Love the Sinner (The Infernal Tapestry) by Edward R Marrow Jr

When Adam bursts in on his wife, Moire, being murdered by a monster, he tries to save her but is slaughtered as well. On his way to the other side, Adam is given a choice: Move on alone, or go back to earth and seek vengeance. Without Moire, there is no choice for Adam. He forfeits his soul and goes back to hunt.

However, deals with the devil are never what they seem. While Adam is gifted with new powers and abilities, he is also afflicted with a carnal hunger that runs wild if not fed.

To find the murderer, Adam must search the streets of a Scranton very different than the one he knows. It will take all of his new abilities and more to survive Demon gangsters, hellhounds and the Catholic Church itself. Even then, will Adam be able to slay a creature that already killed him once?

BIO:
E. R. Marrow lives in a suburb of Scranton, Pennsylvania with his wife and two cildren. His days are spent fighting gremlins inside computers, so that he can spend his nights writing about other fantasy creatures. Love the Sinner is is first novel.

What will readers like about your book?
Well, it's got strippers, mobsters and demons.What's not to love? Really, though, I went for an old school Hardboiled Detective type book, but mixed it in with fantasy. I think a lot of folks will like the gritty atmosphere, and fantastic elements. My main character, Adam Archer, is no saint, but he is easy to relate to.

Why did you self publish?
I tried to get an agent for a while. It was always 'close but no cigar'. At the same time, I was reading Joe Konrath's blog, and I saw what he was doing. He made too many good points to ignore. Indie Publishing looked like the way to go, so I did.

How long does it take you to write a first draft?
Love the Sinner is my first book. It took me about five months to write it, but I didn't write every day.

Who did your cover?
The wonderful Glendon Haddix at www.streetlightgraphics.com That is where all my covers will come from.

Excerpt:

I was inside a coffin. My coffin.

Christ! I was buried alive.

“Hey! Get me out. Hey, I’m alive in here.”

I screamed until my voice was gone, and my throat was raw. There was no way out. I could feel panic welling inside me, clawing its way out. My heart was pounding. I could hear blood rushing in my ears. I had to calm down, and think. Sheppard said it was going to suck, and he didn’t disappoint. There must be some way out. It didn’t make sense that he would put me in a sealed coffin with no way out. Neither of us would get what we wanted if I died in that damn coffin.

I punched, kicked, clawed, pushed, pulled and twisted everything I could to find a way out. I even went through my pockets to see if maybe he left me a phone or a frigging spoon or something. Nothing. Great. Now what?

The smell was getting worse, I’m not sure how. It was choking me. I couldn’t breathe at all. Blind panic came, and I let it.

Thrashing, I somehow managed to split the lid of my coffin. There was a metal shell underneath. Snarling, I ripped into it as well. There wasn’t any thought, I needed to escape. The steel gave way as the blood from my ruined hands dripped onto my face. My hands looked more like claws than any human appendage.

Once through the steel, I came to the concrete of the tomb. I howled in frustration, each victory led me to another wall. I had enough room to move a bit. I balled my fist, and hit the slab with all my rage and pain. It chipped. Again I hit it, ignoring the fire in my knuckles. Again and again, my fists hammered the slab of concrete. Chips fell all around and on top of me. Cracks and fissures opened in the gray rock. The hole was about two feet around by now. As the concrete cracked, I knew what was coming next. Still, I was not prepared for it.

Cold, black dirt was streaming in on me. It was in my mouth and my eyes. There wasn’t any time to screw around. I had to get out.

The hole in the coffin was barely big enough to fit my shoulders through. The jagged edge of the opening gouged deep cuts in my arms and sides.

Upwards I struggled. My first achievement was getting my feet planted on the coffin lid, so I wouldn’t slide back inside and be pinned. The soil was packed tight. Even though it was running into the coffin, I couldn't seem to make any headway. I clawed and scraped for every inch. I was exhausted; my hands numb from the injuries and the cold. My lungs were burning. I was spent. The blackness pushed in on me. I had no breath left. I could feel myself sliding back into the hole. Then something happened.

My right hand hit air above.

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Love the Sinner (The Infernal Tapestry)