No Good Deed

Today is a twofer. My second book of the day is a psychological thriller by January Bain.

Blurb:

A gripping tale where good deeds intertwine with hidden crimes and a quest for truth…

Katie Kelly finally has the career and house of her dreams, but it’s a life built on a shaky foundation. Everything she holds dear could be stripped away in a split-second if the truth were to become known and her secrets exposed. Her best friend, Sadie, is also involved in hiding the past. The pair have managed to move on since that day of reckoning that occurred when they were just teenagers, by helping others to escape bad situations.

When a young woman runs to Katie and begs for her help, Katie is compelled to come to her aid and hides her in a safe room, locked away from her abusive boyfriend.

But then the past rises up and threatens to derail her best efforts to help the young girl, exposing her and her best friend to the vulgarities of fate as the girl is discovered to have an unexpected agenda, harboring secrets of her own. Katie is left with few choices. With her entire life crashing down around her ears, she must act to save not only herself, but her dear friend as well. Can Katie stop the past from destroying all hopes for a future?

Discover the chilling consequences of one woman’s altruism in the face of hidden crimes. Join Katie Kelly as she navigates the shadows of her past, compelled to make a choice that could change lives forever. Grab your copy now.

Excerpt:

I’m doing it all over again. A shocking thing that should never be done once in a lifetime, let alone twice. I’m making a body vanish in the dark. And I’m praying like mad my actions will never see the light of day.

As I dig the hole, struggling with the spade to cut into the cement-like soil we call prairie gumbo, I keep asking myself why did it happen again? Why? I’d tried so hard to live my life aboveboard since that terrible time nine years ago.

The droning chorus of insects hidden in the trees provide no answer to my mental query. My mind drifts back into the past, reliving a nightmare that never goes away.

It was just before I graduated from high school, finally free to leave my hometown behind, when everything had come tumbling down around me like the famed walls of Jericho. Now I’m all too aware of how guilt eats at you, leeches all the color out of your day. Your life. I’ve tried to be a good friend, a good wife, helped my family whenever I could, and yet here I am, in a worse situation than the first time it happened.

My thoughts are scattered now, like the disturbed soil laying all around the freshly dug grave. The body is wrapped up, laying still nearby, a testament to my doing what I had to do to survive. My body’s tired, dead tired, breaking down, bleeding from the gunshot wound. But I have to persevere, protect those I love until my last dying breath. I swipe at the sweat beads breaking out on my forehead, blinking against the sting of salt dripping in my eyes.

Who should I blame? A young woman thinking she can change a man for the better? The foster system throwing innocents to the wolves long before they’re ready because they aged out? Or the whole of society for allowing abuse behind closed doors and not appearing to give a damn?

No, I blame me.

My spade hits another rock left over from the last ice age, jarring my entire body. I can only hope my wound doesn’t open up again. I have to ignore the burning pain in my side which is growing more insistent with each movement, each memory, echoing the one lodged in my heart.

False dawn is about to arrive in the east and I know I must hurry this along. But my mind stays focused on memories of another night, so eerily similar to this one it defied the odds. I can still smell the stench of bodily fluids, see the dark waters of the fast-flowing Red River, and hear the sounds of the body splashing into the cold depths before disappearing forever below the oily surface.

What’s the most important thing to have in life? I’ve asked myself the question many times since that fateful day that forever changed my world. When I was with my husband, it was security, to be kept hidden safe and sound, removed from the world. And look how that turned out. It was a fantasy, an unrealistic life that collapsed around us all too soon, with my secrets pushing him away and into the arms of another woman. Or at least that’s how he tells it.

When I’m with my best friend, it’s to support each other, to have a place to weather the inevitable storms of life, have a mutual understanding. Respect.

And when I’m alone, without anyone to focus on, my greatest need is for courage. The courage to forgive myself.

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

January Bain is an award-winning author who firmly believes that stories unite us, that good stories help us to discover the commonality of the human experience by supporting values, empathy and understanding. She writes with her heart, mind, and soul, hoping that her novels will touch your life, giving you moments of freedom as you fly with her to other worlds.

Bain has had the pleasure of select novels being turned into games, and her work is also available in different languages.

January and her husband live in rural Canada on peaceful acreage where a variety of wildlife comes to visit regularly and expect to be fed and paid attention to.

Blog Address – http://januarybainjourney.blogspot.ca/ 

Twitter Name – https://twitter.com/JanuaryBain 

Facebook Page – https://www.facebook.com/january.bain

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JanuaryBainAuthor/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6437282.January_Bain

Instagram: January Bain (@january.bain) • Instagram photos and videos

TikToc: januarybain (@januarybain) | TikTok

Buy link for No Good Deed: https://www.amazon.com/No-Good-Deed-Psychological-Thriller-ebook/dp/B0CZG4GVFF/ref=sr_1_1

Prize Alert

January Bain will award a randomly drawn winner a $25 Amazon/BN gift card. You can enter here.

Be sure to visit the other stops in this tour for more chances to win.