Late Night Fright, #MFRWbooks Blog Hop

Book Hooks Blog Hop #MFRWbooks

Hello and welcome to the Focused on Story Blog. Today we're joining the Book Hooks Blog Hop sponsored by the Marketing For Romance Writers Group. (#MFRWbooks) Each participating blogger shares an excerpt from a novel. I'm featuring my paranormal suspense, Terror on Sunshine Boulevard. Hope it will give you smiles and chills.

You're invited to come on along to visit authors sharing their books with you.The link to the list of participants is at the end of the page. Have fun!

Terror on Sunshine Boulevard by J.Q. Rose

Paranormal Suspense

Back of the Book: Rescuing a naked woman lying in a geranium bed? Investigating mysterious murders Not the usual calls for first responder Jim Hart. He expects slip and fall accidents or low blood pressure emergencies in his retirement community of Citrus Ridge Senior Community and Golf Resort. The ghastly crime scenes turn the winter time fun into a terrifying season of death and mystery when the authorities cannot track down the predator responsible. 

Jim and his wife Gloria could escape the horror and grief by returning to their northern home, but concern for their friends and residents keep them in Florida. With the entire community in a dither over the deaths, the Harts participate in the normal winter activities of golfing, dancing, and pool parties with their friends to distract them from the sadness and loss.

Can Jim and Gloria work with the authorities to discover who or what is killing the seniors on Sunshine Boulevard and stop the increasing body count?

Video:

Video: Terror on Sunshine Boulevard Book Trailer 

Excerpt: Terror on Sunshine Boulevard, Chapter 4

Mr Tweeble’s next door neighbor, Doris Hadley, couldn’t sleep. She prowled through her cupboards to find a snack. Sometimes slurping up some raisin bran cereal and milk and watching a late night movie on the AMC channel made her sleepy. She filled a bowl and settled into her recliner.

Placing her spoon and bowl on the table next to her chair, she pulled her heavy robe around her thin body and sat down in her lounger. She clicked the remote and the TV across the room shined bright in the darkened room. Pleased to discover a favorite oldie on the classic movie channel, Doris traded the remote for her cereal and concentrated on watching the movie and indulging in the night time treat.

After a few minutes, she turned up the volume, and then again turned it louder. Ungluing her eyes from the TV screen, she realized she couldn’t even hear the TV with Mr. Tweeble’s confounded dog barking and howling interrupting Casablanca.

Doris set aside her cereal bowl on the end table. She pulled her frail body from the deep seat ready to make a phone call to complain about the dog. Of course once she was up, the pet quit yapping. She looked out the window to see if his owner had let him out into the backyard, but the motion light wasn’t on. Ah, silence from next door. Maybe now she could watch her movie without that annoying barking.

Doris picked up her cereal bowl and returned to the kitchen to fill it with more raisin bran and milk. She settled down in front of the maple TV console. As she brought a spoonful of her midnight snack to her lips, the terrier next door began raising the roof with his howls and woofs again.

She had enough of that damn dog. She wrestled herself up from the recliner as fast as she could and stood mesmerized by a dazzling yellow light blazing through Old Man Tweeble’s house. Momentarily blinded by the amazing brightness, she scrambled out to her screened-in porch to get a better view and caught a whiff of the most putrid odor she had ever smelled in her eighty-three years on this earth.

Doris moved as quickly as her legs allowed to call 9-1-1. Where was that dad-burned phone? Who ever thought of cordless phones anyway? When there were phones hooked up to the wall with a cord on the handset, no one ever missed a call because they couldn’t find the damn thing. She was exasperated, but she was more scared the house next door might explode into flames if she didn’t call right away.

Doris checked the kitchen table, the couch cushions and the night stand by the bed for the phone. Finally she found it where it should be…on the desk in the charger. She grabbed it and called 9-1-1.

“Come quick! There was a flash of bright light next door. Something’s on fire!” Doris couldn’t breathe. “Hurry!” Everything turned black as she passed out and fell to the floor clutching the phone to her chest.

* * * *

Two bodies were discovered in that early morning in the homes on Sunshine Boulevard—Mr. Ralph Tweeble and Mrs. Doris Hadley. The aura of death and mystery overshadowed the gorgeous sunny day.

Meet Jingles

Available in Paperback at Amazon 

and in ebook formats at major digital retailers.

Click here to order at these online booksellers.

Click here to visit bloggers who are participating in the Book Hooks Blog Hop. Enjoy meeting new authors and visiting your favorites. 
Thanks for stopping by.

