Old Habits

By Elizabeth Horton-Newton

Gaunt Thibideaux is a man of habits. You know what they say; old habits die hard. Some habits are good, some are bad, and some are just plain unique. Gaunt's biggest secret isn't how he grows beautiful flowers and wonderful vegetables. What else has he planted over the years? What happens when one person's habit impacts the lives of others?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Elizabeth Horton-Newton
• Release date: Jun 24, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386518495

Elizabeth Horton-Newton

Elizabeth Horton-Newton was born in New York City, and was 10 years old when President John Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. As she watched the events unfold on television she became fascinated. This lifelong interest resulted in her first novel, "View From the Sixth Floor: An Oswald Tale". With the release of her second book, "Riddle", she once again tackles a social issue; the illegal adoption of First Nations babies separated from their families. Small town prejudices against people of color and "outsiders" results in a unique friendship between two young people. Weaving a romantic thriller around the issues, she creates rich characters in all her writing, drawing the reader into their lives. With her education in Criminal Psychology, Sociology, and Media Communications she offers a unique insight into how criminals think and how society responds to their crimes. Volunteering in local Domestic Violence groups in her hometown, she likes to confront social problems in her stories. Elizabeth currently lives in a 100-year old haunted house with her husband, writer Neil Douglas Newton, and her dog, Scout (named for a character in "To Kill a Mockingbird"). Not limited to a single genre, she has written erotic romance, "Carved Wooden Heart" (with the mysterious Starla Hartless), and the suspenseful "Stolen Gypsy", as well as novelettes through Electric Eclectic Books. For more information on Elizabeth, check out her website at http://bit.ly/homeEHN.

Book preview

Introduction

Part One

Introduction

I have always been fascinated by serial killers. It’s an obsession that began when I was thirteen years old and cajoled my mother into buying me Gerold Frank’s book, The Boston Strangler; a graphic investigation of the murders that took place in Boston in the early 1960’s. The protagonist in Old Habits comes from years of reading about the crimes of The Green River Killer, Ted Bundy, Jack the Ripper, and H.H. Holmes. With a nod to the classiest fictional serial killer, Hannibal Lecter, and a wink at Springheel Jack, Gaunt Thibideaux was born. I hope you enjoy getting to know him.

The author lives in a 100 year-old house in a small city in East Tennessee with her husband, author Neil Douglas Newton, and her dog Scout, named for a character in To Kill a Mockingbird. She enjoys traveling and taking photographs, especially of her four children, six grandchildren, and one great grandson.

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Between The Beats (Blog)

Part One

Gaunt Thibideaux was a man of habits. Some people in the town of Burkesville said he was set in his ways. That’s the way folks talked in Burkesville. In the summer Gaunt would mow his yard three times a week, Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday, whether it needed it or not. If it rained, as it frequently did in summer in Burkesville, Gaunt would wait for a break and mow between showers. In the fall he raked his leaves on the same schedule. In the winter if it snowed, which it rarely did in Burkesville, he would shovel on the same schedule.

Every morning in fall, winter, and spring Gaunt would drive to work along the same route. Down Hickory, the street on which his eighty-seven-year-old semi-Victorian sat, left onto Pine and past the school bus stop, then onto Old Woodmill Road until he came to Route 117. However, in summer he would change slightly and take Hickory to High School Road where the town’s only high school sat, along with the community pool and park where families would gather in the summer to splash and play and generally relax in the hot Burkesville sun.

Gaunt Thibideaux was a creature of habit because Gaunt had a secret. Gaunt enjoyed watching the children. He mostly liked the younger ones. Something about their innocence touched his heart. He would watch them on the first day of school every fall, gathered at the school bus stop looking slightly anxious in their shiny new shoes. The boys would group together sometimes punching one another lightly on the arms in an effort to overcome the uneasiness they felt at the prospect of facing new teachers and new lessons. The girls would stand in small clusters, whispering among themselves, casting glances at the boys and making unkind comments about the other girls and their new school clothes. He would slow his truck as he passed, always careful in case some impatient youngster ran across the road, eager to greet a friend. This also allowed him the opportunity to scan the groups of children and observe them in the scientific manner of a researcher noting the habits of strange yet somehow familiar creatures.

Fall was his favorite time of year. It was the time when the children were most vulnerable, when their uncertainty throbbed with a visceral energy. In winter they would be bundled against the cold; thick coats, wool hats pulled low over eyes, scarves wrapped securely around