Guarding the Healer by Gabriel Beyers

 Kindle Price: $3.99

 Available from: Amazon Kindle , Barnes & Noble , and Smashwords

 Authors Website: http://www.gabrielbeyers.blogspot.com/









When Silas Walker is endowed with the power to heal, he soon discovers that no gift comes without a price.

A man possessed by an ancient evil is taunting the healer with photos of victims brutally murdered and marked with the crude image of an angel . . . and for Silas the slain are growing more familiar.

After he is given an ominous warning and an unbearable ultimatum, Silas sets out to draw his enemy away from those he loves, and discover the true purpose of his gift, which leads him inexplicably to a troubled young drifter named Tommy.

The Stalker is close on the healer's trail, bringing with him an army of demons. Silas's only hope rests in the hands of a guardian angel he doesn't even know exists.

The Guardian is doing all within his power to save the healer, but he is certain Silas is heading into a trap. Time is running out. War is at hand.

But there is no turning back.

For even an angel can't alter a man's destiny.

Bio: Gabriel Beyers lives in Bloomington, IN with his wife, two children, and two lovable yet destructive dogs.

You can find his stories haunting such publications as Midnight Times, The Edge of Propinquity, Cat Tales 2, and a few others. He has worked many years in construction and it is still in his blood. He is always looking for a new project around the house. Someday, when he can find the time and money, he'll start tinkering with marine aquariums again.

Gabriel's novel, Guarding the Healer, is his first adventure as an "indie" author. While most of his work tends to have an element of the strange to it, it isn't fair to describe everything he writes as simply Horror. A nice blend of genres tends to make a better novel.

Excerpt

The train house had been abandoned for years, but was no less inhabited than a corpse infested with grave worms. Nothing protruded from the plain rectangular building except a small covered porch with limestone columns supporting the tattered eve. Tall slender windows, with ancient glass full of runs, circled both the top and bottom floors. The paint had at one time been a bright yellow, but most of it had peeled away to reveal the rotted wood siding underneath. The columns were hidden in a thick mat of poison oak that vomited its web up over the roof. The dirt road leading to it and the railroad tracks before it were both long unused; the forest had reclaimed the ground, threatening to swallow the train house, as it had the few orphaned houses that were now little more than piles of debris. What had once been the center of travel in Belmount, Indiana now stood dark and silent like a fallen soldier, forgotten by the world.

Nassarius waited for the three young men to emerge from the trees.

Eli Morris, Bill Carter, and Frank Burlin.

They were close now. He could feel them coming. The leaves crumpled and the small brush cracked. He caught their scent in the air; heard their hearts pound in arguing rhythms. Then they emerged, creeping from the forest as clandestine as mice trying to avoid the owl, and scampered onto the porch of the derelict train station. There were two more already inside – a feral beast named . . . Rick Babeneau, and a tiny, frightened child named . . .Sierra Wettel.

Nassarius made to follow the young men, but stopped. Something else was coming.

Out of the trees came several dark shapes, moving with the stealthy pace of hunting lions, and when Nassarius saw them, he understood why he had been called to this place.

The dark creatures were fashioned as men, except for the enormous wings protruding from their hips. They were as black as obsidian glass, with no features – eyes, ears, mouths – other than their basic shape. The grass didn’t crinkle beneath them, the leaves didn’t sway at their passing, neither did they create a breeze by their movements. The light of neither the moon nor even the sun gave them a shadow, for that was their nature.

The Fallen. Demons. Shadow Angels.

Interview with Gabriel Beyers

What will readers like about your book?

Guarding the Healer is a nice blend of horror and suspense combined with Christian mythology. The main character isn't just in physical danger, but also must fight through emotional and psychological dangers as well.

Why did you self publish?

I spent a great deal of time learning how to travel the traditional path. I got some serious looks from agents, but they passed because it wasn't what they were looking for. I grew more and more frustrated by the breakdown of the whole system, and the obstinate stance publishers were taking to the problems. With self publishing I could take my book to the readers -- instead of the gatekeepers -- and let them say if it was good or not.

What is your writing process?

Before my two kids came along I would try to write 2,000 words a day. Now that I'm a father, I just try to write when and where I can.

How long does it take you to write your first draft?

Typically between three and six months.

What inspired you to write this particular story?

One day I got to wondering what guardian angels would think about the people they protect. What would they say about us? How would they feel about the job entrusted to them? What if the angel had to guard someone very special; someone with an important task to accomplish. That's where Guarding the Healer came from.