Call Me Army Brat

Book excerpt: About the Book What do you do when a killer is stalking you, and no one believes you? In the 1960’s, a precocious young girl cries “Wolf!” once too often and puts her life at risk when she accidentally stumbles upon the pitifully mutilated body of a teenage girl in the woods surrounding The Presidio of San Francisco. Maura narrowly misses meeting the killer and runs for her life, but when she reports the murder to the Presidio’s military police, they don’t believe her. Over the years, and on more than a dozen military bases, this extremely bright but emotionally fragile Army Brat subjects her family, friends, and the military police to a variety of pranks. They know her intimately for her unbridled imagination and her propensity for playing tricks and jokes on people. Consequently, she has zero credibility with any of them. She persists, however, pleading with the military police until she finally convinces them to check out the area in the woods. When they reach the spot in the woods, the body is gone and there are no traces of foul play. She receives yet another serious lecture and warning from the police, and her dismayed parents ground her for a month. Her friends? They give her the benefit of the doubt, but they have other priorities on their minds. The only person who truly seems to believe Maura is a psychologist whom she’s had a long and somewhat dysfunctional relationship with. A despondent Maura realizes she’s on her own, and morbidly wonders how long she can avoid her own grisly death. She begins piecing together clues to the murder and stumbles upon the surprising identity of a sadistic killer who is seemingly loved by all. About the Author The author herself is an Army Brat, having been raised on more than twenty army bases, stateside and in Germany. She entered the U.S. Navy after graduating from high school and was trained as a CTI (Communications Technician-Interpreter). Her duty stations were primarily in Europe and the Middle East, during the Cold War. She has written and published numerous articles and short stories over the years, and is now focusing primarily on book writing. Mrs. Needham resides in Kingman, Arizona with her husband, and spends her spare time traveling, visiting her son and grandchildren, and gardening.