About the Book
Title: Maelstrom
Author: Francis Guenette
Genre: Action / Thriller
A shot is fired into
the still night air and a young woman dies on Suicide Ridge. A dangerous game
has begun. Over the course of one blistering, hot week, winds of change sweep
through an isolated valley in small town America.
Sheriff Bert Calder,
with the help of Mayor Amos Thatcher, has held the town of Haddon under his
thumb for twenty-five years. As things spin out of control, Calder works the
angles, ensuring he can make the most of the upheaval that is to come.
Rafael Destino, facing
his own mortality, races against time to gain control of the railroad – a
lifeline essential to the town’s survival. His goal – to financially destroy
Thatcher, the man he believes responsible for the death of his beloved sister.
His tool – adopted son Myhetta. But how far down the road of revenge will
Rafael push the young man who owes him everything?
Myhetta is poised on
the edge of controlling Destino Enterprises, the job he has been groomed for.
While money, power and influence are his to command, the past continues to
torment him.
In a clash of powerful
men, with fathers pitted against sons, no one will be left unscathed. Maelstrom is a page turner that speeds
along like a runaway train.
Author Bio
Francis Guenette has spent all of her life on the west
coast of British Columbia. She lives with her husband and finds inspiration for
writing in the beauty and drama of their off-grid, lakeshore cabin and garden.
She has a graduate degree in Counselling Psychology. She has worked as an
educator, trauma counsellor and researcher. She is the author of three books in
the Crater Lake Series. Maelstrom is her fourth novel.
Links
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/francisguenetteauthor/377139735716267
Twitter - https://twitter.com/FrancisGuenette
Excerpt
The heat
of the past day hung heavily over Suicide Ridge. A rifle shot shattered the
still night air. The young woman walking across the gravel pullout took the
shot in her back; the bullet smashed through her body, winged out and kissed
the air alongside the arm of the man she had been waiting to meet.
The dead weight of her crashed into him and Myhetta fell to his knees.
He searched the darkness in the direction of the shot. Blood pumped from the
exit wound in the woman’s chest. The headlights of her car, parked against the
battered barrier near the drop-off to the river below, blinded him as the sound
of gravel crunching underfoot came closer. Polished, brown boots appeared. A
rifle casually smacked against a leg. The wide brimmed sheriff’s hat obscured
the eyes but the moonlight caught the silver line of a scar as a voice drawled,
“You move along now, Breed. No need for you to hang around.”
Myhetta rose and whistled as he drew out the knife tucked at his back.
Two timber wolves loped out of the trees and flanked him. Lips pulled back to
reveal yellow fangs as the animals snarled.
The sheriff raised the rifle at his side and took aim at the wolf to
Myhetta’s right. “Get going or one of your precious pets dies.”
Sheriff Bert Calder did not make idle threats. As Myhetta backed up a
step, hate smouldered in his dark eyes. He kept the animals close to his side
with a gesture of his hand as he walked away into the trees. His horse was
grazing on the scrubgrass that grew under the tall pines. Swinging his body
into the saddle, he urged Black along the trail. He wound his way up the
switchback and stopped at a point where he could look down to the dirt pullout
on the corner of the stretch of road known as Suicide Ridge. His tall form was
outlined in the light of the full moon.
The sheriff returned from the police
cruiser parked in the nearby trees with a jerry can in his hand. He had already
loaded the body into the driver’s side of the car. He doused the vehicle with
gasoline. Reaching inside, he shoved the battered Volkswagen into gear and rolled
it forward. He stepped back, lit a match, flicked it into the car and raised
his boot to nudge the bumper. The car clunked down the rough, rock face of the
ridge. All was dark for a moment then a whoosh of fire lit the night sky.
