It's not fair!

Around the age of eight or nine, childhood tantrums give way to plaintive tirades against how unjust life is. "It's not fair!"

"If life were fair," we wise adults retort, "we'd be born old and die young. People would fly and seagulls would walk." 

"If Life Were Fair, Horses Would Ride Half the Time" (a book by Ben Goode)

"If life were fair, all the terrible things that happen to us, we'd actually deserve."

Or as Johnny Carson once said, "If life were fair, Elvis would still be alive and all the impersonators would be dead.” 

We start to develop a more mature sense of justice and fairness in our early to mid-teens, and an acceptance that no, life is not always fair.

Well into adulthood, though, we long to believe our justice system is fair, that our political institutions are equitable and principled--unless of course, we're looking for advantages for ourselves and our kin. Unless we believe we deserve a bit more than others...a bigger piece of the pie, a lesser part of the punishment.

In FATAL ERROR (2nd Edition), Book 2 of my BackTracker series, the equability of our justice system is explored from differing viewpoints--a young teen, law enforcement, prosecutors, the media, a biker gang.

As stated in the Book Club Discussion Guide at the back of the book:

"There are cultural differences in what is perceived as fair, leading to different laws and legal systems around the world. Canadian laws allows for justice to be tempered by circumstances yet at the same time, nobody is above the law—the same laws are supposed to apply to everyone equally."

Flexibility and fairness are hard concepts to balance, and not everyone is equal under the law, and circumstances both colour and taint justice.

FATAL ERROR still makes me ponder both the fragility and strength of our legal system. It's a good read...

It's not fair! is brought to you by FATAL ERROR

"Heartbreaking and triumphant" 

"...a dialogue-driven plot with so much compassion" 

“...a lesson and an intense drama in one.”

“Emotions run high in this book.” 

“This book has so much to say; we all should listen." 

“Rebellion, terror, drugs, murder, loss, lies, broken promises—all are there.”

Eileen Schuh, Author
FIREWALLS
FATAL ERROR
Schrödinger's Cat
THE TRAZ
Web site: http://www.eileenschuh.com
Blog: http://eileenschuh.blogspot.com

And on and on it goes...#BikerGangs

When I wrote the first novel in my BackTracker series, I had no intention of following it up with eight more novels. But if I had intended to write a lengthy series, I couldn't have chosen a more apt subject--drug-dealing biker gangs.

They just won't go away, either in real life or in the BackTracker series. They are rich, powerful, and often beyond the reach of the law. (See my post, Getting away with murder )

They run the illicit drug trade around the world, as well as control the lucrative businesses of human trafficking, prostitution and illegal arms dealing.

My fictional biker gang, The Traz, was brought down in a massive undercover police operation in Books I and 2 of the series (THE TRAZ and FATAL ERROR). However, they are still around in my upcoming Book 4, OPERATION MAXTRACKER.

"You can destabilize them, but you'll never get rid of them," says André Cédillot, organized crime specialist in the article, How the Hells Angels Made a Massive Comeback in Quebec.

He also mentions the Hells Angels expansion into other fraudulent activities. 

In OPERATION MAXTRACKER, The Traz is about to seize control of cyberspace. Now, wouldn't that be lucrative...

And on and on it goes...#BikerGangs has been brought to you by:

The BackTracker Series

Eileen Schuh, Author
SHADOW RIDERS
DISPASSIONATE LIES
FIREWALLS
FATAL ERROR
Schrodinger's Cat
THE TRAZ

 

Getting away with murder

The chilling headline almost passed unnoticed, coming as it did late Friday before the long Canadian Thanksgiving weekend.

Oh, my goodness, I gasped. They're going to get away with murder!


That was my fear when I was writing FATAL ERROR, the second novel in my BackTracker series, centred around the murder trial of members of The Traz biker gang. There was a technical issue, a slight slip of protocol, a withholding of some minor evidence. Enough, though, that the bikers launch an appeal of their convictions and the Supreme Court of Canada agrees to hear their complaints.

The BackTracker Series

Could it be that after undercover agents Shrug and Chad risked their lives and their souls infiltrating the gang in order to bring it down that their efforts are going to be for naught?



Could it possibly be that even though young Katrina finally breaks down and agrees to testify against these violent, powerful men, they are going to be set free? Could it be that no one would ever pay for young Lukas' senseless, violent death?

Young Katrina testified in FATAL ERROR

Could it be that the millions of dollars in taxpayers money spent on the Operation, the investigation, the trials would be spent in vain?

Would it be, after all that, the Traz bikers will walk free, take back the streets, sell their drugs, recruit vulnerable children, kill again...and again?


That scenario was scary enough in a novel, but for me to face it in real life...


Yes, I know the power of gangs so when late last Friday, the start of a long weekend, a judge quietly dismissed the murder charges against a group of Hells Angels, I shuddered.


