Jack Gunner

Shattered Illusions Jack Gunner

Laura Mitchell's comfortable, middle class, mid-western family life is dramatically destroyed when her husband is brutally gunned down during a family vacation in Florida. Leaving everything in the motor home they were traveling in, the family returns home to Illinois, where, out of necessity, Laura re-enters the family business. As she struggles to rebuild her life, a series of strange events combine to convince her that the tragic shooting was more than a robbery gone wrong. Shock and disbelief give way to anger, disappointment and fury when she discovers that the man she held in such high regard, a respected business man, husband and father of their three children was involved in criminal activity and . much more. Suddenly alone after so many years of depending on her husband, and not wanting to alarm her aging parents, Laura turns to her only sister for comfort and advice, but Sarah is naturally skeptical. When the time comes to reclaim her possessions from the police in Florida, she decides to return there and resolve the issues that plague her. Reluctant at first, her children agree to accompany her. Events begin normally enough, but when threats are leveled against her, it only heightens her determination to uncover the truth. The detective assigned to the case is sympathetic but his hands are tied. When her daughter disappears, she becomes distraught, not sure if she is responsible or if other forces are at work. When the detective is withdrawn from the case, it convinces Laura that those responsible have high connections. Now she does not know who to trust, so that when her youngest daughter is kidnapped in broad daylight she takes the law into her own hands. Ignoring threats to her own safety, she is determined to uncover the truth and her dogged determination takes her from one end of Florida to the other in a desperate quest to find those responsible. Events build to a crescendo as she pits herself against unknown forces.