Bumper City - Book Tour and Giveaway

​There is a darkness far worse than the night. 

Bumper City
Detective Alton Cold Mystery Series Book 1
by Alan McGill
Genre: Futuristic Mystery Thriller

In the future, Las Vegas is nearly destroyed. Rebuilt under a dark cloud that blocks all sunlight, Sin City takes on a whole new meaning.

Beneath the neon, The Pagliacci Serial Killers are on the loose and a new drug called “Colors”, infused with nanotechnology, is killing thousands. Violence erupts as the mutant population take to the streets to protest working conditions and the disappearance of their loved ones.

Big Tech, the wealthy elite, and corrupt politicians attempt to cover it up. They can’t allow anything to interfere with the elections, profits, or their plans.

Can hard-nosed detective Alton Cold and his A.I. car Bessimer catch the killers, stop the cabal, and expose the truth? Or will the appearance of a mysterious woman cloud his judgement as the unnatural cloud darkens the sky?

To save the people he cares about, he’ll put everything on the line to confront a darkness far worse than the night.


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​Alan McGill is an American author who lives in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a clowder of cats. Alan was close to his grandparents who grew up in the Great Depression. They were married young and remained together until his grandmother’s passing. His grandfather served in the Navy during WWII and was a gifted storyteller who weaved humorous tales about tough events. Alan grew up with these stories of right and wrong along with watching fictional heroes such as The Lone Ranger, Adam West’s Batman and Captain America. Heroes who stood up to bullies and protected those who could not protect themselves. This made an impression on the author to always do what was right in his own life and shaped his love for storytelling. He is a multi-genre author with his debut novel being A Cry in the Moon’s Light which is a horror romance and mystery series. As with all his books, one of the primary themes involves characters who strive to do the right thing regardless of the adversity they face. The second theme present in all his books is love. A pure and deep love that defeats all evil.


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What inspired you to write this book?
I grew up watching great private detectives like Magnum P.I. and Jim Rockford, Joe Mannix, and others. I lived that dream for a short while. I was a private detective for 10 years and even had my own license. When my father died, I was a bit lost. I was 26 years old and found myself writing this story based on my life experiences. The character of O’Dell in the book was originally supposed to be my father. In the original version, O’Dell would show up from time to time and give advice to the young detective. I had left it open for the reader to decide if O’Dell was real, an angel, or ghost. But as I said earlier, I wrote the story in 1994. I re-wrote it last year and changed quite a bit, including the character of O’Dell. He’s no longer based on my father. And a great many things in the book are things that happened to me, give or take an embellishment or two. Bessimer is loosely inspired by KITT of Knight Rider and there’s so much more, but I don’t want to give it all away.

What can we expect from you in the future?
I have several irons in the fire. The first being the audiobook version of Bumper City. I narrated the entire thing and hired Joseph McDade again to create three original pieces of music for Bumper City. I think it’s my best narrative work so far. I have story lines for five more books of Detective Alton Cold in Bumper City. They are all separate cases, but the underlying sinister plot of Twilas Burke is running in the background. That will go on until the final confrontation.
I’m also in the process of writing and designing a handbook about the technology in Bumper City. A little more backstory on the city, tech, and characters. It’ll be small but fun.
And I’m working on book three of A Cry in the Moon’s Light. No real title yet, but it picks up right after book two The Undead Wars. We’ll see how the many creatures that make up the Undead Army lay siege to Castle Parlimae. Alessandra and her quartet will have their hands full for sure.
I’m also in the process of writing a collection of short stories in the spirit of The Twilight Zone or The Outer Limits. Spooky tales, about a mysterious pawn shop that shows up conveniently to assist a wary customer. But is the owner a friend or something else. It’s called Big Al’s Emporium of Curiosities, Oddities, and Strange Things.


Do you have any “side stories” about the characters?
Nothing formal that would be fashioned into a book. I did that with my werewolf witch saga but with Bumper City it will all be from the detective point of view.


Can you tell us a little bit about the characters in Bumper City?
Well, Alton Cold is loosely based on my experience as a private investigator. But he’s turned into much more than that. In the opening chapter we learn he’s still in love with his first love. Although they didn’t stay together, he couldn’t really get over her. He is a bit of drinker, although I wouldn’t say he’s an alcoholic. He hates authority and despises most of the supervisors and attorney’s he’d worked with over the years. Alton is loyal and kind, but he’s no fool. While he never killed while on the force, he shows he was always willing to for the right cause. He’s well-liked by honest cops but hated by corrupt supervisors and politicians. He’s respected by criminals and those he’s arrested. They may not like him, but they know he’s not corrupted, and it was never personal.

Mara Torres was Alton’s first and only true love. She is a mutant in Bumper City which means she has some enhanced abilities such as hearing and being able to see in the dark. She is petite and very beautiful with a strong sense of purpose. She’s not an angel, but she’s not pure evil either.

Nevaeh. She is a young college graduate who was raised by her aunt in Bumper City. She left after college to pursue a job in San Franscico. She hires Alton to find her missing aunt.

Penny. Alton’s secretary. A beautiful blonde who likes to have fun. She’s sassy and flirty. While she dresses well, her sense of humor could make a longshoreman blush. She is very political and helps Alton with his cases. She loves Alton but they have never been romantic. It’s a flirty but plutonic relationship.

Bessimer. Alton’s artificial intelligence car. He’s charming and loyal to Alton. He’s quick witted but young and appears to be learning as he gains more experience.

