"Set in the teenage hell known as high school" - Cindy Harrison

The Wrong Side of the Tracks, Books 1 & 2, has just been released in audio format and is available for download on Audible, Amazon, and iTunes.  This unabridged audiobook is narrated by professional actor and theatre director Mark Torres, who also narrated The Drive-By Wife.

Mark Torres, Narrator

 (Note:  if you don't yet have an Audible membership, you can listen to this book free by joining audible on a no-risk trial 30 day membership and then canceling if you don't wish to continue)

Download links:   Audible  Amazon USA  Amazon UK  iTunes

Description:  14 year old Stephen moves into a tough neighborhood and soon finds himself in love with Kristine, one of the prettiest girls in his class. Kristine appears to like him, too, but Stephen learns she "belongs" to a big, mean football player who's three years older. Despite warnings from his best friend, Stephen moves ahead anyway. All hell breaks loose. Will Stephen allow himself to be shoved into the background, or will he win the girl he truly loves?

Reviews (ebook):

5 Stars! Very well-written, exciting, and keeps you reading till the end! -- Billie J. Copas

5 Stars! a great book with a lot of turns and twists in it. -- MacKenzie Becker

From Dustin Reviews:  The Wrong Side of the Tracks was one of those remarkable reads that sucked this reader right out of the real world and into Wells fictional story book universe. When one finds such a read, it's magical. From the first paragraph, I was reminded of the 1986 American dramatic film: Stand By Me, directed by Rob Reiner. Based on the novella The Body by Stephen King which starred Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman and others. Reading The Wrong Side of the Tracks was like visiting old friends that I hadn't seen in years. Although Stephen King's and Mike Wells stories are quite different, they share a similar overall feel. Wells brought the teenage (main) characters to life in a way that I felt I was actually part of the story itself, although I was a silent observer. Wells descriptions and dialogue are spot on and weaves a very realistic and believable story. The Wrong Side of the Tracks holds true to Wells reputation as a writer of 'unputdownable' novels.

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More Mike Wells Books in Audio

(Note:  you can download any of the below FREE by becoming an Audible member on a no-risk 30 day trial basis)

Lust, Money & Murder - International Thriller

Audible  Amazon USA  Amazon UK  iTunes

Passion, Power & Sin - International Thriller

Audible  Amazon USA  Amazon UK  iTunes

The Drive-By Wife - Romantic Thriller

Audible Amazon USA  Amazon UK  iTunes

Baby Talk - Horror/Supernatural Thriller

Audible Amazon USA  Amazon UK  iTunes

The Mysterious Disappearance of Kurt Kramer - Paranormal Thriller

Audible Amazon USA  Amazon UK  iTunes

True Friendship: The Story Behind "The Wrong Side of the Tracks"

Readers often tell me that their favorite aspect of my book Wild Child is the incredible loyalty Kyle shows towards Briana.  “It’s refreshing to see such  loyalty between friends," one reader wrote.  "A rare commodity these days."

I'm not sure such loyalty is necessarily rare these days—I think it’s just rare, period.

This theme runs through a lot of my books. 

When I was 12, my parents went through a terrible divorce, and my mother ended up moving me and my 6 year old sister down to Nashville, Tennessee, to be closer to her family.  Talk about culture shock!  We may as well have well landed on the moon. We had been living in a nice, quiet middle-class neighborhood in upstate New York.  I won’t call the place we moved a ghetto, but it wasn’t far from it.  It consisted of a row of cracker-box rental houses that ran so close to a railroad line that your fillings rattled with the trains thundered by.  Alcoholism, drug abuse and prostitution were rampant.  Few people on the street had finished high school, let along college.  Kids hung around on street corners in gangs.

I’ll never forget the look the teenage boys gave me that stifling hot day in August as they watched us drag our furniture in from the U-Haul.  The message was clear:  “We’re going to kick your ass, you little pussy.”

I was afraid to go outside.  Later that evening there was an ominous knock at the door.  My mother answered it and came to me and said, “There’s a boy who wants to talk to you.”

My god, I thought.  They sure don't waste any time.

I went to the door expecting the worst.  Standing outside was a tall, lean boy, barefoot and shirtless.  He wore only a pair of faded jeans. 

“Hey, Mike,” he said, a toothpick between his lips.  “I’d like to show you around the neighborhood.”

He had a rugged, handsome face.  I did not remember seeing him hanging around on the street with the other boys. 

I  looked into his eyes.  He seemed sincere, but it might have been a trick.  I didnt' feel I had any choice—I mustered up the courage to go with him. 

He did exactly what he said he would do—showed me around the neighborhood.  His name was Ben, and he was 16.  It did not take me long to understand that he was the toughest kid around.  Ben came from the worst family imaginable.  His mother was a prostitute, his father a violent drunk who drifted from one construction job to another and often beat Ben senseless just for the hell of it.  Ben’s older brother was on death row for killing a policeman who tried to tow away his car.  The entire family had been petitioned out an even worse neighborhood when Ben’s younger brother, age 9, shot out all the windows with a .22 caliber rifle.

Each time we encountered a new boy, Ben would put his hand on my shoulder and say, “This is my friend, Mike.”  There was a subtle but unmistakable look in his eye.  “You mess with him, you mess with me.”

Ben became one of the most true and loyal friends a person could ever have.  He taught me how protect myself, he taught me about girls, about self-confidence, and about life in general.  

Why Ben decided to take me under his wing and protect me when we moved into that hellhole, I do not know.  Maybe it was because he saw how vulnerable our family was—a mother, a 12 year old boy, and a 6 year old girl.  Maybe he wanted to give to someone else the protection he never got from his own family.  Maybe he simply liked my northern accent—he often told me he did.

Whatever the reason, the experience had such a profound effect on me that I was compelled to write a whole a book about it, The Wrong Side of the Tracks.

Such loyalty and friendship are indeed rare commodities, these days and in all times of living.

Ben, wherever you are, I will never forget what you did for me.