Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

The Surrounding: A Spectral Mystery
The Surrounding: A Spectral Mystery
The Surrounding: A Spectral Mystery
Ebook281 pages4 hours

The Surrounding: A Spectral Mystery

Rating: 0 out of 5 stars

()

Read preview

About this ebook

Wildfires ravage much of Central Florida. They have burned out of control for weeks and nothing seems to be able to stop them.



In the tiny Spiritualist Village of Cassadaga, 71-year-old retiree and widower Everett Chambers, a certified medium and spiritual counselor, struggles with depression and loneliness following the death of his beloved wife, Eleanor.



One evening at an "All Message Service" Ev (as he likes to be called) receives a strange and ambiguous communication from the other world. It appears that a young woman who has recently "passed over" is desperately trying to contact her sister named Katherine. For some mysterious reason Ev has been chosen as the conduit.



At that moment 26-year-old Orlando television traffic reporter Katie OHara is experiencing frustrations with her job and is restless to find something more in life. One morning as she appears on a local news broadcast Ev and his friend and neighbor Jonelle Smathers see her traffic report. Ev is immediately convinced beyond doubt that she is the "Katherine" he is to contact.



His first attempts to communicate this "message" to Katie fail miserably. She, her co-worker Chantelle Sonnier, and Katies fianc Dan Abel, a local architect, all believe Ev to be a crackpot, "one of those Spiritualist kooks," and dismiss him outright.



Katie and Dan escape for a weekend of skiing on the Indian River near the Ponce Inlet Lighthouse. She continues to think about the odd message from the persistent old man in Cassadaga. One night at dinner she and Dan meet Rudy Vasquez, a college friend of Dans who is a detective with the Daytona Beach police department. Later we learn of a serial murderer of young women that has been dubbed by the press as "The Resort Killer."



In The Surrounding all these disparate elements eventually converge. Even as the wildfires continue to burn Ev and Katies fates become inexorably intertwined in a suspenseful and dangerous quest. They are forced to work together if they are to solve the haunting mystery of a dead girls true identity and to bring her murderer to justice.



In the process both the young woman and the old man have their own intimate and powerful encounters with the world of spirits. Each finds an emotional reconnection with loved ones who have "passed over" and each ultimately is forced to come face to face with the greatest mystery of them all.

LanguageEnglish
PublisherXlibris US
Release dateApr 14, 2003
ISBN9781462830442
The Surrounding: A Spectral Mystery
Author

Jim Lawrence

Jim Lawrence lives in the North Carolina mountains with has partner Barbara and a precocious Cairn Terrier. He spent several years in Los Angeles working as a writer/director before going into higher education. He has taught screenwriting, video production and nonlinear video editing at the university level, and in retirement he now teaches courses in the UNCA College for Seniors. He and Barbara have made a number of trips to Scotland. He studied Scottish-Gaelic for six years but confesses that the language “finally got the better of him.” 

Read more from Jim Lawrence

Related to The Surrounding

Related ebooks

Suspense For You

View More

Related articles

Related categories

Reviews for The Surrounding

Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
0 ratings

0 ratings0 reviews

What did you think?

