NOT YOUR USUAL SUSPECTS

A group blog featuring an international array of killer mystery, suspense, and romantic suspense writers. With premises and story lines different from your run-of-the-mill whodunits, we tend to write outside the box. We blog several times a week on all topics relating to romantic suspense and mystery, our writing, and our readers. We welcome all comments and often have guest bloggers. All our authors can be contacted separately, too, using their own social media links.

We find our genre delightfully, dangerously, and deliciously exciting - join us here, if you do too!

NOTE: the blog is currently dormant but please enjoy the posts we're keeping online.


Julie Moffet . Cathy Perkins . Jean Harrington . Daryl Anderson . Nico Rosso . Maureen A Miller . Sandy Parks . Lisa Q Mathews . Sharon Calvin . Lynne Connolly . Janis Patterson . Vanessa Keir . Tonya Kappes . Julie Rowe . Joni M Fisher . Leslie Langtry

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

ONLY FEAR - Anne Marie Becker

Welcome to NYUS's celebration of Romantic Suspense week at Carina Press. I'm thrilled that my debut novel, ONLY FEAR, is now available, and am hard at work on edits to the sequel in the Mindhunters series. In the meantime, I've put a taste of the suspense in ONLY FEAR below. It's a scene near the beginning of the book, where Maggie first discovers she has a stalker.


EXCERPT:
“Here, kitty,” she called as she entered the house and flipped on a light. She moved to the wall, quickly punching in the code to rearm the security system.
Sigmund usually met her in the hallway between the garage and the rest of the house, skidding down the polished wood floor before recovering his dignity and weaving between her legs. The chubby orange-striped cat, who reminded her of Garfield except for his shorter hair, could move impressively fast for an overweight beast. But tonight there was no sign of him.
Maggie switched on another light in the kitchen, dropping her bag on the countertop. The warm glow of the lights soothed her shattered nerves.
“I’m home, baby.” She tossed her keys down next to her satchel before moving back into the hall. Maybe the cat was napping on her bed. Still, he usually met her at the door, wanting his dinner. He’d adapted to her late hours months ago.
“Are you hungry?” Making her way toward the living room, she paused in midstep, an acrid smell burning her nostrils. And not the lingering scent of the dinner she’d cooked before she’d left for work that evening.
Wet copper. Warm pennies.
She stopped at the archway into the living room and flipped on another light. Her hand flew to her mouth. Dark smears violated her pristine cream-colored living room walls. The smears formed letters, the same letters over and over again. F. E. A. R. Splashed and dripping across the long wall over the couch. Letters six inches or three feet, cursive or block. The four-letter word was written repeatedly across the living room in various styles and sizes. But all in blood.

And before you worry too much about Sigmund (the kitty), you soon find out he's fine. It's not his blood.

Thank you for stopping by, and don't forget:
*At the end of the week we're giving away a stack of ebooks (possibly a couple of print books too) to one lucky commentator. The more times you comment, the more times you'll go into the 'hat'. See this post. We'll name the winner on the blog next Monday.*

You can find more about Anne Marie at www.AnneMarieBecker.com.

14 comments:

Anne Marie Becker said...

Ack - sorry the formatting of the excerpt went wonky! Hope you enjoyed it anyway. ;)

Elise Warner said...

Enjoyed the excerpt. Thank G-- it wasn't Sigmund's blood.

Anne Marie Becker said...

Yep - I stick to the no-harming-children-or-animals tenet. Of course, when it comes to my grown-up characters, anything's fair game. ;)

Kathy Ivan said...

Even though I'm not a big cat person, glad that he's okay. LOL

Great excerpt. Can't wait to grab this book.

Maureen A. Miller said...

Oh my! You had me quite worried there for a moment. Sad that our first reaction was "whewww, it wasn't the cat." LOL Great excerpt, Anne Marie! ONLY FEAR has been added to my list of must reads!!

Toni Anderson said...

Sounds like a thrilling read, Anne Marie. Glad the cat made it--this time...

Anne Marie Becker said...

Thanks for stopping by, everyone. I'm SO enjoying everyone's posts! Can't believe we get a whole week of sneak-peeks. Yay!

Jane said...

Congrats on your debut release, Anne Marie.

Anne Marie Becker said...

Thanks, Jane!

Stevie Carroll said...

Thanks for the reassurance about the kitty. It's too early in the morning for me to deal with such things.

Unknown said...

Glad Sigmund is ok! Having said that, I've just killed a cat in one of my books. Yup, that blighter was strung up by his owner's front door. I must have a mean streak.

Love the excerpt, Anne Marie. Only Fear is on my reading list!

Rita said...

Anne Marie! you constantly amaze me!

Anonymous said...

I think it says a lot for the pull of your writing when you have to insert a disclaimer for the cat. Well done on drawing us in.

Clare London said...

That was deliciously shocking, I loved it!

Laughs for you anticipating the worries about Sigmund! :)

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