Hello and welcome to another excerpt. Suspense author Joan Hall Hovey is out touring to promote her novels, "Defective" and "Nowhere to Hide". So, get a drink, get comfortable and enjoy your read!
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EXCERPT
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TOUR WIDE GIVEAWAY
EXCERPT
It was mid-afternoon, overcast, and The East End
Mall in Kingsdale was crowded with shoppers. The Eraser, as he liked to think
of himself, sat at one of the molded plastic tables by himself, nursing a Pepsi
and eating fries from a small cardboard plate, and people watching. It was one
of his favorite things to do, especially in nice weather when the girls wore
shorts or tight jeans, some with their tanned midriffs bare, skimpy tops that
showed off their boobs and skinny jeans that accentuated their tight little
butts. Why not? He was a normal guy, he told himself. He avoided looking at the ones with flab
hanging over their waistbands. He had
girlfriend once or twice, but it didn't last. The last one said he was weird
and just stopped returning his calls. Well, to hell with her.
His eye strayed momentarily to the big screen
monitor advertising Nike sneakers. Then it changed to a rent-a-car commercial and
on to something else, but he'd already looked away. Idly dipping a French fry
in the small pool of ketchup on his plate, he popped it in his mouth and went
back to girl-watching. They did little for him today. His hand moved to cover
the scratch that the retard left on his cheek, though it was fading now. That
Polysporin ointment was good stuff.
Music played over the sound system, competing
with the jabbering of shoppers, nothing he recognized. Probably supposed to
keep people shopping, buying junk they didn't need. His gaze narrowed ever so slightly as a young
girl with a silver ring in her lower lip and wearing black eyeliner got up from
a table not far from him and limped heavily to the waste bin and dumped in the
remainder of her meal, a half-eaten hamburger, fries. She sat the tray on top
of the stack. Behind her, someone called out, "Hey, Lana," and the
girl turned in his direction and took a step forward so he could see her
full-length; she looked past his shoulder and waved. He felt his heartbeat rev
up, his throat go dry.
She had short dark hair, and was wearing a khaki
skirt and cream-colored blouse. Her dimpled smile, the gleam of white, even
teeth barely registered on him. He didn't even glance behind him at the woman
who had called out to her. He had no interest. As he had no genuine interest in
the woman who returned the wave, really.
No. It was her foot in its big brown shoe that
drew and held his attention. Not brown exactly, but like tea when you put milk
in it. Taupe. Yes, that was what his mother called that color. It was all he
could see when he looked at her: that big clunking shoe. So ugly it offended him, as deformities of
any kind offended him. Even horrified him. A chill had crept down his back. He
had to work extra hard to keep the disgust and pity from his face. She was a
mistake. A blight, a tragic spawn. She must be erased. Like when you're a kid
and you draw a picture of something and it doesn't come out right. You just
erase it. Or rip out the page, and start again.
He was the eraser of mistakes. The good Lord had
chosen him to do this work. Not that he was blaming God. No, there was no blame
to be handed out here. Some small voice told him his reasoning was flawed, that
that wasn't why they had to die. But he wasn't listening. As people were born
of sin, women carried the faulty limbs, twisted features and minds within them.
Carriers. As his mother had been a carrier, her womb spewing forth a defective,
barely human—thing. Not the defective's fault either. But since the flaw
couldn't be repaired, the whole issue had to be erased. The burden lifted. The
Eraser held that kind of power; he could end suffering, change lives for the
better. He remembered well the very moment he had changed his own life but no time for that now. She was heading
for the exit doors. He rose casually from his chair, tossing the remainder of
his own fries and drink into the trash, dropped his tray on top of hers, and
followed. He was really following the 'shoe'. His eyes were riveted on the
shoe. It filled his vision, his consciousness. That big, ugly shoe that rose
and fell, rose and fell, her left hip dipping in sync, the shoe dragging it
downward, seeming an entity in itself. When she stepped through the automatic
doors into the grey, drizzly day, he was right behind her. Close enough to
touch her. He buried his hands deep in his pockets to stifle the urge.
The bus pulled up with a hiss of air brakes and
a belch of exhaust, and she hitched herself up onto the step. He followed, paid
his fare. His bike was chained and locked in the parking lot; it would be fine.
She took a side seat near the driver, and he sat himself two seats behind her
and pretended to look out the window.
In the grayness of the day, his reflection in
the glass was faint, but almost at once he could see his reflection begin to
morph into that of another, as she had once been. A raindrop ran down the
window and caught one corner of her mouth like the drool he remembered,
couldn't forget, and he could not tear his eyes away. The small voice in his
head spoke to him, sending the familiar chill through him, as if his heart had
just received an infusion of ice water. The voice could form words now, where
once it was capable only of mindless gibberish. "You know it's me in there,
don't you. I'm watching you. I've come back. I'll always come back. I'll never
leave you."
"No! No!"
