Shortened Tagline:
A wealthy man’s dying wish drives those closest to him onto paths of deceit, corruption and blackmail.
Interview:
1) Your book is set in the 1970s, why did you choose that time period?
I frequently write about the mid-twentieth century, a coming of age time for me, but more importantly because even by the late 70’ computers/iphones/internet had not so completely invaded our lives and society. It’s the end of the age when life moved more slowly with less complexity. The electronic age grew so quickly, that it can be difficult to have the appropriate devices available for a particular date. That problem is resolved by starting and ending my stories before the ‘80s.
2) How did you come up with this book idea? And 3) How did you come up with your characters?
I like character-driven books. Here I wanted to have conflict baked into the story and what better source of automatic conflict is sibling rivalry. Then I decided that the children were only half-brothers and sisters allowing the story to become more complex and interesting. Their biological relationship would heighten the rivalry and add to the opportunities for the growth of the story. Then I made the father keep the illegitimacy a secret from the family which added even more complexity to the story. From there on I give a lot of credit to my characters who “told me” what would happen next as I explored their personalities.
4) How did you come up with the area the book was set in and did you base the book on any real life locations?
I grew up about 30 miles from the town upon which fictitious Parkerton, Pennsylvania was modeled. I knew the area very well. That familiarity gave me the material to name places, events, and weather realistically.
5) What is the first line in your novel?
“Henry Molnar and Murray Applebaum shared a secret so strong and powerful that neither ever dared to consider revealing the truth it contained.”
6) What is your writing process?
I’m an early bird. I wake about 4 am and begin writing while the world is still asleep. It allows me to get three or four hours of writing before the distractions of the day begin.
7) How long did it take you to write this book/the whole trilogy?
From my initial idea of sibling rivalry until I typed “The End” through starts and stops, the process lasted from mid-2017 until 2020. In the first six months of the Covid-19 pandemic most of the work happened in a locked-down house and a lock-in room. So, in total about 3 years. The next book in the trilogy is currently well underway with completion scheduled for 2022. The third I hope to release in the fall of 2023.
8) What is your preferred reading style?
By reading style, if you mean genre, I generally read literary fiction. If you mean by device, though I do use Kindle, I actually prefer a paperback or a hard-cover book.
9) Do you have any social media where people can follow you?
My website: www.dennisrothauthor.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100067645151175
Instagram: www.instagram.com/dennisrothauthor/
Twitter: www.twitter.com/writedennisroth
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/dennis-roth-1ab23b1a5/
Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/author/show/21615408.Dennis_Roth
Bookbub: www.bookbub.com/authors/dennis-roth
Amazon: www.amazon.com/~/e/B084MLTK84
10) If you could give any advice to any new authors, what would you say?
Read, read and then read. In between, write and write. Avoid television and your iphone, they are viscious time sinks. This is definitely a hard row. Try not to self-edit until your first draft is complete. That also is another time sink. Get your ideas on paper and then, as Stephen King has said, edit your shitty first draft. No matter what, don’t give up.
In the 1970s, in western Pennsylvania, a multi-millionaire’s singularly selfish decision destines his two sons, half-brothers, to wage war in a winner-take-all battle for the family legacy.
The father, wealthy Henry Molnar, shares a secret with his lawyer and best friend, Murray Applebaum; a secret so damaging and powerful that neither has ever dared to reveal its truth. But the final whispered directives of Molnar set in motion a series of events with far-reaching consequences for his family.
With his last breath, Molnar instructs Applebaum to disclose the existence of his illegitimate son, Phillipe-André Desforges. The surprise revelation at Molnar’s funeral thrusts the family members onto paths of deception, corruption and blackmail.
Revenge infused hatred and contempt for his father and his empire permeate Phillipe-André’s daily thoughts. It compels him to employ an arsenal of devious strategies to wrest control of Molnar Enterprises from his benevolent brother, Jason Molnar.
