Press Release for The Devil's Bastard

A decade after dirt-poor Jeff Dawson was reported killed in battle he returns to his Natchez, Mississippi home a wealthy man and purchases White Oak Glen, the once opulent home of the now impoverished Seatons, the aristocratic family that years ago shattered his own.

Burdened with a drunken brother and besieged with greedy relatives, Juliet Seaton struggles to hold on to what remains of her farm and her growing self-reliance. Now suddenly, she finds herself facing a new menace in the form of a marauding wolf, which slaughters valuable stock and wreaks havoc in the mind of her alcoholic brother. Jeff Dawson died in combat,

Click on cover to read an excerpt

Tucker Seaton warns his sister. The man now occupying White Oak Glen is a ghost, who in the form of that vicious wolf seeks to destroy what is left of the Seatons.

An infant when events occurred setting her family against the neighboring Dawsons, Juliet appears pitted against a neighbor hell bent on avenging his sister, who died in childbirth, the tragic end of an unwanted pregnancy after being violated by a Seaton male. Jeff’s grandfather was part Creek Indian. Local legend states he terrorized unfriendly neighbors with tales of his ability to shape-shift into a deadly wolf. Persons unknown lynched the colorful old man following the savage killing, apparently by a wolf, of the Seaton who raped Jeff Dawson’s sister. And the reason Tucker is certain Jeff Dawson is a vengeful spirit? Ten years ago, Tucker himself shot Jeff in the back during a skirmish with Federal troops outside Corinth, Mississippi.

But Juliet finds the handsome Jeff every inch a living, breathing man. Hot-blooded to boot. His seductive touch weakens her resolve and blinds her to the danger he poses. Jeff, however, is no longer compelled to destroy the Seatons; they’ve destroyed themselves and left the vulnerable Juliet to his mercy—mercy he’s quite willing to give, though he’s not yet ready to let the feisty beauty know that.

Into this explosive mix of fear and distrust comes a sadistic killer, and what this fiend kills is not Seaton livestock but Natchez’ young prostitutes, then leaves his victims’ savaged bodies in the woods surrounding White Oak Glen.

With the countryside ablaze with suspicion directed toward Jeff, he and Juliet overcome mutual distrust and strip away a lost generation's hatred as quickly as the clothes covering their bodies. Old lies give way to new truths, lust to love, and together, the lovers set out to uncover not only a killer, but the identity of the spectral beast haunting the countryside.

Wolf Dawson will be available in bookstores after 1 January 2007.

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