MEET THE REAL DANCING MAX ROYSTER
From Frank:
"My character Dancing Max Royster is based on the real-life detective Mark Baldessare.
Laughing his way through life, Mark served as a sworn, armed District Attorney's Investigator. Witty, erudite, a reluctant crack shot, he proclaimed daily that "I do it for the money," and "I want to rob a bank." Also, being Jewish and Italian-American, he judged that, "These Irish guys, the pink-cheeked and pudgy Budweiser tribesmen, get into this whole police MISHAGOSS to chastise all the non-Irish for not living like these Irish do."
He admitted to being a Manhattan bookstore owner, teacher, Bronx court officer, a Texas boxer and waiter. For the rest, he stayed mysterious and dropped hints, smirking.
We hunted a serial killer together, chased suspects through alley ways and sat on freezing stakeouts. We received word that our serial killer might be working in a Manhattan skyscraper. When we got there, the skyscraper's electrical power failed. Mark and I drew our guns and crept down to the basement, to corner a serial killer suspect.
A few days later, Mark died, aged 44. Under orders, I retrieved the gold detective's shield from his body. The hospital where he died suffered a poor reputation. Maybe bad treatment had killed him. Grieving and furious, I cajoled, interviewed, called in favors and interrogated everyone. Like a Method actor, I used my real grief to shock doctors into talking. Tests showed that Mark had a streptococcal infection and had been dying without anyone knowing. His death changed me. As a detective, my voice quieted and my tactics improved. Him dying stopped me from marrying the wrong person and I left my job for a new police adventure.
I write these stories to keep him with us."
"My character Dancing Max Royster is based on the real-life detective Mark Baldessare.
Laughing his way through life, Mark served as a sworn, armed District Attorney's Investigator. Witty, erudite, a reluctant crack shot, he proclaimed daily that "I do it for the money," and "I want to rob a bank." Also, being Jewish and Italian-American, he judged that, "These Irish guys, the pink-cheeked and pudgy Budweiser tribesmen, get into this whole police MISHAGOSS to chastise all the non-Irish for not living like these Irish do."
He admitted to being a Manhattan bookstore owner, teacher, Bronx court officer, a Texas boxer and waiter. For the rest, he stayed mysterious and dropped hints, smirking.
We hunted a serial killer together, chased suspects through alley ways and sat on freezing stakeouts. We received word that our serial killer might be working in a Manhattan skyscraper. When we got there, the skyscraper's electrical power failed. Mark and I drew our guns and crept down to the basement, to corner a serial killer suspect.
A few days later, Mark died, aged 44. Under orders, I retrieved the gold detective's shield from his body. The hospital where he died suffered a poor reputation. Maybe bad treatment had killed him. Grieving and furious, I cajoled, interviewed, called in favors and interrogated everyone. Like a Method actor, I used my real grief to shock doctors into talking. Tests showed that Mark had a streptococcal infection and had been dying without anyone knowing. His death changed me. As a detective, my voice quieted and my tactics improved. Him dying stopped me from marrying the wrong person and I left my job for a new police adventure.
I write these stories to keep him with us."
THE DANCING MAX ROYSTER MYSTERIES
THE ONLY BALLROOM DANCING DETECTIVE!
Dear Readers, please note that any book in our series can be read as a standalone.
For our readers unfamiliar with eBooks, please note that Amazon calls their eBooks a "Kindle" and Barnes & Noble calls their eBooks a "Nook edition."
Dancing Max Hits Guadalcanal or When In Doubt, Rhumba
I, Dancing Max Royster, am teaching the crew of the good ship Laura Nyro how to rhumba when terrorists from the South Pacific island of Guadalcanal take my daughter hostage.
Suddenly I am her only hope of rescue!
Suddenly I am her only hope of rescue!
"Another thrilling Max Royster adventure. The author has not only brought his personal experiences into play but channeled the Jack London and Richard Tregaskis school of storytelling. His best yet! Keep 'em coming."
-Terence V. Hayes (Author of Blessed Are The Peacemakers and forthcoming The Candy Store)
"Once again, Max Royster has ventured outside the comfort zone of his Upper East Side 'Playpen.' This time he finds himself amidst ethnic unrest in paradise. Racing to rescue the daughter he never knew he had. His only weapons are his insights into peoples' minds and hearts, and the one love that never lets him down - dancing. This could be his best Max Royster yet.
