Deadly
Shadow
The
Assassin Chronicles Book 1
by
Kim Cresswell
Genre:
Paranormal Suspense Thriller
The
Assassin Chronicles TV series is in development with Council Tree
Productions.
Two
recent murders. Two
serial killers. A conspiracy that reaches beyond the physical
world.
Consumed
with grief over the tragic death of her husband, FBI agent Victory
McClane is obsessed with finding Ohio's serial killer, "The
Wrapper".
When
another young woman turns up dead and the victim is linked to Derrick
Lynn, son of the Secretary of Defense, Victory finds Derrick has all
the right answers and is a little too helpful.
Derrick
has a secret: He's a government assassin who uses his unusual
paranormal skills to eliminate targets. Determined to keep his own
secrets buried, he offers to help find The Wrapper.
But
can Victory trust him?
As
the body count rises, Victory must cross a dangerous line--into a
world of government cover-ups, murder, and betrayal--a decision that
will test her limits. And everything she believes in.
The
battle between good and evil begins! Deadly Shadow is the first book
in the gripping paranormal/supernatural thriller series, an
action-packed blend of suspense and mystery for detective and crime
book lovers.
Chapter One
Within the hour, Derrick
Lynn would kill his next target, a popular radio host known as ‘Big Mouth’
Bullington. He didn’t want or need any specifics about the target, only who and
when. He’d learned a long time ago to keep that distance to make his job a lot
easier to deal with. Never women or children. Never a non-target—which at times
took an incredible amount of self-control. More than anyone could imagine.
Like his
grandfather and father, he could move about in real-time, watching people and
events while his physical body remained asleep. The paranormal freaks called it
Etheric travel. But his real gift was psychokinesis, a gift very few in the
world had. He used his mind to move objects. It came in damn handy, turning
anything and everything into a deadly weapon.
For over twenty
years he’d evaded the
authorities—in particular FBI Agent Victory McClane. And he was hell-bent on
keeping it that way, no matter the cost.
In the large
soundproof bedroom, Derrick laid on his back in his king-size bed, looking up
at the ceiling with his hands clasped behind his head. Silk sheets covered his
legs and, barely, his groin. The only light in the room came from the eerie
glow radiating from the cell phone cradled in its charger on the nightstand
next to his laptop. He glanced at the
studio headshot of Eddie Bullington filling the phone’s screen as the podcast
of the man’s radio show played at mid-volume.
“... and while it's a bunch of bull that Republicans work to keep
the Black man down...”
His eyes shifted to the bathroom doorway to his dinner companion,
Alessandra, a thirty-something runway model with long blonde hair and voguish
features. She straightened her white blouse over her black skirt then put her
hoop earrings back on. Alessandra shot him a soft smile and grabbed the silver
faux-fur coat laying on the end of the bed. Before leaving she bent and kissed
him, her lips warm against his. Derrick closed his eyes as Bullington’s podcast droned on.
“... if you think the Dems are squeaky clean then I've got some
prime Louisiana property for you. Those Limousine Liberals keep their boots
pressed against the back of our necks, pretending to be on the side of equality
and justice…”
He inhaled and exhaled
slowly a dozen times and visualized his target’s bedroom. His body felt light,
floating. Before losing consciousness, he jerked himself awake, then let
himself go under again. Deeper into a half-sleep state, he felt as if he were
bobbing in a boat. As the rocking intensified, high-pitched ringing sounded in
his ears and his limbs vibrated and buzzed like a bee's nest. He left the
physical plane, his astral body flying.
✽✽✽
Eddie Bullington stood in the shower. Steaming hot water pulsated
hard against the back of his shoulder blades. The
“God Bless America” Muzak-like ringtone blasted from
the phone sitting on the counter next to the double sink. He shut the water off, stepped out of the shower stall, and
grabbed his regal-looking red and gold bathrobe
from the back of the door. He quickly slipped it on and answered the call.
“Let me guess, Sid. You
want to talk about last week’s show.”
“Sure do. Ratings are
down five-percent from last quarter. That’s a cause for concern.”
“Just relax, okay?
Anything else or are you going to keep on complaining about the same old
thing?”
“Five percent is a big
deal, Eddie.”
“Go to bed, Sid. I got
this. I’ll be in a little earlier than usual for the show.”
Eddie disconnected
and shook his head.
His producer, Sid Moller, was a pain on a good day. Eddie didn’t feel like dealing with the man’s silliness. His ratings were
fine. He was still the top radio host in the United States, his shows
syndicated on four continents.
With the phone clutched in his hand, he strolled barefoot into the
spacious antechamber located next to his bedroom and flopped down into the
extra-wide recliner. After setting the phone on the end table he picked up the
TV remote, along with a half bag of Cheetos. He flicked on the TV to watch the
latest episode of “Tucker Carlson
Tonight” and dug into the snack bag.
