TITLE: Side Effects
GENRE: Suspense
All ex-army anesthetist, Rae MacKenzie, wants is peace from secondary PTSD and takes a low stress job in a small Texas hospital only to be plunged into the middle of the murder of her best friend, a series of menacing calls and messages, and an encounter with a former lover, D. A. Josh Hunter, who has trust issues. Can they let down their guard and uncover the truth before Rae becomes the next victim?
The first time Rae Mackenzie saw blood seeping up through fat, she felt sick to her stomach. She got accustomed to seeing blood but she avoided watching surgeons make the initial incisions in the skin. Instead, she used her skills with anesthetics to keep patients unconscious or numb. After the past year in Afghanistan, she longed for peace and she’d found a measure of it in Donkey Shoe Springs.
She punched in Patrick’s number before heading to his place. Three calls had gone unanswered. Odd. A cell phone was always glued to his belt. ESP was a funny thing.—that sense of fear and trouble raising its ugly head—speeding her pulse, quickening her breath. She knocked on his front door. Receiving no answer, she walked around the porch.
The French door to the den was covered in flies, their somnolent buzzing filling the air. Rae nudged the cracked door,and it opened easily on silent hinges. The heavy rank air hit full force and she struggled against the desire to run and never look back.
She forced herself to step into the darkened room,clamping a hand over her face to stifle the overpowering odor. It didn’t help. Flies swarmed and she slapped them away from her face. When her eyes adjusted to the dimmer light, the acidic taste of vomit rose in her throat at what she saw. “Oh, my God, Patrick.”
Light from the open door illuminated the scene. Dried brain matter and blood spattered on the wall. Rivulets of fluid snaked across the floor and puddled. Maggots squirmed in and out of his half gone face,his protruding tongue and sunken eyes.Staggering outside, she sat down on the steps, leaned over and threw up in the flower bed. The constant sound of the humming flies and the whining of Patrick’s dog magnified. The roaring began in her ears. Control. She needed to get some control. Breathe in two, three, four; hold two, three, four; out, two, three, four…
“Suck it up. Don’t panic. Do the job,” she repeated the mantra as she ran shaky fingers through her hair. With trembling fingers Rae punched in 9-1-1
Miss Snark's First Victim
Friday, December 2, 2011
#24 Cozy Mystery: Murder on Music Row
TITLE: Murder on Music Row
GENRE: Cozy Mystery
When a thirty-five-year-old Nashville hairstylist finds her famous ex-boyfriend bludgeoned to death with his own Grammy Award, she and her zany friends comb the Music City to untangle clues to prove her innocence.
Nan Macomb daydreamed as she cut her new client’s hair. Misti Sowell was her last appointment of the morning, and Nan looked forward to an afternoon of shopping with her two best friends—a weekly ritual.
This chick had talked nonstop since she’d walked through the door of Nan’s cozy home salon. This was exactly why Nan didn’t take new folks without a referral. Who sent her, again? Maybe she’d have to start getting two referrals—
“Wait. What?” Nan stopped, scissors still in Misti’s thick brown hair. “What’d you just say?”
“I said, I saw Amy Soleman in the grocery store, and she said she was six weeks pregnant. Do you know her? She’s a cute little thing. Married to that hotshot record producer, Randy Soleman. I met her at an art class—”
Nan’s hand jerked and she gashed the back of her client’s hair.
“Ow.” Mitsi’s hand shot to her head.
“Sorry. Didn’t mean to pull. I’m uh . . . I’m trying something a little different in the back. I hope that’s okay.”
“With your reputation, you can do whatever you want. It took me forever to find one of your clients who’d give me a . . .”
Thank goodness the chair was turned away from the oversized mirror so Misti couldn’t see the shock on Nan’s face. She watched the clock as she finished the cut, praying her two best friends would show up on time. She needed them.
GENRE: Cozy Mystery
When a thirty-five-year-old Nashville hairstylist finds her famous ex-boyfriend bludgeoned to death with his own Grammy Award, she and her zany friends comb the Music City to untangle clues to prove her innocence.
Nan Macomb daydreamed as she cut her new client’s hair. Misti Sowell was her last appointment of the morning, and Nan looked forward to an afternoon of shopping with her two best friends—a weekly ritual.
This chick had talked nonstop since she’d walked through the door of Nan’s cozy home salon. This was exactly why Nan didn’t take new folks without a referral. Who sent her, again? Maybe she’d have to start getting two referrals—
“Wait. What?” Nan stopped, scissors still in Misti’s thick brown hair. “What’d you just say?”
“I said, I saw Amy Soleman in the grocery store, and she said she was six weeks pregnant. Do you know her? She’s a cute little thing. Married to that hotshot record producer, Randy Soleman. I met her at an art class—”
Nan’s hand jerked and she gashed the back of her client’s hair.
“Ow.” Mitsi’s hand shot to her head.
