About the book

About Only the Dead The Investigation of a Kidnapping and Murder: A Novel

On the morning of December 12, 2016, the Prophet Muhammad's birthday, wealthy socialite Rachael Ginsberg-Marino and her two children are kidnapped by men wearing keffiyehs who claim to be soldiers of the Palestinian Hezbollah intifada. Millions of dollars are assembled by Rachael's father, Aron Ginsberg, President and CEO of the First International Bank of Los Angeles, and her husband, Richard Marino, President and CEO of the Marino Property Development Corporation, to meet the ransom demands. The kidnappers claim to have chosen Ginsberg-Marino as their target because the Ginsbergs have been long-time supporters of Israel and Jewish causes. The children are released, but Rachael remains a captive. The kidnappers warn the Ginsbergs and Marino not to contact the authorities, so it is not until an anonymous caller notifies the FBI that an official investigation begins. FBI Special Agent Mig Dehenares is also informed about the kidnapping from a surprising source, whom he refuses to identify under pressure. When he won't testify in front of a grand jury, he is imprisoned for contempt. He knows everyone involved in the kidnapping and investigation is hiding things, but he can find the truth only after leaving the Bureau. He continues his own investigation of the kidnapping upon his release from prison, despite facing death threats from several sources who don't want the kidnapping solved. Only the Dead is fiction in the style of classic noir detective thrillers, with money, women, liquor, and violence setting the stage for a detective who must deal with his own demons as he searches for the truth. Martin R. Regalado is a graduate of Amherst College and U.C. Berkeley-Boalt Hall School of Law. He practiced law in the San Francisco Bay Area prior to entering on duty as a Special Agent with the FBI. He retired in 2011, after serving for more than twenty-nine years in several offices across the country and overseas as an investigator, legal instructor/advisor, and firearms/tactics instructor.

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