Title: Derrick
Author: Russell
Publication Date: November 27th 2018
Genres: Adult, Thriller
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In Hyde Park, a movie theater erupts in flames on a bitterly cold November evening.
It seems like a job for the fire department, but under Captain Creighton’s direct orders, Detective Gavin Nolan and his partner, Derrick Williamson, must investigate. Arriving on the chaotic scene, they find multiple fatalities—but one of the victims is most peculiar…
Gavin soon discovers that this fire wasn’t the first of its kind. The arsonist has set ablaze other buildings around Chicago, and more female victims left in the same gruesome state have been discovered.
Gavin and Derrick determine that the arsonist is not an arsonist at all—but a sinister serial killer with an agenda.
Juggling the unexpected events in his personal life, Gavin digs into the locations of the explosions. At the same time, Derrick probes into the victims’ lives, searching for any possible connection.
However, when the next explosion occurs, the killer leaves behind a significant object, and Derrick becomes noticeably reserved. Gavin soon uncovers an enigmatic link, one that points to Derrick’s military past. A time that his partner had wished to forget. Yet, to catch the vicious maniac, Derrick must tell Gavin everything.
In a suspenseful, gripping ride to the end, it is up to Gavin to rescue his partner from the clutches of a killer. But will he make it in time?
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Excerpt:
Turning right off Fifty-Seventh and nearing the town center, Gavin could see the flashing lights of a squad car barricading the street. Sluggishly moving forward, he noticed several residents were bundled up and heading out of their doors in the same direction. Plumes of white mist cascaded from their mouths as they walked quickly up the street. Within moments, a young cadet put one of her gloved hands up. Gavin pressed his badge to the window and she nodded and flagged him through. As he gingerly passed, her attention turned to the car behind him. She yelled at the driver to back it up.
About two blocks away, he parked his car in a nearby alley. After tightening the buttons around the collar of his black bridge coat, wrapping the gray plaid scarf around his neck, and slipping his gloves on, he got out of the car and followed the crowd. Their eerie enthusiasm over the explosion seemed too surreal. A frigid knife of wind pierced him quickly, making him squeeze his shoulders tighter and force his hands deeper in his pockets. Approaching the barricade, he flashed his badge again and ambled toward the chaos, snaking his way around the vehicles.
Several ambulances were already on the scene, the paramedics treating some people inside the warm cabs. Nearby, he could see two uniformed officers sitting in the back of one and sucking on oxygen masks. Both of their faces were blackened with residue. About a hundred feet away, one of the ambulances came to life with full sirens and began to move out. Through the window, Gavin caught a glimpse of an older black man on the stretcher as the EMT worked around his body, adding more tubing to his arm. Once it was out of the way, Gavin witnessed the gravity of the explosion.
The Opus Theater was a gouged-out smoldering shell of a building, resembling a nefarious beast defeated at the hands of a mob of local villagers. Its massive first-floor entrance breathed out the last of the smoke, the toothy marquee scarred with black soot. Above, its blackened window-eyes stared down upon the people menacingly. As Gavin ambled closer, avoiding the other officers, a gripping scent of chemicals, fabric, and noxious gas filtered into his nostrils, then wafted away with the wind. Next to the theater, a pair of smaller sibling buildings, a shoe business and a comic magazine shop, were scarred and smoldering as well. Even from here, Gavin could make out the shattered glass sparkling grimly against the siren lights.
As he had seen on the news, the fire trucks clustered near the front of the buildings. The crews were already wrapping up their gear, and one was lowering its long ladder. Firemen dashed from the trucks into the dark façade of the building, being swallowed up by the dying beast. Other men tugged on the thick gray hoses that were haphazardly tossed around on the street. Already, pockets of ice were forming on the standing water and small icicles began to grow from the edges of the building. Gavin carefully stepped over the hoses, which reminded him of ripped-out intestines from the gut of the savage beast, and tried to get out of the firemen’s way.
Hastily, a fireman rushed past him and knocked him slightly. Grunting an apology, the man kept talking into his radio and rounded one of the trucks. The smell of smoke invaded Gavin’s nostrils once again.
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About the Author:
Russell has been writing for the majority of his life. Slipping into alternative universes allows him to enjoy the process of creativity from the novel’s conception to its final draft. Currently, he lives in South Texas with his wife, two kids and several cats.
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