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Saturday, November 23, 2019

#SaturdaySpotlight is on Beverly Bateman and The Fourth Victim

Good Morning Friends and Welcome!

I pray you had a good week and that your upcoming Thanksgiving week will be blessed.

I introduced you to Beverly Bateman last month when she shared some words with us on healthy eating. Today, we get a peek into her novel, The Foundation, The Fourth Victim, Sarah's Story 

Sara’s emotionally abusive husband dies unexpectedly. She’s struggling to reclaim the intelligent, independent person she was before she married.  She vows never to let a man take over her life again. Now she’s part of a special team, training to help other women.

Mac is has been responsible for training women in special ops techniques so they are prepared when they are challenged to save other women. When he meets Sara, sparks fly between them. He wants her to quit the training and let him take care of her.
Sara graduates and now she and her team have to save Sara’s daughter from a serial killer. Can Mac step back and trust her in a dangerous situation? Can Sara and Mac resolve their issues, or will they go in opposite directions?

Excerpt:
The office said he’d had a heart attack. Was he alive? Did she want him to be? What if her husband had to stay home for a few weeks to recuperate? Palms sweating, Sara’s breath came in short, shallow bursts at the thought. 

The taxi jerked to a stop in front of the hospital emergency entrance.

Sara fumbled through her purse and counted out her meager number of dollar bills. Gordon didn’t allow her to have a credit card and he only allowed her to have a small amount of cash. She didn’t have enough money to pay the taxi.

“I’m so sorry. I left home without any cash. I... I ... Would you take a check?” Tears spilled over and trickled down her flushed cheeks.

The driver spun around. A short stubby finger waved at the sign over the rearview mirror. “Look lady, it says right there - No Checks.”

“I know, I know. I’m sorry. My husband’s had a heart attack and I ... I don’t know what to do.” Sara ran her fingers through her hair and scrunched the tight bun at her neck.

The driver shook his head. “Aw, shit. Go ahead, lady. Write the check.”

Sara pulled the single crumpled check Gordon allowed her carry for emergencies out of her purse. When she touched the check a vision of Gordon floated in front of her.

She froze and rapidly blinked her eyes. She only saw the ghosts of dead people. Could he really be dead?

“Gordon?” she whispered.

“Lady, are you writing that check or not?”

“Yes, sorry.” Sara scribbled her signature on the bottom of the check. “Please, fill it in, and give yourself a generous tip. Thank you, thank you so much.” She clutched her worn purse to her chest, slid out of the cab, and scurried through the emergency room doors.

What if he was dead? She didn’t have any money. Gordon did all the finances and never shared anything with her.  How would she manage?

Twenty years ago she could have handled it. Could she do it again? But he couldn’t be dead. Gordon would never allow that to happen.

His face flitted in front of her, fixed in an angry glare.

He had to be dead or she wouldn’t be seeing him. He didn’t want to be dead. He didn’t want her to be free. If he thought she could see him he’d be furious.

Sara shuffled toward the reception desk. She glanced over her shoulder, searching for some sign of Gordon, listening for his voice, waiting for him to yell at her. She couldn’t believe he was really dead, even though she had seen him. She clung to the edge of the transition counter, her head down, chewed on her lower lip and waited to be noticed.

Finally a brusque voice snapped, “Can I help you?”

Sara looked up to see a heavy set, older woman in a loose blue top. The woman’s thick dark brows met in a v in the middle of her forehead.

“I’m sorry, I ...I’m looking for my husband. His office phoned to say he’d been brought here.” Sara shrunk into her body.

 “Name?” the woman commanded. 

“Gordon, Gordon Peters.” Sara stared at her worn black oxfords, then at the scuffed, gray linoleum with the red, blue and yellow lines that led to different areas.  Maybe she shouldn’t have come. Maybe she should have waited for Gordon to call and tell her whether she should be here or not. But if he was dead she would have to make her own decisions. Her pulse raced. Her head pounded. For the last nineteen years she had never made a decision. Gordon made all of them for her.

Oh wow...sounds like an interesting read Beverly! Good luck and God's blessings with it.

Murder, mystery and romance fills award-winning, Canadian author, Beverley Bateman's life. She loves to plot, kill and hopefully baffle the reader. Her nursing and public health nursing background helps with some details and administering a community care facility program had her investigating and directing investigations into irregularities and sometimes a death. She even has court experience. 

She began writing in her preteens and loved to write locked room mysteries. Reading Nancy Drew helped her figure out plots. Facing breast cancer, she decided she needed to do what she’d always wanted and began to write. She completed her first romantic suspense novel and hasn’t stopped writing since. She recently moved and now lives among ranches and wheat fields in southern Alberta, with her husband and Shiba Inu dog. 

Connect with Beverly at the following sites....

Facebook -https://www.facebook.com/beverley.bateman.18
Twitter @kelownawriter 
Amazon author page http://www.amazon.com/Beverley-Bateman/e/B008M01F5E
LinkedIn - babateman@shaw.ca https://www.linkedin.com/in/beverleybateman/
Instagram Beverley.Bateman

Get your copy of The Foundation, The Fourth Victim, Sarah's Story at the following locations....

9 comments:

Jacqueline Seewald said...

Beverly,


An intriguing excerpt! Sounds like you have the perfect background for this type of mystery. Congrats and best wishes.

Kara O'Neal said...

Wow. I loved the excerpt. I love the title. I'm adding this to my TBR list. Thank you!

Carole Price said...

Intriguing title and excerpt (which immediately grabbed my attention).
Best wishes.

darkwriter said...

Thanks, Jacqueline I appreciate your comments.

darkwriter said...

Thanks, Kara. I hope you enjoy it.

darkwriter said...

I'm glad you liked the title. Sometimes I have trouble with titles when it's part of a series.

darkwriter said...

Thanks for having me, Pam. You have a great website.

Alina K. Field said...

This looks like a wonderful read! Congratulations on the book!

Alicia Dean said...

Wow...intriguing. Just my kind of read. Great hook. Congrats and best wishes!