With such high stakes, Jason as the bequeathed chairman of the board must garner the psychological strength to withstand his half-brother’s siege. The consequences of failure will deliver to Phillipe-André what he has long believed to be rightfully his.
Author Bio
Dennis Roth
An outstanding book requires a remarkable author writing interesting characters.
Dennis Roth is always stretching his boundaries and does the same for his readers and fictional characters. This has led to a remarkable life. When he has become an expert in a field, he moves directly off to another. After earning an engineering degree from MIT, he founded what has become one of the largest structural engineering firms on the east coast of the US. He retired young and lived with his wife on-board their 35-foot sailboat, Second Wind, in the Caribbean. After enjoying a thousand magnificent sunsets and then burying the anchor, he moved to watercolor painting. His innate skills blossomed into beautiful, nationally shown and awarded landscapes and seascapes that he exhibited and sold in his art gallery, Studio Phase 3. Since 2012 he has dedicated his creative energies to writing poems and stories which in addition to being published in journals and magazines, have been collected in his two chapbooks, “Reflections & Other Musings” and “Harry & Other Stories.” And now he has created “The Bastard’s Trilogy” anchored by the new novel “The Bastard’s Inheritance.”
Dennis Roth is a teacher at heart. Since high school, he has shared his knowledge, serving as a tutor of students in math and science, as an instructor and lecturer to architectural and engineering students at Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh, and as a teacher of his unique watercolor techniques to budding watercolorists.
On the side, Dennis Roth has learned Spanish and Italian to help him understand more fully the cultures of Mexico and Italy during his months-long visits to those countries.
These broad and extensive experiences provide Dennis Roth the material to weave his imaginative and thought-provoking writing, writing that is about life and living, its joys and sorrows, its thrills and disappointments. Whether in his poems inspired by his struggle with depression or in his stories of love and loss, we find he writes about reality with depth and conviction that can only be achieved by someone of his vast experience. He inspires us as he has his hundreds of students to use our minds to improve our souls.
Elyse Hoffman can write a lot of things, but finds her own story dull and difficult. She has been interested in the Holocaust and Nazi Germany since she was thirteen. Her somewhat morbid fascination is purely intellectual and emotional. She advises you to be careful when signing contracts. You never know where or when you may end up.
Emergence
Publication Date: September 15th, 2020
Genre: Medical Thriller
A SCALPEL WIELDING VILLAIN.
A HEALTHCARE SYSTEM THAT FAILS.
A WHISTLEBLOWER THAT PROTECTS HER PATIENTS – NO MATTER THE COSTS.
Trusted anesthesiologist, Dr. Roxanne Roth, is healing from the loss of her fiancé by consuming her time with work. It doesn’t hurt that her new love interest, Dr. Justin Kirkland, spends almost as much time at the hospital as she does.
Entranced in the throes and complications of new love, Roxanne looks forward to work every day. Her time at the hospital would almost be cathartic if not for Dr. D.K. Webb, a neurosurgeon, who is quickly amassing a pile of complaints – and bodies.
Despite trying to avoid Webb, Roxanne finds herself working alongside the doctor during a routine, low-risk surgery. Fueled by cocaine and ego, Webb intentionally sabotages the case, leading to the patient dying on the operating table.
Roxanne’s tenuous grip on recovery is shattered with her patient’s death, quickly replaced by anger and a drive for justice. Now Roxanne will do anything to protect her patients from the killer on the other side of the sterile surgical field—before he can silence her as well.
In this gripping, sinister medical thriller, Dr. Shira Shiloah will leave readers wondering about the potential evil lurking behind every surgical mask.
“Authentic characters and a vivid hospital setting enhance a tense medical tale.”
– Kirkus Review
Add to 
Dr. Shira Shiloah is an anesthesiologist and author of the debut thriller, Emergence, that details Dr. D.K. Webb, a neurosurgeon who intentionally maims and kills his patients in Memphis, Tennessee. Dr. Shiloah bring both a personal and professional perspective for what may happen when a sociopath holds a scalpel.
Dueling Fates
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