Suspense, Mystery, Horror and Thriller Fiction December 2012 Our MOst AnticipAted issue Best of 2012 See if Your Favorite Made the Cut End the Year with RichaRd BelzeR Simon Tolkien December Doesn’t Mean “No Fear” Beware the Bunnyman! Rules of Fiction With RichaRd NoRth PatteRsoN! C r e di t s From the Editor John Raab President & Chairman Another year has passed and we all survived Shannon Raab Creative Director the 2012 scare. Every year we say pretty much the same thing, that this year was our toughest to decide Romaine Reeves CFO on which books made the grade in each category to reach the top. This year we have a name—in the Starr Gardinier Reina Executive Editor form of a seal of approval, if you will—to put with our Best Book of the Year: “The Crimson Scribe.” It Terri Ann Armstrong Executive Editor will be awarded by Suspense Magazine to that author and book. Jim Thomsen Copy Editor What I know is that we are in an age where the writing in the author’s chosen genre has never been better. It is a great time to be a reader, because your nights or maybe your Contributors Donald Allen Kirch days are filled with the joy of discovering a new author. Mark P. Sadler Susan Santangelo With the age of technology progressing, and readers with more authors to choose DJ Weaver from than ever, writing has become that much better. Many of The New York Times best- CK Webb Kiki Howell selling authors have had to reach deep down inside them to bring out new and fresh ideas, Kaye George while still maintaining their stature in the publishing world. While we have seen many Weldon Burge Ashley Wintters changes—from Penguin and Random House joining forces, to the news that companies Scott Pearson D.P. Lyle M.D. and authors are buying reviews to put a positive spin on their book and provide negative Claudia Mosley feedback on their competition—2013 promises to be exciting. What’s next? Christopher Nadeau Kathleen Heady Suspense Magazine is working on some changes for next year, hopefully bringing you Stephen Brayton Brian Blocker more entertainment news within the genre. Suspense Radio has exploded this year, with Andrew MacRae as many as eighty thousand listeners. Each show grows the fan base. Val Conrad Laura Alden We have an exciting year, with some new shows and different twists and turns. One Melissa Dalton Elliott Capon thing that I’m going to do personally is dive into some new genres to discover new worlds J.M. LeDuc Holly Price and authors that I would have missed otherwise. I invite all of our readers to pick up Kari Wainwright something entirely new in a genre that you would not ordinarily read. Yes, many of David Ingram Bill Craig our nominees this year are authors on the rise, and we expect to see many of them on Jodi Hanson bestsellers lists everywhere. Amy Lignor Susan May We encourage all of you to write to us, let us know what you think of the magazine. J.S. McCormick Kestrel T. Andersen Give us your lists of the “Best Of” and let’s stay in touch in 2013 and beyond. It is because Cassandra McNeil Jenny Hilborne of all of our readers that we put our blood, sweat, and tears into every issue, wanting to Tanya Contois bring you each month something a little different and a little exciting. We love all your Sharon Salonen Anthony J. Franze feedback, good or bad (let’s not go crazy), and know that we listen to each comment and Jeanine Elizalde suggestion we get. We will see you all in 2013. Be safe and have a Happy Holiday and a Kristin Centorcelli great New Year. To steal the tagline from Suspense Radio, “IT’S TIME TO GET YOUR Customer Service and Subscriptions: FICTION ON!” For 24/7 service, please use our website, www.suspensemagazine.com or write to: SUSPENSE MAGAZINE at 26500 Agoura Road, #102-474 John Raab Calabasas, CA 91302 CEO/Publisher Suspense Magazine does not share our magazine subscriber list to third-party Suspense Magazine companies. Rates: $24.00 (Electronic Subscrip- “Reviews within this magazine are the opinions of the individual reviewers and are provided solely to provide readers assistance tion) per year. All foreign subscrip- in determining another's thoughts on the book under discussion and shall not be interpreted as professional advice or the opin- tions must be payable in U.S. funds. ion of any other than the individual reviewer. The following reviewers who may appear in this magazine are also individual cli- ents of Suspense Publishing, an imprint of Suspense Magazine: Mark P. Sadler, Starr Gardinier Reina, Ashley Dawn (Wintters), DJ Weaver, CK Webb, Elliott Capon, J.M. LeDuc, Amy Lignor and Terri Ann Armstrong.” SuspenseMagazine.com 1 CONTENT Su Sp E n se M ag a z i n E December 2012 / Vol. 041 Excerpt of A Darkly Hidden Truth by Donna Fletcher Crow . 