I am a proud mom of two, who loves to read, write and just enjoy life. Watching my kids - 9 year old daughter and 5 year old son, grow is my greatest enjoyment. Blogging has also become something that I am having a blast with - it has been wonderful meeting so many people who share so many of the same interests. I am also pursuing writing in different areas and love working with authors on promoting and touring their great works!
Reading level: Young Adult Paperback: 304 pages Publisher: Avery Trade (December 29, 2009) Language: English ISBN-10: 158333369X ISBN-13: 978-1583333693
Being a young girl who is moving toward and going through adolescence is an incredibly difficult time. Their body is changing, their thoughts and emotions are going haywire and things are changing around them - including how the opposite sex may look at them and act toward them. So many questions arise during this time and finding just the right way to approach the answers to these these questions are often difficult for parents and/or guardians. That is to say that the young woman is confident and comfortable broaching the subjects of these questions and insecurities that she is facing.
The Body Scoop for Girls is a marvelous and irreplaceable guide to helping both parents and girls to find answers and discover a comfort level that is so very important. Dr. Jennifer Ashton writes her book in such a way that the reader will not feel preached to, or bored out of their minds. The author has an excellent way of bringing humor, honesty and approachability to her book and wrapping the reader in a cloak of comfort. Questions are answered in such a way that will bring quick sighs of relief and security to any girl who reads through The Body Scoop for Girls.
Covering a vast array of topics ranging from periods, sex, skin changes, illness, exams, changes in body shape and weight, The Body Scoop for Girls in organized in an easy-to-look-through way, including highly insightful question/answer/true/false sections. As a mother of a young girl who has a few years before reaching the teen years, I truly feel as though it is never too late to prepare yourself for the oncoming barrage of questions and insecurities that go hand in hand with growing up.
I really enjoyed and highly recommend The Body Scoop for Girls and feel that it is a necessity for any household with a young girl who is soon to enter, or currently entering, adolescence. What a wonderful guide to have in easy reach, so that when a girl is feeling uneasy about something going on in their life or with their bodies, they can grab this, go to a quiet corner and read. Every female needs a Dr. Jennifer Ashton!
*overall rating 5/5
About The Body Scoop for Girls:
An authoritative yet girlfriend-friendly health book for teen and tween girls written by CBS News Medical Correspondent Dr. Jennifer Ashton
AS an ob-gyn specialing in adolescent care, Dr. Jennifer Ashton understands better than anyone that being a teenage girl these days is fraught with a special kind of angst. But in her practice she talks openly and nonjudgementally to her young patients like a good friend, answering each of their questions respectfully and with candor. Now she shartes this advice in a no-holds-barred guidebook, based on her passion to cut through the embarrassment that girls often feel about their changing bodies and to arm them with the knowledge they need to make smart choices. A comprehensive guide from head to toe, The Body Scoop for Girls covers the basics of puberty and beyond, including:
•Breast development and nipple bumps
•The decision to wait to have sex, and the benefits of waiting
•Birth control
•The lowdown on STIs
•Eating Disorders
•Depression and hormone imbalances
•Grooming, from hair removal to hygiene products
•Body piercings
Writing in a funny and fresh, girl-to-girl voice, Dr. Ashton has created a totally up-to-date health book that speaks directly to young women and the unique pressures they face today. From a doctor who "gets it," The Body Scoop for Girls makes the road to womanhood an empowering one.
About Dr. Jen Ashton:
Dr. Jennifer Ashton is a board-certified ob-gyn who specializes in adolescent gynecology. In March 2009, Dr. Ashton joined CBS as a news medical correspondent. She reports on a broad range of medical topics for CBS News’ The Early Show and contributes to the division’s other broadcasts and platforms.
Dr. Ashton is the author of the upcoming book The Body Scoop for Girls (Avery, January 2010). For more from Dr. Jennifer Ashton, visit cbsnews.com.
The first in a new mystery series, The Devil in Merrivale will send readers racing from the first page to the last and yearning for the next. With a well drawn out plot, likable characters, an excellent setting and even better dialog, Jackie Griffen casts a devilish spell as she weaves an engrossing and impossible to put down tale of mystery, mayhem and dark rituals, courtesy of a secret club consisting of a group of high school students. Threats, beatings and a murder send Sheriff Cas Larkin into overdrive as he sets out to discover exactly who is behind these events and why.
Classified as a cozy mystery, I, personally, view it as a bit of a darker story. Usually cozies, for me, are a bit more lighthearted, whereas The Devil in Merrivale takes on a more traditional mystery, in my mind. Admittedly, there are bits of humor throughout and a couple of quirky characters, that the reader will simply adore. No matter what genre you place The Devil in Merrivale in, it is just a downright delightful, addictive and wonderful story. I love Jackie Griffen's easygoing writing style and the way she can so easily grab the reader's attention and not let go.
Here are a few excerpts just to give you a taste:
Excerpt 1:
Missy wondered briefly what Doris thought of Chuck and the club. She hadn’t heard her or Diane mention Denise lately, and they had been her closest friends. Depressed at the thought, she hugged her books, feeling a chill. One day you’ve got a life and a future and friends, then everything just moves on without you. Instant oblivion!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Excerpt 2:
“Sheriff Larkin.”
A quiet, somehow comforting feminine voice said without preamble, “I would like to help you.”
Cas felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He held his breath a second. “Ma’am? This is Sheriff Cas Larkin, may I be of help to you?”
The quiet voice had a strange effect on him. He shivered, not knowing why.
“My name is Hannah. Hannah McLaughlin. I don’t really know if I can help you or not, but I will try.”
The shiver had passed, and Cas said, curious, “Help me with what?”
“With the murder case that’s bothering you so.” Hannah McLaughlin paused. “I…heard you calling for help.”
“You heard me calling for help?” Cas began to wonder if she was pulling his leg—some of Harlan Glover’s past antics crossed his mind. But surely, even Harlan wouldn’t resort to this.
“I don’t know any Harlan Glover,” the caller informed him, as if she had heard the thought.
“What are you?” Cas demanded, his voice coming from somewhere between panic and anger. “Psychic or something?”
“Yes,” she answered in a tone of infinite sadness.
Cas believed her. He didn’t know why. And he didn’t know what to say.
Hannah explained. “I see things. I don’t want to. I wish there was some way to put a stop to it. But there’s nothing I can do about it. I can’t tell you the solution to your case, but perhaps, if I went to the place where you found that poor girl, I might see something that would help you. I’ll try, if you want me to. The only thing is…”
For lovers of mystery - cozy or otherwise, I highly recommend The Devil in Merrivale. I cannot wait for the next installment to come out to see what case Sheriff Cas Larkin will be required to solve!
*overall rating 4.5/5
About The Devil in Merrival:
Murder isn’t the usual order of business in the little town of Merrivale, Tennessee, so the brutal stabbing death of popular high school student Denise Davis sends a shock through the community. Sheriff Cas Larkin is determined to find the killer, and the last thing he needs is distractions like the increasing reports of missing cattle and other livestock.
But as he digs deeper, Cas uncovers another mystery–a strange “club” the members are afraid to talk about, and for good reason. One of the recruits is brutally beaten when he refuses to take the club’s activities seriously. He also refuses to talk about those activities–until they turn turn deadly.
There’s something dark and sinister going on in Merrivale, and if Cas can’t figure out what it is and put a stop to it, there’ll be the devil to pay.
