Don't Turn Around Road Trip

 The previous chapter of Don't Turn Around can be found at Books From Dusk Til Dawn. Chapter 1 can be found at A Little Book Problem. 

Chapter 3

AMHERST, TEXAS—

278 MILES TO ALBUQUERQUE

Rebecca had watched the silhouette of the city disappear in the side-view mirror until it was swallowed up by the night sky. Only then did she let herself take a full breath.

It was easier now that they were out of Lubbock. It was the first step, and the biggest.

When the Jeep had pulled up outside the house, she’d sat in the dark of their bedroom, hands folded neatly in her lap, and listened to the faint rumble of the Jeep’s engine. This was what she had wanted— what she had carefully planned— but now that it was here, she was paralyzed. Five minutes passed, then ten. They had told her the driver would wait for twenty minutes— no longer. At the fifteen- minute mark, she grabbed her bag and ran to the door. If she hesitated for even a second, she knew she’d never make it. When she stepped out into the freezing night, there was no bolt of lightning waiting to strike. No corrective zap from an electric fence. Just a girl in a Jeep, waiting for her.

Rebecca couldn’t believe how quiet the neighborhood was at that time of night. The low thrum of the engine and the distant cry of a skulk of foxes. She could hear her heart pounding in her chest as she checked the lock on the door, and the soft pad of her footsteps as she walked across the pavement. It was easy, in the end.

Still, the same worries snagged in her head. What if he comes home early? What if someone found out my plans and told him? They promised total confidentiality over the phone, but I know how people operate. No one can be trusted, especially not if there might be money involved. And with this, there would be.

Rebecca looked over at the girl. She was young: somewhere in her mid- twenties. Just a baby, really. She had expected someone older. It felt strange being driven by someone so much younger, a reversal of the natural order.

She turned her eyes back to the road. Nothing. Nothing. Silo. Nothing. Nothing. Storage unit. She felt tiny out here, like one of those paper dolls she had played with as a girl.

Nearly three years in Texas and the place still felt as strange and alien as it had the first time she’d set foot in it.

She still felt like a stranger in the place she was meant to call home.

Bookends and Biscuits is hosting Chapter 4 which is the next stop on the tour.

Final call for entries for the McIlvanney Prize for Crime Fiction and the NEW debut prize for crime fiction

Final call for entries for the McIlvanney Prize for Crime Fiction and the
NEW debut prize for crime fiction
 AND revealing the debut authors selected for Alex Gray’s New Crimes

Best-selling crime writer Alex Gray created the Bloody Scotland International Crime Writing Festival with fellow author, Lin Anderson, in order to celebrate the best of crime writing and to support aspiring crime writers.

As the Festival celebrates 8 years Alex reveals her debut selections for this years New Crimes panel and reflects on the success stories which have emerged from it including Abir Mukherjee (‘lovely to see the trajectory of Abir’s writing career since then’), Felicia Yap (‘blend of futuristic novel and contemporary crime made it quite unique’) and Olga Wotjas (‘crime and humour are hard to combine but I laughed out loud several times’).

On Saturday 21 September four new crime writers will be taking the stage in Stirling all of which she praises for ‘how well the stories stuck in my mind and, more importantly, the superb quality of writing’:

Freefall by US author, Jessica Barry (Harvill Secker) was just one of those thrillers that creates a lasting impression long after finishing the story, a crime debut by a writer previously known for romantic fiction. Quite a leap!

Close to the Edge by Toby Faber (Muswell Press) was a story I thought I would not like, given that much of the setting is in the tunnels of the London Underground and I am horribly claustrophobic. Yet it kept me reading and I loved the setting and characters in equal measure.

Past Life by Dominic Nolan (Headline) combines Police Procedural with a harrowing account of one woman’s amnesia, not a tale for the faint-hearted and never falling into the trap of a predictable outcome but a book that grabs you and refuses to let go till the very end.

