On Day 14, we welcome Patrick Jones!  As a special Halloween treat, The Wolf’s Moon AND The River will be FREE on October 29, 30, and 31.

Mark Lansdowne, whose friendly exterior masks a history of covert missions and lethal violence, is still recovering from the death of his beloved wife one year prior.  The outside world intrudes in a bloody fashion with a string of horrific attacks on locals.  The body count rises; the apparent culprit is an animal extinct for thousands of years. Lansdowne relentlessly tracks the creature, inadvertently becoming engaged in a life-or-death battle.  Victorious but wounded, Lansdowne ends up in the hospital – while outside, evidence implies that the animal Lansdowne killed was not the only one of its kind.

In rural Missouri, Crawford County has had more than its share of wildlife problems. Not even a year earlier the woods were home to a vicious killer brought back from extinction.

In the novel, The Wolf’s Moon, Mark Lansdowne and his pal, Warren Skruggs, sent them back…but at a cost. Now something is haunting the rivers in Crawford County.

The Missouri State Water Patrol must solve the deaths of several residents who died in The River but can they stop this menace before more people are killed? 

How long have you been writing horror/thrillers and what drew you to the genre?

It seems that I have been writing some kind of story since grammar school.  Sister Matthew really did not like the story that I wrote as a class project.  She said it was far too bloody for an eighth grader to write.  She gave me a “D”.  When I pointed out how bloody the Gospels were when they related the crucifixion of Jesus, she took my paper and gave me an “F”.

I let others in my class read it and they loved it.

In High School I wrote my first novel.  I again let classmates read the first three chapters.  After that it cost them a quarter to read each chapter.  I kept gas in my car that year and the next by writing another.

It was in my senior year that I found out that keeping readers wanting to read the next chapter was to make the end of a chapter shocking.

I found that people loved to be shocked, but by the fear that raises the hair on their necks, (ie. “The Exorcist” or “Jaws”).

How did you come up with the idea for your book?

I just started writing one day and the story flowed, writing itself, with me only putting the words on paper. 

If you could erase one horror cliché, what would it be?

There are far too many horror clichés to pick out just one.  Usually, if I must pick out just one, it is where the teens happen into the “haunted house” and the serial killer is hiding out there.  Usually one of the four (there are always four – 1.  Superhot female 2.  Superhot male 3.  Not so hot but smart and wanting to fit in and last but not least 4.  The dumb guy that is scared of everything, but wants the superhot chick and only went along to prove his bravado) gets away alive.

As far as a phrase, “Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea”, is uttered just before getting an axe into his head.

What are you working on now?

The sequel to “The Wolf’s Moon” is well underway, as well as a novel that started out as a short story and then took on a life of its own.

By the time the sequel is finished, the other may also be near completion.

Favorite horror movie and book?

My favorite horror movie as a kid was Boris Karloff as the “Frankenstein” monster.  Dad and I sat up late on Saturday nights to watch old monster movies – unless there was a Western movie on another channel.  As far as a favorite horror  book, I really think it would be The Portrait of Dorian Gray.

Author Bio

Pat Jones was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri. His special interests include the science of paleoanthropology and archaeology. Woodworking is one of his favorite hobbies, with special emphasis on the unique grains and textures of various species of trees. He and his wife, Sandy, thrive on designing and creating a flower garden of perennials, second to none! Constantly evolving, the garden began as a way that he could surprise his wife on her birthday. The rest is history! The garden now spans one fourth of an acre!

When their children graduated from school, the couple relocated to rural Missouri where they now reside with their four dogs. The love of the area, in combination with the uniqueness of the people, provided the impedance for “The Wolf’s Moon.” The book was followed by the production of an audiobook narrated by Mark Westfield on ACX Audible. A short story, “The River,” followed shortly thereafter. The sequel to “The Wolf’s Moon” is already in the works and proves to be yet another suspenseful page-turner!

Pat believes that there is a story in everything. Everybody that he meets has their own special story; one simply has to take the time to listen. The story then writes itself. Please visit our website at http://www.thelindenchronicles.com for more adventures from Mike Linden!

Thank you for your interest!

Where to find Patrick

Website

Amazon Author Page

Facebook

Twitter: @patrickjones56 and @lindenchronicle

Pinterest

The Wolf’s Moon book trailer YouTube

The River book trailer YouTube

LinkedIn

Google +

Goodreads

Buy links

The Wolf’s Moon Amazon

The River Amazon

The Wolf’s Moon at Audible

Both are also in paperback