Deadline Teaser Tuesday

You maynot believe in ghosts, but you cannot deny terror.

To uncover thetruth about her mother’s mysterious disappearanceyears ago, the estranged daughter of a renowned illusionist must overcomeher fear and spend three nights in her father’s secluded gothicmansion, where he has vowed to return from the grave. Helped by anadventurous reporter, she discovers a terrifying childhood secret thatthrusts her into a world of deception and jeopardy, confronting a hauntingsupernatural presence and dark family secrets.

 DEADLINE is a supernatural, suspense thriller with a strong femaleprotagonist, a deeply terrifying antagonist and a series of disturbingsurprises that build to an ultimate shocker of an ending, blurring the linesbetween reality and illusion.

PROLOGUE

An hourago, I was almost burned to death. My life was saved by somethingsupernatural, something not from this world. Call it what you will. A ghost, a spirit, a presence.

The eventsI now chronicle were the real thing. They happened to me atSebastian Castle, the mansion of the famed illusionist, NicholasSebastian.

Thomas Veilstopped typing and stared at his computer screen. The smell ofsmoke and ash still lingered in his hair and clothes as he edited thearticle. He had changed the working title three times in the last fiveminutes:

Life After Death?

The Mystery of Faith

DoYou Believe in Ghosts?

NicholasSebastian: A Modern Horror Story

                   by Thomas Veil

                   Features Editor, TheLos Angeles Mirror

A darknessstirred within Veil that he could not comprehend. The hair onthe back of his hands prickled upward as he typed: “The oldest andstrongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind offear is fear of the unknown.”(H.P. Lovecraft) If that is true, I canassure you of one thing. Spiritual forces exist. I have no doubt about thatnow. Evil is something real. Over the past three days, I became part of anobscene horror story. How easy it was to be drawn in.

But thisstory’s origins began twenty years ago—with oneman’s obsession with his wife, and life beyond the grave.

Veil stoppedwriting.

His mindsprinted in circles as his right hand trembled with exhaustion. Heknew there would be no sleep for him tonight.

When thethrumming wind blew an overhanging tree branch against the roof,Veil flinched. The muscles in his throat tightened. It was still there: thefear seeped in. Ghastly images rose, emotion overtaking reason, fillingVeil’s mouth with a bitter taste like a copper penny. The image of herface was cemented in the shadow of his mind: black galaxies of eyes shotwith red.

In thatmoment, he declined his head and felt a shiver plaiting up hisback.

SomehowThomas Veil sensed that someone loomed behind him, even before thehand fell on his shoulder.

About theAuthor

WILLIAM G. HYLAND JR. is the award nominated author of four widely praisedhistorical biographies, published by St. Martin’s/Thomas Dunne Books,(2009) and Regnery Books (2019). He is also a member of Mystery Writers ofAmerica, the American Screenwriters Association and has attended numerouswriting seminars including Harlan Coben’s and Lee Child’s MasterClass Fiction Writing Courses on BBC MAESTRO. He holds a B.A. from theUniversity of Alabama and J.D. from Samford University. Before law school,the author held a TOP SECRET security clearance and worked for the ArmsControl and Disarmament Agency.

ContactLink

Website