To learn more about the books written by Tom Mach; select from the following:
Novels | Short Stories | Children's Stories | Poetry | Nonfiction | Plays
Also view and purchase on Amazon.com | Click Here To E-Mail Tom Mach
Novels | Short Stories | Children's Stories | Poetry | Nonfiction | Plays
Also view and purchase on Amazon.com | Click Here To E-Mail Tom Mach
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Murder In The RectoryP The pangs of a past romance haunt this psychological thriller. Murder in the Rectory shares a common secret in layered characters and quiet devastations that unfold beneath otherwise ordinary lives. It is set in a small Illinois town near the Mississippi in 1982, when rumors about clergy abuse were beginning to shake communities. Father Luke holds a secret about why he is especially kind to a particular little girl at St. Agnes School: it's his daughter Angela! But when suspicion and lies brand him as somebody he’s not, a member of a secret vigilante group decides to take justice into his own hands. A savage murder shatters the parish, a murder witnessed by little Angela, who stays silent about who she saw. The killer believes he’s beyond the law—frustrating the efforts of a detective in her failure to find needed evidence, until an unexpected twist brings the truth to light. To purchase this book, click the button on the left. |
Excerpt
“Nothing to talk about, mister.” He pressed the gun against the priest’s chest, and it exploded with such force that a large crucifix on the wall fell to the floor, and some blood spattered on the gun barrel.
Blood sprayed across the lamp, casting a gruesome red sheen on the light.
Father Luke staggered back, clutching his side, warm blood spilling fast between his fingers, soaking his white shirt in widening crimson. Pain lanced through his body. His knees buckled, but he managed to stand by gripping the desk. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he thought of the altar, of the chalice, of unfinished homilies, of Angela’s smile. He wanted to tell her not to be afraid. He wanted to beg God for just one more hour.
The man raised the gun again, his arm trembling violently.
“No—!” Angela screamed.
Luke’s eyes found her, blurred now with pain. “Stay back, Angela,” he croaked, his voice breaking. “Go—”
The second shot tore through his neck. His head jerked back. For a heartbeat, he stood, suspended in the unnatural stillness of death arriving, before collapsing to the floor with a sickening thud. His limbs sprawled at odd angles, blood pooling beneath him, his face turned toward the ceiling in frozen serenity that mocked the violence of the act.
Angela gagged. The smell of smoke and iron thickened in her throat. The room tilted, blurred. She vomited, then fell beside him, sobbing, clutching the lifeless hand that had once steadied her world.
The killer’s footsteps thundered closer.
He loomed above her, his breath sour, his eyes wild. “You saw me. You saw my face.”
Blood sprayed across the lamp, casting a gruesome red sheen on the light.
Father Luke staggered back, clutching his side, warm blood spilling fast between his fingers, soaking his white shirt in widening crimson. Pain lanced through his body. His knees buckled, but he managed to stand by gripping the desk. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he thought of the altar, of the chalice, of unfinished homilies, of Angela’s smile. He wanted to tell her not to be afraid. He wanted to beg God for just one more hour.
The man raised the gun again, his arm trembling violently.
“No—!” Angela screamed.
Luke’s eyes found her, blurred now with pain. “Stay back, Angela,” he croaked, his voice breaking. “Go—”
The second shot tore through his neck. His head jerked back. For a heartbeat, he stood, suspended in the unnatural stillness of death arriving, before collapsing to the floor with a sickening thud. His limbs sprawled at odd angles, blood pooling beneath him, his face turned toward the ceiling in frozen serenity that mocked the violence of the act.
Angela gagged. The smell of smoke and iron thickened in her throat. The room tilted, blurred. She vomited, then fell beside him, sobbing, clutching the lifeless hand that had once steadied her world.
The killer’s footsteps thundered closer.
He loomed above her, his breath sour, his eyes wild. “You saw me. You saw my face.”
Bio of Tom Mach
Mach was a former copywriter, editor of two magazines, conducted writing workshops in Ohio, California, and Kansas, and taught writing at KU’s Continuing Education Program. In addition to numerous articles he had authored in national and regional publications, he was a past president of the California Writers Club and of the Kansas Authors Club. He won the Jack London Award in California and the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award from the Kansas Authors Club.
In 2011, Sissy! and All Parts Together were listed by the Kansas State Library as worthy to be included among the 150 best Kansas books Sissy! won the J. Donald Coffin Memorial Book Award, while All Parts Together was a Best Books Award Finalist. Angels at Sunset was nominated in 2012 by an Eastern college for the Nobel Prize for Literature. In addition, Tom has written two children's books--Homer the Roamer and The Invisible Twins and children who have read them enjoyed them.
His other fiction books include Tom’s Travels, Unearthing the True Cross, Forgiveness Forever, You’re a Real Character, and Three Years With Jesus.
Mach was a former copywriter, editor of two magazines, conducted writing workshops in Ohio, California, and Kansas, and taught writing at KU’s Continuing Education Program. In addition to numerous articles he had authored in national and regional publications, he was a past president of the California Writers Club and of the Kansas Authors Club. He won the Jack London Award in California and the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award from the Kansas Authors Club.
In 2011, Sissy! and All Parts Together were listed by the Kansas State Library as worthy to be included among the 150 best Kansas books Sissy! won the J. Donald Coffin Memorial Book Award, while All Parts Together was a Best Books Award Finalist. Angels at Sunset was nominated in 2012 by an Eastern college for the Nobel Prize for Literature. In addition, Tom has written two children's books--Homer the Roamer and The Invisible Twins and children who have read them enjoyed them.
His other fiction books include Tom’s Travels, Unearthing the True Cross, Forgiveness Forever, You’re a Real Character, and Three Years With Jesus.
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- His 30 funny additions to Pluggers cartoons have appeared in thousands of newspapers.
- Finally, he was a columnist for the Kaw Valley Senior Monthly for more than six years.
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