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'To Love and to Kill' by Rebecca Fox

2/28/2017

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To Love and to Kill
By Rebecca Fox
 
 
Detective Victor Curnble leaned back in his swivel chair and rubbed his eyes. He’d been staring at his computer screen for hours, trying to wrap up the paperwork for this case. He was ready for this gruesome chapter to be over with, but the words wouldn’t come.
​
The detective sighed and lowered his hand. It was eerie, sitting among a sea of abandoned desks and chairs in the dark. His lamp and the ghostly glow of the computer screen were the only sources of light. Still more haunting were the contents of the evidence box sitting beside him. Detective Curnble peeked down at the three deceptively innocent teddy bears, each holding a giant red heart. The words, “I love you,” were written across the hearts in swirly white script. It all came back to him then, like a wave of dark images and grief-stricken voices.
 
“What have we got here, lieutenant?”

“Looks like a date gone horribly wrong. The victim was found tied to a chair before a dining room table set for two. There were flower petals, candles, and full wine glasses left behind, untouched. Along with this bear…”
“What seems to be the time and cause of death, Dr. Yang?”

“Liver temperatures suggest the TOD to be approximately six hours ago. The COD is definitely strangulation, although, these bruises along her forearms and hands are indicative of a struggle. Perhaps we’ll be able to find DNA under her fingernails.”

“Anything else to report?”

“The satin gown she’s wearing shows no signs of wear. The shoes also appear to be new and slightly larger than the victim’s feet.”

“So the killer dressed her in new clothes after he killed her?”

“It’s a likely theory I might be able to prove upon further testing.”

“All right. Let’s get her back to the lab. I want everything in this room bagged and tagged. Maybe our killer unintentionally left something behind for us to track him with. We’ll go door to door and see if anyone heard or saw anything peculiar last night.”
 
“Detective Curnble. We’ve found another date victim. Same MO as the young lady we found three weeks ago.”

“This guy was in the wind. We found no conclusive evidence to make an arrest. Why would he risk exposing himself by killing a second time?”

“I don’t know, but we can only hope he left us something at this crime scene.”
 
“Nothing. Just the same damn teddy bear and other useless props. How is he doing this? Why is he targeting these girls? What do they all have in common?”

“Vick!”

“Gina? What are you doing here?”

“It’s Chelsea. I-I think she might be in trouble. She said she was going to meet someone for a first date last night, but she promised to call me after to tell me how it went. I fell asleep while waiting up for her, but when I checked my phone this morning, I didn’t have any missed calls. It went straight to voicemail when I tried calling her. I went by her apartment and she wasn’t there.”

“Calm down, sis. Did she tell you where she was going to meet this guy?”

“Y-Yes. It was a bar. The Golden Mare.”

“I hate to ask, but is there any chance Chelsea went home with this guy?”

“After one date? She would never! Vick, I raised that girl to have more respect for herself than that.”

“I had to be sure. I’ll go check out the bar and see if anyone saw her.”
 
“Yes, I recognize her. She was sitting in that booth last night. She kept checking the door and the clock, like she was waiting for someone. She received a phone call around midnight and left. She looked relieved. I thought it might’ve been the person she was waiting for.”

“Did you see where she went?”

“She took a cab around the corner. That’s the last I saw of her.”

“Did you catch the cab number by any chance?”
 
“Yes, hello. My name is Detective Curnble. I’m with the Seattle Police Department. Last night around midnight, you picked up a twenty-year-old girl with dark hair and green eyes from a bar called The Golden Mare. Do you remember? Good. She’s gone missing. Can you tell me where you dropped her off?”
 
“Open up! SPD! Hello? The door’s unlocked. I’m letting myself in. Hello? Anybody home? ...Oh, God. Chelsea.”
 
 “I’m sorry, Gina. I’m so sorry. I’m going to find who did this and make sure he never sees the light of day. I promise you.”
 
Victor gruffly wiped his eyes and turned back to his screen. He had fulfilled his promise. The serial killer, nick-named The Romantic, was serving a life sentence at a maximum security prison. No one else would die at his hand.

