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Naked Brunette

by H. J. Walkins

325 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #07-2016; ISBN 1-4251-4702-X; US$23.51, C$27.04, EUR18.33, £12.15

Beware the wind - the wind shapes everything...so begins this riveting collection that takes you on intriguing, unpredictable journeys to Ireland, England, Sweden, the cranberry bogs of southeastern Massachusetts, and the Catskill Mountains.

About the Book

In this compelling anthology, author H.J. Walkins skillfully puts the reader into the minds of characters pushed to their limits, like Henry Black, a former embassy Foreign Service Officer who returns to the Philippines in search of an old flame only to be held hostage and recklessly tortured by the girl's father, a sociopathic, renegade Philippine Army General who attempts to extort money from Black. Relive Henry's tormented days at a remote, jungle compound and discover his fate in this gripping tropical thriller.

Then there's the professedly cursed physician, Dr. Jeremy Mudd, descendent of Dr. Samuel Mudd, the doctor imprisoned for setting the broken leg of John Wilkes Booth, fleeing assassin of President Abraham Lincoln. Experience Jeremy's extreme bedside manner as he skulks about the coma ward on overnight shifts at a New Jersey hospital in this chilling, macabre tale. What brand of comeuppance would be appropriate for Dr. Mudd? Perhaps his antics are not discovered at all. Read and find out.

And let's not forget Margaret Keller, whose indomitable amorous pursuit of a Catholic priest forces him into secluded monastic life where he's shielded away from such earthly temptations. What could possibly transpire that again allows Margaret to gain access to the priest? Margaret and Father Abbott's reunion causes grave consequences in this already calamitous monastery perched in the Allegheny Mountains of southwestern Pennsylvania, where bizarre rituals are practiced and which is fertile ground for iniquity.

These are only three of the eleven substantial, well-written stories containing 5 novellas and 6 short stories in Naked Brunette.

About the Author

Born in Boston, Massachusetts, H.J. Walkins is a former plainclothes U.S. Secret Serviceman who served in every major protective division of the U.S. Secret Service, to include the Presidential and Vice-Presidential Protective Divisions, during the Reagan and Bush (41) administrations. He retired as a Special Agent of the Department of Defense. He also served in the U.S. Marine Corps at the American Embassies in Jakarta, Indonesia and Manila, Philippines. Mr. Walkins received his Bachelor of Science degree, Magna Cum Laude, from Saint Joseph's College, Standish, Maine.

The author lives in the short hills of the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia where he raises cold-weather mountain sheep. His email address is hj_walkins@hotmail.com

Excerpts