Evil Envy - Synopsis (557 words)
Evil Envy is the sequel to Perception as Reality where the protagonist, Tedy Merrill has fled Paris trying to escape the Russian Mafia. Tedy chooses Miami to begin a new life and a new plastic surgery practice. On the final page of Perception, Tedy visits the Russian and Turkish Baths on Miami Beach, accidentally finding Sophia working there for the Russians. During a previous trip to St. Tropez on the French Riviera, Sophia was assumed drown after a boating accident although her body was never found. Tedy realized he loved Sophia and ended up divorcing Jessica, his first wife. The irony is that Tedy discovers Sophia alive in Miami; now he must find her at all costs.
In Evil Envy, Tedy has settled into his new life as a renown plastic surgeon in a city known for its beautiful people, wealth, drug trade and the deadly Russian Mafia. Tedy finds out Sophia has become involved with the new Russian Mafia chief, Ivan Kasparov; a truly despicable man who knows all about Tedy's past with the Mafia in Paris and would kill him if given the chance.
Novel opens as a flashback, one year in the past, with Tedy searching for Sophia in the ultra-exclusive nightclub LIV on South Beach. Tedy knows Sophia is Kasparov's "arm candy" and will be protected by armed men. Kasparov's men intercept Tedy before he reaches the couple, take him to their car and bludgeon him unconscious before driving to the Mafia's cabin. They torture Tedy brutally to the point he is almost dead. Sophia volunteers to finish the job with a headshot much to Kasparov's pleasure. The Russians go outside to smoke leaving Sophia alone with Tedy for a moment. At the last second she whispers to Tedy she will fake the headshot and tell his friends where to find him. Tedy is found the next day, nearly dead, by his cadre of off-beat friends.
The story reflects Tedy's life and the nature of the city where he has chosen to practice; full of glitz, glamour, nightclubs, celebrities and swimsuit models; all jacked up on their drugs of choice-ecstasy and methamphetamine.
Everyday life in the subtropics finds Tedy and his eclectic group of friends struggling with the major theme of the novel; how individuals react to the presence of evil which is all around them. Clint, Tedy's best friend and trainer, is murdered by the Russians in collusion with the Outlaw motorcycle club who share most the drug trade in Dade County.
Merrill finds his revenge for Clint which puts him on a collision course with Kasparov and Sophia. The story picks up after Tedy is almost killed at the Mafias swamp cabin. After weeks of recovery and planning, Tedy lures the Russians to his territory in the wilds of the Florida Panhandle. It is here in the intense summer heat and humidity that Tedy and a few chosen colleagues from the past dispatch the Russians except for Kasparov and Sophia who are left for the end.
The final irony has Merrill willingly killing Kasparov, on his knees begging for his life leaving Sophia a chance to survive. Her decision is the wrong one and Tedy puts a forty-five caliber bullet in her beautiful forehead. There is no remorse, after all, she remained true to Russian heritage.
