Archive for October, 2014

scary elves photo: Scary scary.jpg

Freakin Fridays is my own little meme. I’ll be posting about books, movies, and all things scary.

Feel free to join in and do your own Freakin Fridays posts.

Get your scare on!

~~~

It’s Release Day for Santa’s Little Helper!

I’ve been waiting anxiously to tell you about this book. When the author sent me the ARC I dropped what I was reading and dove in. H.D. Gordon writing horror! I couldn’t wait!

Come on in. I dare ya!

ghost photo: ghost Ghost.gif

And check out the giveaway after my review.

You could win a signed copy!

~~~

Santa’s Little Helper

by H.D. Gordon

23352203

c8df8-add2bto2bgoodreads2bblack

My Review

When H.D. told me she had a new story and did I want to read it, I was so excited. When I found out the title and what it was about, I couldn’t wait to get started. A Christmas Horror story. How cool is that!

I’ve read all of her books, and her writing is incredible so I was sure this would scare me. Be one that would make me afraid to read it at night, alone, in the dark. It takes a lot to do that, and when I find an author who can scare me that good, I want to scream from the rooftops, “This book scared me!”

Horror has always been my first love, even when I was young. Books or movies, I devour it. My DVD collection and bookshelves are overflowing with the stuff. With all of those to choose from, you’d be surprised to know that a lot of them didn’t really scare me. Sure, they have there moments, but a really good scare, not that many.

Santa’s Little Helper scared me, a lot. I think part of it was the kids. There are several of them in this story and you’ll get each of their stories as they deal with the surprise.

The surprises mysteriously appear on each of their doorsteps, nothing saying where they came from. Upon opening the white boxes, they each discover a doll, one of Santa’s elves, along with a little red book saying the doll was there to watch over them for Santa.

Right away the kids sense something’s off, wrong about the elves.  They each try to get rid of it and some succeed. But they know. The doll will be back.

The terror begins quickly. The elves get to work right away, terrorizing the kids, and scaring me too. A few scenes had me pulling the covers up to my chin, with my hands peeking out to hold my kindle. My elbows were drawn in close to my sides. I was almost in a fetal position, making myself as small as possible.

scary elves photo: scary 035.jpg

Then my imagination stepped in. I put myself in their shoes. The were frustrated that the adults didn’t get it. Didn’t feel the wrongness settle into their homes.  They didn’t want to come home from school, afraid of what awaited them.

There was one particular scene that reminded of the movie Legion. If you’ve seen it you’ll recall the scene where the ice cream man shows up and transforms. It was scary and the scene in this book is even more so for two young brothers.

They tried reaching out for help and that went very bad for one person. So now they each have to face a doll alone. And there’s a storm coming. Peculiar, Missouri has never seen one like this. It’s almost Christmas. Santa’s little helpers are about to get busy.

evil elves photo: evil mewithnocookie.png

How will they fight something that can’t be killed? What do  can they do when the one person who can save them doesn’t exist?

H.D. Gordon has proven she can write horror with the best of them. Don’t think because the main characters are young kids that this won’t scare you. Remember Stephen King’s IT? That one still scares me and this book will sit right next to it on my bookshelf. Where it belongs. In the “Scared the s#!t out of me section.”

5 Stars

spider web photo: Spider Hanging from Web webwht.gif

Some of my favorite quotes from the book:

“If the Bible Belt had a buckle, Peculiar was it.”

“…it had been the only good part of the holiday, just a sprinkling of sugar on top of a poo pie.”

“Selflessness is a powerful thing if just because of its rarity, but fear is even more powerful, and in an opposite sense. It is the food of the darkness.”

And this one really hit home with me. I got it. I do this with my reviews.

“Sometimes, you’re so close to the words you can’t see the whole picture they’re forming.”

~~~

Synopsis

He shows up in a white box, with a bright red book under his arm… He wears a jolly grin and hat, a suit with gold bells and green yarn… He watches you for Santa, or so his red book claims… But though his grin is jolly, he’s not here for fun and games…

The children have been chosen, such precious little souls they are… And may the Gods be with them, if they wish to make it very far… For Santa’s Little Helper does not say, but knows important things… He knows when you’ve been bad or good, and what monsters stalk your dreams… He knows when you are sleeping, he knows when you’re awake…He’s picking out his presents…He’s got some souls to take.

Purchase Links

Amazon

~~~

giveaway photo: Giveaway Banner for 42nd giveaway.png

The author has a giveaway on Goodreads. She’s offering two signed copies.

