Authorpreneur Dashboard – Kat Edwards
Deep Trauma
Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
The First Novel in the Riley Brighton Thriller series introduces us to Riley and her small band of Citizen Sleuths.
Riley, the protagonist in Deep Trauma, is a gifted young physician and advocate for the underprivileged in the Emergency Department at Los Angeles City Hospital where her uncanny brilliance is both admired and envied.
Riley's life takes an unexpected turn one morning on her commute into the city when she stumbles upon what appears to be a fatal hit and run accident, only to later discover that the incident is one of a series of targeted attacks on a vulnerable subculture in LA.
As Riley is drawn into the terror of a serial killer's sick plot for revenge, she joins a group of unlikely citizen sleuths who endeavor to put an end to the coldblooded crime spree. But as luck would have it, she soon learns that no good deed goes unpunished.
Book Bubbles from Deep Trauma
Cold Comfort
In this scene Riley, a young ER physician, who's pastimes include solving crimes with a small band of citizen sleuths, navigates the tenuous condition of a young trauma patient. She reflects on how difficult the bigger social issues surrounding trauma care are. It' s an intense scene, and one that lays the groundwork for an intersection of worlds as her trauma patient ultimately comes to her aid in a future gang related crime, she's bent on solving. She also meets Hudson, a surgical intern, who ultimately becomes her confederate in efforts to expose the corruption in her own department.
The Point of No Return
Riley's good intentions have just led her astray. Curiosity has pulled her back into the danger zone. She suddenly finds herself spying on two of her new acquaintances and she realizes that her obsession with getting to the truth about the crimes, is far too risky for her professionally. She's just about to give up and head home when she witnesses something deeply unsettling. This is the point where Riley knows her intuition hasn't failed her after all. And now, there'll be no turning back.
Growing Doubts
Riley and her band of citizen sleuths gather for an evening of discussion following Sofia's attack. Her friend Joe, the medical examiner, has unwittingly joined them and finds himself swept up in their unorthodox approach. As they share what each of them has learned, suspicion grows among the group. Could one of them be involved in the crimes?
An Unlikely Ally
Rily has just left the nursery where she's checked on Sofia's infant. It's been an awful day; she's had to face an auditorium full of her peers in a monthly Morbidity and Mortality (M&M) presentation as well as meet with Clive's mother, Valarie, after she identifies his body. As she heads back down to the ER, she runs into her gunshot wound patient from the previous week. At the time she has no idea what a valuable resource he'll be in her quest to catch a serial killer. In Riley's side gig as a citizen sleuth, everything is about timing and luck.
A Mother's Grief
Riley meets with the murder victim's mother after the family has made an ID on the body. She learns about the complicated, dark family drama and how it affected the victim's choices.
Stalking a serial killer
Riley heads to the Santa Monica shelter from the Trauma ICU to inform Holly of Sofia's condition. When she arrives that night, she's surprised to find Themis's vehicle parked in the street. The two women had given no indication they knew each other. Which was not only odd, but it was also highly suspicious. Riley decides to do a little sleuthing of her own. After navigating the backyard in darkness to spy on the women, she soon realizes she can't trust any of her new acquaintances. She decides to head home, but just then, she's blindsided by another shocking connection.
Blindsided in Trauma Bay Five
Riley, our protagonist, a young ER physician, is caught off guard when her Trauma patient turns out to be the girl she'd met only yesterday at a memorial service for a murder victim. The day before, Sofia, a pregnant teen, had been wearing pink suede Prada pumps at the service. Now, in the Trauma Bay at City General, Riley recognized the girl, the latest victim of a serial killer, only by what is left of her shoes. The revelation shocks her and galvanizes her commitment to find whoever is responsible for the horrific crimes.
A High Stakes Ambush
In this scene hospital administration and Dr Jackson attempt to throw Riley under the bus for the death of little Leroy Williams. She pushes back, rising to the challenge in her typical feisty fashion. But it's a high-stakes venture. She's facing the potential devastation of her career and reputation as well as a huge malpractice lawsuit. She must pull out all of the stops to outwit Jackson and ensure that the guilty parties are held accountable for the tragic death of an innocent little boy.