I had looked forward to following what was being billed a 'mega trial'. A dozen or more Hells were being brought up on all kinds of charges, included many murder charges. This after many more charges had been dismissed because a judge ruled justice was taking too long. A special court house was designed...for everyone's safety.  Then some of those charged pleaded guilty, some died, some walked free and the 'mega trial' turned out to be for five Hells Angels only.


I was to be further disappointed when I discovered there was very little media coverage of the trial. None in English. I had to search with several engines and translate from French to find out what was going on in that special Montreal courtroom. That one of the crown's star witnesses was an ex-Hells Angel surprised me. Bikers don't turn on each other, at least in my BackTracker series they didn't.


Then came the grand slam of disappointments...the trial is dismissed because that ex-biker's testimony contradicted evidence the police had gathered but had not been shared with the defence...for reasons we do not know.


The power of gangs.


In my BackTracker series, members of biker gangs use threats, bribes, drugs, money, blackmail, flattery, romance and bullets to silence the media, to bypass justice, to get their way. They use high-powered lawyers, well-placed allies, and political friends. They use computer hackers to corrupt evidence and lies and conniving to avoid paying for their crimes.


So...what did they use in real life? I have a feeling I will never know.


Here's the link to that chilling Friday headline:

Judge orders end of SharQC Hells Angels trial over Crown's handling of evidence

Getting away with murder is brought to you by:

FATAL ERROR

"Courage and insight make for a compelling read" 

“...a worthy sequel to the explosive ‘THE TRAZ’.”

“Wise, haunting, deeply moving…unforgettable!”

 “The very best in today's motorcycle gang stories just got a little better.”

The Criminal Mind

Get hooked on a series for only £1.32  $1.99

Today a character interview of Shrug, one of the main protagonists in THE TRAZ and FATAL ERROR, was posted online and it got me thinking about how we define a criminal mind.

Interviewer, Peggy Stanton, calls Shrug a Bad Boy but he says he'd prefer her to think highly of him--after all, as an undercover cop he dedicated four years of his life to infiltrating and dismantling a biker gang.


Whether he is good or evil remains up for grabs. Characters in my novels who knew Shrug before his undercover stint insist he was a much kinder, gentler man before going undercover. Living with evil, they suggest, warped his soul. Shrug excuses some of his behaviour by suggesting it was governed by depression. He says in his interview that a prior personal trauma left him not caring if he lived or died and thus he became a willing candidate to take on the ultra-dangerous assignment.

Although Shrug has many excuses for being the way he is, he's not so generous with his thoughts about Katrina, the young protagonist in my series. He believes that despite all the traumas that beset her, she was just plain born evil.

1st Edition Paperback

Shrug's boss, Sergeant Kindle says yes, Shrug and Katrina share many behaviour patterns and personality traits. Both are manipulative, underhanded, exceptionally clever, and prone to secrecy and untruths. However, Kindle says, the difference lies in their motives. Shrug, he believes, always hold the best interests of humanity in mind while Katrina's behaviour is governed by her own best interests.

Past traumas, mental health and the personalities we are born with do indeed help form our character. To what extent we can blame our behaviours on exterior influences in not fully understood even by the experts. And although the judicial system does allow leeway for motives (self-defense, abusive relationships, insanity) it doesn't generally accept a defence of "the end justifies the means", a philosophy Shrug has been known to advocate as an excuse for his illicit behaviour. Whereas buying and selling cocaine during a mission to infiltrate a gang is forgivable and legal, using a child to ratify those deals is likely pushing the limits too far. And Shrug is known to have done both.

So how 'bad' is Shrug? He wouldn't have been able to successfully infiltrate a biker gang if  he'd been carrying with him his church-going Christian ways so perhaps he can be forgiven for setting aside his morality to deal with everyday evils he encountered. He did, he says, always keep in mind the ultimate good that would come from his mission.

We all have a tad of evil in us, whether from past traumas, desperation, the personality quirks we're born with, the teachings that have influenced us, the health of our mind, body, soul and relationships.  Whether or not Shrug is right that some people are born purely evil may not be so clear.

That good people can at times do bad things (for a variety of reasons) is a given.  Whether those with criminal minds can do good, and whether or not they deserve credit when they do is debatable.

In  THE STRANGER BESIDE ME by Ann Rule, she mentions how Ted Bundy, the taker of many lives, also saved lives during the time he manned the suicide prevention line with Rule. She felt we might wish to grant him some brownie points for that. Although those he saved and their loved ones may agree, the justice system didn't and I don't. Not any more so than the Hells Angels' annual teddy bear run improves my opinion of that gang.

Drop on over to the Famous Five Plus website and see what you think of the man who confuses even those of us who know him well.



Eileen Schuh, Author

FATAL ERROR
Schrödinger's Cat
THE TRAZ