New Release
Shadow of the Eclipse
By L. A. Kelley
A button-down lawyer, a bean counter, and a
mission from a dead man to save the world.
Excitement brews in Crossroads for
everyone but lawyer, Callum MacGregor. This year, the town harvest festival
coincides with a total eclipse. With a recent breakup, Cal has no desire to
attend until a visit from his old law partner, Isaac Bingham, drops a
bombshell. Twenty years before Cal’s birth, his grandfather, Phillip Bingham,
extracted a promise. Isaac must get Cal to the harvest festival or the world would
face unparalleled disaster.
Cal is
stunned. How could Phillip know Cal would be born and live in Crossroads? Why
this nonsensical warning? The mystery deepens when Isaac tells him he’s not the
only one to receive a mysterious summons.
Accountant Meg Adler’s day started
badly when her boss fired her for refusing to cook the books, but then a letter
arrives from a man named Bingham. It contains a lucrative job offer—details to
follow. All she has to do is attend the Crossroads Harvest Festival on opening
day and meet his representative to discuss details. Meg is leery,
but it’s not the end of the world if this doesn’t pan out. Right?
Ancient evil prowls the shadow of
the eclipse, but the key to saving the present can only be found in the past.
In a time-traveling adventure, Cal and Meg enter a mystic maze and journey to
Babylon, the Dark Ages, and 1906 San Francisco hot on the trail of two magic
artifacts lost in the recesses of time. Can they dodge demonic forces, fulfill
a dead man’s mission, and discover a new future with each other?
Excerpt
Meg cocked her head toward the
entrance of the corn maze. “Do you hear that? Someone called for help.”
“Probably lost in the maze. George
made it extra challenging this year.”
“No, it’s different.” She sucked in
a breath. “M-my name—I swear I heard my name.”
A gust of wind rippled the stalks.
They bent toward the entrance, fluttery hands beckoning them inside. Cal strained
to hear past the whispery rustle of the leaves.
Almost as if they were voices…
“I’ll check it out,” he said.
“Maybe someone fell and got hurt. Wait for me here—”
“Not a chance.” Meg bolted into the
maze, and Cal ran after her. They came to the first intersection, and she
skidded to a halt. “Which way?”
“Left,” Cal said without
hesitation.
They dashed deeper into the field,
now left, now right, now straight ahead. With each step, Cal’s path became
surer as if something pulled him with an invisible cord.
Meg puffed beside him. “How do you
know which way to go?”
“I-I can’t explain it.” With every
breath, the air around Cal became hotter and more oppressive, pressing on his
shoulders like a stifling blanket. Humidity dropped to nothing. Beads of sweat
on his brow evaporated. Cal licked his dry, cracked lips and grimaced at the
gritty feel of sand on his tongue.
Sand in a corn maze?
They turned a corner and stumbled
into a clearing. In the center was an arbor that arched over a circle of flagstones
on the ground. A glowing flame hovered above the stones, suspended in midair.
Meg and Cal exchanged dumbfounded looks and stepped forward. The clarion note
of a distant horn sounded a soldier’s call to action. A surge of adrenaline
flooded Cal’s veins. He hadn’t felt like this since his days on patrol with the
Army. Unconsciously, Cal’s hand went to his hip, reaching for the sword. He
stared at his empty hand. Sword?
The flame grew larger and brighter,
shooting through the arbor into the heavens.
“Cal!” Meg’s voice sounded very far
away.
“I’m here!” Cal reached for her,
but the flame blinded him, blotting out the maze, blotting out the sun, blotting
out the world.
Nothing remained but the roar of
the cheering crowd.
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3 comments:
Sounds like a great story. Best wishes on your new release.
Congratulations on the new release. The book sounds like a winner, and I'm sure it will do well for you. Wishing you all success.
Congrats on your release!
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