In the Air Tonight
by Marie Force
I was there. I saw what you did.
Blaise
I wasn’t supposed to be there that night, but my friend Sienna talked me into going to the party in Land’s End so she could spy on her boyfriend. While hiding out in the woods, we witnessed an unspeakable crime. And we did everything wrong afterward.
Connections run deep in our small town.
I was pressured into keeping my mouth shut, even though every part of me objected. I assumed I’d always do the right thing in any situation. I was wrong about that and a lot of other things.
I was wrecked by what I saw and how the victim was treated by kids I’d known all my life. I’ve been sick over it ever since, even as I moved on, far away from the town where I was raised.
Fourteen years later, I learn that the guy who committed that unspeakable crime is running for Congress, and something in me snaps.
I can’t bear the weight of that knowledge for another second.
Finally, I report what I saw, and all hell breaks loose for me and others who were at that long-ago party. Some of them will do whatever it takes to keep the truth from coming to light…even if they have to kill me.
In the midst of an epic battle, a new love gives me the strength to stay strong, to fight for my life and to right a terrible wrong.
Content warning: A sexual assault storyline may be upsetting to some readers.
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An Exclusive Interview with Marie Force
Blue Box Press is thrilled to publish Marie Force’s IN THE AIR TONIGHT and to do a little something special with our newsletter interview today. In this interview, Marie talks with one of the main characters, Blaise. We hope you enjoy it! Take it away, Marie…
You’ve recently come forward to report a crime you witnessed fourteen years ago. What took you so long?
Blaise Merrick: <nervous laughter> Wow, go for the jugular right out of the gate why don’t you… But I deserve that. I waited far too long to do the right thing, and I regret that deeply.
Why did you wait?
My only “excuse,” if you want to call it that, is I bowed to peer pressure. You have to understand who Ryder Elliott was to me, to my brother, to our class and our town. Everyone looked up to him. He was a star in school and in sports, and someone I’d known all my life. He was also my brother’s best friend. So when I saw him do what he did… For a long time, I think I was in shock. I was seventeen. Nothing in my life up to that point had prepared me for how to handle something like this.
Do you look back now and wish you’d done things differently?
It’s easy to have perspective at thirty-one about what I could’ve and should’ve done as a teenager. It’s not so easy to be a seventeen-year-old high school senior, surrounded by kids you’ve known all your life, to point the finger at one of them, knowing they’ll be charged with a crime—even if they deserve to be. Thirty-one-year-old Blaise would’ve gone straight to the police. Seventeen-year-old Blaise wasn’t so strong.
We all like to think we know what we’d do in any situation. Was that true for you as well?
Absolutely. My parents raised my sisters, my brother and me to do the right thing and to be honest and loyal. I learned through this ordeal that sometimes honestly and loyalty are in conflict. I’ve come to believe that no one knows what they’d do—for sure—in any situation until they’re in it. It’s easy to say, yes, I’d definitely do this or that. Often it’s not that simple.
Since you came forward, other interesting things have occurred for you. What can you say about that?
<smiles> One of the unexpected “consequences” of coming home and coming clean has been meeting Jack Olsen and his adorable dog, Fenway. When I needed a place to stay, Jack gave me that along with his friendship and support as the rest of my life spiraled out of control. He’s been a rock, and I’m truly thankful for him.
What would you say to someone else who might be sitting on an explosive secret?
I would advise them to tread carefully and to fully consider the consequences for themselves and others if they decide to share that secret with others. I have no regrets about what I did, but the journey wasn’t easy. At times it was terrifying.
Can you elaborate?
You’ll have to read my story in IN THE AIR TONIGHT for the details. Suffice to say that things work out the way they’re meant to, but I never expected any of this when I decided it was time to tell the truth about what I witnessed on that long-ago night.
Biography:
Marie Force is the New York Times bestselling author of more than 100 contemporary romance, romantic suspense and erotic romance novels. Her series include Fatal, First Family, Gansett Island, Butler Vermont, Quantum, Treading Water, Miami Nights and Wild Widows. She has also written 12 single titles, with more coming.
Her books have sold more than 13 million copies worldwide, have been translated into more than a dozen languages and have appeared on the New York Times bestseller list more than 30 times. She is also a USA Today and #1 Wall Street Journal bestseller, as well as a Spiegel bestseller in Germany.
Her goals in life are simple—to spend as much time as possible with her young adult children, to keep writing books for as long as she possibly can and to never be on a flight that makes the news.
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