-Dr. Robert Tarwacki, PhD. (Assistant Professor, John Jay College of Criminal justice, CUNY)
"Max is now established on with the Guadalcanal - doing archeological research, setting up a dancing/karate school AND a cave distillery to provide employment economic for the locals. Just drinking, kicking and, of course, DANCING THE MAX ... until he reconnects with his estranged daughter."
-Daniel Eliseuson (US Marine [33 years Active and Reserve]
-Terence V. Hayes (Author of Blessed Are The Peacemakers and forthcoming The Candy Store)
"Once again, Max Royster has ventured outside the comfort zone of his Upper East Side 'Playpen.' This time he finds himself amidst ethnic unrest in paradise. Racing to rescue the daughter he never knew he had. His only weapons are his insights into peoples' minds and hearts, and the one love that never lets him down - dancing. This could be his best Max Royster yet.
-Dr. Robert Tarwacki, PhD. (Assistant Professor, John Jay College of Criminal justice, CUNY)
"Max is now established on with the Guadalcanal - doing archeological research, setting up a dancing/karate school AND a cave distillery to provide employment economic for the locals. Just drinking, kicking and, of course, DANCING THE MAX ... until he reconnects with his estranged daughter."
-Daniel Eliseuson (US Marine [33 years Active and Reserve]
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LOVE FINDS MAX AT CHRISTMAS OR
KISSING IN THE SLUSH AFTER 60
KISSING IN THE SLUSH AFTER 60
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Cold grips Manhattan.
The city throws a Unity Holiday Party, a dancing street fair, to bring all together.
I, Dancing Max, 62, meet and flirt with a dark blonde beauty named Peg, a barmaid with no illusions left.
Her looks and slangy streetwise talk hold me. At my age, she makes me smolder and feel 24 again.
No matter what it takes, I want her for mine.
But the plan smashes when a drunken Black man fights with a White rookie cop.
The Black man dies and everyone hollers their own ideas about what really happened.
Seeing a chance to hit big on a settlement, I summon Nancy, a hooligan street-fighter with a lawyer's ticket.
This kind of death means cash.
Peg is the only witness to the struggle between the drunken man and the cop.
If I can run this, I can stop hustling forever.
Skip, another lawyer, Black, my nemesis-father figure, always scheming, hijacks Peg for his reward.
His bodyguard, Joey, beats me in a fight.
The FBI and the radical group SAP -Stop Aggressive Police - jump into this case.
Trying to out-dance them, I go undercover in SAP and live like a radical.
Through freezing stakeout nights and bitter dawns, I must find Peg and love at Christmas.
The city throws a Unity Holiday Party, a dancing street fair, to bring all together.
I, Dancing Max, 62, meet and flirt with a dark blonde beauty named Peg, a barmaid with no illusions left.
Her looks and slangy streetwise talk hold me. At my age, she makes me smolder and feel 24 again.
No matter what it takes, I want her for mine.
But the plan smashes when a drunken Black man fights with a White rookie cop.
The Black man dies and everyone hollers their own ideas about what really happened.
Seeing a chance to hit big on a settlement, I summon Nancy, a hooligan street-fighter with a lawyer's ticket.
This kind of death means cash.
Peg is the only witness to the struggle between the drunken man and the cop.
If I can run this, I can stop hustling forever.
Skip, another lawyer, Black, my nemesis-father figure, always scheming, hijacks Peg for his reward.
His bodyguard, Joey, beats me in a fight.
The FBI and the radical group SAP -Stop Aggressive Police - jump into this case.
Trying to out-dance them, I go undercover in SAP and live like a radical.
Through freezing stakeout nights and bitter dawns, I must find Peg and love at Christmas.
Max Wisecracks Hollywood
or Foxtrotting for Justice
Dancing Max Royster cannot run fifty yards or see his own feet under a beer belly. Pushing 64 years old, Dancing Max struggles to rebuild after the New York cops fired him for depression and hijacked his pension. Like everything else sliding around loose, he winds up in Hollywood, California.
By chance Dancing Max witnesses a homeless woman grappling with a female Black LAPD cop. The homeless woman dies. But she turns out to be an ex-Blaxploitation film actress who 40-years ago turned Civil Rights radical. Angelenos heave rocks and bottles in protest. Los Angeles screams. The cops retreat and of course haul Dancing Max to the station.
