www.horrorscope.death.org is a website posting directions for three assassins with sun sign identities. Their objective is to eliminate specific targets with enough flair to win a Contest of Death. The ultimate prize is a chance to eliminate a high profile government target for a very large sum of money. And the last stage is a “death match” between the killers themselves. The FBI is severely understaffed due to homeland security demands, so the bureau chief in Miami recruits her executive assistant to help her gather facts regarding the serial killings. So newly appointed field agent, Teri Davis, tells her story of how she becomes involved in the case and eventually with the scientist suspected of being Scorpio. Suspense and humor are intertwined into the plot as a constantly over-thinking Teri and her amusing associates put the pieces of the puzzle together along with the pieces of their lives. The targets are a mystery, as are the killers, the webmaster, and the origin of the website. As more messages are entered on the website and more victims meet bizarre deaths, the plot begins to unravel. Teri and the agents get in each other’s way, as suspects begin to appear and then disappear. As time is running out in discovering the identity of the ultimate target, a hunch brings everyone together for a shocking, fast-paced conclusion.
The Starbucks near the office is a storefront shop between a Cuban restaurant, Cuba Libre and a gay bar, Homo Erectus. I was thinking to myself, as I entered the coffee shop that maybe someday I could become field agent Teri Davis rather than Miss Davis, office assistant. Christine was sitting on a gray, leather couch nestled in the back corner of the store. The sole table near the couch was chair-less with a stack of magazines displayed on it. The small table next to it had four chairs around it. Looks like Chris did some furniture moving to secure privacy for our little couch talk. When I approached she reached down to the coffee table in front of the couch and pulled up a grande size go-cup. “Carmel Machiatto. Good thing you’re on time. It’s still hot.” We had bought enough food and drink together throughout our tenure that we knew each other’s culinary tastes for most any occasion. “Why thank you,” I muttered as I went to take a sip and quickly pulled my lips back from the heat pouring through that little slit on the lid. “Wow, you weren’t kidding about it being hot.” Christine smiled and patted the seat cushion next to her, “Come sit, Teri. This won’t take long. I’m sure you got a hot date tonight.” “Define ‘hot’,” I countered. “As in steamy sex with a Brad Pitt look-alike or dinner with a Woody Allen look-alike in a restaurant without air-conditioning?” She smiled and made no attempt to answer. So I put the question to rest. “Actually, I was planning on a quiet night at home – alone. I feel exhausted. Might be coming down with something.” “Maybe you’re just exhausted from your workout this afternoon.” I held back my smile, “Yeah, that might be it. But I’m not taking any chances. I remember Rod McKuen once said that if you’re not feeling well you need to go to bed with a good book….or someone who’s read one.” Christine raised her eyelids and tilted her head for a follow-up. ”Just a good book tonight I’m afraid.” “Good. I hate being jealous. And I have a favor to ask.” I finally sat down. “Glad to be of assistance. What do you need?” Chris brought me up to date about the flyer that fell out of William Jennings’s Miami Herald the night of the murder. She asked me to follow up with the “tech-heads” in D.C. who were investigating the website mentioned on the flyer. Then she handed me a slip of paper. “Teri, this is a list of questions I have for Doctor Harry Mason. He has a Ph. D in both entomology and organic chemistry. Heads up the entomology department at U. of M. and is a consultant to the Miami Zoo. He’s internationally recognized as one of the world’s top veterinary entomologists and toxicologists. Dr. Gold instructed the Miami P. D.’s forensics lab to send a copy of their analysis of the tissue samples from Mrs. Jennings’s neck over to me. They’re working as we speak. It should be on my desk by 9:00 a. m.”
As a marketing executive who has spent the last thirty years writing strategic plans and speeches, as well as seven fiction novels, P. A. Morris believes he has learned how to “spin a yarn”. His degree in psychology has given him insight into character and plot development, which causes the reader to become mentally and emotionally involved in the plot. Thus explaining the following acknowledgement in his books: “I consider myself more of a story teller than a writer. My readers constantly say that reading one of my stories is like watching a movie. That response comes from my writing style. I opt not to describe every object in a room or every detail of every character. I purposely leave room for my readers to inject their imagination into the details. The result is that my readers and I are unraveling the story together. It is like “interactive reading”. When we were young we were taught that reading is fundamental. As adults I believe reading should be fun. I hope you enjoy my stories… and thanks for your help along the way!” P.A. Morris has also authored six feature articles for a national, hospitality industry magazine on how to market, manage and energize a brand or concept. He lives in Seabrook, Texas along with his German Shepherd, Bocephus (Bo).