The
Pits
Kramer
and Shadow Book 1
by
Greg Smith
Genre:
Crime Mystery, Action, Thriller
THE
PITS, a contemporary crime novel, tells the story of Captain Kramer,
USMC, a compassionate, intelligent man, who rescues a pup from the
scene of a car bombing while on deployment to Afghanistan. The pup is
named Shadow, and accompanies Kramer back to Oceanside, California.
They commit themselves to a campaign which has them fighting for
their lives during an FBI operation to bring down a crime boss based
in Florida.
You
Can Run
Kramer
and Shadow Book 2
Captain
Kramer, USMC, and his faithful four-footer partner, Sgt. Shadow,
USMC, both survive their first operation assisting the FBI in
bringing down the empire of a major crime boss in America. But more
is in store for the two Marines in yet another FBI operation to tie
up loose ends from the previous op. This time the action is more
intense and proves too costly for the Marines.
Lex
Talionis
(An Eye For an Eye)
Kramer
and Shadow Book 3
A
woman out for revenge. America took her husband. America will pay
10,000 fold!
Only
Kramer and his Anatolian Shepherd, Shadow, stand in her way. But
will they be enough to stop her?
THE PITS
Excerpt
CHAPTER 1
The Humvees sped past people milling about,
pointing at the smoke still towering over the town of Gereshk and jabbering
loudly among themselves. Women and children huddled together here and there
away from the road, and the elderly gaped at the armored convoy racing into
hell.
The town itself was quite built up but very
poor and the sewage trails ran down the streets in open channels. Leathernecks
would be covered in it when they finished their patrols. Kids ran around in it
barefooted.
The Humvees arrived at the town’s central
marketplace and instantly found themselves mobbed by hysterical townsfolk. The
Marines dismounted and immediately secured the area as the corpsman pushed his
way through the tumult towards the blast site. Captain Kramer, 1st Battalion,
1st Marines, Regimental Combat Team 6 held his ground against the terrified and
angry locals wailing in his face, some even tugging at his uniform for
attention.
He needed to assess the situation. Apart from
his Humvees, no other vehicles occupied the square. His troops had rapidly
secured the perimeter and a couple now assisted the corpsman. A gritty cloud of
smoke and dust shrouded the entire area but drifted away over the rooftops,
aided by a breeze that had mercifully sprung up.
Sure enough, a car bomb. A huge scorched
crater marked where the car had been parked outside a building. The remains of
the vehicle lay in a smoldering, mangled heap halfway across the square with
the Explosive Ordnance Disposal technicians sifting through it. Rubble, pieces
of metal, the dead, dying, and the injured lay strewn about the whole
marketplace. Kramer’s boot bumped something as he stepped forward, and his eyes
snapped to his feet. A bloody hand lay palm up. An innocent child’s hand.
His demeanor hardened, and the mob fell back
as if it sensed the deadliness building up inside the warrior. Reports flooded
in to him as his troops called in with updates. Without hesitation, the radio
tech who kept close by Captain Kramer as he prowled the devastated marketplace
flashed the news to base headquarters. Among the townsfolk still milling about,
a few local officials, including the police chief, worked with the Marines to
clear the area of unnecessary personnel.
Close by, a handful of weeping men loaded a
civilian pickup truck with bodies, each wrapped in blood-soaked cloth. A group
of distraught women mixed with them, wailing and grasping at each bundle being
handled. Overwrought by their gruesome task, they were totally oblivious of the
poor bewildered individual sitting quietly among their shuffling feet.
A runty tan pup sat sorrowfully beside one
particular body. Occasionally it raised a paw and tentatively touched the
bloody cloth, or prodded it with its nose. Kramer observed transfixed as the
pup peered at the people, then at the small bundle of cloth, then at the people
again. Then the pup nuzzled the bundle as if trying to awaken the person
wrapped inside.
A grief-stricken man knelt and reverently
lifted the tiny body. Judging by his age, he’s likely the
father. As he stood, the pup whimpered as if to say, hey,
wait a moment. The wailing increased as hands passed the body up to a
blood-streaked villager standing in the back of the pickup. Just as he turned
to place the bundle with the others, a gust of wind flipped up a corner of the
cloth, revealing a tiny hand. Instinctively, Kramer felt that it belonged to a
very young girl.
With the last victim onboard, the pickup
started up and pulled away. The men and women mourners followed close behind
trying to comfort each other as best as they could. The procession gradually
left the square, disappearing from view as a waiting throng swarmed after it as
it passed into a nearby street.
A strange silence fell over the square. It
seemed as if the few remaining locals and all the Marines had their attention
riveted on the lonely pup still sitting in the road. It hadn’t left that spot
in all this time. Now it sat there staring after the pickup and those following
it.
Captain Kramer crossed the street and gently
lifted the pup. An expression of pure unadulterated love met his eyes. A light
sparkled behind those dark brown eyes that he couldn’t describe. He just felt
it.
“Well, hello there, little guy. Looks like
everyone’s gone and left you all alone. Ain’t fair, is it? What say I do
something about that.”
The pup didn’t squirm or attempt to get away. It
merely fixed its eyes on him as if it knew that this person would care for it,
keep it safe, and maybe even feed it occasionally. As the six-foot-six Kramer
cradled the puny creature in his arms, he was oblivious to the gazes directed
his way from all around the square.
The
advent of retirement opened a whole new world to me and now that it
has come to pass, I am turning my artistic bent from graphic design
and illustration to that of writing.
To
date I have published three books, KILLING SOFTLY (an erotic mystery
thriller), and begun an action crime series centered on two
characters, Captain Kramer, USMC and his Anatolian Shepherd dog, Sgt.
Shadow, USMC. Book One of the series is THE PITS, Book Two is YOU CAN
RUN, and at the time of this bibliography rewrite, I am working on
Book Three, LEX TALIONIS.
The
Kramer and Shadow series is an action, adventure, crime thriller
series that encompasses the world and has our two Marines fighting
hard against organized crime at many levels - but always involving
do-or-die confrontations.
My
hope is to establish a fan base for my writing so that my readers can
have an active role in helping me grow and develop as an author in
the years to come. I invite you to join me in this adventure.
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