What better way to celebrate Emma Meade’s brand new release of End of the Line than with a giveaway.
Enjoy my 5 STAR review and enter below!
Now available on Amazon and Smashwords
End of the Line
In the distance, the familiar white light appeared, cutting through the dark of midnight. She’d watched it come before, but always from the sidelines, imagining what it would be like to face such a beast.
Cassie drew in a shaky breath and steeled herself. Legs splayed, arms by her sides, fists tightly clenched, she waited on the tracks as the train approached. Her legs shook, and strands of hair licked her cheeks in the gentle night’s breeze.
She swallowed the fear threatening to overcome her. Hang in there, she told herself. Another sixty seconds, and it will all be over. No more drowning, murky thoughts, heavy dreams or stilted breathing. She lifted her head and stared straight ahead, willing her body to freeze.
Closer now, but not coming fast enough. She was scared. As much as she desired to have it all over with, the fear gained ground. Could the driver see her yet? No, still too far away. Why had time slowed down? An ache began in her ankles, spreading up her legs and winding its way around her thighs and into her clenched hands.
The feel of her fingernails scraping the soft flesh of her palms roused her, just as she became aware of the vibrations on the tracks.
Cassie stumbled into the grass growing beside the tracks and ran, tears running down her cheeks. She stopped as she reached the first line of trees and leaned over, resting her hands on her thighs, trying to get her breath back.
Damn it! She wanted to die. Why couldn’t she have stuck it out?
The train thundered by, unaware of the woman hunched over in the darkness, sobbing. She raised her head to watch the carriages pass, slithering alongside Wilkins Woods like a dark snake. In thirty seconds, the night was once again silent.
She’d try tomorrow night. Maybe pick up a bottle of Jack Daniel’s after work. Might help with the nerves.
Slowly, her breathing returned to normal, and she wiped the tears away. Cassie followed the edge of the woods the mile back to her dingy flat. She let herself in and headed straight to bed. One more day. She could make it that far.
Cassie wants to die. When midnight rolls around, she stands on the tracks waiting for the train to come.
Author’s Note:
My Review
It’s midnight and Cassie stands on the train tracks waiting for death. Here it comes. She will not jump out of the way, she won’t. Then she jumps.
Now she’ll have to come back tomorrow night and finish what she started, even if she has to use liquid courage to do so.
If she does meet death, will it be the end of the line?
What will happen if she doesn’t jump out of the way in time? If she lets the wheels of the train obliterate her existence? What if the end of the line isn’t the end?
I feel sorry for Cassie. She’s so sad, so lost. Failing each time, I wonder if she really wants to die, or if she just needs a reason to go on living? This one stuck with me for some time.
Emma takes a sensitive topic and breathes a supernatural “what if” into it. I was so captivated by the beginning, I was finished before I was ready!
I urge you to hop on this train and meet some very interesting characters. They have things to tell you.
This haunting and deep story gets Five Stars from me.
Giveaway
I have three e-book copies of this new release to giveaway!
International Giveaway. All are welcome!
To enter, please leave your email address and answer this question:
“Have you ever hopped a train?”
Giveaway ends March 14th.
Thanks ya’ll and Good Luck!
More great news!
fundinmental is also having a giveaway for End of the Line!
Hop over here and enter for another chance to win and check out her view of this story!
Click on the titles below to read more of my reviews of Emma’s books.
Dead Beats and The Old Vampire
About the author
Author of Nights Sighs, Under the Desert Moon and The Awakenings & Other Stories.
Emma Meade writes paranormal fiction. She lives in rainy Ireland and loves all things supernatural. Stephen King’s The Stand is one of her most loved books. Books, DVDS & TV show boxsets take up lots of space in her home and she collects all the Point Horror books she can get her hands on. She is not ashamed to admit that Dirty Dancing and Twilight make her top ten movie list but wishes to point out that The Last of the Mohicans, Reality Bites, Dead Poets Society, Stand by Me and The Goonies are in there too.
Writing supernatural stories & watching marathon re-runs of Buffy are some of her favourite ways of escaping reality.
