BLURBS:
Eppie Winner ~ Best Thriller
- 1992
SHE DARED TO CHALLENGE A MERCILESS
KILLER
Raised in an atmosphere of violence and
unpredictability, Ellen and Gail Morgan have banded together, survivors of a
booze-fertilized battleground, forming a fierce united front against an often
cold and uncaring world. When their parents are killed in a car crash, Ellen
becomes the mother figure for Gail.
When fifteen years later Gail is
brutally raped and murdered in her shabby New York basement apartment,
practically on the eve of her big breakthrough as a singer, Ellen is
inconsolable. Rage at her younger sister's murder has nearly consumed her. So
when her work as a psychologist wins her an appearance on the evening news,
Ellen seizes the moment. Staring straight into the camera, she challenges the
killer to come out of hiding: "Why don't you come after me? I'll be
waiting for you."
Phone calls flood the station, but all
leads go nowhere. The police investigation seems doomed to failure. Then it
happens: a note, written in red ink, slipped under the windshield wipers of her
car, 'YOU'RE IT.' Ellen has stirred the monster in his lair … and the hunter
has become the hunted!
Defective:Therapist Melanie Snow is driving to her office when her Honda is
struck by a dark-colored van and sent spinning into a ditch, where it catches
fire. The driver never stops. A passerby pulls Melanie from the car just
seconds before it explodes.
Waking from the coma
nine days later, she is devastated to find she is blind.
As Melanie
struggles to cope with her new reality, life as a blind woman, her fragile
state of mind is further threatened by a madman who is stalking and strangling
disabled women. The first two victims were mentally challenged and Detective
Matt O’Leary, who carries a torch for Melanie, (even though Melanie is engaged
to someone else) tells himself she is not the killer’s targeted prey. But then
a woman who lost a leg to cancer is murdered, and another physically disabled
woman is stalked. Even with a whole town in terror, Melanie refuses to live her
life in fear and reopens her practice in the basement of her home. She has a
living to earn.
And Detective
Matt O’Leary must find a way to keep Melanie safe until the monster is caught.
But how? Her door is now open to the public and the killer can just walk
through anytime he chooses.
And he does.
Excerpt from NOWHERE TO HIDE:
NOT ALONE
It was nice to be alone. As she brushed her hair, Gail launched into her favorite fantasy of buying her sister a white Ferrari. Ellen's birthday was coming up in May; she'd have the car delivered right up to her door, a big red bow tied on the antenna ... dream on, girl she told herself, grinning at her reflection in the mirror.
Tiger padded into the room just then, winding his sleek, warm body around her bare ankles, purring like an old washing machine.
I owe her so much, Tiger, Gail said, reaching down to stroke the cat's soft, glossy fur. If it wasn't for...
Suddenly, Tiger's back arched under her hand and he hissed. Gail's heart leapt in her breast and her hand drew back as if burned. "What the...?" But Tiger, fur standing on end, had already fled the room. Gail turned in her chair just in time to see his electrified, retreating tail...
Then she caught a movement from the corner of her eye. Turning, she froze at the sight of the closet door slowly opening.
Chapter One
August 6, 1979
As he made his way along the darkened corridor, breathing the stale, hot air, his progress slowed by the long, heavy skirt he wore, he had to stoop. At seventeen, though narrow-shouldered, he was nearly six feet tall.
Sweat was trickling down between his shoulder- blades, and under the wig, his head felt squirmy, so he took the wig off and stuffed it into his pants pocket, under the skirt.
And then he was there. He could see the thin beam of light shining through, projecting a tiny star on the wall. It was coming through the place where two Sundays ago, when they were all at Chapel, he had made a peephole. He'd made it by simply pounding a nail through, then drawing it cleanly back out so that there would be nothing detectible on the other side - no more than a black dot.
A giggle floated through to him and the smile froze on his face, his fists clenching involuntarily. No, it can't be me they're laughing at. They can't see me. They don't know I'm here. I'm invisible, remember? Calming himself, he slowly brought his face to the wall.
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
It was nice to be alone. As she brushed her hair, Gail launched into her favorite fantasy of buying her sister a white Ferrari. Ellen's birthday was coming up in May; she'd have the car delivered right up to her door, a big red bow tied on the antenna ... dream on, girl she told herself, grinning at her reflection in the mirror.
