The Zero Hour

by Ben Graziose

Tony Evans’ life has reached a breaking point: his longtime wife has filed for divorce and left with their daughter, Nicki. In Tony’s darkest hour, he is laid off from the only career he has ever known as a reporter for The San Francisco Chronicle. Tony has become a fading relic in today’s information age and feels pushed aside until he is summoned to San Quentin Prison’s Death Row at the request of serial killer and condemned prisoner Reynaldo Ramirez.
Ramirez asks Tony to publish the tales of his murderous exploits during his final week on Death Row. An initially dismissive Tony soon discovers that he cannot turn the request down after he learns that Ramirez’s evil extends beyond his prison cell: he has had Tony’s beloved daughter kidnapped. If the stories fail to appear in the paper, she dies.
Tony struggles against the clock to glean the significance of every story that Ramirez tells, searching for clues to his daughter’s whereabouts. Tony complies with the requests in order to buy time, and to uncover the secrets which will keep his daughter from becoming Reynaldo Ramirez’s final victim.

Can Tony find Nicki before the final tolling of The Zero Hour.

Ben Graziose

Ben Graziose studied Computer Science at Boise State University and spent nearly two decades in the technology industry managing software testing teams. Ready for a change, he shifted his energies into the creative pursuit of writing fiction and screenplays. Raised near Sacramento CA, he served in the US Coast Guard, and was stationed in San Francisco for many years before relocating to San Diego. He currently resides near the Temecula wine country with his wife and daughters. This is his first novel.