Night Chill by Jeff Gunhus
Virtual Book Tour: 9/30/13 to 10/28/13
Genres: Supernatural Thriller, Horror
Blurb:
Jack Tremont moves his family to the quiet
mountains of Western Maryland hoping to leave behind a troubled past and
restart his life. Instead, he finds himself caught up in a nightmare when his
daughter Sarah is targeted by Nate Huckley, a mysterious and horrifying
stranger driven by a dark power that will stop at nothing to possess Sarah.
When Sarah goes missing, suspicion falls on Jack and he must uncover the
secrets of the small mountain town of Prescott City and face the evil secret
hidden there. As he digs further, he learns the conspiracy reaches more deeply
than he could have imagined. Finally, he will have to face the question, What
is a father willing to do to save his child? The answer? Anything. Anything at
all.
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Excerpt:
ONE
Nate Huckley
leaned forward against the steering wheel, eyes searching the colorless brick
buildings that slid by on either side of the street. He glanced at his watch
and shook his head. He couldn’t believe he was spending valuable time, time he
didn’t have, looking for a hardware store in this backwoods, one-factory,
Pennsylvania town.
Huckley spotted
the store. The boy back at the gas station had stuttered like a moron, but his
directions had been good enough. Huckley pulled into the small gravel parking
lot next to the concrete tilt-up building on which the last remnants of the
word “Hardware” clung in tall, flaking letters. The lot was empty except for a
beat-up VW Bug, more rust than metal, squatting in the far corner. Huckley
checked his time and felt the anger churn harder in his stomach.
Grabbing the roll
of tape, he marched through the parking lot, the hard soles on his leather
boots crunching the small rocks into the dirt. Like stepping on bugs, he thought. He smiled and started to twist
his foot on each step and stomp down a little harder. By the time he reached
the double-wide glass doors that faced the street he felt a little better.
Until he saw the sign.
CLOSED.
Bullshit. Huckley
pounded on the glass door with the tape. He leaned down, opened the mail slot
with his forefinger and shouted, “Hey! Get out here. I know you’re still there,
Godammit! I can see your car.”
He stood up and
kept beating the door until he saw a light go on in the back room. A smile
spread across his face. He always got his way. Always.
The door in the
back opened, and Huckley saw the outline of a person walk down the aisle.
Huckley grinned a little wider. He’d expected an old man, but it was a young
girl who came to the door. She squinted at him through the glass, twisted the
locks, and stuck her head out toward him.
“We’re closed,”
the girl said. She rolled her eyes in case her tone hadn’t made her annoyance
perfectly clear.
Huckley looked
the girl over. Dark circles ringed her eyes as if old layers of eyeliner had
melted into her skin. Her cheekbones stuck out like there wasn’t enough skin on
her face to go around, giving her an emaciated, hungry look, like a stray dog
who thinks a wrapper with grease on it is a meal. Black roots a few inches long
told the world her bleached-blonde hair was more bleach than blonde. The girl
was a mess. Huckley couldn’t believe his luck.
“Well,
hello, sweetie. When’d you start working here?”
The girl ignored
the question. “Mr. Cooper left me to close today. Told me not to let anyone
in.”
“That’s what Mr.
Cooper said, huh? Well, I’m sure he didn’t mean me.”
The girl looked
up and down the street. Huckley already knew there wasn’t anyone there. He had
checked when he first saw that it was a young girl coming toward the door.
“Look, I’m new to
this town, mister. I don’t know who you are. So I think you’d better go now.
Come back tomorrow.”
“C’mon now, it
wouldn’t hurt to talk to me a little.” Huckley smiled as he concentrated.
The girl’s mind was an open book. He pushed a little and the pages tumbled
open, images dancing free form, garbled and non-linear. Hers was the kind of
mind that used to confuse him, but that was a long time ago. Now it was easy.
With a little concentration he could find out everything he needed to know.
Like how the girl was a druggie, a loner, picking up a few bucks before moving
on. How she was frustrated the owner hadn’t trusted her with the cash register
yet. How the first time he did, she’d take the money and be gone. And there,
amid all the adolescent self-consciousness and emotionalism, was a burst of
sexual images. Many partners. Some for money. Some for drugs. And blazing out
in front was an evolving fantasy with Huckley himself.
