The Piper

About the Book

Kelly O'Neill, a lovely, young, and accomplished flautist, overcomes her blindness, determined to live life to the fullest and obtain her heart's desire: playing with the New York Philharmonic. She gets by with the help of her close friend and fellow musician, Marta, her loyal canine companion Beau, and Curtis, her favorite 12 year-old crippled music student. All she wants now is that special someone in her life, but she learned very early that having a handicap can make romance elusive.

For the first in a series of events celebrating ancient music from around the world, Professor Erik Grossman travels to the U.S. from Germany with his country's newest archeological treasure, a flute as old as it is unique, which he will play during the event. Marta is determined to see Kelly make a romantic connection with the handsome and worldly professor, but catastrophe strikes during Erik's performance. The ancient flute is stolen that night, and new york detectives investigate the theft while impossibly horrific events lead the professor to entertain an unimagined possibility.

Professor Grossman's theories are met with disbelief by the detectives, but Kelly remains understanding and supportive though her mind reels from the frightening tale it tells her. In an unfortunate turn of events involving her student, Kelly is forced to become more involved than the professor would wish, and soon they all will come to know exactly what it means to pay The Piper.

About the Author

After enlisting in the U.S. Navy in 1987, I wandered through six different countries and five different universities and colleges. I began work at GENENTECH as a research assistant in 1998, and later took a faculty position at the UCSF School of Medicine, under Nobel laureate Dr. Stanley Prusiner. Later, working in the American Red Cross Viral Testing Laboratory, I fell victim to a terrifying accident and have not been back to biomedical research since. After modeling and acting for a year, first in Portland, Oregon, and then in Hollywood, I discovered a great passion for writing. In the last year I have completed 14 feature-length screenplays, 3 TV pilots, 4 episodics for current TV series, two novels and 6 short stories. This year, I plan to sleep. Maybe.