Crime thriller author Richard Zappa to sign books Aug. 14

Novelist Richard Zappa will be signing copies of his latest crime drama thriller, “Double Indemnity,” from 12 to 2 p.m., Sunday, Aug. 14, at Browseabout Books in Rehoboth Beach.

In “Double Indemnity,” New Orleans homicide detective Jo Crowder finds a link between a series of seemingly random deaths and a corrupt insurance company. Heartland Insurance is the brainchild of multimillionaire Jared Finch. Its business model is simple – buy up elderly people’s life insurance policies and collect the proceeds when they die. The company’s extraordinary profits are attributed to a secret algorithm that can accurately predict when someone will die.

Crowder teams up with FBI special agent Alex Hill to investigate why so many people with a connection to Finch and his company are dying. They suspect there is a sinister relationship between Heartland Insurance and a research laboratory where an experimental serum is being tested on animals. The two eventually find themselves up against the worst of the worst.

Finch is a cold-hearted megalomaniac whose greed is boundless and who will do anything and everything to maximize his company’s profits. His head of security is an ex-military man skilled at black ops, and accustomed to taking no prisoners and leaving no witnesses. In their employ are stone-cold assassins who ply their trade with frightening efficiency. Crowder and Hill confront Finch and his cohorts with devastating consequences and face the unpleasant reality that only by breaking the law and risking their lives will they be able to uncover the horrifying truth.

Zappa’s other Jo Crowder novels include “Identical Misfortune” and “The Easter Murders,” both standalone crime-drama action thrillers.

For more, go to browseaboutbooks.com and richardzappa.com.