The Litter Audio Book
by Kevin R. Doyle
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GENRE: Horror
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BOOK BLURB:
They kept to the shadows so no one would know they existed, and preyed on the nameless who no one would miss. Where did they come from, and who was protecting them? In a city that had seen every kind of savagery, they were something new, something more than murderous. And one woman who had thought she had lost everything there was to lose in life would soon find that nothing could possibly prepare her for what would come when she entered their world.
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EXCERPT ONE:
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GUEST POST:
As a lifelong book lover, I have an instinctive yen for libraries. As a child of the ‘60s and ‘70s, I grew up at a time when things were a little less restrictive for young people than they are these days. In my youth it was quite common, even in my town of two hundred thousand people, for kids to run around all over the place with minimal to no supervision.
For example, on Saturdays during good weather, we would often leave the house right after Saturday morning cartoons, have no idea where we were going or who we would hook up with and come back home in time for lunch before heading out again. Our parents didn’t know from hour to hour where we were, and everyone was basically fine with that.
In my case, although I lived in a residential neighborhood we had something that resembled a small strip mall about seven blocks away. And that little mall had a local library branch. From the time I was around six or seven, it was no big deal for me to tell my mother I was “going to the library” and out the door I went. Sometimes I would browse around in there for something to check out and take home, while other times I would snag a table and sit down to read for hours, especially on the weekend or during the summer.
At the time, to my young eyes, this little branch looked marvelously big with an unlimited number of books. In hindsight, it was only a little larger than a normal two-bedroom apartment. At the time, though, it was more than ample enough for me.
Immodest as it may sound, I was an early and prolific reader, and my mother often became exasperated with my going to the library. At first, she naturally assumed I would stick to the kids’ section, but that didn’t happen. When I was in second grade, I came home with 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne, for sure not a kid’s book. One day in third grade, I sauntered in the door with The Boy’s Sherlock Holmes, a two-inch thick hardback with a scarlet cover that contained all four of Doyle’s Holmes novels and a selection of the short stories.
At the time, I didn’t see the big deal with either of those. Looking back, I can understand her consternation.
One major discovery I made at our branch library, when I was around the age of twelve, occurred when I stumbled on a couple hardback copies of Saint books by Leslie Charteris. To say I was astonished is an understatement. From around six years old or so, I often watched The Saint TV show in the afternoons, often with my grandpa when I stayed over at his house. But I’d had no idea there were actually books about The Saint. To my twelve-year old mind, this was a major revelation, and one I dived into right away.
I moved away from our neighborhood when I was twenty-one and have only been back a few times since. The most recent was a few months ago, when I was back in my hometown taking care of things after my mother’s passing. I drove over to the little mall, which is still there, though of course none of the stores or businesses are the same. After all, almost forty years is a long time. The branch library is long gone as well with a small second-hand clothing store in its place, but even if it were still there, I’m sure it would look nothing like it did when I was a kid. The whole thing neither good nor bad, simply the way things are.
All is not lost, however. After all memories, sometimes, have more permanence than reality.
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AUTHOR BIO & LINKS:
A retired high-school teacher and former college instructor, Kevin R. Doyle is the author of four novels in the Sam Quinton mystery series, all published by Camel Press. He’s also written four crime thrillers, including And the Devil Walks Away and The Anchor, and one horror novel, The Litter, along with numerous short horror stories published in small magazines over the years. The first Quinton book, Squatter’s Rights, was nominated for the 2021 Shamus award for Best First PI Novel. A lifelong Midwesterner, Doyle currently resides in Missouri and has loosely based the city of Providence in the Quinton books on Columbia.
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BOOK BUY LINKS:
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GIVEAWAY INFO:
Kevin will award a $10 Amazon OR Barnes and Noble Gift Card to a randomly dawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour.
Thank you so much for hosting today!
ReplyDeleteGood morning Ally. As always, I appreciate you helping out with the tour. I'll check in throughout the day.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds really interesting.
ReplyDeleteInteresting guest post
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like an interesting book.
ReplyDeleteSounds very fascinating
ReplyDelete