“Sorry. Didn’t mean to pull. I’m uh . . . I’m trying something a little different in the back. I hope that’s okay.”
“With your reputation, you can do whatever you want. It took me forever to find one of your clients who’d give me a . . .”
Thank goodness the chair was turned away from the oversized mirror so Misti couldn’t see the shock on Nan’s face. She watched the clock as she finished the cut, praying her two best friends would show up on time. She needed them.
#23 Romantic suspense: Incandescent
TITLE: Incandescent
GENRE: Romantic suspense
After crash landing a drug dealer’s plane, undercover agent Jack Ripley stumbles into the world of Seely Davis, reclusive horse-whisperer. Jack seems to always be one step behind the dirty DEA agent that burned him and they’ll have to dodge bullets, avalanches and bombs as they fall in love - if only Seely’s past fears don’t cripple their future.
The flash of movement in the pasture stopped Seely cold. Most mornings, she could stand here behind her insulated glass walls and relish the solitude, the grandeur and the absolute peacefulness of her world.
Not today. On this bright, cold morning, she would have to stomp through twelve inches of fresh snow to find out why one of the horses was running loose through the pasture instead of cozied up in the barn.
She exchanged the steaming mug of cocoa for a parka and barn boots. The front door slammed behind her, the sound rousing her sleeping dog from his sheltered bed on the front porch. “C’mon, Mac.” He bounded off the porch in the lead, stopping halfway to the barn to test the air. A single woof confirmed Seely’s worst suspicion. Her peace had been disrupted.
Snow lay in heavy drifts against the barn, making it hard to roll the barn door back enough to slip through. Even though she closed it firmly behind her, a cold wind blasted through the barn. The stall door leading from Frosty’s stall to the pasture stood wide open.
Seely ducked beneath the webbing that sufficed for an inner stall door, greeting her mare with an affectionate pat. The name Frosty particularly suited the mare at the moment, with bits of snow and ice clinging to the long winter hairs on her belly and legs.
All that was not nearly as troublesome as the great clods of snow packed into her shod hooves.
GENRE: Romantic suspense
After crash landing a drug dealer’s plane, undercover agent Jack Ripley stumbles into the world of Seely Davis, reclusive horse-whisperer. Jack seems to always be one step behind the dirty DEA agent that burned him and they’ll have to dodge bullets, avalanches and bombs as they fall in love - if only Seely’s past fears don’t cripple their future.
The flash of movement in the pasture stopped Seely cold. Most mornings, she could stand here behind her insulated glass walls and relish the solitude, the grandeur and the absolute peacefulness of her world.
Not today. On this bright, cold morning, she would have to stomp through twelve inches of fresh snow to find out why one of the horses was running loose through the pasture instead of cozied up in the barn.
She exchanged the steaming mug of cocoa for a parka and barn boots. The front door slammed behind her, the sound rousing her sleeping dog from his sheltered bed on the front porch. “C’mon, Mac.” He bounded off the porch in the lead, stopping halfway to the barn to test the air. A single woof confirmed Seely’s worst suspicion. Her peace had been disrupted.
Snow lay in heavy drifts against the barn, making it hard to roll the barn door back enough to slip through. Even though she closed it firmly behind her, a cold wind blasted through the barn. The stall door leading from Frosty’s stall to the pasture stood wide open.
Seely ducked beneath the webbing that sufficed for an inner stall door, greeting her mare with an affectionate pat. The name Frosty particularly suited the mare at the moment, with bits of snow and ice clinging to the long winter hairs on her belly and legs.
All that was not nearly as troublesome as the great clods of snow packed into her shod hooves.
#22 SF Romance: Girl Under Glass
TITLE: Girl Under Glass
GENRE: SF Romance
To protect her young daughter from a madman and a tyrant, Rachel Pryne must trust an enemy – the alien warrior who conquered Earth.
Behind me, the dogs rumbled. I glanced to where both sat beside the fireplace with their heads lifted and ears pricked. “Jack, Audie, hush. It’s probably just a deer.” Turning back to the stove, I plucked the scalpel from the boiling water with tongs, placed it in the sterile box then blinked steam from my eyes as I chased the needle around the pot. “Dang. C’mon.”
Then the dogs lunged at the door, and I abandoned the task.
Pearl sat straight and stiff at the table, her doll’s clothes forgotten. Wide-eyed and watching me, my daughter knew better than to make a sound as Jack and Audie growled and paced between her and the door.
I wiped my hands on a towel then grabbed the shotgun from the wall mount in the kitchen. I crossed to the door, pulled up the peephole rag, and scanned the yard. The grey downpour didn’t help, but movement just inside our gate directed my attention.
A man stood in our yard, a dark man.
“Christ. There’s a Stranger inside the gate. Stay here. Stay quiet.”
Pearl nodded. She scrambled into the kitchen and retrieved the scalpel.
I chambered a round and said, “Heel, dogs,” as I opened the door. They flanked me, all hackles and teeth and threats, as I crossed the porch and strode through the rain and mud, the shotgun up and wedged against my shoulder.
