DEATH MASKS
Thriller Novel, 57,000 words
SALE $4.46 US
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DEATH MASKS by Kim Richards
Computer geek Bill Cristo finds himself on the trail of a serial murderer when he takes up jogging at the local metro park. First serendipity and then curiosity prod him to begin an unofficial investigation. Who is murdering young men in this park? Is it the loony old guy who hangs out at the old cemetery or the creepy park ranger? Bill's investigative skills bring him to the attention of this killer, and the people near him become targets, including his live-in girlfriend, Dixie. To confront this killer before it gets to her, Bill faces his own meekness and fear- but not before becoming a suspect himself.
Excerpt
Tonight no moon came to lessen the cold darkness among the trees of Tonton Metro Park. Perhaps a deterrent for normal people, the night's intense silence did little to disturb the night creatures indigenous to the park. They scuttled among the ruins of autumn leaves and sticks, quietly rustling about their business. The temperature dropped enough for the cold to mask any scent of plant or animal.
One night creature in particular, not indigenous to any park, prowled the paths. It hadn't intended to come here this night but upon driving home, chanced to see three young men dart from the street onto the jogging path.
All of them had potential from what little detail came across this distance. The possibilities simply couldn't be ignored. With growing excitement, it parked the car across the street, retrieved the appropriate tools from the trunk and set out after them.
It didn't take long to find them. A bit too easy perhaps with time enough to situate oneself among the low evergreens. A faint breeze picked up, fingering the tree branches and stirring them.
The boys passed close enough for their sweat and testosterone to thicken the air around. Three of them. The first's loud voice heralded their coming like a crashing cymbal through the near midnight silence. Carrying a small silver boombox by the handle, he stumbled out of the trees and across soft mounds of grass covering the open picnic area. His crude attempts at humor echoed off the tree trunks. A quick assessment determined his demeanor as one of youthful stupidity driven more by arrogance than drugs. From the looks of this one, that came next. Larger than preferred, he might do.
The entity, nestled within the darkness, sneered at their lack of awareness. The second boy brushed the prickly branches of its hiding place, coming within a breath of touching evil before following his friend into the faint waning moonlight. A thin, pale hand obeyed an irresistible urge to nick his elbow with the needled tip of its palmed syringe as he passed.
"Ow!" the second youth whined. He slapped at his elbow and accelerated his steps. "Aw, something bit me." He cast a hateful glare at the bushes, unaware of the being inside with the power to transform hate into fear. His sniveling disqualified him. That one's got nothing valuable to offer. He was wrong...all wrong. Wrong build. Wrong face with its large nose and overly pimpled complexion. The dangerous mind diminished him as not worth saving.
Then an angel stepped up behind him, surrounded in a halo of writhing dark pine branches. A slight gasp in the darkness nearly gave away the predator hiding there. The third youth turned, and without recognition in his eyes, stared directly into the face of his hunter.
He's beautiful, and perfect. Dark hair; blue eyes like sapphires; tall enough. Thin with just the right amount of muscle accentuated by the close fitting cloth of his t-shirt. And that shirt: the same one in the dreams. Thank you God.
An image of him as he would be in a few hours came easily to mind, creating an outpouring of adrenaline and child-like excitement. Too bad there were others or he'd be taken now. Don't touch him. Your touch might ruin him.
Wait. Time to wait. Patience is a virtue. Waiting turns to pain, hurting like restraints of cold iron rubbing the skin away. No pain, no gain. It's always worth it in the end. Always.
Tonight no moon came to lessen the cold darkness among the trees of Tonton Metro Park. Perhaps a deterrent for normal people, the night's intense silence did little to disturb the night creatures indigenous to the park. They scuttled among the ruins of autumn leaves and sticks, quietly rustling about their business. The temperature dropped enough for the cold to mask any scent of plant or animal.
One night creature in particular, not indigenous to any park, prowled the paths. It hadn't intended to come here this night but upon driving home, chanced to see three young men dart from the street onto the jogging path.
All of them had potential from what little detail came across this distance. The possibilities simply couldn't be ignored. With growing excitement, it parked the car across the street, retrieved the appropriate tools from the trunk and set out after them.
It didn't take long to find them. A bit too easy perhaps with time enough to situate oneself among the low evergreens. A faint breeze picked up, fingering the tree branches and stirring them.
