Thou Shalt Not

SYNOPSIS:  Shortly after Reagan turns sixteen, she meets Ty, who she believes to be her soulmate, while he’s working at Devil’s Hollow’s month-long Zombiefest festival.  Though Reagan always felt like an outcast, Ty keeps her grounded, and for the first time in her life, she feels like she finally belongs.

But while Reagan has plans to ride off into the sunset with Ty, he has different ideas.  He savagely rapes her, and in doing so, he steals more than just her innocence…  He rips away the very fiber of her being.

Unable to deal with the brutality of Ty’s attack, as well as her own poor judge of character, Reagan loses touch with reality and must be institutionalized.  After her stint in the mental hospital, her family sends her to live with her agoraphobic Aunt Miriam who was also violated as a teenager, with the hope that her aunt can help her cope.

However, after years with Miriam, Reagan is more convinced than ever that the only way she’ll ever be free of the horrific memory of Ty’s barbaric defilement of her, is to rid the world of Ty, himself.  The only problem is she never knew his last name or even got a good look at his face when he wasn’t in costume.  As such, innocent men start dying at Reagan’s hands.  Other than her aunt, the only person that knows her dark secret is a kind priest who wants the killing to stop.

Hold on tight as you travel with Reagan through the twists and turns of this psychological thriller, and watch vengeance unfold as the hunter becomes the hunted in THOU SHALT NOT.

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Word Count: 91,000
First Draft: October 20, 2013 – November 18, 2013
Status: Undergoing Last Round Copyedit
Genre: Psychological Thriller

HISTORY:  In October, 2013, I had a recurrent vision of the words “when the hunter becomes the hunted.”  I didn’t want my protagonist to be abused by a spouse this time, and I also wanted to incorporate the idea of zombies without actually crossing into in the science fiction genre.  And besides, who doesn’t love a good thriller with a priest?

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QUICK PITCH:  After being savagely raped by her boyfriend as a teenager, Reagan spends the next few years coping with the aftermath and finding out just how strong she is as she searches for her attacker to make him pay for his crime.  Her only confidants are her agoraphobic aunt who was also violated as a teen and a kind priest who wants to be able to absolve her of her sins in this psychologically thrilling tale of Eye for an Eye meets Shutter Island.

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