About Jackie Griffey:
Jackie Griffey likes to read as well as write cozy mysteries and romantic suspense. She and her family, two cats, a Chihuahua, and a couple of wild bunnies live in Arkansas where she is working on another cozy mystery. You can visit her website at www.jackiegriffey.com.
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
*Grab your current read. *Open to a random page. *Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page *BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) *Share the title and author so that other TT participates can add it to their TBR pile if they like the teaser!
She seemed helpless to say or think a sensible thing. A part of her was looking on, warning her of peril in her father's troubled voice, but the most of her was simply full of joy at being here, at touching him, at being free to look up and return his smile without fear that anyone might notice.
Taken from page 214 of the advanced reader copy of Lessons in French by Laura Kinsale
Suspense, thrills, racing hearts, and heartbreak are just a few words that I would use to summarize Tainted by Brooke Morgan. From beginning to end, I was utterly engrossed within the story, turning page after page to see what would happen next. Never was there a spot within the story that was lacking, nor anywhere were my attention was diverted from the story and its characters.
Tainted is one of those books that I can honestly and truly say that I loved the story and plot line, but felt very borderline with the main character. I have to admit to feeling incredibly frustrated with Holly, the main character. She seemed to be very submissive and willing to push aside many "odd" occurrences and very strange behavior, by Jack. The old saying "Love is Blind" definitely applies, though not in a good way. In retrospect, Ms. Morgan does a wonderful job portraying a psychologically disturbed man through Jack. My favorite characters are Henry, Holly's Grandfather, and Billy the father of Holly's daughter who skipped town when he found out that she was pregnant. Henry is such a delightfully spunky character with a wonderful soul, and Billy caught my appeal with his perseverance and desire to right the wrongs that he made in the past.
In addition to excellent characterization, Brooke Morgan does a marvelous job of bringing the scenery of Cape Cod to life. The reader feels as though they are there as each and every scene plays out. One rather unique aspect, I thought, was the fact that throughout Tainted, the author would take the reader into the minds of a character. This does not occur very often, but it was a very interesting twist and the transitions flowed rather smoothly, when they did occur.
Here are a couple of excerpts that stood out to me:
pg. 67
She heard the soft slap of a small series of waves hitting the beach, a subtle undertow from a passing ship. Even noise was quiet on nights like this, she thought. The crickets didn't chirp as shrilly, the hum of boat motors took on a lower tone. Everything was dampened down by the moisture and darkness.
"Someone once told me that you can't move forward if you're looking over your shoulder at the past. It sounds trite, I know." Jack took her hand in his. "But trite works sometimes."
pg. 143
"Jack. Please. Stop it. Those are my parents. They're what I have left of my parents."
Tears were now cascading down her face. This couldn't be happening. Not to them. They were happy. They were in love. Everything was going right. But the man who would hug her to him at night and tease her and excite her was starting at her with an impenetrable, unfeeling expression. She didn't know what to do, could only stand watching helplessly as he tied up the ends of the garbage bag and hauled it outside.
Holly could hear him take the top off the trash can, she could hear the sound of the bag full of pictures being thrown in. And the lid crashing back down.
Tainted is an excellent book for any reader looking for a suspenseful read and one that will keep them hooked from the beginning until the very end. This is Ms. Morgan's debut novel and I anxiously await more from her!
*overall rating 4.5/5
About Tainted:
In a dazzling tour de force of suspenseful storytelling, first-time novelist Brooke Morgan ingeniously peels away layers of artifice and deception to reveal the fears and uncertainties that live in the hearts of us all.
Holly Barrett first saw Jack Dane early one morning—tall, tan, and so heartbreakingly handsome he took her breath away. He also seemed like the last person to disrupt her quiet, uneventful days with her sensitive daughter, Katy. But the charming, enigmatic Englishman has blown into her small Cape Cod town like a brisk summer wind off the bay.
He sweeps Holly off her feet, and is soon touching the lives of everyone she deeply cares about. But is Jack the considerate, concerned gentleman he appears to be—or is there a very different creature lurking below the surface? Has a monster entered her life . . . and how far will Holly have to go to save the person she loves more than anyone else in the world?
About Brooke Morgan:
Brooke Morgan is a Bostonian who now lives in London with her two children. Tainted is her first novel.
his is such a neat idea and a great way to share what books have been received the week before! Thanks to Marcia at the The Printed Page for organizing this fun weekly event!
Here are the list of goodies that I received last week: Cutting Myself in Half by Taylor LeBaron and Jack & Mary Branson (sent by the authors)
At age fourteen, Taylor LeBaron was nearly 300 pounds. He had difficulty just getting to the mailbox without becoming short of breath. A chubby kid from birth who was prone to obesity, Taylor allowed his weight to skyrocket through mindless 'whatever' eating and his sedentary techie lifestyle. But a membership to the Y, a keen imagination, and an indomitable spirit changed all that.
Approaching proper eating and weight loss as he would a new video game, Taylor made fitness into a fun challenge with his creation of THE ULTIMATE FITNESS GAME (UFG)—a method of tracking calories, avoiding pitfalls, overcoming obstacles, and working out by following hard-andfast rules that literally helped him shed half of his body weight in a matter of a year and a half.
Cutting Myself in Half is Taylor's motivational strategy guide to THE ULTIMATE FITNESS GAME.Taylor shows kids who are currently where he was that weight loss and fitness are within reach . . . one workout, one calorie, one 'byte' at a time.
Burn by Ted Dekker & Erin Healy (sent by Amy Currie at Phenix Publicity)
Dekker and Healy follow their collaboration in Kiss with another odyssey into the paranormal that transports readers into another dimension and returns them head spinning, never to see their own world in quite the same way. Two young friends are propelled out of their Gypsy clan when shady characters burn their kumpania (community). The girls lose family and friends in the fire and grow up separated from each other and the boy they both loved. One is faced with an impossible choice that haunts her until the girls meet 15 years later, where a reality-bender twist is revealed. Readers who enjoy allegorical stories that are rooted in the Bible will find dozens of connections, some force-fed (“He was the Jesus to Janeal’s Judas”) and others unorthodox but mind-zinging (“ 'Who can imagine what God and Satan discuss? Certainly Job had no idea God was gambling with his life.’ ”) Christian fiction lovers who enjoy romantic interest, frantic chases by sinister figures of biblical proportions, suspense, and the old-fashioned joy of suspending disbelief will find this new dynamic writing duo, once a writer-editor combo, fiery hot. (Jan.)
Nanny Returns by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Krause (sent my Simon & Schuster)
More than four million readers fell in love with Nan, the smart, spirited, and sympathetic heroine of the #1 New York Times bestseller The Nanny Diaries.
Now she's back. After living abroad for twelve years, she and her husband, Ryan, aka H.H., have returned to New York to make a life for themselves. In the midst of getting her new business off the ground and fixing up their fixer-upper, Ryan announces his sudden desire to start a family. His timing simply couldn't be worse.
To compound the mounting construction and marital chaos, her former charge, Grayer X, now sixteen years old, makes a drunken, late-night visit, wanting to know why she abandoned him all those years ago. But how can she explain to Grayer what she still hasn't come to terms with herself? In an attempt to assuage her guilt, yet against every instinct, Nan tries to help Grayer and his younger brother, Stilton, through their parents' brutal divorce, drawing her back into the ever-bizarre life of Mrs. X and her Upper East Side enclave of power and privilege.
