" A Truth Stranger Than Fiction is a clean, fast-paced mystery thriller, packed with unexpected shifts.... Our hero and narrator, Dakota Stevens, is a witty and charming PI detective.... This story is highly entertaining and fun in its action and humor, but beholden to a deeper focus."* In an adrenaline-fueled case that races to the woods of Upstate New York, to Boston and the shores of Maine, to the Badlands--by foot, train, truck, boat and private jet--a seemingly simple missing persons investigation quickly becomes the most difficult and personal case of Dakota's career. A Missing Author, G-Men, Mobsters and More... Manhattan PI Dakota Stevens and his associate Svetlana Krüsh have just moved into new offices on Fifth Avenue. A pink-and-blue-haired teenage girl walks in with a problem: her older brother and guardian, a famous science fiction author, has been missing for a week. Before Dakota even has a chance to take the case, he and the girl are accosted by a horde of people all searching for the brother: government agents, thugs, mobsters, and two mysterious Chinese men. What could her brother possibly be into? A Secret that Could Change the World... In their search for the missing author, Dakota, Svetlana, and the girl must navigate a bizarre, interconnected world of foreign spies and fangirls, mobsters and murderers, government bureaucrats and corporate profiteers. In the end, Dakota exposes a secret that literally has the power to change the world. And the truth is a truth stranger than fiction. " A Truth Stranger Than Fiction is a clean, fast-paced mystery thriller, packed with unexpected shifts.... Our hero and narrator, Dakota Stevens, is a witty and charming PI detective hailing from Manhattan.... A Truth Stranger Than Fiction is definitely worth the read. Between the fast pace and the clean, fluid language this story is hard to pause, and it's thought-provoking in its real-world relevance. This story is highly entertaining and fun in its action and humor, but beholden to a deeper focus." - *The Portsmouth Review Readers Say : "Orcutt has combined a classic hard-boiled with the page-turning frenzy of a Dan Brown novel." "PI Dakota Stevens is a cross between Philip Marlowe and Jason Bourne and his partner Svetlana Krush is a chess Grandmaster with the body of a Victoria's Secret model." "Just when you think you've solved the mystery, Orcutt surprises you with another unexpected twist." "As for the characters--perfection. Flawed, funny, heroic and developed fully from the first page until the final page." "I read A Real Piece of Work in three days. Didn't get much sleep...but it was well worth it." "Dakota Stevens and his indispensable sidekick/chess champion Svetlana Krush are a delightful modern take on the noir detective style." "The author's ability to paint a picture or scene with words is astounding. This book is ripe for adaptation to film." "Orcutt weaves a story that keeps you hanging on until the very end." "People in the reviews keep mentioning Spenser/Robert B. Parker, and they're right; but add a good streak of John Le Carré, turn the roaster up a notch, and maybe you're getting in the ballpark." "Reading Orcutt is like chasing a lit fuse into a dark tunnel." "I am now stalking this author on Amazon, anxiously awaiting the release of his next book in the series." " A Truth Stranger Than Fiction is a clean, fast-paced mystery thriller, packed with unexpected shifts, and with several overlapping yet opposing parties all asking the same question: where is E. Conover Wright? Between the fast pace and the clean, fluid language this story is hard to pause, and it's thought-provoking in its real-world relevance. This story is highly entertaining and fun in its action and humor, but beholden to a deeper focus. (4.5 stars)" - The Portsmouth Review "Fans of Mickey Spillane's more over-the-top Mike Hammer adventures will welcome Orcutt's third Dakota Stevens outing (after 2014's The Rich Are Different). Readers should expect plenty of bloodshed and action en route to an unexpected resolution of the mystery." - Publishers Weekly, Booklife A Q&A with Chris Orcutt: Is any of  A Truth Stranger Than Fiction  based in fact? Absolutely. Without giving any spoilers, I can tell you that the heart of the mystery in  A Truth Stranger Than Fiction  involves a highly controversial current issue--an issue that is inextricably intertwined with the Earth's future. The novel also deals with corporate profiteering, corporate-government collusion, and espionage, and the main plot of the mystery is based on considerable scientific research. Whenever I can, I like to write in keeping with Aristotle's maxim that "probable impossibilities are to be preferred to improbable possibilities." Where does the title  A Truth Stranger Than Fiction  come from? When you read the novel, you'll see that the moon plays a part in the story, so at first I was playing with titles that had