An ambitious Deputy District Attorney and the hard-charging FBI play tug-of-witness-war over Dancing Max's fast-aging body. Everyone wants to jail Dancing Max as a material witness for trial. To stay clear, Dancing Max goes underground with a cryptic Hollywood beauty. The media turns up the heat. The G-men freeze Dancing Max's cash.
All that Dancing Max Royster has left are his wits and the cash in his bluejeans.
By chance Dancing Max witnesses a homeless woman grappling with a female Black LAPD cop. The homeless woman dies. But she turns out to be an ex-Blaxploitation film actress who 40-years ago turned Civil Rights radical. Angelenos heave rocks and bottles in protest. Los Angeles screams. The cops retreat and of course haul Dancing Max to the station.
An ambitious Deputy District Attorney and the hard-charging FBI play tug-of-witness-war over Dancing Max's fast-aging body. Everyone wants to jail Dancing Max as a material witness for trial. To stay clear, Dancing Max goes underground with a cryptic Hollywood beauty. The media turns up the heat. The G-men freeze Dancing Max's cash.
All that Dancing Max Royster has left are his wits and the cash in his bluejeans.
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When the Whistle Blows, Everyone Goes
Federal agents jail me for murder. That's me, Dancing Max Royster. Aging. Fat. Broke. And innocent. How do I clear myself from inside my cell? Nobody believes me. A hate group tries to rape and kill me. But Mother Royster always said to keep smiling no matter what. So to chase away the jailhouse blues, I organize a hipster group and swing dances among the inmates.
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Softening Flatbush
Dancing Max Royster is fat, broke, divorced, thrown off the NYPD for mental illness. Now in Flatbush, Brooklyn, Dancing Max finds new love, new murder and new career. Dancing Max wants to marry and stay in one place. Cooper, Dancing Max's new love, lives in Flatbush, Brooklyn, a neighborhood that used to be the borough's jewel. The Brooklyn Dodgers and Jackie Robinson played ball there.
Back then, nobody in Flatbush locked their doors. Sixty years later, street crime plagues the area. Dancing Max Royster ends up running a security agency and now must negotiate neighborhood crime, profit hungry house flippers and an uninspired security force. And naturally Dancing Max is joined by his boyhood friends, out-of-work actresses, barflies and story-tellers.
Everything comes to a head while Dancing Max hunts the suspect in the murder of a local black comedian. Under cover of night, good and evil clash at the Lefferts Historic House. Facing disgrace and prison, Dancing Max must decide what matters most in life. Join Dancing Max Royster as he and Cooper, the 'Flippers' and Dancing Max's security guards give everything to try Softening Flatbush.
Back then, nobody in Flatbush locked their doors. Sixty years later, street crime plagues the area. Dancing Max Royster ends up running a security agency and now must negotiate neighborhood crime, profit hungry house flippers and an uninspired security force. And naturally Dancing Max is joined by his boyhood friends, out-of-work actresses, barflies and story-tellers.
Everything comes to a head while Dancing Max hunts the suspect in the murder of a local black comedian. Under cover of night, good and evil clash at the Lefferts Historic House. Facing disgrace and prison, Dancing Max must decide what matters most in life. Join Dancing Max Royster as he and Cooper, the 'Flippers' and Dancing Max's security guards give everything to try Softening Flatbush.
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Can Showbizzers Crush Crime?
Dancing Max Royster cannot handle another Manhattan slush winter. Freezing, grieving his lost shield, he hobbles on crutches aboard an Amtrak train toward California. Dancing Max's spirits rise when he gets to the California desert. Hoping for a new life, he exits at the small sandy town of Basta, cheered by the sun and beauty.
But crime is rampant in Basta. Dancing Max Royster is mugged, losing his cash and ID. A group that Dancing Max Royster dubs 'My Showbizzers' - out-of-work dancers, actresses, dog trainers and writers - rescue Dancing Max. They remind Dancing Max of his live-for-the-moment cronies back in Manhattan, 'the Playpen Irregulars'. Thrilled by their energy, Dancing Max Royster falls in love with Koy, a beautiful Asian dog-handler.