Tap to rate

Review must be at least 10 words

    Book preview

    The Surrounding - Jim Lawrence

    Qabook_preview_excerpt.html|ۮFa0(yT.W[0 ˲%e  ASD'4'%;Hyydľ%/Ӑ_>{ŏO{_Ey]y1>t551 qpu;\T0yMߞG-4MRT/uXCcFBWW{s7 -!̧Їp:0=%8r'K|9׿<4XM3Sw#C7U9_㠇TZ~}`E'm<8BF]yx=+ȗHQ=ޝv7ԝLa)c?oxʡ<j3(chSs.`[plI?zKT6*Lzvf .W! U߰]eƊ;9 yo|=U*vb!APO:NjP$X%Cs+|݄S]fӓ|mlSG;q)SjSj]uө;$Tg`:ACΰ*%S:VJ [p{71n+;>'B{:[I8Nx\6c]?xb5~!NϦF~8D7w e;\Lmxd['駂°1ͽw=\6LSw:]=PXbdFoR#]bWqY)BĻ|C! ᚛=̴\/W<^ESݧ~KswiFݙ-qZssN,~!fnx<XBܹDw+T[)A$BPSR}x h#X\` A :6 aMʐ=oYZ$5f\o&#QĔm ݢ8#DrHdZΊΰ :&=zL̵F" 8шCWHC uPnݪ|psh9`5c}íu"kH1 N)* YZ@ڙA& P1QįtUPZG8BT 5C³+xrP8 &G}% ܮ,.,1SFNPi7~{ ut3J4%{z$k<) 93q:ϢȤ yŴ8Ǘp!B xE@b8w `De6HJ4_wNf@q͙o1߀>~w;eS*]^ "eO&~z܈;/ P-<IH5dbʆ1+T MƗ%S;{5XD6A.!p4#{$H ?. W/s&kKpfɟ[}bC<ʈEcIA'CXCשfHןe{@\kB!A3NcCm64 8hBt mfL$LGYܸ6IZ Gqd"-6 ?RKS}!߆fkT 瑁 ` #M1}e߉1ڗ RQPb 4Y|> 79Я2 mג1â1pҷKL}&Q> Bؖ8VVn|bmp=,OC2}y)6n|b]RkD7`ajX |j=c)7>TDgd( BMDYʰVۙ7N:Gr@%yOh= Dsb8KYsH/2wZqH7oB^&Eow%\Eܴ<\-7S:pd~(apٚMѸ7vgwN^q=js ٓra{w6P:7Xnn?u^5&+JC3d rRY%3O"+^Bf@}R\6)^zP >HYB LpP_܌1 6 &nNH=uIQ.Jd9>=؁Y&J̵{-OpNz ?YNJ c? "c P>뤐oaL /'ϙIZJ%¤TtC _AWo"p담S0[Y_M» DhyrH+ )#?!Ѿ藏 t9C cǪʵm/lU*bN{HĤ6oY_RzCNf`Qo߫ݱ^w_1GڬQ%ez":Jw ,E.n$_h T;8:FԷ1L+Xs~m#ύɝw5l4eʿB;YvGSM~:!  $L [$#'=} Xk)P!o0X~ ]=0ĪHnADpa*YeEܼv l&Dny4U 1mOm9 }gpa#_yKJC`Mکrͳ:MLƨ֊w!f *.׼}[m! 4hPO$桔(T#PbӥY:>٢:Kh_0T*" Q5%Ʃ~Bu'b[ڡʘ*9D찳Xte,3l3r6_+&Fy/G͎j$Q&JYTQ௉?QbGƩ:ܔN,@LsG,~NVNȞ, Y)~r6admh;L|ycZJLY$޾3ʆR2M`i^ig#vܶ=ImhGpF&ە87mjȗ\[nDsÛ6%X}#uٍ[H?qOXcP8|ndgQgn 75D ˲MeЂ&aA݄Zfě*:#R/lla/:ZMP+750qJP?ˌò l{ `aP3cS*y[,h-A]}[o9k 7FG?2#zpmvkjGZt]GrsY Z(m4Ry zn`ECx0 ?S 2JWGsnYq:Oџݜc1r;ŵOLvq ̾p.՘B4S1S,^F/X4 ZX-J: {Mb% `PC;C8B;=F äЇuUGo1IMVx_`X{羶RΠ1*tSR-QxtOwP+}*kN3f}HLW5fF!J5_[Fs%GoI!$vtkE b亡$-IJ-x9 jlz m;}ھz<٦gVթ!jw /w+~DCAl0N0)W?I V+#AB%tF{:JQ)a)WIzEh:fꤲS8^She|Tb C"Ot- {oRN-Bvé_dY`6 ixv]yg+ +%~},tn7kvb`EObOq[zwDSj #]͵m&IAMCg@`K=B'PgQ OymK^U3(%eMzpAw *v.m'%]4F>l̛!kR^0޲*v84_~~u,M`vbZK &]H&TGa^}űJyv;Yp8C1Z:ɬںpm|5ʲp^R6F:zLe]t Cxg?Yt F ҞvUh7jV(/.RH'#~m# .b1fOk2ܠ͠"@H\yLkk^|SRˤV:ڋXJ@#d sߔRb'>(`䱔j/]8Ե-C%V/U$n_xI nt/q o/ wY jbC`V&VlJ]~gfg^״"Le icqZ#B=DIARr\؞NpOOŀ>ekvސkLz6Xl]j3 K}q.Vm6Êm{ %UEMxQ5ZYϿ*XA+ l;,Y֑&_\nL,Ld(¶X+bi+;/3,Y'!'ڤRG:ezN,ʹ=FSr[[]T(ǏMw{XSc@,G;-cg?j&wk\.T};F:"3*jZXlт vVAf m;*ف8bGϬjfoM$5yA+bIh4P8 kllJDƹz-kX,8aú0 (3 ZBh+h}`ґ8DZ>񶙉Cֵ9Jp.>&uI=j\j~rU8 XuYFN|=\IuH 2Z+p8eX\S`qyF诬(xYe>:Qm9"ש8 ͩ-!]>y_`ӆ.qO/(D 5(ەծIZɤXYqUQR/9ù5TpO9O4X$X\fU*]F (} 'j8\r)b9W;2Vsgg[1UIkx -6Yk5a{yW㛟RjLץ%SĞ Ѷڥ:Z*jcfQU>!:vl`4ʪi嘤H]G){ېmu_%KcmWyG~J` 5v^ve:ZUT{*ت (nɞ6S69EG|0ofM2³엦M]*bp+qɒ|&S"#hL`ٶPԬZ賚BWBil%7SBŪP`^VCJ"ޢ@F^FK=@9Yio롵x>\[^zg_M$9&&Y-wzeϥk3m=jjj0^Y<0* #5"Y?\+,U0D`,B#3~@iT%2HZ|ړ,=}lU{&Um`Lo Xx̊36YM yud-/0J,-`@c}Ĺfs1w^$4A o[lV!P,o9,H|]0m:c 0g;aSҙY9$}{iHL N)2^b/ r3ױ:.bTLRR(~^{-Xtkkwʀ'{d!CWP(YA~Wɔ!$T(4lرQ%i,Q| ^;3x?hs죽GB33]Nsw F Xf~ω4ɕbޱXL4SF[ۅo% xzo=/a0Pm\ ]hJYW[h3K 8=0y |?m+,otqHsXDgg kإY^`myCLnoO&q6KFDqVGކ"L76γjyGO0;aUG,KLNhS8CU
    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1