Excerpt from The Dinosaur Feather by S J. Gazan, plus links to reviews, author biography & more

"Well done, my girl," he said. When he turned to look at her, she noticed that one of his eyes was almost purple. Her find had shaken him to his core.

"Mom?"

Von Molsen laid his pipe on the ground, took out his magnifying glass and, right at this point when Anna absolutely didn't want the dream to end, it started to dissolve.

"Mom, I want to get into your bed," a little voice pleaded. Anna clenched her fists and woke up in Copenhagen.

The light in her bedroom was dim. Lily was standing next to the bed, in her onesie, with a soaked diaper, which Anna Bella grabbed hold of as she swung the child into her bed. Lily snuggled up to her. It wasn't even six o'clock yet. Pale, white dawn light was starting to creep in, but it would be another half hour, at least, before any objects would be visible. Her sheets were freshly washed and felt crisp. A figure was standing between the window and the door to the living room. It was Friedemann von Molsen. She couldn't see his face, but she recognized the broad-brimmed felt hat he wore against the merciless sun. Anna's heart pounded inside her ribcage. She wanted him to disappear. Von Molsen watched her silently, just as lifelike as he had been in her dream.

"If I wait long enough," she told herself, "the light will make him go away." She knew she must be imagining this. She had to be. And yet she saw him just as clearly in the gray dawn as she saw the tall dresser next to the door, the green vase on top of it, and the silhouette from the lilies she had bought yesterday and put in the vase.

Later, when she looked back at this morning, she knew exactly what von Molsen was.

He was an omen.

Excerpted from The Dinosaur Feather by S J Gazan. Copyright © 2013 by S J Gazan. Excerpted by permission of Quercus. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.