Silent Fall

future?

    3. Dylan's childhood was very difficult. His mother left and his father hated him. He has a very black and white view of his past, and he fights against changing his mind even when faced with evidence to the contrary, especially in regards to his mother.

    Do you think children ever see their parents as they really are? Do we all fight to retain our view of our childhood because changing that view would change everything about how we see ourselves and who we are?

    4. Dylan has let his parent's divorce influence his view of love and marriage. He wants to stay single, because he thinks all love affairs end in heartbreak.

    Did your parents have a happy marriage?   Did their marriage impact your decisions about love?

    5. Catherine paints her nightmares, having blocked out the horror of her past.

    Do you think nightmares represent real events or are just the culmination of anxieties and worries?

    6. Catherine has to face her father, the man who killed her mother, and she tells him he should save her because she's his kid. But he's going to shoot her anyway.

    Do you believe in a biological urge for a parent to protect their child?

    I hope you all enjoyed SILENT FALL. If you would like to print out this Reader's Guide, please visit my website .

SILENT RUN

    Sanders Brothers - Book One

    Excerpt @ Barbara Freethy Copyright 2011
    All Rights Reserved

    Prologue

    Large raindrops streamed against her windshield as she sped along the dark, narrow highway north of Los Angeles. She’d been traveling for over an hour along the wild and beautiful Pacific coastline. She’d passed the busy beach cities of Venice and Santa Monica, the celebrity-studded hills of Malibu and Santa Barbara. Thank God it was a big state. She could start over again, find a safe place to stay, but she had to get there first.
    The pair of headlights in her rearview mirror drew closer with each passing mile. Her nerves began to tighten, and goose bumps rose along her arms and the back of her neck. She’d been running too long not to recognize danger. But where had the car come from? She’d been so sure that no one had followed her out of LA. After sixty miles of constantly checking her rearview mirror she’d begun to relax, but now the fear came rushing back.
    It was too dark to see the car behind her, but there was something about the speed with which it was approaching that made her nervous. She pressed her foot down harder on the gas, clinging to the wheel as gale-force winds blowing in off the ocean rocketed through the car, making the driving even more treacherous.
    A few miles later the road veered inland. She looked for a place to exit. Finally she saw a sign for an upcoming turnoff heading into the Santa Ynez Mountains. Maybe with a few twists and turns she could lose the car on her tail, and if her imagination were simply playing tricks on her, the car behind her would just continue down the road.
    The exit came up fast. She took the turn on two wheels. Five minutes later the pair of headlights was once again directly behind her. There was no mistake: He was coming after her.
    She had to get away from him. Adrenaline raced through her bloodstream, giving her courage and strength. She was so tired of running for her life, but she couldn’t quit now. She’d probably made a huge mistake leaving the main highway. There was no traffic on this two-lane road. If he caught her now there would be no one to come to her rescue.
    The gap between their cars lessened. He was so close she could see the silhouette of a man in her rearview mirror. He was bearing down on her.
    She took the next turn too sharply, her tires sliding on the slick, wet pavement.
    Sudden lights coming from the opposite direction blinded her. She hit the brakes hard. The car skidded out of control. She flew across the road, crashed through a wooden barrier, and hurtled down a steep embankment. Rocks splintered the windshield as she threw up her hands in protest and prayer.
    When the impact finally came it was crushing, the pain intense. It was too much. All she wanted to do was to sink into oblivion. It was over. She was finished.
    But some voice deep inside her screamed at her to stay awake, because if she wasn’t dead yet, she soon would be.

Chapter One

    The blackness in her mind began to lessen. There was a light behind her eyelids that beckoned and called to her. She was afraid to answer that call, terrified to open her eyes. Maybe it