BLURB:
After saving her three-year-old daughter from a car-jacking, off-duty police detective Jocelyn Rush ends up in the ER. The last person she expects to run into is Anita Grant, former prostitute and an old acquaintance from Jocelyn’s days on patrol. In spite of her obvious injuries—mutilated hands and feet—Anita refuses to talk about what happened. Reluctantly, Jocelyn backs off, and Anita's case goes to Philadelphia’s Special Victims Unit.
Before long, Jocelyn is pulled into the SVU’s investigation. Anita is finally ready to talk, but only to Jocelyn. Her story is harrowing, even to a seasoned veteran like Jocelyn. Working with SVU, Jocelyn’s investigation unearths a series of similar crimes going back four years. Three men are preying on local prostitutes, viciously assaulting and mutilating them.
The police apprehend two of the suspects, but the third eludes capture. As the hunt for the most sadistic of the three intensifies, and his crimes escalate, Jocelyn and her colleagues have precious few leads. Then a monster from Jocelyn’s past resurfaces. She doesn’t want to be reminded of the terrible secret that destroyed her family nearly twenty years earlier, but the man offers her a lead that could crack Anita’s case.
To solve it, Jocelyn must connect her past with her present—before a sadistic attacker sets his sights on her.
BIO:
Lisa Regan is a crime fiction author. Her first novel, Finding Claire Fletcher won Best Heroine in the eFestival of Words Best of the Independent eBook Awards 2013. It was runner-up for Best Novel. It was also a Digital Book Today Best of 2013 ebook selection. In December 2013, Finding Claire Fletcher and her second novel, Aberration were #1 Amazon bestsellers in the Kidnapping and Serial Killers categories, respectively.
Lisa is a member of Sisters In Crime. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in English and Master of Education Degree from Bloomsburg University. She lives in Philadelphia with her husband and daughter.
EXCERPT:
The Wawa was crowded
as usual. It was the only Wawa in their neighborhood, and the only
minimarket worth its salt. For years it had been across the street
with a parking lot so small, it defied explanation. Someone very
intelligent had come up with the idea of moving it to a much more
spacious lot, the site of a long defunct car dealership. The result
was better parking and a larger Wawa but even more customers.
Jocelyn guided
Olivia over to the frozen drink machine and let her pull the frozen
strawberry cup out of the freezer. Jocelyn peeled back the lid.
“Look, Mommy.
It’s the same color as Lulu!” Olivia said, rocking up onto the
balls of her feet and pointing to the pink concoction inside the cup.
“It sure is,”
Jocelyn agreed. She put the cup into the blending machine and pushed
the blend button. As the cup ascended into the machine, she chose a
lid and threaded a straw through it. The machine made a grinding,
whirring sound. Jocelyn smiled at Olivia and arched a brow. “Does
that mean Lulu is a strawberry bear?”
Olivia grinned.
“She’s not a strawberry bear, Mommy. She’s just a bear.”
“I don’t know.
I think I should taste her and see.”
Olivia giggled
convulsively as Jocelyn bent and pretended to bite Lulu’s leg. Her
giggles rose to high-pitched squeals. Jocelyn looked around to see if
they had drawn stares from the other customers.
That’s when she
saw him.
He stood across the
aisle, at the coffee kiosk. His face was still swollen and bruised.
When he smiled at her, she could see the metal bracing in his mouth
holding his jaw in place.
Henry Richards.
What the hell
was he doing in her neighborhood? In her Wawa?
She didn’t notice
how hard her heart was thundering until she felt Olivia’s little
hand tugging hers. “Mommy, Mommy, it’s done. Can I put the lid
on?”
Instinctively,
Jocelyn scooped Olivia up without taking her eyes from Henry. He took
a step toward them.
“Don’t,”
Jocelyn said. The edge in her voice froze him. He looked momentarily
confused.
Once again, Jocelyn
wished she had her gun. She’d have to start carrying an off-duty
weapon.
People passed
between them, oblivious.
“You’re in
violation of a restraining order,” Jocelyn said.
Henry laughed, his
gnarled smile framing his wire-gritted teeth. “Like I give a shit.”
Jocelyn glanced
around. Surely, he wouldn’t try anything in a crowded minimarket.
“Mommy—”
“Just a minute,
honey.”
Jocelyn panned the
store again, hoping to see a uniformed officer. The Wawa was directly
across from the 5th District. Didn’t any of them need
coffee or snacks?