Ahh, young
hormones, he thought. Little teenage girls could never resist his looks – white
skin unmarked by any blemish, blonde hair combed back flat against his scalp,
lips dark red as if he had spent the day sipping wine, eyes squinted half shut
as if he held a secret too valuable to share. Although he appeared to be in his
thirties, it was always the young ones who found him most attractive. And they
were always so eager to prove they were women by following him to whatever bed,
car seat, or back alley he chose.
He left the
girl’s sexual images behind and sifted through her thoughts until he found the
right information.
“Your name’s
Doreen, right?”
“Yeah, how’d you
know?”
He smiled
at the girl. “I just guessed. You look like a Doreen.”
“Is that a good
thing?” she asked, tugging on a few strands of her blonde hair and twirling it
over her ear.
“Sure, pretty
name for a pretty girl.” God, it was so easy. Huckley moved a step closer to
the girl and inhaled through flared nostrils. Cheap high school perfume mixed
with cheap high school marijuana. He smiled. That’s my girl.
“So Mr. Cooper
left you all alone, huh? Surprised your father let you work a job like this.
What are you, seventeen?”
“I’m eighteen,”
she lied. “Don’t know who my daddy is. Even if I did, I wouldn’t let him tell
me what to do.”
“I see. But you
let this Mr. Cooper tell you, huh?” Doreen shrugged. Huckley held up the roll
of tape, “Listen, I really need some duct tape. This stuff doesn’t work for
what I’m using it for.”
“I’d like to
help, mister. I really would. But the register’s closed and emptied out for the
day so…” Doreen started to smack the chewing gum she’d been hiding in her
mouth.
“No problem. I’ll
just leave some money and you can put it in the register tomorrow. I’ll be in
and out of here. Let you get back to your own business – if you know what I
mean.” Huckley raised a hand to his lips and took a drag off an imaginary
joint. Doreen broke eye contact and stared at the floor. Huckley smirked. “Hey,
there’s nothing wrong with it. Lord knows I’ve smoked my share of weed.”
Doreen smiled
self-consciously. “You smoke?”
“Are you kidding?
My generation invented the stuff.” He leaned in and whispered in her ear, “In
fact, I wouldn’t mind a hit if you have any left. I’ll pay you a little extra
for it.”
She hesitated,
looking up and down the street again. “I don’t think that’d be a good idea.”
“All right. I
understand. Maybe you’re too young for me to be talking like that anyway. I’m
sorry.” Huckley turned to leave.
“I’m not too
young. I told you I was eighteen.”
“Yeah, that’s
what you told me.”
Doreen bit her
lower lip, then moved to the side to let him in. “I don’t believe I’m doing
this.”
“That’s a
good girl. You know, I was really lucky you were here.” Huckley smiled. “You
have no idea how much time you’ve saved me.”
He leaned in to
her as he passed. An electric jolt moved through him as his arm rubbed against
her breasts. Huckley curled his hands into fists and rubbed them up and down
his thighs. He knew he had to wait until she closed the door behind them, but
this was his favorite part. He could hardly contain himself. He smiled at his
good fortune. He was back on schedule.
Amazon Paperback http://www.amazon.com/Night-Chill-Jeff-Gunhus/dp/0615828388/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1380034971&sr=1-1
Amazon Kindle http://www.amazon.com/Night-Chill-ebook/dp/B00CRKPTL6/ref=la_B001KH8TKU_1_1_title_1_kin?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1380034971&sr=1-1
Reviews for the Book:
Gunhus deliver a taut supernatural thriller...the
powerful Nate Huckley terrifies, and the assorted cast of human antagonists add
to the white-knuckle tension. All the chops of an action-packed horror tale.
- Kirkus Reviews
Night Chill Book Trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXH5AY2EWa8 
About the Author:
Jeff Gunhus is the author of the Middle Grade/YA series The Templar
Chronicles. The first book, Jack Templar Monster Hunter, was written in an
effort to get his reluctant reader eleven-year old son excited about reading.
It worked and a new series was born. Jeff is also the co-CEO of a national
company with over 4,000 employees that has been featured in national media for
its unique opportunity for college students to learn entrepreneurial skills. He
is the author of the motivational career guides No Parachute Required
(Hyperion) and Wake Up Call (Seven Guns Press). After his experience with his
son, he is passionate about helping parents reach young reluctant readers and
is active in child literacy issues. As a father of five, he leads an active
lifestyle in Maryland with his wife Nicole by trying to constantly keep up with
his kids. In rare moments of quiet, he can be found in the back of the City
Dock Cafe in Annapolis working on his next novel.
Author
Links:
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