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Bayou
Blues
A
New Orleans Mystery
Book
Two
M.
M. Shelley
Genre: YA, Fantasy, Urban
Date of Publication: June 2014
ISBN: 978-1500255053 /
ISBN: 150025505X
ASIN: B00L7YLU0W
Number of pages: 322
Word Count: 52,500
Cover Artist: Michelle Marquez
Available at Smashwords and Amazon
Book Description:
Sixteen year old orphan, Ava
Lopez, has returned to New Orleans, Louisiana, just as a dark entity has taken
residence in the bayou.
Not only does Ava have to
discover who or what is taking its victims from the Quarter, and leaving their
remains in the Bayou. She will also have to maneuver her way around a new
school and deal with a new bodyguard.
Ava will have to uncover the
mystery before she becomes its next victim.
Excerpt:
Prologue
It had been at least three years
since he had left New Orleans, Louisiana and Auguste Cheval still wasn’t sure
if he had made the right decision in returning. It didn’t feel right, yet he no
longer had the option to stay away. His father had skipped out on him again
leaving him no choice but to live with his uncle Prosper Cheval.
Uncle Prosper was absolutely
crazy. He refused to live in town preferring instead to live out in the Bayou.
Auguste had to make the long trek from town to his uncle’s shack each and every
day, to and from his high school. Auguste attended Ben Franklin, in part thanks
to his social worker, who for some reason or another seemed focused on making
sure he stayed the course. His social worker Phillips believed that Auguste had
the grades and the drive to excel at school; a school where nearly everyone
excelled at one thing or another.
The only issue Auguste had was
that a normal life could never be in the cards for him, but he wasn’t about to
tell his social worker Phillips just why that was. How could he even begin to
explain it?
As Auguste headed deeper into the
Bayou he ventured down a narrow pathway that was nearly completely covered over
with knee high marshway cordgrass. Auguste had taken the long way home as he
was in no hurry to return. His uncle Prosper probably wouldn’t be there, more
than likely he was out checking on his traps.
A slight sound came from his
left. Something heavy was pushing through the marshway cordgrass, but Auguste
couldn’t see what it was. So he waited. He didn’t want to move any further
until he could see it clearly. In the light of the fading sun, Auguste held his
breath as he waited to identify what moved in the cordgrass. In spite of the
fact that the sun had reached the horizon, the air remained hot and humid
enough to cause his clothes to stick to his body.
A man in his early forties rolled
out of the cordgrass falling right in Auguste’s pathway. The man rolled until
he was on his hands and knees, he lifted his head high up in the air, his chin
tilted skyward and his eyes closed. He smelled the dry stillness in the air.
His eyes opened and he quickly shifted toward Auguste. His eyes locked in on
Auguste and his head made a rather sharp movement almost like a wolf finding
the scent of his prey.
As the man’s eyes focused sharply
on Auguste, a deep low growl escaped his throat. The eerie sound was so
disturbing that it caused Auguste to feel ill. As the man leaned onto his back
legs ready to pounce on Auguste, a wolf jumped out of the marshway cordgrass
and latched onto the man’s throat, dragging him onto the ground and ripping at
his flesh.
He tried to fight back, sinking
his teeth into the wolf’s coat, but to no avail as the wolf tore fiercely away
at him. The man screamed out in pain against the assault. Sudden silence
signaled that the man had given up the fight. His body grew limp as his life
began to ebb, leaving him unable to endure anymore.
The wolf turned and shifted
toward Auguste, it took a step towards him with a giant paw. The wolf had an
unearthly presence as its paws were large and sunk into the earth with each
heavy step. Its head was slightly larger than the rest of the body giving it a
disproportionate appearance. The wolf’s green eyes looked like they had seen
centuries of war and chaos and were filled with a sadness that tore at
Auguste’s heart. In spite of his feelings, Auguste found the hint of darkness
lurking beneath the wolf’s demeanor disturbing. It was a darkness that wouldn’t
think twice about attacking Auguste and harming him, just as it had killed the
man without hesitation.
Auguste held out his arm as if to prevent it
from coming any closer. As he did so, the fading sunlight illuminated the scar
that ran from the outside of Auguste’s elbow to the inside of his middle
forearm. The wolf sniffed at him before taking another step; then, as quickly
as it had appeared, it turned and ran back into the cordgrass leaving behind
the lifeless body of the man it had just killed for sport.
About
the Author:
M.M. Shelley is a storyteller,
wordsmith and dreamer. She has traveled the world extensively in search of the
magic which is often overlooked in everyday life. M.M. Shelley is a native of
southern California, and a student of mythology from which she gets much
inspiration.
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2 comments:
Thank you for coming and again I am sorry your tour is late. I am hoping to get some help with this problem.
No problem, thank you for hosting today! :-)
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