THE DESCENT FROM TRUTH By Gaylon Greer Giveaway

THE DESCENT FROM TRUTH

By

Gaylon Greer

BLURB:  

Alex Bryson is patrolling Rocky Mountain backcountry in his job as a security guard when he discovers a woman with a baby wandering alone in the snow far from the nearest road. He takes them to shelter in a weekender cabin and sees a newscast that suggests the woman, Pia Ulmer, kidnapped the baby from its rightful parents and that it is the sole heir of Peru’s wealthiest and most corrupt family. Pia claims that she is the baby’s mother, and Alex doesn't know what to believe. After turning her in, he continues to struggle with his budding feelings for her and remains unsure of the true story. He becomes more and more involved until finally there is no turning back—lives are on the line. He helps Pia get free from a brutal world that values money over life, and together they devise a plan to reclaim the baby. Just when it looks like they might succeed, they discover an international conspiracy that changes the game entirely.

EXCERPT:  (5)

Alex lit the remnant of the portable stove’s fuel. “Have us some coffee in a few minutes.” He heated water in the big aluminum cup that clipped onto his canteen holder and served as a multipurpose cooking, drinking, and eating utensil. “Hate to see you guys leave,” he said as he worked. “You're good company.”

Pia smiled. “I also regret that our acquaintance must be brief.”

He liked what the smile did to her face. Still careful to keep his damaged left profile turned away from her, and feeling stupid about the implied vanity, he passed her a strip of venison jerky.

“Thank you.” She chewed the dried meat and fed saliva-softened bites to the baby.

He had been without a woman way too long, Alex decided as he watched her fingers slide between her lips to extract a chewed morsel and push it into the baby's mouth. The process struck him as intensely sensual.

“Have another one,” he said. Steeling himself for her reaction, he shifted so she couldn’t miss seeing the scar as he passed his last strip of jerky to her.

She accepted it, stared for a moment at his scarred cheek, and winced. “Did that hurt terribly?”

“Didn't even know I was hit.” He thumbed the scar, and battle memories popped in his head like flashbulbs. With a severed tendon in his calf, Captain Faust had been unable to walk. Alex held the captain in a fireman’s carry and dogtrotted through the jungle. He felt liquid oozing onto his neck, touched it, and looked at his hand: blood. His face was numb, as if he’d received a giant Novocain shot. Exploring fingers touched bone and a sliver of shrapnel that had lodged in his jaw. The hot metal had cauterized the wound. “The pain came later.”

“Does it bother you now?”

“Itches in cold weather.” He mixed powdered coffee into the heated water and offered it to her. They passed it back and forth in companionable silence until the cup was empty. “Time to call the chopper.” He dipped into his backpack to retrieve his phone.

It wasn’t there.

AUTHOR INFORMATION:

Working with traveling carnivals and itinerant farm labor gangs during his teen and early adult years took Gaylon Greer up, down, and across the U.S. and introduced him to a plethora of colorful individuals who serve as models for his fictional characters. After several years as an Air Force officer and then a university professor with a Ph.D. in economics, Greer developed an interest in writing fiction and attended workshops at the University of Iowa, the University of Nebraska, and Bryn-Mawr College. He also studied with the U.C. Davis Extension program and the Algonquian Writers Group. His most recent novel, THE DESCENT FROM TRUTH is available at www.Amazon.com and other e-book retailers. Please visit Greer at www.GaylonGreer.com

A randomly chosen commenter will receive an autographed hardcover version of the author's previous book, The Price of Sanctuary.

Follow the tour and comment; the more they comment, the better their chances of winning. The tour dates can be found here: http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2013/07/excerpt-tour-descent-from-truth-by.html