Emily's Run by David Holmes

About the book

Roger Parkhurst is an under cover cop who is selling his ten year old daughter, Rosalie, to anyone with cash. His wife, Emily, discovers the abuse, hides the child and becomes a fugitive running from her husband. Freezing to death on a lonely road, she is rescued by Jim Cooper, a man considering suicide. Finding solace in each other, they develop a bonding friendship, and together, they face the murderous Roger in their efforts to protect Rosalie.

Roger's superior, Lieutenant Frank Dawson, is a pedophile that has Roger help him murder nine year old Anna, his first young victim. Frank's fascination with Rosalie sends Roger on a crime spree to murder Emily, the only witness to his sickness. Roger is tracked on his way to find the Mother, but eludes the man hunt. Evading capture, he leaves a trail of dead bodies in his wake.

Finding Emily and Rosalie, Roger kills Jim before he and Emily have a vicious fight in her efforts to protect the child. Emily is beaten to the ground, about to become another victim, when ten year old Rosalie shoots him dead with Jim's gun.

Wally Stearns, the local sheriff, uncovers Frank's involvement and takes Emily and Rosalie in to protect them. Frank shoots Wally, leaving him in the woods to die, while he sets out to finish what Roger started. Frank locates the mother and daughter, who are unaware of the danger from him.

Rosalie is subdued by Frank who wants to keep her for his own pleasure. Emily discovers what he is doing and savagely beats on him with a shovel, trying to kill him. Frank uses the shovel to cripple Emily, but she manages to disable him. She frees Rosalie and goes back to finish with the pervert, Frank. He draws his gun, but the pain in his groin from Emily's attack, staggers him. At the same time, Rosalie runs at Frank with a butcher knife, and Emily splits his skull with an axe.

Emily is crippled from her beatings but she survives, prompted by Rosalie to help others being abused, with lectures and internet connections to national hot lines. Later, Rosalie goes on to earn a doctorate in psychiatry, specializing in abuses, but is scarred for life never leaving her Mother's side.

About the author

Born and raised in central Minnesota before television was vogue, my brother and I would be entertained by reading and listening to the radio. It was that simple feat that allowed our minds to exercise and develop an imagination. I have spent countless years writing technical manuals describing assembly processes, while my creative ambitions were sloshing around my brain waiting to be released. My abhorrence of abuse to women and children prompted my first novel, Emily's Run. I am working with mentally challenged adults to help them interact with society and discover the thrilling world of reading.