.png)
.jpg)
Drowning Rapunzel
Annette Gisby
Annette Gisby
Genre: Romantic
Suspense
Publisher: Pink
Petal Books
Word Count: 66,000
Cover Artist:
Valerie Tibbs
Book Description:
Recently released
from a mental institution, Beth Gregory accepts a job as a live-in secretary/PA
to the reclusive painter Josh Warrington. Beth's long red hair fascinates him
from the first moment he sees her and Josh wants her to be his Rapunzel for a
series of fairy tale paintings he's working on.
Beth has two major
fears: that she will be sent back to the mental hospital and the visions which
landed her there in the first place will return. They do; this time giving her
glimpses of murders before they happen. Beth becomes the main suspect in the
murder investigation and then she has the most disturbing vision of all: she
will become the next victim...
Short Excerpt:
He wished he'd thought of the water sooner. It was
easier that way, not so much mess. It was peaceful too, watching her hair fan
out behind her like a veil of gold. She didn't struggle after his hands were
around her neck, and he was grateful. It showed him that she accepted her fate
dutifully, like she should. She should never have made him wait so long.
Now he was waiting again, but he didn't mind. He was
used to waiting now. Waiting could almost have been his middle name. Actually,
it was Alphonse, but anyone who knew that was already dead, and so it didn't
matter anymore.
It was a while since he had hunted like this,
anticipated the inevitable. Usually he preferred the quick kill, where they
didn't know he was coming until they started screaming. He liked to hear them
scream. Made it all seem that bit much more worthwhile.
But there was something different about this one;
something that made him want to wait, to delay the final moment, to make it
last. He wanted to frighten her long before the end, when she would beg him to
kill her. He couldn't quite tell what it was; there was just an air of
something other about her. She wasn't like the other girls, and he
grinned broadly. Of course she wasn't. She was special. But then, they were all
special. They were his.
Maybe it was the hair which attracted him. It was
long, tumbling in red-gold waves down her back, almost to her waist. It
reminded him of golden syrup. He loved golden syrup, loved to eat it straight
out of the tin with his fingers. No mother to nag him about that. Not anymore.
Fingers were fine, but sometimes he preferred bread, white bread, none of that
wholemeal nonsense. He could almost taste it on his tongue, could almost taste
her and he had to stifle a gasp at the image. No point in attracting undue
attention to himself.
He glanced at the folder on the passenger seat, her
name stark black against the buff-coloured folder. It had almost been too easy
to get hold of her file, but no one knew what he wanted it for and he wasn't
about to tell them, either. He lifted it up and traced her name with a gloved
finger, feeling almost as if he was caressing her already. This one would be so
easy to break; she'd already been in a mental hospital once. He had to be
careful; if she was sent back he couldn't get to her, not there with their high
walls and staff on alert all the time. No, he just wanted to scare her for a
while, but not inflict madness on her once more. He gasped as he saw her
walking towards his parked car, her head down, her loose hair being buffeted by
the spring wind.
Maybe it wasn't the hair; maybe it was the grey-green
eyes which seemed to see right down to his soul. Would she recoil in terror at what she saw there,
or would she welcome it like the others before her? They had all welcomed him
in the end. Or maybe it was the way she dressed, so unlike her contemporaries
in their short skirts and skimpy tops. Any time he'd seen her, she was always
covered up in long dresses and baggy sweaters, as if she didn't want to show
off any of her womanly curves. She had curves, the clothes could not disguise
them, and he had long imagined his hands roving over her delicate skin.
He also knew that underneath all those layers, there
was a wanton harlot waiting for him to let her out, just like all the others.
How they loved to tease and torment him. This time he would be the tormentor.
But not yet. He would wait. He was getting good at
waiting.
Review:
4.5 stars
Review:
4.5 stars
After a bout in a
mental hospital, Beth Gregory wants a fresh start including a new job as live-in secretary to eccentric painter Josh
Warrington. Her transition is not smooth
though when Josh’s pseudo mom/housekeeper is intent on getting her to leave and
the visions which once hospitalized her begin again and the murders are close
to home.
Hypnotic story, this had a very gothic feel to it. I was entranced from the beginning, the
murderer is after Beth and all of the victims have one thing in common, long
flowing hair. You are left guessing
until the very end on who is behind all the killings. Can’t wait to read what is next from this
talented author.
About the Author:
.jpg)
Annette Gisby grew
up in a small town in Northern Ireland, moving to London when she was
seventeen. She writes in multiple genres and styles, anything from romance to
thriller or erotica to horror, even both at the same time. When not writing,
she enjoys reading, cinema, theatre and travelling the world despite getting
travel sick on most forms of transport., even a bicycle. Sometimes you might
find her playing Dragon Quest or The Sims computer games and watching Japanese
Anime. She lives in Hampshire with her husband, a collection of porcelain
dolls, cuddly toys and enough books to fill a library. It's diminishing
gradually since the advent of ebooks, but still has a long way to go.
Contest
5
ebook copies of Drowning Rapunzel and a $10 amazon gift card
Thanks for hosting me :)
ReplyDelete