The Rumour by Lesley Kara (Bantam Press) takes what might be considered a small thing, a mere rumour, and build it into a thrilling story. The Rumour might be compared to the recent BBC drama, The Victim, but its resemblance is pure coincidence, just showing the zeitgeist prevailing right now.

None of the above books are eligible for the new McIlvanney Prize for debut fiction - which requires authors to be born in Scotland live in Scotland or set their books there - so there is still all to play for. Entries for the prize close at 5pm on Friday 26 April. PDFs of the book (published between 1 August 2018 and 31 July 2019) should be sent by email to Director, Bob McDevitt bob@bloodyscotland.com with McIlvanney Prize Entry 2019 plus the book title in the header. The winner will be selected from the highest scoring titles in the first round and judged by the board of Bloody Scotland, including crime writers Lin Anderson, Craig Robertson, Gordon Brown and Abir Mukherjee.

A new Scottish debut panel will precede Alex Gray’s New Crimes event so the morning of Saturday 21 September at Bloody Scotland is the place to be for discovering new crime fiction. The Scottish debut line up will be revealed after the programme launch on 3 June (in Stirling) and 4 June (in London).
 

For further information contact fiona@brownleedonald.com 07767 431846 @brownlee_donald

Books to Look Forward to from Vintage/Harvill Secker

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January 2019

What happens when the cops become the prey? It starts when Desire Rosenkvist of Stockholm Police receives a letter. Two things are immediately clear: the letter she holds in her hands was written in a state of utter desperation and paranoia. And it contains details of one of her old murder cases, which only the murderer could know. Desire contacts private investigator Sam Berger, who sets off to the remote north of Sweden with his colleague Molly Blom to find the author of the letter and to stop them in their tracks. But someone wants to keep them from getting to the bottom of the mystery at any cost and is watching their every move. What happens when the cops become the prey?  Hunted is by Arne Dahl.

February 2019

Freefall is by Jessica Barry.  Surviving the plane crash is only the beginning for Allison. The life that she's built for herself - her perfect fiance, their world of luxury - has disappeared in the blink of an eye. Now she must run, not only to escape the dark secrets in her past, but to outwit the man who is stalking her every move. On the other side of the country, Allison's mother is desperate for news of her daughter, who is missing, presumed dead. Maggie refuses to accept that she could have lost her only child and sets out to discover the truth. Mother and daughter must fight - for survival and to find their way through a dark web of lies and back to one another, before it's too late... 

May 2019

A breath-taking thriller about a wealthy housewife who successfully conceals her dark past until a true-crime podcast and a photo posted on social media send her running across Europe, with a faded rock star by her side and extremely dangerous enemies on her trail.  Anna McLean loves to revel in life's unsavory details. When she's keeping up appearances as an upper-class Edinburgh housewife, there's no better escape than other people's sordid stories retold in true-crime podcasts. Until the day it all falls apart.  A new podcast turns out to have a connection to Anna's own dark past--the secret history she's taken great pains to conceal. Hours later, her husband announces he's leaving her--for her own best friend. And when the best friend's husband--who happens to be former rock star Fin Cohen--shows up on Anna's front stoop, a nosy neighbour plasters their photo all over the internet. Her cover well and truly blown, Anna's only choice is to run--and take Fin along for his own protection.  Conviction is by Denise Mina.

August 2019

A compelling and surreal mystery story by one of Japan's greatest writers. Hat, ribbon, bird, rose. To the people on the island, a disappeared thing no longer has any meaning. It can be burned in the garden, thrown in the river or handed over to the Memory Police. Soon enough, the island forgets it ever existed. When a young novelist discovers that her editor is in danger of being taken away by the Memory Police, she desperately wants to save him. For some reason, he doesn't forget, and it's becoming increasingly difficult for him to hide his memories. Who knows what will vanish next? The Memory Police is by Yoko Ogawa.

Also due to be published is Death in the East by Abir Mukerjee, the fifth book in the Sam Wyndham.