Among the Fallen

by Henry Mitchell

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GENRE:   Magical Realism

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BLURB:

Not everything is what it seems.

Drovers Gap, population 703, appears to the tourists passing through as one more sleepy Appalachian village, just off the interstate, on the way to someplace spectacular and important. But there are simmering tensions and unspoken malice behind the seemingly placid facades, and a spark from afar will ignite an explosive and insatiable evil that hungers to devour the town and everyone in it.

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EXCERPT

Wendl was reading the story aloud. It was an old story. He knew it by heart. After a while, lost in the flow of his remembrance, he no longer even glanced at the ReadPad. Mid-way through the tale, he felt something wet and warm and viscous in his palm. Wendl stared down at the ReadPad. A thick red liquid oozed out of it, dripping off his fingers. He raised his hand to his face and inhaled. Wendl had been in the War, a long time ago when he was still young. There was no mistaking. He had never forgotten the smell of blood.

“Are you alright, Grampa?” said the child sitting beside him. There were two of them, a boy and a girl. The boy had spoken.

“I’m sorry, children,” Wendl smiled down at them, “I must have dozed off.”

“You were talking funny,” said the girl.

“It was the Old Tongue,” Wendl said, “as we spoke it among the Fallen.”

“But the Old Tongue is not allowed,” said the boy. His voice tremored with fright.

“We should report you, Grampa,” the girl admonished, looking suddenly very serious and grown-up.

“Are you going to report me, children?” asked Wendl, chuckling, as if they were sharing a joke.

“Oh, no, Grampa,” the boy said, shaking his head, vigorously, “They would cut out your tongue.”

“Then how would you tell us stories?” asked the girl, wild-eyed and giggling.

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Guest Article By Henry Mitchell

Among the Fallen, my latest novel released on Feb. 21^st by Creative James Media, is set in the village of Drovers Gap, nestled in the Southern Appalachian mountains, just off the interstate highway on the way to tourist-bait places more scenic and advertised. Drovers Gap is a made-up town, but my having spent a lot of time there over the past two years while writing Among the Fallen makes it seem pretty real to me.

By now, I’m well acquainted with several of the locals, including Abigail Trammell, who owns a bed-and-breakfast establishment called Hemlock Cottage, and WendlVonTrier, her off-season guest, who rents a room for a few days that turn into weeks, then months. Abigail has a past that she keeps hidden, even from herself, but Wendl knows her history and they eventually become fast friends, maybe more than friends.

Omar Longshadow, born and reared a mountain boy, is Drovers Gap’s chief of police. He has known loss and troubles of his own that make him sympathetic to the hurts of his fellow townsfolk, the bad as well as the good, as he seeks to maintain order and justice amid the tumult that descends upon his community. Constable Jolene Bear assists this mission while Sergeant Chuck Priestly pursues an agenda all his own.

Uninvited visitors from beyond the mountains further complicate an already tenuous peace as unspoken malice simmers behind the placid facades along Main Street, until one violent act unleashes an insatiable evil that hungers to devour the town and every soul in it. Amid a gathering storm of fire and flood, Chief Omar struggles for the safety and survival of his town, as warring powers beyond his awareness threaten to overturn the balance between worlds.

Like my other novels, Among the Fallen, is a fairytale written for grown-ups, about all the worlds that could be and should be, and all the dark forces, some of our own creation, that confine us to the world we have been indoctrinated to believe is the real one, a world often full of disappointments and frustrations and starved for kindness and generosity. A good story is its own message, but if you want to draw a lesson from  my little tale, I hope it is that we each have within ourselves the power to choose which world we will live in.

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Henry Mitchell reads and writes in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina.

He has written five novels and two collections of short stories.

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Henry-Mitchell/e/B00GZC7YWE/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_ebooks_1

Website: http://henrymitchellbooks.com

Blog: https://droversgap.blogspot.com/

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GIVEAWAY

Henry Mitchell will be awarding a $10 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

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