The Black Widows
In Chappaqua, a hamlet just outside of New York City, two elderly widows keep house. Despite looking like grandmothers who have nothing more important to do than mop the kitchen floor, the two women originally from Afghanistan and Palestine are not who they seem
The Black Widows was a 2011 Book of the Year Award Finalist selected by ForeWord Reviews.
From a back room in a small secondhand bookstore attached to their house, Mrs. Abramowitz and Mrs. Silverman control the Black Widows, a worldwide terrorist organization created with a dual purpose—to wage a personal vendetta and destabilize the Western world.
When Zach Dayan, a NYPD detective and former Israeli policeman, takes on the case, he is challenged by a series of apparently random, horrific murders with the same brutal chest slashings. He seeks help from his ex-lover and expert pathologist, Dr. Jayanti Joshi. After examining the hearts, Dr. Joshi quickly discovers the common thread of the murders, but unfortunately, the clue leads nowhere.
Zach’s search for the murderer leads him to the hidden caves of Petra, an impenetrable ancient desert city, where he is soon swept into the bowels of an evil plot as he tries to save the Western world from another Holocaust.
5.0 out of 5 stars
A rare legal thriller that really thrills!
“So-called “legal thrillers” are a dime a dozen and, more often than not, fail to thrill at all. Trust me, this one does! Written by an author who has literally lived the courtroom scenes he so artfully depicts, it’s a real page-turner! So, turn off the t.v., send the kids to a friend’s house, order a pizza, and plan to stay in because you won’t want to put this book down!”
Amazon Review
5.0 out of 5 stars
A rare legal thriller that really thrills!
“So-called “legal thrillers” are a dime a dozen and, more often than not, fail to thrill at all. Trust me, this one does! Written by an author who has literally lived the courtroom scenes he so artfully depicts, it’s a real page-turner! So, turn off the t.v., send the kids to a friend’s house, order a pizza, and plan to stay in because you won’t want to put this book down!”
Amazon Review
5.0 out of 5 stars
A rare legal thriller that really thrills!
“So-called “legal thrillers” are a dime a dozen and, more often than not, fail to thrill at all. Trust me, this one does! Written by an author who has literally lived the courtroom scenes he so artfully depicts, it’s a real page-turner! So, turn off the t.v., send the kids to a friend’s house, order a pizza, and plan to stay in because you won’t want to put this book down!”
Amazon Review
5.0 out of 5 stars
A rare legal thriller that really thrills!
“So-called “legal thrillers” are a dime a dozen and, more often than not, fail to thrill at all. Trust me, this one does! Written by an author who has literally lived the courtroom scenes he so artfully depicts, it’s a real page-turner! So, turn off the t.v., send the kids to a friend’s house, order a pizza, and plan to stay in because you won’t want to put this book down!”
Amazon Review
Preview from Chapter One
Wahad unfolded the floor plan and walked quickly to the corner office. Inside, Karen Driver hunched over her computer, her back to the door. Wahad crouched, sitting back on shoe heels, took out the .38 hand gun and tried the door.
Karen stopped typing at the creaking noise and Wahad ducked out of sight just before she swiveled around. She rose and went to the door, opened it and peered outside. “Anybody there?” she called tentatively into the dark hall, shrugged her shoulders and returned to the computer. Wahad moved back into position and decided to shoot through the window. Charging into the room would certainly make her spin around and probably force a chest shot, which was unacceptable. She had to die by a head shot, clean.
Suddenly the phone rang and Karen leaned far left to reach the receiver. The angle now made the head shot risky because the bullet, not hitting the window straight on, could ricochet off line. “Yes, Kenneth, I’m still working,” Wahad heard through the thin door. “Pretty soon. Another twenty minutes or so.” She paused, listening. I miss them too. Did they eat all their dinner? I’ll stop for Chinese on the way home. Hot and sour soup, pot stickers, and chicken chow mein, as usual? We’ll have a quiet dinner together once they’re asleep. Love you too. Bye.”
The conversation lingered in Wahad’s mind. A waiting family marginally undermined the moment’s anonymity, but Wahad easily fended off the sentiment, slipped a finger through the trigger guard, aimed and slowly squeezed, thinking of the trigger on Windex. A fraction of a second after the soft pop, Karen slumped forward. Wahad picked up the bullet casing, entered the unlocked office and began the surgical procedure. Number one was completed. Nine hundred ninety-nine to go.”
More Titles by Doug Zipes
Bear's Promise
Justice confronts greed as a trial attorney seeks retribution for the murders of his brother-in-law and
nephew by a ruthless cop and a company that values profit over life...
Damn The Naysayers
No, you can’t. Those three words have shaped much of Dr. Doug Zipes’s journey through life and have always challenged him to come to terms with who he is, where he wants to go, and what he wants to be...
Not Just a Game
In this riveting story, three generations of Olympic athletes attempt to survive monumental challenges in the shadow of Hitler and during a rebirth of Nazism...
Ripples in Opperman's Pond
Set in Indiana, identical twins have had their bond tested since birth and now as adults with the family pharmaceutical company in jeopardy they will once again be forced to prove that blood is thicker than water...
The Black Widows
From the back room of a small second hand bookstore in Chappaqua, New York, two elderly widows are at the center a web of espionage, vengeance and terrorism with plans to bring the Western world to its knees...
All of Doug Zipes books are available to buy online from Amazon as well as at Barnes and Noble and iUniverse.
