Other editions of book The Silent Second

A frustrated corporate admin starts a side gig as a PI in this debut mystery—“Think Monk meets Moonlighting, with a whole bunch of The Office tossed in” (M. William Phelps). Chuck Restic has achieved the American dream: a successful career with a large corporation, his own home, a great health insurance and retirement package. But after twenty years in Human Resources he sees very little value in what he does all day . . . until he embarks on a mission to find a missing employee. Soon, Chuck finds himself moonlighting as a private detective—and feeling alive again. While balancing the inane demands of his office, he begins to unravel a web of murder and crooked real estate deals. And while his HR skills are surprisingly useful in detective work, Chuck just hopes to solve the mystery without getting himself terminated. “Full of humor, outrage, and suspense. Adam Phillips’s book is everything a thriller should be.” —Phoef Sutton, New York Times–bestselling author of Heart Attack and Vine “Phillips’ prose overall is smart and supple, with a humorous bent.” —Booklist “[An] absorbing first novel.” —Publishers Weekly “One of the most engaging and refreshing novels to hit the market this season . . . Like me, you’ll laugh your ass off while immersed in the mystery.” —M. William Phelps, New York Times–bestselling author of Dangerous Ground: My Friendship with a Serial Killer

Chuck Restic has achieved the American dream: a successful career with a large corporation, his own home, the best health care insurance and retirement package... but he's crumbling inside. Twenty years in Human Resources have pushed him into an existential crisis. He realizes there is so little value in what he does all day, and it is only when he embarks on a mission to find a missing employee from his firm that he truly starts to feel alive again.This is Chuck's first step toward moonlighting as a private detective ― a job in which he turns out to excel. Constantly balancing the inane demands of his office and the excitement of his new "job," he finally finds what he's been missing. By applying his HR skills and wit to his new passion for detective work, Chuck unravels a web of crooked real estate deals and three murders, staving off a fourth: his own.The first in the Chuck Restic mystery series, The Silent Second began life as the novel Smile Now, Cry Later, a self-publishing success story that led to a series commitment from publisher Prospect Park Books. Thoroughly re-edited, improved, re-designed, and re-titled, this smart, witty crime novel introduces an engaging (if sometimes bitter) private eye for the corporate era.