by Ann M. Noser
But I’m not listening.
I turn back to the water glistening below me.
The first time I lost Mike in the river I wanted to die. Part of me drowned in the deep water beside him that night. But what survived feels better and stronger than before. I need to do something special with this gift I’ve been given.
I’ll help Walker solve Steve’s murder…and the others, too. As long as I have my Book of Shadows, I can fix everything.
The river won’t win, after all.
I will.
After everyone she raises from the dead sinks back into the river, Emma longs for a purpose. A schedule. Something to accomplish.
Then Officer Walker leaves a message on her voice mail: “There’s been another murder, and I need your help.”
With a bag of witchcraft supplies slung over her shoulder, Emma performs a séance for Walker at the site of the murder. But nothing happens until Emma gets back home.
Black smoke swirls inside the bathroom. An invisible force slams her head onto the tiled floor. A golden snake slithers across her legs, then impales her wrist with its icy teeth.
As the smoke clears and the images fade, the truth becomes clear.
This time around, Emma won’t just watch what happened. She’ll live it.
As Emma helps Officer Walker solve murder cases, she relives the horror of each victim’s last moments of life. From the edge of the river to the underground lair of the gang who murdered Steve, she endures it all.
As Emma weakens, both the victims and the murderers who killed them fight for control of her body and mind.
She’s possessed, and the voices inside her head won’t let her ask for help.
Even the Book of Shadows can’t save her now.
I am the product of a Librarian who married a Physics Professor. Before bed, my parents read chapters of Laura Ingalls Wilder and C. S. Lewis books to me. The words became so familiar that opening the pages of these books is like revisiting my childhood. Thank you for giving me a love of literature. My hope is that you would be proud of who I have become as a person.
A huge amount of thanks goes to my “Dream Team” writing group: Mike Kalmbach, Christa Worrell, and Danielle Allen. I owe you a debt that cannot be repaid. Your insight, patience, and assistance have proven invaluable.
Thanks to my husband, Josh Noser, who has so very often given me the gift of time.
Thanks to my wonderful friend, Colleen Chmelik, who has read and reread this book from the very first version. She is the best cheerleader a writer could ever have.
Sincere thanks to my beta readers: Kristin D. Van Risseghem, Rachel Erickson, Kerry Todd, Erin Todd, Janette Reeves, Brenda Kalmbach, Alison Rentschler, and Esther Washington.
Thanks to the Rochester MN Writing Group, who took me out of my self-imposed writing vacuum.
Curiosity Quills has been wonderful. Three individuals in particular have gone so far out of their way for me that they require special attention. Thanks to Clare Dugmore, who I predict has written five million emails on my behalf while marketing this book. Thanks to Alexandria Thompson, whose beautiful artwork graces the cover. And thanks to Caitlin Spivey, whose brilliant editing guidance helped me apply the final polish to the book.
Thanks to anyone who has ever encouraged me along the way.
My to-do list dictates that I try to cram 48 hours of living into a day instead of the usual 24. I’ve chosen a life filled with animals. I train for marathons with my dog, then go to work as a small animal veterinarian, and finish the day by tripping over my pets as I attempt to convince my two unruly children that YES, it really IS time for bed. But I can’t wait until the house is quiet to write; I have to steal moments throughout the day. Ten minutes here, a half hour there, I live within my imagination.
Like all busy American mothers, I multi-task. I work out plot holes during runs. Instead of meditating, I type madly during yoga stretches. I find inspiration in everyday things: a beautiful smile, a heartbreaking song, or a newspaper article on a political theory. For example, a long drive in the dark listening to an NPR program on the SMILEY FACE MURDERS theory made me ask so many questions that I wrote HOW TO DATE DEAD GUYS to answer them to my satisfaction.
I’d love to have more time to write (and run, read, and sleep), but until I find Hermione Granger’s time turner, I will juggle real life with the half-written stories in my head. Main characters and plot lines intertwine in my cranium, and I need to let my writing weave the tales on paper so I can find out what happens next.
Now that you have completed this book, we hope you will leave a review so that other readers may benefit from your perspective. Authors like Ann Noser live and die by your reviews, after all!
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Destruction, by Sharon Bayliss
(http://j.mp/1oPaiyw)
When David's two lost children are finally found, he learns they suffered years of unthinkable abuse. The children claim to be dark wizards, and David believes they use this fantasy to cope with their trauma. Until, David's wife admits a secret of her own—she is a dark wizard too, as is David, and all of their children.
Now, David must parent two hurting children from a dark world he doesn’t understand and keep his family from falling apart. All while dealing with the realization that everyone he loves, including himself, may be evil.