After putting miles and years between herself and this world, Nan finds she's once again on the front line of the battle with the couture-clad elite for their children's wellbeing.
With its whip-smart dialogue and keen observations of modern life, Nanny Returns gives a firsthand tour of what happens when a community that chose money over love finds itself with neither.
"I want you to know something if you don't already. Life is choosing whom and what you love. Everything else follows . . ."
Among the longleaf pines and family farms of eastern North Carolina, days seem to pass without incident for Margaret Clayton and Bernice Stokes until they discover each other in a friendship that will take them on the most important journey of their lives. Margaret, droll and whip smart, has a will of iron that never fails her even when her body does, while Bernice, an avid country-music fan, is rarely lucid. Irreverent and brazen at every turn, they make a formidable pair at the home where they live, breaking all the rules and ultimately changing the lives of those around them. Lorraine, their churchgoing, God-questioning nurse, both protects and provokes them while they are under her watchful eye, as her daughter, April, bright and ambitious, determinedly makes her way through medical school. Rounding out the group of unlikely and often outrageous friends is Rhonda, the Bud-swilling beautician who does the ladies' hair on her day off and whose sassy talk hides a vulnerable heart, one that finally opens to love.
Weaving this tightly knit and compelling novel in alternating chapters, each woman gets to tell her story her own way, as all five learn to reconcile troubled pasts, find forgiveness, choose hope, and relish the joy of life. Rich with irresistible characters whose uniquely musical voices overflow the pages, The Sweet By and By is a testament to the truth that the most vibrant lives are not necessarily the most visible ones.
A lush and compelling tale of royal intrigue and artistic longing, set in the sixteenth-century Spanish court.
A sweeping triumph: The Creation of Eve is based on the true but little-known story of Sofonisba Anguissola, the first renowned female portraitist of the Renaissance. After a scandal in Michelangelo's workshop, Sofonisba flees Italy and joins the Spanish court of King Felipe II to be a lady-in-waiting to his young bride. Sofonisba befriends the queen, only to become embroiled in a love triangle involving the queen, the king, and the king's illegitimate half brother, Don Juan. The Creation of Eve combines art, romance, and history from the golden age in Spain in a story that asks the question: Can you ever truly know another person's heart?
First-time novelist Karen Stolz has created a cozy, poignant and exquisitely written episodic tale of family, food, and love. Set in a small town in Texas in the 1960's, where "there wasn't a lot to pick from, summer-wise: counter-girl at Jerry's Dairy King, shampoo girl at Barb's Tint n' Clip; the maid job at the Bluebonnet Motel," a young girl named Roxanne comes of age. Whether it's a pie-baking contest that becomes a lesson in racial politics and courage; a crush on the new mailman (who is a woman); or dealing with the death of her beloved father and her mother's remarriage, Roxanne never fails to touch our hearts. And if that weren't enough, the recipes following each chapter--which range from Christina's Lemon Meringue Pie to Doreen's Frozen Fruit Salad--evoke a cozy sweet sensation that makes it seem as though there could be no better place to live than tine Annette, Texas.
Muldoon's Tea Rooms, beloved for the cozy atmosphere and luscious desserts, has started looking a bit outdated, and the same could be said about the proprietors, Penny and Daniel Stanley. After seventeen years, their marriage has started to fade and wear a little thin, even as their old shop bustles with the energy of the customers who seek refuge from their particular dilemmas: Housewife Sadie Smith comes to escape her diet and her husband’s stick-thin mistress. Struggling artist Brenda Brown sits and pens love letters to the actor Nicolas Cage. And Clare Fitzgerald returns after twenty years abroad to search for a long-lost someone. Behind the cherry cheesecakes, vanilla ice creams, and chocolate cappuccinos are the stirrings of a revolution that will define lives, heal troubled hearts, and rock the very foundation of the humble teahouse. And through it all, Penny and Daniel manage to discover what truly matters in life and love.
Throughout his career, Chris Bohjalian has earned a reputation for writing novels that examine some of the most important issues of our time. With Midwives, he explored the literal and metaphoric place of birth in our culture. In The Buffalo Soldier, he introduced us to one of contemporary literature's most beloved foster children. And in Before You Know Kindness, he plumbed animal rights, gun control, and what it means to be a parent. Chris Bohjalian's riveting fiction keeps us awake deep into the night. As The New York Times has said, "Few writers can manipulate a plot with Bohjalian's grace and power." Now he is back with an ambitious new novel that travels between Jay Gatsby's Long Island and rural New England, between the Roaring Twenties and the twenty-first century.
When college sophomore Laurel Estabrook is attacked while riding her bicycle through Vermont's back roads, her life is forever changed. Formerly outgoing, Laurel withdraws into her photography and begins to work at a homeless shelter. There she meets Bobbie Crocker, a man with a history of mental illness and a box of photographs that he won't let anyone see. When Bobbie dies suddenly, Laurel discovers that he was telling the truth: before he was homeless, Bobbie Crocker was a successful photographer who had indeed worked with such legends as Chuck Berry, Robert Frost, and Eartha Kitt. As Laurel's fascination with Bobbie's former life begins to merge into obsession, she becomes convinced that some of his photographs reveal a deeply hidden, dark family secret. Her search for the truth will lead her further from her old life -- and into a cat-and-mouse game with pursuers who claim they want to save her.
In this spellbinding literary thriller, rich with complex and compelling characters -- including Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan -- Chris Bohjalian takes readers on his most intriguing, most haunting, and most unforgettable journey yet.
The trial of a midwife in 1980s Vermont. Sybil Danforth, with several hundred deliveries to her name, claims the mother was dead when she opened her to save the baby. The prosecution claims the mother was alive and the operation was illegal. The story is narrated by Sybil's daughter, portraying the trial as another round in the persecution of midwives by the New England medical profession. -- Synopsis copyright Fiction Digest
I see him and know what this turmoil inside of me means: He's the one. My forever.
kayla is the nature lover, the all-American beauty who can't understand why she's so drawn to distant, brooding Lucas. Adopted as a young child, she has no way of knowing that she's inherited a terrifying—and thrilling—gene that will change her life forever.
lucas is dangerous, gorgeous . . . and a werewolf. As leader of the Dark Guardians, shape-shifters who gather deep within the state park, he has sworn to protect his pack. But when Lucas finds his true soul mate, his love could put them all in harm's way. As Lucas and Kayla struggle with their feelings for each other, a greater danger lurks: Humans have discovered the Dark Guardians and are planning their destruction. Kayla must choose between the life she knows and the love she feels certain is her destiny.
Okay, that's about it for this past week. What goodies did you receive?!
Well, the poll is now closed for helping me to pick which classic book to read. The clear winner is....
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee (with 47% of the votes)
The unforgettable novel of a childhood in a sleepy Southern town and the crisis of conscience that rocked it, To Kill A Mockingbird became both an instant bestseller and a critical success when it was first published in 1960. It went on to win the Pulitzer Prize in 1961 and was later made into an Academy Award-winning film, also a classic.
Compassionate, dramatic, and deeply moving, To Kill A Mockingbird takes readers to the roots of human behavior - to innocence and experience, kindness and cruelty, love and hatred, humor and pathos. Now with over 18 million copies in print and translated into forty languages, this regional story by a young Alabama woman claims universal appeal. Harper Lee always considered her book to be a simple love story. Today it is regarded as a masterpiece of American literature.
