Rain Down: A Crime Novella
GENRE
THRILLER DRAMA DETECTIVE CRIME
Core Theme
MURDER MYSTERY
TIME PERIOD
Contemporary,2000s
COMPARABLE TITLES
BETTER CALL SAUL
CHARACTER LIST
• TRAVIS BRUNER: 37. MALE. HOMELESS AND TRAPPED BY CIRCUMSTANCE
• MATT: 30'S MALE, POLICE OFFICER, STRAIGHT MAN
• JACK: 30'S FEMALE, POLICE OFFICER, FUNNY COP
• GERALD TAPPEN: 40'S MALE, ANTAGONIST, LEVEL-HEADED AND SELF-INTERESTED
• EVA ALVAREZ: LATE 30'S FEMALE, OSCAR'S SISTER, SELFLESS AND MYSTERIOUS
• OSCAR ALVAREZ: EARLY 30'S MALE, DECEASED, TRAVIS' FRIEND, WELL-LIKED, CLEVER
Logline
A former homeless man hits the streets of Portland to find a friend he fears may have been killed. It’s 2009, the economy’s falling apart. He dodges the cops, tries to save his drug-addicted ex, and discovers that a desperate condo developer and his wife are conspiring to cover up a tragic crime.
Target Audiences
Age: 18-34,35-54,55+
Target Gender: Universal
Setting
Portland, Oregon
Based on a True Story
No
Publishing Details
Status: Yes: with a Publisher
Publisher: Previously Endeavour Media, but I now have the rights back, so it's currently self-published
Year Published: 2016
Starting Description
Travis Bruner had been homeless for years until an immigrant day laborer named Oscar helped get him construction work. When Oscar goes missing, Travis scours the wet gray city to find him. Oscar's dead, Travis discovers — his body dumped onto train tracks.
Ending Description
Travis has found the truth on his own: Developer Gerald Tappen and his wife Eva (Oscar’s sister), covered up that Oscar committed suicide on a job site. The cops know Travis knows something but can’t prove it. Travis now becomes who Oscar had wanted to be — he runs a support office for day laborers.
Group Specific
Information not completed
Hard Copy Available
Yes
ISBN
1073586847
Mature Audience Themes
Language/Profanity
Plot - Other Elements
Coming of Age,Twist
Plot - Premise
Internal Journey/Rebirth,Quest,Tragedy
Main Character Details
Name: Travis Bruner
Age: 37
Gender: Male
Role: Protagonist
Key Traits: Clumsy,Complex,Desperate,Faithful,Gracious,Honorable,Insecure,Underdog,Lone Wolf,Unapologetic,Secretive,Sarcastic,Selfless,Modest,Crazy,Naive,Empathetic
Additional Character Details
Name: Oscar Alvarez
Age: 32
Gender: Male
Role: Mentor
Key Traits: Crazy,Desperate,Empathetic,Engaging,Insecure,Leader,Secretive,Visionary,Selfless,Uneducated,Modest,Underdog,Complex,Aspiring
Additional Character Details
Name: Gerald Tappen
Age: 40
Gender: Male
Role: antagonist
Key Traits: Charming,Complex,Confident,Criminal,Decisive,Desperate,Engaging,Greedy,Naive,Unapologetic,Manipulative,Secretive,Romantic,Power Hungry,Narcisstic,Aspiring,Aggressive,Faithful
Additional Character Details
Name: Eva Alvarez
Age: 35
Gender: Female
Role: emotional
Key Traits: Naive,Honorable,Faithful,Engaging,Empathetic,Desperate,Decisive,Criminal,Confident,Complex,Charming,Aspiring,Sexy,Religious,Skillful,Secretive,Sophisticated,Manipulative,Unapologetic
Brief
It's 2009 and the economy is struggling. A homeless day laborer named Travis Bruner finds that his friend has gone missing and new cops have showed up in his neighborhood. While looking for answers to his friend's death, Travis has several run-ins with a condo-developer and his wife, who he pins as the prime suspects.
What We Liked
- The story comes out of the perspective of a homeless man who is too clever for his own good. Gruff, disloyal and seemingly lacking all motivation--it takes the death of his friend to kick him into gear;
- While looking for answers, the reader gets a perspective on what it's like to dwell in a homeless neighborhood and care for an addict. The cops that approach the protagonist are, for the most part, friendly and empathetic;
- It has a more-than-ordinary story line with an ending you won't see coming.
- Vengeance for a friend;
- Taking down the ""powers-that-be"";
- Solving a murder;
- Salvation story;
- Caring for an addict.
Synopsis
Protagonist is a homeless day laborer with a drug-addicted ex. His best friend works for a developer who thinks he's a super star, and that's how our protagonist has been getting his money. Protagonist works with his friend on the job site for a while until one night he goes home early without his friend.
The next few days his friend can't be found. He asks the other day laborers, and the security guard on the job site but no one has seen him. Then he goes to ask the developer and even the plainclothes cops that have turned up in his neighborhood. No one gives him a sharp lead but the richy developer gives him a funny feeling so he decides to meet up with him again.
That night, while searching around, protagonist finds his friends body mangled on the train tracks. The next day the developer confirms his suspicions, something happened to the friend on the job site after protagonist left. Triangle forms between cops, protagonist and developer--no one knows who is ratting on whom. All the while protagonist is trying to help his addicted ex get out of her shitty life and get clean.
The back and forth continues for a few weeks until it turns out another player, developer's wife, is the dead friend's sister. She talks with the protagonist and eventually gives him the story: protagonist's friend killed himself and she saw him do it.
In the end the developer takes the blame, the protagonist lies to the cops about what he knows, his ex gets clean, and he goes on to start a new job to help his fellow day laborers get safer jobs/working conditions.