Cal Sharp author of The Beast From the Back of the Bus, available on Amazon

"The Beast From the Back of the Bus" ebook
a musician procedural.

I started writing this murder mystery back in the 80's, when I was on the road with Faron Young, and finally published it about 10 years later. It has some White Supremecist content, which I researched (way before the Internet) at the Nashville library and which may be more relevant now in 2021. Read a white supremecist excerpt.

Available at Smashwords, Barnes & Noble and Amazon. Ebooks can also be read on a computer, tablet or phone with the free Kindle reader app (mobi format) or with Adobe Digital Editions (epub format).

What this eBook is about...

Imagine you are an aging over-the-hill country music star on tour in Texas with Wilson Packard, a murderous ex-con White Supremecist, hot on your trail, armed and dangerous and ready to kill you for past transgressions.

That's the premise of The Beast From the Back of the Bus. It's a mystery/suspense story set in the country music world, but it's not the typical Nashville tale of fans and babes and pampered stars partying and winning awards. It's a gritty, existential story of murder, avarice and retribution.

 

Available at Smashwords, Barnes & Noble, Amazon and the Apple iBookstore. The Beast From the Back of the Bus - Cal Sharp

Amazon Review- Cal Sharp is successful in his efforts to take us as readers, onto the tour bus of fictional country music artist Hank Barnett, into the motel rooms, and backstage green rooms that make up the world of country music. Packed full of silly and sad situations that Hank's musicians have to endure due to his ego and alcoholism, in order to try and earn their livings playing music. Hank, his managers, nor his band members realize that Wilson Packard, a not so nice and not so good, old boy is stalking the singer with a grudge to settle from years before. Highly recommended!

Amazon Review- I began reading 'The Beast' with no expectations and it blew me away! There were so many messages in the book I related to. There were great commentaries on life and I took my time reading to drink them all in. That's something that I don't get to do often. Reading is usually like driving on a straight away with nothing worthwhile to make you want to slow down to take a look. With Sharp's storytelling I got off the highway and took the back roads to take in the scenery, and it was rich. In this modern day epic tale set in the south, two lives are fated against one another. Each breath from one, affects the life of the other. Ignorance and bliss can last so long as we, the reader stand enraptured as the acts of both men lead to their judgment day. Rich storytelling, compelling characters, great read!

Amazon Review- I moved to Nashville in 1984 and Cal Sharp's "Beast in the back of the bus" brought back many Music City memories. Though I met some "unique" characters, none were quite as dramatic as those he created for this compelling novel. I won't divulge the ending but you'll be on the edge of your seat. Great job, Cal.

Amazon Review- Cal's depiction of a musician's life is great reading. If you are a musician, it will jog many memories of the earlier days of country music back to life. If you are not a musician, you will see what that life was all about. With the many facts and the plot of fiction, these two elements kept my interest to the very end.

ebook cover design at caligraphics

Faron Young and Cal Sharp

I'm a Nashville musician and I worked the road, the Opry, sessions and TV for over 20 years with a number of country artists, including Stonewall Jackson, Little Jimmy Dickens, Red Sovine and Faron Young. I used to while away the hours on long trips reading mysteries in my bunk on the bus, and then I thought, why not write one of my own? So I did, and this is it.

This is a work of fiction, but the main character, Hank Barnett, is based on Faron Young, who was a character, and the musicians are composites of pickers I've know and worked with over the years. The events contained herein are just pigments of my colorful imagination, but the characters and locations are pretty much real, although names have been changed to protect the worried. Available at Smashwords and Amazon.

Stop by the Steel Guitar Insanity blog, where I write about some of my experiences as a Nashville steel guitar player that led to the creation of this book.

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