Second place was Emma by Jane Austin (with 20%) Third place was The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett (with 11%) Fourth place was Bleak House by Charles Dickens (with 8%) No one voted for The Mystery of Edward Drood by Charles Dickens
Hopefully I will be able to start on To Kill A Mockingbird the end of this week. I will be reading the classic in-between tour/review books, but will keep everyone posted. I will also update my progress on Goodreads (cafeofdreams). When I finish this one, I will put together another poll with books to read next. This was so much fun and I want to say thanks so much for everyone's votes and input!!
Mainstream Fiction: Contemporary, Suspense/Mystery ISBN: 978-1-60435-620-5 Cover Artist: Emmy Editor: Lea Schizas Word Count: 69,070 Release Date: January 14, 2010
If you are a lover of cozy mysteries, trust me when I say that you do not want to miss out on the Shannon Wallace Mystery series by Kim Smith. I fell in love from the first book, Avenging Angel, and was bouncing on tippy toes waiting for the sequel. You can imagine my excitement when it finally reached my happy little hands. I can happily announce that I was not at all disappointed!
Shannon Wallace is a sassy, kick butt woman who takes no guff - though she may be a bit on the accident prone side. Her best friend and partner in the video business, Video Angel, Dwayne, makes the perfect team and will warm hearts with their devotion to one another, as well as bring giggles at their antics. As they search for answers to the murder of Dwayne's friend, flower shop owner, Bubba, they stubble across a not-so-nice mysterious gang who have taken it upon themselves to steal coffins in the middle of the night. If that isn't enough, everyone Shannon and Dwayne encounter is under suspicion, including the cousin of Shannon's possible love match (though they don't know it yet), Detective Salvador Ramirez. The motive is unclear, the death number is rising and things just keep getting stranger and stranger. Then the unthinkable happens - Dwayne disappears and Shannon fears for her friend's life.
Though she is told to stay away and not take it upon herself to play detective, Shannon can do anything but. What ensues is an excellent story that contains suspense, thrills, humor, emotion and just a dash of sizzle. From beginning to end, readers will ride along with Shannon as she sneaks, stakes-out, and rounds up clues, until she finds herself in too deep and facing what could be the end of her life.
Kim Smith's writing style, in this series, is very reminiscent of Janet Evanovich and her Stephanie Plum series, which I adore. Buried Angel is a tightly written story that will capture the reader's attention right from the start. The characterization is wonderful and I truly love Shannon, Dwayne and can't wait to get to know Sal better in upcoming stories.
Just to give you a taste of the type of humor that runs throughout Buried Angel as it mingles with mystery and suspense, I thought I would share a short clip that made me giggle:
A few mourners wandered among the somber gray tombstones looking for their own family members and friends. That was the good thing about living in a small town. You didn‟t have to go anywhere else to pay respects or plant posies over someone. We were a one-stop town.
There are so many authors out there who are able to weave a story and truly hold the reader within their hands. Kim Smith is one of those authors. I have read everything that she has thus far written and absolutely cannot wait to read what she has in store for the future. If you have not yet read Buried Angel, I highly recommend that you do. As stated previously, this is the second in a series, however it easily works as a standalone. So whether you begin in the beginning with Avenging Angel or just jump right on in with Buried Angel, you are sure to become a fan and fall in love with Shannon.
*overall rating 4.5/5
About Buried Angel:
Shannon Wallace is finding trouble in the most bizarre places these days, but not as bizarre as the ones her sidekick Dwayne Brown is finding. When his friend. Bubba, is found stuffed in a cooler in his flower shop, the hunt is on to find his killer.
Could it be Bubba’s sister who is now his heir, or maybe one of the flower shop guys who works with Bubba? You can be sure the dreadful duo of Shannon and Dwayne won’t rest until they have helped South Lake’s police department, and the Hispanic hottie investigator, Sal Ramirez, find his man. Or was that woman?
Don't miss out on the first in the Shannon Wallace series, Avenging Angels!
Excerpt:
Chasing creeps through the spongy, pre-Spring grounds after dark was not a part of the deal I’d made, and now I wished I’d gotten more money out of Scott. Maybe hazard duty pay was in order?
Hobbling along behind my lithe partner, I prayed he wouldn’t notice my less than full speed attempt. He glanced over his shoulder to find me. He noticed.
“Oh Lawd Jesus,” he huffed as he slowed to allow me to catch up. “Tell me you are not wearin’ those peach heels we bought at Macy’s!”
“Okay,” I grunted as mud squished underfoot. “I won’t tell you. And they’re not peach, they’re apricot!”
Keeping the three dark silhouettes in view while maneuvering around the flat headstones embedded in the ground, I skirted the edges of the larger monuments. It was like playing chase in a maze in the dark.
“Don’t step on that grave,” Dwayne yelled behind me as I jetted ahead. “That’s defacing the dead!”
I pulled up short, tried to miss the grave in question, and ended up scraping my side on the odd-shaped tombstone. This threw my whole forward movement out of whack and I suddenly felt my balance tilt. Holding the camera overhead, I struggled to keep my feet on the wet grass around the grave. Gravity worked against me and I swiveled to avoid landing on my side. My butt wasn’t too happy with the change in plans when it took the impact.
The last time I’d landed on that part of my anatomy with such force, I caused my team to lose by sliding home on it in peewee baseball.
Dwayne skidded to a stop just before crashing on top of me. “Oh, shit!”
I moaned, trying to right myself, with one hand hobbled by the camera. I handed it to him. After brushing my derriere off and assessing the damage, I took a few experimental steps. A bruised tailbone, for certain, and a sore vanity to go along with it.
“Well, that proves one thing,” Dwayne murmured from behind the viewfinder.
“What? That I’m a certifiable klutz? Everyone knows that. Turn the camera off.” He complied. “No, not that. Although you are one. It proves I was right. It ain’t the dead walkin’ around out here.”
I turned to gaze at the empty landscape, void of runners. “It’s not kids either.”
About Kim Smith:
Kim Smith is the hostess for the popular radio show, Introducing WRITERS! Radio show on Blog Talk Radio. She is also the author of the zany, Shannon Wallace mystery series available now from Red Rose Publishing. You can visit Kim’s website at www.mkimsmith.com.
As many of you know, I am making it a priority to read Classic Literature this year. It has been so much fun to chat with everyone about their favorites and I am loving the feedback on the poll, to help me decide what to read. It has been awesome and I thank everyone for that! I have decided that since there are some people that have mentioned that they would like to track my status in reading the Classics, that I would add a challenge button in the sidebar. This will link to the posts that I make as I dive into this exciting adventure. Also, if anyone would like to join in, that would be fantastic! It would be great fun to compare classic reads and thoughts on them. I am not making any sort of "must" rules in this challenge, just setting a personal goal. As of now, my goal is to read 4-6 Classics this year. I would aim for more, but since many that I want to read are boarding on the 700+ pages, I am going to keep it down, lol. Also, as I am finishing up one classic book, I am going to put up another poll with a list of classic books and have readers vote on which one to read next.
So, if you would like to join in, please just grab the badge and then whenever you post a review or chat about your classic read, just pop back here and fill in Mr. Linky so that we can all come by and visit you.
Friday Fill-Ins is a wonderful and fun weekly meme that I have not participated in in quite some time. I'm hoping to make it a habit to do so again, however. Come and join in the fun!!
