My author copies of DEADLY FEAR have arrived!!! Yes!! And I have 3 chances for you to win a signed copy today.  First, I’m giving away a copy over at Much Cheaper Than Therapy (I love that place!).  I’m also giving away a copy on Twitter (www.twitter.com/cynthiaeden). And…I’m giving away a copy on Facebook (www.facebook.com/cynthiaeden). Lots of chances to win!

And since the release date of DEADLY FEAR is coming ever closer (July 27th!), I thought I’d share a new excerpt with you today. This excerpt will introduce you to my hero, Luke Dante:

***

“Stop! FBI!” But, of course, the words didn’t make the perp slow down. No, they just made the punk in the black ski mask run faster—and Agent Luke Dante ground his back teeth as he pumped his legs and shoved through the crowd.

A woman screamed. Another one hit him with her purse.

Christ. So much for being the good guy.

He couldn’t aim a weapon in this crowd.  Too many people on the street.  Too many kids—

Luke jumped over a boy on a bike and swore when he caught his ankle on the handlebars.

Fuck. This was so not his day.

All he’d wanted was a cup of coffee before hitting the office.  Just-A-Cup-Of-Coffee.

He’d gotten an armed robbery instead.

The perp ran into traffic—they always did that.  Horns blared as brakes squealed.  Luke shook his head. Traffic was stopped now so he lunged after the guy.

Close, so close—he could hear the perp’s ragged breaths—

Luke launched forward, grabbed the idiot, and they slammed onto the street.

Asphalt ripped away the flesh on his arm. He felt the wet flow of blood slide across his skin. The robber bucked beneath him, twisting, kicking, swearing, then turning with a gun—

Luke snapped the perp’s wrist and heard the guy howl.  The gun hit the pavement.

“FBI,” he gritted. Drops of blood flew from Luke’s wound and stained his shirt. “Man, you chose the wrong damn convenience store.”

The scream of sirens reached his ears. Finally.  In this age of cell phones, he really would have expected one of the shouting folks he’d passed on the street to have punched 9-1-1 sooner.

“Fucking bastard asshole, you let me go, you let—”

Luke shifted and pinned the perp beneath him.  Glittering green eyes stared up at him from the slits in the ski mask.  “Was the fifty bucks worth it, genius?”  He ripped away the mask.

A kid stared back at him.

The perps just got younger every day.

Acne spotted the kid’s face—his perfectly smooth face.  Not even a hint of facial hair yet.  The punk’s blond hair was a dirty mop brushing against his round face.

Jesus, the kid still had baby fat. “What are you?  Fifteen?”

“I’ll fucking kill you!”  Veins bulged in the kid’s forehead.

Luke sighed. He knew that look. The glassy-eyed stare. The trembling body.  The kid was flying high—and wanted to keep flying—which explained the robbery.

The swirling police lights hit Luke’s eyes.  Doors slammed. Luke glanced up to see the cops charge at him.

“Stand up and step away!”  An order given over a drawn gun.

“Easy.”  No sense in anyone getting trigger happy. “I’m with the FBI.”

And this really was one bad morning.

Because Luke knew that before the questions were finished, he’d be late for his new assignment. Late the first day.

Hell of a way to make an impression on his new boss.

Have a great Friday!!

This entry was posted on Friday, July 9th, 2010 at 8:02 am and is filed under Romance. You can follow any comments to this entry through the RSS feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.