One Night in the Hill Country: A Samantha Lacroix Thriller (Adan's Thriller Mystery Suspense Books)

Thriller-Suspense Novella.

Approx 30,000 words.

Approx 120 pages.

Blurb
In “One Night in the Hill Country,” a suspense thriller, Sam (Samantha) takes four young cousins to the Texas Hill Country to search for a kitten, visit some vineyards, and enjoy a Saturday afternoon. They encounter a mis-guided effort by brother and sister, Rolf and Tara, to use illegal immigrant children as bait to catch men who would abuse those children. Cultures clash and mesh among the children, while the adults play for life and death.

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Story Overview
In short swift moving chapters, Sam (Samantha) takes four young cousins out to the Texas Hill Country. The two boys are looking for a lost kitten. The two tween girls are looking. And Sam is, well, isn't sure what she's looking for. But she's going to find it.

Dark, humorous, touching.

Sam is featured in numerous short stories, including the crime mystery, "Dirty Sixth Street, Austin." Four of the young cousins from that story are in this novella.

Sam also narrates some of her own early years to the children in several short stories set in Vermont, including the mystery, "Hello, Darling."

In this story, a novella, Sam encounters her first true challenge in Texas. Probably more than she wanted. (smiles)

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Structure
This work also introduces a structure of much shorter chapters that I've been attracted to for quite awhile now, as a reader and now as a writer. A recent post on my site, I’m Experimenting Again : Lunch with Grandma and Grandpa - Short Chapter Shifts, goes into a little background about that process, plus provides links to more posts.
Shorter chapters, I've realized, simply mirrors a preference I've had most of my life. And actually, doesn't mean the finished piece itself has to be short, simply that the components within the story mirror a more cinematic or TV format. Being also an artist most of my life, probably has enhanced that tendency.

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Themes
Though important, even controversial social subjects are in this work, including issues of illegal immigration, child abuse, police force, and mental illness, my goal has been to embed the “discussion” within the story itself. Multiple viewpoint expressions can do exist in society, and I've tried to do some of that here in this story.
Final conclusions are, as best as I've been able, left for each reader to make.
What I've hoped to achieve was to present counter-flowing nuances.

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With all that said, this book has been great fun to write, and exciting for me to see how it developed.
With all the best wishes, in all your reading and creative efforts -
Sincerely -

Adan