Character Bio: Norman

Full Name: Norman Barrister

Occupation: Retired Army Colonel / Seattle Mayor Candidate

Gender: Male

Sexual Orientation: Gay

Hair: Brown

Eyes: Brown

Height: 6′ 4″

Weight: 230 lbs

Hobbies: Golfing, yard work, exercising, lying to himself

Background: Norman is a Seattle native who excelled at sports and other leadership roles. He graduated from West Point, where he met his wife Delilah, and led a long and distinguished career in the Army. After retiring from the military as a colonel, he returned to Seattle and decided to run for mayor as a way to give back to the community that raised him.

Beneath the Surface: Though Norman exudes charisma and confidence, he secretly considers himself superior to most people and thinks it’s his right to lead the “weak,” while also paradoxically being filled with shame over his repressed homosexuality. The resulting cognitive dissonance has him a hair’s-width away from exploding with irrational rage at any moment, and easily manipulated by unscrupulous Italian men.

Appears in: Vengeance

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Character Portrait: Sten

Full Name: Sten Ander

Occupation: Seattle Vice Squad Police Detective

Gender: Male

Sexual Orientation: Hetero

Hair: Brown

Eyes: Brown

Height: 6′ 1″

Weight: 190 lbs

Hobbies: Smoking, drinking, mind games

Background: Sten spent a chunk of his youth in Eastern Europe, then moved to the United States at some point…beyond that, he won’t say. He met Val when they served in the Army together, and they had a brief yet intense sexual relationship. After the Army, he joined the Seattle police force and worked his way up to detective on the Vice Squad. He occasionally helps Val with her cases, though not before antagonizing her and playing a few mind games at her expense.

Beneath the Surface: Underneath Sten’s laidback asshole demeanor is an intelligence and purpose he rarely shows to people. He never does anything without a reason, though what his ultimate goals are is anybody’s guess. Sometimes he helps Val, and sometimes he tries to kill her. Who’s side he’s on at any moment is a mystery.

Appears in: Vengeance, Retribution, Reckoning

 

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Character Portrait: Stacey

Full Name: Stacey Lynne

Occupation: Private Investigator Assistant

Gender: Female

Sexual Orientation: Gay

Hair: Brown

Eyes: Brown

Height: 5′ 9″

Weight: 140 lbs

Hobbies: Dancing, making her own clothes and hemp bracelets, hookah

Background: Stacey grew up down the street from Val, and they’ve been best friends all their lives. As young teenagers they were each other’s “firsts,” with Stacey helping Val understand her strange ability while they explored each other’s sexuality. Eventually they reverted back to being just friends. When Val decided to start Valentine Investigations, Stacey joined her as a co-partner, pounding the pavement and interviewing people for cases.

Beneath the Surface: Stacey still holds a bit of a torch for Val, her first “love,” though she knows that ship has sailed and Val prefers men anyway. She’s a carefree spirit, not big into commitment, and has a lot of girlfriends she “spends time with”…who don’t necessarily know about each other.

Appears in: Vengeance, Retribution, Reckoning

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Character Portrait: Robby

Full Name: Robert Price

Occupation: Lawyer

Gender: Male

Sexual Orientation: Hetero

Hair: Blond

Eyes: Green

Height: 5′ 10″

Weight: 195 lbs

Hobbies: Video games, hanging out with friends, fishing with his dad, singing in the shower

Background: Robby enjoyed a typical upper-middle-class, white-picket-fence life with his father, Dean Price, mother, and sister Josephine. Though his mom died of cancer while he was in law school, Robby leaned on his many close friends for support and graduated at the top of his class. He took a job working for his dad’s firm, Bombay and Price Law Offices, where he was eventually put on the defense counsel as a junior lawyer for Maxwell Carressa after Lester Carressa’s mysterious death. Robby met Val three years prior during an office party at a downtown bar. They’ve been engaged for about a year.

Beneath the Surface: Robby is a genuinely happy-go-lucky guy. He likes his job, but the idea of working with his father in a family business is also equally appealing, not because he’s desperate to please but because he honestly enjoys spending time with his dad. He wants a family of his own, and loves Val enough to wait for her to set a date for their wedding, though for some reason she always puts it off.

Appears in: Vengeance

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Character Portrait: Max

Full Name: Maxwell Carressa

Occupation: CEO of Carressa Industries

Gender: Male

Sexual Orientation: Hetero

Hair: Black

Eyes: Hazel

Height: 6′

Weight: 180 lbs

Hobbies: Running, boxing, reading, brooding

Background: After his mother died in a car accident when he was twelve, Max grew up under the brutal thumb of his terrible father, Lester Carressa. He took solace in books, which nurtured his genius-level intelligence but still left him feeling alone all his life. As a young man, he worked for his father’s company and grew it into a billion-dollar global powerhouse. Though the Carressa Industries board of directors recognized him as a financial prodigy critical to the company’s success, his sometimes-odd behavior made them wary of accepting his leadership after Lester’s mysterious death.

Beneath the Surface: Max’s tumultuous childhood makes him wary of trusting people or opening up to anyone, lest they see how damaged he actually is on the inside. As a result, he’s become a master at controlling himself so people only see the version of himself that he wants them to see – charming, calm, and collected. However, whenever his cool exterior cracks, the results are explosive.

Appears in: Vengeance, Retribution, Reckoning

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Character Portrait: Val

Full Name: Valentine Shepherd

Occupation: Private Investigator

Gender: Female

Sexual Orientation: Bi, mostly hetero

Hair: Red

Eyes: Gray

Height: 5′ 7″

Weight: 125 lbs

Hobbies: Running, marksmanship, doggedly pursuing twisted mysteries

Background: Val has lived in Seattle her entire life, raised primarily by her dad after her mother took off for Canada, then parts unknown, to protest the Gulf War. She enlisted in the Army after high school, where she served as one of the first female squad leaders. Her sister’s tragic suicide when they were both in high school motivated Val to start Valentine Investigations after she separated from the military.

Beneath the Surface: Val is tough but also vulnerable, someone who’s come to uneasy terms with her strange ability through a mixture of steeliness and sass. She has an almost pathological need to bring bad guys to justice, no matter how much she may suffer in the process. She’s crushed when she fails, can be prone to self-destructive behavior as a result.

Appears in: Vengeance, Retribution, Reckoning

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