By Donna Galanti
I often get
asked if the characters in my paranormal suspense book A Human Element are “me”. Yes they are…in some ways.
I was a photographer in the U.S. Navy
stationed at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, as Ben Fieldstone is in A Human Element. I worked in Fleet
Intelligence processing top secret film in “the building with no windows”, as
Ben did.
The beauty of Oahu is amazing with its
violently defined landscape, a place to find–and keep–secrets in its hidden
spots. I also lived off base in Honolulu. Likini, the wife of Ben’s friend, in A Human Element is actually named
after the street I lived on, Likini Street (where I got around in a
Herbie-styled 1972 white VW bug).
But in A Human Element, book
1 in the Element Trilogy, you’ll find Hawaii is not all palm trees and Mai Tais.
Ben finds himself in dire circumstances there as a sailor on Oahu one
terrifying night.
I also know of the dangers sailors can find themselves in on the
island of Oahu if they’re not careful. I was told not to go to the Pali Lookout alone, a
spot far above Honolulu in the Koolau Mountains that is set on cliffs with
treacherous falls awaiting those who aren’t careful. Or those who are tossed
off…or those who jump off. It’s known for its moaning, howling winds. People
have disappeared up there, they’d say. It’s a haunted place where the ghosts of
Hawaiian ancestors are said to roam.
But back to
Ben and his night of terror at the Pali Lookout. Can he be saved? More
importantly, can he be saved from himself?Ben meets the Man in Black in Hawaii:
He closed his eyes and forced
himself to find a dark place with peace and no pain. The two men continued to
taunt him, but they echoed far away in a tunnel. He held his breath, willing
himself to pass out. The wild wind of the mountaintop raged around him and
shrieked in his ears.
Then two loud cracks shot out
over the howling wind. The hands on him fell away. He let out a huge sigh,
dizzy from holding his breath.
Ben opened his eyes and craned
his head around to see what had happened. Under the bright moonlight the
outline of the two big Samoans rose up from the overgrown road. They didn't
move. The wind whipped the giant leaves of the banyan and guava trees about
like sails on a great clipper ship. The buzz of traffic from the new Pali road
carried up to him from below. He scanned the area. What had happened? Who else
hid out there? He pulled at the stakes. His hands shook as he tried to break
free.
"Forget it, kid, they're
held down in cement," a deep voice said. "These stupid locals make up
these playgrounds just to mess with us haoles."
Ben swallowed the saliva stuck in
his throat and focused on his surroundings. There stood the green-eyed man,
hidden in the swaying banyan trees. His black outfit blended into the dark
forest. He moved toward Ben and holstered his gun, then popped open a switchblade
from his back pocket.
"I am not here to hurt
you," the man said when Ben shrunk into the rock. "I'm going to cut
the ropes."
In a few swift movements he slit
the ropes binding Ben, who staggered back. The man caught him and held him up,
then ripped off the duct tape.
"Who are you?" Ben's
body trembled from the rush of fear and a fierce headache pounded in his
temple.
The man didn't answer. He bent
over one of the dead Samoans and pulled out a wallet. He looked inside and
threw it at Ben. "It's yours." Then the man led him by the arm down
the overgrown road where he handed Ben his clothes from the brush. He tried to
put them on but his hands shook so bad the man had to help him. He winced from
the whip marks brushing against his jeans and shirt.
"Come on," the man
said. Ben looked back at the dead men sprawled face down. They oozed like two
fat walruses sunning themselves in the moonlight. "Don't worry about them.
I'll dump them later, somewhere they'll never be found."
In a daze, Ben followed his
savior up the rough road, stumbling behind him in the dim moonlight. Those men
had carried him unconscious down this road.
"I'll take you back to base
then you're on your own," the man said once they reached his car, parked
off the main road. "Don't speak of this to anyone. Understand?"
Ben nodded and climbed in the
car. He looked over at the stranger in black who had saved him. "You were at my foster mother's funeral.
Why are you following me? Why save me?"
"I'm an interested party.
Leave it at that."
"I can't. I would have died
up there for sure."
The man didn't respond.
"Thank you."
The man looked at Ben. His green
eyes glowed in the moonlight that filtered into the car. "Someday you
might not thank me. Someday you may not survive."
About A Human Element:
Evil comes in many forms…
One by one,
Laura Armstrong’s friends and adoptive family members are being murdered, and
despite her unique healing powers, she can do nothing to stop it. The savage
killer haunts her dreams, tormenting her with the promise that she is next.
Determined to find the killer, she follows her visions to the site of a crashed
meteorite in her hometown. There, she meets Ben Fieldstone, who seeks answers
about his parents’ death the night the meteorite struck. In a race to stop a
madman, they unravel a frightening secret that binds them together. But the
killer’s desire to destroy Laura face-to-face leads to a showdown that puts
Laura and Ben’s emotional relationship and Laura’s pure spirit to the test.
With the killer closing in, Laura discovers her destiny is linked to his, and
she has two choices—redeem him or kill him.
**Get your
evil on with this re-release, A Human
Element, book 1 in the Element Trilogy! Newly edited, new scenes, new
cover! Book 2 in the Element Trilogy, A
Hidden Element, releases 8/28!**
Praise for A Human Element:
“Be afraid.
Be very afraid. And be utterly absorbed by this riveting debut that had me
reading till the wee hours of the night. A thriller star is born.” –M.J.
Rose, International
bestselling author“An elegant and haunting first novel. Unrelenting, devious but full of heart. Highly recommended.” –Jonathan Maberry, New York Times best-selling author
About Donna:
Donna Galanti writes
murder and mystery with a dash of steam as well as middle grade adventure
fiction. She is an International Thriller Writers Debut Author of the
paranormal suspense novel A Human Element,
A Hidden Element (August 2014), the
short story collection The Dark Inside,
and Joshua and The Lightning Road
(Books 1 and 2, 2015). She’s lived from England as a child, to Hawaii as a U.S.
Navy photographer.
Website: www.ElementTrilogy.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/DonnaGalanti
Facebook: www.facebook.com/DonnaGalantiAuthor
Purchase A Human
Element, book 1 in the Element Trilogy,
here: http://amzn.to/1mNcyCO
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