Retired. Nearly expired. Wrote about it.

I often invoke the killer within.

Wrote a great novel. No sale.

THE THANKS YOU GET By PAUL MCGORAN They were sharing a room at a rundown courtyard motel at the north end of the Strip where it turns kind of sleazy. Off and on, Henry Shevlin had been living with Duke Santoro for three years and had known him a couple years more in stir. Shevlin didn’t like Las Vegas much and he didn’t like the way his life was going. But he was the type to do anything for a friend. As if Duke was anybody’s friend. Oh yeah, Henry liked him, couldn’t say he didn’t. So did a ...

HELENA SWANN … I got back to Dismas Cottage from a tennis date with Ivan around noon. He dropped me off and went on to a friend’s house where he intended to shower and change clothes before going to lunch. I was looking forward to a shower myself, as well as a quiet afternoon at home. Passing through the side entrance from the porte cochère, I put my racket in the big foyer closet and was stripping off my sweaty headband when Aunt Claudia glided into my field of vision. She was holding her ha...

IVAN CHITWORTH … It promised to be an interesting summer, although my passion for the dramatic went unfulfilled at first. I was dying to talk about hosting a genuine femme fatale at Dismas Cottage. Regrettably, I found myself required to be evasive and coy about the glamorous blonde from California. Secrets, like the one I was sworn to keep about Helena’s identity, are almost unheard of among my friends. The crowd I run with come from the very best families, complete with trust funds. None of...

KRISTI DARNELL … We met in South Beach. Yes, it was at a club, but I sure don’t deserve that name they call me. Party girl. That’s what they say on Page Six of the New York Post when they mean prostitute. It’s totally unfair. I may be stuck with it, but I’ll never accept it. I was a model and an actress and I had the credits to prove it. Just local commercials for the acting jobs, but I got modeling assignments all the time. And South Beach modeling assignments are the real thing – great prod...

THE THANKS YOU GET By PAUL MCGORAN They were sharing a room at a rundown courtyard motel at the north end of the Strip where it turns kind of sleazy, but still nearer to the mid-strip than say, Fremont Street. Off and on, Henry Shevlin had been living with Duke Santoro for three years and had known him a couple years more in stir. Shevlin didn’t like Las Vegas much and he didn’t like the way his life was going. But he was the type to do anything for a friend. As if Duke was anybody’s friend. ...