Thank you for having me today. A few years ago, I became
interested in the numerous unsolved Texas crimes along the I-45 corridor in an
area known as The Killing Fields. Since
the early 70s, bodies have been dumped in these Texas fields, located south of
Houston. Many young lives ended too soon and families were destroyed.
A Killer’s Field
is a short young adult Halloween story available in e-format. The novella is
fictional, but includes a few facts surrounding the I-45 murders.
I hope young readers will pick up a copy of this novella and
see the story for what it is—a warning with an underlying message. I won’t give
away spoilers here. However, I’d like to leave an excerpt and invite your
readers to check out A Killer’s Field,
on sale now at Devine Destinies.
Thank you for sharing your blog with me, Dawn. It’s great to
be here.
Susan Alvis
“A deadly event turns participants
into victims as a Texas killing field becomes ground zero for a Halloween hunt….”
A Killer’s Field, Susan Smith Alvis
Blurb:
Kristen McMurray is flabbergasted when her boyfriend decides to
take her to the Texas Killing Fields for Halloween. She’s not at all
impressed with his plans for a romantic evening, let alone the idea
of frolicking on the very grounds known to harbor the deadliest of
secrets.
Picturing a moonlit sky high above them and a murderer lurking in
the shadows, Kristen is convinced her boyfriend has either lost his mind or worse.
Perhaps he’s become a quiet lunatic waiting to emerge.
Reluctantly, Kristen agrees to spend Halloween in the fields.
Unbeknownst to her, they enter the heart of a huge Halloween hunt, an organized
event and obvious trap used to entice unsuspecting victims to the very place
where dozens of bodies have been previously dumped.
One brush with death leads to another, but Kristen keeps her wits
about her as her boyfriend turns their Halloween night into an evening she’ll
never forget. While the fields live up to their harrowing name, Kristen faces
the horrors of the past. Somewhere along the way, she discovers an inner
strength and a will to survive, realizing determination and the desire
to live are the only elements insuring she’ll leave the fields alive!
Excerpt for A
Killer’s Field by Susan Smith Alvis
“Where to?”
I ask, giving the door a quick tug and taking my seat. I’m still irked by his
lack of manners. Perhaps I’ll find a Texas gentleman while we’re hunting
killers. Oh sure, there’s a plan. Like eligible bachelors frequent those
fields. There’s an old adage about tempting fate. Right now, I feel as if I’m
setting a determined appointment with death.
Denny starts
the truck. “You’re in a mood.”
I glance to
my left. “Isn’t everyone?”
“You are,”
he grumbles.
“I am,” I
agree. “People everywhere are always in a
mood. Some folks are in a good mood. Still others are…”
“Are?”
“Terrified,”
I deadpan.
“You’re in a
terrified mood?” he asks, turning up the radio a notch.
“Turn that
off,” I say, reaching over his outstretched arm and hitting the volume knob.
Denny drops
his semi-muscular limb like it is weighted down with barbells. He steps on the
brake. “What is wrong with you?”
“I don’t
feel like listening to scary movie music.” I look straight ahead. I can’t help
but blink repetitively. In the face of danger, this always happens. It’s as if
I’m not quite able to fathom what is directly in front of me. “How do I get
myself in these situations?”
“What are
you babbling about?”
“My life.”
“It’s
Halloween,” he says, scanning stations.
The notation
isn’t necessary. As we enter the New Orleans French Quarter, the holiday is
well understood. Already in costume, business owners are unlocking their
storefronts. Festive skeletons hang from hotel balconies while elaborate
jack-o-lanterns line private patios.
“But of
course it is. And I can’t think of anything more appropriate than listening to
doomsday hymns.”
“Would you
rather hear some bluegrass?”
“No.”
“Those are
your choices.”
“What a nice
variety you offer. Behind door number one, we have an arrangement of
instruments leaving the listener to believe terror has begun its inevitable
march. Behind door number two, an artist with the kind of dreadful voice that
makes me want to step into a shallow grave.”
Denny
grunts, returns both hands to the wheel and accelerates. “You’re strange. You
know that, right?”
“Yes, and
you’re the most normal guy in the world.”
He reaches
under his seat and retrieves a white plastic mask. “Speaking of which, what do
you think?”
I wrinkle my
nose as the aroma of Heinz 57 fills the truck. “I think you were out of
ketchup.”
“So?”
“So you
smell like a steak.”
“I needed to
splatter something thick and dark on my mask. I wanted to go in costume.”
“Thanks for
telling me. I would’ve dressed up as mustard had I known you wanted to travel
as condiments.”
“I told you
to dress appropriately.”
A mustard
bottle would’ve been slightly overstated then. I study the mask he keeps
thrusting in my direction.
Waving him
away, I dare to ask, “Why would I dress up for an evening out in the middle of
nowhere?”
“I told you.
We won’t be alone tonight. This is an annual event.”
“Explain,” I
say, fastening my safety belt as he swerves and barely misses a van. “And you
never mentioned any shindig.”
“Yes I did.
You don’t listen.”
“No you did
not, but I’m all ears now.”
Copyright © 2012
A Killer’s Field by Susan Elizabeth Alvis is
available at Devine
Destinies and is coming soon to Amazon, All Romance Ebooks, Barnes and
Noble, Bookstrand, and other third party retail sites.
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