A Curse of the Lucky by Nathan Wrann

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Two things that Jack Smith has always had: bad legs and bad luck. With a violent attack at the Tarrytown Independence Day Carnival, that bad luck has caught up to him with deadly consequences. Going on the run with Jaelle–the mysterious girl of his dreams–he descends into a world of curses, blessings, and fortunetelling Gypsies. The deeper he gets, the more he realizes she might just be the one to save his life... or end it.

The Mr. Lucky Trilogy begins with A Curse of the Lucky.

Read an Excerpt

Jaelle yanked open the heavy, blackened doors to a gusting chorus of “OHHHs” and “AAHHHs” and “shut the God damn doors!” The place was packed. The barflies closest to the door shielded their eyes from the blinding morning sun. Jaelle tugged me inside and pulled it closed behind us.

The shrieks and expletives over the invading light receded and the loud music and louder singing-along, conversations, and arguments filled the place. Every few seconds a bell would ring, or a buzzer, or some other odd noise would add to the cacophony. The place stunk too. Like stale beer, deep-fried food, grease, and sweat. Lots of grease and sweat. It took a second for my eyes to adjust to the low light, but right away I could tell this was a rough crowd. I stiffened my back and stood a little taller.

Jaelle put her hand around the back of my arm. I looked at her and scrunched my nose.

“Don’t worry, after the past two days you fit right in.” I didn’t know if I should take that as a compliment or an insult. “Just don’t be intimidated. We belong here,” she continued.

I sensed a rougher edge form itself around her demeanor. Her face grew taught, her lips pulled back slightly and her squinting eyes looked like they wanted trouble. She put up a good tough front. I wish I could say the same about me.

“What are we looking for?”

“Not what, who. I’m sure I’ll know at least a few people here.” She scanned the crowd and started weaving between burly muscular men and tattooed women.

I followed, and immediately bumped a huge, bearded guy wearing an eye patch (I’m not making this up). My knock splashed his barrel-sized mug-o-beer.

“Hey!” he blurted.

“I’m—” I began to apologize, but Jaelle got in his face.

“—Hey what! Watch where yer going, gazoonie!” she screeched at him, full Gypsy accent intact.

He pulled back, his one eye widened. The three of us froze in a stare down until:

“BWAHAHAAHA!” He opened his arms wide and wrapped her in a big hug. “I like you! I like her! I like this girl!” He made sure the whole bar knew, before letting her go. He grabbed three shot-glasses off his table, one for each of us. Holding his up, we clanked the glasses and downed the clear liquid in them.

It tasted like jet fuel. Or turpentine. Or paint thinner. Or maybe turpentine is paint thinner. I don’t know what it was but I remembered what Jaelle said: don’t be intimidated. So I froze my smile, couldn’t breathe, and slammed the shot glass down on the table with a hearty “Grrr!” Jaelle pulled the front of my shirt and we moved on.

“Never apologize for anything. It’s always the other guy’s fault. Always,” she said as we cleared the group.

“Did you know him?”

“Never saw him before in my life. And one other thing, we’re not pirates, we’re carnies so keep the grrrs and arrghhs to a minimum.”

About the Author:

Nathan Wrann was born in Florida and moved around a lot as a child, growing up in New York, New Hampshire, Connecticut, California and finally back to Florida. No matter where he lived you would likely find Marvel Comics or a book in his hand with genres ranging from fantasy (The Black Cauldron), to SE Hinton's teen dramas (The Outsiders), to Stephen King's entire catalogue from Carrie through Tommyknockers. At the age of seventeen he joined the U.S. Army as a Military Policeman, and following that, graduated from Southern Connecticut State University with a degree in video production and theater.

Currently Mr. Wrann is a writer, publisher and (formerly) independent filmmaker living in West Haven, Connecticut with his rescued Chihuahuas Napoleon and Gatsby, pain-in-the-butt cat Konstantine, and wife Kimberly. Nowadays, in between books, you'll find him enjoying horror films, YA Paranormal TV series (Vampire Diaries, Sabrina, etc), and the Marvel and Star Wars Cinematic Universes.

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005165L8O
Twitter: https://twitter.com/nathanwrann?lang=en
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorNathanWrann/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nwrann/

Author’s Note RE: the Mr. Lucky Trilogy & Dark Matter Heart: The Mr. Lucky Trilogy is a Dark Matter Heart World Expander. The events in this series take place in the same world, with the same paranormal concepts and rules as Dark Matter Heart, but with all new characters and adventures. Opportunity abounds for crossover stories bringing all the characters together.

It is not necessary to read Dark Matter Heart to enjoy the Mr. Lucky Trilogy, but I think you’ll like it.

Get Book One: Dark Matter Heart here: http://amzn.to/DMHKindle
Get Book Two: From Out of Chaos FREE here: https://mailchi.mp/f5ce21a5921c/freedmh2

Thank you Dear Reader, we have much fun ahead of us.

-Nathan Wrann

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