BLURB:
1955
~ Father Theo Riley never wanted to be a priest, nor a killer. The former
boxing champion and Korean War veteran gave up more than a career when he went
into the Army. He lost the only thing he ever wanted: his love, Andréa Bouvre.
Friends thought Theo entered the priesthood to mend his broken heart or atone
for the massacred orphans he couldn’t save in Korea. However, the truth is much
darker and more damning, tied to a blood debt and family secret that has
haunted Theo since he was a boy. He drinks to forget he ever had a life of his
own—waits for death, prays for mercy, and hopes for a miracle. He gets all
three when a child goes missing, another shows up on his doorstep, and the love
of his life drives back into his world; the seaside hamlet of Manzanita Oregon.
Theo’s dream reunion with Andréa becomes a nightmare when a serial killer who
considers himself a holy man targets the town and everyone Theo loves. Drinking
days decidedly behind him, Theo and some old warriors set out to send evil back
to hell and a few good souls to heaven in RETURN TO SENDER.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Excerpt:
POV of protagonist, Theo Riley;
All night I listened for cars, footsteps, noises that didn’t
belong. All night, every sound reminded me of Korea’s Karst Caves: sounds,
smells, threats hidden in every echo. I tried to recall in which letter I wrote
to Andréa about the noisy bats. Was it October ’52, or later?
The children had been terrified of the Daubenton bats that
built colonies inside the caves. At night, the scratching sounds and flapping
wings was as threatening to them as the sound of footsteps and the CCF running
up on us at night was to me. The nun told them the bats were good luck, there
to protect us, that they stayed awake at night to keep watch.
The oldest boy, Hai-bin, was the first to call me “Teo.” He
rolled his eyes back in his head when the nun said that. In any other world,
he’d have been a budding teenager full of angst and attitude, not an
undernourished warrior ready to fight, ready to die, not old enough to
understand the meaning of either. Not old enough to understand any of Korea’s
madness. But then, who was?
As the days, nights, and weeks had gone on, those brave
orphans folded the strange noises from the waking Daubenton bats into that
place where they carried the heavy, heavy burden of acceptance—they slept
through the night with those mysterious guardians taking flight above them.
They slept. It became part of their new existence. An existence brittle and
rickety as the bamboo bridges that sooner or later would lead us back to a
world ablaze outside those caves.
About the author:
Mindy Halleck
is a Pacific Northwest author and writing instructor. She grew up the daughter
of a celebrated beauty queen/songstress, and a retired soldier in Portland
Oregon. Her career began early when at nine years old she stood behind the
counter of the family business (shoe repair) on a whisky crate and was dubbed
'queen of the cash register'. It was there, surrounded by vibrant emigrants
where she developed an ear for good stories. It was no wonder Mindy later
developed a career in finance, good taste in shoes and a love for storytelling.
Portland was
home except in the summers, when the cozy inlet of Manzanita Oregon was her
family's escape and her father's hideaway from city life. Mindy's father was
one of the hopeful gold diggers who honeycombed unsuccessfully through
Neahkahnie Mountain in search of the elusive pirate's treasure rumored to be
buried deep in the mountain. These settings are prominent features in Mindy's
writing.
Writer's
Digest Magazine published one of Mindy's first stories, Mr. Ed, in 2001, and in
2007 she
received
Honorable Mention in the Writer's Digest Mainstream Literary Short Story
Contest for an excerpt from Return to Sender. Mindy has written three novels,
and one nonfiction book, Romance & Money - 12 Conversations Every Couple
Should Have. In addition, hundreds of her articles have appeared in local and
national publications, including her financial advice column, titled Romance
& Money, and numerous travel essays.
Mindy has
written her blog Literary Liaisons for seven years and is dedicated to the
Pacific Northwest writing communities as a member of Willamette Writers in
Oregon and Pacific Northwest Writers in Seattle. She is a steering committee
member for the Edmonds Write on the Sound Writers' Conference in Edmonds,
Washington.
Mindy is
married and has one daughter and two grown grandchildren whom she adores. When
not writing, she is happiest traveling Europe with her husband Joe; their most
recent travel was a Rick Steves 21-Day Tour of six countries, which she highly
recommends.
www.MindyHalleck.com
