The HBS Author's Spotlight SHOWCASES Ashley Fontainne's Book: Night Court
International Bestselling Author Ashley Fontainne writes the Eviscerating the Snake series--intense thrillers that will make you reconsider plotting revenge!
Night Court
Author: Ashley Fontainne
AVAILABLE
Amazon
KOBO
iTunes
Audible
Judge
Merry watches, her presence cloaked by the shroud of nightfall. Nothing moves except her eyes which focus on her target. No remorse. No regret. No second guessing the decision to end the lives of the monsters who turned her into a killer.
Jury
The peddlers of death from potent chemicals are found guilty. Punishment for their crimes--death. Appeals denied. Sentencing to commence immediately. The leeches who sucked out the life of addicts with each snort, shot, swallow, and injection will now pay the ultimate price.
Executioner
The idyllic world of Merry Marie Hall, once the loving wife of Harold and mother to their only child, Joshua, is over. Extinguished when Joshua overdosed and Harold died of a heart attack at the funeral. Now Merry hunts down the guilty parties, and one by one, carries out her internal court's orders.
Court is now in session.
Excerpt from Night Court
CHAPTER ONE – 3:00 a.m. Friday morning
Merry watched, her presence cloaked by the shroud of night.
She’d been outside long enough for her vision to acclimate to the darkness. She missed nothing from her perch against the old brick wall. Her shoulders, back, and legs ached, angry for being stuck in the same position for so long.
They screamed for freedom from bondage.
She ignored them.
Tuned the pleas out—it was as simple as switching off a light switch. Physical pain was a breeze to override. Years of fighting off the aging process by taking up yoga, cross-training, and running, had programmed her muscles and brain to block out body aches and pains. Gave her the internal fortitude to push on, not give up, resist the temptation to cave in and surrender to the burn.
When she took up those activities, she had no idea they would serve a much darker, sinister purpose in her life.
Mental anguish was quite another story. Merry fought hard, refusing to listen to her mind and soul, which in the beginning, begged her to forget the disturbing, insane plans ruminating inside her mind. The urging to not embark upon the journey that took months of sleepless nights to craft.
She taught herself how to push aside the faint voice deep inside, the one pleading for mercy.
To return to sanity.
The last hurdle: a faint whisper to not take the life of another.
Cleared!
That was all in the past now, just like her former life. She’d mastered the art of turning her mushy heart and soul to stone. It was the main piece of the puzzle needed to transform herself into a killer. The thought made her almost giggle out loud at the absurdity of the phrase. On instinct, her gloved hand flew up and clamped over her mouth, just in case a sound escaped her dry throat.
Ha! Murder by Numbers nailed it. I’m living proof of what one must do to become a killer.
Nothing moved except her eyes, which were focused on the night’s target. He would be her first execution.
No remorse, no regret.
No second guessing her decision to end the life of a monster who more than deserved the punishment she was about to dole out.
Her actions would smother her old life of suburban housewife and mother, replacing it with—what? Crazed serial killer? The hand of justice?
In the end, did it really matter what others thought or called her?
Not one damned bit.
Muscles tensed and at the ready, her doubts and misgivings had vanished, pushed away by the adrenaline racing through her. The Lycra top wasn’t heavy, just hot. It trapped the humid night air against her chest like a vise. A thin bead of sweat trickled down her forehead and perched on the tip of her nose.
She ignored it.
The sounds of the city weren’t as loud at three a.m. Traffic from I-30 hummed in the distance. An occasional car horn beeped. Muted voices of the drunks leaving nearby bars and restaurants buzzed around her. Dogs barked, along with the shrill cry of a baby.
Suddenly a siren trilled, making her heart pound, and breathing come faster. Concentrating, she honed in on the sound. No, it wasn’t close, and it was fading fast, which meant the cop was heading in the opposite direction. Probably a unit responding to an accident on the highway or pulling over a drunk.
She inhaled deeply, forcing her breath to return to an even, steady rhythm. Merry focused her attention back to the noises around her position. The squeaks of a few rats to her left barely registered. Squeaks which only a few months ago would have sent her running and screaming in the other direction.
Merry ignored it all.
Nothing mattered except completing the mission.
