Andrew Warde High School Product Writes Legal Thriller

R. C. O'Leary, a product of Andrew Warde High School in Fairfield, has written a compelling novel with a fast-paced plot that will keep the pages turning. That's part of the review he received from amazon.com.

"I just finished my first novel, Hallways in the Night, and I think you might like it," he told me. "I actually named the main character, Dave Mackno, in honor of Glenn Mackno because he was such a positive influence on my life," he added. Mackno, a former coach at Warde, is the current athletic director at the school.

"During the fall of my sophomore year (at Warde), I made the JV basketball team, where I had the good fortune of being coached by Glenn," O'Leary said. "At the time, 'Mack' was a physical education teacher who was coaching the JV team. From the first time I met him, he was someone to whom I always gravitated because he had such a positive and encouraging spirit.

"He was the ultimate coach in terms of the way he cared about each person as a human being," he added. "Mack had such a profound and positive effect on my life that I named the lead character in my book, Hallways in the Night, after him. Looking back, it's not surprising that Glenn was named Connecticut's Middle School Principal of the year for 2012-13 because he embodies all the best traits of an educator."

The novel is a legal thriller that features a mix of colorful characters, backroom dealing, and well-written action. The story starts off strong and never lets up, from the initial confrontation through a courtroom showdown in which the stakes are much too high for anybody to tell “the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.”

O'Leary, pictured at the left, looks back fondly at his days at Warde. "I have a lot of great memories playing in the Warde basketball program, but for me the favorite ones were just the daily chance to play basketball, be a part of a team, and an opportunity to try and get the most out of my abilities," he admitted. "My career at Warde was mainly JV, but I did have one personal highlight my junior year. We were playing St. Bernard's in the state quarterfinals and the coaches had gone with a 5 man rotation, no subs for the entire game.

"We were up by 14 points with three minutes to go," he recalled. "It looked like we had put the game away, but St. Bernard's had a ton of heart and put together a tremendous comeback rally. With less than a minute to go, one of our guys, I think if may have been Billy Saccone, fouled out and I was put into the game for the first time with St. Bernard's about to tie up the score. Before going into the game, Glenn Mackno pulled me aside and offered me the following inspired coaching advice: 'Don't do anything stupid.'

"Fortunately, with two seconds left on the clock, I was able block one of the St. Bernard player's shots against the glass and we held on for the win. I was very fortunate to be in the right place at the right time with that block and it was one of those moments in sports that had a positive carryover effect on my life."

The following year the sports teams merged with Ludlowe in advance of the consolidation. "Ludlowe had a great group of guys and that made it a fun year of basketball," O'Leary admitted. "After Warde, I went to Cheshire Academy to try and get more focused on academics. From Cheshire I went to LaSalle University for a year, before transferring to Penn where I ran into several other Warde graduates. I eventually went on to law school at Duke University. I miss Fairfield, but Florida has been good to me."

O'Leary said there are several parts of his novel inspired by his time in Fairfield. "One, in particular, is in the beginning when a kid is trying to out-run some cops on his motorcycle," he mentioned. "A similar incident actually happened in Fairfield when I was about 10 years old. It was the Summer time, and I have a vivid memory of the kid speeding down my street while being chased by those big light blue SUVs that the Fairfield police used for a while in the late 70s and early 80s. That image always stuck with me and I think it translated well into my story."

O'Leary cherishes his childhood in Fairfield. "The 1970s and 80s were a wonderful time to grow up in Fairfield. There was a strong sense of community and it felt like a town full of possibilities," he said. "It had beaches, a great university that was home to the Stags basketball team, a nice selection of restaurants --- living in Florida I truly miss Luigi's and Beverly pizza --- and great schools.

"I grew up within walking distance of Holland Hill and remember it being a school with great teachers, an awesome playground --- an almost idyllic elementary school," he continued. "I remember each of my teachers, the principal Miss Nemec, and a wonderful gym teacher, Ms. Davis, who put together a fun after school basketball league for fifth and sixth graders. Holland Hill was primarily a 'Warde' school, so many of the kids I went to HH ended up going to Warde."

The print book is currently available on Amazon and Kobo. According to the review, "When a veteran cop tries to arrest baseball's home run king, one of them ends up on trial and the other one ends up dead. A routine stakeout is almost over when Dave Mackno decides to pursue a speeding Porsche. It’s a decision that will have deadly consequences."

Hallways in the Night has all the elements necessary to make it a satisfying and enjoyable read. Once begun, it’s hard to put down. Click here to win a free autographed copy of the novel through January 8.

Paul