For weeks afterward, thousands of people gathered on Parliament grounds across Canada, some in support and some in protest. The pro-gun crowd wanted fewer restrictions on licensing, while the anti-gun crowd protested Canadians carrying weapons at all. Ironically, three people were injured two months ago outside Ottawa's Parliament Hill. They'd been shot by an enraged pro-gun advocate, while the anti-gun crowd carried around massive signs showing dead teenagers in a high school cafeteria and a blood-soaked Toronto alley sealed off with crime tape.
One particularly gruesome sign was a screen capture of Brett Laughlin slumped on his bed, brain matter pooling on the blanket beneath him. After being taunted mercilessly by a group of cyber-bullies, the shy, overweight sixteen-year-old had logged into an online video chat room, then sat down on the bed with his stepfather's newly purchased Walther PPX semi-automatic pistol hidden behind his back.
"Today is my last day of suffering. And I'm glad."
Brett spoke about his persecutors, about the beatings in the boys change room, about the time he'd been forced to lick one boy's feet clean. Sobbing uncontrollably, he told the world how difficult it was to not fit in.
"It's not easy being the most unpopular kid in school. I'm afraid every day of what they'll do to me. But no more. I can't do this anymore."
He described how he'd suffered at the hands of his stepfather who beat him for being weak and not fighting back.
"I just wanted to be liked. I didn't care if I was super popular, but maybe just some respect. Instead I was treated worse than an animal, and no one gave a shit. Not my mother, and especially not that asshole she married." He swiped at the tears on his face. "So why should I care? I'll never be popular. I'll never even be liked."
With millions of horrified people―mostly unsuspecting teens―watching live, Brett Laughlin put the gun to the side of his head and pulled the trigger. The gunshot was deafening.
In a matter of seconds, his grisly death had become the most popular cyber-suicide video to hit VidWurld, with over thirty million world-wide views before the Laughlin family got a court order to shut it down.
It was ironic. Brett had gotten his wish to become popular. But what a price he paid for it.
Jasi still couldn't get the kid's face out of her mind. He reminded her of her brother Brady―young, impetuous, troubled and filled with resentment. The perfect recipe for disaster.
Pro-gun supporters didn't seem to care what guns were doing to the youth on the street, and no one bothered to look at what gun rights had done to the USA. The United States of Arms, as some called it.
She sighed. "No one outside of law enforcement would be carrying if it weren't for Winkler and that other MP. What was his name?"
"Ravinder Sharma," Ben replied. "They sure surprised everyone with their votes."
"Wonder what made them change their minds."
"Who knows? Some people believe they have a God-given right to protect themselves at all costs."
"Well, they're half right," she said dryly. "They just don't realize they increase the chance of violence by simply having a gun in their possession. The people shot at the Ottawa protest have proven that."
Ben nodded. "Nothing worse than an angry mob."
Jasi thought of the corpse lying in the morgue.
"I don't think Monty Winkler would agree."
DIVINE JUSTICE will be released in May 2011, in ebook and trade paperback editions. Watch for it!
COMING IN MARCH 2011…
CHILDREN
of the
FOG
YOU HAVE 10 SECONDS TO MAKE A DECISION:
Let A Kidnapper Take Your Child, Or Watch Your Son Die.
Choose!
Sadie O'Connell is a bestselling author and a proud mother. But her life is about to spiral out of control. After her six-year-old son Sam is kidnapped by a serial abductor, she nearly goes insane. But it isn't just the fear and grief that is ripping her apart. It's the guilt. Sadie is the only person who knows what the kidnapper looks like. And she can't tell a soul. For if she does, her son will be sent back to her in "little bloody pieces".
When Sadie's unfaithful husband stumbles across her drawing of the kidnapper, he sets into play a series of horrific events that sends her hurtling over the edge. Sadie's descent into alcoholism leads to strange apparitions and a face-to-face encounter with the monster who abducted her son―a man known only as...The Fog.
A supernatural thriller by bestselling author
Cheryl Kaye Tardif
CHILDREN of the FOG will be available March 2011 in ebook edition, followed by trade paperback. Look for it at your favorite retailer.
