"The Thirteenth Child," New Mystery Novel by Author David Dean

ALAMEDA, Calif. - June 12, 2013 - PRLog -- "You were never meant to make the same journey as man, but followed nonetheless, skulking in the shadows and darkness...a child of Lilith."--Father Gregory

SYNOPSIS:  Police Chief Nick Catesby is haunted by the unsolved disappearance of a young boy from his small, peaceful New Jersey town seven years before. The nightmare begins anew when a little girl goes missing, followed quickly by two boys. Nick has only one suspect, disgraced professor and town drunk Preston Howard, whose arrogance has left him with nothing but his pride, a sea of whiskey, and his daughter Fanny, with whom Nick is falling in love. But Preston insists that he is not a suspect, but a witness to a strange and terrifying boy who only appears between dusk and dawn, a boy he calls Gabriel.

BEHIND THE STORY: Inspired by tales and legends of supernatural beings snatching children that have spanned centuries and cultures, David takes it further by imagining a creature that is not supernatural, but a byproduct of evolution, forced out of the forests and into suburbia by the steady encroachment of civilization.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: David Dean loves horror and mysteries, citing Graham Greene, Edgar Allen Poe, and Ray Bradbury as his influences. David’s short stories have appeared regularly in Ellery Queen Mystery magazine, as well as a number of anthologies, since 1990. His stories have been nominated for the Shamus, Barry, and Derringer Awards; and “Ibrahim’s Eyes” won the EQMM Readers Award for 2007. “Tomorrow’s Dead”, was a Best Short Story finalist at The Edgars 2011. He is a retired Chief of Police in New Jersey, and once served as a paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne Division.

David is currently hard at work on his second novel, Starvation Cay, about an officer investigating the disappearance of his sister in the Bahamas.