Local writer publishes 7th book

FALLBROOK – "Fallout Shelter" is the seventh book published by Fallbrook resident Steven Schindler. The stunning novel lays bare corrupt criminal clergy and tells how a young man fights back when there's nowhere else to turn.

In the book, a fallout shelter could be in a church, school, or city hall. But an abandoned fallout shelter in the basement of a Bronx apartment building became a refuge for three best friends where they could plan their dreams and their schemes throughout their lives.

Chili, Mikey, and Angel scoffed at fear. Atomic bomb "duck and cover" drills were an opportunity for mischief in darkened school hallways. Enraged nuns and priests spitting fire and brimstone were cause for hidden hilarity.

Little did they know that lurking in places reserved for the sacred, evil was hiding in plain sight. They were used to the dangers on the city streets, but they weren't prepared for the sins of the Fathers.

Chili risked everything to protect those he loved and there wasn't a commandment that could stop him.

Schindler went through 12 years of Catholic school and like many of his generation, was not only shocked by the revelations of the sexual abuse by priests upon minors, but he also felt a raging anger at the apparent complicity of church institutions from the local level, to national, and around the globe. Sexual predators were hidden from authorities and moved to new locations to prey upon a new flock of unsuspecting victims.

Although "Fallout Shelter" is a work of fiction, Schindler relies upon personal experiences, stories from friends and relatives, and newspaper articles to weave a complex story of how one family might deal with the atrocities perpetrated on young innocents and how it affects them for the rest of their lives.

Schindler began writing novels in 1999 with the release of "Sewer Balls," followed by "From the Block" (Best Fiction Hollywood Indie Book Festival), "From Here to Reality" (Simon & Schuster/Pocket Books), "On the Bluffs," "The Last Sewer Ball" (Grand Prize Winner NY Book Festival) and "High Desert High."

"Fallout Shelter" is now available on Amazon.com.

Schindler has worked for several decades as a writer/producer for most genres of TV including news, sports, documentary, magazine, entertainment, and promotion. Credits include four Chicago Emmy Awards.

For more information, visit http://www.stevenschindler.com.

Submitted by The Elevated Press.