When 13-year-old Hope Spencer is abducted near her home in Cutters Notch, Indiana, her two best friends embark on a quest to save her. Their desperate journey carries them through a portal into a parallel dimension where they join forces with a trio of forest elves. All the while, Hope, frightened and alone, devises her own daring plan to escape. Abandon Hope is a genre-crossing fantasy thriller blending elements of crime, horror, fantasy, and the paranormal, carrying the reader along on a fast-paced survival adventure. Rated PG for elements of horror and some violence. Teens – Criminals – Portals – Elves – Reindeer – Specters – Parallel Dimensions
Cutters Notch Interludes: A Collection of Short Stories Five tales from the strange little Hoosier town.
Cutters Notch, Indiana may seem to be a sleepy little town, but not everything is always as it seems. These interludes provide you with a glimpse into the sometimes ordinary, but often extraordinary events that pepper everyday life in the tiny community. Out of the Depths of Abandon: Tim and Traci want an inground pool, so they decide to move the ancient stone with the odd carvings. The results are devastating. Penny’s Pet Peeve: Penny is peeved at Donald for his callous, inattentive attitude and decides to get a new life. Linda’s Window: Calvin has been heartbroken for forty years, but his long-lost love returns to her parents’ home next door. Davy’s Gift: Davy is a smart little boy with parents who are locked in their own domestic battles until a fire on Christmas Eve changes everything. Rose and the Wooden Box: Sharee is very curious about the strange, mesmerizing necklace Rose is wearing, but curiosity can be a dangerous thing. Enjoy these forays into the adventures that are everyday life in this small hamlet nestled inside the Hoosier National Forest. The dimensional layers are thin there. You never know what may happen next.
While Josh and Danny struggle to escape, Hope is in despair, unable to assist them the way they assisted her. She seeks the aid of her elfin friends from the Arboreal Realm where she meets Queen Agahpey Hesed, the mother of her three new, odd friends, Gavin, Gronek, and Smakal. Meanwhile, another seemingly unrelated drama is unfolding at the Notch Inn Motel and the Robbins Stone Limestone Mine, both owned by Mabel Robbins. Rick Anders, the new interim sheriff, is tracking down leads and juggling emergencies. Danny Flannery looks manhood square in the eyes. Josh Gillis is faced with a desperate choice. And Hope Spencer finally comes face to face with her disturbed father. Through it all, the evil specter laughs and slurps up the flavors of human pain in the tiny town of Cutters Notch, Indiana.
As a dangerous late season storm approaches, fallen elves invade Cutters Notch, determined to open the Ancient Gate to Abandon. Thirteen-year-old Hope Spencer, a favorite of the forest elves, becomes a target of the invaders. Despite the danger, she refuses to hide in safety while her father defends the gate, falling into enemy hands. Meanwhile, Rose Flannery, along with Josh and Danny, fall prey to the criminal, Al Havener, bent on his family’s revenge. Again, all of Cutters Notch erupts at once, leaving the new sheriff, Rick Anders, juggling emergencies and trying his best to protect those he loves. Teens—Elves—Monsters—Specters—Portals—Criminals—and a Sasquatch