Life can be a gamble and no one knows that more than Victor Grant, a private investigator in depression era San Francisco. Sometimes an opportunity comes along where the level of risk might be high but worth taking for the rewards that might come from it. And so it was, when a beautiful woman entered Vic’s office and needed help. Vic listened to her story and on the face of it, the assignment sounded simple, a missing person case, but he knew she was holding something back and lying. That wasn’t something new to him, most of his clients were prone to hiding something and lying.
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News from Lizard Key Books
April 2026
We spent the winter at our home on Catalina Island and now have returned to our home in Idaho. Catalina was lovely as always. The diving was great. Played a lot of golf and did a lot of fishing. We didn’t have much of a winter in Idaho but over the last week we’ve had lots of rain and additional snow in the mountains. We’re now getting the camper ready for some adventures in the wild.
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Ellie Lane: A Western Adventure
A brand new Western adventure by Mark Marchetti
In 1876 the nation was stunned by the news of the Battle of Little Big Horn where the 7th Cavalry under the command of General Custer were defeated in battle by a coalition of Indian tribes. People were shocked that people considered savages could defeat the United States Army. The newspapers described the slaughter in graphic detail and government response was swift and deadly. All Indians would either go onto reservations or be killed. New forts were built on the frontier to do battle and push the Indians off their land. In Montana territory, Fort Keogh was built and not far away the town of Miles City took shape.
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News from Lizard Key Books
Lots of things have been going on. Two new books have been released. ‘The Golden Disc of the Mayans’ came out in KINDLE and paperback versions on Aug. 13, 2025. It’s the third book in the Lizard Key Series following the adventures of the modern-day pirate, Nick Roberts. And now, the second book in the Victor Grant, Private Detective series, ‘DRAGON EYES’ was released on Oct. 28 in both KINDLE and paperback versions. All books are available through AMAZON BOOKS. Just type in my name and they should all come up.
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Victor Grant, Private Investigator: Dragon Eyes
When Victor Grant, a private investigator, gets a call from Detective Captain Walt Ritter from the San Francisco Police Department he gets an offer he can’t refuse. As a former police detective with the SFPD, Victor and Walt are old friends. The assignment seems simple. A wealthy widowed relative of Walt’s wants a bodyguard to escort her on a very secretive trip to Hawaii where she plans to buy something. She won’t divulge what it is, but she is a well-known art collector, so it’s assumed it’s a valuable art object.
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The Gold Disc Of The Mayans
In 1542 Spanish conquistadors led by El Mozo began their final conquest of the Mayans in the Yucatan area of what is now Mexico. The Mayan king knew the end was near and gave his son the assignment to hide their most sacred object before it would fall into the hands of the Spanish. The object was a golden disc with a pure quartz stone in the middle and was said to be a gift from the Gods. The disc was kept in a box made of jade and the young prince was instructed to hide in a place where it could not be found. It should remain hidden until such time when the Mayans could rise up again against their Spanish oppressors.
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News from Lizard Key Books
Summer 2025
I haven’t posted any news for some time, so here it goes. Two books have come out so far in 2025, ‘Ride into Hell’ and ‘Brimley, TX- Lies, Lust, Corruption, Murder’. Both books are part of the ‘Texas Jack’ western series.
In other book news, the third book in the ‘Lizard Key’ series, ‘The Golden Disc of the Mayans’ is completed and will be available soon. This is the third book following the adventures of the modern-day pirate, Nick Roberts. The second book in that series, ‘Black Bart’s Treasure’ is now back and available on Amazon as a second edition with a new cover. Originally, the book was self-published before it was picked up by a publisher. I went through it and made some corrections/changes, a new cover was produced, and the book is now released.
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Texas Jack: Brimley, TX
Lies, Lust, Corruption, Murder
A Western Adventure: Texas Jack Book 10
Joshua Brimley went to Texas just prior to the end of the Civil War. He was a tough, hard man willing to fight and take land. He pushed out the Indians and fought off bandits to build his Empire Ranch. He rounded up stray cattle and any other cattle he found, branded or not. If they were on his ranch, they were his cattle. The Empire Ranch was vast and before long he had established a town bearing his name. Joshua didn’t care which way the war ended because he would still have his land.
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Texas Jack: Ride into Hell
A Western Adventure: Texas Jack Book 9
When Jack McKenna, Texas Jack, first met Grady Jones, he was a quiet family man with a wife and daughter. He fought in the Civil War on the Union side and after the war he became bitter and disillusioned. His marriage changed all that and he renounced violence and became Preacher Jones, a peaceful man of God.
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August News from Lizard Key Books
Over the last four weeks or so, two new books were released. The second book in the Bo Avery series, ‘The Adventures of Bo Avery-Shanghaied’ is a continuation of Bo’s story when he reaches San Francisco. It took some time for this book to come out, but it’s now available in KINDLE and paperback formats.
My newest book is a departure from other stories I’ve written but still a historical fiction type book. The publisher asked a small group of authors to write some war related adventure type stories. I already had an unpublished short story of that type, so I decided to do some research and possibly expand and re-write the story. This story takes place in the Solomon Islands in 1939 as the war in Europe begins and the Japanese are at war in China and making inroads into the South Pacific and Indonesia. It’s called ‘The Voyage of the Island Girl – A wartime tale of the South Pacific’. It is currently available in the KINDLE format with the paperback version coming out in a few weeks.
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