Detective Roberts Issues a Warning
In this scene, Riley visits her local branch of the LAPD to see if she can find anything out about the victim she'd tried to help in an accident the day before. Here she learns the shocking truth from the lead detective on the case.
The Intern's Lesson
In this scene Riley teaches the new intern a lesson on navigating the challenges of trauma. She shows patience and compassion for his struggles with the awesome burden he must learn to carry. It's the beginning of a rewarding and consequential relationship. One that will help exonerate her when she's unjustly accused of malpractice.
Luck or Skill in Trauma Bay Five?
Riley has just averted disaster in Trauma Bay 5 by saving the life of a patient with a gunshot wound to the chest. The young man, on death's door, will later pay her back in ways she never could have imagined. But in the moment, she feels her expertise and intuition may be moot in the bigger scheme of things. As she reflects on the greater social problems in the city that she can't address.
A Shocking Revelation
Riley has just made it home after a harrowing run-in with the stalker. She finds that the LAPD have been called to investigate a disturbance at her residence. After they leave, she begins her own online search into the victim killed weeks earlier on the same stretch of highway where she'd come across the fatality last week. And now she begins to put the puzzle pieces together, the cases are connected.
A life cut short
Riley visits the morgue for an update on the victim's autopsy. Her friend Joe, the Medical Examiner, gives her some inside information about the findings. Judging from the MO, she deduces the crime is linked to a similar murder a few weeks earlier on the same stretch of highway, and she begins to realize they may be dealing with a deranged serial killer.
Stalked
In this scene Riley takes her dog out for an evening stroll only to find that now she is the one with a target on her back.
Disturbing discoveries
In this scene Riley attends the autopsy of the victim she came across on the freeway and learns that the murder may not be an isolated incident. The revelation draws her in, strengthening her commitment to get to the bottom of the crime.
Mystery in the Fast Lane
Riley Brighton, a young ER physician stumbles upon a grizzly accident on her motorcycle commute into LA in the wee hours of the morning. Like a good Samaritan she stops to see what she can do to help. Little does she know, she's just stepped into the crosshairs in a serial killer's sick game where she will soon learn that no good deed goes unpunished. And now the really wild ride starts.
When the Smoke Clears
Literature & Fiction
Talia Brighton, the young widow of a Los Angeles firefighter is drowning in grief, plagued with nightmares and a terrifying sleepwalking habit as she struggles to overcome the horrific death of her husband. As Talia—who prides herself as “not a hugger, not a crier”—battles regret for the role she may have played in Russ’s death, she starts seeing things she can’t explain and begins to question if she is fit to raise their daughter Riley.
To make matters worse, a puzzling phone call from a dying old man in Australia thrusts Talia and her deeply cynical sister, Naomi into confronting the mysterious tragedies of their past and their family’s generational traumas. Together they endeavor to solve the 1964 murder of their mother, and unravel a diabolical, decades-long plot to rob them of their family fortune and true identities. Talia must navigate the emotional destruction of both past and present if she is to triumph, and this means having the courage to cast aside the Teflon exterior that has shielded her for so many years.
Book Bubbles from When the Smoke Clears
Horror in the Hideout
In this scene Talia takes a break from sitting at Aunt Miriam's hospital bed, where she was expected by the family doctor to give the orders to discontinue life support. She flees to the fire escape hoping to find a few minutes of reprieve. There she has a flashback to a time she took refuge under the porch from the abuse she suffered at Uncle Gus's hands.
Terror on the Train
In this excerpt Talia has a flashback to her first childhood trauma. She and her older sister Naomi are being abducted by their aunt after their mother's murder. As they travel on a train across Australia, they have a terrifying encounter with a heard of wild horses. This scene foreshadows a narrative that comes into play thirty years later, when Talia's husband Russ dies in a raging brushfire while trying to rescue a herd of horses.
Chasing shadows
When even her trusted routine of trail running fails to keep her ghosts at bay, Talia realizes that she is in over her head. Her doubts about her own sanity are only growing. There is little choice, she will have to take the risk of seeking outside help. But the question is, how will she manage this without disclosing the threat she poses to both herself and her five-year-old daughter, Riley?
