Hidden in the Shadows - Book Tour and Giveaway

​Never trouble Trouble, ‘til Trouble troubles you,
for if you trouble Trouble, Trouble’s sure to trouble you. 

Hidden in the Shadows
by A.D. Vancise
Genre: Thriller, Suspense, Mystery  

"All I can ever think about is murdering her." -C.B.

Twenty-three-year-old Evie Day never dreamt she’d be back in Woodsville Arkansas, a small town in the middle of nowhere, after having left five years earlier, but the death of her grandfather called for her return. After discovering a photo from 1933 of a mysterious woman standing next to a tiny wooden box, a strange vial of blood wrapped up in a handkerchief in the pocket of her grandfather’s overalls, and a key hidden in his desk drawer that belongs to a secret safety deposit box, Evie is unwittingly thrown into a world of evil where those closest to her are the ones to be the most feared and danger lurks around every corner.

Hidden in the Shadows by A.D. Vancise shines a light on the darkness and reveals the underlying players that have been hunting in plain sight.



IMPORTANT NOTICE
The survivors of satanic rituals and child trafficking inspired this book, along with a photo I found in my grandfather’s family photos of a mysterious woman standing beside a tiny box. My grandfather died with the real story of what happened. He was a police officer.
I knew I had to take this story down a dark path once I heard the victims’ stories and those who never believed them. The killer’s POV is based on true testimonials of survivors. These horrific acts happened and continue to happen to kids worldwide.
Having said that, I feel the importance of noting a trigger warning for intense graphic material such as child trafficking, sadism, occult rituals, sexual and physical abuse, violence, and murder. If reading this material evokes memories of or PTSD from abuse, please contact professionals or a safe person immediately. This novel is in no way meant to sensualize or exploit these serious events. It requires courage to read this story meant to bring awareness to these heinous acts and give a voice to the children who no longer have one. It’s to shed light on a darkness that has plagued this world for far too long. I am awed by all those who can receive this information and want to help the children. We all need to give them a voice. Thank you for being brave enough to read this story.

Sincerely,
A.D. Vancise


Reviews for Hidden In the Shadows
"Writing with crisp efficiency, mordant wit, and bursts of searing terror, Vancise whets the novel's escalating puzzles and portents with an edge of queasy uncertainty." -Editors Pick, Booklife.

"If you're looking for a spine-tingling read that will leave you wondering who to trust, what dangers are lurking beneath the surface and when the next twist will come, then Hidden in the Shadows is the book for you."-Booktrib.

"Hidden in the Shadows by A. D. Vancise is a thrilling mystery that keeps readers in suspense from the first clue until the end." – Five Stars. Literary Titan.
"A.D. Vancise excels in crafting a dark, atmospheric story." -D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review

"If you are a reader who is tired of reading the same old books that are lackluster and forgettable, then take a chance with this one...you will not be disappointed." -The Red-Headed Book Lover.

"The author vividly informs your mind's eye." – Five Stars. Readers' Favorite.

“Dark, disturbing, and gripping.” -Five Stars. Bookview Review.

“A grim but exciting and compelling mystery even in its most disconcerting moments.” Kirkus Review.