You can find Emma here:
Http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4229395.Emma_Meade
http://www.twitter.com/emmameade83
Purchase Emma’s books by clicking on images below:
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Great post, as always. Did you schedule your post? I did, but I forgot to change the minutes. It worked just like we talked about. Anyway, I love your review. Good choice for the excerpt. Have a great day!!!
So is yours. I love how different we review the same book! We should try to link up more often!
Didn’t schedule it but trying one tonight.
I added it from Sherry’s blog! Wonderful cover!!! Lots of love, Emily
I love being able to read all of the books from authors I admire. I know I have so much more coming from your series too. It’s all so fun and exciting!
Have I ever hopped a train? Every chance I got. While a student, I craved the peace of mountain trekking, so I’d buy the cheapest return ticket to the the first mountain village, trek up, over, and down the other side of the mountain with nothing but a map for company, and then I’d hop on a train back to the place for which I had the return ticket. Don’t judge me! I could have done worse things as a student! 🙂
That sounds awesome. What an adventure. I won’t judge. Haven’t we all done something similiar?
Brave girl! I don’t think I’d go anywhere remote alone anymore. Too much could happen. I’d take the train!
Thanks, Laura, as always. 🙂
The pleasure is all mine:) Looking forward to more!
Terrific review. Yes, I’ve hopped a train. Went from San Francisco to Los Angeles on a train. I loved every minute. I got a lot of reading done in that 8 hours. It was so much more relaxing than driving.
Thanks Janna:) I’d love to travel by train. All that time for reading and the sounds would soothe me. I love reading outside when someone is mowing their lawn. It lulls and relaxes me.
Love the review and yes, I’ve hopped a train before but that was because I was late for the train and had to run and it kind of went before I could reach it and my mum was already on it so I had to hop on…Kinda embarrassing because everybody was looking at me but was worth it. My email :
DTL0201@gmail.com
Good thing you are fast on your feet! I did it once and was so scared. I’d never dream of doing it now that I am older and hopefully wiser. lol
I’ve never hopped a train before.
aazaris_world@sbcglobal.net
Smart one!
If you mean have I ever ridden on a train, the answer is yes, of course. But I think you mean have I ever hopped aboard a moving freight train, a la the proverbial hobo. My answer is, unforunately not. But it has always been a dream of mine to do that someday, or at least when I was young and agile enough to do so. In fact, I totally blew a good job interview one time, when the interviewer asked me, “If you could do anything you wanted, what would you do?” That was before I knew you can never be TOTALLY honest in an interview if you want the job, so I told him I’d hop a freight train and just spend a year or so travelling around the country. He looked at me like I was growing a third eye on my forehead or something, and asked me, “Why on Earth would you want to do that?” I told him it sounded like fun. Didn’t get the job, in case you’re wondering. Oh, well. I didn’t really want it anyway! acwa(at)netscape(dot)com
Sorry about the typo; I submitted the above before closely reviewing it, and didn’t catch the misspelled “unfortunately” on the second line. And I’m one of those grammar police! I promise I’ll do better next time. *with a sad face*
This is a typo forgiving blog as I make them myself:) My fingers get ahead of me sometimes. Then I hit that dang publish button and too late!
I’d love to hop a train and travel the country with no time restrictions. I’d just go where it took me and see all the country has to offer.
Lee, You crack me up. Your comments are awesome. I really cannot understand why you wouldn’t get the job. LOL I am bad about policing typos, but sometimes I click before checking. We can all be forgiven, can’t we?
No, I have never hopped a train but I bet it’s a rush!!!
A rush and pure terror! lol
A late tweet is better than no tweet. And that’s my report. hehehe
Chirp Chirp:)
I’ve never ‘hopped a train’ but I’ve been on a train.
jonelboyko(at)gmail(dot)com
I once rode the 1880’s train in South Dakota. Had the coal grit in my hair, my eyes, even my teeth.
I’ve never hopped a train, I did a tram … that’s what I have in my city. Love trains, to travel with.
xoxo
Never rode on a tram. Rode the subway but you sure can’t hop it!!
you should come to Sarajevo than to ride on tram …. it’s great city !!!
