The Book
Empty Shell by Ashley Fontainne
Genre: suspense
About Empty Shell:
A pair of pink, silk underwear…Source: Info in the About Empty Shell was from the press kit from the publicity team.
The quiet world of Melody and Jack Dickinson is about to be turned upside down. Twenty years of marriage hangs in the balance when Melody finds out about Jack’s infidelity. The betrayal is made worse when Melody discovers his lover is Serena Rowland, a young woman who works at Melody’s law firm.
A receipt from an overpriced hotel…
Harsh words are exchanged before Melody storms off to work, determined to have Serena fired. But when Melody hears Serena was murdered over the weekend, everything changes. Serena’s body is found beaten and strangled with a pair of pink, silk panties, in the same hotel that Jack had admitted staying at over the weekend. Within seconds of hearing the news, Melody’s life spins out of control when Jack calls in a panic. The police are at their home to arrest him for Serena’s murder.
Pictures of a young woman’s scantily clad torso on a cell phone…
Was she married to a monster? One who beat and strangled the young woman to death, or was Jack set up? Did Melody’s own dark secret, hidden inside her heart for years, have something to do with the nightmare they suddenly find themselves in?
Melody and Jack are about to discover that one fateful mistake will destroy many.
Buy Link(s):
Trailer:
Excerpt:
Chapter 1 – Saturday morning
The morning sun was bright and the humidity staggering. Both bore down on him, making the sweat run faster down his neck and back as he walked. His heart thundered in his chest, and he fought to keep his breathing normal and his gait natural. The rush of adrenaline made his hands shake as he adjusted his ball cap.
He forced his facial muscles to respond to his commands, determined to keep his expression neutral so he would blend in. His mind was racing, unaccustomed to the violent behavior it had just experienced upstairs. His shaky limbs wanted to run the remaining distance to the safety of his vehicle and away from the nightmare of what he’d just done.
A small sigh of relief left his lips when he made it to his vehicle and slid inside, removing his gloves and shoving them deep into his pants pocket. It took him three attempts to insert the key into the ignition. He took a deep breath, held it, and then released it in slow, controlled bursts. He had to get it together or he would have an accident on the way home. He gripped the key tighter in his sweaty fingers and tried again. To his relief, the engine turned over. Fighting the urge to look behind him to see if he was being followed, he eased out of the parking spot and merged into the mid-morning traffic, careful to keep his eyes on the road.
Anything to keep from looking at her sticky red blood on his clothes.
Oh God, what have I done?
The morning sun was bright and the humidity staggering. Both bore down on him, making the sweat run faster down his neck and back as he walked. His heart thundered in his chest, and he fought to keep his breathing normal and his gait natural. The rush of adrenaline made his hands shake as he adjusted his ball cap.
He forced his facial muscles to respond to his commands, determined to keep his expression neutral so he would blend in. His mind was racing, unaccustomed to the violent behavior it had just experienced upstairs. His shaky limbs wanted to run the remaining distance to the safety of his vehicle and away from the nightmare of what he’d just done.
A small sigh of relief left his lips when he made it to his vehicle and slid inside, removing his gloves and shoving them deep into his pants pocket. It took him three attempts to insert the key into the ignition. He took a deep breath, held it, and then released it in slow, controlled bursts. He had to get it together or he would have an accident on the way home. He gripped the key tighter in his sweaty fingers and tried again. To his relief, the engine turned over. Fighting the urge to look behind him to see if he was being followed, he eased out of the parking spot and merged into the mid-morning traffic, careful to keep his eyes on the road.
Anything to keep from looking at her sticky red blood on his clothes.
Oh God, what have I done?
Meet The Author
About Ashley Fontainne:
Award-winning and International bestselling author Ashley Fontainne is an avid reader of mostly the classics. Ashley became a fan of the written word in her youth, starting with the Nancy Drew mystery series. Stories that immerse the reader deep into the human psyche and the monsters that lurk within us are her favorite reads.
Her muse for penning the Eviscerating the Snake series was The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. Ashley’s love for this book is what sparked her desire to write her debut novel, Accountable to None, the first book in the trilogy. With a modern setting to the tale, Ashley delves into just what lengths a person is willing to go when they seek personal justice for heinous acts perpetrated upon them. The second novel in the series, Zero Balance focuses on the cost and reciprocal cycle that obtaining revenge has on the seeker. For once the cycle starts, where does it end? How far will the tendrils of revenge expand? Adjusting Journal Entries answered that question: far and wide.
Her short thriller entitled Number Seventy-Five, touches upon the sometimes dangerous world of online dating. Number Seventy-Five took home the BRONZE medal in fiction/suspense at the 2013 Readers’ Favorite International Book Awards contest and is currently in production for a feature film.
Her latest novel, a paranormal thriller entitled The Lie, won the GOLD medal in the 2013 Illumination Book Awards for fiction/suspense.
Look for the suspenseful mystery Empty Shell, in the Fall of 2014.
Ashley also hosts The WriteStuff, a popular BlogTalk Radio show, each Friday night at 10 p.m. CST.
Giveaway
This giveaway is open worldwide (except for the print books) and will run 9/29/14 – 10/27/14.
Prizes:
5 copies of the award winning book The Lie (ebook)
10 audio copies of The Lie
10 audio copies of Number Seventy-Five (soon to be a feature film!)
5 audio copies of Ashley Fontainne’s trilogy: Accountable to None, Zero Balance, and Adjusting Journal Entries
3 print copies of The Lie (USA only)
I entered the giveaway! I'm reading book 1 of Eviscerating the Snake series and it's been interesting.
ReplyDeleteOh, Thanks for the post. Loved the Excerpt! :D
ReplyDelete