Release date: April 26, 2018
Subgenre: Supernatural Thriller, Dark Fantasy
About The Dark Corner: Featuring the Makarios Cadre:
Some people just want to see the world burn, and some people were born to stop them.
• An unwanted guest and the man who has to face him alone in his own home.
• A family vacation that turns into an unexpected horror.
• A special delivery of a wondrous object and it's terrible power.
• A family's first home and the darkness that threatens to consume them.
Four stories. Four events that seem unconnected. Yet, under the surface, a monofilament of reality connects each of them, multiplying its tendrils until the web is complete and final curtain is pulled back. In the midst of it are three enigmatic heroes and a dedicated detective, drawn into the battle to save the soul of a city.
The Dark Corner is a supernatural thriller and dark fantasy miniseries of the same name by Easton Livingston. A collection of short stories, novelettes, and novellas, there are five stories in all, each connected to the other in slight ways with that connection becoming more pronounced in successive stories. In essence, it is a novel of stories, each story an episode in the lurking tale rumbling underneath the surface.
Excerpt:
Part I - I Need A Vacation
EVERYONE
STARED DOWN AT THE BODY on the floor.
“Hal? Hal? You O.K.?”
Hal Baker struggled to open his eyes,
hearing the familiar voice calling to him. It sounded like his supervisor. As
the blurriness faded, the cratered fiber pulp of the drop ceiling was the first
thing that came into focus.
“You gave us a scare there.”
His eyes shifted left to the face of his
boss, Gary, who was kneeling over him. That’s when he saw all the rest of the
faces surrounding him, gawking with puzzled or alarmed expressions. He gave a
heavy sigh and attempted to sit up, the room shifting against his desire.
“Hey. Take it easy there. I don’t want
you falling out again.”
Hal steadied himself on the floor,
waiting for the room to stop swaying.
“What happened?”
“They said you came into the break room,
walked toward the refrigerator, and passed out. You’re lucky you didn’t crack
your head on the floor.”
Gary helped him to a nearby chair.
“How long was I out?”
Felicia Brewer, Gary's secretary, put a
hand on his shoulder. “A couple minutes. You sure you okay?”
Hal nodded his affirmation.
“You have to go to the hospital. I’ll
take you there.”
“No,” Hal insisted. “Just give me a
minute here and I’ll drive straight there.”
Gary looked at him with an annoyed smirk.
“What is wrong with you? You pass out on
the floor and you want to drive yourself across town to the hospital. That
honestly make any sense to you? Like I said, I’ll drive.”
Hal capitulated with a sigh and a nod. He
tried to recall what happened. All he remembered was entering the break room
before things faded out of focus.
He felt much better on the drive to the
hospital though he was still a little woozy. Once there, Gary worked on his
Acer tablet in the hospital waiting area while the doctor examined him.
Forty-five minutes later, they emerged from the back.
“Are you his boss?” the doctor said, a
moderate trace of an Indian accent in his voice.
“Yes. Yes I am. Is everything O.K.?”
“Well… no. Not exactly. Physically, Mr.
Baker is not in too bad of shape. His cholesterol is a bit high, but that's
manageable by losing about ten pounds and having a healthier diet. My concern
is his work schedule. He’s not getting the proper rest. He says he only sleeps
three to four hours a night. I’m surprised he has functioned as long as he
has.”
Gary nodded a slow acknowledgment.
“He passed out because of stress. His
body can’t handle the long hours and little sleep. He needs time off to
recuperate.”
Hal saw Gary nodding but caught his lips
pursing. He wasn't fond of Hal not being able to work. Gary counted on him and
he didn’t mind that. He took the position because he knew he could do it and he
did. He performed well as the regional manager. It called for a lot of
traveling, a lot of late nights slaving over store records and double checking
figures. A lot of eating bad food because it was the only thing that wouldn’t
impede his work. He held in there as long as possible. Seven years long but it
had caught up to him.
“Minimum a week. Better if it were two.
How you work it out is up to you.”
With that, the doctor shook hands,
reminded Hal to fill his prescription, told him the date of his follow up
appointment, and scurried off into the office.
The first five minutes driving back to
work were in silence. Hal glanced over at Gary a few times to get a quick read
on his face.
“Hal,” Gary said, “I’m sorry.”
A sinking feeling gripped Hal's stomach.
Sentences that started with those two words always portended bad news.
Amazon | B&N | Kobo | Apple iTunes | Smashwords
About Easton Livingston:
Easton Livingston has written articles for national magazine
publications, newspapers, online websites, and graphic novels. He
decided to take the plunge into self-publishing in 2013. In 2017, he's
revamping his brand and re-releasing all of his books. In a sense, he's
starting all over again.
His current project is a miniseries
titled The Dark Corner, a collection of supernatural, dark fantasy
suspense tales which are all free for citizens of his R.I.U. (Reality
Imagination Universe). To become an R.I.U. citizen, go to his sign up
page at his website at www.eastonlivingston.com.
“I've learned
quite a bit in the intervening years but I realized that I was going to
have to up my game if I wanted to do this full-time. Therefore,
everything is getting a new look and we're moving forward aggressively
with a new plan and goals. It's exciting and difficult but every mistake
and nuance will be worth it. It already is.”
Easton's books are
family-friendly, focusing on fantastic tales for adults which often
addresses mature themes (think PG-13). This is important to him and a
distinction that he vehemently makes.
“I don't use profanity in
my books. That doesn't mean I don't deal with adult topics and issues. I
do. I do not write what is classified as young-adult though they can
read it and parents won't have to be concerned. However, I definitely
write for an adult audience.”
He writes fantasy, sci/fi, and
mystery/suspense, weaving elements of action, the supernatural, and the
psychological. Simplified, speculative fiction. He often describes his
work as a cross between the cult television show 4400 and the Netflix's
Stranger Things.
These tales are the precursor to his debut novel
Blackson's Revenge: Book I - The Poltergeist Files, an action drama
with a fantasy/sci-fi twist. The first in that trilogy is slated to be
released in 2018.
No comments:
Post a Comment