The boys passed close enough for their sweat and testosterone to thicken the air around. Three of them. The first's loud voice heralded their coming like a crashing cymbal through the near midnight silence. Carrying a small silver boombox by the handle, he stumbled out of the trees and across soft mounds of grass covering the open picnic area. His crude attempts at humor echoed off the tree trunks. A quick assessment determined his demeanor as one of youthful stupidity driven more by arrogance than drugs. From the looks of this one, that came next. Larger than preferred, he might do.
The entity, nestled within the darkness, sneered at their lack of awareness. The second boy brushed the prickly branches of its hiding place, coming within a breath of touching evil before following his friend into the faint waning moonlight. A thin, pale hand obeyed an irresistible urge to nick his elbow with the needled tip of its palmed syringe as he passed.
"Ow!" the second youth whined. He slapped at his elbow and accelerated his steps. "Aw, something bit me." He cast a hateful glare at the bushes, unaware of the being inside with the power to transform hate into fear. His sniveling disqualified him. That one's got nothing valuable to offer. He was wrong...all wrong. Wrong build. Wrong face with its large nose and overly pimpled complexion. The dangerous mind diminished him as not worth saving.
Then an angel stepped up behind him, surrounded in a halo of writhing dark pine branches. A slight gasp in the darkness nearly gave away the predator hiding there. The third youth turned, and without recognition in his eyes, stared directly into the face of his hunter.
He's beautiful, and perfect. Dark hair; blue eyes like sapphires; tall enough. Thin with just the right amount of muscle accentuated by the close fitting cloth of his t-shirt. And that shirt: the same one in the dreams. Thank you God.
An image of him as he would be in a few hours came easily to mind, creating an outpouring of adrenaline and child-like excitement. Too bad there were others or he'd be taken now. Don't touch him. Your touch might ruin him.
Wait. Time to wait. Patience is a virtue. Waiting turns to pain, hurting like restraints of cold iron rubbing the skin away. No pain, no gain. It's always worth it in the end. Always.
Reviews
Review by Heidi Martinuzzi.
Originally posted at:
http://www.pretty-scary.net/article1826.html
http://www.pretty-scary.net/
Death Masks
Written by Kimberly Richards
2008, Eternal Press
www.kim-richards.com
As part of a book tour we're participating in this month, we're reviewing popular horror author Kim Richard's newest horror/thriller novel Death Mask, released by Eternal Press.
Someone is killing hot young boys in the local Metro Tonton Park (and it's not me!). Bill, an unsatisfied computer tec h with a lame job and lame co-workers has one amazing girlfriend in Dixie. Dixie is not only hot, but she's a salsa dancer who works out and even has hobbies, like pottery. When Bill witnesses one of the local murders in the park, he suddenly becomes a suspect as well. Bill has to balance dealing with his own investigation of the murders with the police (who aren't much help) and with Dixie's depressive disorder which has mysteriously come on again after being dormant. It's not an easy time for Bill. Or Dixie.
We also get the killer's perspective in neat little segments so we can get another point of view on everything that's going ion. It fills in some pieces, especially about the murders, and honestly does nothing to reveal the identity of the killer. Of course, the killer is. Dah DUHN! It's a secret. It's a twist, so I can't reveal it. Death Mask follows a traditional thriller storyline complete with the very-necessary twist to accompany the clearing of the name of the protagonist. What would a mystery thriller be without a twist?
Dixie is a very complex character with deep emotional issues that prevent her from overcoming her awkward depression. Bill's sense of inadequacy keep him from getting farther along at work or making the most out of his life with Dixie. It's a case of everyday problems getting in the way of people's lives. Bill himself is completely unprepared to deal with a seemingly dangerously intelligent killer who uses some kind of drug to kill their victims and leaves their bodies in the park to be found by police. Bill embarks on a near-obsessive path of researching serial-killers, the victims, and the drug itself to a point that makes him a prime suspect in the eyes of the police. It also doesn't do anything to improve his situation with Dixie, who grows worse by the day. Little things that used to cheer her up no longer move her. She has become increasingly irritable and unpredictable emotionally.
What's also fascinating is that the people who do keep disappearing seem somehow related to Bill's life. Like the punk kid who threatens him in line at the fast food restaurant who later ends up face-down in the mud in the park, or the mysteriously missing Denny from Bill's work, who was a liar and an inconsistent friend. No wonder the police suspect Bill. but can he prove that he's not the killer before someone he loves - someone like Dixie - ends up dead?