#160
1. You have a chance to change someone's life with a simple smile.
2. Remember, someone love you right now!
3. There is a positive for every negative.
4. Cheat now and pay later.
5. It's time to take a deep breath and exhale negative thoughts.
6. The future may be up in the air but remember to cherish who and what you have.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to cuddle and movie time with the kids, tomorrow my plans include getting some reading done and Sunday, I want to have a "girl's day" with my daughter!
Hardcover: 384 pages Publisher: St. Martin's Press (February 16, 2010) Language: English ISBN-10: 031258749X ISBN-13: 978-0312587499
Mesmerizingly seductive in its intense psychological ploys, The Last Surgeon is a book that will grab the reader from the beginning, twisting itself within the reader's mind and not letting go until the very last page. Author, Michael Palmer, takes a glimpse into the world of "what-ifs" and brings the possibilities of the unthinkable to life. In this day and age, where technology is virtually infinite, the possibilities are endless, especially within the realm of terrorism, cover-ups and government secrecy.
The Last Surgeon takes such possibilities and brings them to life, within the pages and story of Dr. Nick Garrity and Jillian Coates. Two complete strangers, connected in a way that will soon be brought to light and change lives forever.
Without conscience or morals, a hired killer, who has honed his ability to exercise and carry out the perfect "non-kill", is striking people dead within the medical profession, in a seemingly unconnected way. Jillian seeks out Nick, after being told that her sister has committed suicide, a fact that Jillian refuses to believe. For some reason, Nick's name is written all over Dr. Nick Fury comic books, within her sister's belongings. This leads to her search and discovery of Nick and the realization that the nickname of Dr. Nick Fury was given to him by his best friend, who has been missing for the past four years. Could the two be connected in some way and if so how and why?
As pieces of the puzzle begin to fall into place, more murders are playing out, murders that look like suicide. The killer stalks his prey and delves within them, able to take lives in a horrible way that leaves no questions asked by police or authorities. Who will be his next victim and will Jillian and Nick be able to figure out exactly what is going on and why before it is too late?
The Last Surgeon is an intense ride that will leave readers flying through pages. Michael Palmer is a master of characterization, plots and thrills. I knew that I was going to be hooked within the story at the prologue, when Mr. Palmer's writing was actually able to make me feel the pain and agony emanating from Belle's voic,e as she watches the killer torture her sister, Jillian. The visuals that Mr. Palmer was able to instill within my mind, as I read, were remarkable and made me feel as though I was right there throughout the story. In addition, the story is tight, the characters well developed and the ending was perfect with all ends tied together.
This is actually the first work by Michael Palmer that I have had the pleasure to read and I anxiously look forward to reading more. For anyone who loves medical thrillers, or a great story of suspense and thrills, I highly recommend The Last Surgeon. It is sure to keep you up long into the night.
*overall rating 4.5/5
About The Last Surgeon:
The New York Times bestselling author and master of medical suspense delivers another shocker of a thriller filled with insider details and a terrifying psychopath
Four murders.
Three accidents.
Two suicides.
One left…
THE LAST SURGEON
Michael Palmer’s latest novel pits a flawed doctor against a ruthless psychopath, who has made murder his art form. Dr. Nick Garrity, a vet suffering from PTSD—post traumatic stress disorder—spends his days and nights dispensing medical treatment from a mobile clinic to the homeless and disenfranchised in D.C. and Baltimore. In addition, he is constantly on the lookout for his war buddy Umberto Vasquez, who was plucked from the streets by the military four years ago for a secret mission and has not been seen since.
Psych nurse Gillian Coates wants to find her sister’s killer. She does not believe that Belle Coates, an ICU nurse, took her own life, even though every bit of evidence indicates that she did—every bit save one. Belle has left Gillian a subtle clue that connects her with Nick Garrity.
Together, Nick and Gillian determine that one-by-one, each of those in the operating room for a fatally botched case is dying. Their discoveries pit them against genius Franz Koller--the highly-paid master of the “non-kill”—the art of murder that does not look like murder. As Doctor and nurse move closer to finding the terrifying secret behind these killings, Koller has been given a new directive: his mission will not be complete until Gillian Coates and Garrity, the last surgeon, are dead.
Excerpt:
PROLOGUE
“I know you can’t believe this is happening, Ms. Coates, but I assure you it is. I have been paid and paid very well to kill you.”
Belle Coates looked up at the intruder through a glaze of tears.
“Please. Just tell me what you want,” she said. “Just tell me what you want and you can have it. Anything. Anything at all.”
The man sighed.
“You’re not paying attention, Ms. Coates,” he said with the accentuated patience of a third grade teacher. “I am not here to bargain. I told you that. I’m here because this is what I get paid to do.”
“But why? Why me?”
Belle made yet another futile attempt to stand. Her wrists and ankles were lashed to her kitchen chair by the sort of Velcro restraints she and other hospital nurses used so often on difficult patients.
“Those restraints look amazingly simple,” the intruder said, “but I tell you they are a marvel of engineering and ergonomics. No pain, no marks. None at all. That’s why I have a dozen or so sets of them in the drawer at home.”
The man, six feet tall and wiry, had been hidden inside Belle’s apartment, probably behind the couch in the living room, when she arrived home at nearly midnight. Her nursing shiftthree-to-eleven in the cardiac surgery ICU at the Central Charlotte Medical Center–had been a tough one, and she had relished every stair of the trudge that brought her closer to her apartment, a cup of tea, and a steamy shower. She was just choosing a tea when he appeared in the doorway of her kitchen, an apparition in sky blue surgical hair and feet covers, and latex gloves, black jeans, black long-sleeved T. She was so fixated on his appearance that it was several seconds before she noticed the huge, gleaming knife dangling at his side. Her hesitation was more than enough. In two quick strides he was beside her, seizing a handful of her hair, snapping her head back, and pressing the blade against her throat. With just enough restraint to keep from drawing blood, he forced her down onto one of the oak chairs she had recently refinished, and in moments, the restraints were on her. It had happened that fast.
A dozen or so sets in my drawer.
The statement was as terrifying as the knife.
Was he a serial rapist? A psychotic killer?
Desperately, searching for even the smallest inroad to understanding the intruder, Belle tried to remain calm and remember if she had read about such a man in the papers, or heard about him on the news.
What do you want?” she said. “My fiance will be home any minute.”
He fixed her with pale, translucent blue eyes, that were devoid of even the slightest spark of humanity.
“I don’t think so. We both know about your failed engagement. Celebrate Belle and Doug’s love.
I’m very sorry about that,” Belle froze at the words, quoted from her wedding invitation.
“Who are you?” she managed again. “What do you want from me?”
“Now we’re getting someplace.” The man produced a vial from his pocket and set it on the table. “I want you to swallow these sleeping pills I found in your medicine cabinet the last time I was here. I have augmented what was there with some that I brought with me tonight, so there will be more than enough to achieve our goal. But before you take these pills, I want you to copy and sign a brief note I have composed explaining your despondency and your desire not to live anymore. And finally, I want you to undress, step into your tub, and go to sleep. See? Simple and absolutely painless.”
Belle felt her breathing stop. This couldn’t be happening. She wouldn’t do it. He wouldn’t be able to pry her jaws apart with a crowbar. She began to hyperventilate and shake, grabbing and releasing the arms of her chair.
