Down Home

AVAILABLE ONLY AT AMAZON

Down Home

A Novel by Gail Roughton

Genre: Crime Thriller

Tags: Country, ghosts, undercover agents, haunted church, crime, thriller, mystery, drug busts, romance, homecoming, long lost love, small town, southern, suspense, haunted cemetery

Release: September 14, 2012

Editor: Tanja Cilia

Line Editor: Greta Gunselman

Cover Designer: Delilah K. Stephans

Words:  94004

Pages:  285

ISBN:  978-1-77127-146-2

Price:  $5.95

Back Cover:

Everybody knows everybody else’s business in Turkey Creek.  The town knows Maggie Kincaid hasn’t spoken to her father in twenty-five years. It knows Billy Brayton was killed in basic training after Big John Kincaid railroaded him out of town and into the army.  Nobody was surprised.  For sure, Big John wasn’t going to let his daughter keep time with the local bad boy.  Not for long.  But the town’s missing a few pieces of the puzzle.  Billy Brayton’s not dead.  He’s back.  He’s home.  And it’s payback time.

Excerpt:

Maggie’s face was alabaster. Even her lips were white. One corner of Jake’s mind noted this phenomenon he’d heard of but never seen. Well, he was seeing it now. And her knees were buckling, too. But close as he was, before he could grab her arms to steady her, Billy was there, reaching out and pulling her close. She made a sound somewhere between a cry and a moan, and then her arms were around Billy’s neck, gathering him closer, the muscles in her arms tightening as though she’d never let him go.

“But there was a body in that casket! They told me not to look, that you didn’t have a face, but I did, I looked, I didn’t believe ’em, I looked and you didn’t have a face—”

“Shhh. Shhh. I’m sorry, Maggie, I’m so damn sorry…”

Jake backed away from them. She’d never told him that and neither had Aunt Lulu. He wondered if she knew. As heartbreaking as the words were, her voice itself was the killer. He thought he’d heard his mother’s voice in all its variations, but this lost, bewildered wail so full of long-ago anguish—he’d never heard it before and had no business hearing it now.  And Billy’s voice, as he stroked Maggie’s hair, was so full of emotion it sounded as though it was coming through coarse gravel. Nobody on earth had any right to hear or see them right now.

He slipped out the door and reached for his keys. He’d take Mom’s car, go home, grab some clothes, and crash at his best friend Ben Clayton’s house for a couple of days. Ben’s mom was always threatening to trade Ben in for Jake, he knew she wouldn’t mind. He reached in his pocket and realized his keys were in his wrecked car. Mom always threw her keys down on the kitchen table, though, he could probably slip in and out without them noticing. They certainly hadn’t noticed his first departure.

He slipped back through the screen just at the moment Maggie pulled back from Billy and slapped him. Hard.

About the Author:

Gail Roughton is a native of small town Georgia. Her Deep South heritage features prominently in much of her work. She's written for over twenty years while raising a family and pursuing a career as a Paralegal/Legal Assistant, promptly throwing each completed book in the closet. These days the closet doesn’t get much use.  She’s the author of the paranormal romantic suspense series War-N-Wit, Inc., as well as Miami Days & Truscan (K)nights, a fantasy romance. Keep an eye out.  Some “darker” surprises might just emerge from that closet, too.

Customer Reviews:

Gail Roughton has created the equvilent of a reader's Tilt-A-Whirl...Just when you believe you've been jettisoned as far down that field as you can go, and you THINK you know what's going to happen, Gail Roughton yanks you in a completely different and far more complex direction.rnrnI like to think I'm pretty smart and can pick up the cleverest of nuances an author weaves into his/her story-lines...and most of the time I DO...but Gail Roughton's wickedly diabolical mind overshadows me at every juncture throughout this breahtakikngly complex tale.rnrnFrom the moment I opened my newly charged Kindle and pulled DOWN HOME up for my avid attention until the soul-squeezing end, Gail Roughton held me tightly by the seat of my pants and her richly developed tale wasn't goinjg to let go until all the byways and misdirections she'd led me on came to an ending so powerful it is going to continue haunting me for a long time to come.rnrnTherefore, I cannot recommend this book more highly. It's a MUST reaad, and a KEEPER!rnrnEXCELLENT JOB Ms. Roughton...PLEASE keep them coming. rn

I received this as a gift and loved it from start to finish. Ms. Roughton clearly understands her characters and their jobs. She knows about police work and procedure, and it shows in her writing. I'm looking forward to reading more from this talented southern writer.

You may also be interested in this/these product(s)

A Reason to Kill $5.95