The rational voice whispering in her mind to turn and go home, silenced, banished forever the minute she dressed her five-ten frame in all black—red hair hidden under a skullcap—and left her house earlier. Strength and power flowed through her still torso, fueled by bloodlust. The sensations were much more enjoyable than the gut-wrenching pain of the broken-hearted forty-plus-year old woman she had been.
Merry had waited in the alleyway for almost three hours, camouflaged in black, crammed up against a filthy dumpster. No one except dealers and users ventured into this part of downtown the minute the sun disappeared. The office workers had scattered, unwilling to be caught on the streets after darkness fell. During the past two months of careful plotting, she had learned the habits of the lowlife drug dealer she had marked as her target.
Merry discovered this particular alley was worked only by him.
All her planning, down to every possible scenario, was only seconds away from fruition.
The peddler of death was about to be Little Rock’s latest crime statistic.
And he would be Merry Marie Hall’s first example of the swift judgment enforced by her own internal court.
Her eyes narrowed into small slits as she watched him saunter into her trap.
Court is now in session. The Honorable Merry Hall, presiding. The defendant, Carlos “Peppy” Ramirez, is found guilty. The punishment for his multitude of crimes is death. Execution shall now be carried out by the Court. The Defendant’s appeal is denied. Sentencing to commence. Right now.
Merry bit her lip to keep the snide grin at the corners of her mouth at bay. She watched Peppy's lanky body move with catlike grace through the alley toward her. He was so close she could smell him—a disgusting mix of body odor, chemicals and cheap cologne. He reeked, and the stench assaulted her nose. Less than twenty feet away, he stopped and glanced around.
Merry held her breath.
From her research, she knew Carlos Ramirez had been a street thug for years. Before his twentieth birthday, he’d been arrested over ten times for peddling narcotics. Each arrest and conviction ended the same way: a large fine, no prison time, and a slap on the wrist. A few times, forced attendance at classes that were supposed to teach him how to live life drug-free. He’d be right back on the streets within hours after an arrest and only went to meetings for the free food—and potential of scoring new clients.
How did his public defender sleep at night, knowing his legal finagling allowed a dangerous criminal back on the streets? How did the prosecutors feel each time they came face-to-face with the same exact person for the same exact crimes? Did they feel like they were just spinning their wheels in the mud? What about the judges? Did it ever get under their skin, knowing their courtroom was more like a circus, and they were just shepherding the cattle and sheep in a perpetual circle? Not to mention the heroic cops, who risked their lives every single time they hit the streets. How much time and manpower was spent arresting the wastes of society, only to have to sit back and watch the bastards waltz out of jail?
In.
Out.
In.
Out.
Guilty.
Time served.
Pay a hefty fine.
Keep the county coffers full.
People—no, animals—like Peppy were a threat to society. Leeches that sucked out the life of addicts with each snort, shot, swallow, and injection they sold. Anything could be used as tender: cash, other drugs, sex, or a combination of all three. Peppy, and others like him, didn’t care about the age of their clientele or how the poison they offered would condemn the user to a life of sorrow, pain, and grief. They never concerned themselves with what the addiction would do to not only the addict but to those who loved them.
Merry had.
She had relived the nightmare over and over, until it finally drove her to madness. She had been the kind of woman who had a loving husband, adorable son, great job and was living the American dream.
Not anymore.
The idyllic world of Merry Marie Hall, loving wife of Harold and proud mother of her only son, Joshua, was long gone. The disappearing act began the minute Peppy Ramirez sold a little white pill to Joshua nearly five years ago. Watching her child become a raging addict, battling with the court system, (in-out, pay a hefty fine), and depleting their retirement for expensive trips to rehab (which never worked) took their toll on her mental and physical state. The countless arguments late at night with Harold about the situation and the cringing when the phone rang at two or three o’clock in the morning—the signal yet another arrest happened—had aged them both.
Fast.
Almost destroyed their marriage.
Her former life had been finally been snuffed out in less than one week. The flame dimmed six months ago when she heard the news—the night her brother knocked on the front door at three a.m. The minute Merry woke up from the sound of the pounding, she went numb. In the deepest recesses of her heart, she knew Joshua was gone. Felt the hole, the giant black void, gut her chest. She knew before the stoic Detective Derek Isaac Clarke, her tough-as-nails brother, had a chance to say a word. While she sat on the couch, erect and frozen in one spot, hands clasped with Harold’s, the hole spread. Engulfed her heart and then overtook to her mind. When Derek told them Joshua was the victim of an overdose of heroin, the blackness began to choke her.
