![]() Tallowwood
-- EXCERPT: (August and Jacob have just been given the identity of a man who was found deceased. They’re about to inform the family) Two hours later, they sat in the car in a quiet suburban street in Cronulla. They had a name, the case file, and the address of the parents and were about to drop a bombshell on the guy’s family. Tristan Kurtz was twenty-six years old when he was reported missing by his mother, when he never arrived home in Sydney from an LGBTQIA+ music festival in Byron Bay. He’d reportedly hitchhiked from Byron Bay to Coffs Harbour, having travelled with local residents who he’d met at the festival, and had given him a lift. The missing person’s report had said Kurtz was dropped off in the main street, and had waved them off. He was later seen on CCTV footage walking toward the highway, at 8:11pm. He never arrived at his parents’ house, he never contacted them to say his plans had changed, which was out of character for him. His parents had called everyone he knew—friends, workmates, old boyfriends—to no avail, and twenty-four hours later he was reported as a missing person. Well, he wasn’t missing anymore. He was only twenty-six. A kid, August thought, with his whole life in front of him. A life stolen, stripped away, and thrown away like garbage. August stared at the house and sighed. He was spread too thin, he was stretched as far as his skin would allow. Another murder, another gay man slaughtered for no other reason than pure bigotry and disregard for human life. “I hate this. I hate everything about it.” Jacob was quiet for so long, August looked over at him. “Yeah, me too,” he said flatly. He was reading through Tristan’s file. He finally closed the folder and met August’s gaze. “We need to find this bastard.” “We do.” “We need to see his parents and tell them.” Jacob looked over at the house and frowned. “Fuck, I hate this part.” “Yeah. Me too.” Neither of them made a move to get out of the car. “Is it better to know?” Jacob asked quietly. “Is it better to find out what happened, for closure? Or is it worse, because when you don’t know you still have hope?” August was pretty sure it was supposed to be a rhetorical question, but it was one he knew the answer to. “It’s better to know. In the long run.” He cleared his throat. “Hope can break your heart every day for years, and living with false hope is hell on earth.” Jacob stared at him, and August wondered if he’d said too much. But Jacob nodded and unclipped his seatbelt. “Then we shouldn’t wait another minute.” August got out of the car and together they walked up to the front door and rang the bell. They’d called ahead, so they were expected, but when a tall, middle-aged man opened the door to greet them, Jacob took off his hat and with that single gesture, the man nodded and began to cry. Hope was a cruel and brutal thing. ![]()
GIVEAWAY!
25 Comments
Bea LaRocca
9/25/2019 12:47:54 am
The cover is gorgeous; the synopsis and excerpt intriguing. This sounds like a must read for me. Thank you for sharing the book details.
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Shirley Ann Speakman
9/25/2019 05:51:30 am
Congratulations on your new release N.R, the book sounds really good and it's on my wish list.
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Janet W.
9/25/2019 08:44:40 am
Congrats on this release! Great, unique cover!
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Rita Wray
9/25/2019 11:31:52 am
I liked the excerpt, sounds like a good book.
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Bridgett Wilbur
9/25/2019 11:36:55 am
I would love to read your book.
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Stephanie Jones
9/25/2019 12:13:19 pm
i love the book cover
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Sara Zielinski
9/25/2019 12:16:47 pm
Congrats on the release!
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Debbie P
9/25/2019 01:38:53 pm
This book sounds like a really great read.
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Dale Wilken
9/25/2019 04:12:02 pm
The book sounds really great.
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Calvin
9/25/2019 05:32:48 pm
I like a good mystery.
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Victoria
9/25/2019 08:43:14 pm
I love the cover, thanks for sharing!
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Emmaline
9/25/2019 10:53:12 pm
I know the mystery aspect of this book has me satisfied. :D
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SHERRY
9/26/2019 01:59:55 pm
Sounds like a good read.
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heather
9/26/2019 02:46:23 pm
I love the cover of this one and it sounds like one that will keep me reading all night.
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heather
9/26/2019 02:46:49 pm
I follow xpresso book tours on instagram as @oldblueeyes070
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heather
9/26/2019 02:47:11 pm
I follow silver dagger book tours and xpresso books on twitter as @myway070
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Elena
9/26/2019 02:58:44 pm
Sounds like a great read
Reply
Jewel
9/26/2019 08:11:56 pm
I loved this book! Congratz on another wonderful release, Nic!
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Victoria Golar
9/26/2019 08:44:44 pm
Can NOT wait to buy this!
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Tracie Cooper
9/26/2019 09:54:06 pm
I love the cover! I am so excited to read this book!
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Jolanda
9/27/2019 03:47:48 am
Congrats on this release!
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Michele Soyer
9/27/2019 02:10:29 pm
Really like cold case mysteries... put this on my holiday reading list....
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Tiffany S
9/30/2019 09:07:36 pm
Sounds amazing and the cover looks great!
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shelly peterson
10/1/2019 04:41:00 pm
Sounds like a good read
Reply
Amy Friedentag
10/2/2019 06:57:38 am
Sounds like an interesting read. Thanks for sharing the excerpt!
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