Trouble Rising (ePub)

Imagine a young, intelligent woman who has immigrated to the United States in hopes of living the American dream. She has put herself through school and finally found her path in life. Success seems to be almost within her grasp.

But Candelaria Rios is a magnet for trouble. Her Santeria magic is strong but very unpredictable. As a result, her life is a continual rollercoaster of excitement and danger, a fast-paced combination of comedy, mystery, and romance.

Candi lands a great job as the accountant for a new luxury resort and casino in the beautiful Appalachian Mountains, but she finds out that the place is cursed. The building is being constructed on old Cherokee tribal land and haunted by the ghost of a massacred Indian maiden. Local legend has it that there is Spanish treasure buried somewhere in the rugged hills that surround the place, the last remains of a violent confrontation centuries ago. It is exactly the kind of thing that can drive some people a little crazy, especially a psychotic personnel manager who is already on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

The plot thickens as the desperation of troubled souls feeds the pervasive evil that has been unleashed by all of the emotional turmoil. The bloody image of an Indian girl begins to appear at various times as the spirit of her tortured soul reaches out to Candi from beyond the grave. Elvis Blue and his team of ghost hunters are called in deal with the problem, but much more serious matters are plaguing the site as well.

Vladimir Crockett, the charismatic millionaire who is driving the development, has ruthless silent partners who are very concerned about their new investment. Candi's boyfriend Rico is the son of one of these partners. Rico is also a part-time government contractor who specializes in undercover investigation. Candi and Rico decide to pool their resources and try to figure out what is really going on.

Shortly after they arrive, the construction foreman is found brutally murdered. Other people in the area mysteriously disappear. The police are stumped, but Candi has dealt with strange situations like this before. She can see things that others cannot see. Ancient spirits are looking to her for help to calm the escalating storm.

To add more fuel to the fire, the resort is not yet making a profit. Vince Scipio and his group of tough New Jersey mobsters are secretly sabotaging completion of the project and trying to grab a piece of the action. Simon Cruz, the young and ambitious casino manager, has started laundering money for some drug dealers in a desperate attempt to get rich quick. Candi finds herself in the middle of a tangled web of deceit and danger with all kinds of mysteries and secrets lurking in the shadows.

State police are called in from Raleigh to help the local sheriff, and a couple of F.B.I. agents show up to take over the investigation. But progress is slow and clues are scarce. All of the madness doesn't seem to be connected or make any sense. Candi digs into the books and works with Rico to pursue their own leads and sort it all out. But everyone seems to be a hiding something and there is no shortage of suspects.

Candi also struggles to maintain a normal life with normal relationships. Unfortunately, the people that Candi knows are far from normal, including a Native American magic man, two loco Colombian criminals, some crazy friends, and even Godzilla. Meanwhile, the bodies are piling up and everything is rapidly spinning out of control.

Will Candi be able to sort it all out time? Or will she become the next victim?