Fearing he had cried out, he jerked his head
around in sudden panic, but no one on the bus was looking at him. One man was
reading a newspaper. A woman was talking and smiling at her little boy. Relief
swept through him, but he was trembling just the same. A Chinese man seated
across from him turned the page in his paperback, paying him no mind.
The girl had put earphones in her ears and her
lips were moving to a song only she could hear. Her legs were crossed, the shoe
swinging in time, mocking him.
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Publisher: CreateSpace
Genre: Mystery, Suspense
Format: paperback, ebook
Release Date: May 29, 2013
Buying Links: Barnes & Noble | Amazon* | The Book Depository* | Smashwords
* affiliate links; clicking & purchasing results in a small commission for the blog.
Blurb from the author:
Blurb from the author:
Therapist Melanie Snow is driving to her office when her Honda is struck by a dark-colored van and sent spinning into a ditch, where it catches fire. The driver never stops. A passerby pulls Melanie from the car just seconds before it explodes.
Waking from the coma nine days later, she is devastated to find she is blind.
As Melanie struggles to cope with her new reality, life as a blind woman, her fragile state of mind is further threatened by a madman who is stalking and strangling disabled women. The first two victims were mentally challenged and Detective Matt O’Leary, who carries a torch for Melanie, (even though Melanie is engaged to someone else) tells himself she is not the killer’s targeted prey. But then a woman who lost a leg to cancer is murdered, and another physically disabled woman is stalked. Even with a whole town in terror, Melanie refuses to live her life in fear and reopens her practice in the basement of her home. She has a living to earn.
And Detective Matt O’Leary must find a way to keep Melanie safe until the monster is caught. But how? Her door is now open to the public and the killer can just walk through anytime he chooses.
And he does.
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About the Author:
In
addition to her critically acclaimed novels, Joan Hall Hovey's articles and
short stories have appeared in such diverse publications as The Toronto Star,
Atlantic Advocate, Seek, Home Life Magazine, Mystery Scene, The New Brunswick
Reader, Fredericton Gleaner, New Freeman and Kings County Record. Her short
story Dark Reunion was selected for the anthology investigating Women,
Published by Simon & Pierre.
Ms. Hovey
has held workshops and given talks at various schools and libraries in her
area, including New Brunswick Community College, and taught a course in
creative writing at the University of New Brunswick. For a number of years, she
has been a tutor with Winghill School, a distance education school in Ottawa
for aspiring writers.
She is a
member of the Writer's Federation of New Brunswick, past regional
Vice-President of Crime Writers of Canada, Mystery Writers of America and
Sisters in Crime.
Praise for Joan Hall Hovey’s Books
“…suspense that puts her right up there with the
likes of Sandford and Patterson..." Ingrid Taylor for Small Press Review
"...Alfred Hitchcock and Stephen King
come to mind, but JOAN HALL HOVEY is in a Class by herself!…"
J.D. Michael Phelps, Author of My Fugitive, David Janssen
"…CANADIAN MISTRESS OF SUSPENSE…The author has a remarkable ability to turn up the heat on the suspense… great characterizations and dialogue…" James Anderson, author of Deadline
J.D. Michael Phelps, Author of My Fugitive, David Janssen
"…CANADIAN MISTRESS OF SUSPENSE…The author has a remarkable ability to turn up the heat on the suspense… great characterizations and dialogue…" James Anderson, author of Deadline
"...a gripping style that wrings emotions
from everyday settings. Oh and by the way ...is your door locked?" Linda Hersey - Fredericton Gleaner
"...will keep readers holding their breath
until the very end..." inthelibraryreview,
Melissa Parcel
"This one is a chiller - you won't be able to put it down - guaranteed!"- Rendezvous Magazine
"If you are looking for the suspense thriller of the year-look no further…you will find it in Nowhere To Hide..." Jewel Dartt Midnight Scribe Reviews
"This one is a chiller - you won't be able to put it down - guaranteed!"- Rendezvous Magazine
"If you are looking for the suspense thriller of the year-look no further…you will find it in Nowhere To Hide..." Jewel Dartt Midnight Scribe Reviews
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TOUR WIDE GIVEAWAY
Follow the tour and
comment to be entered to win a $50 gift certificate for sunglasses
at Sunglasses Shack (US/Canada only). This is a tour-wide giveaway; the more you comment, the better your chances of winning. The tour
dates can be found here: http://goddessfishpromotions. blogspot.com/2013/06/blurb- blitz-suspense-from-joan-hall. html
Thank you for hosting me today, and thanks to Goddess fish. Good luck to all who enter here~ and Happy Reading!
ReplyDeleteJoan
Thanks for sharing! I love learning more and more as this tour goes on!
ReplyDeleteandralynn7 AT gmail DOT com
Sounds like a great read!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the chance to win!
natasha_donohoo_8 at hotmail dot com
Sounds like my kind of book, thanks.
ReplyDeletemagic5905 at embarqmail dot com