Continue Enjoying a Good Read.

As mentioned on page one of Galley City, new policy: read half—try-buy.

The Story So Far…

As It Really Happened in 1892. Elizabeth 'Lizzie' Wyllie was a 24 year old woman who worked in a bookbindery in Detroit. She was beautiful and elegant, with her head in the clouds and not so much common sense. She became pregnant by her foreman (John Longfield) a married man with children. In the scandal that followed, Longfield and Lizzie and Lizzie's loving sister May were all fired from their jobs. Longfield lied to his wife, whom he told he was going to Cleveland, Ohio looking for work. Instead, he took Lizzie out of twon to lose her like an unwanted dog. By chance, they crossed tracks with a sociopathic grifter right out of a James M. Cain novel, named Kate Morgan, who needed a pregnant girl to press her false blackmail claims against billionaire John Spreckels, owner of the Hotel del Coronado and much else around San Diego, California.

A Sordid Affair & Coverup Indeed. Kate Morgan (who was no doubt having an affair with Longfield, whom history remembers as 'a cad and a bounder') betrayed Lizzie on all fronts, as did Longfield; even as Kate was training Lizzie in Los Angeles to be a temporary house maid and an impersonator, in preparation for her big (and fatal, as it turns out) role at the Hotel del Coronado. Lizzie (the true 'Beautiful Stranger,' not homely Kate Morgan) would suffer terribly at the great resort—physically, from the 'terrible medicines' Kate gave her to induce a spontaneous miscarriage; and from loneliness and betrayal. In the end, Lizzie (hardly able to walk anymore) made a fateful last journey across San Diego Bay to a gunshop. Meanwhile, John Spreckels was not in California but in the White House with President Benjamin Harrison, desperately negotiating to save his family's vast sugar cane plantations in Hawai'i from the coming overthrow of the monarchy by U.S. corporate interests. Pinkerton agents were busy protecting Spreckels' reputation in those heartless, cruel Victorian times… and the most lasting outcome of their coverup was a famous ghost legend that still persists in Coronado to this day. Our dramatization in Lethal Journey, looks underneath the dishonesty, and reveals what really happened to the Beautiful Stranger (Lizzie, not Kate Morgan, who got away scot-free, as did John Longfield).

For The Price of a Coffee: Buy the whole e-book (or p-book) safely and securely at Amazon and keep reading without interruption. Find out how the story ends. You can also try other great reads here at Galley City. Plenty to choose from, over several genres, until you find the one you really love. Click on the buy link below for a quick, safe trip to Amazon's website, where you can buy this book.

Clocktower Books has been an Amazon affiliate for over twenty years, so you're in good hands. Your purchase will help Clocktower Books and the author stay in business to provide you with further great entertainment. Thank you!

The Bookstore Metaphor

New Ideas at Galley City—Same Great Site

Read Half—Try Buy Hello, dear readers. I'm your author, Jean-Thomas Cullen (John T. Cullen, John Argo) announcing a significant shift in reading policies at Galley City.

Amazon Safe to Buy. Clocktower Books has been an Amazon affiliate since the late 1990s. You can safely buy any book or story from Amazon (e-book or p-book) without muss, fuss, or worry.

What's New? Think about it. You walk into the bookstore (free). You sit and read all day (free). You walk out with a book and don't pay (really bad idea).

So we're shifting metaphors here, and it's entirely painless. You walk into the bookstore (free). You sit and read all day (free). So far so good…

The difference is: you read about half of a novel free, which is plenty to either interest you or not. If you like what you're reading, and you want to know how it ends ("try buy") you buy the whole book. The e-book costs like a cup of coffee at the mall. The print book costs about like a sandwich and a drink. Doesn't hurt a bit. The sandwich and coffee are gone in a few minutes, but the book stays with you forever. We think it's a great deal for everyone—including your struggling author, who needs to buy himself a coffee and sandwich to stay alive so he can write the next exciting book to deliver to your virtual doorway. And he needs to feed the help (kibble, etc).

Economics 101. The Bookstore Metaphor is our governing principle here at Galley City. Originally, the idea was that you walk in (free). You sit all day and read (free). If you like something, you'll buy it. That last part hasn't quite worked out so well, unlike at the brick & mortar bookstores (which are struggling to say the least). This is the same struggle most online content sites are having, including big media outlets like The Guardian (UK) etc. So we're not alone, and you'll surely understand. We're not asking for donations or free gifts—we ask that you buy whatever story you may be enjoying, or try another story until you find what you like. It's all painless and common sense.