Rubble and the Wreckage
(A Gabriel Church Tale)
Rodd Clark
Book Details: Novel
Genre: LGBT Erotic Thriller
$5.99
Blurb
Gabriel Church knows you can’t take a life without first understanding just how feeble life is, how tentative and weak it stands alone. If you desire murder, you hold a life in your hand. Whether you release it to grant life or grip tighter to end it, it is at your command and discretion.
Gabriel is a serial killer with a story he wants told.
Christian Maxwell studied abnormal psychology in college but chose instead to focus on a career in writing. His background comes in handy when he thinks of writing about a serial killer. He can’t think of anyone more qualified to write the story of Gabriel Lee Church, and do so in the murderer’s own words. It’s been done before, but never with a killer who has yet to be captured or convicted.
There was never anything more than a gentleman’s understanding between the two men that Christian would record Gabriel’s life story. The killer did not ask for his complicity in any crimes, nor did he ever ask for his silence. Christian’s interest in the man, though, is fast becoming something more than academic. When the writer and his subject become unexpected friends and then lovers, the question remains: What is Gabriel’s endgame . . . and why does he want his story told?
What people are saying . . .
Can you trust a serial killer that has no remorse? That bathes in manipulation? I am not going to tell you if Christian trusts, believes, or falls for any of it but I will tell you it’s a drug for those who crave a dark twist in their daily reads. It’s hot between these two. It’s also suspenseful and nerve wracking. Venture outside your comfort zone for this book.
Diverse Reader
I don’t give away spoilers, but I will say that this book pulls no punches, makes no apologies, and basically kicks ass and takes names! Grab it if you want a mind-bending, sexy read that will leave you wanting book two . . .!
Bike Book Reviews
A psychological thriller, this book was a page-turner from beginning to end. I highly recommend Rubble and Wreckage.
A psychological thriller, this book was a page-turner from beginning to end. I highly recommend Rubble and Wreckage.
Joyfully Jay Reviews
This is a wonderful book for the person who likes stories that offer in depth character studies of flawed people. Both men are very complicated and probably equally fragmented except on opposite sides of the law. Rubble and the Wreckage is a sizzling read. Nothing is what it seems; nor is it so simplistic as a killer grooming a writer to be a patsy for murder like a predictable TV movie.
Love Bytes Reviews
Rodd is an amazing narrator and manages to weave a thrilling and intriguing tale of sex, lust, love, mystery and danger.
Bayou Book Reviews
Excerpt
“WERE YOU EVER worried about getting caught?” the writer asked.
The question had been the grizzly in the room from the very beginning. It slept restless off in the corner, always holding that tension that it could rouse and become something deadly. Christian wondered why the killer had ever agreed to have his story told, wondered if it had been Church’s innocent ploy in finding yet another victim. That it had been his face the killer spotted that had been crowned in white radiance. He was willing to risk the danger so that he could learn all he could of Church. He told himself it was going to be a good book, and that it had been his calling to become a conduit for a famous killer’s rants. But he had to concede there was more to it. He couldn’t deny his own keen interest in every aspect of Gabriel Church’s life. He told himself it was intellectual curiosity or that true crime stories had always interested him or his major in Psychology had been the root to his fascination. They were all lies he told himself so he wouldn’t question the face staring back at him from his bathroom mirror. He didn’t want to recognize that his obsessive nature was bordering on unhealthy when it came to writing a murderer’s account of each and every horrific murder.
“Getting caught wasn’t ever a concern. If it happened, it happened. And to be honest, I knew I wouldn’t. I’m smart enough and careful when I need to be.”
A Q&A with Rodd Clark
Q. Rodd, who would you say has been the greatest influence on your choice of writing genres? And why.
A. Since I’ve always been drawn to mysteries and thrillers I’d have to say that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was a great influence as a child, I was fascinated by Sherlock Holmes and his wondrous powers of deductive reasoning. But I quickly learned how intrigue can come in many forms, and it wasn’t long before I ventured into John Le Carre’, John Grisham and Stephen King. For me there is something conversant about the old style of mysteries; from the hardboiled private eyes first created by Dashiell Hammett or the absurdly inquisitive Sherlock Holmes. It’s all about the journey and to each and every bend in that dark road ahead. Whether it comes from the comedic team of Nick and Nora Charles of the Thin Man movies, or a hard-drinking, life-weary investigator, it always speaks to the same resolution; to finding the causes and the culprits, behind all those things which elude us.