What little light left in her world extinguished when Harold suffered a massive coronary that ended his life at Joshua’s funeral.
Not the time to think about things you can’t change. Concentrate on your purpose.
She blinked twice and refocused. The time for mourning was over. Carpooler, soccer-mom, devoted wife—she was one with a quick smile and jovial demeanor. Now, all that was gone—buried right next to the corpses of husband and son. What resided inside her now was Maniacal Merry—a woman bent on revenge after her old life ended.
The new one was on the cusp of beginning—one started by the actions of Carlos Fucking Peppy Ramirez.
Merry waited and watched with patience. Not only was Carlos a dealer of just about every conceivable drug, but he was also a heroin user. The combination made him beyond careful. The times she'd followed him in the past, she had to maintain a safe distance. Peppy was on constant edge and wary of his surroundings. The little waste of flesh was intent on guarding his stash and cash from would-be thieves or rival dealers.
Merry could see his shoulders sag a bit, indicating he was satisfied he was safe. Sure enough, Peppy reached into his pocket and pulled out a smoke, lit it, and then leaned back against the dirty brick wall. He was less than ten feet away. The lone streetlight cast eerie shadows across his withered face. The plumes of white smoke looked like horror movie vapors. He wasn’t looking in her direction. Peppy’s attention was focused on a barking dog at the end of the alleyway. Merry stood and pulled out the syringe from her pocket. Her gaze never left his torso, searching for any movement or signs he’d heard her move.
He hadn’t.
Peppy’s cell phone rang, startling them all, including the dog. The mutt bounded away into the night, leaving the alleyway quiet again. With a flick of his wrist, Peppy put to the phone to his ear. His raspy voice bounced off the walls straight into Merry’s ears.
“Yo, what ails ya? Uh-huh. Yeah, I gotcha back. Always do, right? Stuff is straight, and I mean straight. No cuttin’ at all. Yeah, same place. Hurry up. You know I don’t hang in one spot too long. Aight? Oh, I hear ya. Ain’t we all? If it’s a problem, we’ll work it out. I know those lips of yours are worth their weight, ya dirty ho. Later.”
In disgust, Merry cringed while Peppy rubbed his crotch. The warped smile on his face made her want to vomit.
“Mmm, mmm! Gonna fill her up right! She’s worth a few hits for free.”
Sliding the cap off the tip of the syringe with her gloved hand, Merry made sure to keep her movements slow and quiet. Peppy finished his smoke and knelt down on the wet cement. Removing his jacket, he fumbled around in the pockets while muttering about his upcoming deal and payment arrangements. His back was to Merry. Her steps were quick and sure. In three strides from her long legs, footfalls silent, the thick rubber on her shoes covered by duct tape, she was behind him.
She wouldn’t give Carlos “Peppy” Ramirez a chance to realize what was happening until it was too late for him to do a damned thing about it.
Raising her right leg, visions of her husband and son in their respective caskets, Merry brought it down with all her might. The flat of her boot-clad foot connected with the base of his neck. Peppy made a strange grunting sound as his body jerked forward. His cell phone flew from his hand, clanking on the pavement as it bounced away.
His face slammed into the damp concrete. Red droplets sprayed into the air as his nose and lips met the ground. He groaned again and tried to roll away.
Merry was faster.
Dropping down, she buried her knees in his back, her full weight centered right below where his rib cage ended. Peppy squirmed underneath her like a worm on hot blacktop in the middle of summer.
Grabbing a handful of Peppy’s thin, black hair, Merry yanked his head up, and then slammed it into the ground. His yelp of pain was muffled by the blood in his mouth and throat, and the sound of his teeth shattering. She repeated the movement until his arms quit flailing and no more grunts erupted.
He was out cold.
And his bare arm was exposed.
Can’t ask for it to get any better than this.