Richard's work is classy and traditional, and lovers of thrillers will enjoy and appreciate the traditional flow of her story in Death Mask. Importantly, the imagery of the Death mask itself is used repeatedly in a very simple yet artistic way throughout the novel; Dixie herself sculpts them in her pottery workshop, and they appear again in an art gallery showing. The Death Mask, an image cast of a person's face (often after death) and used in burial or for a family's memory of that person, is a grim and macabre idea that works perfectly for a theme as dastardly as gruesome murders in a park.
And yes you have your standard amounts of mental breakdown, dementia, and murder mystery blood, so the depraved aspects of your soul will find themselves entertained.
Review by Heidi Martinuzzi.
Originally posted at:
http://www.pretty-scary.net/article1826.html
http://www.pretty-scary.net/
Death Masks
Written by Kimberly Richards
2008, Eternal Press
www.kim-richards.com
As part of a book tour we're participating in this month, we're reviewing popular horror author Kim Richard's newest horror/thriller novel Death Mask, released by Eternal Press.
Someone is killing hot young boys in the local Metro Tonton Park (and it's not me!). Bill, an unsatisfied computer tec h with a lame job and lame co-workers has one amazing girlfriend in Dixie. Dixie is not only hot, but she's a salsa dancer who works out and even has hobbies, like pottery. When Bill witnesses one of the local murders in the park, he suddenly becomes a suspect as well. Bill has to balance dealing with his own investigation of the murders with the police (who aren't much help) and with Dixie's depressive disorder which has mysteriously come on again after being dormant. It's not an easy time for Bill. Or Dixie.
We also get the killer's perspective in neat little segments so we can get another point of view on everything that's going ion. It fills in some pieces, especially about the murders, and honestly does nothing to reveal the identity of the killer. Of course, the killer is. Dah DUHN! It's a secret. It's a twist, so I can't reveal it. Death Mask follows a traditional thriller storyline complete with the very-necessary twist to accompany the clearing of the name of the protagonist. What would a mystery thriller be without a twist?
Dixie is a very complex character with deep emotional issues that prevent her from overcoming her awkward depression. Bill's sense of inadequacy keep him from getting farther along at work or making the most out of his life with Dixie. It's a case of everyday problems getting in the way of people's lives. Bill himself is completely unprepared to deal with a seemingly dangerously intelligent killer who uses some kind of drug to kill their victims and leaves their bodies in the park to be found by police. Bill embarks on a near-obsessive path of researching serial-killers, the victims, and the drug itself to a point that makes him a prime suspect in the eyes of the police. It also doesn't do anything to improve his situation with Dixie, who grows worse by the day. Little things that used to cheer her up no longer move her. She has become increasingly irritable and unpredictable emotionally.
What's also fascinating is that the people who do keep disappearing seem somehow related to Bill's life. Like the punk kid who threatens him in line at the fast food restaurant who later ends up face-down in the mud in the park, or the mysteriously missing Denny from Bill's work, who was a liar and an inconsistent friend. No wonder the police suspect Bill. but can he prove that he's not the killer before someone he loves - someone like Dixie - ends up dead?
Richard's work is classy and traditional, and lovers of thrillers will enjoy and appreciate the traditional flow of her story in Death Mask. Importantly, the imagery of the Death mask itself is used repeatedly in a very simple yet artistic way throughout the novel; Dixie herself sculpts them in her pottery workshop, and they appear again in an art gallery showing. The Death Mask, an image cast of a person's face (often after death) and used in burial or for a family's memory of that person, is a grim and macabre idea that works perfectly for a theme as dastardly as gruesome murders in a park.
And yes you have your standard amounts of mental breakdown, dementia, and murder mystery blood, so the depraved aspects of your soul will find themselves entertained.
CREDITS
DEATH MASKS © 2008 by Kim Richards
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic of mechanical including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. This book is a work of fiction. Characters, names, places and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
An Eternal Press Production
Eternal Press 206 - 6059 Pandora St. Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada, V5B 1M4
To order additional copies of this book, contact: www.eternalpress.ca
Cover Art © 2008 by Shirley Burnett
Edited by Pam Slade
Copyedited by Sherri Good
Layout and Book Production by Ally Robertson
eBook ISBN: 978-0-9804739-4-0
First Edition * April 2008
Production by Eternal Press