Beneath a Buried House Character Profile by Bob Avey

It's another fine day here at The Book Connection and today you'll find out about another great read. Beneath a Buried House is a mystery novel featuring Tulsa Police Detective Kenny Elliot.

About the Book:

Things aren't always what they seem. A police detective's quest to uncover the truth behind the death of a transient makes him a target…from whom or what, he isn't sure.

Tulsa Police Detective, Kenny Elliot, brushes the dirt from the surface of an apparent John Doe overdose case, finding a labyrinth of misdirection and deception beneath, and a trail, which leads him to the dark side of religion, a place where anything can happen.

A man is found dead in a rundown Tulsa apartment building. Elliot identifies the victim as Jim Llewellyn, a writer who'd come to Tulsa to cover a story surrounding the disappearance of the Stone Family, a husband, wife and two children from Donegal, Oklahoma, a small town caught in the grip of two opposing factions – The Church of the Divine Revelation, and a shadowy pagan group known as The Brotherhood.

Along the way, Elliot meets the beautiful but troubled Cyndi Bannister. She, too, has had bad luck with relationships and is unsure if she's ready to try again. A heated but elusive romance erupts between the two, culminating in a marriage proposal offered by Elliot.

As Elliot investigates the case, the trouble begins. He finds a large pentagram scratched onto the hood of his car, and a threatening message appears in his email. But these events are merely a prelude of what's to come: Each time Elliot learns of someone who might know something, they end up dead before he can question them.

Drawing on his strength of character, and sense of right and wrong, Elliot wrestles with deep personal feelings to solve the case.

You'll find my review of Beneath a Buried House here.

After reading this second novel in the Detective Kenny Elliot series, I wanted to know more about Kenny, and asked Bob to come up with a profile of the detective with the knack for solving unusual cases. Here's what Bob came up with:

History of Detective Kenny Elliot
The main character in Beneath a Buried House
By Bob Avey


Kenny Elliot was born in 1980 in a run down shack located in the small town of Porter, Oklahoma. His mother, Kathryn Elizabeth, who went by the name of Lizzy, engaged in prostitution, which supplied the family with some money, though most of what she earned went to supply her drug habit. When Elliot was nine years old, his mother died of an overdose of heroine. After that, Elliot became a ward of the state. However, due to the efforts of Charlie Johnson, Porter’s Chief of Police, Elliot managed to stay in Porter, being raised by various foster families living in the area.

Elliot didn’t cope well in the beginning, getting into fights with the other kids in town, and later getting into some minor trouble with the law. Charlie Johnson always seemed to be there to keep him out of jail. Later, however, in his junior high years, Elliot met his girlfriend, Carmen Garcia. With Carmen’s urging, Elliot talked with coach Barney Simms who, seeing the potential, convinced Elliot to join the football team. Under the influence of Carmen, and with the guidance and leadership of Coach Simms, Elliot began to straighten himself out.

But it seemed Elliot was destined for trouble. During his senior year in high school, two of his friends, Marcia Barnes and Johnathan Alexander, were found dead in a car outside of town. Due to recent tension between Elliot and Johnathan Alexander, most of the town suspected Elliot of the crimes. But again Charlie Johnson came to his rescue. With the aid of Coach Simms, he secured a football scholarship for Elliot at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Johnson then convinced Elliot that leaving Porter was the only option.

While living in Stillwater, Elliot tried numerous times to contact Carmen Garcia. But Carmen’s parents, thinking it wise under the circumstances, changed the phone number, and later intercepted Elliot’s letters. Elliot didn’t give up easily. When the phone calls and letters to Carmen proved unsuccessful, Elliot called the only person in Porter he felt he could trust, his friend Nick Brazleton. However, Nick, having feelings for Carmen as well, lied to Elliot, telling him that Carmen was through with him and didn’t want to see him or hear from him again. Elliot was crushed, but figured Carmen was right. He was bad news and she was better off without him.

While attending school at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Elliot became interested in criminology. He took several related courses and, after graduating, secured a job with the Tulsa Police Department where he now works. Not long after becoming a detective, Elliot demonstrated an uncanny talent for solving unusual cases. He possesses a near premonitory ability to see through the clutter and hone in on the important elements of a case. No one was more surprised by this development than Elliot himself, and he keeps a low profile about it, and downplays it whenever confronted.

You can find out more about the Detective Kenny Elliot series at Bob Avey's website. Beneath a Buried House is available at BarnesandNoble.com and Amazon.com.

The BENEATH A BURIED HOUSE VIRTUAL BOOK TOUR '08 will officially begin on July 7, 2008 and continue all month long.

As a special promotion for all our authors on tour, Pump Up Your Book Promotion is giving away a FREE virtual book tour to a published author with a recent release or a $25 Amazon gift certificate to someone not published who comments on our authors' blog stops. More prizes will be announced as they become available. One lucky winner per author will be announced on the virtual book tour blog on July 31!


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