In one swift motion, she hopped off his back and crouched next to his arm. Finding his vein was simple, even in the dim alleyway. It stood, swollen and ugly from God-only-knows how many years of abuse. Merry held her breath as she buried the needle into it. She pushed the plunger all the way down, releasing the heroin she found in Joshua’s apartment months ago into Peppy’s body. The empty needle barely made a sound when she let it go and it fell onto the pavement.
Out of breath, Merry scrambled to her feet. She took several steps away from the dealer of death’s limp body and picked up his cell phone from its resting place. In seconds, the movements memorized from hours of practice, she opened the back and yanked out the SIM card and shoved it into her pocket.
In three steps, she reached his jacket. She emptied the pockets, taking all the drugs she found. After stuffing them in her waist pack, she tossed the paraphernalia around like confetti.
Peppy let out a slight moan while trying to turn his head. Dropping his jacket, she turned to look at him. His face was covered in dripping, thick red blood, dirt, and pebbles. She couldn’t decide what was worse, the gore all over him that she created or the fact it didn’t seem to faze her in the least.
Merry moved closer, mindful of the pools of blood surrounding the head of her prey. Flicking open his cell phone, she set it down inches from his bloodied hand. She punched in 9-1-1 but didn’t hit send.
“Hey, Peppy. Is this what you want? A chance to call for help before you overdose, or bleed to death from the ass-kicking I just gave you? Hmm? Well, here you go.”
She pointed to the phone, though she really didn’t know why. It was doubtful he was aware enough to comprehend her words, much less see. “I’ve even dialed for you. All you have to do is hit the send button. It’s right here by your hand. Come on, just reach out and grab it. Help is only a few inches away. Isn’t that what you want? What you crave? Help? Someone to rescue you from certain death?”
A slight groan was Peppy’s only response.
Every disturbing memory of the last six months flooded her mind.
Standing on the other side of the glass while the coroner pulled back the sheet, exposing Joshua’s pale body.
Derek holding her while she crumpled into a blubbering mess on the cold, concrete floor of the M.E.’s office.
Joshua’s body lying in the casket.
Her own anguished screams when Harold clutched his chest in agony and fell to the floor, dead before he collapsed next to their son’s coffin.
Picking out caskets for the two most important men in her life over the course of five days.
The memories infused Merry with righteous anger. She growled, “Guess what? That’s what every single junkie wants, and you don’t give it to them. You hand them death instead. Push their salvation away inch by inch with each hit you sell them.” The toe of her boot pushed the cell phone out of Peppy’s reach. “Just like I’m going to do to you.”
With a sick, twisted fascination, Merry watched while the dying Peppy tried to form words. His pathetic attempts to blink and wash away the blood clouding his vision weren’t working. His fingers wiggled as they fumbled around for the phone. As the drugs careened through his body, he looked like he’d become one with the blacktop. Blood oozed from his mouth. A bubble of air as he tried to speak popped.
The sounds of heels clacking on the ground caught Merry’s attention. The bastard’s last deal was close. Instead of finding herself a fix, the woman would turn the corner and discover bloody carnage.
Maybe the sight will help get her clean.
Merry leaned closer, her lips inches away from the monster’s blood-soaked ear. “That was for losing my husband. This is for killing my son.”
In a flash, she was on her feet. One final stomp to the back of his neck ended the life of Carlos “Peppy” Ramirez with a sickening crunch.
The sound of footsteps drew closer, so Merry quickened her pace. She bent down, grabbed the still-warm index finger which was coated in fresh blood, and scrawled a rival gang’s symbol on the pavement to his right.
With that, Merry turned and fled into the night.
One down. Many, many more to go.
Author Genre: Literature & Fiction, Mystery & Thrillers
Website: Ashley Fontainne
Author's Blog: The Movie: Foreseen based on her novel The Lie
Twitter: @ashleyfontainne
E-Mail: ashleyfontainne@gmail.com
Goodreads: Check Out Goodreads
Google+: Check Out Google+
Facebook: Check Out Facebook
Post with Profile + Interview: HBS Author's Spotlight
Amazon Author Profile
Author Description: International bestselling author Ashley Fontainne is an avid reader of mostly the classics. Ashley became a fan of the written word in her youth, starting with the Nancy Drew mystery series. Stories that immerse the reader deep into the human psyche and the monsters that lurk within us are her favorite reads.
