Poignant, Hilarious, and Beautifully Human

Step into the glow of lavender twilight with Alfred P. Doblin’s unforgettable collection, Tales of the Lavender Twilight. In this debut, Doblin opens doors to the rich, poignant, and often hilarious lives of late-middle-aged gay men—and one very sophisticated Cocker Spaniel—as they seek love, redefine family, and gracefully navigate the complexities of life’s next chapters.

From a bittersweet gathering in a West Village gay dive bar to the quirks of a Catskill town brimming with out-of-work actors, Doblin’s eleven tales journey coast-to-coast, capturing moments of humor, heartbreak, and unexpected resilience. Follow a hopeful dog in search of a new home, a sharp-tongued theater critic who stirs up old wounds, LGBTQ youths rediscovering a legacy, and an unforgettable Thanksgiving celebration where gratitude and community collide.

With warmth, wit, and compassion, Tales of the Lavender Twilight celebrates lives lived boldly, refusing to be defined by a world too focused on youth. These stories are a vibrant tribute to the endurance of spirit, love, and identity.

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Detective Mike O'Shea is spiraling—consumed by painkiller addiction, alcohol, and the crushing weight of unresolved grief. As his personal demons threaten to take control, he’s pulled into a chilling case: a woman is found dead, her son rotting beside her, discovered only when neighbors are alerted by the unbearable stench of decay.

Meanwhile, O'Shea’s obsession with the killer of his former partner, Sal, continues to haunt him. The elusive murderer has evaded justice for years, but O'Shea has always suspected something more—an untold truth buried beneath the surface. As he digs further, he uncovers a terrifying reality: the killer’s freedom isn’t just a coincidence—it’s the result of high-level corruption that runs far deeper than he ever imagined.

As the conspiracy begins to unravel, the threat intensifies, drawing in those closest to O'Shea. Detective Sergeant Amanda Black, one of the few who knows the whole story, becomes the target of an assassination attempt. With her pending promotion and O'Shea’s growing addiction-fueled paranoia, he starts to wonder if he can still trust her—especially if she’s crossing over.

Haunted by years of policing that have left him physically and emotionally scarred, O'Shea is worn down by the weight of it all. Torn between his duty and an overwhelming sense of exhaustion, he struggles to hold on as the stakes rise and the lines between right and wrong blur. He must decide whether to keep fighting—or walk away, knowing the cop killer who took Sal’s life still roams free.

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A hall of mirrors with no exits, The Poet's Game is a sophisticated portrait of a spy working to uncover layers of deceit behind a Russian plot on the American president.

Alex Matthews thought he had left it all behind: his CIA career, the viper's den of bureaucracy at headquarters, the deceits of the cat-and-mouse game of double agents, and the sudden trips to Russia, which poisoned his marriage and made him an absentee husband and father, with tragic results.

But then the Director came asking for a favor. Something that only Alex could do because it involved the asset Byron—a Russian agent whom Alex had recruited. Byron had something of great interest to the CIA; the Director said it was a matter of grave national security that implicated the White House, and that Byron would hand over the kompromat once he was extricated from Russia.

But Alex is a different man than when he had run Moscow station: he has pieced his life back together after a tragic accident killed his wife and daughter—but the scars remain. He left the agency; started a financial firm that made him wealthy; and met a new woman, Anna, who works as an interpreter in the CIA. Anna is beautiful and supportive and helps him find love again after years of drowning in grief alongside his son. Throughout the last years, Alex has remained, in his mind, a patriot, and so he begrudgingly accepts the Director's request.

Something, though, doesn’t feel right about the whole operation from the start. The Russians seem one step ahead and the CIA suspects there is a traitor in the agency, passing along secrets to the Russians. Alex realizes that, by getting back into the game, he has risked everything he has worked for: his marriage, his family’s safety, and the trust of his closest colleagues—one of whom is betraying him. As the noose tightens around Alex, and the FSB closes in on Byron, the operation becomes a hall of mirrors with no exits. To find redemption, Alex must uncover Byron’s secrets or risk losing everything.

The Poet’s Game is a remarkably sophisticated and emotionally resonant portrait of a spy from a renowned master of the genre.

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