The Birth of Damnation

Maggie Quinn was expecting to find plenty of trouble with D and D Lisa over spring break. Destination: South Padre Island! And they planned to enjoy every bit of it – just like nice, normal college freshmen. Fire, brimstone, and demonic sorority girls: these ladies are officially off the clock.

But Maggie doesn’t have to go looking for trouble. Trouble has started looking for her. One dead cow and a punctured gas tank later, she and Lisa are stuck in Dulcina, Texas, a town so small it has an owner. And – you guessed it – lately life in this particular small town hasn’t been all that peaceful. An eerie predator is stalking the ranch land. Cattle are dying mysteriously, with strange bite marks on their hides. And judging by the rising body count, whatever’s doing the killing is getting bolder by the day.

Everyone in town has a theory, but not even Maggie’s psychic mojo can provide any answers. And the longer the girls are stranded, the more obvious it becomes that something is seriously wrong. Only no one – not even Maggie’s closest ally – wants to admit that they could have been forced to detour down the highway to hell.

It looks like fighting evil isn’t a job with vacation time.

AUTHOR: ROSEMARY CLEMENT-MOORE

Rosemary Clement Moore loves ancient and modern history, Jane Austen and Madeleine L’Engle, the Food Network, the SciFi Channel, and Guitar Hero. She used to live on South Texas ranch with horses, cows, coyotes, skunks, and mosquitoes of hellish origin. Since moving back to civilization with her husband and dogs, she is most grateful that there is a Starbucks within walking distance and she no longer has to shoot rattlesnakes from her front porch.

Highway to Hell is her third book featuring Maggie Quinn. You can visit Rosemary at http://www.rosemaryclementmoore.com.

1. While browsing the young adult section of a bookstore, a black-and-orange book stood out catching MY FULL ATTENTION. I picked it up and noticed its design resembles Cosmo magazine cartoons I used to sketch back in college. So start accusing me of not reading books I purchase. It is not a crime.
2. Maggie Quinn is described as a cross between Nancy Drew and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The Buffy comparison is easy to spot, tough-as-nails girls with a fondness for paranormal action. “Fondness” is not a fair description, more like “a magnet for paranormal action.” And Quinn gets the worse end of it, as she and her amateur sorcerer best friend Lisa attracts demons instead of cute vampires. It is, however, her likeness with the iconic teen detective that I get a kicked out of. Maggie does (supernatural) sleuthing on the side while maintaining a decent relationship with a boy, like her spiritual sister Nancy does in her well-documented exploits. These girls are difficult role-models. Balancing the personal and the professional is not simple, but these gals found the right combination to make it work. Let me see them get married.
3. Judging by the number of spoilers I insensitively recorded on this site, it is quite amusing to find a number of readers coming back for more. There is an ongoing sadomasochistic relationship neither logic nor social norms can rationalize. It is for this little fact I avoided entertaining ideas of disclosing or even hinting at the “who” or “it” in this paranormal whodunit. It involves a popular urban legend but not presented in the usual manner. I just could not help it. Apologies. To be fair, I have been CRYPTIC. (Might have dropped a hint so go figure it out.)
4. If for some reason, the omnipresent Catholic Church finds time to peruse the third paperback escapade of Quinn, some of  their sensibilities might find one of the character’s (a seminarian) dithering faith, horrible. Or unacceptable. Persistent complaints of corruption inside the sacred corners of the church aside, our esteemed priests and bishops should not bother condemning acts of sorceries to counter the murderous acts of the main antagonist. Nor should the detailed magical-and-miraculous-crossbreed protection in one of the chapters ruffle their blessed feathers. No. This is just a fun read. No need to be suspicious. Or self-righteous.
5. Highway to Hell is not the first of the Girl vs Evil series; and I hope there rest is available in local book stores (no luck finding one after checking three bookstores last month) because I need some Maggie Quinn fix in the near future. Like tomorrow.