about the book
Little fibs, half-truths, white lies, or great big whoppers. Doesn’t matter what you call them—they all start out hiding the ugly truth and only get much worse as time goes by.
Thirteen-year-old Cooper, his cousin and best pal Gordy, and their companion Hiro have sworn a Code of Silence. They have to. If they tell the truth, they and their families might all be killed.
It all started one night shortly before Halloween. The three kids were hanging at their favorite place, Frank ‘n Stein’s Diner, playing arcade games. The place was empty, and Frank Mustacci, the owner, was busy closing down and cleaning up. Frank, a white-bearded Santa-look-alike, was a good friend and a beloved grandfather figure to the three.
For some reason, Hiro was insistent about leaving right away. She gets these bad feelings and this one was the worst ever. Something really terrible was about to happen! It is too late by the time the boys realize that her spooky intuition is dead on. While the kids hide, the diner is robbed by three masked men. They beat Frank, leaving him in a coma. As the robbers clean out the safe, the kids make a run for it, but not before one of the robbers see them!
They can’t tell their parents and they absolutely can’t tell the police. The kids believe two of the robbers are dirty cops. They want to do the right thing for Frank, but are too afraid for their lives. The danger builds as cagey Detective Hammer gets too close, an innocent man is accused, the prevarications escalate, and the three are caught in the web of their own deceit.
Will their lies tear their friendship apart?
about the author
Writing was something that wasn’t even on Tim Shoemaker’s radar. He was a very busy man, happily married to his wife, Cheryl, father to three sons, and very active in his church and community.
When his sons were young, Tim spun all sorts of yarns, and the boys loved the stories so much, they clamored for him to write them down. At first he resisted, but surprisingly, he found that he loved writing. He always thought the ability to write was a gift, not a craft that could be honed. His very first writing critique was a disaster. Obviously, he decided, he was totally “ungifted,” and he planned to leave the writer’s conference early, never to write again. Luckily, he was stopped in the hall on his way out, and that encounter changed everything. It led to a brand new career!
Tim is now the author of eleven books. For adults, he has won acclaim for his inspirational books Super Husband Super Dad, Dangerous Devotions for Guys, and Smashed Tomatoes…Bottle Rockets and Other Outdoor Devotionals You Can Do With Your Kids. For younger readers, he has found success with his trilogy, Code of Silence, Back Before Dark, and Below the Surface.
Now his sons are all grown and he is a grandfather to four toddling grandbabies. He’s even busier than before, speaking at schools, churches, religious organizations, retreats, youth conventions, home-school workshops, and writer’s conferences. Who knew he’d become that guy who was stopping those discouraged rookie writers and telling them to hang in there!
Occasionally you can find him sitting outside his local Chicago area McDonalds typing away at his laptop. He’s the guy who is crying. Sometimes his characters just get to him!
Sources:
Author website
Author interview: Write 2 Ignite
Book trailer: Code of Silence
Author discusses Code of Silence series video
Also by Tim Shoemaker:
Below the Surface (Code of Silence, Book 3). Zondervan Publishing House. 2014.
Back Before Dark (Code of Silence, Book 2). Zondervan Publishing House. 2013.
read more!
Back Before Dark (Code of Silence, Book 2) by Tim Shoemaker
An innocent stop at a park ends in abduction. Cooper and his friends Hiro and Lunk witness Gordy being grabbed but there is nothing they can do. Gordy is Cooper’s best friend, and as the hours tick by without a ransom call, he fears the worst. Kept out of the official police loop, the three kids find their own way to search for Gordy. Turns out, the kidnapper is just settling an old score. No one is supposed to get hurt. But evil is escalating and now all the rules are changing.
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In 1911, Turner Buckminster hates his new home in Maine—until he meets Lizzie Bright from a nearby poor island community. Unfortunately the town fathers want to turn this island, founded by slaves, into a tourist spot. Can the two children save this historical place—and keep their friendship?