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A​fter five years of being away, Evie Day hated the fact that she was back in Woodsville, Arkansas. A small town in buck-ass nowhere. Quite frankly, if she’d had a choice, she wouldn’t have come back at all.
But, she was sitting next to her grams, on a warm September 6th, in 1991, staring into a photo and the eyes of a mystery woman. Familiar, yet unknown. She was supposed to look for pictures of her grandfather, Ollie, for his funeral.
A few dozen 3x5 and 5x7 photos fanned over the table’s surface—Evie’s heritage. Faded and slightly torn memories of her gramps as a baby, as a strapping young teenager, horsedrawn carriages, funny hats, and early 1900s clothing—that looked more like costumes to Evie—laid out in no particular chronological order. Her grandfather’s life was strewn before her in black and white.
Yet, this one photo stood out like a spotlight on a dark stage. Highlighted. It cried for attention, begged really. Her finger caressed the edge while she rested her head in the opposite hand.
Flipping it over, she looked at the back.
No date.
No name.
She’d often thought of this photo. Its image reappeared like a reoccurring dream over the past sixteen years, haunting her or perhaps tapping her on the shoulder to find out more, egging her on.
She turned the photo back over. Then, shifting in her chair, she sat up straighter, picked it up, and inhaled it into her nose. The subtle mustiness reminded her of the first time she’d come across it so long ago. She lost herself in a moment of nostalgia.
Turning her body around, she pinpointed where she’d parked her bum on the thenorange, shag-carpeted living room floor, with her back resting against the couch. She saw herself rummaging through the tattered old shoe box and these same timeless family photos. It’s when she’d come across it. The conversation with her grandfather was still fresh in her ears.
“Gramps,” she’d said, with a stammer of anticipation, “who’s this, and what’s in that wooden box?” Her nine-yearold forefinger pointed to the photo as she held it out in her other hand toward her Gramps. He was sitting across from her in his recliner, staring out the picture window at the river and the backyard.
Curiosity all over her face. She loved this sort of thing… a mystery. Her impatience built, and her body tingled with every moment that passed while waiting on the answer.
He’d turned abruptly, rubbed his bald head with his right hand, and glanced down at the photo. It was as if he’d already known which one she held. His face turned red, and he’d shifted in his chair.
He’d said, “That’s an old case of mine, and I don’t want to talk about it!” His voice was sure, deep and sharp.
Straightening his suspenders, he got up and flew out of the room like a deer avoiding an oncoming car.
With her heart heavy, she knew to leave well enough alone back then.
But this was now, and he was gone.
Turning back around, she continued to study the photo further. Its sepia background faded from the sixty-four years it sat hidden in the shadows of the tattered shoe box. The crinkled, thread-sized, white lines that broke up the glossy finish emerged like wrinkles on old skin. The tiny wooden box nestled on top of a mound of dirt with various-sized stones elevated it, almost as if it were the focal point of the shot. And a tall, younger woman stood next to the focal point box.
Between her grandfather’s curt reaction and the troubling image, that unmistakable curiosity from back then returned, leaving a burning to know more. Like needing to eat, it felt like a life force—something to keep her alive.
She felt it in her veins; perhaps it was in her blood.
Really, what was it about this picture that intrigued her?
She studied it even closer. Maybe it was the woman’s eyes; they weren’t peering into the camera. Instead, they were looking straight ahead and off into the distance. Most certainly not at the box. Like she was trying hard not to look. They cried out a pain that tinged Evie’s heart. The woman stood stiffly to the left of the elevated wooden box, with her hands cupped in front of her. She wore a dark, floor-length dress with a crinoline, making the lower half fuller. Evie guessed it to be thirties fashion. Her dark hair was pulled back into a bun. She sported no bangs.
Evie’s imagination sizzled.
Who is she?
Is she related to us?
What happened?
And probably the most intriguing…Why did gramps keep this photo if he didn’t want to talk about it?
The tiny, plain, wooden box was slightly larger than that of the shoe box holding the photos, Evie thought. Perhaps the wooden box was about the size of a small carry-on. And now that Evie was no longer nine-years-old but twenty-three, she recognized that the wooden box wasn’t a box at all but was, in fact, a tiny coffin.
​

A D Vancise lives in Canada. When she’s not writing, she’s taking care of her three dogs, her cat, two ducks and some chickens. Her daughter is her inspiration for all things wonderful in the world.

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What inspired you to write this book?
The inspiration for the book came from two sources. The first one is a photograph that my grandfather had in his box of family memories. The same one used in the book. He was a police chief and all that I knew of this photo was that it was from his first case. He never wanted to talk about it and whatever happened died with him. The second inspiration was from my brother. When he passed away, I realized that I wasn’t living my dream and asked myself why. What was I waiting for? It motivated me to go after my dreams to make him proud. He always pushed me, and I have no doubt that had I shared this secret with him he’d have insisted that I follow my passion.

What can we expect from you in the future?
I am currently working on two books. One is the second of four stand-alone sequels to Hidden in the Shadows and the other one is called Memoirs from a Killer. It is a sort of prequel to the series. Roman (a character in Hidden in the Shadows) is giving me quite a story!

Do you have any “side stories” about the characters?
Side stories of a character, yes I have two. Azlinn is a real person that I speak to. Her name is Dawna Weiss. She is a medium out of California that I met on vacation in Mexico. She helped me with this storyline just as Azlinn helps Evie. We are working together on the next books as well. And yes, she does have lavender hair. The other side story involves Daniel Jones. One of the biggest questions was why Evie’s grandfather would want to keep this photo if he didn’t want to speak about it and since I didn’t have the true answer I couldn’t figure out a fictional one either. That is until I was writing the confession letter from Daniel. The answer came inside that letter.