Click HERE to enter and Good Luck!

~~~

Other books I’ve read by H.D. Gordon.

Click on the covers for my reviews.

The Joe Knowe Series

Joe  20652630

The Surah Stormsong Series

18349596  18332658

The Alexa Montgomery Saga

12570845  18043918

and two more in this series that I’ve read and reviews will be coming soon..

13500089  16120595

~~~

H.D. Gordon

H.D author pic shooting stars

H. D. Gordon is the bestselling author of THE ALEXA MONTGOMERY SAGA, THE SURAH STORMSONG NOVELS and THE JOE KNOWE SERIES. She is twenty-five years old and a true lover of words. When not hanging out with her two beautiful daughters, she can be found reading, writing, or just taking in the world so that she can translate it’s beauty and wonders into the written word.

.

.

.

You can follow H.D. Gordon at:

~~~

Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew.

Happy Halloween!

creepy elves photo: creepy creepy.png

BOO!

Welcome to The Friday 56 hosted by Freda’s Voice.

This is a really fun meme!

The only rules are to grab a book (any book), turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader and find a sentence or a few (no spoilers) that grabs you and post it.

Then go over to Freda’s Voice and leave your link so we can visit your 56!

.

.

My 56 for this week is from

Paradise Rot

by Larry Weiner

18890734

c8df8-add2bto2bgoodreads2bblack

My 56

Sometimes he wished for a normal life devoid of fact or truth. Sometimes he longed to be the others, walking the earth thinking about nothing other than the next meal. No introspection. No future. No past. Just the moment when food is discovered.

“What is your soul looking for these days, Dory?” Jackson asked.

~~~

I stumbled upon this as a free download on Amazon. Breaking my promise to myself to stop grabbing freebies, I did it anyway. This was too good to pass up.

I’m loving the characters, the plot, everything about this so far!

And to be honest, I couldn’t resist the cover. LOL

~~~

Synopsis

Kyle Brightman—late of the advertising industry and soon-to-be-late of the 5th floor psych ward—has a job offer he can’t refuse. A new resort in the Caribbean is looking for an art director. Kyle soon finds himself on the Isle of St. Agrippina working alongside a beautiful copywriter with an icy handshake. Questions arise: Why does the resort management team sport spray-on tans in the Bahamas? How can the resort offer such cheap vacation packages? What does one do with vats of Astroglide? To get the answers, Kyle must first navigate a series of wildly unpredictable events with a cast of even more wildly unpredictable characters, including a seductress jungle assassin, her partially paralyzed talking Chihuahua, an Ivy League Rastafarian seaplane captain, Kyle’s ex-psych ward roommate, a former Haliburton mercenary, and a French tavern owner with a fondness for goats, all set to the greatest hits of the 70’s. Pablo Cruise never felt so right.

~~~

Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew and Happy Halloween!

Leave your link and I’ll drop by your 56.

Black Cats and Ballet Slippers Tour Banner copy

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. The author will be awarding a $25 Amazon gift card to one randomly drawn commenter via Rafflecopter. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Black Cats and Ballet Slippers

by Iva Valentino

Gemma Mayfield feels like middle school is a lot to bite off and chew. School, ballet classes, and planning on how to get Trevor Davis to ask her to the Halloween Dance are a tough balancing act. On top of that, Gemma is convinced that her science teacher, Ms. Pruett, is a witch.

When things start getting fishy at school, Gemma knows that Ms. Pruett is behind it all! Students are getting spells placed on them and start to go missing. Gemma and her best friend, Izzie, vow to stop Ms. Pruett from doing any more damage. Will they be able to save Middleton Middle School from witchcraft?

.

Enjoy an excerpt:

Today when I came home from school, Mungo greeted me at the door. He does this every day. He was carrying his favorite little yellow ball. So I played fetch with him for a bit, because even though he is a cat, he will never stop thinking he is a dog.

When Mom came home just a few minutes later, Mungo bounded toward the door and started growling. He always does this. He looks a bit scary with his super black fur and yellow eyes. Mom had to step around him so she wouldn’t get nipped. I believe that Mom must have made Mungo mad when he was just a kitten, because he doesn’t seem to have forgiven her. I always try to stay on his good side as well.

I told Mom about what happened today. The conversation went something like this:

Mom: “Hi, honey! How was your day?”

Me: “Not so good. Ms. Pruett put a spell on me. She totally controlled my mind for like five minutes!”

Mom: “Gemma! I think we know better than that. Ms. Pruett is just a nice old lady.”

