The Oakheart Trilogy
In the last months of 1973, the lives of several San Diegans are set spinning when repercussions from a murder of vengeance hits them like a shock wave. The Pacific Ocean joins the disparate communities that surround it, such that rumbles in San Diego can result in tremors on Guam, and events on Guam can rattle San Diego. At the epicenter of it all is Mona Oakheart, owner of a downtown San Diego bar and an X-rated movie studio. Her life and loves are jolted in unexpected ways in the three novels, the first spanning October, the next November, and the last novel set in December of that fateful year.
THE FIRST BOOK IN THE TRILOGY…
The Body in the Barrel
San Diego politics, harbor police, tuna fishermen, and a woman pornographer clash in this wide-ranging and compelling crime noir set in the 1970s.
–Corey Lynn Fayman, author of the Rolly Waters mystery series
Available Now at La Playa Books, In-Store or Online and at Amazon.
THE SECOND BOOK IN THE TRILOGY…
IN DEEP AND FAR OUT
Richard Opper’s In Deep and Far Out is a fifty year dark, deep dive back into the seedier side of 1970’s Guam and Southern California. Gritty, surprising and entertaining. Strap yourself in for a wild ride!
–Matt Coyle, bestselling author of the Rick Cahill crime series
AVAILABLE ON AMAZON!
IN DEEP AND FAR OUT…
…is the second book in the trilogy about Mona Oakheart, a self-taught businesswoman who owns a downtown bar and an X-rated film production company. Set in 1973, the story begins when one of her starlets leaves for Guam to confront an old abuser, Mona follows her to the island to both help her and bring her home. Just as Mona leaves, her new boyfriend, Gary Reines, a member of the Harbor Police, discovers smuggled Vietnamese children in the San Diego surf. These two events have a profound impact on their lives and the lives of others.
THE FINAL BOOK IN THE TRILOGY…
OAKS FROM ACORNS GROW
Mona, having flown to Guam to convince one of her friends and stars to come back to San Diego, found herself in the middle of a triple homicide. Despite the upheaval of this tragedy, she unexpectedly fell head over heels in love with someone else, and sent her boyfriend, Gary, home. In Oaks, she experiences the consequences of those actions, some of which put her and those around her at risk of their very lives. Mona’s story ends in a place very different from where she started and comes to an unexpected conclusion that reminds us – that which goes around, comes around.
AVAILABLE NOW ON AMAZON!
OAKS FROM ACORNS GROW…
Richard Opper’s Oaks From Acorns Grow is the final book in the Oakheart Trilogy, a captivating drama where danger is close at hand, as a group of rapists terrorizes the island of Guam, while Gary faces the Tong. An excellent read for anyone interested in historical dramas that explore emotional depth, human connections, and societal challenges.— Reader’s Favorite
Richard G. Opper
Former professional photographer and TV-show host, lawyer Richard G. Opper established a career in environmental law in San Diego, California. An avid photographer and cyclist, Opper has published articles in the San Diego Union Tribune and professional journals. In the first novel, The Body in the Barrel, the story sprang from a murder for vengeance because of a kidnapping done years before, and in the second book, In Deep and Far Out, the couple drawn together by that wrenching experience are split apart. In Oaks from Acorns Grow, the last book of the trilogy, lives take unexpected directions as Mona and Gary both assume roles they hadn’t previously imagined.
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