“I won’t do it.”
“You will.”
“I won’t!” she began screaming. “I won’t! I won’t! Help! Someone help m–!“
Her words were cut off by exquisite pressure around her throat. A hard rubber ball was forced expertly between her teeth and into her mouth. The killer remained absolutely calm during the insertion.
“That was stupid, Ms. Coates. Do anything stupid again, and you will be responsible for causing both yourself and your sister a great deal of pain.”
Belle stared up at him, wide-eyed. The mention of her sister was a dagger.
Hyperventilating through her nose, she still could not seem to get in enough air.
“That’s right,” the man said. “I know all about Jillian. Just like I know all about you. Now, refuse to do exactly as I say, try anything stupid again, and I promise, both you and Jillian will die prolonged and painful deaths. Understand? I said, do you understand?” Belle nodded vigorously. “I’m still not certain you do. Now listen, Ms. Coates, and for your sister’s sake, believe me. I have no contract to kill Jillian only you. And with very rare exceptions, those I am not paid to kill, I don’t kill.”
He took out his mobile phone, made a gentle tap on the screen’s touch display, and held it up for Belle to see.
“I assume you recognize your sister’s condo in VirginiaArlington, to be exact, four-eighty-nine Bristol Court to be even more exact. Nod if you agree that is the case. Good. I know how close you two are. You see, I read your journal, or diary, including entries from the trip to Nassau that Jillian took you on after you learned about Doug’s how shall I say, dalliance with your friend Margo. Surgeons. They are just so full of themselves, aren’t they. I see you are having a little trouble breathing. Okay, here’s the deal: I’ll remove that ball if I get your assurance you will stay quiet and still.”
Belle grunted her agreement and again nodded. The man pulled the ball out keeping his fingers clear of her teeth, and dropped it into his pocket.
“Now,” he said, “what you are about to watch is a live video feedlive, as in it’s happening in four-eighty-nine Bristol Court right this very instant.”
Belle stared in disbelief at the full-color projection. The footage was unquestionably taken from her sister’s tastefully and lovingly decorated condominium. She was certain that the woman sleeping alone in the queen-size bed, was Jillian, also a nurse, and one of the main reasons Belle, herself had chosen the profession. Upon the automobile deaths of their parents, Jillian had stepped in to raise her fourteen-year-old sister, often making major sacrifices in her personal life. Belle considered her to be the kindest, brightest, most centered person she had ever known. The camera had been placed above the valance in the bedroom. At the sight of Jillian, rolling languidly from her left side to her back, Belle began to hyperventilate again.
“Easy,” the man warned. “Slow down. That’s it. . . . That’s it.
“Please. Please don’t hurt her.”
The apparition holding the phone leaned forward. Belle cringed as his empty eyes came level with her own. His pale white skin was tinted blue, a ghoulish illusion cast by her ecologically friendly halogen lights.
“You must calm down your breathing and listen, Ms. Coates. To save your sister’s life, and yourself from a great deal of pain, it is essential that you believe I will do as I say.”
“I believe. I believe. Turn it off. Turn that camera off and leave her alone.”
“I’m going to make you a promise Ms. Coates,” he whispered, his lips brushing her ear. “I promise that if you fail to follow my instructions, Jillian will die, and die quite horribly. Do as I say and she lives. Want proof? Look here.” He held the phone at eye-level.
“Enough,” Belle pleaded. “Don’t hurt her.”
“I’ve placed small canisters of a potent nerve gas above the door frame inside the closet. From this phone, I can control how much of the gas is released simply by tapping my finger. Incredible, yes? I am a virtuoso operating this set-up. I put another camera in Jillian’s bathroom because I want you to see what happens when just a smidge of this gas is inhaled.”
“No, please. Please stop this. I believe you.”
The intruder paid no attention. It was as if he had planned this demonstration all along. Belle’s brain was spinning. How could she believe him? How could she not? What choice did she have? Would he really spare Jillian as he promised? Why would he? Why wouldn’t he? The unanswerable questions roiled on and on.
“If I wanted to,” he said as if reading her thoughts, “I could kill your sister. I could kill anyone–any time, any place, and in any way I wish. But the point is I don’t have to. I don’t even want to. She seems like a nice woman. And as I said, there is nothing in her death for me.”
He made two gentle taps on the phone’s display, and Jillian’s quaint bathroom came into focus, illuminated by a night light beside the sink, and small a diamond-shaped window above the tub.
“There are four levels of gas I can administer. The first three will cause increasing pain and the symptoms you are about to see. The fourth will kill . . . slowly. This is level one.”
Within seconds, Jillian, wearing flannel pajamas Belle had bought for her, burst into the frame, fell onto her knees, and began retching violently into the toilet. Between bouts, she lay clenched in a fetal position on the tiled floor, shivering uncontrollably.
“Can you believe that’s only level one?” the man asked. “I think I should patent this delivery system.”
“Stop it! Stop doing this to her,” Belle cried.
“Keep it down or I’ll cut your larynx out and set it on the table. I’m sensing you need a bit more motivation Ms. Coates. Allow me to oblige by upping Jillian’s misery to level two. I’ll keep it on level two until you start copying this note. Audio is really a must to get the full effect.”
He tapped his phone’s display again and now Belle could hear Jillian’s grunting, labored breathing, interrupted by fits of gut-wrenching vomiting and sobs of pain.
“Please stop. I believe you. I believe you.”
He loosened her left hand and pushed the note she was to copy in front of her.
“Start writing your farewell letter, Ms. Coates. When you do, I’ll stop killing your sister,” he said.
Belle’s face contorted in agony at the sound of Jillian’s unrelenting anguish.
“Please”
“Do you need more volume? Write the damn note!” the monster barked, pounding the table with each word. “You’re dead regardless. But you can still save your sister’s life, that is if you have the courage to do the right thing.”
The man shut off the gas as soon as Belle began to write. In just a minute, Jillian’s moaning stopped. Belle managed to pen the first four words before she began to sob.
“Finish,” he said, “or, I’ll fire it up again.”
“Why me? I haven’t done anything wrong. I don’t even know you. Why do you want me to die?”
“Not my call. Somebody in this great big world of ours has decided you have to go. And that somebody is paying me to make it happen. I can do it to you alone or to both of you.”
“This is insane,” she said, as much to herself as to the man who was about to murder her. “This is absolutely insane.”
“I guess you enjoy listening to your sister scream. Allow me to show you level three.”
The tormented retching Belle heard could scarcely be described as human. On the tiny video display, Jillian’s body convulsed more violently than before. Soon as Belle lifted up the pen again, the man pressed a button on his phone and her sister’s screaming stopped. Belle found the strength to finish copying the note.
“I’m a man of my word, Ms. Coates. I’m also very good with handwriting and I have a large sample of yours from your journal. Mess with this and I’ll dismember you joint by joint with that ball stuck back in your mouth. You’ll still be alive to watch when I finally jack up the gas in Jillian’s pad to level four.”
“I did as you asked. Let her go.”
“Sign it.” The man studied the note with great care. “Okay, now the pills.” He shook the pills onto the table, motioning her to take one.
“Please,” Belle begged, still trying to make inroads into the utter helplessness she was feeling. “Who’s paying you? Why do they want to kill me?”
“I’m running out of time and patience.”
The man pressed a button on his phone like a puppet master pulling on invisible strings. Jillian’s body again twitched with violent spasms.
