Excerpt!
Excerpt from “The Vessels” (Book 1) — Chapter 27, The Rogue
(Eric is the serial killer spirit that returns and goes rogue for revenge. He is the primary villain throughout the series.)
Flesh and mist swirled together until they painfully regrouped into Matheus’s sick and weakened body. He collapsed on a filthy sidewalk just off a back alley, organs sliding back into place, heart struggling to beat. Horns honked and traffic flew past while Eric waited for Matheus’s scrambled brain to fire up his parasympathetic nerves and bring things back online. Transport was as easy as breathing in a Vessel, but in an average human, especially one this feeble and infirm, it was like trying to hurl a tornado. The nearby dumpster dribbled foul juices. Homeless people and prostitutes walked the dirty streets of gang-tagged stores, and a pawnshop’s neon sign flashed advertisements for slot machines.
Downtown Reno.
Eric recognized it from trips he’d taken in human life. He’d transported them here from San Francisco, targeting that new Vessels Program the Spirit Guard had mentioned. They must be close.
In India, where he’d entered this plane, the Program was based in an orphanage forty kilometers from the lake. Here, it must be that homeless shelter on the corner, the one with the soup kitchen entry on one side and the gated courtyard. All these Programs were alike—based in some kind of overlooked business that served others, near a lake owned by an indigenous tribe, and run by a bunch of do-gooders out to make the world a better place. The whole thing made him sick. Only the strongest, toughest, and most self-serving would survive, so why bother with anyone else?
Outside the shelter, a petite woman with wavy hair leaned against a SUV, a hybrid, of course, from the looks of it. She spoke to a thirty-something, blond man behind the wheel. The Rogue felt the tattoo around the man’s ankle, as well as his inner strength. This man was a Vessel, albeit newly marked, and he didn’t yet have the coin.
Perfect.
The Vessels is a supernatural sci-fi trilogy by screenwriter Anna M. Elias. In this thrilling and emotionally captivating novel series, police detective Tallulah Davis loses everyone that was ever important to her. Ready to end her life, she is saved by a secret Vessels program in Reno, Nevada and leads a diverse group of equally broken strangers who become human Vessel hosts for spirits that return to seek forgiveness, restore love, and right wrongs from their past. By doing so, the spirits elevate humankind and earn their place in Elysium. But — not every journey goes as planned, not every spirit seeks redemption, and not every Vessel survives. Especially when the spirit of a serial killer returns and goes rogue in his quest for revenge.
In The Coin: Book 2, the Vessels brave their most life-threatening journeys yet. Tal is forced to the brink of death and a new Vessel arrives with a shocking surprise. Meanwhile, Eric’s spirit fights to come back through one of the ancient Vessel coins.
In The Return: Book 3, Eric is back and bonds into a new Vessel whose vicious desire for power and revenge equals his own. Until a new and powerful Spirit Guard arrives to help stop Eric’s rising tide of evil for good. But doing so will come at a price that pits spirits against Vessels, love against hate, and father against son in a war only one side can win.
Author bio:
Anna graduated from the University of Florida and began her career as Don Johnson’s assistant on the TV series, Miami Vice. She worked in production for years on feature films like Nell, 12 Monkeys, A Time to Kill, Practical Magic, and My Dog Skip before turning her hand to screenwriting. She has written many films and TV scripts, paid indie assignments, short films, and a book adaption with and for a legendary actor. "The Vessels" marks Anna's debut novel series.
Anna’s passion for justice is integral to her writing. She loves to create entertaining and inspiring stories for stage and screen where her diverse, underdog characters defy the odds and buck the system for unexpected impact and change.
