In the Author Spotlight


Mary Eason

Thanks for joining us. Mary is talking to us today about...

Regrets…

Regrets. We all have them. Some are just minor irritations in our day, such as a wrong shoe choice. A bad hairstyle. A decision to eat that extra large slice of chocolate when you (and more importantly your hips) didn't need it. I call them minor irritations because for the most part, they don't alter our life too drastically.

Yet, some regrets can turn into major heartaches. These are the ones that send your life spinning into a different direction. Sometimes for the better. Often for the worse. It could be a decision to change careers. Move to another city. Walk away from someone you love. All have the ability to radically alter your life and you. If they don't work out, either they can leave you broken and full of regret, or they can make you stronger.

I think most of us have experienced both types of regrets. I certainly have.

In my book, KILLER MOVES, that is the premise of the story.

Six years ago, Kara Bryant tapped into the mind of a serial killer—and nearly became his last victim. Her FBI colleague and lover, Davis Martin, put the murderer behind bars, then devastated her with his abrupt rejection. Worse, the vivid nightmares that followed her to her desert retreat have recently taken a fresh, frightening turn.

She should have foreseen that Davis would turn up. She’s just not sure her still-broken heart can take the strain.

Davis thought he’d made the right decision for everyone involved in a case that almost ended in disaster, thanks to his mistakes. But with a new string of killings that one by one is taking out the women of his past, suddenly he wonders if he let the real Death Angel get away. Kara is the only one who can help him nail the bastard for good this time—if she can forgive him.

He wasn’t expecting the woman he never stopped loving to love him back. Nor is he prepared to come face-to-face with Kara’s secret. One that raises the stakes impossibly high.

Sometimes regrets have the ability to knock us off course. And sometimes they send up in just the right direction we need to go.

All the best…
Mary Eason

www.maryeason.com
http://store.samhainpublishing.com/killer-moves-p-6651.html

FEATURED TITLE: KILLER MOVES
Available now at Samhain Publishing

Blurb:They’re a match made in the hallowed halls of Quantico. Until Death comes knocking…

Excerpt:

Kara's head throbbed with pain. Had since Ryan arrived in her life yesterday bringing unwelcome news that seem to confirm what she already knew in her heart. The Angel had returned.

The voices of the dead called out to her from their resting place in her closet where she’d tossed the photos after Ryan had left the day before. It had taken all her willpower to pick them up and put them away. Although Ryan didn’t initially say as much, Kara knew there were others. Two others to be exact. Rachel would just be his latest. But they all cried out to her, along with Rachel, the ex-wife of the man she both hated and loved. Kara had no idea how long she’d been sitting like that.

She wasn’t sure why she’d kept the folder in the first place. She should burn it before Ava got home from school, be done with it once and for all but she couldn’t bear to touch it. If she touched them, she would feel their pain. And in experiencing their pain, they would become real to her. She’d want to do something to help them. She couldn’t. She’d left that part of her life behind in DC. She was a mother now—a boutique owner. She was no longer a psychic.

As much as Kara tried to block out the voices of the dead, she tried even harder to break the link between her grandmother and herself. She couldn’t talk to Maggie about this and not fall apart. And she couldn’t fall apart for Ava’s sake. When the phone rang once more, Kara didn’t need to look at the caller ID to know it would be her grandmother. She ignored the phone and listened as the answering machine picked up. Maggie never left messages. She detested modern technology.

Silently, Kara promised to call her back later. It felt as if hours had passed, but in fact it was barely noon and she didn’t know what to do with herself. Too much empty time for thinking.

Kara’s thoughts went to Davis. If she picked up the phone, would she be able to reach him? Would he even want to hear from her? Slowly she dialed the familiar number to the VCIRD headquarters and waited. “Good afternoon, VCIRD’s DC Division. How may I direct your call?” the pleasant voice of the receptionist inquired politely.

“Agent Davis Martin, please.” The silence following her request lengthened along with Kara’s fears.

One click, followed by another then another before the receptionist questioned, “May I ask who is calling, please?” It took Kara longer than it should to realize what the clicking noise represented, but when she did, she slammed the receiver down. Idiot! She’d been out of the game far too long. She’d grown rusty. Davis’s ex-wife had just been murdered. Of course they’d monitor his calls for clues.

Kara still stood with the cordless handset in her hand when it rang again, and she feared the worst. Surely not enough time had passed to trace the call. Still, she couldn’t pick up. The answering machine clicked on and her grandmother’s frantic voice came into her living room. “Kara, it’s your grandmother. Kara, if you’re there, pick up. Child, don’t do it. Don’t take the case. Don’t go back to the past with—”

“Gran, I’m here.” Kara answered the call, wanting only to reassure her grandmother. “Don’t take the case. It’s too dangerous for you.” Of course Kara knew what her grandmother meant. After all, they both shared the bond of vision.

“I’m not. I’m not taking the case, Gran.” Kara paused for the moment before asking slowly, “What have you seen?”

“It doesn’t matter.” This meant it had been bad. Whenever her grandmother refused to share something, it was bad.

“Tell me, Gran.” She remained silent. “Is Ava in danger?” Dear God…no.

“I don’t know, but you are.” Kara drew much-needed air into her lungs. She couldn’t go through this again. She’d almost died the last time.

“Not like that, child. It’s far worse than that. Don’t go there, Kara.” She wanted to press for answers but she knew Maggie wouldn’t reveal them to her.

“I’m not taking the case, Gran,” she said instead.

“Thank God.” Maggie paused for a moment before asking, “You’ve seen him again, haven’t you? He isn’t dead.”

“Gran, Frankie Shepard is dead. He died that night. That’s over. Whoever is doing this now is just a copycat. They’ll catch him.”

“You don’t believe that. I can tell it in your voice. You always believed they framed the wrong man.”

“They’ll catch him,” Kara repeated once more, and really tried this time to mean it.

“Without your help?”

“Yes, without my help.”