Keeping Chastity Alive by John Rosskopf
“Somebody wants to get rid of these girls. And it’s not just some hoodlums who got rejected over the internet. There’s got to be more to this, I’m convinced of that. And I believe it goes on higher up.”
You wouldn’t think of him as a touchy-feely kind of guy. Even his name, Jake Powers, and his occupation, Private Investigator, present a certain stereotype. And he was a war veteran, got shot at every day, had to diffuse unexploded bombs, suffers from PTSD. Plenty of baggage to work through — and he’s trying.
So imagine his girlfriend Aisha’s frustration when this tough guy doesn’t open up or share his feelings.
At least not to her. But rather to an 18-year-old high-end prostitute who goes by the name of Chastity and happens to be his client.
But we’re getting ahead of ourselves — because while the emotional juxtaposition of the main character in Keeping Chastity Alive, the latest work in the Jake Powers Mystery Series by John Rosskopf, is intriguing, this book is much more than that.
Piecing Together a String of Missing Escorts
Chastity is an upscale escort, available as a sounding board to pent-up men or for physical pleasures of the carnal variety. She must be pretty good if she can get Jake to tear up.
Chastity runs a classy call girl service along with five other girls. They all live together in a farmhouse off a back road outside of Sacramento, CA, and while they do what they have to do to make ends meet, they all have more traditional career aspirations.
Chastity engages Powers to find one of her roommates, Tiffany, who doesn’t come home after a trick at a local motel.
As it turns out, Tiffany is just the first of the girls to go missing. One by one, they seem to disappear. Is there a common thread? It certainly appears Chastity is in danger.
That’s for Jake to piece together in a labyrinth that takes him through seedy bars, pimps, high-powered judges, politicians, and the streets where girls of the night conduct their trade.
Enjoyable Mystery with Sympathetic Characters
The author has crafted a story with intricate characters, notably: Jake, the smart, tough and vulnerable gumshoe; Chastity, a girl with intelligence, passion and a past that has shaped her journey; and Aisha, Jake’s doctor girlfriend whose conscience leads her to step over the line and help Jake’s client to a better life.
Rosskopf has a knack for writing realistic narratives and fast-moving suspense thrillers, dropping clues like tea leaves as the parts all come together. He makes Jake comfortable in crusty settings and slick corporate offices, in talking the talk with hardened criminals and crafty politicians. And readers can easily follow Jake’s thought patterns, not necessarily anticipating his every move but getting a peek into the constantly spinning mind of a detective.
Keeping Chastity Alive is a thoroughly enjoyable mystery, with perhaps a bit more empathy than you’d expect in a typical detective story. Yet it’s an element that makes John Rosskopf’s Jake Powers a believable hero with a welcome place in this genre.
About John Rosskopf:
John Rosskopf is a Sacramento, CA, writer, lecturer and attorney. He is also an avid and voracious reader of murder mysteries, and a few of his favorites are the Harry Bosch and Lincoln Lawyer series by Michael Connelly, the October Daye and InCryptid series by Seanan McGuire, the IQ series by Joe Ide, and the Kinsey Milhone alphabet murders by Sue Grafton. Now Rosskopf is introducing his own private investigator series, as he follows the adventures of his fictional detective, Jake Powers. Rosskopf lives in Sacramento with his wife Marian and his two cats, Max and Tiny. To learn more about John Rosskopf and the Jake Powers Mystery series, visit his website.