“No! You promised!” Belle cried.
“You have the power to make this easier on Jillian. Think of all your sister has done for you. You owe it to her, don’t you? Make me stop. I want you to stop me, Ms. Coates.”
She could not listen to her sister’s cries anymore. Her only thought was of the man’s chilling proclamation.
You’re dead regardless.
As though in a trance, her hand shakily reached out. Jillian’s moaning abated soon as Belle swallowed the first pill.
“Please don’t. No more.”
“Keep swallowing and that’s the last time you have to hear that nasty sound, Ms. Coates.
Belle tightened her jaw and nodded that she understood.
“Promise?” Her voice sounded like a child’s. “I said, do you promise?” “Ms. Coates, I might be a killer, but I’m a professional. You have my word. But I’m going to resume torturing your beloved sister unless all these pills are down the hatch.”
It was too much to take. Belle raced to swallow the pills.
What else can I do? her mind kept asking. What else can I do? . . . What else can I do?
The action, in a way, was liberating. Her heart rate slowed and her tears stopped. In minutes, she no longer felt agitated or even frightened. The man’s eyes, once haunting, now made her feel nothing at all.
“Good girl You are simply going to close your eyes and go to sleep.”
Her tongue already felt heavy. “You promised,” Belle managed.
“You have my word.”
After a while, he filled the tub, then undid her restraints. “Clothes,” he said.
Feeling the wooziness of the drug take further hold, Belle stepped out of her scrubs and dropped her bra and panties onto the floor.
Then she stepped into the tub.
“I love you Jillian,” she murmured. “I love you.”
“I know you can’t believe this is happening, Ms. Coates, but I assure you it is. I have been paid and paid very well to kill you.”
Belle Coates looked up at the intruder through a glaze of tears.
“Please. Just tell me what you want,” she said.
“Just tell me what you want and you can have it.
Anything. Anything at all.”
The man sighed.
“You’re not paying attention, Ms. Coates,” he said with the accentuated patience of a third grade teacher. “I am not here to bargain. I told you that. I’m here because this is what I get paid to do.”
“But why? Why me?”
Belle made yet another futile attempt to stand. Her wrists and ankles were lashed to her kitchen chair by the sort of Velcro restraints she and other hospital nurses used so often on difficult patients.
“Those restraints look amazingly simple,” the intruder said, “but I tell you they are a marvel of engineering and ergonomics. No pain, no marks. None at all. That’s why I have a dozen or so sets of them in the drawer at home.”
The man, six feet tall and wiry, had been hidden inside Belle’s apartment, probably behind the couch in the living room, when she arrived home at nearly midnight. Her nursing shiftthree-to-eleven in the cardiac surgery ICU at the Central Charlotte Medical Center–had been a tough one, and she had relished every stair of the trudge that brought her closer to her apartment, a cup of tea, and a steamy shower.
She was just choosing a tea when he appeared in the doorway of her kitchen, an apparition in sky blue surgical hair and feet covers, and latex gloves, black jeans, black long-sleeved T. She was so fixated on his appearance that it was several seconds before she noticed the huge, gleaming knife dangling at his side. Her hesitation was more than enough. In two quick strides he was beside her, seizing a handful of her hair, snapping her head back, and pressing the blade against her throat. With just enough restraint to keep from drawing blood, he forced her down onto one of the oak chairs she had recently refinished, and in moments, the restraints were on her. It had happened that fast.
A dozen or so sets in my drawer.
The statement was as terrifying as the knife.
Was he a serial rapist? A psychotic killer?
Desperately, searching for even the smallest inroad to understanding the intruder, Belle tried to remain calm and remember if she had read about such a man in the papers, or heard about him on the news.
“What do you want?” she said. “My fianc will be home any minute.”
He fixed her with pale, translucent blue eyes, that were devoid of even the slightest spark of humanity.
“I don’t think so. We both know about your failed engagement. Celebrate Belle and Doug’s love.
“I’m very sorry about that,” Belle froze at the words, quoted from her wedding invitation.
“Who are you?” she managed again. “What do you want from me?”
“Now we’re getting someplace.” The man produced a vial from his pocket and set it on the table. “I want you to swallow these sleeping pills I found in your medicine cabinet the last time I was here. I have augmented what was there with some that I brought with me tonight, so there will be more than enough to achieve our goal. But before you take these pills, I want you to copy and sign a brief note I have composed explaining your despondency and your desire not to live anymore. And finally, I want you to undress, step into your tub, and go to sleep. See? Simple and absolutely painless.”
Belle felt her breathing stop. This couldn’t be happening. She wouldn’t do it. He wouldn’t be able to pry her jaws apart with a crowbar. She began to hyperventilate and shake, grabbing and releasing the arms of her chair.
“I won’t do it.”
“You will.”
“I won’t!” she began screaming. “I won’t! I won’t! Help! Someone help m–!“
Her words were cut off by exquisite pressure around her throat. A hard rubber ball was forced expertly between her teeth and into her mouth. The killer remained absolutely calm during the insertion.
“That was stupid, Ms. Coates. Do anything stupid again, and you will be responsible for causing both yourself and your sister a great deal of pain.”
Belle stared up at him, wide-eyed. The mention of her sister was a dagger. Hyperventilating through her nose, she still could not seem to get in enough air.
“That’s right,” the man said. “I know all about Jillian. Just like I know all about you. Now, refuse to do exactly as I say, try anything stupid again, and I promise, both you and Jillian will die prolonged and painful deaths. Understand? I said, do you understand?” Belle nodded vigorously. “I’m still not certain you do. Now listen, Ms. Coates, and for your sister’s sake, believe me. I have no contract to kill Jillianonly you. And with very rare exceptions, those I am not paid to kill, I don’t kill.”
He took out his mobile phone, made a gentle tap on the screen’s touch display, and held it up for Belle to see.
“I assume you recognize your sister’s condo in VirginiaArlington, to be exact, four-eighty-nine Bristol Court to be even more exact. Nod if you agree that is the case. Good. I know how close you two are. You see, I read your journal, or diary, including entries from the trip to Nassau that Jillian took you on after you learned about Doug’s how shall I say, dalliance with your friend Margo. Surgeons. They are just so full of themselves, aren’t they. I see you are having a little trouble breathing. Okay, here’s the deal: I’ll remove that ball if I get your assurance you will stay quiet and still.”
Belle grunted her agreement and again nodded. The man pulled the ball out keeping his fingers clear of her teeth, and dropped it into his pocket.
“Now,” he said, “what you are about to watch is a live video feedlive, as in it’s happening in four-eighty-nine Bristol Court right this very instant.”
Belle stared in disbelief at the full-color projection. The footage was unquestionably taken from her sister’s tastefully and lovingly decorated condominium. She was certain that the woman sleeping alone in the queen-size bed, was Jillian, also a nurse, and one of the main reasons Belle, herself had chosen the profession. Upon the automobile deaths of their parents, Jillian had stepped in to raise her fourteen-year-old sister, often making major sacrifices in her personal life. Belle considered her to be the kindest, brightest, most centered person she had ever known. The camera had been placed above the valance in the bedroom. At the sight of Jillian, rolling languidly from her left side to her back, Belle began to hyperventilate again.
“Easy,” the man warned. “Slow down. That’s it. . . . That’s it.
“Please. Please don’t hurt her.”
