NIGHT FALL - Nancy Mehl - One Free Book

Welcome Back, Nancy. How did you come up with the idea for this story? The idea came from the trains that passed behind our previous house. Although they might annoy some people, I loved them. (Except when certain engineers blew their horns at two o’clock in the morning right behind our bedroom!) I think trains are mysterious and romantic. I wonder where they’re going and what the people manning them are thinking as the world rushes by. So, the idea of someone using trains to stash bodies developed in my mind…and The Train Man was born!

If you were planning a party with Christian authors of contemporary fiction, what six people would you invite and why? Oh, dear. I hate to answer this because I don’t want to leave anyone out. I guess I’d say my dil, Shaen Layle, since I know she’d want to be there and I love her so much! And maybe Tosca Lee because I absolutely adore her - I love her writing. Let’s add Patricia Bradley, Mary Alford, Mary Ellis (actually, I’d ask all of the Suspense Sisters if there was room!) and…hmmm. Maybe Angela Ruth Strong? I really like her. Oh, and Susan Sleeman? (I know, that’s seven. LOL!)

And a very good, interesting group it would be. Now let’s do that for a party for Christian authors of historical fiction, what six people would you invite and why? Kim Sawyer because I love her to pieces. Kim Woodhouse. Ditto. Jaimie Jo Wright (she’s combines the past and the present to create awesome novels!), Kathleen Y’Barbo (she wrote a series that is one of my favorites! And she’s such a lovely person), Loree Lough (love her too!), and of course, you! I met you at a writers’ convention years ago and was so impressed with you. I’d love to get to know you better.  

I’d love to get to know you better, too, because I love your books, and I love every one of the other authors you chose. Many times, people (and other authors) think you have it made with so many books published. What is your most difficult problem with writing at this time in your career? I’ve spent so much time writing that sometimes I wish I had more time off. Life seems to be rushing by. But of course, especially through a pandemic, I’m grateful to have a job that allows me to work at home. That’s a real blessing.

Tell us about the featured book. Back cover copy:

For any little boy or girl who hears the Train Man speak,
Who feels his rancid breath caress their pretty cheek,
Must close their eyes, pretend to sleep, and very softly pray,
Or else the evil Train Man may carry them away.

Finally free of her troubled upbringing, Alex Donovan is able to live out her childhood dream of working for the FBI. But soon after she becomes a member of the FBI's elite Behavioral Analysis Unit, authorities in Missouri contact them about bodies found on freight trains--all killed in the same way.

Alex never expected to be forced to confront her past in this new job, but she immediately recognizes the graffiti messages the killer is leaving on the train cars. When the BAU sends her to gather information about the messages from her aunt in Wichita, Kansas, Alex is haunted by the struggles she thought she'd left behind forever.
In a race against time to solve the case and recover a deadly virus sample the killer intends to spread, Alex must face how far she'll go--and what she's willing to risk--to put a stop to the Train Man.  

Please give us the first page of the book. (I added the complete poem at the beginning of the book and a few sentences to finish the thought on the first page.)

Do you hear the Train Man rumbling in the night?

Can you see his dreadful face grinning with delight?

If you hear his horrid wheels clicking round and round,

Cover your head and plug your ears to block the frightful sound.

For any little boy or girl who hears the Train Man speak,

Who feels his rancid breath caress their pretty cheek,

Must close their eyes, pretend to sleep, and very softly pray,

Or else the evil Train Man may carry them away.

“THE TRAIN MAN,” A NURSERY RHYME

His mother sat in the chair next to his bed, reading from The Book. He was almost twelve now, and she’d been reading it to him ever since he was a little kid.

Adam hated it. It scared him. Did everyone really come from beings in the sky? Were people really born either demons or angels? Mother said they were—and that they had no choice in the matter.

He’d begun to believe he was a demon, but he’d always been too scared to ask her. He suspected she thought he was, though, because of the way her dark eyes bored into his. It made him feel strange inside. But if he was a demon, didn’t that make her and Father demons too? Mother said demons could have only demon children, which meant demon children always had demon parents. He didn’t want to be a demon. If only he could run away. Go somewhere else. Be someone else. But that would never happen. He was trapped.

He tried to be as good as his mother wanted him to be, but it was hard. Too hard. She considered everything a temptation. Even food. That meant they never had much to eat in their house. Tired of being hungry, he’d even stolen a candy bar from the store when no one was looking. He’d stuck it in his pants pockets, and he hadn’t been caught.

But would an angel steal? Or just a demon?

You have me hooked already. How can readers find you on the Internet?

My website is: www.nancymehl.com. My blog is the Suspense Sisters: www.suspensesisters.blogspot.com. And I’m very active on Facebook.

Thank you, Nancy, for sharing this book with my blog readers and me. It’s at the top of my to-be-read pile of books right now.

Readers, here’s a link to the book.

http://ow.ly/SurK50Gubl7

Leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of the book. You must follow these instructions to be in the drawing. Please tell us where you live, at least the state or territory or country if outside North America. (Comments containing links may be subject to removal by blog owner.)

Void where prohibited; the odds of winning depend on the number of entrants. Entering the giveaway is considered a confirmation of eligibility on behalf of the enterer in accord with these rules and any pertaining local/federal/international laws.

The only notification you’ll receive is the winner post on this blog. So be sure to check back a week from Saturday to see if you won. You will have 4 weeks from the posting of the winners to claim your book.

If you’re reading this on Goodreads, Feedblitz, Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, or Amazon, please come to the blog to leave your comment if you want to be included in the drawing. Here’s a link: http://lenanelsondooley.blogspot.com/