Scars and Secrets by Thomas Grant Bruso

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Ralph Ashton gets more than he bargained for when police question him about the death of his ex-boyfriend Elijah Ray, whose body is discovered at the edge of the Saranac River.

When the local police visit Ralph and ask him about a critical piece of case evidence, Ralph becomes a prime suspect. He sets out to learn what happened to Eli the night he left his apartment and is startled to learn about his former boyfriend’s shady past.

As Ralph pursues a dangerous investigation, he discovers things about Eli he did not know while they were together.

Ralph’s life starts to unravel when he loses more people close to him as his mother lies in a hospital bed dying of cancer. Is learning about the truth of Eli’s death worth jeopardizing his safety?

Read an Excerpt

The face of my mother flashes in my mind, and I think about running back to the hospital and staying by her side.

James uncrosses his leg from left to right and changes positions so the side of his face illuminates in a shaft of soft glow from the floor lamp hanging over his shoulder. I want to tell him he looks fucking sexy that way, but I keep quiet. He holds his yellow writing pad, the tips of his fingers turning white, and I dream about what he can do to me with those meaty hands. Touch me in my favorite place, I want to tell him. But I don’t.

I picture him holding my face in his sweaty palms as we lock gazes, staring haughtily into each other’s eyes. The stiffness of my erection knocks against the fabric of my pants. I squirm in my chair.

“What do you mean?” he asks. “Deadness?”

I force myself to blink a few times, snap out of my hazy dream, and look up at Dr. Matheson. His expression is alarming, unblinking. He stares at me, bordering on the threshold of a stalker.

I find a way out of my rut, clawing, digging, and rummaging through a labyrinth of unfathomable responses. “All I want to do is listen to Twenty One Pilots or Nickelback and drink beer. Forget about life, people, and work.”

Except for my mother. My ex-boyfriend, Eli, too.

I want to see him. It’s been a while since he walked out on me and never returned.

Dr. Matheson angles his head to the side, deciding whether to ask his next set of questions. I hear him swallow, and it sounds like he has a dry mouth or is uncomfortable asking me a question from the long list on his pad. He is overthinking, I notice. “How is your mother?” When I don’t answer immediately, he adds, “How are the nightmares?” My reason for being here.

I sigh. I don’t want to talk about what keeps me awake at night, although this past week—year—has been terrifying. “It’s been nonstop,” I say.

“Have you been to the hospital?”

I nod. “Before I came here.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“It’s scary. Seeing my mother in that hospital bed makes me want to die. I hate watching her wither away slowly.”

about the Author

Thomas Grant Bruso knew he wanted to be a writer at an early age. He has been a voracious reader of genre fiction since childhood.

His literary inspirations are Ray Bradbury, Dean Koontz, Stephen King, Jim Grimsley, Karin Fossum, and Joyce Carol Oates.

Bruso loves animals, reading books, and writing fiction, and prefers Sudoku to crossword puzzles.

In another life, he was a freelance writer and wrote for magazines and newspapers. In college, he won the Hermon H. Doh Sonnet Competition. Now, he writes and publishes fiction and reviews books for his hometown newspaper, The Press-Republican.

He lives in upstate New York.

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DPJH61CD/ref=sr_1_9
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/scars-and-secrets-thomas-grant-bruso/1146630720
Publisher’s website buy link: https://ninestarpress.com/product/scars-and-secrets/