Differences Between Us - Paperback

by Karen Gansel (Author)

For Jerome Decarie, life is playing in a jazz band. That's why he relocated to New Orleans. But then he befriends a young black woman, Lara Jackson, who is desperate after the storm of the decade, to find her aunt and uncle who raised her. Intrigued by her good looks and appealing manner, he agrees to accompany her in the search to an old mansion in the Garden district, owned by her uncle's brother, Phillip. She's warned him Phillip's into drugs and gangs. Jerome is accepted by the aunt and uncle, Noreen and Henry when he arrives with Lara for the reunion but agrees with her, there's something strange about Phillip. Noreen disappears from the old mansion and Henry recruits Jerome to help him search for her. He and Henry rescue Noreen from the Marrero gang who have held her hostage to extort drug money from Phillip. Phillip is later shot by one of the gang members and goes underground. Their long-distance romance is challenged when Lara returns to Atlanta to rejoin her choir for some final concerts. Meanwhile, Jerome becomes enthralled with New Orleans where his music career is thriving. Late one night, Phillip follows Jerome home from a visit to Noreen and Henry's and threatens him. Henry agrees he must deal with Phillip before he plunges all of them into tragedy.

Author Biography

Karen Gansel - New to fiction writing after a nineteen year career in government concentrating on non-fiction and business writing, I discovered a deep attraction to creating a range of new characters and following them on their journeys. As a writer, I'm very compelled by the ever evolving nature and abilities of humans to embrace change and build that into my stories. This novel, Differences Between Us, is psychological suspense which combines drama with intricate relationships. A mixed race couple, Jerome and Lara, find love while surviving in a city which is still coping with a hurricane. I have had a short story, Canal of Destiny, published in an online newspaper, Quick Brown Fox, in 2010. Other publications include articles published in The Globe and Mail and a number in community newspapers. I am a Board Member of the Canadian Authors Association and Past President of the Niagara Branch. I enjoy travelling, photography and gardening and treasure my previous years of downhill skiing.