Somebody assassinated Gib Gibson's prisoner, and he damn sure plans to find out who and why. He's no rookie cop they can push around -he' a battle-scarred, grizzled private contractor, maybe past his physical prime, but far from tapped out of his will to survive. And in the hypermodern world of 2048, a muscular will to survive is a man's greatest asset. In a Kick-Ass Sentimental Mood is a novel of the future, an action-adventure tale, a drama of ideas, a voyage of self-discovery and a love story. It is set in the American Midwest about fifty years from now. Free enterprise and privatization have become the norm; private business has taken over most of the functions of government and democracy has atrophied. The U.S. is a land of individualism and self-reliance; community has come to have little importance in the general scheme of things, while giant corporations rule. Gilbert "Gib" Gibson, 53, is a man out of his era, both too far ahead and hopelessly behind the times. He's a cop for hire, contracting himself out to track down petty criminals. One of these, a woman named Carlotta Bustamente, he pursues and captures in a farmers market just outside of Kansas City, but before he can bring her to justice someone robs him of his prisoner. Determined to find out who and why, Gib is launched on an investigation that will take him north to Minneapolis and St. Paul, where he takes on a beguiling partner and uncovers more -- much more -- than he ever expected, more about desperate scrambles for wealth and power, more about the epic struggle for people's hearts and souls, more about the true nature and prevalence of evil, and much more about himself. Gib's age is catching up with him, he's getting tired, but the chase is in his blood and he's a very persistent man. He pits his grit and ingenuity against the immense dominion of Galtex Corporation, an omnipresent Office of Homeland Security (OHS), warring gangs of rabid sports fans, one underground movement organizing an uprising of workers and another seeking peace and serenity in a chaotic, hypermodern world. A couple of dark secrets lurking beneath all the lies and evasions can make sense of all this; Gib Gibson must endure the most torturous, tumultous, heart-wrenching and soul-searing escapade of his long career to discover them -- and to discover what it means to live with this knowledge.
About the Author: Author Bio: Jerry Freeman New Book: In A Kick-Ass Sentimental Mood Born and raised in Mason City, Iowa, Jerry considers himself a true child of the American heartland. He joined the War on Poverty the year it was declared, 1964, and engaged the enemy in Chicago, New York, Atlanta and Fort Lauderdale. He earned a BA with honors from Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, majoring in sociology/anthropology, and an MSW in community organizing from the University of Minnesota. He then organized the West Seventh Community Center in St. Paul (still in operation after 40 years) and directed the University of Minnesota's HELP Center (Higher Education for Low-Income People). Jerry returned to graduate school to study English and creative writing but left when a creative thesis was disallowed (no MFA program at that time), continuing to study narrative art from the Loft and other local writers' organizations. He managed every one of Minneapolis' 42 public housing highrises, initiating the first resident management project. Recruited by public housing residents to work for them as an organizer/trainer, he helped establish the citywide Highrise Representative Council (still in operation after 25 years) as a permanent resident voice in housing management. For the last 12 years he has worked for the state's African American newspaper, the 79-year-old Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder, the last 10 as senior editor. Jerry is blessed with a loving wife of more than 30 years, three grown children and a grandson. As his working life afforded him little opportunity to write except late at night and weekends, his greatest hope is that his stories and novels are worth the many thousands of hours stolen from family friends, and jobs that earn money.