Peter Wick is an award-winning independent filmmaker and writer. He has Produced, Written, Directed, and acted in three low budget independent feature films, all with the support of grants from Seattle non-profit Northwest Film Forum. All three films have won film festival awards. Most recently Wick won "Best Director" at the New York Int'l Film Festival for his 2011 feature, "Rock Paper Scissors" (available on Amazon video and DVD). His prior feature, 2008's "Movie Pizza Love" (also available on Amazon video and DVD), has turned up on more than 100 'Favorite films' lists around the world.
Wick's first novel, "Key West," was published in 2013 by Wheelman Press. The book has sold in the thousands. Greg Banks, founder and publisher of Wheelman Press, suffered health issues in 2014, and could no longer run the publishing company. Wick will always be grateful to Banks for helping Wick establish Azzurri Publishing. Wick runs the company in honor of Banks original decision to publish the Key West series.
Key West is followed up by three "Companion Episodes," which exist separately as Kindle-only novellas, and together in the compendium, "Key West - The Companion Episodes."
Recently Wick has published the humorous novella, "It Is What It Is," and enjoys a sizeable readership at his blog, "Simple Displeasures."
Wick has also performed stand-up comedy around the U.S. and on a given night can be found performing on a stage somewhere in the Los Angeles area.
It is 1951 and Florida state representative Bernie Papy is pulling all the strings. Trumbull is using his Miami Herald column to expose Papy. Key West: The Companion Episodes by Peter Wick tells a gripping story of danger, corruption, backroom deals, and Trumbull's relentless search for the truth.
As a writer and avid reader, I love stories that chronicle journalists and follow them through the big story. You don't see as many stories with journalist protagonists, so this was a refreshing idea for me. I love the idea of a small time journalist going against the big time crime boss in Florida. Especially since the journalist's editor doesn't want him to write the story, the crime boss's goons threaten him not to write the story, and just about every other character in the book tells him he is crazy to write this story. But his journalistic ethics tell him he has to write this story, so even though he knows he will get threatened, beaten up, and maybe worse, he feels he has to follow through with his instincts and report the truth. Awesome!
I loved the setting and the characters. What isn't to love about a story set in sunny Florida, filled with all of the characters you expect to see in a Florida setting. Crazy gamblers. Snow birds (people who vacation in Florida over the winter). Mafia bosses. The lifestyle in this book is so different than most people's lifestyles that it takes on a surreal quality that is really fun to read and fun to imagine being a part of. I was disappointed when the story ended.