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    The Turtle Boy: The Timmy Quinn Series, #1
    The Turtle Boy: The Timmy Quinn Series, #1
    The Turtle Boy: The Timmy Quinn Series, #1
    Ebook121 pages2 hours

    The Turtle Boy: The Timmy Quinn Series, #1

    By Kealan Patrick Burke

    4/5

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    About this ebook

    School is out and summer has begun. For eleven year old Timmy Quinn and his best friend Pete Marshall, the dreary town of Delaware Ohio becomes a place of magic, hidden treasure and discovery.

    But on the day they encounter a strange young boy sitting on the bank of Myers Pond, a pond playground rumor says may hide turtles the size of Buicks, everything changes.

    For it soon becomes apparent that dark secrets abound in the little community, secrets which come cupped in the hands of the dead, and in a heartbeat, Timmy and Pete's summer of wonder becomes a season of terror, betrayal and murder.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherKealan Patrick Burke
    Release dateJan 2, 2015
    ISBN9781452406084
    The Turtle Boy: The Timmy Quinn Series, #1
    Author

    Kealan Patrick Burke

    Born and raised in a small harbor town in the south of Ireland, Kealan Patrick Burke knew from a very early age that he was going to be a horror writer. The combination of an ancient locale, a horror-loving mother, and a family full of storytellers, made it inevitable that he would end up telling stories for a living. Since those formative years, he has written five novels, over a hundred short stories, six collections, and edited four acclaimed anthologies. In 2004, he was honored with the Bram Stoker Award for his novella The Turtle Boy. Kealan has worked as a waiter, a drama teacher, a mapmaker, a security guard, an assembly-line worker at Apple Computers, a salesman (for a day), a bartender, landscape gardener, vocalist in a grunge band, curriculum content editor, fiction editor at Gothic.net, and, most recently, a fraud investigator. When not writing, Kealan designs book covers  through his company Elderlemon Design. A movie based on his short story "Peekers" is currently in development as a major motion picture.

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    Reviews for The Turtle Boy

    4/5

    76 ratings9 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Who would you give your life for? This is the question that haunts Timmy Quinn in this delightfully macabre tale. Timmy and Pete are young boys and best friends who are anticipating an idyllic summer. But their world is changing as construction crews erase the vestiges of their world. Still, they look forward to one more summer - then their idyll is shattered by a vision and their world is torn by an evil that threatens Timmy, his friends, and his family. But the vision isn't the evil; the evil is living and only Timmy can stop it. Burke's characters are well developed and the plot will suck the reader in like the mud at the bottom of Timmy's pond. And Burke's writing style will, to overuse a well worn phrase, keep you turning the pages until the end - which will arrive too soon. But never fear, there are more adventures to come as Timmy seeks to understand the penetrating question: would he give his life for someone?
    • 4/5
      Summer has just begun and eleven-year-old Timmy Quinn and his best friend Pete are looking for something to do in their small, boring town of Delaware. They go down to Myers Pond where they discover an odd looking boy sitting on the bank.