Her muse for penning the EVISCERATING THE SNAKE series was The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. Ashley's love for this book is what sparked her desire to write her debut novel, Accountable to None, the first book in the trilogy. With a modern setting to the tale, Ashley delves into just what lengths a person is willing to go when they seek personal justice for heinous acts perpetrated upon them. The second novel in the series, Zero Balance focuses on the cost and reciprocal cycle that obtaining revenge has on the seeker. For once the cycle starts, where does it end? How far will the tendrils of revenge expand? Adjusting Journal Entries answered that question: far and wide.
Her short thriller entitled Number Seventy-Five, touches upon the sometimes dangerous world of online dating. Number Seventy-Five took home the BRONZE medal in fiction/suspense at the 2013 Readers' Favorite International Book Awards contest and is currently in production for a feature film.
Her paranormal thriller entitled The Lie, won the GOLD medal in the 2013 Illumination Book Awards for fiction/suspense and is also in production for a feature film entitled Foreseen.
Author's Book List
Whispered Pain
I am no longer among the living. At least, I don’t think I am. I don’t remember my name, my age, or even my sex. I don’t feel. I can’t smell. I hear, but sounds don’t register emotional responses anymore. I see, but it’s all in muted gray. No vibrant colors.
No sense of time, space, awareness. I just…float. Like a weightless cloud drifting through the limitless universe. I don’t know where I am or how I arrived at this point. Ebony nothingness has swallowed me whole.
Can you help me? Will you help me? I need to know. Want to know. Have to know.
Who am I?
Where am I?
How do I escape this black void?
Help.
Please, help me.
Book Trailer: Whispered Pain
Order the Book From:
Amazon
Audible
Blood Ties
- The Magnolia Series Book 1LiAnn Tuck and her daughter, Karina Summers, are settling into their new life, enjoying the small farming community of Sheridan, Arkansas. The slower pace, compared to the craziness of Los Angeles, is a welcome distraction for them both. Taking care of her aging parents and their small farm is just what LiAnn needs to forget her twenty-five-year career as a detective. And Karina's new love interest brings back the smile she lost from years of undercover work and her cheating ex-boyfriend.
The Bonds
Their idyllic lifestyle changes the minute a family friend, Cecil Pickard, pays a visit. He lives at The Magnolia, an independent living facility in Hot Springs, and believes someone is stealing from him. LiAnn and Karina offer to investigate and suddenly find themselves inside a living nightmare.
Are Permanent
Theft isn't the only criminal activity taking place inside the historic, stately walls of The Magnolia. Organized crime has infiltrated Hot Springs, and what they're after is not only money, but life itself. As LiAnn and Karina dig deeper, they might just be digging their own graves.
Book Trailer: Blood Ties
Order the Book From:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
KOBO
iTunes
Audible
Empty Shell
A pair of pink, silk underwear…
The quiet world of Melody and Jack Dickinson is about to be turned upside down. Twenty years of marriage hangs in the balance when Melody finds out about Jack’s infidelity. The betrayal is made worse when Melody discovers his lover is Serena Rowland, a young woman who works at Melody’s law firm.
A receipt from an overpriced hotel…
Harsh words are exchanged before Melody storms off to work, determined to have Serena fired. But when Melody hears Serena was murdered over the weekend, everything changes. Serena’s body is found beaten and strangled with a pair of pink, silk panties, in the same hotel that Jack had admitted staying at over the weekend. Within seconds of hearing the news, Melody’s life spins out of control when Jack calls in a panic. The police are at their home to arrest him for Serena’s murder.
Pictures of a young woman’s scantily clad torso on a cell phone…
Was she married to a monster? One who beat and strangled the young woman to death, or was Jack set up? Did Melody’s own dark secret, hidden inside her heart for years, have something to do with the nightmare they suddenly find themselves in?
Melody and Jack are about to discover that one fateful mistake will destroy many.
Book Trailer: Empty Shell
Order the Book From:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
KOBO
Audible
The Lie
Karmen Moncrille's name has been known throughout the world since the age of sixteen when her first book shot to the top of the bestseller's list. Now everything she writes is an instant hit, and her legions of devoted fans eagerly await her next release.
