Title:
Tethered
Author: Carlyle Labuschagne
Series: Standalone
Genre: Supernatural Suspense
Publisher: Fire Quill Publishing
Release Date: April 1 2019
Editions: eBook & Print
Blurb/Synopsis:
A girl tethered to a serial killer by heart leads them to the undiscovered bodies of The Devil's breath victims.
A girl tethered to a serial killer by heart leads them to the undiscovered bodies of The Devil's breath victims.
Tethered follows two sisters, Willow and
Raine Viviers alongside two rogue FBI brothers on what seems like an impossible
task to solving a dead end case. With no leads, and a corrupt government cover
up, their time is running out to stop the spread of a Serial Killer Cult before
another victim is claimed.
But they have a secret weapon...
Willow is a young adult who has just
undergone a heart transplant who's trauma has changed her, she's gained a
strange supernatural gift - she can see into the heart of the Devil's Breath
Killer. She not only feels the serial killer's urges, knows his thoughts, but
can somehow get's visions through the eyes of his victims too.
These visions are chaotic, menacing and
evil, and Willow can hardly make sense of her own reality without going insane.
How will she decipher and hone in her special abilities in time to save a
missing agent and stop another Devil's Breath Killing.
Book Links
Excerpt
Bryce wiped his forehead, removing his mask
to take a breather. “What is it?” he pulled a face at the smell, then placed
the mask back on.
“The device gave me a reading, huge amounts
of sodium hypochlorite.”
“Laymen’s terms?” Bryce interrupted.
“Ammonia or bleach.”
Rodriquez called from behind him, “Someone
might have tried to clean up the evidence.”
“Thank you captain obvious,” Aaron said,
shooting him an impatient glare. “We’d worked that all out earlier–without a fancy
machine.” He added that last bit for Whitmore.
“Fuck you!” Rodriguez flipped him the bird.
Aaron pulled a face. “And risk catching something?”
Rodrigues clenched a fist, ready to leap at
Aaron.
“Boys,” Bryce warned.
Aaron got back to this position at the edge
of the hole as Rodriguez readied the drone, his hands and knees digging into
the debris.
“You got it?” Aaron asked, lending a hand
to take one side of the drone.
Rodriquez nodded. “Yeah, thanks.” His voice a muffle through the mask. On his
stomach he groaned, trying to balance the remote and the drone all at once.
Aaron could see beads of sweat dotting his forehead. “Hey, I said I got it,” he
insisted.
With the flick of a switch the drone came
to life, and both agents steadily let go. The drone hovered, and Rodriquez rose
to his knees.
“Patching you into the feed, Captain.”
With that, Aaron stood and made his way
beside Bryce. They stared at a blank screen until the drone’s lights came on,
illuminating the space. It was only then they realized how vast a room it truly
was. Some kind of mechanical track ran along one side of the wall, and as the
drone followed it, everyone held their breath.
Moments later, the figure at the far end
wall became clear. The captain released a pent up breath. Aaron couldn't tear
his gaze away from the screen. She was dead, evident by her pale, stiff
features. Her hair hung dark and limp around her shoulders, with eyes wide open
like she'd died facing her death head-on. Her mouth was agape, and he could
almost hear the screams of terror.
Rodriquez stood back, his hands trembling
as he tried to steady the drone on her face. “I’m gonna be sick.”
"It can't be." Bryce and Aaron
stared at each other in horror. Aaron didn't have to reply, it was that bad,
and they knew it, they'd both seen it, and it was as real as daylight.
“Rodriquez, are there any explosive devices
down there.”
"No, sir."
“You need to get down there Anderson.”
Bryce swallowed against the lump in his throat.
Aaron nodded, his shoulders set in
determination as he pulled a headlamp from his gear belt. The shuffle of his
feet through the debris and the kick of dust and pieces of cement was like the
actions of a soldier coming out of the battlefield alone and hopeless. After
slipping on some gloves, Aaron dropped feet first into the hole, caught the
edge with both hands, took a breath and dropped down further into the darkness.
With a crunch and a cloud of dust, Aaron landed on the hard ground below.
Immediately, the heat and the humidity struck him. As he moved closer, he kept
telling himself it couldn't be. But the closer he got to the body, the more
evident it became.
His beam of light hit several objects. A
crate approximately the size of a narrow coffin, broken and in pieces had been
discarded next to a conveyer belt system. The stench of chemicals, mingled with
the smell of rotting blood made him sick to his stomach. A few more steps
closer and the smell clung to his skin. Finally, he faced her. Her naked skin
glossy, pale and stiff. Her chest had been split wide open, ribs contorted so
that he could take in the image the killer was trying to convey completely.
She looked like a doll without a heart.
Stepping even closer, he recognized her
immediately, and his blood ran cold. Nausea bubbled up inside of him, trying to
force its way out…
***
Author Information
Carlyle is a USA Today bestselling author
from South Africa, who has won an award for her SF fantasy series the Broken
Trilogy. This series broke ground not only in her country but in many where the
genre of SF is concerned. Mixing African tales into world’s most of her readers
describe as highly imaginative and unique. Her Dystopian Romance book, Dead of
Night is a multi-award nominated tale set in a world where love is outlawed,
described by readers as breathing new life into the genre.
Her goal as an author is to touch people's
lives, and help others love their differences and one another by delivering
strong messages of faith, love and hope within each world she writes about. She
loves creating villains you have a hate, love relationship with and always
explores imperfection as a strength in her heroes and supporting characters.
"I love to swim, fight for the trees,
and am a food lover who is driven by my passion for life. I dream that one day
my stories will change the lives of countless teenagers and have them obsess
over the world literacy can offer them instead of worrying about fitting in.
Never sacrifice who you are, it’s in the dark times that the light comes to
life."
Author Links
Instagram @carlylelab
Twitter @CarlyleL
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