      This is a really solid short story, and the first in the series about Timmy Quinn. Good writing, interesting story, never dull. I look forward to reading the next one!
    • 4/5
      At first I didn't think I was going to enjoy it but as I read on I became more interested in the story and the character of Timmy so much so that I have just downloaded the sequel. Like all ghost stories the situation is hardly believable and certainly didn't scare me or have me on the edge of my seat but nevertheless a good read.
    • 5/5
      WOW! I don't know if I can adequately with words express the emotions I experienced while reading this book. Incredible story and I cannot wait to read the rest of this series and of KPBs books. I have been enveloped by three of his writings thus far and look forward to continuing to be. Thank you Kealan, your work is amazing!
    • 4/5
      Turtle BoyBy: Kealan Patrick BurkeNarrated by: Patrick LawlorIts a good paranormal mystery but it does have have child abuse mentioned. It is a fairly short book but has a lot packed into it. Suspense, good mystery, ghosts, and murder. Good narration!
    • 4/5
      I loved most of this story. I couldn't put it down. Creepy, scary, dark. Usually not my kind of genre, but I enjoyed it. I was a bit frustrated by the over-worded scenic descriptions, like the clouds being painted with the colors of a "bruised palette." Those descriptions stopped me in my tracks over and over, and took me out of the moment. However, the dialog was well-written and the characters and story line were engaging. The climax was a bit confusing, and I feel like I need to go back and read it again to be sure of what happened. Not sure if that's my fault or the author's. I only gave four stars instead of five because I wanted a more solid closure at the end. I instead felt like I was being prodded into buying the next book in the series.Recommended to lovers of supernatural mysteries. You will love this creepy story.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      I like Burke's writing. He portrays a real world and believable characters. Plus, his stories are often uniquely scary; SOUR CANDY is a perfect example of this. And while THE TURTLE BOY was good, it also felt slightly splintered.Timmy Quinn is eleven years old and home from school for the summer. He is excited to spend it with his best friend Pete. However, a dark discovery at the beginning of summer leaves Timmy alone for most of the summer. Until his mom intervenes and forces Pete to be friends with a girl, Kim Barnes. Together they discover the darker secret behind the dark discovery.The story is solid and enjoyable. The characters are interesting and believable. The disjointed part was that the novella was part Young Adult and part adult. It seemed that Burke was creating his own YA character that teens and pre-teens could follow. The novella had all the characteristics of a YA novel. However, at the same time, the story seemed a bit intense and graphic for a YA story. Personally, I liked the extra intensity but then as the parent of a pre-teen, I'm not really part of the YA audience. There are five books in the Timmy Quinn series by Burke, so I imagine that it has resonated with people fairly well. Hopefully Burke is finding and pulling in the next wave of new readers who love horror and who like that extra-gore instead. I'm kind of digressing. I found the story fun to read, it kept me engaged all the way to the end, and I wasn't disappointed at the end. I probably won't pick up other Timmy Quinn stories, but I will be picking up other Kealan Patrick Burke stories.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      I don't generally like novellas. They always seem to leave something lacking...poor character development, inadequate plot. (not as bad as short stories though)I got "Turtle Boy" free on Amazon a couple of years ago because it had such good reviews and I love a good horror story. It sounded intriguing. However, there were other books beckoning and I never got around to reading it until today. What a surprise! The main characters were developed enough that you felt you were right there with them. I enjoyed the story, although I don't generally like ghost stories either. However, the fact that there was a ghost almost seemed secondary. The story carried me along and at the end I purchased the combined first four novellas and the final novel in the Timmy Quinn series. Burke is an extremely talented writer. It's unfortunate that he chooses to write only short stories, novellas, and very short novels. I would like to settle down with a story that would take me more than a few hours to read.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 2/5
      The author did a good job setting the scene and building a sense of impending horror. The main character was well conceived. The book suffered from the author presenting too much information too quickly as the story unfolded. The book could have easily been twice as long. With a little more attention to detail and a second half that revealed its events with the same concern for tension as the first, this could have been an exceptional book. I'm looking forward to reading more from this author.

      1 person found this helpful

    Book preview

    The Turtle Boy - Kealan Patrick Burke

    CHAPTER ONE

    ––––––––

    All the world's a stage, Timmy Quinn, but it's not the only one...

    ––––––––

    DELAWARE, OHIO

    FRIDAY, JUNE 9th 1979

    ––––––––

    Timmy, Pete's here! his mother called and Timmy scattered a wave of comics to the floor with his legs as he prepared himself for another day of summer. The bedsprings emitted a half-hearted squeak of protest as he sidestepped the comics with their colorful covers.

    School had ended three days ago, the gates closing with a thunderous finality the children knew was the lowest form of deception. Even as they cast one last glance over their shoulders at the low, hulking building—the antithesis of summer's glow—the school had seemed smug and patient, knowing the children's leashes were not as long as they thought. But for now, there were endless months of mischief to be perpetrated, made all the more appealing by the lack of premeditation, the absence of design. The world was there to be investigated, shadowy corners and all.

    Timmy hopped down the stairs, whistling a tune of his own making and beamed at his mother as she stepped aside, allowing the morning sunshine to barge into the hallway and set fire to the rusted head of his best friend.

    Hey Pete, he said as a matter of supervised ritual. Had his mother not been present, he would more likely have greeted his friend with a punch on the shoulder.

    Hey, the other boy replied, looking as if he had made a breakthrough in his struggle to fold in on himself. Pete Marshall was painfully thin and stark white with a spattering of freckles—the result of an unusual cocktail his parents had stirred of Maine and German blood—and terribly shy around anyone but Timmy. Though he'd always been an introverted kid, he became even more so when his mother passed away two summers ago. Now when Timmy spoke to him, he sometimes had to repeat himself until Pete realized he could not get away without answering. The boy was all angles, his head larger than any other part of his body, his elbows and knees like pegs you could hang your coat from.

    In contrast to Pete's shock of unruly red hair, Timmy was blond and tanned, even in winter when the bronze faded to a shadow of itself. The two of them were polar opposites but the best of friends, united by their unflagging interest in the unknown and the undiscovered.