Well, hopped as in went on a whim, nope. Hopped as in running late and just getting in time, nope again. Hopped as in been on a train, plenty of times.
reviewing.shelf@gmail.com
Not on a whim, not because I was late, not for trip. Yep, to jump on one while it was moving. I was a stupid kid! lol
lol. I guess you survived. :-p
My husband and I rode Amtrak from Ohio to Boston and back. When we boarded the train in Toledo it was late at night, so we got a sleeper car. It was a bit claustrophobic, but cool to have our own space. 🙂
My email is jennifer.m.ricketts (at) gmail.com
I think it would be fun to travel by night. I’d sleep like a baby. Noise lulls me.
Great Review! Yep, I was 10, took a dare, or part of one-got on a v-e-r-r-y slow moving freight train with a couple of other kids…only for a few feet…I get my thrills now from reading! Much safer!
babyblue7299@yahoo.com
Yeah, I’ll read about it instead too! lol
I have never hopped a train. I am too much of a chicken. All of my adventures come from books!
alisa.ables@gmail.com
Safer and you’ll live longer. My hoppin days are long past:)
Hopped a train, as in chased it and jump on….no never and I don’t think I’d want to. I’m accident prone and would end up killing myself lol. Thank you for the giveaway 🙂
Cassandra closkot@hotmail.com
I was young and foolish. Now I’m older and, well, older:) lol
I have never hopped a train, I don’t run fast enough. Knowing me, I would trip and fall and get my leg stuck under the train. Ouch. But I have been on a train before, and quite enjoyed it 🙂
dreammie_angel at yahoo dot com
I’m with you. I’d rather board the train the normal way and enjoy the ride.
I have never hopped a train. But when I was growing up, we lived not far from the train tracks, and as a kid, my friends and I would put coins on the tracks so the train would flatten them. Someone told me years later, that we could have derailed the trains with that! haha…
Thanks for the giveaway! cumquat342003 at yahoo dot com
I’ve done that too. I can’t see some coins knocking a train off the tracks!
No, I have never hopped a train. I did meet a guy who did, when he was a teenager–he lost his leg, from the knee down, doing it. He lifted up his pants leg and showed it to me.
I had a friend from highschool who was pulled under the train. I was lucky when I did it. And it was years before his accident.
Nope, never hoped a train.
Good for you. I can’t believe I did it! Didn’t ever do it again.
I’m intrigued! I’ve never hopped a train, though I’ve always wondered whether I’d be able to do it. Not that brave/foolhardy, though.
Wouldn’t recommend it! I was young and foolish. Now I know better.
No i have never hopped a train kaylalone@yahoo.com
It’s not a good idea!!
Yes me and my friends used to hop the trains after school either for fun or to get to their house when we didn’t feel like waiting for the train to end. Do we never actually hopped it to ride it we hopped it to get to the otherwise. This was between 5th to 8 the grade we were just dumb kids. But it was fun. I rember being scared my 1st time but not after that we dared other kids. Thank god no one ever got seriously hurt.
lori529@Comcast.net
We were just ignorant when we were kids. Wouldn’t do it now!
I’ve never actually hopped a train
I wouldn’t recommend it:)
i can honestly say i have never hopped a train.
bashashhazbaz(at)yahoo(dot)com
Great! You value your legs as much as I do! lol
kelleeh.73@gmail.com No I never did hop a train the reason being one of my good friends decided they would hop a train and fell, he got both legs cut off and we never saw him again. That changed my mind!
I lost someone I knew that way. I hopped a crawling train when I was a wee kid. Would never think of doing something so crazy now.
cavanaugh.kc@gmail.com
I’ve never hopped a train before but it sounds like an interesting idea to put into one of my books….
🙂
There ya go!! All aboard:)
I have never hopped a train, even though I’ve often wanted to.
I’d say think twice:)
Never hopped a train….jumped a train or anything close…lol
sandy(at)thereadingcafe(dot)com
Smart woman!
Never hopped a train but when I was younger used to think about how free it would feel to just hop on and go wherever the train was heading
I still think that way sometimes:)
haha, never hopped a train but would probably take the opportunity if it presented itself. dazzle.ntce(at)yahoo.com.au
You’re braver than me!
No, never hopped a train, but I would love too. Great review, thanks for the giveaway!
