Book Summary:
How far would you run
to escape your past?
Venice Beach, Los Angeles. A paradise on
earth. Tourists flock to the golden coast and the promise of Hollywood. But for
eight strangers at a beach-front hostel, there is far more on their minds than
an extended vacation. All of them are running from something. And they all have
secrets they’d kill to keep…
This holiday-set read is a
compulsive and addictive thriller, perfect for fans of T.M. Logan.
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Excerpted from The Vacation. Copyright © 2023 by John Marrs. Published by Hanover Square Press, an imprint of HarperCollins.
PROLOGUE
Venice
Beach, Los Angeles
“That’s her,” the driver yelled to the three men waiting in the rear of
the transit van.
He
pointed a gloved finger in the direction of a slender woman walking along the
sidewalk up ahead.
“You
sure?” a gruff voice asked. “It’s pretty dark out there.”
The
driver was very sure. He’d watched carefully as his target walked with purpose
in her high heels. He recalled her appearance an hour earlier as she made her
way up a stainless-steel pole before slowly, seductively descending.
“Yeah, man,” he replied. “You don’t forget a pretty little ass like that
in a hurry, even from this distance.”
He
was confident their mark was completely oblivious to her impending fate. She
stopped suddenly, searching for something that was seemingly wedged in her
clutch bag; the streetlamps and neon shop signs illuminated the glitter in her
hair. The driver lifted his foot slightly from the accelerator and dipped the
headlights as he continued to stalk his prey. Meanwhile, his colleagues slipped
black balaclavas over their heads and adjusted their bodies into position—one
knelt with his hand gripping the door lever, ready to open it on command;
another held plastic restraints, and the third clasped a hunting knife with a
serrated blade.
“Ready?” the driver asked. They grunted in unison.
The
van sped up, but not so fast as to throw the hunters from the positions they’d
rehearsed earlier that day. Then, as it pulled up alongside the woman, the door
flew open and the first of her assailants sprang out.
The
man with the restraints was the first to reel backward into the vehicle as a
bullet from her revolver tore its way through his shoulder blade, taking
fragments of collarbone with it.
For
a split second, the flash from the gun’s muzzle illuminated the van’s interior
as she pinpointed two more would-be assailants poised to drag her inside. Twice
more she pulled the trigger; twice more she heard the men screaming. The driver
remained rooted to his seat, baffled by how off-kilter their mission had
suddenly gone. They had been so confident of its success that there was no Plan
B.
“Go,
man, go!” yelled a desperate voice as another bullet found its target.
Tires squealed as the van lurched forward, veering across the median and
then crisscrossing back toward the sidewalk.
A
combination of adrenaline and fury propelled the woman to kick off her heels
and run after it, firing twice more and shattering its rear windshield. The
vehicle clipped an LA Times newsstand, hurling newspapers into the air; they
fell like large chunks of confetti.
She
fired one last time, but the van had already corrected itself and sped off out
of range. Then she watched in horror as that final shot sent a stranger up
ahead, carrying a backpack, sprawling face forward onto the pavement.
Time
froze as the consequences of her last reckless bullet resonated.
She
had just killed an innocent tourist.
Author Bio:
John Marrs is an author and former journalist based in London and Northamptonshire. After spending his career interviewing celebrities from the worlds of television, film and music for numerous national newspapers and magazines, he is now a full-time author. His books include No1 bestseller and Netflix series The One, The Passengers, award winning What Lies Between Us and The Good Samaritan. Follow him at www.johnmarrsauthor.co.uk , on Twitter @johnmarrs1, on Instagram @johnmarrs.author and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/johnmarrsauthor.
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