Meanwhile, corruption in the Basta police department helps the rise of Crostwaite, a local criminal genius. Dancing Max gets the idea of organizing his 'Showbizzers' to fight the crime problem. But he has to fight the skepticism that his 'Showbizzers' have about government and the opposition of the authorities.
Frightened but passionate, without guns, power or respect, Dancing Max and his 'Showbizzers' risk everything to stop Crostwaite. The deadly showdown will answer the question once and for all: Can Showbizzers Crush Crime?
But crime is rampant in Basta. Dancing Max Royster is mugged, losing his cash and ID. A group that Dancing Max Royster dubs 'My Showbizzers' - out-of-work dancers, actresses, dog trainers and writers - rescue Dancing Max. They remind Dancing Max of his live-for-the-moment cronies back in Manhattan, 'the Playpen Irregulars'. Thrilled by their energy, Dancing Max Royster falls in love with Koy, a beautiful Asian dog-handler.
Meanwhile, corruption in the Basta police department helps the rise of Crostwaite, a local criminal genius. Dancing Max gets the idea of organizing his 'Showbizzers' to fight the crime problem. But he has to fight the skepticism that his 'Showbizzers' have about government and the opposition of the authorities.
Frightened but passionate, without guns, power or respect, Dancing Max and his 'Showbizzers' risk everything to stop Crostwaite. The deadly showdown will answer the question once and for all: Can Showbizzers Crush Crime?
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Brownstone Kidnap Crackup
It's Christmas in Manhattan. A blizzard whips the city. The Beautiful People, in the elite Upper East Side, celebrate in their brownstones. Until a kidnapper seizes a beautiful young debutante.
Dancing Max Royster, fired from the NYPD for mental illness, fights the kidnapper but loses. The kidnapper flees. Stripped of gun, shield and power, Dancing Max has only his wits to save the victim. The FBI treats Dancing Max like a suspect and tramples roughshod on his rights.
To solve the case, Dancing Max Royster must smash through the facade and mysteries of millionaires in their snug brownstones. Exotic women tempt him to give up. The blizzard worsens. As the winds howl and snowdrifts deepen, Dancing Max risks his life and his freedom in a desperate bid to save the victim. Once again, Dancing Max Royster is back on the street in Brownstone Kidnap Crackup.
Dancing Max Royster, fired from the NYPD for mental illness, fights the kidnapper but loses. The kidnapper flees. Stripped of gun, shield and power, Dancing Max has only his wits to save the victim. The FBI treats Dancing Max like a suspect and tramples roughshod on his rights.
To solve the case, Dancing Max Royster must smash through the facade and mysteries of millionaires in their snug brownstones. Exotic women tempt him to give up. The blizzard worsens. As the winds howl and snowdrifts deepen, Dancing Max risks his life and his freedom in a desperate bid to save the victim. Once again, Dancing Max Royster is back on the street in Brownstone Kidnap Crackup.
Click below to listen to an audiobook selection from Brownstone Kidnap Crackup,
read by Paul Birchard (the Royal Shakespeare Company production of Death of a Salesman in London's West End.
read by Paul Birchard (the Royal Shakespeare Company production of Death of a Salesman in London's West End.
CLICK BELOW TO READ THE FIRST CHAPTER OF BROWNSTONE KIDNAP
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Funny Bunny Hunts the Horn Bug
To catch a sex killer targeting Upper East Side beauties, misfit NYPD cop Dancing Max Royster goes undercover...as an NYPD cop!
"It's a great read. There is nothing fake about this book. It is authentic. The characters seem like real people that you'll never forget. The NYPD politics ring true, just as insane as when I was there. This book deserves to be read and re-read and studied as criminal justice literature." ~ Daniel Vona (Deputy Commissioner, NYPD [Ret.])
"It's a great read. There is nothing fake about this book. It is authentic. The characters seem like real people that you'll never forget. The NYPD politics ring true, just as insane as when I was there. This book deserves to be read and re-read and studied as criminal justice literature." ~ Daniel Vona (Deputy Commissioner, NYPD [Ret.])
CLICK BELOW TO READ THE FIRST CHAPTER OF FUNNY BUNNY HUNTS THE HORN BUG
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The Gypsy Twist
Misfit NYPD Officer Dancing Max Royster’s hunt for a sadistic serial killer takes a startling turn when he realizes that not all predators are born alike.
Listen to "The Gypsy Twist" inspired by the book and written by Tony Conniff
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