Tag Archives: James L’Etoile
The Place Where Death Lives
Outside of mythology and fiction, only a handful of locations in the world capture the imagination and send a twinge running up your spine. You get that disconcerting feeling when you visit a Civil War memorial, or the deep sorrow that soaks into your core when see the Viet Nam Veteran’s Memorial Wall for the […]
It Ain’t What it Looks Like
During a recent drive from Northern California to Phoenix, I witnessed thirteen hours of desert, farmland and urban sprawl, most of which you’d never find as a feature in any self-respecting travel guide. When people think of California, fanciful visions of surfers, bikini-clad beaches, palm trees and Disneyland fill the imagination. Living in the Northern […]
Murder, He Wrote
Criminals come in different flavors. Violent offenders, rapists, extortionists and drug addicts, each commit their crimes for reasons that germinate in their minds. In the dark ages of criminology, the ridges and bumps on a man’s head predicted his criminal future. I’m not a big believer in conspiring clouds of fate, or forces of biology […]
The Forgotten Victims
Violent crime leaves a vortex of pain in its wake. The system offers a small measure of justice for the victims, but the families are left behind. I’ve spoken with mothers who lost their sons, and fathers who lost daughters. The single common thread among them was helplessness. There was nothing they could have done […]
Behind the Scenes – Crime in the Caribbean
After my first trip to Jamaica, I wanted to bring my fictional story about human trafficking to life. I knew the basic plot lines that I wanted to write, but my two decades of work in the criminal justice system didn’t give me enough to flesh out my story. I’ve seen the extortion of prison […]
Little River
During a recent trip to Jamaica, I had some down time waiting for my connecting flight and then again waiting in the customs lines in Montego Bay. My mind wandered, as it often does, but this time, it drifted and formed the framework of my novel. The plot line lay in the faces and unspoken […]
Human Trafficking – The 32 Billion Dollar Industry
Let me start out by stating that I’m not a social worker, reformer, or activist. I’m simply an observer – a writer. As I develop a novel and the plot lines within, I pull together source information and research the subject area to provide the reader with a realistic story line. In the process of […]
James L'Etoile 