The O-Zone is the Oblivious Zone. That's the place where we're stuck in our heads or have our full attention focused only on what's immediately in front of us (phone screen, concert, movie, conversation we're having at a restaurant or bar) and we're giving no thought to what's going on around us. It's the "head in the clouds" attitude where one minute we can be having a very fine day and the next have our lives turned upside down . . . or worse. The O-Zone is where predators find their prey. The cool thing is, we occasionally get a nudge that lets us know something bad could be just about to happen. We spot a van with tinted windows parked next to our vehicle in the empty parking garage. A knock at our door presents a guy from the gas company who isn't wearing a uniform and has no ID but wants to inspect the furnace. That drink the sexy stranger at the club bought us tastes funny. That popping sound from down the hall. But . . . the warnings aren't always that obvious. Sometimes they're so subtle they can easily go unnoticed while we're doing something else. The local news is full of stories of folks who walk into danger, get a purse wallet or car stolen, get knocked on the head or shot and then are quoted afterward as saying "I don't know why I didn't see that coming." If they are fortunate enough to have an afterward. Our trouble alerts come from the subconscious, an on-board mini-computer that picks up and interprets all sorts of micro-data, bundling and assessing and forming it into our intuition or what some call our "sixth sense." If you practice defensive driving, you're paying attention to your intuition. Similarly, if you know your kid didn't do his homework…or brush his teeth…or is hiding something more serious from you…that's your intuition speaking. But . . . if data to that intuitive warning system is blocked because you're not paying attention to your surroundings, you may not get that alert. Escaping the O-Zone teaches tactics to help recognize trouble-in-the-making. And how to size up a situation so as to be ready to react if trouble develops.
The O-Zone is the Oblivious Zone. That's the place where we're stuck in our heads or have our full attention focused only on what's immediately in front of us (phone screen, concert, movie, conversation we're having at a restaurant or bar) and we're giving no thought to what's going on around us. It's the "head in the clouds" attitude where one minute we can be having a very fine day and the next have our lives turned upside down . . . or worse. The O-Zone is where predators find their prey. The cool thing is, we occasionally get a nudge that lets us know something bad could be just about to happen. We spot a van with tinted windows parked next to our vehicle in the empty parking garage. A knock at our door presents a guy from the gas company who isn't wearing a uniform and has no ID but wants to inspect the furnace. That drink the sexy stranger at the club bought us tastes funny. That popping sound from down the hall. But . . . the warnings aren't always that obvious. Sometimes they're so subtle they can easily go unnoticed while we're doing something else. The local news is full of stories of folks who walk into danger, get a purse wallet or car stolen, get knocked on the head or shot and then are quoted afterward as saying "I don't know why I didn't see that coming." If they are fortunate enough to have an afterward. Our trouble alerts come from the subconscious, an on-board mini-computer that picks up and interprets all sorts of micro-data, bundling and assessing and forming it into our intuition or what some call our "sixth sense." If you practice defensive driving, you're paying attention to your intuition. Similarly, if you know your kid didn't do his homework…or brush his teeth…or is hiding something more serious from you…that's your intuition speaking. But . . . if data to that intuitive warning system is blocked because you're not paying attention to your surroundings, you may not get that alert. Escaping the O-Zone teaches tactics to help recognize trouble-in-the-making. And how to size up a situation so as to be ready to react if trouble develops.
How do you solve a murder nobody wants solved and catch a killer nobody wants caught? When a woman with explosive secrets is murdered, City Hall orders a cover up. But fired TV reporter Reno McCarthy has never been politically correct. Reno's out for justice and he won't back off---even if it means a showdown with a brutal manipulator intent on turning Chicago into a branch office of the Russian mob. Reno's city is on the verge of a 21st Century mob war; one that will make the Roaring Twenties seem like a cap gun fight. It's summer in Chicago. It's supposed to be cooler by the lake. Not this summer. ". . .complex, fast-paced. . .snappy." --Barbara D'Amato, past President, Mystery Writers of America "Crisp, street-wise dialogue. Cummings pulls no punches." --John Drummond, author of Thirty Years in the Trenches: Covering Crooks, Characters and Capers ". . .a crime spree all by itself. It has politics, sleaze and sleazy politics. It's peopled by cops, hookers, gangsters and even nastier types like radio hosts and senators. And Doug Cummings knows the territory." --Sam Reaves, author of Dooley's Back
New, revised second edition! Since A Guide to the Notorious Bars of Alaska was first published in 2014, eight of the bars that were described in the first edition have closed their doors forever. The revised second edition includes five additional bars that meet the criteria. Also added to the second edition are regional maps, and more historic photos and advertisements. The Lower 48 have created myths and legends about things Alaskan: Things in Alaska are bigger, colder, wilder, fiercer, more independent, more rugged, more resourceful, to name just a few of the qualities that surround the Alaska myth. However, the one that says Alaskan bars stand head and shoulders above bars anywhere else just might be true. When author Doug Vandegraft moved to Alaska after graduating college in 1983, he found himself in the wild-west-style bar scene in Anchorage. Nearly two decades later, he officially began conducting research on Alaskan bars that he found as unique as everyone believed. A Guide to the Notorious Bars of Alaska details the rich history and atmosphere of remarkable, one-of-a-kind Alaskan bars, many of which have been around since the end of Prohibition in 1933, and have become legendary in their communities and beyond as places to socialize, meet friends, come in from the cold, and sometimes as community centers or even as churches. Despite stricter laws regarding alcohol sale and consumption, Alaska's bars remain notorious in many ways.
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