Writers Tricks of the Trade Issue 6, Volume 6 | Page 27

REVIEWS BY MARTHA MARTHA A. CHEVES — RESIDENT REVIEWER NRE-LA Menu BETTER OFF WITHOUT HER THE WESTERN SERIAL KILLER SERIES - BOOK 1 By: Rita Hestand ISBN: 978-1492232650 Publisher: Createspace MARTHA CHEVES AUTHOR/REVIEWER Publication Date: January 3, 2014 Pages: 254 Kindle, paperback "Now you stay there, boy," Victor said turning back to Hattie. "You will pay for punishing him. You'll all pay. I'll see to it myself. He didn't do anything wrong." He threw her up against the wall, her body made a thudding sound, and she groaned aloud, trying desperately to move. He picked her up again, lifted her high into the air, and this time his fingers closed around her throat until they met. Her feet jerked, her head sagged against his arm, and her breath finally sighed from her body as he let her fall to the floor. The thrill it gave him to kill subsided quickly. He shook his head and he stared at her limp body. He ought to feel something aside from this crazy surge in his head, but he didn't. He couldn't. "Ain't right to punish a kid...Why does all you folks got to punish 'em?' John T. tried to tackle him, tears streaming down his face, his voice at high-pitched scream, but Victor didn't budge. He took his knife from his boot and proceeded to cut off her wedding finger, while the boy continued to batter him with his small fists. The solid gold ring on her finger bounced and rolled on the floor, making a strange music in the air... Victor stuck the finger in his pocket, the blood still dripping from it. I've read books by Author Rita Hestand before and found her books very enjoyable. But, Better Off Without Her was a total surprise to me. It is far from the romance novels I've read by this author in the past. This is a story that would fit perfectly into the series 'Criminal Minds' if they could take their stories back a century. This is the story of a serial killer who believes he is rescuing the children that are being punished by their mothers for doing something they shouldn't have done. It's the story of one of those children growing up and his search for revenge. But it’s also the story of what made this madman feel he had to defend the children. WRITERS’ TRICKS OF THE TRADE PAGE 19 RITA HESTAND, AUTHOR NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2016