Queen of Florida

by Jeff Bercuson

Genres: Mystery

Synopsis

A wickedly entertaining romp featuring retired widow June who delves into the deep underbelly of paradise — Boca — to get everything she knows she deserves

June has spent a lifetime tending to the infinite needs of her four children, especially the youngest, Jimmy, who was the black sheep from the very beginning and who has dragged her down to hellish places she never expected or wanted to go: court, rehab, prison. After Jimmy’s latest relapse, June makes a break for it. She heads south to a place where so many like her have found their happiness: Boca. For the first time in her life, she does what she wants — until Jimmy knocks on her door unannounced with that strange hollow look in his eyes.

But the prodigal son is not made for paradise, and he disappears not long after he arrives. June’s search for him draws her into the shadiest corners of this sunlit Shangri-La, where there are dirty cops, ambitious gangsters, and vicious henchmen waiting for her. Opportunities wait in the darkness, too. And after a lifetime of sacrifice and self-denial, why shouldn’t June partake of them? After all, Florida is expensive — she needs a new roof, a new car, a new face — and June is on a fixed income. Plus, you can’t become the queen without breaking a few rules.

Release date: August 18, 2026

Publisher: ECW Press

Print pages: 224

Sample

One of the stories in Clockwork Lives is “The Percussor’s Tale,” about a music professor in declining health who creates a steam-driven mechanical drummer with perfect rhythm. At the end of the story, the Percussor performs an incredibly complex symphony for the Watchmaker. This grand symphony was a tour of the wonders of the world, including “the legendary lands of the far north, Ultima Thule — a mirage of tremendous glaciers under dark skies that danced with shifting veils of colored light.”

After writing that passage, Neil remarked that it would be fun to visit the far-flung icy landscape of the great white north under the auroras … and we realized that the Northern Lights must be the source of the quintessence. I suggested that we could take old Owen Hardy out for one last adventure, this time with his bright-eyed young grandson Alain. It quickly became apparent that they must be on a mission for the Watchmaker, who was running down after centuries of his Stability, and he needed Owen and the boy to find him a new source of quintessence.

And if we were going to set the adventure up in the vast frozen wastelands, then another famous Rush reference would have to make an appearance: “By-Tor and the Snow Dog.”

Instantly, the backbone of Clockwork Destiny was formed.

For a couple of years, we dabbled with the idea off and on, and I kept notes of our conversations and other plot possibilities. I would talk with Neil about the story whenever we got together, but I had other book projects and deadlines. Neil embarked on the all-consuming R40 Tour, Rush’s last tour, which required extensive practice and rehearsals, and then months on the road before their final show in Inglewood CA on August 1, 2015.

Previously, Neil and I had taken a three-year break between the publication of Clockwork Angels and Clockwork Lives, and we had no contract for Clockwork Destiny, no deadline. We decided to let it develop organically, since these novels were extremely special to both of us.

There was no hurry. We had all the time in the world.

Until we didn’t.

Not long after he retired, Neil was diagnosed with glioblastoma, a form of terminal brain cancer. From that point, whenever we did meet or talk, we would dabble a little with Clockwork Destiny, but there were other things to occupy our conversations.

The import of this novel, with its underlying theme of death and legacy and paying it forward, did not escape us, and writing it took on an entirely different perspective for me. An impossible task. We both knew that it wouldn’t be finished until after he was gone.

Time is the true anarchist.