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Robert Pajer

Robert Pajer

About

Robert J. Pajer was born in Yonkers, New York. He has been a correspondent for Mini-World Magazine written in English for Japanese readers, and has written articles for American magazines that dealt with religious topics in American culture. A Handful of Dust is his first novel. He spent over 10 years researching the book while working a full-time job. A Handful of Dust is an incredible journey through the streets of 1930 depression-stricken New York City.

"People are again experiencing some of the difficulties our parents and grandparents went through during the thirties," Pajer said. "The past two years have been a humbling time financially for many people and identifying with the past can help us understand this isn't a new situation historically, others have gone through it and survived. My desire is that "A Handful of Dust" will not only entertain, but also remind us the most important things in life are family and relationships.

Mr. Pajer lives in Yonkers, New York is married and he and his wife have two daughters.

Dangerous Alliance

Dangerous Alliance

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Description

<p>United Nations’ sanctions are crippling North Korea. China has turned her back on her malevolent partner. The North Korean military machine is crumbling, unable to function. Oil reserves are minimal and the government seeks new alliances.Cargo and tourist ships are disappearing along the Somali and Kenyan coastline at an alarming rate. Speeches abound, but inaction emboldens Al-Shabab to seek their next prize: Kenya. The terror organization controls land but requires weapons.Bedlam Bravo team leader Colonel Trevor Franklin (Ret.) leads the small international team into East Africa. Tempers flare as the team is embroiled in a political quagmire. The axis must be stopped to avert an international crisis but at what cost?Proudly published by Solstice Publishing</p>

Story Behind The Book

Handful of Dust took eleven years to complete. There was an enormous amount of research involved because the novel takes place in the 21st Century and in 1930. It revolves around the strange disappearance of Judge Joseph Crater on August 6, 1930 and the corruption of New York City's Tammany Hall run government. While researching the book I was at 1 Police Plaza in Manhattan and viewing the Crater files. I had access to the files because of the wonderful Freedom of Information Act and one veteran detective standing in his office door frame said to his partner, in a low voice as I walked by, "I can't stand that new law. You never had civilians down here in our file rooms. Nothing is sacred anymore." I smiled at him and he rolled his eyes and walked back into his office. I've been thanking the legislators who passed the FOIA bill ever since.

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Reviews

Robert Pajer's 'A Handful of Dust' is a great read--a gripping and historically accurate tour of New York in 1930 and the events surrounding the disappearance of Judge Joseph Crater. Anyone interested in the period should find it fascinating, as I did.&quot;--Richard J. Tofel, author, Vanishing Point: The Disappearance of Judge Crater, and the New York He Left Behind.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:'Times New Roman';">    The single most amazing thing about Robert Pajer’s fast-paced, hugely enjoyable novel <em>A Handful of Dust </em>is the no-nonsense, whirlwind way he gets down to the business of his plot. That plot is, as we used to say, a hum-dinger: a rogue U.S. naval officer has used experimental technology to leap backwards in time, intent on stalking and killing Governor Franklin Delano Roosevelt before he becomes president—and straight-shooting (we hope) FBI agent Matt Wells has been ordered to go back in time himself to kill the would-be assassin and preserve the timeline we all know and love.<br />    Most authors, facing such a corker of a premise, would bolt the thing out of the starting gate by spending too much time on the how of time travel (Michael Crichton’s <em>Timeline</em> makes this mistake for about 200 interminable pages). Pajer dispenses with this in basically one paragraph and a bit of dialogue—the explanation’s just as convincing as it needs to be in order to get us to the main meat of his plot: FDR, the past, the plot. <span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:'Times New Roman';">  That plot is wonderfully, almost dementedly, explosive. <br /></span>Steve Donoghue, Historical Book Society<br /><br /></span>