Brady’s search for answers intensifies as he and his companions pick up the trail of the illusive Dr. Wesley Clovis. As the mysteries surrounding the man’s sinister plans begin to unravel, Brady is left to ponder just what could lead a man to such Grave Undertakings……
December 23, 1972
Eerie, Indiana
The methodical footsteps from down the tiled hallway of the Pleasant Grove Psychiatric Hospital were as precise as a metronome. Their thunderous echo reverberation ended abruptly at the registration desk.
“May I help you,” the middle-aged, overweight secretary asked without looking up from her finely-manicured nails.
The man’s baritone voice was formal beyond reproach and she flinched beneath its weight. “Indeed. I am here to finalize the transfer of care for one,” pausing as he produced a thin file from an oversized black case, “Collins, Lionel J.”
The receptionist looked up from her polished nails into the ageless face of Dr. Wesley Clovis. Silver hair flowed from beneath his puritan hat, while a starched white collar concealed his throat under a cloak the color of midnight. His hungry smile widened below cold blue eyes.
She accepted the file, paging nervously through the paperwork, before reaching for the phone.
“If you can wait one moment,” she replied, gesturing toward a small cluster of uncomfortable plastic chairs. The man nodded, his smile unflinching, and remained rooted to the floor.
A short while later a boy was led by two white-clad orderlies from behind the locked doors at the end of the hall. He was small and frail with a mess of auburn curls falling over his brow. He struggled beneath the weight of an oversized suitcase.
Clovis turned from the uneasy receptionist with a nod and cast his stern gaze upon the boy. He waved the orderlies away with indifference, his eager eyes drinking in the Lionel’s fragile form.
“Son,” the cold greeting was accompanied by a firm hand falling across the boy’s delicate shoulder, “are you prepared to shed the shackles of this prison?”
Lionel looked up into the man’s cold blue eyes and smiled warily. “Yes, sir,” he replied, his coppery eyes holding the man’s stare.
Dr. Wesley Clovis smiled down at the boy. He glanced briefly at the gawking receptionist, slowly tipping his black hat, and escorted his new patient down the hallway and out the doors of the institution.
One week later, Marie Quinn’s name would be listed among the deceased, just one of dozens of victims claimed by a devastating fire of unknown origin. Her identification only made possible by the distinct red polish of her charred fingernails.
There is still time to dive into the mysteries of Asylum Lake before the dark secrets of Grave Undertakings are unearthed in May. On Amazon Kindle for only $2.99 and Autographed Print for $15.00
“Asylum Lake” by Grand Rapids author R.A. Evans (Chapbook Press, $15) has a striking cover design that should entice many new readers. It’s an intriguing psychological tale set in the small fictional town of Bedlam Falls in northern Michigan. It introduces Brady Tanner, who’s been successful as a Chicago journalist, but is trying to escape the realities of the tragic death of his wife and their unborn child. The death of Tanner’s father causes Tanner’s return to the small old house where he spent many summers as a youth. It also brings back fond memories, as well as thoughts about the time he almost died. The town has grown significantly since Tanner left. The huge state mental institution (which closed in 1958) still looms darkly on the shores of the lake. His former girlfriend April has moved back to town to take care of her father, who has Alzheimer’s; her young daughter Abby is pivotal to the plot. Evan’s paperback debut jumps back and forth between decades, including scenes of a violent mass murder by a teenager and other assorted deaths. The pacing picks up in the last half as Tanner, with the help of police officers, diligently unearths a variety of horrific dark secrets of the mental institution. In a realistic manner, not all of Tanner’s puzzling questions are answered, although many deadly past events are significantly clarified. This is the first of a planned series of books showcasing Tanner. The next volume has him learning more about the background and the fate of the asylum’s elusive last director, Dr. Wesley Clovis. Asylum Lake is a taut tale liable to raise significant goosebumps. Evans, a former journalist, has worked in marketing and public relations for the past 15 years; he’s an adjunct faculty member at Grand Valley State University.
–Ray Walsh, Lansing State Journal