A door slamming shut caused the detective to leap to his feet and reach for his gun. A light had come on in a room across the way, probably while he’d been reminiscing. Abandoning his desk, Victor crept around the empty desks to the light. It was coming from the interrogation room. His eyes flickered from side to side as he reached for the doorknob. Just what in the world was going on? He pushed the door open. The gun shook in the detective’s hand.
The table was set for two. The wine glasses were full, the candles lit. There was a woman dressed in a satin gown tied to a chair. Her head lulled to the side, her foggy, unblinking eyes seemingly fixed on the floor. Sitting across from her was a little teddy bear holding a heart in his paws.

The door shut behind the detective. He spun around with a curse and twisted the doorknob. Of course, it was locked from the outside. He tugged with all his might, but the door wouldn’t budge.

“Oh, shit,” said a bored voice over the intercom. “You’re in a bit of a situation, aren’t you?”

Victor shuddered and looked over at the two-way mirror. For a moment, he could see himself reflected there; a middle-aged man with blonde hair, wearing jeans and a polo shirt, gun drawn, blue eyes wild with fear. Then the lights in the interrogation room shut off, and a light behind the mirror turned on. A young man in a flannel shirt and jeans stood there with his hands in his pockets, brown hair askew, amber eyes half-lidded.

Victor gripped the gun until his knuckles ached. Rage and terror churned within him. “How?”

The young man shrugged, the tiniest of smiles pulling at the corner of his mouth. “Doesn’t really matter, does it? What matters now is that Detective Curnble is trapped in a room with a dead body that appears to have been murdered by the same serial killer he put away.” His eyes widened in false surprise. “Could it be that you were The Romantic all this time, and you arrested an innocent man to avoid prison time?”

Victor let out a harsh laugh despite his trembling innards. “No one will ever believe that.”

The Romantic tilted his head to the side, his eyes traveling to the ceiling. Suddenly, Victor heard it; the sound of cars skidding to a stop just outside the building and doors being shut.

The young serial killer flashed a devilish grin. “Are you sure?” He gave Victor a lazy salute and began to saunter out of the room.

“Why don’t you stick around and find out who’s right?” Victor shouted.

The young man chuckled and kept walking. “Good luck, Vick.”
 
 
Edited By: Kara Mercer
 
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See what reviewers are saying about 'Service Goat' by Piers Anthony

2/28/2017

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Picture
Service Goat Review by Ally B
By Piers Anthony  
Published by Dreaming Big Publications
 
ABOUT THE BOOK
 
Orphaned and blind seven-year-old Callie has a service animal – a goat with extraordinary powers. Ben Hemoth is a down-on-his luck news reporter facing prison. Needing to save his job and his reputation, he teams up with Venus, a young seductress caught up with a teenage drug gang. When a mysterious letter arrives detailing a top-secret investigative operation, Ben and Venus think they’ve found their chance for redemption. The mission? Investigate a goat.

In exchange for an extravagant paycheck, Ben and Venus must piece together the wild rumors swirling around Callie, her supernatural goat, and a possible UFO visit. 

Piers Anthony’s Service Goat is an extraordinary tale, rich with adventure, extraterrestrial visitors, secrecy, dangerous governmental operations, and the classic hints of mischief that readers have come to expect and love from the New York Times bestselling author of the Xanth series.
 
Genre: Fantasy/Science Fiction
154 Pages
 
MY REVIEW
4 out of 5 stars
 
Service Goat is another fantastical and fun tale by Piers Anthony. The work is an enjoyable and exciting story, full of adventure and bits of mischief and fun. The book is quite strange at times, but is (perhaps because of that strangeness) a genuinely fun read and is a nice story overall. The work combines supernatural powers, government conspiracies, and extraterrestrial encounters into one entertaining product. Service Goat keeps the reader interested because of the oddity of it and I couldn’t help but find myself drawn into the action and concerned for the characters. Anthony further showcases his skill as an author through the steady and even pace of the story and the realistic character development that occurs over the course of the work. To top off all the fun action and strange plot points, the work is quite funny and just generally likeable. I will say, however, that the book seemed to contain a bit too much sex then is really necessary. Overall, Service Goat was a fun read and would encourage anyone to read more of Piers Anthony’s works.
 
