Greece writer publishes second mystery novel

Jeff Thrall has lived in Greece since he was five years old. He has been writing stories since he was a little boy. “My mother pushed me to read and to work on my writing. She was a farm girl from Wisconsin who really enjoyed books. She felt writing would help me throughout my entire life, and she was right. My father also thought I was a good storyteller. After he passed away, I published my first novel, The Reunion, in 2005,” Thrall said.

Although Thrall has been writing for most of his life as a hobby, he really started to work on publishing his books after he retired. As a young man, Thrall was in the Coast Guard. After leaving the Coast Guard, he worked for 23 years for the Greece Police Department as Chief of the Special Police Auxiliary Department. The Special Police are trained as a Police reserve unit used as extra manpower for special events, emergency services, traffic control, and security. He retired from the Greece Special Police in 1999. 

From 1990 through 2004 Thrall studied at SUNY Brockport, receiving his Bachelor of Science degree in Biology, Chemistry and General Science, his Masters Degree in Education and a degree in School Business Administration.

Thrall taught Science for a few years and decided that he wanted to work in administration instead of in the classroom. He said, “I’m really not a numbers guy; I enjoy working with people.” He left the classroom and took a job as a part-time school bus driver. Thrall worked as a bus expeditor/driver at Greece Central School District from 1990 to 2006, working his way up through the ranks. 

In 2006 the position of Director of Transportation for the Churchville-Chili School District opened, and Thrall applied for the job. “The job of Director for Transportation is like being the principal of the school buses,” he said. Thrall supervised a department of 130 employees, 103 school buses, and was a mediator for transportation issues that came up. Thrall retired in 2019 from Churchville-Chili School District.

After his retirement, Thrall really concentrated on publishing his books that were written throughout his working days. His writing process over the years has been very simple; he writes on Saturday mornings for about four hours. He has written four books in his series, with The Reunion, which he self-published in 2005, being the first.

Thrall’s second and newly published novel, The Superintendent, is part of his four-book series. The novel is described as: “A new mystery novel featuring murder intertwined with political intrigue in the military. After a Navy superintendent is seriously wounded trying to stop an attack on a young girl, decorated Navy SEAL and Navy intelligence officer Jonathan Summers is tapped to take his place. Although he’s ready to retire, he is pressed into service for this one last assignment. Summers soon finds himself embroiled in all the politics surrounding the admission of one of the academy’s newest midshipmen. Additionally, he is thrust into an ongoing investigation of a series of murders that are linked to the shooting of the academy superintendent. Summers faces demons from his past that could turn his career upside down while watching an increasing body count in an expanding investigation. With a manipulating politician and a serial killer both setting their sights on him, Summers must maneuver through his assignment without dishonoring the institution he now runs.”

“Readers looking for a story with action and continuing suspense will enjoy the surprises that come with the turn of each page,” Thrall says. He adds that he hopes for readers, “To have enjoyed their escape into the world of Jon Summers and his friends.”

Writing novels is not Thrall’s greatest challenge; he says getting published is difficult. “The frustrating thing is trying to get published. Publishing is so restricted, just the number of books and clients looking to be published are immense. I self-published my first book. For The Superintendent I ended up going with the pay-to-publish route. I took a web course in writing and publishing. I learned so much by just doing my homework and research. I suggest to writers out there looking to get published, don’t get frustrated, just keep trying. I found that in working with a publisher, I learned a lot about the publishing business. Working with editors really improved my writing skills. I am taking what I have learned from this experience, and I am going to re-release my first book, The Reunion, improving it with all that I have learned.” 

Although the four novels that Thrall has written are a series, he says you do not need to read them in order to understand them. The novels build on the individual characters and their stories. The fourth book in the series is actually a prequel. As for Thrall’s future writing endeavors, he says, “I will keep writing as long as I can. I have other ideas and different characters to develop. I write because I love it. I want people to enjoy the story, and for me, that is the reward. And if they want to read the next one, I’m happy.”