I’ve had some nice reviews for my contemporary romance novel, The Stalker, and readers are pretty consistent with their comments about not being able to put the book down. Inspired by a real-life incident, The Stalker is my darkest story so far. It’s part romance and part horror and definitely high on the creep factor. Everyday seems like Halloween for lead character Rachel. What makes the story even more creepy is the fact that Craig, the man who’s stalking her, isn’t a jilted ex-lover. He’s a former coworker.
Below is a sample read from The Stalker.
Marina Martindale
***
Once Alice drove away, Rachel turned her attention to Shane.
“So, what’d you think?” she asked.
“I like her. She’s like you, in a lot of ways.”
“You think so? I always thought that with our only being half-sisters, we weren’t very much alike.”
“Well, in that case, you’re each other’s better half. Seriously, you two have a great relationship. I wish I could have been closer to my own sister, but there’s such a big difference in our ages. By the time I was old enough to really get to know her, she’d gone off to California for college. After that she only came home for short visits.”
“It’s never too late, you know,” said Rachel. “Maybe you should call her sometime, just to say hello.”
“Well, maybe. We’ll see. Meantime, I’ll walk you to your car.”
Rachel’s car was parked a few spaces away. “Thank you again, Shane, for such as wonderful evening,” she said as she reached into her purse for her keys. “I’m glad you liked my sister.”
“You’re welcome.” He gazed into her eyes and slowly leaned down to kiss her. It was a gentle, yet passionate kiss. When it was over, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in close as he kissed the top of her head. A sense of calmness came over her as she basked in the warmth of his embrace, but her mood quickly shattered when pair of glaring headlights shined in her face. A red pickup truck slowly drove past. She watched it closely as it turned out of the parking lot and drove away.
“Are you all right?” asked Shane.
She nodded toward the street. “That truck. I’ve seen it a lot lately. Over the past few weeks it’s been going up and down my street.”
“Are you sure? There are plenty of red pickup trucks in Tucson.”
“Yes, I’m sure. It’s a red Dodge Ram, with California plates.”
“Which is a popular model. Maybe someone from California recently moved into your neighborhood.”
“Maybe,” she said, “but that particular truck has a small dent, right above the left rear wheel, and I recognized the same exact dent on the truck that just drove by.”
“It’s okay, Rachel. I know what you’re thinking, but it’s been weeks since we bumped into Craig Walker, and you’ve heard nothing of him since. I’m beginning to think his being at the same hotel where we had our class reunion was one of those weird coincidences. In the meantime, we’re only a few blocks away from your place, so it’s entirely possible that someone from California has recently moved into your neighborhood.”
Rachel remained unconvinced, but she didn’t want to start an argument. “Well, hopefully, you’re right. Maybe it is just a coincidence.”
The Stalker is available on Amazon and Barnesandnoble.com.