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
 
Piers Anthony Dillingham Jacob is an English American author in the science fiction and fantasy genres, publishing under the name Piers Anthony. He is most famous for his long-running novel series set in the fictional realm of Xanth.
 
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book for free in exchange for writing a review. I am not obligated to give a positive review, and all thoughts are my own.
 
https://www.amazon.com/Service-Goat-Piers-Anthony/dp/1539167984/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1483982545&sr=1-1&keywords=piers+anthony+service+goat
 
 
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'An Impromptu Wake' by Donal Mahoney

2/27/2017

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​An Impromptu Wake
 
A homeless man
hangs himself from a tree
at night in the city 
 
to close out the year.
At dawn a passerby uses
a cell phone to post 
 
his body on social media.
By noon 83,000 people 
attend his wake.
 
 
Donal Mahoney
 
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/police-say-homeless-man-hanging-from-tree-ended-his-own/article_c19c3b23-d0e8-5851-adff-bebcb402856e.html
 
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'A Senior Citizen's First Email' by Donal Mahoney

2/26/2017

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​A Senior Citizen's First Email
 
Things are quiet here, a friend writes
in the first email of his long life: 
 
Most mornings I drive to Gillson Park,
sit and read beside the Lake.
The waves are a symphony.
Books are better there. Sometimes
a redwing blackbird will attack,
protecting its nest. The weather's 
cool and there's rain at night.
It's not summer in Chicago
as you and I remember it.
 
I have a cell phone now too
and I use it all the time.
The landline's just a holdover
from the good old days.
 
Speaking of holdovers,
we should get together
while we still can.
At our age, who knows
how long either of us has.
People our age drop dead
without too much ado.
 
Tell you what: Whoever gets sick first
will notify the other one who'll take
a plane and race death to see
who arrives at the bedside first.
If I'm talking to a priest, wait outside.
 
Forget the small stuff like amputations.
They have prosthetics now for everything
except for tallywhackers.
Who needs more kids anyway.
My wife will send you an email if I die.
Ask your wife to do the same for me.
 
 
Donal Mahoney
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'And Go for a Birdsong Ride' by Donal Mahoney

2/26/2017

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​And Go for a Birdsong Ride
 
Spring will eventually arrive,
Tom tells his youngest daughter
looking out the window at the snow.
 
Take heart, he tells her,
and listen for the blue jays when
they build a nest in the sycamore
 
and chase away the other birds
that fly unwelcome into the tree 
hoping also to start a family.
 
He tells his snowbound daughter
once she hears the blue jays' ruckus
spring will be here and she can wear
 
her jeans and pretty yellow jacket,
get on her tricycle with the other girls
and go for a birdsong ride.
 
 
Donal Mahoney
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'Butter or Margarine' by Donal Mahoney

2/25/2017

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​Butter or Margarine
 
It was a mistake to take home economics out of the curriculum at so many high schools, says Wally, a retired teacher who has an ongoing interest in education. He taught high school for many years and still misses his students.
 
At a Walmart recently there was an incident Wally can’t forget. It pained him deeply because it made him think about the quality of high school education today. He’s not convinced it is what it should be at many schools.
 
He was standing near the dairy case when a young man, not long out of high school, held up a package of margarine and asked Wally if it was butter. Wally at first thought he was kidding but then said it wasn’t butter, that it was margarine.
 
The young man wanted to know the difference between butter and margarine. Wally told him butter comes from cows and margarine has a vegetable base. The young man turned to his two friends and said, “I’m glad we asked.” They smiled, thanked Wally and headed for the register, margarine in hand.
 
A week later Wally was at a local charity making a donation and was told the charity had quit giving baskets of food at Christmas after learning several clients had tried to pan fry a turkey. Now they give gift certificates instead.
 
At the charity Wally also learned that many young people today don’t know how to cook vegetables or fry bacon and eggs. And more than a few have no idea about budgeting or nutrition.
 