New Vegas Police Detective John Rollins. A no nonsense homicide sergeant. He’s been on the force a long time but not quite ready to retire. It’s hard to say if Rollins has been corrupted. He takes solving murders very seriously, but his true loyalties have not yet been revealed.

Twilas Burke. The main villain. The antagonist of the story. He’s a tech giant. The richest man in the world and Alton’s nemesis. He’s virtually untouchable unless you are willing to commit murder. Few really know his true nature and his plans are far more sinister than anyone realizes.

If I say anymore there will be spoilers, so I’ll stop right there.


How did you come up with the concept and characters for the book?
My original version was somewhat different, but let’s go with the re-write on this one. As I said, Alton is loosely based on me. Mara Torres is based on my first true love. And much of what Alton remembers about her happened to me, but not all. It would be more accurate to say inspired by some true events with a little writer’s license.
Penny is a combination of a couple of different women. Her loyalty to Alton, willing to help him is inspired by Effy in the Maltese Falcon. Her politics and attitude are inspired by a political committeewoman I once knew. There are splashes of others I’ve met along the way too.
Twilas Burke was inspired by the Tech Giants of our time. If you combined Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, Bill Gates, and some others, you’d have Twilas.
Bessimer is inspired by KITT from Knight Rider. I always thought it would be cool to have a talking car. Every private detective show I ever watched, had a cool car. Magnum had the Ferrari, Rockford had the Pontiac Firebird they all had great cars.


Where did you come up with the names in the story?
No real thought process here other than Alton Cold. I always loved the legend of the Smiling Man, Indrid Cold. But I didn’t want that character name, so I decided Alton had a nice ring to it.
Bumper City was a play on words for the overall story. It’s the nickname for New Vegas. But nobody really knows which story is correct, and I may tell it someday, but not today.


What did you enjoy most about writing this book?
I loved the movement between light and dark. Not just the environment of the city being in total darkness while the rest of the world that surrounds it is light, but the characters dealing with their own inner darkness.


Tell us about your main characters- what makes them tick?
Alton is completely driven by a sense of justice or fairness. Twilas has yet to reveal why he’s doing what he’s doing, but it’s coming. Mara, well, you have to read it so I don’t give any spoilers away.


How did you come up with the title of your first novel?
Well, Bumper City is technically the first book I wrote. A Cry in the Moon’s Light is the first book I published. Let’s go with that one. It’s a play on the overall theme. Is it the Werewolf Cry you hear in the moon’s light. Is it Alessandra’s sorrow? Or is it the cries of the wolves across the land. I let the reader decide what it means to them.


Who designed your book covers?
Emily of Emily’s World of Design. She’s done all of my books. I am grateful to her because I drive her crazy and she has the patience of Solomon. I can be picky and she puts up with my wanting small changes until I think it fits my vision for the story. The only exception to this was book one, A Cry in the Moon’s Light. Emily did the cover, but Patrick Boyer did the artwork. Emily has a website and can be found on Twitter and Instagram. Show her some love and tell her you saw my covers and love them as much as I do.


If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in your latest book?
Maybe. I might start chapter one differently. I was always torn about the opening. I wanted to grab the reader’s attention with the first line. Then I thought it was important to show his deep love for Mara, which is a foreshadowing of what’s to come. I hope it works for the book, but as I said in an earlier question, my script version starts differently. I think without the visual, the way I have the novel works better.




If your book was made into a film, who would you like to play the lead?
An unknown. But it needs to be someone of age. Alton is supposed to be retired. Not much as I think it could be a series and you’d want the lead actor to be able to hang in there for a few years.


Anything specific you want to tell your readers?
Thank you for reading this. I hope you enjoyed it. I hope you enjoyed it enough to want another. Please give me a star rating and/or a review. Amazon, Audible, Barnes & Noble, Goodreads, BooksAMillion. Those all matter.


What is your favorite part of this book and why?
Bessimer. I loved voicing this A.I. car. I like his personality too. The chase scenes were especially fun to write with the interaction between Alton and Bessimer as they hunt the killer clowns.


If you could spend time with a character from your book whom would it be?
And what would you do during that day? I’d be taking Bessimer for a spin. How cool would that be to have a talking car? You could take a nap while he drives everywhere. And he could answer just about any question. His enhanced capabilities would be a blast too.


Are your characters based off real people or did they all come entirely from your imagination?
There are three based off real people. Mara, Alton, and a friend of mine who is the EMT in the story. Others are inspired by real people as well as my imagination.


Do your characters seem to hijack the story or do you feel like you have the reigns of the story?
Bit of both. I had a framework or outline, but I did indulge my imagination when I thought it fit.


Convince us why you feel your book is a must read.
Another cliché. I think it’s unique. If you like a gritty detective thriller with serial killers, you’ll love it. I describe it as a futuristic, retro-scifi, detective noir thriller with a heartbreaking romance. I tried to keep the reader guessing and from my beta’s that was achieved. Even those who don’t like scifi might enjoy this as it’s not over the top. The underlying mystery is super sinister and wicked. And Bessimer is a delight. It’s got plenty of action, suspense, and great characters.


Have you written any other books that are not published? Nothing completed.
I have two but not completed.


If your book had a candle, what scent would it be?
Rain. It rains a lot in Bumper City.


What did you edit out of this book?
Nothing substantial. It’s pretty much the same story. The re-write is another question.

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