The Anchor
by Kevin R. Doyle
GENRE: Mystery
BLURB:
Jen has toiled away in television news, just waiting for a big break. And at the same time she finally gets a shot at the promotion opportunity she’s waited years for, head anchor for the nightly newscast, an unseen, shadowy man is desperate for her to notice him. When messages and well wishes don’t do the trick, her mysterious admirer intends to do anything necessary to make Jen a success and snare her attention, even if it means attacking her fiancĂ© and killing off her competition.
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Excerpt:
The door slammed shut. Hiram took a step back and turned sideways on the porch. He wasn’t too worried about anyone else coming through that door but wanted to keep an eye on the strip of sidewalk that ran alongside the house. The small wire gate in front of it had rusted so much that he doubted anyone could sneak up that way, but you didn’t have to open the gate to reach an arm around the corner and pop off a shot.
Prepared to wait ten minutes or so, typical posturing by the kind of lowlife in the house, it surprised him when less than thirty seconds went by, and the door opened again, this time all the way and with a huge man standing in the frame.
And this had to be Sammy, no doubt about it. From the description Derek had given him, the dude in the doorway could be no other.
Big. Not just big but massive. Somewhere around six-six, the guy looked to tip the scales at close to three hundred and fifty pounds. The gym shorts and tank top he wore revealed that a lot of what had once been muscle was now either gristle or pure fat. White, crinkly stretch marks mapped themselves across his chest, and he carried a complete triple chin.
The sheer enormity of the man lent him an air of extreme danger.
“You the one I’m expecting?” Sammy asked, his voice a deeper baritone than Hiram could remember ever having heard.
“If you mean did Whitlow send me, yeah. Mind if I come in?”
The big guy spent some time considering that, his brow puckered in concentration. Hiram, beginning to wonder if he’d walked into some kind of setup, felt ice drops slithering up and down his spine.
“I guess so,” Sammy said, “though I can’t say I like your looks.”
Deciding not to reply to that, Hiram shook his head as the big guy turned and walked back into the house, leaving Hiram to open the screen door himself.
Once inside, they stood in the middle of a living room full of tattered, mismatched furniture, including three different couches crammed along one wall, filled with an even dozen people, all black men.
Hiram took a couple of deep breaths, hoping that the knowledge Whitlow had sent him was enough to keep these thugs in line.
“You got the stuff?” Sammy asked while the rest of the men stared holes into their visitor.
“Not on me, obviously, but close by. You got the cash?”
Sammy did his best to stare him down, but Hiram had been glared at by some of the roughest guys in the South. He squared his shoulders and matched the big guy stare for stare.
It took something like twenty seconds, but seemed a lot longer, before the big guy made a quarter turn to his right and gestured to one of the brothers behind him.
Less than a minute later, Hiram stared down at three suitcases stuffed with bills--tens, twenties, and fifties.
“No hundreds?” he asked.
“Search all the way through if you want,” Sammy said, “but Whitlow’s instructions were clear enough. Nothing big enough to catch anybody’s interest.”
Hiram nodded and continued staring at the cash, wondering if in some way he could make his way out of Riverside, with all that money, without Whitlow knowing.
“You waiting on somethin’?” Sammy asked.
Hiram shook his head and brought himself back to reality.
“No,” he said. “Sorry about that. Why don’t you come with me? Let’s bring these cases, and we’ll go get the product.”
The men standing around tensed up, and Sammy took a step backward.
“I ain’t going anywhere with you, man. I know you’re outnumbered, but if you came by yourself, that’s your problem. These cases ain’t leavin’ here until we get our stuff.”
Hiram sighed. He’d told Whitlow it wouldn’t work, but the man had insisted he give it a shot.
“Okay,” Hiram said. “I’ll be back in about twenty minutes. But just to make sure there’s no confusion, I’m coming back with four other guys.”
A mumble ran through the group, and Sammy’s eyes narrowed.
“You’ll still outnumber me about three to one,” Hiram said. “What’s the big worry?”
Sammy turned and looked at the men arrayed behind him. One or two nodded; one shook his head; and the rest remained motionless.
Sammy turned back to Hiram.
“Okay, cracker. You got twenty minutes. Hell, I’ll even make it an even thirty. But if you aren’t back with our stuff by then, don’t even bother coming back.”
Hiram breathed deep. Once upon a time, being called cracker twice in one day would have sent him flying at someone, regardless of how big they were.
Maybe he was finally maturing.
“Fine,” he said. “Just make sure that money’s all still here when I come back.”
My Review:
Jen has waited a long time to be the head anchor for the nightly newscast. Just when her chance has come she is being stalked. Someone will stop at nothing to get Jen’s attention and to make sure she gets her dream job even if it means taking her boyfriend out of the picture.
Someone is going around town attacking people. Why are they attacking these people? Does it have anything to do with Jen’s secret admirer? How far is her stalker willing to go to get what he wants or better yet get Jen what she wants?
The Anchor kept me on the edge of my seat trying to figure out what was going on. It kept me wondering who Jen’s stalker was and what they wanted with her and why. I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough to find out.
If you like a good mystery then I would suggest that you grab a copy of The Anchor today!
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
A high-school teacher, former college instructor, and fiction writer, Kevin R. Doyle is the author of numerous short horror stories. He’s also written three crime thrillers, The Group, When You Have to Go There, and And the Devil Walks Away, and one horror novel, The Litter. In the last few years, he’s begun working on the Sam Quinton private eye series, published by Camel Press. The first Quinton book, Squatter’s Rights, was nominated for the 2021 Shamus award for Best First PI Novel. The second book, Heel Turn, was released in March of 2021, while the third in the series, Double Frame, came out in March of 2022. The fourth Sam Quinton book, Clean Win, will be released in March of 2023.
Connect with Kevin R. Doyle
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9 comments:
Thanks for hosting!
Good morning. Thanks for the kind words on my work. I'll be checking in later on today for any questions or comments.
The cover looks great. Sounds like an interesting story.
Sounds like a good book.
A stalker is scary but I love stalker books.
the book sounds like a very exciting read
Great excerpt and giveaway. :)
Sounds so good. Thank you for your review! :)
This sounds like a good read.
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