She swallowed hard
over the lump in her throat. She reached for the milkshake and handed
it to Olivia. Then she reached for the lid. Olivia took it from her
and fit it onto the top of the cup.
“What do you
want?” she asked Richards.
Henry reached
inside his jacket. Jocelyn’s voice turned sharp and loud like the
report of a gun. “Don’t,” she said again, this time drawing the
attention of several people around them. She turned her body so that
as little of Olivia was exposed to him as possible. Again, Henry
froze, nervousness slackening the sneer on his face. He looked around
at the faces now gaping at him.
Jocelyn lowered her
voice and narrowed her eyes. Even though she didn’t want to be near
him, she stepped closer. “Unless you want me to break your face
again, you’ll take your hand out of your pocket and get out of
here.”
Slowly, he removed
his hand. He put both hands up, trying to smile again. The seam where
Jocelyn had split his lip cracked. A small bead of blood formed.
Olivia grew heavy
in Jocelyn’s arms. She shifted her hold, jostling Olivia. The
strawberry milkshake toppled to the floor, landing with a splat.
A Wawa clerk who’d been watching the exchange between Jocelyn and
Henry rushed over. Olivia wailed, fat teardrops rolling down her
face. “I’m sorry, Mommy!”
“It’s okay,
honey,” Jocelyn soothed. “We’ll clean it up and get another
one.”
The clerk smiled at
Olivia. “Don’t worry, sweetie. That’s what we have mops for.
Why don’t you get yourself another one? No charge.”
Jocelyn mumbled a
thank you to the woman, trying to force a smile. When she looked back
at Henry, he was gone.
The clerk already
had the milkshake machine awhir as another worker came out to clean
up the milkshake. Jocelyn’s gaze swiveled around the minimarket,
but she didn’t see Henry. The clerk gave her a napkin, and she
dabbed Olivia’s cheeks.
“I’m sorry
about this,” Jocelyn told the clerk. “I’ll pay for both.”
The woman smiled,
her eyes warm and sympathetic. “Oh sweetie, don’t you worry about
it.” She held out a crudely folded origami crane. “Is this
yours?”
“Yes,” Jocelyn
said. It wasn’t hers, of course. But it was meant for her. Her hand
trembled as she took it.
ONLINE LINKS:
SHARON'S REVIEW
Jocelyn Rush grew up in a upper class family in Philadelphia. Her
father, a high priced lawyer. After her younger sister is gang raped,
and her father doesn't do anything, the family changes. A month after
the raped Jocelyn is in a accident and receives a severe head would,
which changes her. She doesn't remember the rape. She quits college
and goes to the police academy.
In the present day, she is a detective, but also a single mother. She
is raising her sister's child. On her way home she has to stop to get
her daughter's blanket, her daughter is asleep in the car, so she jumps
out to grab the bag with the blanket. But as she turns around she sees
someone jumping into the drivers seat and driving away. Unarmed and on
foot she chases down the car, which gets stuck in traffic. She rips the
guy out and beats him up. Realizing what she did, she finally calls it
in. The first to respond is Kyle "Friendly Fire" Finch. The one cop
no one likes, the one that is lazy in his job, but also the one that is
rumored to have shot a fellow officer. Luckily for Jocelyn, her partner
and friend show up to help keep things quiet.
Meanwhile, Anita Grant, a receptionist, former prostitute, is answering a
Craig's List ad she put in for a escort. She needs to make money, she
has 2 kids and a sick mother to take care of. She meets the man and his
friend at a Dunkin Donuts. Getting a creepy feeling she gives them a
high price, to which they say they don't have that much money but can
stop to get it. She tells them call her when they have it and leave.
While walking back home, she is grabbed and drug into the back of a
car. They take her to a run down condemned building. Where she is
raped and crucified. She wakes, one of the guys pulls out the nails,
but she passes out do to the pain, only to wake outside a hospital.
Jocelyn is laying on a hospital table with a wrist injury from beating
the car jacket up. He partner is there with her, when they over hear a
nurse in the next area saying she has to call the police and report what
happened, and also has to do a rape kit. Jocelyn and her partner
Kevin, jump up and question the nurse, then go to talk to the victim.
Jocelyn and Anita instantly recognize each other. Jocelyn is the only
person she will talk to. But when another victim shows up, and they
start finding more in the past, Jocelyn can't let it go. She teams up
with the head detective in the SVU, to track down the 3 men involved.
But when the same thing happens to her sister, she knows it's personal.
She.knows it has to be 1 of 2 men.
.png)
