County resident publishes 2nd book, a mystery thriller
Ken Raybuck always enjoyed reading a good mystery thriller novel. He liked them so much, in fact, he got the thought in his head that he might like to try writing his own someday.
After retiring in 2017, Raybuck did just that and recently published his second mystery, “Sword: Great Lakes Spies and the First Strike Enigma,” in early February.“I've always enjoyed reading a thriller,” Raybuck said. “I enjoy a book where there's suspense. I like that kind of exciting read.”Raybuck, 68, worked as a banker in Butler County and Pittsburgh for more than 30 years before his retirement. He said he had often thought about writing his own book, but never started until he was diagnosed with cancer.“I thought, 'If I'm going to do it, I've got to do it now,'” Raybuck said.Raybuck splits time between his house in Butler and a cabin in Jefferson, where he did most of the writing for the books.After a year of writing and editing, Raybuck published his first book, “You Meet Everyone Twice: An Extraordinary Journey Home,” in January 2020.Raybuck said writing a mystery ended up being easier than he originally thought it would be.“Writing the book came easily because I knew where I wanted it to end,” Raybuck said. “The plot developed as I wrote it, so there were surprises that even surprised myself.”After “You Meet Everyone Twice” came out, Raybuck said a lot of people started asking about a second book.
“I wasn't planning on doing a second book,” Raybuck said. “I was surprised how many people asked about a second book.”For his second book, “Sword,” Raybuck wanted to dip more into historical fiction.He said “Sword” is set in the early 1980s and follows a young man named Sammy Kane as he tries to escape the FBI by hiding out in Canada. Raybuck said readers who lived through the Cold War will recognize many of the big events and themes that make up the mystery in the book.While fiction writing is new for Raybuck, he said he has actually been writing for most of his life.“Since I was 24 years old, I've kept a daily journal,” Raybuck said. “When you force yourself to write something every day, it made writing a book easy to me.”Raybuck said he has a few major takeaways from publishing the two books. The first is a sense of accomplishment that he has made something that will live on even after he is gone. “Books outlast a lot of things,” Raybuck said.The second is the belief that if somebody wants to write a book, they should just sit down and write it.“You don't have to be a writer; everybody has a story to tell,” Raybuck said. “I would encourage anybody who's ever thought about it to sit down and start it.”Both of Raybuck's books are available for purchase online in digital and paperback formats and feature cover art by his son, Aaron Raybuck.
