PW #332: Young Adult Thriller with supernatural elements: STALKING DEATH

Manuscript Status: Finished

Mentor Name: Jenna Lincoln

Mentee Name: Lisen Minetti

Title: STALKING DEATH

Category: Young Adult

Genre: Thriller with supernatural elements

Word Count: 78,000 words

Pitch:

When seventeen-year-old Danielle Burke escaped her death, she became a Survivor: one of the few people able to kill the vengeful ghosts of serial killer victims. Now Dani must return home—the site of her own grisly near-murder—to face four dead girls and their killer in a case eerily similar to her own.

I HUNT KILLERS meets ANNA DRESSED IN BLOOD

Excerpt:

Last time I was here, I killed a man.

Downtown Baltimore is the last place I want to be right now, but here I am, sitting in my car with a large hunting knife concealed behind my back. A trail of sweat trickles down my spine as I get out of the car. Dampness seeps through my wrinkled grey tank top and pools uncomfortably between the leather sheath and my bra.

Damn, it’s hot. Is my deodorant still working? I’m really trying my best to adult right now, so I stretch my arms above my head and take a whiff on the down low. Still good for a little while longer. I slide a pair of cheap sunglasses onto my nose and scan the crowd standing between me and the yellow crime scene tape. How the hell am I supposed to slip through unnoticed?

The rapid clicking of heels on cobblestone is the only warning I get before a well-manicured hand shoves a digital recorder in my face. The wind shifts and I’m overwhelmed by the scent of jasmine perfume. Guess it’s better than the fumes coming off the rapidly decaying corpse a few feet away.

“Danielle! Kylie Jensen with The Baltimore Sun. Can I ask you a few questions? Do you have any comment about your predecessor’s death? What’s your game plan for tracking down the rest of The Butcher’s victims?”