✽✽✽
Derrick's eyelids fluttered. Blackness. Then a long, dark tunnel
emerged and grew wider. Sounds, natural and alien, came and went as a frantic
rush of lights, faces, and places blazed toward him. He bobbed and weaved.
Images, some distinct, others not, warped and flew toward him, through him,
past him. The sounds and images intensified. Then they stopped. He was in
Bullington’s bedroom.
✽✽✽
Derrick stood behind Eddie, his naked body blurry and silhouetted
in shadow. The room was filled with over-stuffed antique furniture, gaudy gold
and green patterned drapes, and a Victorian rug in various hideous shades of
red and pink. A mounted rhinoceros head glared down at it all.
His eyes shifted to the end table, then to Eddie’s phone. He trembled. Sweat dripped from his forehead and ran
down the sides of his face. His gaze moved to the colorful ad for gold on the
TV screen while the male announcer excitedly implored viewers to act now
because there has never been a better time to buy. Derrick directed his energy
at the end table drawer. It quietly eased open. Inside was a Baby Glock. He
concentrated harder, staring, focusing as much energy as he could at the weapon.
The gun twitched. And turned. And rose from the drawer. The barrel
moved within an inch from Bullington’s right temple.
Eddie twisted his head as if sensing something was about to
happen. “What the—”
An angry gunshot cracked.
Blood, bone, and brain matter splattered and sprayed across the
room. Various colored fluids and small lumps ran down the TV from a splotch at
the top of the screen.
Derrick grunted. The gun traveled back to the end table and the
drawer slammed shut.
✽✽✽
Derrick’s physical body and astral body snapped together like strong
magnets, slamming him back into the bed. His body jerked. Intermittent banging
and dinging invaded his head. Then the familiar headache kicked in. Like an
elastic band tight around his forehead, traveling down the base of his skull.
His eyes jolted open. He stared for a long moment, disoriented, before slowly
sitting up in bed. Bullington’s podcast continued to play.
“... oh, yeah. Give them freedom then lock them up in prison cages
for years. That's all I'm saying. Thanks for tuning in.”
Once he got his bearings, Derrick grabbed his laptop from the
nightstand and opened the lid. The brilliant screen illuminated his tense face
as it booted up.
He opened a new email and typed “task completed”, encrypted the data, then tapped the “send”
button. It would only be a matter of seconds before he received confirmation
that the payment had been transferred to his account at the Panama National
Bank under the name, Miles McGrath. A million dollars. Not bad for less than
two hours work including surveillance. A soft beep. Then a message popped up on
the screen.
((0400TCHCLVGHEPUOFJJHPLJO7IAJKHBG2NDLF))
With a couple of keystrokes, he ran the special decryption
software he’d been given, and
within seconds the garbled message became readable.
Fee transferred. Face-to-face requested
He shut down the laptop and wondered why his contact had requested
meeting in person. His face reflected on the black screen, yet his blue eyes
shone.
Deadly Shadow is a great introduction into the world of The
Assassin Chronicles. Deadly shadow takes us into the world of FBI agent Victory
McClane as she investigates the death of murder victims.
At first the murders are thought to have been committed by
the same person but upon further investigation Victory learns that, that is not
the case. Now she is dealing with two separate murders with two different
killers on the loose.
Deadly Shadow is told from two points of view. One of the
person’s eyes we get to see through is Victory McClane and another is Derrick
Lynn. Victory meets Derrick when he
becomes a suspect in her murder investigation. Derrick is a government assassin
that has some secrets of his own that he will do anything to keep them hidden away
from the world.
Deadly Shadow is a very intense and intriguing read filled
with lots of suspense that will suck you up and pull you in and take you on an
emotional roller coaster. Deadly Shadow has it all suspense, mystery,
conspiracy, assassinations, government cover ups, murder etc.…
I loved the story line the plot and the characters are so
wonderful and life like. Deadly Shadow will pull you in and make you feel as if
you are a part of its world as if you are one of the characters. It makes you
feel everything that Victory is feeling and more.
I recommend Deadly Shadow to anyone who loves a book filled
with murder, government assassins and cover ups.
Kim
Cresswell is the award-winning Canadian author of the action-packed
Whitney Steel series. Kim recently signed a 3-book translation deal
with LUZIFER Verlag for the
first three books in the series: Reflection,
Retribution
and Resurrect.
The popular series will be published in German beginning in 2018. Her
novel, Reflection,
has won numerous awards and the book trailer was featured online at
USA
Today.
She
has also published two Kindle Worlds novellas (Jet:
Oblivion, Jet: Duplicity),
featuring characters from her Whitney Steel series and JET from
Russell
Blake's New
York Times
and USA
Today
bestselling JET action thriller series.
Follow
the tour HERE
for exclusive excerpts, guest posts and a giveaway!
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