A Secondhand Life:
(The Killer Thriller Series Book 1)
by Pamela Crane
Genre: A compelling serial killer thriller
**"A Secondhand
Life" is a standalone psychological thriller featuring characters also
found in the companion novella, "A Secondhand Lie."**
2016 New Apple
Literary Award in Psychological Thrillers, First Place Winner
2016 Reader's
Favorite Award in Thrillers, First Place Winner
2015 Library Journal
selection
2016 Chanticleer Clue
Awards nominee
2016 Silver Falchion
Best Fiction nominee
A
heart never forgets its last beat...
In
a freak collision when she was twelve, Mia Germaine faced death and the loss of
her father. A heart transplant from a young murder victim saved her life, but
not without a price. Twenty years later, chilling nightmares about an
unresolved homicide begin to plague Mia. Compelled by these lost memories, she
forms a complicated connection to the victim—the girl killed the night of Mia’s
accident—due to a scientific phenomenon called “organ memory.”
Now
suffocating beneath the weight of avenging a dead girl and catching a serial
killer on the loose dubbed the “Triangle Terror,” Mia must dodge her own demons
while unimaginable truths torment her—along with a killer set on making her his
next victim.
As
Mia tries to determine if her dreams are clues or disturbing phantasms,
uninvited specters lead her further into danger’s path, costing her the one
person who can save her from herself. More than a page-turning thriller,
"A Secondhand Life" weaves a tale of second chances and reclaimed
dreams as this taut, refreshing story ensnares and penetrates you.
I didn’t wake up one morning and
randomly decide to be a killer; rather, somewhere in the recesses of my
soulless being, there it was—a primal urge for blood, for manipulating life and
death. Yet all the while I was unable to control my own mind. I had become an
animal.
I wasn’t always a murderer, as far as I
know. Born with it, or raised into it? Nature versus nurture. The question of
the day. One that has baffled therapists for decades. As one of the monsters
they studied, even I had no answers. Picking apart my gray matter proved
fruitless.
I never tortured cats, pulled the wings
off of butterflies, or watched too much graphic news. In fact, I hated what
television represented, what it took from us. It stole our youth, our time, our
minds. Yet our lives revolved around it. So much power granted to one inanimate
object. Perhaps I was jealous.
But jealousy didn’t mutilate my soul.
Something else awakened within me over time, eroding my humanity to the point
where I despised what society had become. Perverted. Impure. Corrupt. It was a
shame what people had turned into with the help of a malevolent social order.
And I thought I was evil.
Look around you. Look at what people do
behind closed doors. Neglecting their kids. Abusing their spouses. Drinking
themselves into oblivion …
They’re the ugly ones, not me.
I was their savior.
So what exactly turned me into … this?
I will probably never know.
But today I challenged all theories of
humanity’s innate goodness as the girl’s limp neck hung in my hands, my
dirt-stained fingers wrapped around her flawless pink flesh like a snake coiled
around its prey. I hadn’t planned on squeezing until she vented a terror-stricken
scream, potentially spooking the neighbors and sealing my red-and-blue-flashing
fate. Reflexively my hands tightened their grip, summoning Death to take its
victim.
A Secondhand Lie:
A gripping short story thriller
(The Killer Thriller Series Book 0)
**"A Secondhand
Lie" is the companion novella featuring characters also found in the
full-length standalone thriller, "A Secondhand Life."**
Sometimes
you know things you’re not supposed to know. Things that you can never un-know.
Things that will change the course of your life…and the fate of the ones you
love.
I
found her in our living room, bleeding and close to death, but alive. Barely.
Until morning stole her last breath. The media called her killer the “Triangle
Terror” … and then forgot about her. But I never forgot—my murdered sister, and
an investigation that led to my own resurrection from the dead.
Twenty-two
years ago, on a cold February night, Landon Worthington lost his father for the
last time. After an armed robbery gone wrong, evidence and witness testimony
pointed a shaky finger at Dan Worthington—deadbeat dad and alcoholic husband.
But before the dust could settle over the conviction, Landon’s preteen sister,
Alexis, is murdered in their home, plunging Landon’s life into further despair.
Two
decades and a cold case later, Landon is dogged by guilt over their estranged
relationship and decides to confront his incarcerated father-of-the-year about
what really happened the night of the robbery. But the years of lies are hard
to unravel. And the biggest question of all haunts him: How does everything tie
into his sister’s murder?
And
so begins Landon’s journey to piece together the puzzle of secrets, lies, and
truths that can free his father, avenge his sister, and perhaps save himself.
Pamela
Crane is a professional juggler. Not the type of juggler who can toss flaming
torches in the air, but a juggler of four kids, a writing addiction, a horse
rescuer, and a book editor by trade. She lives on the edge (ask her Arabian
horse about that—he’ll tell you all about their wild adventures while trying to
train him!) and she writes on the edge. Her characters and plots are her escape
from the real world of dirty diapers and cleaning horse stalls, and she thrives
off of an entertaining tale.
She
is the author of the best-selling psychological thriller "The Admirer’s
Secret," Amazon top 20 short story "A Fatal Affair," and her
latest releases "A Secondhand Life" and "A Secondhand Lie."
To
pick up a copy of a FREE book, or to find out more about her chaotic existence,
visit her website at www.pamelacrane.com.
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