Forgive Me, Alex by Lane Diamond Virtual Book Tour and Giveaway for Novel Publicity!!

I am so very pleased to participate in the Virtual Book Tour for Novel Publicity for Forgive Me, Alex by Lane Diamond!!!

About the Book:

Tony Hooper stands in shadow across the street, one amongst many in the crowd of curiosity-hounds gathered to watch a monster's release. Seventeen years after Mitchell Norton, "the devil," terrorized Algonquin, Illinois on a spree of kidnapping, torture and murder, the authorities release the butcher from psychiatric prison.

Tony longs to charge across the street to destroy Norton—no remorse—as if stepping on a cockroach. Only sheer force of will prevents his doing so.

"The devil" walks the world again. What shall Tony do about it? Aye, what indeed.

After all, this is what Tony does. It's who he is. "The devil" himself long ago made Tony into this hunter of monsters. What a sweet twist of fate this is, that he may still, finally, administer justice.

Will FBI Special Agent Linda Monroe stop him? She owes him her life, so how can she possibly put an end to his?

Tony Hooper and Mitchell Norton battle for supremacy, with law enforcement always a step away, in this story of justice and vengeance, evil and redemption, fear and courage, love and loss.

About the Author:  I write fiction, long and short. My writings cross over many genres and focus on diverse subjects, ranging from the mysteries of the human mind, with its fragile psychological and emotional states, to the everyday joy and anguish of life on Earth. Ultimately, characters move me – as both a reader and an author. It’s all about the people. When not writing, I’m Publisher and Executive Editor at Evolved Publishing. Connect with me on my website,  Facebook, Twitter, GoodReads, or via Evolved Publishing.

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My Thoughts:

Forgive Me, Alex is a psychological suspense thriller to say the least, told in the voices of Tony Hooper and Mitchell Norton and relives the atrocities of a time in 1978 and then in the present of 1995. Tony Hooper is an average guy, soon to graduate high school, has a girlfriend that he wants to marry and spend the rest of his life with. Just prior to him graduating, his little brother, his shadow, Alex turns up missing. Alex is eventually found murdered and Tony blames himself. Back to 1995 Mitchell Norton, a convicted serial killer, is released from prison and that is when the story really takes off...not to spoil the story for you, I will just say that this book grabbed me right from the first page. I love suspense thrillers and when an author can pull the reader right into the story where you do not want to put the book down, that is for me a great read. There are characters that you love to love and those you love to hate. An emotional roller coaster of a ride right up to the last page. Then it keeps you wanting more and that is good because there will be another book soon, The Devil's Bane, a sequel to Forgive Me, Alex. I highly recommend this book!!!

Forgive Me, Alex:  An Excerpt

Mitchell Norton, the man I've long considered the devil, smiles atop the courthouse steps and waves to the simmering crowd. He tilts his head back to soak in the sunshine and cool breeze of the late spring day, the tranquility of which stands in stark contrast to the circumstances of this event.

The mere sight of him pushes me to the dark edge of my mind, where sanity hangs like... like... like a balloon in a tornado!

I stand in shadow across the street, one amongst many in the crowd of curiosity-hounds gathered to watch a monster's release. As my face blazes, fists clench and teeth grind, I can easily imagine the onset of a stroke, an aneurism, a pulmonary embolism, a raging scream—

Control yourself, Tony!

I long to charge across the street to destroy him—no remorse—as if stepping on a cockroach. Only sheer force of will prevents my doing so.

For seventeen years, I assumed this day would never come. How could they even consider releasing this vile creature, this very personification of evil?

In 1978, Norton murdered innocent kids who'd barely tasted of life. He tortured two of them beyond the limits of rational imagination, for to imagine such deeds was to summon a devilry that we dared not face. Yet the jury held him not responsible, a victim himself to the ravages of an illness that drove him to insanity beyond our reckoning.

He thus resides forever in the darkest pit of my psyche, chained to me in perpetuity. Now only two choices remain: I must cast off those chains, or yank them tight around his neck. Yes, I must obtain satisfaction. The idiotic jury seventeen years ago, and today's flawed court system, has left little recourse. No one else seems willing to deliver him to justice.