The apparition holding the phone leaned forward. Belle cringed as his empty eyes came level with her own. His pale white skin was tinted blue, a ghoulish illusion cast by her ecologically friendly halogen lights.
“You must calm down your breathing and listen, Ms. Coates. To save your sister’s life, and yourself from a great deal of pain, it is essential that you believe I will do as I say.”
“I believe. I believe. Turn it off. Turn that camera off and leave her alone.”
“I’m going to make you a promise Ms. Coates,” he whispered, his lips brushing her ear. “I promise that if you fail to follow my instructions, Jillian will die, and die quite horribly. Do as I say and she lives. Want proof? Look here.”
He held the phone at eye-level.
“Enough,” Belle pleaded. “Don’t hurt her.”
“I’ve placed small canisters of a potent nerve gas above the door frame inside the closet. From this phone, I can control how much of the gas is released simply by tapping my finger. Incredible, yes? I am a virtuoso operating this set-up. I put another camera in Jillian’s bathroom because I want you to see what happens when just a smidge of this gas is inhaled.”
“No, please. Please stop this. I believe you.”
The intruder paid no attention. It was as if he had planned this demonstration all along. Belle’s brain was spinning. How could she believe him? How could she not? What choice did she have? Would he really spare Jillian as he promised? Why would he? Why wouldn’t he? The unanswerable questions roiled on and on.
“If I wanted to,” he said as if reading her thoughts, “I could kill your sister. I could kill anyone–any time, any place, and in any way I wish. But the point is I don’t have to. I don’t even want to. She seems like a nice woman. And as I said, there is nothing in her death for me.”
He made two gentle taps on the phone’s display, and Jillian’s quaint bathroom came into focus, illuminated by a night light beside the sink, and small a diamond-shaped window above the tub.
“There are four levels of gas I can administer. The first three will cause increasing pain and the symptoms you are about to see. The fourth will kill . . . slowly. This is level one.”
Within seconds, Jillian, wearing flannel pajamas Belle had bought for her, burst into the frame, fell onto her knees, and began retching violently into the toilet. Between bouts, she lay clenched in a fetal position on the tiled floor, shivering uncontrollably.
“Can you believe that’s only level one?” the man asked. “I think I should patent this delivery system.”
“Stop it! Stop doing this to her,” Belle cried.
“Keep it down or I’ll cut your larynx out and set it on the table. I’m sensing you need a bit more motivation Ms. Coates. Allow me to oblige by upping Jillian’s misery to level two. I’ll keep it on level two until you start copying this note. Audio is really a must to get the full effect.”
He tapped his phone’s display again and now Belle could hear Jillian’s grunting, labored breathing, interrupted by fits of gut-wrenching vomiting and sobs of pain.
“Please stop. I believe you. I believe you.”
He loosened her left hand and pushed the note she was to copy in front of her.
“Start writing your farewell letter, Ms. Coates. When you do, I’ll stop killing your sister,” he said.
Belle’s face contorted in agony at the sound of Jillian’s unrelenting anguish.
“Please”
“Do you need more volume? Write the damn note!” the monster barked, pounding the table with each word. “You’re dead regardless. But you can still save your sister’s life, that is if you have the courage to do the right thing.”
The man shut off the gas as soon as Belle began to write. In just a minute, Jillian’s moaning stopped. Belle managed to pen the first four words before she began to sob.
“Finish,” he said, “or, I’ll fire it up again.”
“Why me? I haven’t done anything wrong. I don’t even know you. Why do you want me to die?”
“Not my call. Somebody in this great big world of ours has decided you have to go. And that somebody is paying me to make it happen. I can do it to you alone or to both of you.”
“This is insane,” she said, as much to herself as to the man who was about to murder her. “This is absolutely insane.”
“I guess you enjoy listening to your sister scream. Allow me to show you level three.”
The tormented retching Belle heard could scarcely be described as human. On the tiny video display, Jillian’s body convulsed more violently than before. Soon as Belle lifted up the pen again, the man pressed a button on his phone and her sister’s screaming stopped. Belle found the strength to finish copying the note.
“I’m a man of my word, Ms. Coates. I’m also very good with handwriting and I have a large sample of yours from your journal. Mess with this and I’ll dismember you joint by joint with that ball stuck back in your mouth. You’ll still be alive to watch when I finally jack up the gas in Jillian’s pad to level four.”
“I did as you asked. Let her go.”
“Sign it.” The man studied the note with great care. “Okay, now the pills.”
He shook the pills onto the table, motioning her to take one.
“Please,” Belle begged, still trying to make inroads into the utter helplessness she was feeling. “Who’s paying you? Why do they want to kill me?”
“I’m running out of time and patience.”
The man pressed a button on his phone like a puppet master pulling on invisible strings. Jillian’s body again twitched with violent spasms.
“No! You promised!” Belle cried.
“You have the power to make this easier on Jillian. Think of all your sister has done for you. You owe it to her, don’t you? Make me stop. I want you to stop me, Ms. Coates.”
She could not listen to her sister’s cries anymore. Her only thought was of the man’s chilling proclamation.
You’re dead regardless.
As though in a trance, her hand shakily reached out. Jillian’s moaning abated soon as Belle swallowed the first pill.
“Please don’t. No more.”
“Keep swallowing and that’s the last time you have to hear that nasty sound, Ms. Coates.
Belle tightened her jaw and nodded that she understood.
“Promise?” Her voice sounded like a child’s. “I said, do you promise?”
“Ms. Coates, I might be a killer, but I’m a professional. You have my word. But I’m going to resume torturing your beloved sister unless all these pills are down the hatch.”
It was too much to take. Belle raced to swallow the pills.
What else can I do? her mind kept asking. What else can I do? . . . What else can I do?
The action, in a way, was liberating. Her heart rate slowed and her tears stopped. In minutes, she no longer felt agitated or even frightened. The man’s eyes, once haunting, now made her feel nothing at all.
“Good girl You are simply going to close your eyes and go to sleep.”
Her tongue already felt heavy. “You promised,” Belle managed.
“You have my word.”
After a while, he filled the tub, then undid her restraints.
“Clothes,” he said.
Feeling the wooziness of the drug take further hold, Belle stepped out of her scrubs and dropped her bra and panties onto the floor.
Michael Palmer, M.D., is the author of the forthcoming The First Patient (2008), The Fifth Vial, The Society, Fatal, The Patient, Miracle Cure, Critical Judgment, Silent Treatment, Natural Causes, Extreme Measures, Flashback, Side Effects, and The Sisterhood. His books have been translated into thirty-five languages. He trained in internal medicine at Boston City and Massachusetts General Hospitals, spent twenty years as a full-time practitioner of internal and emergency medicine, and is now an associate director of the Massachusetts Medical Society’s physician health program.
Be sure to visit Michael's website by (clicking here)
*(please note that The Last Surgeon is available for pre-order at Michael's website)
GIVEAWAY!
Micheal has graciously and generously agreed to give away one signed copy of the awesome book, The Last Surgeon! Now, since the release of The Last Surgeon is not until Feb. 16th, I thought it may be fun to be able to pick a winner prior to that. With that in mind, the contest will be open until midnight Feb. 7th with the winner being drawn on Feb. 8th. All that is required to enter is a comment below along with your email address, so that I can easily reach you, if you are the lucky winner. Also, since I am fairly new to the Medical Thriller genre, I would love to hear what some of your other favorite book titles are in the genre.
