The Dark Days Paperback

"This author gets inside your head and weaves a world you don't want to leave."

"I'm so tired this morning because I stayed up much too late reading this thriller AND I kept dreaming about parts of it."

She stepped out to a strange people in a strange darkness…and she saw a stranger in her husband.

Leave it to her brother to invite crazy people over at the end of the world, her husband Richard, at the top of the list. 

Then the world is upturned when darkness falls five minutes past two—in the afternoon. But the real crisis begins when Charlie escapes the isolated farm during a riot with rugged cattle rancher, Nick Miller.

Temperatures plummet outside as heat turns up between Charlie and Nick. Then Charlie finds Richard at the National Guard Armory with other survivors. Ruefully, Charlie leaves with him. But something is wrong with Richard. 

Experience the chilling thrills that will keep you up all night.

July 12th 1:30 pm

Kyle’s Farm, Thirty miles northwest

 Valley City, North Dakota

Of course Kyle Simm would invite nut jobs over at the end of the world. 

And Charlie Kensal was foolish enough to be there.

Another of her brother’s house parties had raged out of control and Charlie was leaving. It was a decision that would mark the first of many she would make without Kyle’s approval.

The second story window gave her a bird’s eye view of the farmyard.

The auger with the basketball hoop at the top stood on the edge of the gravel driveway. Uncle Ken mounted the hoop to the old auger years ago, and countless games had been played on the driveway. Kyle, called the contraption an eyesore, swore he would get rid of it as soon as he had the time. Charlie liked the unique relic.

A cluster of trees stretched beyond.

Her jeep was parked in the lawn next to the auger.

You know Kyle won’t let you leave. And what about Richard?

Richard said the phone bill was going to be higher, but Charlie kept wondering why he went out of his way to explain something she hadn’t asked about. Five hundred exchanged texts from a number she hadn’t recognized had her calling it.

A woman answered.

She hung up immediately, and fled to her parents’ home, waving the phone bill in front of her dad’s face.

 “So, now that you have proof, what will you do with it?” Her father, Eric Simm, had asked.

“There’s nothing I can do.”

He’d choked on his coffee. “Nonsense.”

Still, divorce was a recourse she was reluctant to take. Richard was a successful attorney in Grafton. More than the lavish lifestyle his thriving practice in allowed her, Charlie couldn’t stand the thought of Kyle rubbing a failed marriage in her face.

Now her parents were dead and she couldn’t trust Richard. Or Kyle. The vast ache she felt inside threatened to overwhelm her.

Charlie stood, swayed slightly and turned away from the window. With or without Richard, she was out of there. She headed to the back stairs, floating down as though in a dream. The stairs seemed endless.

Kyle’s house is ridiculous.

Apprehension rose with each step until her breathing stopped. When she finally exhaled, the unreal sensation remained. She would not relax until she was well away from Kyle’s farm and his wild friends.

When she reached the bottom landing, her sister-in-law Mary, rounded the corner.

Impulsively, Charlie hugged her.

Mary pulled back, searching her eyes. “You’re leaving?”

“Yes. I’m sorry.”

Mary nodded. She had caught on to the same, strange, tension building in the crowd of guests. She released Charlie, who slipped through the doorway to the kitchen.

The generous kitchen resembled a television set on Food Channel. It had a commercial gas cooktop, utensils hung above a large island, and commercial wall ovens gleamed on the far wall. The refrigerator was invisible, its doors camouflaged as panels in the wood-clad walls.

The excessive space was ironic, since neither Kyle nor Mary spent any time there. Most of the food in the pantry was the microwaveable gourmet variety and the freezer was occupied by frozen pizzas and heat-and-serve meat pies.

Charlie passed through the kitchen where her niece, Kate, was drinking a glass of milk. The seven-year-old was too short to reach the counter. She started toward her to help. Too late. Before Charlie could reach her Kate dropped the milk carton; it spilled milk across on the kitchen floor.

Kyle was there. “Why weren’t you watching what you were doing?”

A small crowd formed around Kate and the spill. One of Kyle’s friends bent over the child, consoling her as she sobbed that she hadn’t meant to.

It was such a small thing and Charlie bristled at her brother’s sharp reaction to his daughter’s mistake.

Talk about overreacting.

The urge to leave increased to a desperate need. She had to get away as soon as possible.

“Goodbye,” Charlie said with a slight wave of her hand.

Kyle didn’t even glance at her. “You really need to be more careful, Kate.” He gave her a sharp shake. “I swear you are so clumsy.”

Having been the target of Kyle’s criticism her whole life, Charlie sympathized with her niece. Even so, she didn’t pause as she made her way into the dining room in search of Richard.

At lunch earlier, she caught a glimpse of Richard in a huddle of men across the dining room. He had made his way over to her, bent close to her ear. “I’ll be in the jeep at two-thirty. Be there.”

Charlie glanced at her watch. It was barely two o’clock. Thirty minutes to go, and her instincts screamed that it was way past time to leave. Maybe she could even leave without Richard knowing.

Either way, it was time to get out.