Brian Cheatham

About the Book Reduction is the culmination of a few years of writing for me. I began with a concept based on a story heard from some friends in law enforcement and decided to put my own twist to it. I started during the economic slump of 2008, and put a lot of my own personal experiences in the book to make it more tangible. The factory, the unemployment issues, and in many ways the characters, all actually exist, or existed, at the time I began writing. The end result was a manuscript that I wanted to publish, but never intended to make any money from or to ever continue the story line. Writing is a very competitive business and there is some seriously stiff competition out there. I had written my ”great American novel” and it was time to scratch something else off the bucket list. Since I have always encouraged my kids to keep an active imagination, I wanted to do the same for my readers. The book is intentionally ambiguous in many ways. I refrained from mentioning a specific city for the setting and I also left the physical descriptions of many of the characters up to the reader to decide. To me it makes the story more flexible and personal as each interpretation is unique to the person reading it. Perhaps the events are happening in a city you frequent. Perhaps it’s your home town. Perhaps it isn’t a real place at all. The decision is up to you. After a few copies sold, I began to get comments and reviews from readers. Not a wave of feedback, mind you, but enough people were asking about a sequel that the notion began to take hold. Since my job had changed and I was working nights with nobody around to keep me busy during the day, I put together a rough idea for a plot and soon Further Reduction was in the works.

Reduction The first book in the Reduction series. Mark Himes was an average guy with an average life. That life would be threatened when the economy turns for the worst and his plant closes. Out of a job and desperate for regular work, Himes turns to a friend for advice. The answer he gets is unexpected, and dangerous. Himes must choose to struggle with finding work or act as an assassin for law enforcement to curb the growing crime rate in the city. He would be working outside the law, for the law. How far would one man go to provide for his family?