The crowd moved another inch closer to the door.

It was hot, squeezed in among all those people. Roger squirmed a hand up out of the press and undid the top button on his shirt. Behind him, the breath of Hades spewed down his neck.

Roger started to pant. He breathed through his mouth to avoid the smell. Sweltering. Sweat broke out on his face. His armpits overflowed, soaking his shirt. Just a few more feet.

The crowd inched forward.

An arm went around his neck. He started to choke. He grabbed at the arm with both hands. They slipped off. Air. Blackness flooded into his vision. Someone screamed. Then an all-too-familiar voice spoke in his ear.

"Now it's your turn, Roger. See how you like jail."

The arm squeezed harder. Roger passed out.

more excerpts

The Cold Void...a link to all that is past, present and future. For Roger West it is the key to getting his life back.

It seems innocent enough for an eight-year-old, sleeping out in a friend's backyard on an August night in 1967, to sneak home at 2:00 a.m. for a snack. But the consequences of entering the house unexpectedly that particular night are earth-shattering for young Roger. He faces a devastating confrontation with his step-father, Eddie and the mystery of a dog whimpering in the bathroom, a dog that disappeared the previous winter.

That horrific night haunts Roger into adulthood and when his wife is attacked on the street by an unknown assailant, Roger is pulled back into the nightmare...and into the Cold Void.

Finding himself transported back through time and once again reliving that horrific August night in 1967, the adult Roger must confront Eddie, save his younger self from a future filled with tortured memories, and somehow yank his family—both past and present—back from the brink of destruction.

Demonstration by Ron of the pointed-toe front kick, unique to Uechi-ryu on which the teachings of Michael Brown (a character in Hiding from Eddie) are based.

Ron Tarrant