Can you tell us a little bit about the characters in Hidden in the Shadows?
The characters for Hidden in the Shadows came to me as I wrote. I had to get up close and personal with each of them to understand them. I’d write journals as the character to get to know them. Evie matured through the story and I found parts of her that I didn’t know in the beginning. She was an angry young adult with pain but as she worked through the clues, she found answers to some missing parts within herself. Freda is one of my favorite characters. She’s mysterious. Her horrific life circumstances provide her with a hidden strength that I believe we all desire.

How did you come up with the concept and characters for the book?
Initially, the concept for the book originated from my grandfather’s photo but it evolved through six months of research and a plethora of rabbit holes that led me down the path of child trafficking and straight into the videos of survivors. I knew then that I needed to give them a voice.

What did you enjoy most about writing this book?
I enjoy everything about writing a book. The characters take me on a journey and guide me. I love the creative freedom from them. I love the editing part too. Well, I suppose it’s a love-hate situation because this is where most writers give up. It’s a lot to hear that a part of your book needs to go but each time it comes back it’s a better version of itself. It’s like watching your child grow into an adult, the growth, and the pains of life but the outcome is magical. It’s beautiful.

If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in your latest book?
If I could change anything about this book, I suppose it would be the visceral parts. I did tone them down from the first version but perhaps could have toned them down further, but I had to be true to the survivors. The Charlie Baker chapters are true testimonials from a few survivors. What occurs in the book happened to them. It’s horrific. I added a warning page for this reason.

Anything specific you want to tell your readers?
I’d like to tell my readers that I didn’t enjoy writing the macabre scenes at all, but I had to let the victims know that someone was listening and believed them. I had to give them a voice, especially the ones who didn’t make it or weren’t able to speak about what happened to them.

How did you come up with name of this book?
Hidden in the Shadows title came from a title generator several years before I wrote the book. I had written a short story for a contest, (no I didn’t win) and couldn’t come up with a title. I was playing around with the title generator when it spit out Hidden in the Shadows. Because I knew that mystery and thriller was the genre that interested me the most, I thought that title might come in handy one day. Turns out I was right.

If you could spend time with a character from your book whom would it be? And what would you do during that day?
If I could spend time with one character from the book, (I spent over ten months with all of them while writing the book and they are all still with me) but if I could sit and spend a day with one of them, I’d have to say I’d love to spend it with Charlie Baker, I found his mind fascinating. I’d also like to tell him that he was loved so maybe he could travel a different path.

Are your characters based off real people or did they all come entirely from your imagination?
Two of my characters are based on real-life people. As mentioned above, Azlinn is based on Dawna Weiss from California and I suppose, if I’m honest, Evie had a little bit of myself in her. I had to remind myself throughout the book that that didn’t mean I had to stick to their characters being the same as ours. My first book was a semi-autobiography and the characters were real-life people. I couldn’t steer away from who they were, leaving me feeling creatively restricted. I wanted complete freedom in this book to let the characters be their own people.

Do your characters seem to hijack the story or do you feel like you have the reins of the story?
The characters absolutely hijack the story for me, but it is a fair balance. I love it when the characters take the reins, I wouldn’t have found out the reason Evie’s grandfather kept that photo if Daniel Jones didn’t take the reins.

What did you edit out of this book?
What got edited out of Hidden in the Shadows? About fifty thousand words from the original draft. Evie and Luke had just met in that version, and I focused more time on curating their relationship than the mystery/thriller aspect. I wasn’t writing a romance novel and I knew it wasn’t working. I didn’t know how to fix it, so I reached out to my editor from my first book. She suggested having Evie leave the town and return therefore already having established relationships. It was a brilliant idea, but it meant changing almost all of the Evie chapters. I did keep what I’d written, I do believe some of it might make its way into the sequel.

Fun Facts/Behind the Scenes/Did You Know?'-type tidbits about the author, the book or the writing process of the book.
Fun facts: editing will humble any writer. You can’t become too attached to any part of your book. A reader, (including myself before becoming an author) has no idea how much goes into a finished book. There are at least seven drafts. But never be discouraged by the editing process if you are a new writer. Editors are there to help shape and transform the book into its best version, trust in that.

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