Rain of Terror
Donna Cummins
Author Bio
DONNA CUMMINS’ debut novel Rain of Terror is the product of a life-long love of both reading and writing. She began her writing “career” in the third grade where she wrote and produced a Christmas class play. In high school she wrote her graduation speech and another speech that took her to a national speaking competition in Texas. Later, she wrote primarily for self-satisfaction, from journals to essays to short stories to a play script and then finally to her first novel, Rain of Terror. Rain of Terror is a page-turning, edge-of-your-seat mystery/thriller set in the mountains of western Pennsylvania where the author was born and raised. Her next mystery/suspense entitled A Reason to Kill is soon to be released. Ms. Cummins is a graduate of Indiana University of Pennsylvania and has spent many years as an educator, her most recent position at Webster College in Tampa, Florida, where she now lives with her family and little dog Toby.
Description
“IT KEPT ME ON THE EDGE OF MY SEAT….POWERFUL READ!”
—-S.L. Shelton, author of The Scott Wolfe Thriller Series
“I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK….KEEPS THE READER GLUED TO THE PAGES!”
—-Kathryn Dionne, author of The Eleventh Hour Series
A child vanishes on his way home from school as thunder rumbles in the western horizon. Another is abducted from his bedroom on a storm-filled night. A young mother is murdered in her bed as lightning flashes across the Valley. Who will be next? And why?
When terror strikes the sleepy mountain community of Blacklick Valley, tucked into the dark forests of western Pennsylvania, with the mysterious disappearance of its children and a young mother is murdered, Sheriff Jed Tyler launches a dauntless search for the madman who threatens his Valley. In his quest, will he find an answer to the personal torment that plagues his days and haunts his nights—the answer to a dark secret hidden deep in his past? And why do the turbulent thunderstorms in these Pennsylvania mountains ignite a fury in the mind of the killer that fuels his madness? When newcomer Jenny McConnell stumbles into Tyler’s life, will she capture his free-spirited heart or plunge him into greater danger? From fear-ridden Blacklick Valley to a satanic cult in the distant Sierra Nevada’s, Tyler is swept across the country in his relentless determination to learn the fate of the kidnapped children as well as find resolution to the black abyss in his own soul.
Book excerpt
“The child ran through the dark forest, sobbing, breathless, oblivious to the driving rain that soaked his matted hair and plastered the flimsy shirt against his skin. Jagged streaks of lightning cut across the night sky, creating a stark backdrop for the swaying black oaks silhouetted above him. He ran, stumbled, fell, and ran again, heart pounding in his thin chest, the sound of his own blood roaring in his ears. Cold rain stabbed like prickly needles at his face and bare arms, and clutching fingers of underbrush tore at his clothing. But still he ran, driven not by reason or logic but by basic primal instinct—the instinct to survive.”
* * *
“Within minutes, I heard Mother scream a piercing wail that emitted both terror and defeat. They came through our bedroom door, robes rustling, wild eyes searching, hands reaching, and carried Jeremiah and I from our beds. They dragged Mother out the front door, through the dark forest, up the mountainside, our captors pulling my brother and I close behind. I remember the brittle sound of the fallen leaves under our feet, the cold chill of the night air brushing against my face, the pale moonlight frosting the tips of the last remaining leaves on the black, skeletal oak trees that rose above us. And we kept climbing, climbing, farther and farther up through the forest.
And as we walked, a cold wind came up, turning the leaves; and the racing clouds changed into thunderheads. And then the first bolt of lightning lit the sky and illuminated the hellish scene around us—the shadowy, dark figures stomping through the bushes and underbrush, the swaying glow of lanterns through the trees. All the while their chanting reverberated across the landscape, mixing with the sound of the howling, barking, snarling, pawing dogs that followed in their midst.”
Author Website
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00JH6VQCY
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