Tiger padded into the room just then, winding his sleek, warm body around her bare ankles, purring like an old washing machine.
I owe her so much, Tiger, Gail said, reaching down to stroke the cat's soft, glossy fur. If it wasn't for...
Suddenly, Tiger's back arched under her hand and he hissed. Gail's heart leapt in her breast and her hand drew back as if burned. "What the...?" But Tiger, fur standing on end, had already fled the room. Gail turned in her chair just in time to see his electrified, retreating tail...
Then she caught a movement from the corner of her eye. Turning, she froze at the sight of the closet door slowly opening.
Chapter One
August 6, 1979
As he made his way along the darkened corridor, breathing the stale, hot air, his progress slowed by the long, heavy skirt he wore, he had to stoop. At seventeen, though narrow-shouldered, he was nearly six feet tall.
Sweat was trickling down between his shoulder- blades, and under the wig, his head felt squirmy, so he took the wig off and stuffed it into his pants pocket, under the skirt.
And then he was there. He could see the thin beam of light shining through, projecting a tiny star on the wall. It was coming through the place where two Sundays ago, when they were all at Chapel, he had made a peephole. He'd made it by simply pounding a nail through, then drawing it cleanly back out so that there would be nothing detectible on the other side - no more than a black dot.
A giggle floated through to him and the smile froze on his face, his fists clenching involuntarily. No, it can't be me they're laughing at. They can't see me. They don't know I'm here. I'm invisible, remember? Calming himself, he slowly brought his face to the wall.
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
In
addition to her critically acclaimed novels, Joan Hall Hovey's articles and
short stories have appeared in such diverse publications as The Toronto Star,
Atlantic Advocate, Seek, Home Life Magazine, Mystery Scene, The New Brunswick
Reader, Fredericton Gleaner, New Freeman and Kings County Record. Her short
story Dark Reunion was selected for the anthology investigating Women,
Published by Simon & Pierre.
Ms.
Hovey has held workshops and given talks at various schools and libraries in
her area, including New Brunswick Community College, and taught a course in
creative writing at the University of New Brunswick. For a number of years, she
has been a tutor with Winghill School, a distance education school in Ottawa
for aspiring writers.
She
is a member of the Writer's Federation of New Brunswick, past regional
Vice-President of Crime Writers of Canada, Mystery Writers of America and
Sisters in Crime.
Defective
on Amazon:
Nowhere
to Hide on Amazon:
Praise for Joan Hall
Hovey’s Books
“…suspense that puts her
right up there with the likes of Sandford and Patterson..." Ingrid Taylor for Small Press Review
"...Alfred
Hitchcock and Stephen King come to mind, but JOAN HALL HOVEY is in a Class by
herself!…"
J.D. Michael Phelps, Author of My Fugitive, David Janssen
"…CANADIAN MISTRESS OF SUSPENSE…The author has a remarkable ability to turn up the heat on the suspense… great characterizations and dialogue…" James Anderson, author of Deadline
J.D. Michael Phelps, Author of My Fugitive, David Janssen
"…CANADIAN MISTRESS OF SUSPENSE…The author has a remarkable ability to turn up the heat on the suspense… great characterizations and dialogue…" James Anderson, author of Deadline
Joan will award one randomly drawn
commenter a $50 gift certificate for sunglasses at Sunglasses Shack (US/Canada only).
The tour dates can
be found here: http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2013/06/blurb-blitz-suspense-from-joan-hall.html
11 comments:
Now that sounds like a thriller! A very nice cover too.
All the best with your release.
Thank you for hosting
Very eye catching cover
Thanks for hosting me today, Sandra. I appreciate it. Thanks too to Goddess Fish Promotions.
And good luck in the contest everyone~
Happy Reading!
Joan
joanhallhovey.com
Glad you like the cover, Pat, Shelley. Hope you enjoy the books.
Joan.
congrats to Joan on her new book :)
Congrats to Joan. I love the cover!
What an exciting sounding story. Loved the excerpt. It was a real thriller
WOW, Nowhere to Hide looks fantastic!
Thanks for all the lovely comments. Much appreciated.
Joan
joanhallhovey.com
Good luck, Joan.
Thanks to all who stopped by to support Joan.
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