Crystal Guidroz
cguidroz2@cox.net
It was fun when I did it but too old to catch one now. lol
I have never hopped a train. I think it might be fun though.
Fun but dangerous! Those days are past for me:)
Yes I have, but I don’t recommend it for the average person, pretty risky is an understatement.
I’d call myself stupid if I did it now. When I was younger, well, I was young and foolish. Nothing could happen to me!
Sounds like a very intriguing story! I haven’t hopped a train but I have gotten off a train at midnight and had to walk through a very large and very dark graveyard to get to my destination….. Scary times 😛
You were brave!
Ah a story about train hopping… well my girlfriend and I were training it around Europe and ended up in Prague. Now Prague is a lovely city, old, beautiful and lots of personality. Its also full of well natured people but alas it also has a slightly seedy underbelly especially in the dead of winter. Now we had to catch a night train from a train station just on the outskirts of the city… at midnight… in -15 weather. We had one of those awesome unlimited train passes which allowed obviously unlimited travel around Europe, so ticket wise we were set. Unfortunately neither I nor my girlfriend at the time spoke chech, now in the city centre, near the touristy bits, that doesn’t matter since practically everyone has a working knowledge of English. In the outskirts however, in a distinctly eastern European train station, run down, broken lights, cold, it does. Now this train station was a quintessentially scary place especially at midnight with no-one able to speak English. As it always happens the train was delayed. [Thank Google translate for that since I used my phone to look up the word next to the train on the board] It didn’t say how long or for what reason. My girlfriend and I talked it over, and we decided to stay since we had no where else to go. So you can imagine the situation 2 young people in a decrepit train station at midnight in the snow, waiting for a delayed train. its the start to a horror flick for sure. After waiting with paranoia for someone to steal us away to experiment in some eastern European gulag, a train, misted out of the snow and the darkness onto the platform. Now, no joke, no markings, no announcement. nothing. What to do? Hop on? What if its the wrong train? Where is it going? I turned to my girlfriend and said fuck it lets go. Mind you, the train was on the platform for all of 30 seconds so not much to hop on but we rushed it, hopped on and boom met by what looked to be the oldest person in the world. The first thought that crossed my mind, was…well shit… we’ve jumped onto the ghost train of Europe which we will be stuck on forever. As it turned out he was a lovely gentleman from Switzerland, and while it was the wrong train and the wrong destination, we did end up in a lovely village in Austria.
Moral of the story…. Hop on whats the worst that can happen 🙂 xx
borganstein.public email
(at)gmaild.com
I swear I saw your movie. I watched a movie recently and your comment made me think of it. I’m glad you were safe. The movie ended pretty bad for most.
Hop on!
yes…lol I was in an abandoned train yard in a college town.. We hoped on all of them.
We were eating gel caps and I tell ya they were moving and so was the graffiti..
Ha! Movin and groovin and going nowhere. lol
I know the contest is over now, but I have to add some things. First, we live close to a trainyard. At night we hear the crews hooking up cars and the screeching of the wheels as they come to a stop; sometimes even hear crews yelling to be heard by each other. Anyway, about a year ago a 15 yr old girl and her 16 yr old boyfriend whom she was banned from seeing any more (by her father) decided to hop a freight train in the yard and run away to “happily ever after land”. The guy jumped on a slow moving freight, just getting moving, but the girl got scared. She ran alongside as the train gained speed, while her boyfriend held his arm out to help her aboard. She threw her backpack on, then grabbed for his hand and slipped. One leg and one arm landed on the wrong side of the rail, and she lost both. Her boyfriend jumped back off and got her help, but she nearly bled to death. She will go through life now without an arm and a leg. Later the boyfriend dumped her, of course. Now that I’ve thoroughly depressed everybody, what I really wanted to say is this: If we ALL think back to some of the stupid things we did as kids, we’d have to agree it’s a miracle ANY of us lived through childhood! There must be a whole squadron of guardian angels assigned to each kid. When I think about all the times I SHOULD have died, it just blows my mind. All I really had to show for it is a couple broken bones and a lot of close calls.
Maybe some time you could pose the question: what is the stupidest thing you ever did? Might get some really bizarre answers!
Thanks for the book! It’s gonna be good.
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