Novel - Stacking in Rivertown, published by Simon & Schuster
“Brutal yet beautiful. . .this disturbing, impressive novel introduces an urgent and powerful new voice.” (Publisher’s Weekly, July 2000)
An intricately emotional and erotic debut and a haunting foray into the deepest recesses of a sexual underworld, Stacking in Rivertown is a novel of love, pain, and redemption.
Young, beautiful, and happily married, Beth is finally learning to relax and enjoy her success as a bestselling novelist. Beneath her thin veneer of normalcy lies a terrifying history of sadism, sexual torture, tragic violence -- and a single long-buried secret that could destroy her.
Stacking in Rivertown marks the auspicious debut of a refreshingly bold new writer. In the bestselling tradition of Thomas Harris and David Lindsey, Barbara Bell plunges readers deep inside the mind of a woman struggling to survive and rebuild her life despite a harrowing past.
As Beth flees for her life, Stacking in Rivertown hurtles its readers toward a terrifying and unforgettable climax.
"Newcomer Bell creates a engaging and sympathetic character while skillfully exploring the nature of obsession and human need: a graphically violent but impressive debut." (Kirkus, June 2000)
Novella - Line of Battle, published at Amazon Kindle
Pitting daughter against father, Line of Battle creates political intrigue rife with subterfuge, betrayal, and the slaughter of non-combatants – the hallmarks of the “dirty wars” of our time. Mara Adams, a young American anthropologist working in the Himalayas, is kidnapped, raped, and brutally tortured by men intent upon controlling her politically powerful father, Edmond Adams. Edmond has advocated and perpetrated similar secret and troubling US government activities in third world countries from Iran-Contra to the present. Mara later discovers that her father’s duplicity led to her kidnapping.
Both political and deeply personal, Line of Battle charts Mara’s course through darkness – a journey that, surprisingly, is filled with light. Even after the worst of experiences, she finds a way home.
Music - The Bull is Blind
Original acoustic music sung from the edge of a razor. Gritty, dark lyrics shine with a spooky gleam.