The mysterious Karmen always blamed debilitating panic attacks as the reason she avoided publicity and has become a recluse. Which is exactly what she wants the world to think. Only Karmen knows the truth behind her introverted nature. Terrified of being asked where her ideas come from, she fears being branded a raving lunatic.
Now just a week before her twenty-third birthday, Karmen’s world implodes. The madness that haunts her dreams spills over to her reality and she questions her sanity. Suddenly everything has changed and now the world will transform with her. Her last book will unleash the truth and alter mankind—forever.
Is Karmen's ability to write a gift or a curse? She's about to find out if her entire life is a lie. And why she was destined to write it.
Book Trailer: The Lie
Order the Book From:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
KOBO
iTunes
Audible
Number Seventy-Five
Dating can be deadly…
Three years after the demise of her seventeen year marriage, Mandy Russell decides to jump back into the choppy waters of the dating world. With very little options available in her small town of Bainsville, Tennessee, Mandy lets her best friend Shawna persuade her into joining an online dating site.
Feeling she has met someone she can really connect with, Mandy decides it’s time to meet face-to-face with her new suitor, unaware of his true plans for her. Dark, sinister plans that will test Mandy’s physical strength, mental fortitude, and will to survive.
Will Mandy prevail or will this first date be her last?
Book Trailer: Number Seventy-Five
Order the Book From:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Zero Balance
- Eviscerating the SnakeINTERNATIONAL BEST SELLER - Suspense/Thrillers
Nine months ago, Audra Tanner exposed the hidden secrets locked away at the prestigious accounting firm of Winscott & Associates. No one escaped her wrath. And once the smoke had cleared, everyone watched as the diabolical Olin Kemper was led away in handcuffs. Now Audra's meticulous revenge has thrust her into the role of managing partner.
But the firm is struggling to survive amidst the turmoil and media attention surrounding the shocking arrest and upcoming murder trial of Olin. And Audra must face the fallout left from her explosive revenge while trying to heal and recover from the trauma of her past.
Audra thought she had ended the evil lurking within and that her revenge would set her free. Unfortunately, it's only the beginning. Because evil never dies, it only assumes a new form. Soon everyone at the firm will discover that no one is safe when you are dealing with a psychopath that has zero balance.
Book Trailer: Zero Balance
Order the Book From:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
KOBO
iTunes
Adjusting Journal Entries
- Book Three of Eviscerating the SnakeFor every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. But when it comes to human emotions, the reaction is never equal. No one understands this lesson better than the partners at the prestigious accounting firm of Winscott & Associates. Greed, power, money and sex left six people dead and four in the hospital.
Audra Tanner never realized how far and deep the ripple she created in her revenge pool would extend. Now as the dust settles on the explosion that rocked not only her life, but the lives of countless others, Audra must fight to gain control over her life.
Because others are out to end it.
Book Trailer: Adjusting Journal Entries
Order the Book From:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
KOBO
Accountable to None
- Eviscerating the SnakeINTERNATIONAL BEST SELLER
Amazon Bestselling Kindle, Fiction, Suspense
What if the unspeakable happened to you? Would you fantasize about seeking personal vengeance? How far would you go...and how much would you sacrifice to hold those responsible that believe they are accountable to none?
Welcome to the prestigious accounting firm of Winscott & Associates. Welcome to Audra Tanner's personal hell. She had heard the rumors about her employer. The whispered secrets. But she had thrown herself into work to escape the pain of her miscarriage and demise of her marriage. Idealistic, she thought if she worked hard she would be rewarded. She thought wrong.
Savagely initiated into the brutal underbelly of the firm, Audra learns too late that the rumors are true. Now after five years of careful plotting, Audra is ready to push the wheels of justice in motion. Her goal of retribution has turned into an obsession and she will stop at nothing until everyone responsible pays. Will revenge set her free or is Audra's quest for personal justice only beginning?
Book Trailer: Accountable to None
Order the Book From:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
KOBO
iTunes
Audible
Author Recommended by: HBSystems Publications
Publisher of ebooks, writing industry blogger and the sponsor of the following blogs:
eBook Author’s Corner
Mystery Reader’s Circle
Check out the index of other Spotlight authors. Spotlight Index.
No comments:
Post a Comment