Sin, by Sharron Riddle
(http://j.mp/1oPaiyw)
My name is Sin. I killed a man in self-defense when I was sixteen. My dad wanted me committed, but Mom sent me to my druid priestess aunts in St. Charles, IL.
I’d barely unpacked before the aunts sent me to find the stolen hellhounds. Without the hounds to herd them to the underworld, the souls of the dead are flocking to the cities. If they’re still hanging around after three days, they’ll turn into zombies.
Van, an annoying Fey Prince, joins the hunt to find the hounds before the zombies overrun St. Charles and turn the cities into cemeteries.
The Devil's Flower, by Lisa Collicutt
(http://j.mp/1eCGzmB)
Killing isn’t exactly on Rosalie Lockwood’s list of things to do when she runs away from home. But despite her search for peace; guns and motorcycles become her latest fashion accessories as Divine interference leads her to Steele, co-leader of the Fallen Paladins motorcycle club.
Rosalieis immediately drawn into the dangers of his biker world—and into Steele’s heart.But he guards a secret that if Rosalie knew, could shatter their new love—along with the human race. The Dark and Light Realms collide as Rosalie chooses between life, death, and the ever-after to become that which she is fated to destroy.
Darkness Watching, by Emma L. Adams
(http://j.mp/1aFHJv1)
Eighteen-year-old Ashlyn is one interview away from her future when she first sees the demons. Having withdrawn from the outside world out of fear that she’s going mad, Ash is thrown back into reality when she moves away to university.
New friendships, bizarre flatmates and all-night pirate-themed parties are part of the package of student life. But when she meets Aquila, a reckless party-goer with a secret, Ash learns that there’s something else that drew her to the small village of Blackstone: the presence of the Venantium, gatekeepers of the barrier between our world and the Darkworld - the source of magic and the home of demons.
Appetizer:
Book Cover
Copyright & Publisher
Title Page
Dedication
Main Course:
Part One: Bewitched
Fear is a Relative Term
Chapter One: Confessions of a Wallflower
Chapter Two: Frisbee Guy
Chapter Three: Call Down the Moon
Chapter Four: Romeo, Wherefore Art my Brain?
Chapter Five: Where Are My Shoes?
Chapter Six: Officer Charlie Walker
Chapter Seven: Under a Bl
ood Moon
Chapter Eight: Dead Man on Campus
Chapter Nine: Project Help Abby
Chapter Ten: Ex-Roommate Advice
Chapter Eleven: Mail Theft
Chapter Twelve: Spiral Down
Chapter Thirteen: Jake
Chapter Fourteen: Chasing a Ghost
Chapter Fifteen: Thanksgiving
Chapter Sixteen: Cheater
Chapter Seventeen: Liar, Liar
Chapter Eighteen: Bringing Home a Boy
Chapter Nineteen: About Last Night
Chapter Twenty: I'll Be Home For Christmas
Part Two: Bewildered
Chapter Twenty-One: All I Want for Christmas is You
Chapter Twenty-Two: Silent Night
Chapter Twenty-Three: Surprise!
Chapter Twenty-Four: We've Got Company
Chapter Twenty-Five: Taming the Crew
Chapter Twenty-Six: Fatherly Advice
Chapter Twenty-Seven: Nosy Mama
Chapter Twenty-Eight: Back to School
Chapter Twenty-Nine: Ten Little Indians
Chapter Thirty: Not Yet
Chapter Thirty-One: Handy Man
Chapter Thirty-Two: So You Had a Bad Day
Chapter Thirty-Three: Making Mischief
Chapter Thirty-Four: Surprise Visit
Chapter Thirty-Five: The Reluctant Vegetarian
Chapter Thirty-Six: Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
Chapter Thirty-Seven: Who Doesn't Love Apple Pie
Chapter Thirty-Eight: Spring Thaw
Chapter Thirty-Nine: Mustangs and Castles
Chapter Forty: The Metal Rod
Chapter Forty-One: Spilling Secrets
Chapter Forty-Two: Help
Chapter Forty-Three: Labor Pains
Chapter Forty-Four: Don't Look in the Mirror
Chapter Forty-Five: In The Name of the Father
Chapter Forty-Six: Spin a Web
Chapter Forty-Seven: And Then There Was One
Chapter Forty-Eight: Showdown
Chapter Forty-Nine: Walker's Secret
Chapter Fifty: Roadkill
Chapter Fifty-One: Wedding Crashers
Chapter Fifty-Two: Take Me to the River
Dessert:
Teaser: How to Ditch Dead Guys (Book Two)
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Thank You for Reading
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