Let's all welcome Nadia Kilrick author of
Escape: Rough Hewn Book 2
Thank you so much for having me over for a visit today, Y. Correa. I'd like to talk a little about my trilogy. Specifically, the second book, Escape. But, first, I'll give a little background on book one, and follow with a peek at the third.
Ultimately, this trilogy is the story of Carolyn Dunsmorrest Breckenship. It begins after the Revolutionary War in America. In the first installment, People of Kilmservy Village, two families journey from its Eastern shores to the green hills and valleys of Appalachia. Their search for a new life leads them to a lush river valley, surrounded by cave-laced mountains. Kilmservy Village springs from their hope of a better life for their children and grandchildren. This is a short story length introduction to the families of the trilogy. And, shows how their connections, secrets and burdens are carried through generations.
Escape moves the story forward nearly two hundred years, Carolyn, her parents lost in a suspicious accident, settles into her new life on the mountain above Kilmservy Village. Married to a man far more evil than even she could imagine, she makes the best of her situation. As a young wife to a man who lives as his father and grandfathers had, she is quiet and obliging, until certain death stares her in the face, and threatens to take away all that she loves. Her determination to keep secret that which she holds close, will prove more powerful than the most evil of men.
The third Rough Hewn book finds Carolyn and her closest friends on the run. It remains to be seen whether their hiding place will be the safe shelter they expect it to be. Back on the mountain, the police continue to search for a serial killer – one who seeks to take, not only their lives, but what is even more dear to Carolyn and her friends. Book three will be released after the first of the year (2014).
Here's an excerpt from Rough Hewn II: Escape:
Gabriel recalled talk of that room being the old man’s private study. The story was that the elder Breckenship kept a padlock on the door. The only person allowed in his study was his eldest son, Jim. Jim spent countless hours locked behind that door with his father. No one knew what they did in there. Once, when Jim was about ten, a telephone technician installing a new line to the study said he’d seen chains bolted to the floor with steel cuffs attached to the ends. The technician also told friends there was a hidden room behind one of the walls. A narrow room no more than four feet wide that ran the length of the back wall and extended under the staircase. He knew, he told them, because while drilling through the wall to run the line, a large piece of plaster fell through to the other side. Those were only stories, of course. No one had ever been inside to check it out, as far as Gabriel knew. I wonder if Carrie has seen anything in that room?
Jim listened on the other side of the door to the spare room and tried the knob, but it didn't give. “Hey gal, are you asleep already?” Silence. With less restraint, he asked again. “Gal?”
Inside the room, Carolyn sat on the side of the bed watching the doorknob jiggle, held her breath, and waited for him to go away. When the doorknob stopped moving, she heard Jim’s boots on the stairs. “Go to bed, go to bed, go to bed.” She murmured, willing him to go away.
Gabriel continued to watch the house until the lights went out. Then, he watched for another two hours before crawling in his tent to sleep a few restless hours. When he emerged at daybreak, he grabbed his thermos and made his way to the perch near the ridge rock. It surprised him that the coffee was still warm, and he took a big swig of the warm liquid, before lifting the binoculars up to his eyes. There, on the front porch swing wrapped in a red, white, and blue quilt, was Carolyn. One elbow rested on the arm between the chains that suspended the swing from the roof. Her other hand pressed a cloth to her face.
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