The Last Lamp Burning

About the Book

Blanche Levy, the celebrated Broadway star of the post World War Two era, the widow of multimillionaire store owner, Sam Levy, moves back to Five Oaks Plantation, near Delta City, and secretly buys a casino.

Blanche, determined to save her daughter Chelsea’s marriage to Charles Hamilton, invites Chelsea and Charley, her Granddaughter Beth and Beth’s friend Gina to Five Oaks Plantation for the Christmas Holidays. For Beth’s sake, Blanche, known as a fearless, beautiful, strong-willed lady, has decided that she would disinherit Chelsea if she divorces her husband.

Gina, left as a ward of her drug-addicted Aunt Elsie, is unable to sleep in a strange house. That night when the murderer enters the mansion, Gina eludes him by using her stealth and street smarts. The wicked man kills everyone in the great ante bellum home except Gina and Beth. Gina slips into Beth’s room when she hears the intruder go down the stairs, and discovers that Beth has been brutally raped, is severely wounded, and is chained to her bed. Gina goes down stairs in search of a tool to cut the chains, can’t find one. The killer returns, takes Beth with him in an eighteen wheeler.

Gina, from her childhood experiences, knows the man is a malevolent psychopath who preys on women, and now, he has Beth, Gina’s only true college friend. Beth, a lovely girl who already has the American dream - a wealthy, celebrity grandmother, and possibly a great career, if she lives to follow in her grandmother’s footsteps.

Gina knows she must try to rescue Beth - kill the demon if she can. Gina finds that Blanche’s cars and the Hamilton car is locked, but she discovers that Bebo’s old Ford car is unlocked with the key in the switch.

Gina guns off, in what turns out to b a harrowing compelling pursuit, knowing the beast is a cold-blooded killer, but not yet knowing that he had killed the courier who meant to bring Blanche’s casino money to Five Oaks.

Gina stops at Zane Barron’s house, leaves him a note, telling what had happened, not yet knowing that the murderer ran down and killed Zane’s wife, and, later, kidnapped his teen-aged sister, while Zane, a Marine Colonel, was abroad.

Gina follows the killer’s vehicle into Tensas Swamp. The psychopath stops at a nondescript gas station-café-motel catering mostly to hunters and fishermen. Gina risks sneaking into the trailers - discovers that Beth is dead, finds other bodies as well. Gina knows the man is a serial killer - knows she must stop him, else he’ll surely get away and never be caught.

Dina follows him - deeper into Tensas Bottom. He stops at a large grocery store and kills the two men on duty, for no reason. Gina sneaks inside the store, trying to get an opportunity to kill the psychopath, but she is lucky to escape being killed. The killer finally leaves the grisly scene, and Gina pursues him even deeper into Tensas Bottom.

At last the killer turns right, into a narrow native graveled road. She follows him to his lair, ignoring the sleet, and is surprised to see a large two story house, surrounded by a razor wire fence, even higher than a prison fence, and guarded by pit bulldogs. Gina hides the car, decides to wait in the back seat, rest, until the murderer goes to bed. A passing vehicle leads her to think it might be Zane Barron, but, instead, it was a black man Elgar had planned to kill.

She approaches the fence, having made plans to scale it by climbing a sapling, then swinging from the top, so that she would drop on the other side. On approaching the sleet-rimmed gate, she saw that it was slightly ajar. Had the killer forgotten to close it, or had the cunning snake set a trap for her? Possibly the sleet caused the lock to dysfunction. It didn’t matter. She had to stop him!

What Gina didn’t know - Elgar knew she was following him - had left the gate unlocked, the pit bulldogs locked up.

Gina slips i

About the Author

George Harmon Smith, author of fourteen hardback novels, two hundred plus soft cover novels and non-fiction books, under various pseudonyms, was born near a swamp, about halfway between Spearsville, and Lillie, Louisiana. He earned his Bachelor’s Degree from Louisiana Tech University, and higher Degrees from the University of Arkansas and the University of Mississippi.