Then she went to the living room to do her yoga. I am convinced that no one believes me about this witch thing.

~~~

About the Author:

Iva Valentino lives in Arizona with her husband and their dog, Lupo. She graduated from the University of Arizona with a Bachelor’s degree in Biology and a Master’s degree in Education. She loves living year-round in the warm desert.

Iva spent many years as a middle school teacher, where she enjoyed doing fun science experiments with her students. She currently works as a science editor at an educational publishing company. She loves travel, yoga, and photography. There is nothing that brings her more happiness than a good dance class!

Website: www.IvaValentino.com

Blog: www.ivavalentino.com/blog
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ivaavalentino

Buy the book at MuseItUp Publishing, Amazon, or Barnes and Noble. (on sale for $1.35 at publisher and Amazon)

~~~

giveaway photo: Giveaway Banner for 42nd giveaway.png

$25 Amazon Gift Card

Click on the rafflecopter below to enter.

Raffle button

~~~

Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew and Good Luck!

To see all of my giveaways click on the lucky horseshoe below!

horseshoe photo: Horseshoe horseshoe.jpg

 

Displaying Short Tales of Horror II - Tour Banner.jpg

Many of you probably know how much I love anthologies and collections, especially when it’s horror.

I have some great ones to share with you today in Regina Puckett’s Short Tales of Horror Part II.

Come on in. Get your scare on.

And don’t forget to enter the giveaway. You could win your own copy!

~~~

 Short Tales of Horror Part II

by  Regina Puckett

23156772

GENRE – Horror

PUBLICATION DATE – September 2, 2014

LENGTH (Pages/# Words) – 77 pages

PUBLISHER – Punk & Sissy Publications

COVER ARTIST – Ryan Jorgensen owns copyright on photo. Charity Parkerson put together the book cover.

~~~

My Review

I love anthologies and collections and the author has some good ones here.

Lets start from the beginning.

First up is Ours.

Sheriff Wilson remembers the last time paranormal investigators wanted to explore the abandoned mental hospital. A dozen people died and they still haven’t solved the case.

Now a new bunch of investigators want to turn their investigation into a haunted house tour.

When will people learn?

This was very atmospheric. Lots of strange things occurring. And the worst of the action took place in room 666. Spooky room number. Wouldn’t catch me entering it. But people do and it gets bad.

Room 666 housed Wallace Webster. A serial killer convicted of killing over 100 children and claiming to have killed many more.

No matter how many times I read stories with a similar plot or watch the movies, I’m always intrigued. I have to know how the author will spin it.

Regina did great with Ours.

Next up is Silent Baby Screams.

A mother returns home to find her baby missing. Her husband was supposed to drop off Toby at the daycare center, but when she called to check up on her baby, he hadn’t been dropped off.

When she gets home she discovers the baby room is empty. Nothing in it. It’s like little Toby was never born.

She calls the police and her husband arrives home at the same time they arrive. What’s strange is he doesn’t get out of the car. Just watches his hysterical wife as she screams for them to find her baby.

It wasn’t long before I figured out where this was going. That didn’t stop me from feeling the suspense, and the husbands odd behavior did have me baffled for a bit.

The third story is Lucky Thirteen

The number thirteen is supposed be lucky. But some people think it’s bad luck.

Granny lives alone except for her cats. You guessed it, thirteen of them.

Her daughter and granddaughter want her to move in with them. It’s getting hard for her to move around and the crime rate has risen in her neighborhood. They don’t like the idea of her being there alone. What if she’s falls? What if someone breaks in?

Someone does break in.

But I don’t think we have to worry about Granny.

This was a wicked, fun one.

Then there’s Pay Back.

This one had me going for a while. I couldn’t put my finger on just what was happening.

Jeremy stumbles out of bed, late again. His parents were going to kill him. But maybe that would be better than having to face the relentless bullies at school.

His parents don’t get how serious it is. They expect him to suck it up, be a man, and deal with it.

Jeremy finds a way to deal with it.

You know what they say about pay back…

Now for Slimmer.

Donald and his partner have created a new diet pill. Eat all you want and lose weight.

We’ve heard that one before.

Now wanting to wait for approval for human trials, Donald gets his girlfriend to try them.

She figures, why not? He’s always on her about her weight. Nagging her. And at first they work great. She can eat anything she wants and never gain a pound. But then she can’t stop eating. She’s always starving for more.

There’s no such thing as a miracle cure. And when the test rats start going crazy, you have to wonder what Donald’s girlfriend will do.

And last but not least is Sam I Am.

There’s someone living in her closet. He’s Sam I Am and he wants little Kippie out.

When Paige and Nathan bought their dream home, they didn’t know it was supposed to be haunted.

When Kippie tries to tell them about Sam I Am, they play it off as her imagination.

But now Kippie has disappeared. Police are called and the hunt begins.

Kippie warned them. She told them – “He said his mommy hurt him once, but that was okay because he fixed her wagon.”

What happened to Kippie? Does Sam I Am have her? Does he exist?

The ending is not what you expect.

So there you have it. Six scary tales to make you keep the lights on, listen when someone tells you there’s a boogeyman, and never mess with little old ladies.

I enjoyed all of these, and just finished reading Regina’s first collection of Scary Tales of Horror. You may want to check them out too.

5 Stars

