Saturday, April 2, 2016

Skeegie Cash

Teasers from The Kidnapping and Murder of Little Skeegie Cash: J. Edgar Hoover and Florida's Lindbergh Case by Robert A. Waters and Zack C. Waters

I spent years researching the Skeegie Cash case. It was a labor of love. Fortunately, I was able to drag Zack, my award-winning co-author and brother, away from his beloved Civil War genre to assist me with the writing of the book. Here are a few passages that show our writing style. Hope you enjoy.

“At about nine o'clock in the evening, Vera Cash gave five-year-old Skeegie a bath, then dressed him in white and rose-colored one-piece pajamas. Placing her child in his crib, she read to him from the Miami Herald. Stories about Adolph Hitler's occupation of Austria and Josef Stalin's latest Five-year Plan might portray human suffering on a grand scale, but Skeegie normally went to sleep quickly when his mother began reading.”

“In 1938, the Depression still festered, like a sore that wouldn't heal.”

“By now, Hoover was seething. He'd come to this one-horse town to make a statement to his detractors, and now his best leads had dried up.”

“After stalling for a long as possible, [Sheriff Coleman] slammed the lever down. A loud bang sounded, followed by the crackle of electric static. Twenty-four hundred volts roared through McCall's body. The smell of burning flesh flooded the room and a smoky haze drifted toward the ceiling. No sound came from the prisoner, but the audience gasped as they watched him straining against the straps.”