The Monsters Within By Kody Boye
Publication date: June 15, 2020
Buy Link: Amazon
Genres: Horror, Mystery, New Adult, Romance
Summary:
Not all monsters can be seen.
When Dean McAllen wins a writing fellowship that offers him the chance to escape his abusive homelife, he boards the first plane out of Utah and prepares for a life free of dysfunction.
Not long after arriving in the small town halfway across the country, he meets Brad Michelson. Kind, sweet, and caring, the fellow artist is everything Dean could ever want in a man. He’s also Dean’s first true shot at love.
But what Dean doesn’t know is that Brad harbors a darkness inside of him—and though Brad has struggled to hold it back his entire life, Dean will soon find that the monsters that dwell within Brad’s conscience are real, and out to destroy them both.
—
EXCERPT:
We drove along a dark road that night. Flanked by cars that slowly but surely fell behind, I watched the vehicles traveling alongside us disappear as we advanced out of the city limits and onto the lost stretches taken only by farmers and their equipment. Beside me, Brad drove with the window down, one arm braced along the frame, his free hand around the wheel. He drove without a care in the world, humming softly to Top 100 on the radio; and I, left only to observe, watched the fields before us extend forever into the distance.“This is nice,” Brad said, tossing his fringe away from his eyes, “isn’t it?”
“Yeah,” I replied. “It is.”
His hair—which was lengthier on the top but shorn along the sides of his head—blew haphazardly in the wind, creating the impression that we were two kids doing nothing more than enjoying the world for what it was. He was twenty-one, I eighteen, fresh and new and completely and utterly enamored. I tried my hardest not to watch him out of my peripheral, but found myself doing that regardless.
Remember, remember, the code to remember, I thought. Straight men get a pass because their love doesn’t last.
Of course it didn’t. That was why it was stupid for me to even consider that this was anything more than just a casual outing. Besides—if anyone was going to make the first move, if they even were, it would be him.
Which wasn’t going to happen.
I drew in a long breath of the cool night air and smiled as the scent of grass and wildflowers entered my nose.
“They have much of this up in Utah?” Brad asked.
“I lived at the edge of Salt Lake,” I replied, “so it was mostly lots of flatland, mostly farms.”
“There’s a lot of that here. But this—this is absolutely beautiful.” Brad smiled as he turned his high beams on. “Do you see?”
The world bloomed before me. Wild, untamed, uninhibited—the grass extended on both sides of the road and was marked only by the separation of land with wooden fences and wire. Flowers dotted the area at various intervals, creating the impression that this place, though encroached upon by humanity, was untouched. It was utterly magical, in a sense—and, in a way, haunting.
So far out, there were no lights to be seen; and with no traffic behind us, it was dark as it could.
Normally, I wasn’t afraid of the night. Something, however, gave me cause for concern.
But what was it?
Author Bio:Though he was born and raised in Southeastern Idaho, Kody Boye has lived in the state of Texas since 2010. His first short story, [A] Prom Queen's Revenge, was published at the age of fourteen.
He has since gone on to publish numerous works of fiction, including the young-adult novels When They Came, The Beautiful Ones, The Midnight Spell and ALT CONTROL ENTER, as well as fiction for adults. He currently lives and writes in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas.
No comments:
Post a Comment
We always love to hear from readers so share your thoughts with us!