The Big Reap (39 page)

“Seems to me free will's to blame for most of the horrors in this world. Free will, and maybe you.”

“Sam, that hurts, particularly because you show such promise, such verve. I don't deign to visit
all
my charges, you know – just the ones in whose future I see great things. I'd hate to see you squander such potential sitting around, waiting for the phone to ring. Perhaps your Maker will finally get around to redeeming you a million years from now; perhaps not. But what I offer you is concrete. It's here-and-now. And it's there for you whenever you decide.”

“What exactly are you offering me?”

“I'm offering you a seat at the table. A chance to make a difference – to serve as trusted council for yours truly, and as a guide to those like you who've suffered the misfortune of somehow offending their mercurial Maker. Perhaps under your tutelage, they need not find their path so rocky.”

“And if I say no – what then?”

The boy smiled. “You mean how will you be punished? You misunderstand my offer, Sam. If you say no, I'll simply ask again. And again. And again. A million years is a long time to keep on asking, and affords countless chances for you to tell me yes.”

Just then, a woman's voice called from a balcony above. “
Sven? Sven, wo bist du?
”

The boy's smile faded, replaced by sudden confusion. He shook his head in puzzlement, and muttered something that sounded like a sneeze, which I assumed was German for “excuse me”. Then he turned and trotted across the square toward the building from which he called, the boy a boy once more, the Devil inside him gone.

I was alone.

 

 

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

You'll note that as this series goes on, these acknowledgments ain't getting any shorter. If you people don't cut it out with all your love and support, I'm gonna end up way too cheery to write these things. So if book four finds Sam eating his way through Tuscany and relearning how to love, remember: it's on you.

Thanks to Marc Gascoigne, Lee Harris, and the whole Angry Robot crew for making my Collector novels the best versions of themselves. Thanks as well to Martin Stiff and Amazing 15 Design for turning Marc's brilliant cover concept into the best pulp covers in the business.

The following folks are but a few who've lent me a hand along the way: John Anealio, Josh Atkins, Jedidiah Ayres, Patrick Shawn Bagley, Frank Bill, Nigel Bird, Stephen Blackmoore, Jerry Bloomfield, Judy Bobalik, Paul D. Brazill, Drew Broussard, R. Thomas Brown, Kristin Centorcelli, Joelle Charbonneau, Sean Chercover, Adam Christopher, David Cranmer, the Cressey clan, my fellow Criminal Minds bloggers, Sean Cummings, Laura K. Curtis, Paul and Sarah Damaske, Hilary Davidson, Vanessa Delamare, Neliza Drew, Jacques Filippi, Sarah Fischer, Renee Fountain, Cullen Gallagher, Victor Gischler (who, it should be noted, supplied the name for Admiral Fuzzybutt), Kent Gowran, Guy Haley, Rob W. Hart, Janet Hutchings, Julie Hyzy, Abhinav Jain, Sally Janin, Jon and Ruth Jordan, John Kenyon, Larry Killian, Owen Laukkanen, Jennifer Lawrence, Benoit Lelievre, Ben LeRoy, Sophie Littlefield, Jeremy Lynch, Jennifer MacRostie, Sarajean Malpica, Dan and Kate Malmon, Erin Mitchell, Scott Montgomery, Micah Morris, Joe Myers, Stuart Neville, Lauren O'Brien, Sabrina Ogden, Dan O'Shea, Miranda Parker, Brad Parks, Todd Robinson, Linda Rodriguez, Ian Rogers, Melanie Sanderson, Ryan Sayles, Brandon Sears, Kieran Shea, Julia Spencer-Fleming (and her husband Ross), Josh Stallings, David Swinson, Brian Vander Ark, Meineke van der Salm, Steve Weddle, Chuck Wendig, Elizabeth A. White, and Shaun Young.

I'd be remiss if I didn't thank my family – Holm, Burns, and Niidas – for their unflagging enthusiasm and support; anyone within earshot of them knows they peddle my books with impunity.

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Chris F. Holm was born in Syracuse, New York, the grand- son of a cop with a penchant for crime fiction. He wrote his first story at the age of six. It got him sent to the principal's office. Since then, his work has fared better, appearing in such publications as
Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, Needle Magazine, Beat to a Pulp
, and
Thuglit
.

He's been a Derringer Award finalist and a Spinetingler Award winner, and he's also written a novel or two. He lives on the coast of Maine with his lovely wife and a noisy, noisy cat.

chrisfholm.com
 

 

ANGRY ROBOT

A member of the Osprey Group

 

Lace Market House,
 

54-56 High Pavement,
 

Nottingham NG1 1HW
 

UK
 

 

www.angryrobotbooks.com

Popped in, souled out

 

An Angry Robot original 2013

1

 

Copyright © Chris F Holm 2013

 

Chris F Holm asserts the moral right to be

identified as the author of this work.

 

A catalogue record for this book is available

from the British Library.

 

ISBN 978 0 85766 343 6

 

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,

stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any

means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or

otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

 

This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by

way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or

otherwise circulated without the publisher's prior consent in

any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is

published and without a similar condition including this

condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

 

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and

incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author's imagination.

Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or

localities is entirely coincidental.