He wore the grey-and-green fatigues of an Ohnenrai field tech.
“Don’t you move.”
GENRE: SF Romance
To protect her young daughter from a madman and a tyrant, Rachel Pryne must trust an enemy – the alien warrior who conquered Earth.
Behind me, the dogs rumbled. I glanced to where both sat beside the fireplace with their heads lifted and ears pricked. “Jack, Audie, hush. It’s probably just a deer.” Turning back to the stove, I plucked the scalpel from the boiling water with tongs, placed it in the sterile box then blinked steam from my eyes as I chased the needle around the pot. “Dang. C’mon.”
Then the dogs lunged at the door, and I abandoned the task.
Pearl sat straight and stiff at the table, her doll’s clothes forgotten. Wide-eyed and watching me, my daughter knew better than to make a sound as Jack and Audie growled and paced between her and the door.
I wiped my hands on a towel then grabbed the shotgun from the wall mount in the kitchen. I crossed to the door, pulled up the peephole rag, and scanned the yard. The grey downpour didn’t help, but movement just inside our gate directed my attention.
A man stood in our yard, a dark man.
“Christ. There’s a Stranger inside the gate. Stay here. Stay quiet.”
Pearl nodded. She scrambled into the kitchen and retrieved the scalpel.
I chambered a round and said, “Heel, dogs,” as I opened the door. They flanked me, all hackles and teeth and threats, as I crossed the porch and strode through the rain and mud, the shotgun up and wedged against my shoulder.
He wore the grey-and-green fatigues of an Ohnenrai field tech.
“Don’t you move.”
#21 Urban Fantasy: Shadow Runner
TITLE: Shadow Runner
GENRE: Urban Fantasy
When a friend is kidnapped in the name of Creature Equality, something seems off to Otherworldly Investigator A.J. Fallon. Forced to work with an old adversary to save the woman, A.J. realizes that rescuing her friend may mean exposing herself and the secret she’s kept for sixteen years.
A.J. swung the office door open without knocking. Why bother with the formality when she was going in regardless?
The man behind the desk looked up at her, his expression equal parts amusement and exasperation.
“Fallon. Nice work last night.”
“Thanks, Captain.”
Alphonse Delgado leaned back in his chair. “Isn’t it early for you to be up? I thought you PIs preferred night work. More shadows to skulk in.”
A.J. smiled. “I do enjoy the skulking. I actually just wanted to see how our boy was doing.”
He rolled his eyes heavenward. “Last I checked he was still crying a little. Saying he didn’t steal the egg, he found it and was trying to return it. It’s all a big misunderstanding.”
“Original.”
“Yeah, well, his partner rolled quick enough. Gave us the location of the other eggs. Got some uniforms out returning them to their families this morning. Also their inside source--a yahoo from zoning trying to make some quick cash.”
“Makes sense.” A.J. nodded. “The nest was definitely within regs. You can’t see it from the ground. He would’ve needed the tip.”
“It takes a special sort of idiot to go after dragons.” Delgado shook his head. “But the jackass is over in booking now, and you prevented a national landmark from being incinerated.”
“Gotta love a happy ending.”
“Yeah and, from what I’ve heard, we almost didn’t get one.” His face got serious. A.J. knew what was coming. She’d prepared herself for it.
GENRE: Urban Fantasy
When a friend is kidnapped in the name of Creature Equality, something seems off to Otherworldly Investigator A.J. Fallon. Forced to work with an old adversary to save the woman, A.J. realizes that rescuing her friend may mean exposing herself and the secret she’s kept for sixteen years.
A.J. swung the office door open without knocking. Why bother with the formality when she was going in regardless?
The man behind the desk looked up at her, his expression equal parts amusement and exasperation.
“Fallon. Nice work last night.”
“Thanks, Captain.”
Alphonse Delgado leaned back in his chair. “Isn’t it early for you to be up? I thought you PIs preferred night work. More shadows to skulk in.”
A.J. smiled. “I do enjoy the skulking. I actually just wanted to see how our boy was doing.”
He rolled his eyes heavenward. “Last I checked he was still crying a little. Saying he didn’t steal the egg, he found it and was trying to return it. It’s all a big misunderstanding.”
“Original.”
“Yeah, well, his partner rolled quick enough. Gave us the location of the other eggs. Got some uniforms out returning them to their families this morning. Also their inside source--a yahoo from zoning trying to make some quick cash.”
“Makes sense.” A.J. nodded. “The nest was definitely within regs. You can’t see it from the ground. He would’ve needed the tip.”
“It takes a special sort of idiot to go after dragons.” Delgado shook his head. “But the jackass is over in booking now, and you prevented a national landmark from being incinerated.”
“Gotta love a happy ending.”
“Yeah and, from what I’ve heard, we almost didn’t get one.” His face got serious. A.J. knew what was coming. She’d prepared herself for it.
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