Meet Gloria in the Paranormal Mystery,Terror on Sunshine Boulevard Excerpt

MFRW Authors Blog Hop

Hello and welcome to the MFRW Authors Blog Hop event! Every Wednesday authors can participate in this hop to introduce readers to new and favorite authors and discover their books. Please check out the list of bloggers who are sharing their books below and hop along on a journey to find great reads by seeing the book covers and reading excerpts. A whole wide world of adventure and romance awaits you!

Terror on Sunshine Boulevard for giggles and chills
Paranormal mystery

Excerpt from Terror on Sunshine Boulevard by J.Q. Rose

Scene--Gloria Hart has just arrived at her exercise class at the Community Center

Gloria re-shouldered her heavy bag holding her water bottle and barbells, and moved her rolled exercise mat under her arm to keep it from crushing against her chest. She dropped her bag on the floor and unrolled the mat in the spot she always claimed at every class meeting. Like pew seats in a Sunday morning church service, each person staked out her favorite “place” to exercise and kept it.

She hustled over to join the big circle of friends in their usual space in the room. The ladies shifted a bit to make space for Gloria in the circle. She breathed a sigh of relief knowing she wasn’t late again. Being late was a sign of disrespect, but Gloria respected every gal in this room for exercising their bodies and joining in the group. Perhaps they didn’t all do the moves like their limber instructor, Bridgett, but at least they tried.

Gloria noted several circles of women around the room. A flashback to eighth grade when her clique of classmates stood in the hall before class. Memories danced through her mind of best friends, gossip, and popularity contests. Odd how things were still the same nearly fifty years later.

 “Good morning, everyone.” She smiled widely as she greeted her friends. But instead of the usual happy chorus of “Good morning Gloria,” her friends in the circle weakly smiled with the acknowledgement of her presence. Silence fell over the group. Everyone’s eyes lasered in on her. Gloria felt uncomfortable. What were they waiting for?

Finally her friend Pamela asked, “Well, are you going to tell us about George McDonnell?” Her voice a higher pitch. “Did Jim hear anything yet?” Pamela’s voice ratcheted even higher.

Gloria turned to face Pamela. “No, I haven’t heard anything. Why? Is he sick?”

“No, he’s dead.” Rosemary, Pamela’s best friend, waited a beat for Gloria to absorb the news. “Jim’s one of the first responders for the park. Wasn’t he called to the scene yesterday?”

“Uh, no. We were gone all day.” The unexpected news slammed her like a wild pickle ball, nearly knocking her off her feet and stinging her heart. George was younger than she was for Pete’s sake. He couldn’t be dead. That was incomprehensible to her. She and her husband had just visited him last week. He was a healthy man for his age. Tears stung her eyes when she remembered how excited he was about a fishing trip he’d planned.

Pamela gave her an understanding smile, flashing her perfect teeth—all her own—and touched Gloria’s back.

Gloria studied each woman’s face, hoping one of them would explain further while her mind tried to process the news. Many of the residents in the senior community mistakenly assumed Jim attended every call because he was the volunteer co-captain of the First Responders Unit, but Jim wasn’t on-call yesterday. She hadn’t heard the latest happenings in the park because they’d shopped most of the day at the flea market and relished a delicious fish dinner at their favorite restaurant, Magoo’s, arriving there just in time to get in on the early bird specials.

A flash of guilt surged through her mind. Should she and Jim have checked on George? Maybe they could have saved him if they had stopped by his house before they’d left for the day.

“I can hardly believe George is dead. I had no idea he had heart problems. He seemed to be the picture of health,” Gloria said.

“Oh, no. Nobody knows yet if it was his heart or what killed him,” Bonnie, another woman in the group, announced.

Gloria was puzzled as she saw the looks of horror exchanged by her friends.

“What happened?” Her eyes widened with concern, and then realized she had been drawn into the gossip like everyone else.

Bonnie puffed up her chest and pulled her elbows back as she leaned forward to deliver the big news. “His neighbor, Lottie Carpenter found him. She smelled him rotting in his house.” She wrinkled her nose in disgust.

“Oh, my word.” Gloria covered her mouth and wanted to gag as if she smelled poor George. “That poor man. I cannot imagine…”

***

Terror on Sunshine Boulevard by J.Q. Rose

Published by BWL Publishing

Click here to find this e-book at these popular digital booksellers.

The Blog Tour continues!!

Please join me at my next January stops.
Thursday, Jan 25--Diane Burton--Click here to join Diane, author of romance and adventure, and me. Leave a comment to win a PDF copy of one of my mysteries.

Saturday, Jan. 27--Ellen the Cynical Sailor spotlights Terror on Sunshine Boulevard. Click here to visit her amazing blog as she lives her life in a boat!!

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Now please continue your reading journey through cyberspace by visiting these participating bloggers. Have fun!