The Other Side
Melinda's Story
Starr Gardinier Reina
Melinda James has a problem. She’s in Skyview Haven because her entire family and best friend are dead. Did she kill them? Does she belong in the asylum keeping her from harming herself and others?
Her father Paul James is killed in a car accident. She attends his funeral and she does see him lying in the casket. Or does she? It turns out her best friend Beth is the one who is dead and her father is there to console her. What is going on?
She thinks she’s going crazy, especially when she discovers both are actually gone from this earth and they talk to her from…‘the other side.’ Are her father and Beth actually speaking to her from beyond? Why? What do they want?
Soon, Melinda finds the answers and they aren’t what she wants to hear.
Paul insists he was killed and his whole family is in danger.
This is part of Melinda’s story that she shares with Dr. Alex Leever,
the psychiatrist who is assigned her case. All she wants is someone to
hear her story—and believe. Melinda slowly begins to trust Dr. Leever
and steadily reveals her long, complicated, intricate tale.
While at Skyview, Melinda meets Trent and they become friends, until
she learns something about him that rocks her world. Is he there to hurt
her? Does he want what her father was killed over?
Problems mount quickly and she discovers that there are people who want
something only she can give them. Is Trent one of those people?
Her family tries to help from beyond, but Melinda is running out of
time. She needs to give them what they want or die. Can the dead protect
the living? Will they be enough to protect her?
PROLOGUE
I tried to tell them it was going to happen, but nobody would listen.
They all said I was just having bad dreams, or that I was crazy.
It started at my father’s funeral. It’s been so long since it first
began, about eight years ago. Sometimes though, it seems like yesterday.
My father was there. No, I don’t mean just in the casket. He was there.
He talked to me, begged me to tell Mom that we all needed to run and
hide. He said we were all in danger.
I asked him why he didn’t tell Mom himself. He said he tried, but she
wasn’t listening. I heard him fine. But I didn’t believe him. Why would
we be in danger? We can’t just up and leave. My friends are all here in
Beaumont. When I told him this, he said it was important, that it was a
matter of life and death. He seemed so worried, but I was so confused, I
blew him off.
I guess when it first happened I didn’t pay any heed to his warning. We
went on with our lives. Mom was grief stricken, my brother Kyle was in
his own world playing videos and I was trying to shut my father out of
my mind. Was I going crazy? What was wrong with me? Dad was dead, but I
could still see and hear him.
If I tell you the story, will you believe me?
About the author:
A paralegal by day, she’s an author by night. Apart from being an award winning author for her short story "Cut", Reina has appeared in a blaze and made her mark on the literary world with her Ivanovich Series. The
first is “In the Name of Revenge”, the second, “Deadly Decisions” and the third, "One Major Mistake" was released July 10, 2012. Having studied and obtained her Bachelor’s Degree in Literature/Creative Writing, she has found her unique style and is known for her works' distinctive voice, making every character stand out.
Reina is the artistic creator of the Ivanovich series featuring Pavel Ivanovich. Flanking Ivanovich's side in "Deadly Decisions" is Teresa Mancini, who vies with Ivanovich for readers' attention. According to J.M. LeDuc, who was "raised in an Italian family", Teresa "is perfect...like all your characters". Reina is also the author of young adult novella "Cruel Whispers" and its sequel novel "Cruel Past".
Reina is an executive editor for Suspense Magazine. She has been interviewed in the newspaper and on the radio with relation to her fiction work. She has been a co-host on Suspense Radio.
Reina is a member of International Thriller Writers (ITW) and of Sisters in Crime, Los Angeles Chapter and nationally. She has won three Best Speaker awards as well as Best Evaluator at the Voice Ambassadors chapter of Toastmasters. She has always been active in events. As co-chair and main coordinator for the West Coast Author Premiere, she arranged the weekend-long event to help authors from all over network,
learn and share their work with the public. Reina has also been instrumental in compiling authors and planning a local author event at Barnes and Noble in Ventura, California along with the store’s event manager.
Please read more about Starr at www.QueenWriter.com or visit her blog
at www.qw-blog.blogspot.com.
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www.facebook.com/Starr-Gardinier-Reina (author page)
www.twitter.com/SGReina
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