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Gone Without a Trace Between 2011 and 2014, five young girls living within a 40 mile radius of Sutton, Tennessee, disappeared. They were never seen again. Until Now Sarah Nordstrom has returned. With an anguished request for twelve year old Ben Hilary. "Find Me..." These words will send Ben on a terrifying quest to uncover the truth about what really happened to five lost girls. A journey that will cause him to question everything he believes in. And everyone he trusts. Trust No One Because there’s someone in the shadows. Watching Ben’s progress. Someone who has everything to lose. Someone who will kill to make sure that the past remains buried. The 5 - a novel by Richard Freeland ***** Interview with Thriller Writer Richard Freeland Q - Your latest book is “The 5″, a paranormal thriller. What’s the story behind the book? RF - They say write what you know, and “The 5″, while fiction, has it’s birthplace in my own youth, visiting my grandparents in a small Tennessee town that became Sutton in the book. Ben’s grandparent’s house in Sutton closely mirrors my grandparent’s home, right down to the spooky cellar. Q - Are the issues you touch on in the book, like trying to win a parent’s love, coming of age, burgeoning sexuality, and the uncertainty of growing up, issues that you dealt with as a child? RF - I think we all go through some of the things Ben experiences in the book. The emotional things, I mean. My Dad was a stepdad and I loved him tremendously, but sometimes he was hard to relate to. And he could be kind of aloof. And all guys, and girls probably, experience that unsettled sexual awakening period. I know that if a girl even looked at me at that age I’d lose my capacity for intelligent thought! Girls were the great mystery when we were in our early teens. So a lot of those feelings crept into the story. Q - What motivated you to become a writer of occult thrillers? RF - Riches! Fame! Fortune! No, really, I like to write, to explore ideas and situations and try to come to terms with things. But what’s a writer without a reader? I knew I wanted to reach more people than just my friends and family. Then there’s that whole fame and fortune thing... Q - What do you want your fans to experience when reading your work? RF - I want to write stories that resonate. Tales that make my readers care for what’s happening to the characters. That scare and entertain and keep them on the edge of their seats. And maybe learn a little about themselves and those around them. Q - What authors have most inspired you? RF - I think I should have been born in the pulp age. My Dad turned me on to reading at an early age. He loved Edgar Rice Burroughs, Zane Grey, Luke Short, and a host of others. He had all the Tarzan and John Carter of Mars books, and some really old dime paperbacks from before WWII, and I read most of them as a boy, and they all influenced me. A co-worker once gave me a copy of “The Key-Lock Man”, by Louis L’Amour, and I was hooked. He’s my huge western influence, and I think of him as a mentor. Then there’s King, Koontz, McCammon, Preston & Child...the list goes on. Q - What do you have in the works? RF - My main goal right now is finishing an epic historical paranormal thriller (how’s that for cross genre?). It’s called “Seed”, and will be released as a trilogy. The first book in the set is being edited as we speak. I’m also in the planning stages of a paranormal thriller series featuring Macon Grant, a really bad ass character with certain Abilities, but also towing along a lot of serious baggage. Mac and his motley crew will be thrown in to some pulse-pounding situations, I think. The first book in the series is tentatively titled “Ravager”. Q - Sounds like quite a ride. RF - Finger’s crossed. Hopefully, readers will think so, too.

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