Free Books-First Impressions

FREE for Kindle 11/16-18: Haunting Refrain is suspense with a little romance and a bit of woo-woo.

First impressions matter. I like picturing characters through another character’s eyes. What do they see? Here are some excerpts from the book.

This is John’s first impression of Kate.

John studied her quietly while she fussed at Ashburton. Something about her seemed familiar, tweaked at his memory. Surely he’d remember someone so . . . vivid. He couldn’t think of a better word. On top of her head, a precarious knot of hair appeared to be held in place by a single pencil. It wasn't very effective, judging by the amount of hair that had already escaped.

As the two women moved closer, he could see the broken point on the blue pencil. It matched the rest of her clothes—a man's blue work shirt that came almost to the knees of her faded jeans, and a pair of worn running shoes. He’d be willing to bet the counter where she worked came to just above her waist—evidenced by a horizontal streak of brownish stains across the front of the shirt.

In this one, Kate runs into a troublemaker with a strong dislike of psychics.

When Kate left the parking lot, she saw that a crowd had spilled into the street in front of the building where Martin Carver had an office. The road was blocked by two police cars. Kate slowed and rolled down her window, waving to a police officer. “What’s wrong? Can I get through here?”

“It’s the Prophet from the Mountains, Ma’am,” he said as if she should know the name. “He’s here because of the—”

“The sinner shall die.” A deep voice rolled over the officer’s words. A tall figure in a long, dirty robe strode out of the crowd, came toward Kate. “Thou shalt not hearken unto the dreamer of dreams: for the Lord your God will smite you with thunder and stones.” He stopped a few feet from her car and raised a long wooden walking stick in the air. His dark eyes stared into hers, his face contorted in anger.

Kate meets the roommate of the murdered woman.

The door opened so quickly that Kate jumped. A large, muscular woman with chopped-off brown hair glared down at her. A baseball bat hung from her hand.

“Whatever it is, I'm not interested, and the answer is no,” the Amazon barked, slamming the door.

For a second, Kate stood speechless. She almost left, then decided she wouldn't be put off so easily. She knocked again.

“Are you deaf, dumb, or both?” Josephine yelled, jerking the door back and waving the bat.

“My name is—” Kate stopped short as the door swung toward her again. She needed to get Josephine’s attention, fast. She flung her purse at the woman. “Listen, dammit. I need to talk to you.”

If this appeals to you, hop on over and get a copy while it’s free. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00336F3QE