It’s a well-worn scenario. Brendan Fraser and Dudley Moore did it as a comic romp in Bedazzled, Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor made it their romantic fling into the classics. Movies and soap operas have utilized it to the fullest in 86 film versions: A poverty-stricken young man is offered fame and wealth beyond his wildest dreams. He accepts. Now, he has everything he wants…except peace of mind. Thus begins his downward spiral into the degradation which only immense power can cause. He’s doomed. Forever. Or not. Just when everything appears lost, he wins the love of a pure woman. Will she be able to save him?
Thus is told the story of Faust, and also of Serpent’s Tooth, but Travis Brandt is no medieval scholar bargaining his soul to the devil for knowledge alone. He’s a naïve young Nebraskan, marrying early and orphaned earlier, talented and intelligent but having nothing to look forward to but a poorly-paid teaching position in an incorporated town on the Great Plains. And then his Big Break comes and he’s whisked away to Hollywood and its contingent dangers...swept into the maelstrom of sex, drugs, rock and roll…and demon worship. Too late seeing the danger, realizing the only escape is to die or disappear, he runs away and spends the next quarter century in oblivion…until he meets a former fan, Melissa Powers, a woman who loves him not for the man he was, but for the man he has become. In her he sees his salvation, but his past rears its deadly head…
In the midst of her happiness, Melissa feels Travis isn’t telling her the whole truth about why he left Hollywood, and after seeing how attentive he is to his neighbor’s son and daughter, his assertion he doesn’t want children also rings false. So what is he hiding and why is he lying?
Only too soon, she finds out.
What should have been a happy ending, with two people starting a new life together, is only the beginning, as the horror Travis left behind when he fled Hollywood is now awakened to once more reach out and threaten the former movie star and his new bride as a demon comes to claim what he’s owed.
It’s a horror story, but it’s also a love story. It’s a different type of story for me and the first written in a contemporary setting.
Serpent’s Tooth is available as ebook and in print from Class Act Books.
http://www.classactbooks.com/Serpents-Tooth-by-Toni-V-Sweeney_p_154.html
Toni, what a different story line. Your book trailer is great. Best of luck with sales.
Thanx, Linda!
Wow, Toni. This story give a different twist on evil and love. Thanks for sharing.
Very kewl, Toni. You have an amazing mind.
I always admire someone who can bring a new twist to a story. Good job.
The story sounds lie a winner, Toni!
As an opera buff, I am always a sucker for a Faust story. Congrats, Toni and good luck with the book:)
Toni, I love this! Fresh twist on old plot. You've got to be selling lot's of copies.
What a great idea for a story. Looking forward to reading it!
You have really gotten great at the trailers! Wonderful stuff from a very smart lady!
Wow, Toni! This sounds great! I love the idea of a contemporary setting. Good luck with it!