Praise for Cheryl Kaye Tardif
DIVINE INTERVENTION
"An exciting book from start to finish. The futuristic elements are believable…plenty of surprising twists and turns. Good writing, good book! Sci-fi and mystery fans will love this book." ―Writer's Digest
"This chilling page-turner is a genuine Canadian crime novel...Tardif gives her readers plenty of twists and turns before reaching a satisfying ending." ―Midwest Book Review
"Para-psychic, Para-psychotic, Para-captivating! Ditto on the previous reviewers who loved the scenery, intricate plot lines with twists and turns...Divine Intervention captivated me." ―Yale R. Jaffe, author of Advantage Disadvantage
"[An] excellent suspenseful thriller…promises to keep readers engrossed…Watch for more from this gem in the literary world…" ―Real Estate Weekly
"Believable characters, and scorching plot twists. Anyone who is a fan of J.D. Robb [aka Nora Roberts] will thoroughly enjoy this one…Divine Intervention will undeniably leave you smoldering, and dying for more." ―Kelly Komm, author of Sacrifice, an award-winning fantasy
SKELETONS IN THE CLOSET & OTHER CREEPY STORIES
"A thoroughly entertaining and unabashedly Canadian collection of horror shorts - a straightforward, in-your-face, goosebump raising, skin crawling creep fest with brilliantly conceived endings..." ―Paul Weiss, Top 1000 Amazon Reviewer
WHALE SONG
"Tardif's story has that perennially crowd-pleasing combination of sweet and sad that so often propels popular commercial fiction…Tardif, already a big hit in Canada…a name to reckon with south of the border." ―Booklist
"Whale Song is deep and true, a compelling story of love and family and the mysteries of the human heart...a beautiful, haunting novel." ―NY Times bestselling novelist Luanne Rice, author of Beach Girls
"A wonderfully well-written novel. Wonderful characters [that] shine. The settings are exquisitely described. The writing is lyrical. Whale Song would make a wonderful movie." ―Writer's Digest
THE RIVER
"Cheryl Kaye Tardif has once again captivated readers in her third novel and latest suspense thriller, The River. Set in the wilds of Canada's north, The River combines intrigue, science, love and adventure and is sure to keep readers clamoring for more." ―Edmonton Sun
"Exciting and vivid…A thrilling adventure where science sniffs harder, desperate to find the fountain-of-youth." ―Midwest Book Review
Praise for Cherish D'Angelo (aka Cheryl Kaye Tardif)
LANCELOT'S LADY
"From the cold rocky shores of Maine to the extravagant mansions of Miami to a lush tropical island in the Bahamas, Cherish D'Angelo takes her heroine through a series of breathtaking romantic adventures that mirror the settings, often in surprisingly ironic ways. A page turner in the best possible sense." ―Gail Bowen, author of the award-winning Joanne Kilbourn series
"Cherish D'Angelo has got that mythical "voice" down to a fine art." ―Jennifer L. Hart, author of River Rats
"Lancelot's Lady is riveting. It holds on and won't let you go! Cherish D'Angelo's descriptive powers are amazing. She summons up scenes like genies from bottles!" ―Susan J. McLeod, author of Soul and Shadow
In the tradition of Stephen King, The Twilight Zone and The Hitchhiker, comes a terrifying collection of short stories in…
Skeleton
s in the Closet & Other Creepy Stories
Thirteen stories take you from one hold-your-breath chapter to the next.
Enter the closet…
A Grave Error
The Death of an Old Cow
Maid of Dishonor
Atrophy
Picture Perfect
Sweet Dreams
Separation Anxiety
The Car
Deadly Reunion
Remote Control
Ouija
Caller Unknown
Skeletons in the Closet
ISBN: (ebook)
Paperback coming soon!
Available at various retailers, including Amazon, Chapters and KoboBooks
Check out Cheryl Kaye Tardif's terrifying thriller…
The River
How far do we go until we've gone too far?
The South Nahanni River has a history of mysterious deaths, disappearances and headless corpses, but it may also hold the key to humanity's survival―or its destruction.
Seven years ago, Del Hawthorne's father and three of his friends disappeared near the Nahanni River and were presumed dead. When one of the missing men stumbles onto the University grounds, alive but barely recognizable and aging before her eyes, Del is shocked. Especially when the man tells her something inconceivable. Her father is still alive!
Gathering a group of volunteers, Del travels to the Nahanni River to rescue her father. There, she finds a secret underground river that plunges her into a technologically advanced world of nanobots and painful serums. Del uncovers a conspiracy of unimaginable horror, a plot that threatens to destroy us all. Will humanity be sacrificed for the taste of eternal life?
And at what point have we become…God?
"Tardif specializes in mile-a-minute potboiler mysteries." ―Edmonton Sun
ISBN: 9781412062299 (trade paperback)
ISBN: 978-0-9865382-3-0 (ebook)
Available at various retailers, including Amazon, Chapters and KoboBooks
Check out this romantic suspense by Cherish D'Angelo…
Lancelot's Lady
A Bahamas holiday from dying billionaire JT Lance, a man with a dark secret, leads palliative nurse Rhianna McLeod to Jonathan, a man with his own troubled past, and Rhianna finds herself drawn to the handsome recluse, while unbeknownst to her, someone with a horrific plan is hunting her down.
When palliative care nurse Rhianna McLeod is given a gift of a dream holiday to the Bahamas from her dying patient, billionaire JT Lance, Rhianna has no idea that her 'holiday' will include being stranded on a private island with Jonathan, an irritating but irresistibly handsome recluse. Or that she'll fall head over heels for the man.
Jonathan isn't happy to discover a drop-dead gorgeous redhead has invaded his island. But his anger soon turns to attraction. After one failed marriage, he has guarded his heart, but Rhianna's sudden appearance makes him yearn to throw caution to the wind.
To live fully in the present, Rhianna must resolve her own murky past, unravel the secret that haunts JT, foil the plans of a sleazy, blackmailing private investigator and help Jonathan find his muse. Only then can Rhianna find the love she's been searching for, and finally become...Lancelot's Lady.
ISBN: 978-0-9865382-8-5 (ebook)
New paperback edition coming soon
Available at most major ebook retailers, including Amazon's Kindle Store, KoboBooks.com and Smashwords.
Cheryl Kaye Tardif is an award-winning, bestselling Canadian suspense author. Her novels include Children of the Fog, The River, Divine Intervention, and Whale Song, which New York Times bestselling author Luanne Rice calls "a compelling story of love and family and the mysteries of the human heart...a beautiful, haunting novel."
Her next thriller, Divine Justice (book 2 in the Divine series), will be published in spring 2011, in ebook and trade paperback editions.
Cheryl also enjoys writing short stories inspired mainly by her author idol Stephen King, and this has resulted in Skeletons in the Closet & Other Creepy Stories (ebook) and Remote Control (novelette ebook).
In 2010 Cheryl detoured into the romance genre with her contemporary romantic suspense debut, Lancelot's Lady, written under the pen name of Cherish D'Angelo.
Booklist raves, "Tardif, already a big hit in Canada…a name to reckon with south of the border."
Cheryl's website: http://www.cherylktardif.com
Official blog: http://www.cherylktardif.blogspot.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/cherylktardif
You can also find Cheryl Kaye Tardif on MySpace, Facebook, Goodreads, Shelfari and LibraryThing, plus other social networks.
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