You Asked for It!

I listened.

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I have been working since summer on my debut novel and I cannot wait until you get to read it!

As soon as it is released on Amazon I will post a link on my Facebook page for purchase. It will be available in both paperback and ebook.

Creep: A Thriller

I was inspired to write Creep after watching a true crime episode. Although I deviated a great deal from the story. Once I began to type a scene in my mind...the words flowed from my fingertips. It was a remarkable process that was entirely unexpected. I am hooked. I have already begun the sequel to Creep, titled Night Moves.

I am also a huge fan of 90s nostalgia, including the music, maybe some of the fashion, and the movies. So expect lots of throwbacks in a time when cell phones were sparse, and CDs were new.

Additionally, the beginning of the book is in Oklahoma. I have lived in Oklahoma since I was five years old, and it makes a great backdrop for Alicia and Monica's lives: two best friends who are also roommates, going to college and adulting for the first time.

Trigger Warnings!

As a licensed mental health practitioner in my real life, I must warn you before you read! There is content that some could find triggering if they have experienced sexual assault, drug use, or scenes of murder.

Here we go! Are you excited?

CHAPTER ONE

“Shut the fuck up!” he shouted, looking in the rearview mirror as he drove erratically down the interstate.

     The two-lane road was black, with no lights illuminating the path except the minimal presence of the car’s headlights. It was desolate. The land on either side of the street was hidden under the cloak of night as if to protect us from what was to come. She was sobbing loudly in the backseat, her hands bound with duct tape.

     He tricked her into going with us. He forced me to duct tape her wrists. This is the first time I have been involved in helping him. She tried to escape by pulling on the door handle of his jet-black Mercedes, but he grabbed a fistful of her hair and yanked her back toward him. She bit his arm in protest. He punched her in the face to stop the chaos, and after he pulled the car over, he ordered me to bind her hands while he cleaned up his souvenir.

     Now sitting in the back seat, her honey-brown hair is sticking to her face by a combination of sweat and tears. My heart hurts for her. What she doesn’t realize is just how scared I am, too. My heart is pounding in my chest, the thumping reverberating in my ears. He turns to look at me, his kept hair and cleanly shaven face, a ruse for what is inside him. His mouth curls in a sly smile. He is proud of his trappings. The maroon button-up he wears innocently disguises the coldhearted murderer in which it clothes. I have seen him murder before. Yet, so far, he’s let me live.

     He turns the car down a side road and drives into the dense trees. I didn’t think it could be any darker, but the trees hide what little moonlight exists, creating a blackness of impending fate. Despite the bumps of the gravel road, causing her to jolt around the backseat, I can see her body tense.

     She knows.

     She begins to sob and thrash, trying to free herself from the tape binding her wrists.

     I turn toward the backseat to check on her and ensure the tape remains secure. Our eyes meet. I try to silently tell her that I am just like her—a victim, too. Softening my gaze and synching my brows, I hope she can see in my face how sorry I am for the terror she is experiencing. Her tear-filled brown eyes plead with me to help her.

     “Turn around!” he growls at me.

     I faced forward again, feeling the fear rise in my throat and churn in my stomach. Deep in the woods now, he slams the brakes, and the car comes to a skidding stop on the gravel. He is impulsive and sudden yet calculated and in control. He shuts off the car and shoves the keys in his pocket. As he turns to look at me, my heartbeat thuds even more quickly in my chest. His eyes are entirely black, sending chills over my entire body despite the summer heat radiating around me.

     “You better not fucking move,” he says to me, eerily calm, considering the intensity of the situation. He pulls the girl from the back seat with one hard jerk, and I watch her fall to the ground, her knees penetrating the gravel. He drags her into the woods until they disappear from my view.

     A minute passes. Or has it been an hour? Time feels like it’s standing still. I could open the car door and run. But I have no idea where we are. Where would I go? This might be my chance to get away. But is it too risky? Before I can decide, I hear it.

     BANG! BANG!

     The young girl who looked into my eyes is dead. He comes back into view, purposefully striding toward the car. Without looking at me, he gets in the driver’s seat and starts the car’s engine. On the inside, my body is trembling, but on the outside, I remain calm and confident. I can’t let him see my fear. As he turns the Mercedes around and leads us out of the woods, his nine-millimeter tucked in his pants, he places his sweaty hand on my thigh with a satisfied smile.

I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of my debut novel! It is a mildly spicy psychological thriller sure to keep you guessing with its twists.

Please leave a comment and tell me what you think of Chapter One! Make sure to follow me on Facebook and TickTok.

Preorder your signed copy of Creep: A Thriller HERE!

Until next time...

Brooke Montoya