Tuesday 11 December 2018

Keep Her Close - Erik Therme #BlogTour #Extract


Keep Her Close

Today I am pleased to be able to participate in one of the closing spots for the blog tour for Keep Her Close by Erik Therme.  My thanks go to Noelle at Bookouture for my spot on the blog tour. 



About the Book

Someone took your daughter. And nobody believes you…
Then:
Three-year-old Ally was found alone in a parking lot.
She was barefoot and dressed only in a yellow sundress. In the middle of winter.
What kind of person would abandon their daughter?
Now:
Fifteen years later and Ally has a new family. 
But her real father has sent her a letter.
And now Ally is missing. 

A gripping twist-filled thriller that will have you looking over your shoulder. Perfect for fans of Gone Girl, The Girl on the Train and Teresa Driscoll. 

Extract

Today I have an extract for you from the book, and it’s a sneaky peek at Chapter One.   Hope you are all sitting nice and comfortably to read this.   

CHAPTER  ONE

Fifteen  Years  Later

Dan  shot  upright  in  bed.  The  phone  was  ringing,  and  his  heart  rate 
doubled  when  he  saw  it  was  past  midnight.  Holly  and  Ally  were 
the  only  people  who  called,  and  they  both  knew  he  was  always  in 
bed  by  ten  when  he  worked  the  day  shift.  He  untangled  himself 
from  the  sheets  and  made  his  way  into  the  kitchen,  stubbing  a 
toe  in  the  process.
“Hello?”  he  answered.
“Dad?”
Ally.  “Are  you  okay?  What’s  wrong?”
“Can  you  come  over  here?”  she  asked.  “Like  right  now?”
“Did  something  happen?  Are  you  at  the  apartment?”
“I’m  fine.  I’m  just...  Ellie’s  out  with  some  friends,  and  I’m 
freaking  out.”
Dan  let  out  his  breath.  “I  know  it  can  be  scary  to  be  alone  in  a 
new  place,  but  you’ve  been  living  there  now  for  almost  two  weeks—”
“Dad,  no—it’s  not  that.  I  need  you  to  come  over  and  see 
something.”
“It  better  not  be  a  trapped  spider  you’re  afraid  to  kill.”
“It’s  a  letter,”  Ally  said  with  a  catch  in  her  throat.  “It  came  in 
today’s  mail,  but  I  just  got  home  from  work  now  and  opened  it.”
“Is  it  the  tuition  bill  for  your  first  semester  of  college?  That 
scares  the  hell  out  of  me  as  well.  Luckily  for  us,  your  mother 
remarried  rich—”

 “It’s  not  that.  It’s  a  letter...  about  my  father.”
At  first  Dan  thought  he  hadn’t  heard  her  correctly.  “Why 
would  someone  send  you  a  letter  about  me?  Or  is  it  a  letter  about 
Stepmonster  Steve?”
“You  know  how  much  I  hate  when  you  call  him  that,”  Ally 
huffed,  “especially  since  it  doesn’t  make  sense—people  say  step
-monster  for  a  stepmother,  not  a  stepfather.”  She  gave  a  frustrated 
sigh.  “The  letter  isn’t  about  you  or  him.  It’s  a  letter  from  someone 
who  says  he’s  my  real  father,  and  he  wants  to  meet.”
Dan  switched  the  phone  to  his  other  ear,  still  unsure  he  was 
hearing  her  correctly.  There  was  no  way  he  was  hearing  her  correctly.
“Dad?”
“I’m  here.  What  do  you  mean,  real father?”
“Just  that.  Someone  claiming  that  he’s  my  father,  he’s  dying  of 
cancer,  and  he  wants  to  see  me.  I  don’t  know  if  the  letter  is  real—”
“It’s  not,”  Dan  said  automatically.  “It’s  probably  a  joke  from  your 
friends.  You  know  they’re  always  playing  pranks  on  you  because 
you’re  so  gullible.  Like  that  time  they  convinced  you  a  midget 
lived  inside  the  ATM  and  pushed  money  out  through  the  slot.”
“Dad,  my  friends  wouldn’t  do  this.  They  know  how  strongly 
I  feel  about  my  real family.”
Dan’s  insides  shifted.  “I’m  sorry.  You’re  right.”
“I  didn’t  mean  it  like  that,”  Ally  said,  softening  her  voice. 
“You’re  my  dad.  Mom  is  my  mom.  You  guys  know  that.  But  you 
also  know  how  hard  it  is  not  knowing  where  I  came  from...  and 
why  I  was...”
She  trailed  off.  Dan  could  visualize  her  hand  twirling  through 
the  air  as  she  searched  for  words.  Ally  had  always  been  a  hand-talker.
“Okay,”  he  told  her.  “Give  me  a  few  minutes  to  get  dressed, 
and  I’ll  be  there.  I’m  sure  it’s  nothing.  Maybe  it’s  something  from 
the  adoption  agency.”
“I  don’t  think  so.  Will  you  please  hurry?”

 “Yeah,”  he  said,  already  scanning  the  kitchen  for  his  car  keys. 
“Sit  tight,  kiddo.”
“Okay.  Love  you.”
The  air  conditioner  kicked  on,  sending  a  chill  through  his  feet 
from  the  floor  vent.  He  considered  calling  Holly—she  was  always 
awake  late  into  the  night—but  he  dismissed  the  thought  as  he  hung 
up  the  phone.  There  was  no  reason  to  worry  her  over  nothing.

WOW, what an opening.  I’m intrigued to read more and this is one that I will be adding to my TBR (to be read) pile shortly.   

About the Author

Erik Therme has thrashed in garage bands, inadvertently harbored runaways, and met Darth Vader. When he’s not at his computer, he can be found cheering for his youngest daughter’s volleyball team, or watching horror movies with his seventeen-year-old. He currently resides in Iowa City, Iowa—one of only twenty places in the world UNESCO has certified as a City of Literature.



Social Media Links

Website: www.eriktherme.com 

Check out the rest of the blog tour with these fabulous blogs: 



My thanks to the Bookouture and Noelle for my spot on the blog tour.  

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