The Color of My Coffee

About the Book

“The Color of My Coffee” Coffee, like life, can have a variety of shades and complexities, as young Steven Reilly is about to find out. He is a naïve teenager living in a white suburb of Los Angeles during the turbulent 1960’s with his mentally disturbed mother, and his cold, unfeeling father. His sheltered life abruptly changes when he buys a small business from his brother that soon becomes a gathering place for colorful characters from all walks of life. The story focuses on the racial issues, cultural conflicts, and dangers, that transpire when Steven hires his soon to be best friend, Herb Jackson, an African-American man from the Deep South, to work for him at his car cleaning shop. Herb’s old friend “Speedy” Dave Desoto, and Andy Calhoun, a man straight out of the hills of West Virginia, also hire on, and soon become Steven’s second family. Jack, his peculiar friend from high school, and the evil bookie “The Roach,” add to the mix of odd, but fascinating, characters. Will Herb’s gambling addiction lead to his downfall, or will it lead to Steven’s? Only Herb can decide who lives, and who dies.

About the Author

R.P. Heinz is a writer of literary fiction that is inspired by true events and the eclectic collection of people he has met throughout his interesting life. For over forty years he worked his way through the ranks of the retail automotive business where he rose from cleaning cars at age fifteen, to owning multiple new car dealerships. He retired from the automobile business at the age of fifty, at which time he entered college for the first time, earned his degree, and began his formal writing career. The unique relationships he has developed over the years with characters from all walks of life give his writing a genuine, and credible, tone. He resides in Newport Beach, California, and Telluride, Colorado, with his lovely wife Susan, and his faithful dog Winston. You can find him at www.RPHeinzauthor.com.