Before I Pray

Before I Pray, the first book in the Kevin Killgallen Mystery Series, introduces a spiritual gumshoe with street smarts and sass still intact. Born of the traditions of Chandler, Hammett, Spillane, Sayers, Gardner and Leonard, Los Angeles P.I. Kevin Killgallen seeks to find in his torrid life of adventure, danger and self-destructive choices the seeds of a spiritual practice that can bring him peace and greater balance. Yet, even as he enrolls and participates in classes in Tibetan Buddhism and diligently practices his Ngondro, the violent, course-changing event at the core of his existence doggedly shadows him until he solves the most important case of his life. Before I Pray's relentless plot hums with character-driven action and suspense, depicting contemporary southern California as a character itself as it plumbs the depths of love, loss, duplicity, greed and unspeakable betrayal. Kevin Killgallen is a versatile and vulnerable, edgy and complicated hero for the twenty-first century.