Q. Do any of the characters in this series possess any of your idiosyncrasies or character traits? Hmmm that may be a loaded question with this book 😉
A. All the characters in my books seem emotionally or morally compromised in one way or another. I enjoy writing about on twisted personalities which can often appear disturbing from the onset, but characters which still grow and develop in unexpected ways. It’s what all the readers I like to call fans expect of me and I am happy to oblige. I witness the same struggles in friends and acquaintances as I do the characters in my books, therefore I lean towards never giving them an easy or unexamined life. They all have issues with grief and despair, or problems of their conscious with all that entails for them. But in my humble opinion I find the salvation of the soul of the protagonist makes for the best reading. It’s the journey to get there for me. To learn whatever acceptance is available and find whatever peace is afforded you, which is why in my books the readers rarely find that happily-ever-after ending some want so badly. I find resolution more in the bittersweet than the blissful joy of ignorance.
Q. Has anyone in the public realm inspired the look of any of your characters?
A. Yes. But if I were to share that with you the reader might be occluded the reward of making up their own characters, ones which suit them better in their minds-eye. That just might be the best guessing game out there, one where each person is visualizing the main characters one way, just as other readers are visualizing them far differently.
Q. With the increased presence of killers/serial killers in TV shows and movies lately, do you watch any? And if so, which character is your favorite and why?
A. I see how prolific the genre is becoming, with serial killers practically leaching out of the woodwork and capable of stealing your life from the very shadows. And I see how likeable some are purposely fashioned. I am thinking about Dexter and Hannibal at this moment. I often wonder what this must say about our society but even in the beginning of Rubble and the Wreckage I didn’t look to those characters for influences. I wanted to create a persona of someone who appears soulless, but in fact is just the opposite. Since Gabriel Church isn’t ridding the world of even-worse criminals, like the fictional Dexter, and he isn’t that picture of stark madness that is Hannibal Lecter, he has to find his own road. And for him it’s back to the basics, the journey and whatever will become of such a man as he, built by flaw and so much imperfection.
Q. You often combine thriller and erotic content in your novels. What is the hardest for you to write?
A. I have to say writing erotic passages might be the most difficult. When writing a thriller one has to have a story well thought out and well planned. It must be believable and natural in its movement. That can often be the task defies the challenge, but when you write erotica you have to be even more truthful. As I have said in the past, there are only a few choice words which can aptly describe a man’s erection, and the word TURGID is used far, far too frequently.
Q. What are you reading at the moment?
A. I just started a mystery titled “Death by Pride”. It is written by a wonderful friend of mine named Mark McNease and I‘m thoroughly enjoying the journey he’s provided. But even with that considerable effort on my part, the books that require my attention never seem to diminish from the stack. It is a continual fight for me. Just keeping that unwieldy TBR mountain of books from collapsing on top of me. I can’t complain though, it’s a labor of love. I’ve had the good fortune of meeting, and even becoming friends with many fine writers, and it’s due to those delightful bonds in my everyday life, that I’m frequently called to read or review another’s WIP, or work in progress. However, affording the time to beta-read or review for others, while still churning out another manuscript for myself can present its own challenge. I find myself nodding and smiling, and far too often agreeing to add yet another book to my Kindle. I hope to squeeze in time for reading the piece and always agree to get back with the author with my thoughts as quickly as possible. We writers are a vain bunch and often need extra encouragement and praise from those we admire most. It was that process which made me, and the same courtesy I return. I always try to remember that each of every one of us are only bit-characters in the books that our friends are currently writing.
Q. Is there a genre that you would like to write in that you are yet to? Details?
A. I would love to say I intend on writing more M/M in the fantasy world. But I think the market is already overflowing with an abundance of gay vampires and werewolf shifters for everyone. I think the industry is exploding now, and I see the new gay themed SCI FI stories that are emerging into the void and I think, “Well this is finally progress”.
Still I would say to say I’d like to go back to my roots, to write dramatic fiction that fits to a wider audience, and not just the M/M Mystery Thriller genre which I love so much. I would like to author something with traditional significances and a work that speaks to all types of peoples. I can’t fully imagine where that road might take me but it seems limitless, and I grin with sly anticipation of things yet to come.
Q. What’s up next?
A. I am attempting to get a sequel for “Rubble and the Wreckage” out by October. Naturally the process can be arduous but I am hopeful. I am also hard at work on the third, (and dare I say, final book in the Gabriel Church Tales). My expectation is for a release sometime next year, but one never knows.
Add to that the completion of another mystery in the M/M genre, which I’m trying to get hammered out and presentation ready.
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About the Author
Rodd Clark
Rodd Clark currently resides in Dallas, Texas. He shares his life with numerous cats, dogs, and his partner of many years. He has a lot of projects under his belt and is working on many others. Always penning his next work, Rodd likes to keep busy with writing and reading and of course his menagerie of critters.
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Thanks so much for hosting the spotlight on Rubble and the Wreckage 🙂