Red Serge
By Lorne Oliver
SYNOPSIS:
The
body of a young girl is found. She was
raped and tortured before being strangled.
Sgt. Reid of the RCMP has had too much violent death in his career. He knows he shouldn’t get involved in this
one. His marriage is falling apart, his
daughter is getting involved in the wrong things, but something draws him in. The discovery of other young girls’ bodies - his
daughter’s age, some long dead, - begs the question: How long has the Devil
been coming to Prince Edward Island?
It was almost his end game. He had one last target in mind, one last
conquest. His whole life had been under
the thumb of someone else. This was
his. It wasn’t going to be a secret any
more. The daughter of a cop known for
catching serial killers…how did she taste?
The
Royal Canadian Mounted Police were known for their Red Serge uniform. It was what they wore in ceremony, to honour
others, and in death.
LORNE SAYS:
In my books I like to name characters after
people I respect, friends, family, etc.
Sometimes people volunteer to be a character or ask to have their names
put in. The character of Cassie Michaels
in Red Serge (my second novel in the Sgt. Reid Series now available on Amazon
in both ebook and paperback) was named by the winner of a
contest.
In the case of the Bonaventure Campgrounds and
Cottages I needed a name that I would be happy with, so I chose the name of
Canada's last aircraft carrier the HMCS
Bonaventure. I didn't just pick it
out of a hat though. My father served
onboard this ship. It took him all over
the Atlantic Ocean and too many countries – Brazil, Germany, Sweden,
Ireland, Trinidad - but the most important moment was when it took him to
Portsmouth England. There he met my
mother.
In comparison to modern aircraft carriers the
"Bonnie" was tiny. Whenever my
father told me stories he described the size as a cigarette package next to his
foot stool. The landing deck would have
been too short for today’s jets to land on. According to my dad (who insists that he and
his friends once caught a fish so big they had to bash its head with an ore
because it was going to sink their small boat) they tried landing an American
jet on her and the breaks burned the rubber of the wheels. He never did say how they got it off the
ship. The Bonaventure was commissioned
into the Canadian Navy in 1957 and though it was never involved in any wartime
action it was part of NATO during the Cuban Missile Crisis. She had a short life of peace time duties
though being decommissioned in 1969. It
served its purpose though. Without this
ship me and my wonderful children wouldn’t be here.
I know back in the day I complained about
having to sit and listen to his stories, but I enjoyed it then and would love
to hear them again. My dad and I don't
talk much these days, but I'm really proud to say he served in the Canadian
Navy.
In Red Serge I take the opportunity, okay I
might have gone overboard, to educate the reader about the ship since Canadian’s
don’t even know about it by having the campsite
owners take the reins.
EXCERPT:
“What’s
with the name? Why call this place
Bonaventure?”
“The
man who started the campground years ago was a crew member on the HMCS
Bonaventure, the Canadian Navy’s last aircraft carrier. It was the greatest time in his life and when
we bought it we agreed to keep the name.
We’ve actually adopted the theme throughout the grounds naming roads
after decks or levels on the ship. Some
after other Canadian naval ships. We had
a local artist paint that large mural on the side of the restaurant and inside
are paintings and pictures of the ship or planes that were on it. It’s different anyway. Aren’t you tired of things named after Anne
of Green Gables anyway? I did a lot of
research on the Bonnie and Canada’s navy.
For instance, did you know that the crew on the Bonnie was twelve
hundred people? During the peak season
we can have twice as many people here as they had on her.”
He smiled at me with pearly whites.
The campsite is the last known place of a young
girl whose body is found. Did someone
from the campsite take her? Did she
wander off? Is there a monster lingering
around the site?
FIND OUT MORE:
United States: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HEBVJUS
United Kingdom: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00HEBVJUS
Facebook Page:
https://facebook.com/oliverauthor
Twitter:
@LorneOliver
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