Impulse

by Rick Hautala

In the shadowy quiet of a secluded Maine house, a terrified woman goes to a box in the closet, and removes a gun …

From the crime-ridden streets of New York City, a homicidal madman drives north, his mind best by demons, his heart burning with hate …

They have been joined by blood … the blood of Angie Ross's murdered husband. But the man who shot John Ross is free, and becoming more dangerously out of control every day.

He is her husband's killer. She is his victim's wife. Now, he is at her door, befriending her two children, asking for her trust and her forgiveness.

And in one split second, Angie Ross must make a choice …

Genres: Horror

429 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 1, 1996

About the author

AKA A.J. Matthews

Rick Hautala has more than thirty published books to his credit, including the million copy, international best-seller Nightstone, as well as Twilight Time, Little Brothers, Cold Whisper, Impulse, and The Wildman. He has also published four novels—The White Room, Looking Glass, Unbroken, and Follow—using the pseudonym A. J. Matthews. His more than sixty published short stories have appeared in national and international anthologies and magazines. His short story collection Bedbugs was selected as one of the best horror books of the year in 2003.

A novella titled Reunion was published by PS Publications in December, 2009; and Occasional Demons, a short story collection, is due in 2010 from CD Publications. He wrote the screenplays for several short films, including the multiple award-winning The Ugly Film, based on the short story by Ed Gorman, as well as Peekers, based on a short story by Kealan Patrick Burke, and Dead @ 17, based on the graphic novel by Josh Howard.

A graduate of the University of Maine in Orono with a Master of Art in English Literature (Renaissance and Medieval Literature), Hautala lives in southern Maine with author Holly Newstein. His three sons have all grown up and (mostly) moved out of the house. He served terms as Vice President and Trustee for the Horror Writers Association.

Sadly, Rick died on March 21, 2013.

Reviews

[Dollie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A real psycho, Greg Newman, kills a grocery clerk, a bum and a couple of policemen. Then he kills the detective who pursued him. When her husband is killed by Greg, who also tries to kill her, Angie Ross decides to move to Maine with her children so that she’ll be closer to her brother. Greg Newman follows her there on this strange unfinished business trip. He plays a lot of head games with Angie and her kids and he also kills a black lab and then messes with their new German shepherd puppy. On a trip up to Windsor Lake, Greg attacks everyone, killing the brother’s lover and Brandie’s boyfriend, Evan. It’s up to JJ, who has found his father’s hidden service revolver in the cellar and snuck it into his backpack, to save his mother and sister. It was a really intense story.

[1X?X3 1X?X3 · Rating 2 out of 5]

As an Indie author, I can let grammar errors slide for the most part, but this was a lot. When basketball bat was mixed up with baseball bat, I questioned if anyone proofread the novel. Many things got emphasized and harped on over and over. Also, I get that the title is Impulse, but using it so many times took away the power of the word. There's a great story in here. I think with better execution and fewer pages, you've got a thrilling, captivating novel. I don't like to DNF, so I finished this one to the end, but I feel like a sit-down meeting with the author could improve this book drastically.