Into the Deep (29 page)

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From Fire and Ice

Dark Muse

David Simms

Does music
have the power to invade the soul?

Beware of the Dark Muse
...

Sixteen year old Muddy Rivers has always wanted to fit in with the "regular" crowd. He aches for a romance with his blind friend, Poe, but knows he doesn't stand a chance. He hopes that his life as the guitarist for his band, the Accidentals, will help him accomplish gaining her attention and acceptance from others.. But then his older brother disappears playing a mysterious song and Muddy is plunged into a world of music where songs come to life. He learns where musicians get their ideas and at what price. He must learn to harness the power of the legendary crossroads and what lies on the other side if they are to conquer a series of trials which no one expects "special" or "different" teens to even survive.

Along with drummer Otis, singer Poe, and saxophonist Corey, each battling their own disabilities or demons, Muddy must cross the river that is the source for all creativity. Once there, the band fights a world alive with horrors none can imagine and realize their path to redemption is hindered by two obstacles that may trap them there forever, if not destroy them: the Tritons, vicious inhuman leaders of the strange world, and the Dark Muse, something, or someone who wields the full power of the River. Their fight to survive and retrieve his brother calls for them to build a stairway to heaven, sail smoke on the water, become iron men, and walk this way across the abyss. But their ultimate battle may prove in vain--it might not save Muddy's brother from the darkness, and may awaken something far more deadly.

Also Available
From Fire and Ice

Twenty Minutes Late

Caroline Crane

Cree arrives late for her babysitting job to find the mother gone, the older child in a daze, and the baby missing without a trace. The police, the neighborhood searchers, even the FBI can find no clues.

At school, Cree makes a new friend, a girl with troubles of her own. Maddie has just escaped from an obsessed and violent boyfriend who continues to stalk her. Her handsome brother Ben, who has Asperger's syndrome, is also accused of stalking, although in his case it was unintentional. Cree and Maddie team up to find some answers. But there are those who don't want the answers found.

As things come to a head, Cree finds an odd connection between the two cases. If she can live to tell about it.