One Stone Left Unturned
by Marianna
Heusler
BLURB:
At
midnight on July 16th, 1918 Tsar Nicholas Romanov and his family was murdered,
thus ending the Russian empire. Historians believe that a peasant by the name
of Rasputin was instrumental in the downfall of the dynasty. Because Nicholas
thought that Rasputin could cure their son, Alexis, who was suffering from
hemophilia, Rasputin was able to influence the Imperial Family.
But
what if Rasputin’s power did not come from God, as he claimed, but from a
simple jewel, a tricolored, fifteen-carat tourmaline? And what if that very
stone landed in the hands of a lonely teenager a century later?
EXCERPT:
It was difficult to sleep. Every time Tatiana opened her eyes,
she saw creepy shadows flicker across the walls. And the soldiers below made so
much noise, singing revolutionary songs. Tatiana thought that they were a
disgusting group of people, much worse than the soldiers in Siberia. She
couldn’t imagine this group helping to build a snow mound for sledding. These
soldiers walked around with their shirts unbuttoned and their hairy chests
exposed. They didn’t even bother with belts.
Tatiana was terrified to go to the bathroom. On the second
day after they arrived, she was on the toilet when a tall, thin soldier burst
in. He insisted upon watching her, so he could “guard her.” There were no locks
on any of the doors, and the soldiers had rummaged through their luggage on
several occasions, once even tearing up a photograph of Tatiana’s little dog,
Ortino.
The family couldn’t even eat in peace. While they were
around the small table, sweaty soldiers would put their filthy hands into the
pot of veal stew to fish out large pieces of meat. When Nicholas pleaded with them
to stop, one heavyset soldier with a scarred face and a bald head told
Tatiana’s father that he had enough to eat and called him, “Nicholas, the Blood
Drinker.”
Tatiana fled from the table, but she was followed by two
soldiers who stood over her and gaped at her when she sank into her bed.
Whatever hope she might have clung to was rapidly
disappearing as she watched her parents humiliated, his sisters degraded, her
brother scorned. These soldiers hated the entire family. They don’t even know
us, she cried into her pillow, and when she looked up, a soldier was leaning
over her bed.
She ran back to the kitchen.
My thoughts...
Absolutely brilliant!! Marianna Heusler gives her reader a well crafted story that blends the story of the last Russian czar with the life of an American teenager and her aging grandmother - seamlessly!!
To Purchase: Wild Child Publishing
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Marianna
Heusler is a native of Holyoke, Massachusetts. She graduated from the
University of Massachusetts with a BA in English Literature and a minor in
education.
The author of
over one hundred short stories, her work has appeared in magazines such as
Woman’s World, Mystery Time, Calliope, Futures, Writer’s International Forum
and Orchard Press as well as numerous anthologies. Her novel Buried In The
Townhouse was published by Pendulum Press and was nominated for The Franklin
Award.
The Night The
Penningtons Vanished is a young adult book, the first in a mystery series,
featuring Isabella Ripa. The story takes place in a small town in western
Massachusetts and was released by The Larcom Press and nominated for an Edgar.
The sequel The Day The Fortune Teller Died was also published
She wrote a
young adult novel Angels From The Alphabet and a middle grade fantasy
Annabelle’s Monsters.
Hilliard
& Harris published her mystery Murder at St. Poylcarp and the sequel
Cappuccino at the Crypt. Both books were picked up by Worldwide Mysteries and
became part of their book club.
For over
twenty years, she taught at all grade levels and has also been a school
librarian. Her other careers have included a cosmetic executive, an editorial
assistant and a reporter. She is currently teaching third grade in private all
girls’ school in Manhattan.
She
volunteers for Visible Ink, a program at Sloan Kettering Hospital, which unites
professional writers with cancer patients.
She lives in
New York City with her husband, Joel and her son, Maximilian.
Links:
Twitter: @mariannaheusler
Facebook: mariannaramondetta
In full compliance with FTC Guidelines, I received a free trade paperback edition of this book from the author and Goddess Fish Promotions in exchange for a fair and honest review. I was in no way compensated for this post, and the thoughts are my own.