Wally thinks this reflects poorly on secondary education today. When he taught high school, home economics was taught and students who didn’t learn the basics from their parents at home could learn them at school in home economics, even though it was not a required course. Now he thinks it should be, at least for the many who seem to need it.
 
He says young people today know a lot about cell phones and computers but sadly some of them don’t know the difference between butter and margarine or how to cook a turkey. 
 
A semester of home economics, he says, might help change that. He wonders if a lot of Advanced Placement courses are that important if young people can't fix themselves something to eat. Sandwiches and fast food, he agrees, do not a good diet make.
 
 
Donal Mahoney
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'Birthday for an Old-Timer' by Donal Mahoney

2/25/2017

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​Birthday for an Old-Timer
 
His wife takes him to dinner
as she always does
on his birthday wearing
 
bright red lipstick, a color
she detests but he likes.
He knows this means
 
when they get home
bright red panties will call
like a beacon in the night.
 
 
Donal Mahoney
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Nonfiction Book Review for ‘Strengths Based Marriage’ by Jimmy Evans and Allan Kelsey

2/25/2017

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‘Strengths Based Marriage’ by Jimmy Evans and Allan Kelsey

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Marriage expert Jimmy Evans and strengths expert Allan Kelsey show readers how to have a happier, stronger marriage by applying the concepts from the popular StrengthsFinder assessment to their relationship.

One of the biggest obstacles to a happy, strong marriage is a lack of understanding of yourself and your spouse. With Strengths Based Marriage, MarriageToday cofounder Jimmy Evans and Gallup-trained strengths advocate Allan Kelsey give readers the tools they need to dismantle that hurdle and develop a deeper and richer relationship. Applying the revelatory concepts from the popular Clifton StrengthsFinder assessment to marriage (assessment itself not included in purchase price), Evans and Kelsey break new ground in helping readers understand themselves and others. With chapters on “Stopping the Cycles of Pain,” “Speaking Love to Your Spouse’s Heart,” and “Secrets of Successful Marriages,” the book details practical ways to apply these profound insights to your marriage every day. And as a bonus, with your purchase of the book you’ll receive access to more than two hours of exclusive video content revealing how to reach your marriage’s full potential. Utterly practical and deeply insightful Strengths Based Marriage will forever change the way you see yourself, your spouse, and your marriage.
 
MY REVIEW:

2 stars.

I was sorely disappointed in this book. Some of the concepts are sound therapeutic advice, but the book reads like an advertisement for the website, Marriage Today, and for both authors’ ministries. In short, it’s nothing more than a money making scheme. The whole book constantly talks about taking the gallup poll and the website.

I looked up both authors to see if they had any credentials to justify them speaking as experts on the topic. They don’t have credentials on the book. I couldn’t find any online either. As far as I can tell, these are pastors without therapeutic credentials.
​
DISCLAIMER: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for writing a review. I was not required to write a positive review, and all thoughts are my own. 
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'Art for Pete's Sake' by Donal Mahoney

2/25/2017

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​Art for Pete’s Sake
 
Pete reads a story about an artist
who never sold a painting until he was 80
and then sold one for a million dollars.
 
Finding the artist on the internet, Pete says
his work is just odd shapes in bright colors.
Another Jackson Pollock, Pete says, whose
 
work Pete views as dry paint dripping,
an acquired taste he has never acquired.
For him, abstract art has no appeal.
 
He prefers paintings of a velvet Elvis
or sad dogs playing poker at a table.
Pete has taste, informed as it is.
 
 
Donal Mahoney
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'A Minority of One' by Donal Mahoney

2/24/2017

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​A Minority of One
 
Paul was at the office when the
first atomic bomb fell and when
Muntz TVs replaced console radios
 
and the first man landed on the moon.
He saw the first big computers trucked in
and locked in a top-secret room.
 
Paul was an accountant for 50 years
but the day came when he was told
he was part of a reduction in force.
 
Two guards carried his boxes out.
They told Paul in the parking lot 
he was the only one reduced.
 
 
Donal Mahoney
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