3 Rules of Fiction with Richard North Patterson by Anthony J . Franze . .6 Delving into Dark Minds: a Conversation with Michael Robotham . 9 Stranger Than Fiction: The Bunnyman! By Donald Allen Kirch . 12 The Un-Dead by Morley Swingle . 15 Featured Artist: Andreea Bianca Grigore . 22 Inside the Pages: Suspense Magazine Book Reviews . 28 Suspense Magazine: Best in Film 2012 . 69 Hollywood Hexes: Poltergeist, The Exorcist, & The Omen by CK Webb . 74 Meet Jock Boucher by David Lyons . 80 TusCon 39: Sci Fi, Fantasy & Horror Convention by Mark P . Sadler . 81 Head to Love by Kazimierz Kyrcz, Jr . and Lukasz Smigiel . 82 Special Preview from Donna Fletcher Crow A DArkly Hidden TruTH elicity and Antony, perplexed by their friend’s failure to “Felicity!” Anto- keep his appointment, decide to explore the grounds of ny’s one instinct was the ruinedF St. Benet’s Abbey in the remote Norfolk Broads: to protect her. What- An ominous rumble was followed by a single, sharp clap ever horror had risen of thunder and the heavy, dark clouds so close over their at their feet, Felicity heads simply dumped on them. Felicity shrieked and ran mustn’t be allowed to for shelter in the old brick drainage mill, flattening herself dash out into against the wall where the inward sloping sides gave a minute the gathering semblance of shelter. gloom alone. Antony followed her closely, likewise hugging the wall They were next to her. After a few moments of gasping they both caught some distance their breath, although Felicity’s heart was still pounding. beyond the She glanced upward at the rain sluicing through the roof- mill before less round hole that served as a funnel to pour rain on the he caught her and pulled her into his beaten earth floor at their feet. Felicity moved her feet back arms. She clung to him, gasping and shaking. Only when Fe- fractionally to avoid the mud being splashed up by the down- licity calmed did Antony realize the rain had slowed to a faint pour, but it was hopeless. She couldn’t really be any wetter or drizzle. “It’s all right. We’re safe.” He wasn’t even sure what muddier than she already was. that meant, but he had to say something to reassure her; to Or angrier. Where was Neville? What could he possibly reassure himself. “Steady on. You’ll be all right,” he repeated. have wanted to show them that could in any way justify all He felt the shudder go through her body as she gave a they had gone through? Was this his idea of a joke? If he faint gasp. “It can’t…” Her words were strangled. had learned anything about the icon it certainly couldn’t be “Hold on. I’ll get help.” His hands were shaking so he around here. Some ruined abbeys might present secret cav- could hardly punch the 999 emergency number with a mud- erns or hidden cubbyholes to hold purloined icons, but St. dy thumb. Benet’s obviously didn’t. “It was Neville, wasn’t it? It must have been. His phone… She turned to Antony and almost yelled over the pound- His hand…” She buried her face against Antony’s shoulder. ing of the rain. “Try ringing Neville again. Maybe we’ll be in “But it can’t be. We were to meet him. You spoke to him…” luck this time.” Antony looked around desperately for a place to sit The ring was faint, but they both jumped. “What was down. The stone base of the cross seemed miles away across that?” Felicity looked around. The round walls of the mill the field. The foundation of the gatehouse presented no place acted like an echo chamber. It almost sounded like. But it to perch. The best he could offer Felicity was the slippery couldn’t have— wooden boards of the stile as he led her back to the fence. And then the deadened ring sounded again. From be- They sat on the narrow step, clinging to one another for neath their feet. warmth, for comfort. Emergency services had to come all the The thing that held them fixed in horror, though, was way from Norwich. It would be a long, cold wait. But they not the muffled ring, as if a call from another world, but the wouldn’t have left if they could have. They couldn’t leave their specter that rose at their feet as the pouring rain washed back friend alone in that dark, wet place.