Title: Abraham’s Men
Author: Kristen Selleck
Series: Birch Harbor Series #2
Genre: YA
Paranormal Romance
Published: October 2012
Published by: Brother Maynard Publishing
Published by: Brother Maynard Publishing
Book Description
College
sophomore Chloe Adams returns to Birch Harbor determined to find the remnants
of the secret society known as Abraham's Men.
Yet, the
only clues she has are the words 'find Ian Rose' and a strange coded journal
that once belonged to her father.
No
longer able to hear the voices that have plagued her for most of her life, and
finally having the loving home she has always dreamed of, Chloe struggles to
define what she wants--
Until
fate and her mentor conspire to offer her the chance to discover the truth.
Unfortunately,
the truth might kill her.
Excerpt
Here’s a little snippet from Chapter 1
Seth,
I
know how much you like hearing the words ‘you were right’, so here you go: YOU
WERE RIGHT! I don’t know what the point of coming home was. I’m starting to think that between me and my
mom, I’m the saner one…so that’s good.
Maybe
by the time you get back to the college and can actually read this, I’ll be
back in ‘da U.P.’-- I think I’m going through pastie withdrawal.
I
hope you’re having a great time! (no, I don’t really. I kind of hope you’re absolutely miserable
and missing me at least half as much as I’m missing you.) What I was trying to ask you before we got
cut off was, when are you coming home??? I know you said you might be able to
switch your ticket because the flight coming back on the 14th wasn’t full yet,
but you never told me if you got it or not.
Please let me know ASAP. I want
to meet you at the airport.
I
miss you.
But
then again, don’t feel like you need to rush home or anything. I’m doing very well. Nothing strange, I promise. I had a good time
at Sams’, and we already got our room assignments for next semester…fourth
floor (I’m going to have outrageous glutes by Christmas, just watch.).
I
love you,
Chloe
Chloe
clicked the button and waited until she saw the confirmatory ‘your message has
been sent’, before shutting the computer down.
The blue glow of the shut-down screen bathed her mother’s personal
office in an eerie light. Only one
framed photo sat on the desk. It was of
her mother and sisters, Sara and Lisa, striking a formal pose in front of a
cloth backdrop of a fireplace.
It
made her angry all over again. Like she
didn’t exist! Out of sight, out of mind. She wanted to pick it up and hurl it. Maybe just to make sure that she was real,
that she could change things. Maybe she
was just a ghost, haunting a place she couldn’t leave because of the pain that
tied her to it…like George.
But
that was how insane people thought.
Chloe
rubbed her hands over the polished surface of the desk, waiting for the screen
to go black, so she could open the door and creep out unnoticed.
Her
mother was a strange one. What was with
the drinking anyway? Was she cracking up
in the house all by herself? What did
she have, now that all of her girls had gone off and left her?
Chloe’s
finger rubbed against a tiny crack in the perfect veneer of Debra Adam’s
desk. She traced it absentmindedly,
while the screen finally blinked and went black.
Was
she lonely? Did she have regrets? Did she think about her dead husband
ever? Did she wake up at night, alone,
and miss him? The woman was such a
perfectionist, so obsessed with making everything on the outside look
absolutely beautiful. Chloe could
remember being a little girl and watching her mother frost sugar cookies… each
pumpkin, with its orange frosted body and green stem, each having the same
black-lined jack-o-lantern grin. They
were so lovely, and to a small child, they all looked the same, but not to her
mother. She would stop sometimes, stare
at a cookie, and then toss it into the trash.
Chloe
never said anything, but her mother would answer the question anyhow: Its eye was lopsided. It was too brown. The mouth was smudged. Pay attention, Chloe! If you’re going to put in the effort, make
sure you do it right. If people know
you’re trying, and they see a mistake, they’ll think you can’t do any
better. It made Chloe wonder if the
cookies Debra brought to the bake sale were really to help the school, or to
make her feel superior to the other moms.
Somewhat
ironic that a woman who had been so obsessed with perfection, would sit at a
desk, day after day, and never notice the tiny little flaws right under her own
nose. Chloe could feel where the small
scratch branched …and then branched again…and again…like the letter E.
She
folded her hands and drew a deep breath.
Slowly,
she leaned forward and snapped on the gooseneck lamp that sat at the edge of
the desk. In its warming glow, the
surface of the desk looked like a sheet of dark ice. Chloe ran her hand over the top again,
stopping when she thought she felt something.
She
bent the neck of the lamp, bringing the light down so that it almost touched
the wood. It was there…barely. She traced it again with her finger to make
sure. It was underneath a coat of
varnish so that she couldn’t quite see it, but could still feel it. The one word she couldn‘t escape…H…E…L…P…
“I
will,” she whispered to a room that suddenly felt full of ghosts, “God help me,
I will.”
About
the Author
Kristen Selleck is avidly evil. Until recently,
she worked as a mad scientist. After several diabolical attempts at world
domination proved unsuccessful (most notably, building an army of robots from
used pipettes, empty reagent boxes, and other things left lying around the
lab), she decided to pick up the pen. She used the pen to poke an annoying lady
at the gas station in the eyeball. Then she decided to write.
She has been known to speak with a strong Russian
accent. This is inexplicable due to the fact that she was born in Detroit. It
has also been documented that she likes vodka, roller coasters, things which
are purple, and blowing things up with dry ice. She abhors kittens, wood
paneling popularized in the 1970's, and her arch-nemesis Jimmy (the Evil
Overlord of Specimen Processing). She was last known to reside in Grand Rapids,
and may be in the company of two evil apprentices, and her devoted henchman,
Shad. If seen, please contact the FBI immediately (she owes someone in
Accounting a sandwich).
Find Kristen
online at:
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This sounds like a good read too! Nice post.
ReplyDeleteIt certainly is!! You need to check it out!!
ReplyDelete