Kill't
Dead or Worse
By: R.W. Hacker
By: R.W. Hacker
Blurb: After a murdered partner, a cheating
wife and a lost job in Houston, Nick Sibelius sets up a private investigation
business in a small Texas town hoping to find some peace and maybe, himself.
When two lovers disappear and a fisherman turns up dead, he finds himself drawn
into a web of crime and deceit involving MaryLou, a beautiful woman with a
mysterious past; Junior, a failed farmer whose best intentions seem to always
result in a dead body; and Barry, a sociopathic dentist turned illegal toxic
waste entrepreneur with a violent right wing agenda. When the felon who killed
Nick’s partner in Houston joins forces with Barry, Nick must not only stop the
toxic waste dumping while finding his client’s missing daughter, but keep from
being killed in the process. In the end, MaryLou’s dark secret will either save
him or kill him -- whichever comes first.
Author
Info
Richard Hacker has been writing most of his life,
and professionally, in support of his work in management consulting, public
speaking and training in the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries. In 2009
he moved, along with his wife, from Austin to Seattle, shifting his
professional focus from business consulting to writing fiction full time.
Wanted by authorities for smuggling Texas BBQ across state lines, he now writes
and lives in Seattle. His writing has been recognized by the Writer's League of
Texas and the Pacific Northwest Writers Association. As a judge in literary
contests such as PNWA and ChicLit, he enjoys the opportunity to give writers
honest critique to move their craft forward. In addition, he is the science
fiction and fantasy editor for the Del Sol Review, an online literary magazine.
EXCERPT:
A banging startled him awake. Nick lifted his
head off a stale, damp pillow case, the bed creaking as he sat up. Three
fifteen. He slipped on some shorts and checked the safety on his Glock. The
banging continued, which in his trailer sounded like Thor hammering on his
head.
He shouted, "Who's there?"
"Reverend Anderson."
Nick didn't know a Reverend Anderson since he
had no desire to step through the transom of a church anytime soon. This had to
be the same guy who called. Why
would a minister go to this much trouble to wake me up? He held the
gun behind his back, opening the door to a large black man, six foot four,
dressed in tan slacks, a green polo shirt and shoes with a shine that reflected
the light from inside Nick's trailer.
"Did you call earlier?"
"Yes, that was me. I need to speak with
you urgently."
Nick slipped the gun behind a cushion of the
built-in seat by the door. "As I told you..." He searched for the
man's name.
"Reverend Anderson. I'm the paster of
Victory Church in town."
"Yes, mister...Reverend Anderson. Like I
said, we can talk during normal business hours."
Nick reached to close the door.
"You shut that door and you're condemning
my little girl to God only knows what."
"Trust me, Reverend. It can wait until
the morning." Nick pushed the door closed, but Anderson stiff armed the
door open. "You don't want to go down this path, Reverend."
"I've heard what people say about
you."
"So I'm the talk of the town, eh?"
"They say you're rude, arrogant and a
drunk."
"Well you can tell them to kiss—"
"And that you get it done." Anderson
took a step forward, placing his large frame in the doorway. "Is that
correct, Mr. Sibelius. Do you get it done?"
"It's Nick. And yeah, I suppose I
do." He breathed a weary sigh. "Do we really need to talk about this
right now?"
The Reverend stared at him. Nick eased away
from the door, nodding toward the trailer's interior. Anderson took the two
steps through the opening of the trailer, ducking to avoid banging his head
against the doorway.
Nick said, "I take it I'm not going to
get rid of you until you tell me what's crawling up your ass, right?"
"Yeah, that's right, Nick. I need your
help."
Nick looked to the right at dishes piled in
the sink, empty bottles on the counter and the remains of last night's dinner
still sitting on the table, and then left, to a
pile of dirty clothes and towels. He grabbed a barbecue stained paper plate off
the table, folding it up and placing it in the trash under the sink. "So what's
this burning issue?"
"It's my daughter. She's missing."
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Thanks for hosting me and sharing my novel with the readers of your blog, Laura. Much appreciated!
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