpful
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  • Jim
    5.0 out of 5 stars A son's quest for his father
    Reviewed in the United States on August 25, 2021
    Verified Purchase
    Zettler frames his story like an epic, with a son seeking to know the father whom he never knew and so to know himself. I especially enjoyed the film-noir pacing.
    3 people found this helpful
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  • Jai
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great story
    Reviewed in the United States on January 21, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    Intriguing, Romantic, Suspensful, non-predictable. Keeps you interested from beginning to end. Hard to put down. First physical book I've read in a long time. Thanks Zettler for taking me on this Hawaiian journey.
    🤗 JL
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Fredrick Soukup
    5.0 out of 5 stars Check it out!
    Reviewed in the United States on April 2, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    An evocative, inventive tale! Great pace and characters!
    Helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

  • Annalisa
    5.0 out of 5 stars Eloquent and emotive
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 19, 2021
    Verified Purchase
    This is such an eloquent and emotive portrayal of a love affair just beginning and the sepia memories of 1979. The narrator discovers the man he thought was his father was not, and sets out to track down the man who was, via the people who were there at the time.

    The range of characters in Zettler's novel are perfectly rendered and their relationships to each other slowly unfold throughout the book - some with a direct link to the narrator's father, others not quite.

    This is a fascinating insight into the secrets people keep and their motives, and the way time changes perception of the facts.
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