QSFer Edward Kendrick has a new paranormal book out – book three in the Immortal Angst series:
When Garth is attacked by his ex lover, his life is saved by a stranger who then vanishes. When they meet again, Garth learns the name of his savior. François. What Garth doesn’t know is that François is a vampire. One who distrusts all but a few humans to the point of hatred. Despite that, they find they are attracted to each other—an attraction that François fights with all that is in him. When Garth finally learns what François is, the question becomes can they overcome their differences or are they fated never to discover that love conquers all?
Excerpt
“Well, well, well, look who I found.”
I spun around and froze in fear. Yeah, I’d been careless. After more than two months in the city, I’d let my guard down and taken a shortcut from my local bar back to my apartment. With only one beer in me, I was sober, so I couldn’t put it down to being two sheets to the wind. It was just stupidity. After a long day’s work, I’d decided to stop for a drink before I headed home. The shortcut was one I often used during the day since it was a quick way to get to the trolley, when I decided to take it instead of biking, like I had today. At night, I avoided it since it ran behind businesses which were closed by six p.m., and it was poorly lit.
onner smiled tightly from his position at one end of the alley. His hand swung loosely by his side, and despite the darkness I thought I saw the shape of a weapon in it. I turned to flee the other way only to see a second man at the far end of the alley.
“You shouldn’t have pried into my affairs, Garth,” Conner said coldly, walking toward me. “We had a good thing going until you got nosy.”
“If you consider the fact I was hooked up with a member of a drug cartel a ‘good thing’, I suppose we did.”
I stood my ground while I looked around for something to use to defend myself, other than my fists.
“You should have kept your mouth shut instead of passing the information on,” he growled softly. “Passing it on, then lying to me when the cops showed up.”
“I told you, wasn’t me,” I replied defiantly.
“You’re a lousy liar.”
By then, he was only a few feet away, and I could see the heavy iron pipe he held in one hand. I took a fast glance in the other direction and saw his partner, or whatever he was, had also closed in. He held a gun pointed at me.
Conner shook his head. “Let me get my licks in first before you kill him,” he said to the man.
I pressed back against the alley wall, thinking I could use it for leverage to get in a few well-placed kicks. Just to make myself feel like I’d tried before he turned me into hamburger, or I got shot. Stupid probably, but it was all I could think of at the time.
“Two on one? Hardly sporting.”
The voice seemed to come from the deepest shadows of the alley, and then a man stepped into view. He was of average height and dark-haired from what I could tell at the moment, considering it was dark and I had other things on my mind.
Conner half turned to look at him. “Too bad you decided to stick your nose into this,” he spat out. Then he stepped in and swung the iron pipe at the man’s midsection.
The man moved swiftly to avoid the hit, and at the same time, grabbed Conner’s other arm. Seconds later, Conner slammed against the wall across from me. A shot rang out, and my rescuer grimaced when a bullet creased his side. It didn’t seem to faze him, however. He must have been in hellish good shape because almost before Conner’s partner knew what had happened, he too had hit the wall. His gun skittered across the alley pavement to land at my feet. I bent to pick it up, then held it in shaking hands, pointing it at them.
The dark-haired man stepped up to Conner and…
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Author Bio
Born and bred Cleveland, I earned a degree in technical theater, later switched to costuming, and headed to NYC. Finally seeing the futility of trying to become rich and famous in the Big Apple, I joined VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America), ending up in Chicago for three years. Then it was on to Denver where I put down roots and worked as a costume designer until just recently.
I began writing a few years ago after joining an on-line fanfic group. Two friends and I then started a group for writers where they may post any story they wish no matter the genre or content. Since then, for the last three years, I’ve been writing for publication. Most, but not all, of my work is m/m, either mildly erotic or purely ‘romantic’, and more often than not it involves a mystery or action/adventure.
http://edwardkendrick.blogspot.com/