Fika With Vicky - Janice Barrett - Cash For Life - Suspense

United Public Radio

This week Fika with Vicky is welcoming Author Janice Barrett back, and there’s a lot to talk about. You’ll remember Janice visited with her first novel Authorized Cruelty last September, and I was blown away by it. Once again, with Cash for Life, I found myself looking for something to hold on to. My stomach churned while the plot sped, suddenly took corners, and picked up even more momentum as the ending grew closer. What does justice mean to you? Is there one justice for the mean streets…another for the picture perfect suburbs? And where does love, loyalty, and gratitude fit in? About Cash for Life - Lies and guarded secrets dominate Jackie’s life, from age eleven, when Gino rescues her from an orphanage. Mother had warned her that Gino was a hoodlum. Jackie learns that everything has a price. He needs her home and she needs him. Gino, a likable drug dealer, teaches her, “Blood ain’t about DNA, it’s about sharin’ a life.” When Jackie is an adult, Gino marries Paula, a coke-snorting opportunist. Motivated by greed, Paula kills Gino and claims it is self-defence. It’s a lie. Raised on street justice, Jackie knows Paula must pay. Vengeance is what Gino expects and deserves. Manipulation, deceit, and fraud twist the ugly truth into a tragic reality as both women bait the police knowing one of them will be sent to prison. About Janice Barret - Janice is a proud mother of three. She worked at the Unemployment Insurance Office in Hamilton from 1973-1988 at which time she became a stay-at-home mom. She was a freelance journalist for The Weekend Focus and The Grimsby Independent newspaper where she was given her own column. An article she wrote for The Ottawa Citizen garnered attention from the producer of W5 who invited her to be a guest on their show, which she declined. She was the opening act for Coast to Coast Canada’s Tenacious Literary Series held at The Laura Secord Homestead. She gave a seminar on How to Write a Memoir at The Niagara Falls Literary Festival. The first play she wrote, Dearly Departed, won a playwright contest where she was paid and a snippet of her play was performed at The Essential Collective Theatre. That afforded her an interview at The Tarragon Theatre. Her first historical fiction, Authorized Cruelty was published on October/1st/2023. You can find Janice at her publisher's website: Blue Denim Press: www.bluedenimpress.com, Or her website: www.janicebarrett.ca