Excerpt from Vigil by Jim Patterson

Described by one reviewer as "a gripping, compelling read," Vigil is a novel by Jim Patterson. Learn more on the book's website. Vigil is available in hardback, paperback, and Kindle formats on the book's page on Amazon. For excerpts from the book and updates from the author, follow the Facebook page for Vigil.

An excerpt from the novel appears below.

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Juan had to get out of Mexico; the police were looking for him. He had raped and killed a total of 12 women but had never been a suspect in any of them until Maria Hernandez.

He had stalked Maria for 3 weeks. He knew her habits and knew that every Friday night, her husband Jose would go out to the local cantina, play cards, drink with his amigos, and come staggering home in the early morning. Maria liked being alone. It gave her time to read and study. She was trying to learn English with the hope of someday immigrating to America where she would get a wonderful job that paid her a lot of money and maybe become a famous movie star...

It was Friday night and Jose gave her a quick kiss and headed out the door. Maria liked Fridays because she was able to spend some time all by herself. During the rest of the week, she worked the fields from dawn to dusk then went home to cook dinner and do all of the other tasks that are necessary to keep her house in order. This night she went to the part of the small two room house that was considered the bedroom. Which was simply a tiny bed pushed up against the wall and a bedside table with a small lamp on it. The rest of the room contained a stuffed chair and a floor lamp. The second room, or the main room to be more accurate, was the kitchen, dining room and living room. The bathroom was outside about 10 yards from the back door.

Juan waited patiently by the outhouse. He knew that Maria would be coming out eventually so he waited. An hour later, Maria got up from her position on the bed and went into the kitchen. She poured water into the teapot and placed it on the stove to heat. She then opened the back door and walked toward the outhouse. She went in. Exiting a few minutes later, she started walking back to the house when she was struck a glancing blow on her head. Juan had misjudged the swing of the club. The blow, however, was enough to knock Maria down but not enough to knock her out, as was the intent.

Maria hit the ground and rolled over immediately. She saw her attacker above her with the club raised above his head. She quickly brought up her foot and caught Juan hard in the crotch. He screamed and dropped the club and placed both hands on his injured parts. Maria scrambled backwards and managed to get to her feet. She was screaming loud enough to bring out all the neighbors and residents for blocks around. Jesus lived in the house next door, and he was a big man standing over 6 feet tall and 200 pounds of pure muscle. He saw Maria on the ground and Juan standing over her. He charged, but the adrenalin was already racing through Juan's body, and he took off into the darkness with Jesus right behind him. Juan managed to avoid the chasers but knew that if he didn't get going, they would catch up with him soon. He headed north...