CLOSURE - Now available from Dancing With Bear Publishing!

Award winning author Marie McGaha has re-written her previously released book, Closure. With new scenes, the adult language and steamy love scenes gone, this book will still take your breath away. If you are one for high action thrillers, crime scenes the way they should be written, and a romantic relationship with the accent on "romance", then this book is for you.

"I never liked writing er*tica in any sub-genre, but as a new author who desperately wanted a publishing contract, I took that first publishers' advice and wrote in the "those" love scenes. I always felt as if I was in the p*rn business because every time I wrote an explicit scene, I felt dirty," says McGaha. "And many times, I had to knock back a few drinks to be able to write the requisite smut. So, now, I was writing smut and drinking, which didn't set well with my Christian background.

"I had been ordained in 1996, along with my first husband, Bear. He and I had a wonderful ministry with the Lord, but after his motorcycle accident, everything changed and the thud could be heard around the world. After his death in 2010, I knew I couldn't continue writing what I was writing. God gives us all talent, whether it's singing, playing instruments, dancing, or writing, all of those talents are to be used to glorify God, not ourselves.

"So, I began asking publishers to let me out of my contracts, and all but one has. Noble Romance Publishing has the worst of the worst, and won't even answer my emails, much less release me from the contracts. But I continue to pray and wait for the day that the contracts are released."

Blurb:

High in the hills above Albuquerque, New Mexico, Detective Zachariah Ellison arrives at the scene of a murder, and not just any murder, but one that definitely falls into the œgruesome category even for a seasoned cop like Zach. When another body is found murdered in much the same fashion, Zach knows he's got a serial killer on his hands, and to top it off, he's got an assist-ant district attorney hounding him about the case. As Zach tries to investigate the crimes while sidestepping nosey Amy Logan, a third body is found and Zach hasn't a clue as to whom the perpetrator might be.

Amy Logan has worked hard to put herself through school and pay for law school on her own. Now that she's secured a position as an assistant district attorney in Albuquerque, she's determined to do everything she can to be the best prosecutor this office has ever seen. And, as if luck was following her, she's been assigned to the biggest homicide case the city has ever seen. The only problem she's having is the homicide detective who's leading the investi-gation”Zach Ellison.

Excerpt::

Zachariah Ellison ducked under the yellow crime scene tape that surrounded the area where the victim had been found. He shook his head as he saw a rookie cop run behind one of the police vehicles and puke. Zach had puked at a crime scene once or twice as well, but it had been a long time ago, and he thought now that nothing bothered him anymore. He couldn't afford for it to. He'd always known he'd be a homicide detective, even before he'd become a cop, although he wasn't sure if he'd chosen it or if it had chosen him. Either way, he didn't think too much about it anymore. He just did his job.

No attempt had been made to hide the body, even though it had been left in a remote area of the mountains east of Albuquerque, New Mexico. The area was sparsely populated. The trees weren't dense in this particular part of the high desert, but hikers often trekked up this way. Whoever had left the body here obviously wanted it to be found, but they'd been careful about it. The group of hikers that had found the dead man was still shaken by the sight, and a couple of them looked pretty green as officers took their statements.

Zach walked around the body, looking it over with experienced eyes. He'd been a cop for twenty years, fifteen spent in homicide, and he'd seen everything there was to see. Or so he believed most of the time. Though it still never failed to amaze Zach at how depraved human beings truly were. He'd seen some crime scenes that made him shake his head, wondering just how someone had even thought up such ways to commit murder. And this crime scene was one of them.

The cops at the scene gave Zach a wide berth while he continued his slow perusal of the corpse. His hands were clasped behind his back, his head tilted to one side as if the angle would give him an advantage. He was impressed with this murder. He'd seen a lot of messy crime scenes that immediately told him if the murder had been committed in the heat of the moment, a crime of passion, a crime of hate, or a drug deal gone bad. But this scene was almost a pleasure to work as far as Zach was concerned. It was nice and tidy in spite of the hideous method used to kill the man.

This murder had not been committed in the heat of the moment”it had been planned to the tiniest detail. There was no heated rage in this one”no, this was cold rage that had deadly, calculated results. This was personal. The killer had known his victim, had planned the murder, probably for years before actually carrying out the plan. There would be no regret, no remorse on the part of whoever had committed the crime.

No”Zach shook his head and smiled almost imperceptibly”whoever killed this man was proud of their work.

Zach wasn't a profiler, but he'd been on the job long enough to be able to figure out a few things on his own, without bringing in a psychologist to do it for him. Whoever had killed this man was making a point, and the hatred he felt for the victim was a palpable entity hanging on the air.



Some things people have said about Closure:

"Gruesome doesn't even describe this story."

"Although I found the graphic murder scenes almost too gruesome to read, the tension and element of danger increased with each murder that took place."

"The plot was spectacular with a twist that you will never see coming. I enjoyed the vivid crime scene portrayal."