I am willing. After all, this is what I do. It's who I am. Indeed, the devil himself made me into this hunter of monsters. What a sweet twist of fate this is, that I may still, finally, administer justice.

He descends the stairs toward his waiting car with an arrogant swagger, watching the small group of protestors, the news reporters, and the police officers here to ensure a peaceful transition, as if to challenge them. His wicked grin never waivers.

Oh, that grin. For seventeen years it has taunted me, punished me for my indecision, my incompetence. I missed my chance to kill him in 1978, to remove his damned head—simple, as if cutting a sheet of paper. It would have been a fitting end for a monster.

Why did I let him live?

Like whispers in a storm, those memories only tease at me now, here at this obscene and maddening event. I'm trying not to relive every moment of 1978. Every time I do, I feel as if swimming in quicksand, anchored by my constant companions—sorrow and guilt. I'm too damned tired; can't shake the confusion, the dread. I fear surrendering to fear.

My life teems with just such wretched ironies.

As Norton vanishes inside a black sedan—looks like standard-issue law enforcement—I dash through the crowds to my van. Despite this call to action, my mind again zeroes-in on memories of 1978. I recall the court proceedings, particularly the devil's own twisted testimony, as though it were yesterday. I've only relived it ten thousand times.

Then twenty-six, Norton was a man-child who'd never quite grasped the nuance of adulthood. He continued to wash dishes at a restaurant, ten years into the only job he'd ever held. He found it comfortable and unchallenging—perfect. He harbored no great yearnings, nor imagined exciting possibilities, nor sought lucrative rewards.

Then everything changed. He said that was when his new life emerged, when he became more aware, even more intelligent. He better understood the world around him. He discovered what he called "The Purpose" in the spring of 1978, and it guided his every deed. He claimed he became a man that year.

I remember it quite clearly as the year he became the devil.

The words I wrote in my diary at the time return to me, a personal anthem more relevant than ever: Rage flows like lava through my veins. My soul slowly roasts upon the flames. How did I ever let it come to this?

Now mortality, as it did seventeen years ago, lingers above me like the hangman's noose. Yet it looms more ominous than ever, as if it will drop down around my neck at any moment. After all, I know the true Mitchell Norton. And whom shall I fear if not the devil, the grim torturer who conquered my aspirations and left me without a recognizable world of my own?

Or is it me that I fear? The man I've become? The man Norton made me?

Some fancy maneuvering is required to escape the crowds and the police at the courthouse. I manage to keep Norton in sight, zigzagging between lanes and keeping several vehicles between us, hanging back far enough to avoid detection without losing him. Uncertain emotions bubble up, some indecipherable combination of dread and anticipation, fear and excitement, vengeance and sorrow. I must know where he'll make his home, information that has been difficult to obtain, as the authorities are concerned with Norton's security.

Give me a break! They should express their security concerns not for the devil himself, but for his next victims.

Oh yes, I know Norton too well. He will torture, murder and dismember again. The temptation will be too great to resist.

I saw him up close in 1978, looked into the soul of the devil, as we waded through the blood and gore he'd spilled. I couldn't fathom his unrepentant pleasure, the sick thrill, his gleeful anticipation.

Now he's out of prison, again free to call up his demons, to torture the innocent, to waltz to what he once called his "symphony of screams."

The devil walks the world again.

What shall I do about it? Aye, what indeed.

Wanna win a $50 gift card or an autographed copy of Forgive Me, Alex? Well, there are two ways to enter...

1. Leave a comment on my blog. One random commenter during this tour will win a $50 gift card. For the full list of participating blogs, visit the official Forgive Me, Alex tour page.
2. Enter the Rafflecopter contest! I've posted the contest form below, or you can enter on the tour page linked above.

About the author: I write fiction, long and short. My writings cross over many genres and focus on diverse subjects, ranging from the mysteries of the human mind, with its fragile psychological and emotional states, to the everyday joy and anguish of life on Earth. Ultimately, characters move me – as both a reader and an author. It's all about the people. When not writing, I'm Publisher and Executive Editor at Evolved Publishing. Connect with me on my website, Facebook, Twitter, GoodReads, or via Evolved Publishing.

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