    According to Timmy's mother, it was going to get into the high nineties today but the boys shrugged off her attempt to sell the idea of sun block and insect repellent. She clucked her tongue and closed the door on the sun, leaving them to wander across the yard toward the bleached white strip of gravel-studded road and the fields of ocean green beyond.

    So what do you want to do today? Timmy asked, kicking a stone he knew was big enough to hurt his toes if he got it at the wrong angle.

    Pete shrugged and studied a curl of dried skin on his forefinger.

    Timmy persisted. Maybe we can finish digging that hole we started?

    Convinced there was a mass of undiscovered treasure lying somewhere beneath Mr. Patterson's old overgrown green bean field, the two boys had borrowed some shovels from Pete's garage and dug a hole until the earth changed color from dark brown to a Martian red. Then a storm had come and filled the hole with brackish water, quashing any notions they had about trying to find the rest of what had undoubtedly been the remnants of a meteor.

    Nah, Peter said quietly. It was a stupid hole anyway.

    Why was it stupid? The last word felt odd as it slipped from Timmy's mouth. In his house, stupid ranked right up there with ass as words guaranteed to get you in trouble if uttered aloud.

    It just was.

    I thought it was pretty neat. Especially the chunks of meteor. I bet there was a whole lotta space rock under that field. Probably the bones of old aliens too.

    My dad said it was just clay.

    Timmy looked at him, his enthusiasm readying itself atop the downward slope to disappointment. What was clay?

    Pete shrugged again, as if all this was something Timmy should have known. The red stuff. It was just old dirt. My dad said it gets like that when it's far enough down.

    "Oh. Well it could have been space rock."

    A mild breeze swirled the dust around their feet as they left the cool grass and stepped on to the gravel. Although this path had been there for as long as they could remember, it had only recently become a conveyor belt for the trucks and bulldozers which had set up shop off beyond the tree line where new houses were swallowing up the old corn field. It saddened Timmy to see it. Though young, he could still remember his father carrying him on his shoulders through endless fields of gold, now replaced by the skeletons of houses awaiting skin.

    How 'bout we go watch the trains then?

    Pete looked at him, irritated. You know I'm not allowed.

    I don't mean on the tracks. Just near them, where we can see the trains.

    No, if my dad found out, he'd kill me.

    How would he know?

    He just would. He always knows.

    Timmy sighed and kicked the rock back into the grass, where it vanished. He immediately began searching for another one. As they passed beneath the shade of a mulberry tree, purple stains in the dirt all that remained of the first fallen fruit, he shook his head, face grim.

    I wish that kid hadn't been killed up there.

    Pete's eyes widened and he looked from Timmy to where the dirt road curved away from them along Myers Pond until it changed into the overgrown path to the tracks.

    The summer before, thirteen-year-old Lena Richards and her younger brother Daniel had been riding their dirt bikes in the cornfield on the other side of the rails. When a freight train came rumbling through, Danny had thought it a great idea to ride along beside it in the high grass next to the tracks and despite Lena's protests, had done that very thing. Lena, thinking her brother would be safer if she followed, raced up behind him. Blasted by the displaced air of the train, Danny lost control of his bike and fell. Lena, following too close behind and going much faster than she realized to keep the pace, couldn't brake in time. The vacuum wrenched them off their bikes. Danny was sucked under the roaring train. Lena survived, but without her legs.

    Or so the story went, but they believed it. The older kids said it was true.

    As a result, Timmy and Pete and all the neighborhood kids were now forbidden to venture anywhere near the tracks. Even if they decided to ignore their parents, a funny looking car with no tires rode the rails these days, yellow beacon flashing in silent warning to the adventurous.

    They were stupid to ride that close to the train anyway, Pete said glumly, obviously still pining for their days of rail walking.

    "Naw. It sounds cool to do something like that. Apart from, you know...the dying part an' all."

    Yeah well, we can't get close enough to watch the trains, so forget it.

    Well then you come up with something to do, Einstein.

    Pete slumped, the burden of choice settling heavily on his shoulders. Beads of sweat glistened on his pale forehead as he squinted up at the sun. To their left, blank-faced white houses stood facing each other, their windows glaring eyes issuing silent challenges they would never have the animation to pursue. To the right, hedges reared high, the tangles of weeds and switch grass occasionally gathering at the base of gnarled trees upon whose palsied arms leaves hung as an apparent afterthought. In the field beyond, high grass flowed beneath the gentle caress of the slightest of breezes. The land was framed by dying walnut trees, rotten arms severed by lightning long gone, poking up into the sky

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