Title: The Grotto
Author: Fredrick Cooper
Genre: Young Adult, YA Adventure
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Book Blurb:
Brooklyn never knew her father. But when Vince James, a down-on-his-luck, Tlingit Indian shows up and pleads for Brooklyn's mother to help him, her mother unwittingly agrees to go with him and then disappears. Brooklyn, with a strange group of friends that include Tony, a Tlingit boy she once loathed, an Alaskan sourdough named Luther Calhoun, and Bingo Bob, who is considered the town drunk, sets out to find and rescue her mother from a person bent on vengeance.
Excerpt:
The cafe’s breakfast crowd had cleared out except for the two strangers. Flo ignored them and left them to be served by Leroy Wilson, the owner. She cleared tables, loaded the dishwasher, and chatted with Leroy through the serving window. He was already prepping for the lunch menu. She saw they needed fresh coffee, so she headed to the supply room at the back of the hallway near the restroom. As she reached for a box of filters on the shelf, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She whirled around.
“How dare you show up like this?” Flo stood with her hands on her hips and glared at the man.
Vince withdrew his hand like he had touched a hot stove and stepped back. “Hello, Flo. How have you been?” His grin showed a missing tooth. “Ah, sorry. I… uh…”
There was fury in Flo’s eyes. “You’re what? Sorry and expecting me to fall into your arms after sixteen years? You ran, Vince. You did leave me, remember? Yes, I recognized you when you entered this morning. And do you even remember seeing me on the street in Juneau a couple of years ago? You didn’t show any sign of recognizing me. Now you can just run away again. You’re not part of my life anymore.”
Vince ignored the harsh words. “Was that my daughter sitting with you this morning? She’s got my dark hair and your sparkly eyes. She’s pretty—like you, Flo.”
“Me? Hardly! I happen to be older—and a lot wiser too. I have endured a lot since you left me. It’s been hard, really hard, but Brooklyn and I are doing okay. No thanks to you.”
“Brooklyn? That’s her name?” Vince‘s face brightened.
“Yes, but don’t you go near her. She doesn’t know about you, and I don’t ever want her to. You were so afraid of the stigma that a white wife would bring to your damned Native family and community that you abandoned me when I got pregnant. You were only thinking of yourself and your own life. Well, it’s going to stay that way.” Forgetting about the filters, she pushed Vince aside to get back to her job. Vince grabbed her arm, but she brushed it off and went on towards the kitchen.
“Flo, wait! I… I don’t know for sure how to say this.” There was pleading in his eyes when she reluctantly turned to face him. “One of my friends is very, very sick, and I think he might die. It was real sudden-like. I don’t know what’s wrong with him.”
Flo stared at him for a moment—noticing his red face and watery nose. There were tiny beads of sweat on his forehead. He kept shifting his feet and waving his arms like he was nervous or agitated over something.
She frowned and put a little more space between them.
“Now I’m sick too,” Vince said. “You told me once that you attended nursing school in Seattle. My friend is in awful pain, and I’m afraid it’s going to be the same for me. I didn’t know where else to go. I need your help. Please, Flo.”
Buy Links (including Goodreads and BookBub):
Special Giveaway:
For a The Grotto review posted to Amazon, a reviewer will receive a free, postage paid copy of my debut novel, Riders of the Tides. (Must confirm by sending an email and mailing address via email to the author.)
Author Biography:
Fredrick Cooper was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest and lived in Alaska for many years. Before obtaining a doctorate in civil engineering and pursuing a professional career, he worked as a road surveyor, longshoreman, commercial fisherman, cannery worker, and even as a technician and news anchor for a cable television station in a small community in Alaska. He is of Coastal Salish and Lower Chehalis Band descent and is enrolled with a Northwest Indian Tribe. In addition to his second career in writing fiction, he is a master woodcarver, specializing in Native American artifacts such as canoe paddles and ceremonial items. He is a member of the Pacific Northwest Writers Association and the Willamette Writers and his novels have received several awards. He currently lives in Portland, Oregon and is working on another story.
Social Media Links:
@fredrickcooper17