~~~

BOOK SYNOPSIS

Ours

While Sheriff Wilson has no idea what really transpired the night twelve people were murdered in the old mental

hospital during what was supposed to be a simple night of ghost hunting, he was at the scene moments after the lone

survivor committed suicide. Now it’s a year later and a group of paranormal investigators want to set up a haunted

house and invite the general public in that same abandoned mental hospital. How is he supposed to keep that many

people safe from whoever or whatever killed the last group?

Silent Baby Screams

Gwen doesn’t understand why her husband resents their newborn baby so much, but she never suspects that one day

she’ll return home from work to discover their baby boy has simply vanished. What happens next is the stuff of

nightmares.

Lucky Thirteen

Thirteen black cats help keep watch over a bedridden, old lady. Sometimes the number thirteen is lucky but then again it

might just depend on it who you are.

Pay Back

There’s nothing usual about Jeremy waking up late for school, but on this particular morning something feels different.

When he goes downstairs to face the music, he finds his grandmother waiting for him but no one else appears to be at

home. Jeremy believes he’s caught a lucky break and his mother and father won’t get to know, but he soon discovers

that not everything is as it seems. He finds he’ll have to face up to his mistakes, though, and maybe even suffer a little

payback himself.

Slimmer

Sandy loves her new boyfriend, but ever since they moved in together, Donald won’t get off her back about how much

she eats. When he offers her a new miracle diet pill, she decides to try one just to shut him up. Unfortunately, there are

unexpected side effects that take them both by terrifying surprise.

Sam I am

The morning after moving into her dream home with her young daughter and husband, Paige learns that the three story,

18th century house might be haunted. She then finds that her daughter has a new imaginary friend called Sam I Am. It

isn’t long before Paige’s perfect home turns into a living nightmare.

BUY & TBR LINKS

AMAZON KINDLE US ~ AMAZON KINDLE CA ~ AMAZON KINDLE UK ~ AMAZON PAPERBACK

BARNES & NOBLES NOOK ~ BARNES & NOBLES PAPERBACK

SMASHWORDS ~ GOODREADS

~~~

EXCERPT

Ours

“Something drained its battery. Sometimes that happens when a spirit is nearby. Why don’t you try asking

Wallace a few questions?  Maybe he likes men better than women. After all he only kidnapped, raped and killed little

boys. “

There’s nothing Alan wanted less than to try and communicate with a dead serial killer but he had forced his way

in with the group so the least he could do was try in fit in. “He liked little boy’s. I don’t think he’s going to be interested

in my type. I’m a little old for his taste.”

Rhonda didn’t say anything but continued to stare at him. He finally shrugged. “Why the hell not?”  He turned

toward the empty room and tried not to feel like a damn fool. It was a good thing none of his deputies could see him

talking to a ghost. “If you’re with us, Wallace Webster, you should know the world’s a better place without you in it. You

were the lowest form of scrum bag and I think it’s a damn shame you were granted the pleasure of dying of old age in

here instead of getting the electric chair like you deserved.”

Rhonda elbowed him. “Ask a question and stop antagonizing him.”

Alan glared at her. “Fine.”  He closed his eyes and tried to think of a good question. “Why did you hurt those

innocent children?”  All of the K2 meters lit up.

Rhonda leaned over and grabbed her backpack. She dug around until she found the recorder. “Ask him

something else. “

Alan stood and walked over into the circle of K2 meters. “Why, you Son of a Bitch. Why?” He felt a sharp stinging

sensation across the back of his neck before cold air enveloped him. Just as he was reaching back to rub the painful area,

a putrid smell filled the air and a voice right next to his ear whispered. “Mine.”  Without even thinking, he asked, “Why?”

There was a sinister laugh and another sharp painful slash across his neck and then down the full length of his back. He

went to step out of the circle until something bumped against the side of his leg. The air around him became soupy and

every breath became harder and harder to draw in.

When he made another move to leave the circle several things happened at once; it felt as if a large hand

gripped onto his shoulder, a breathe of foul air filled his nose and the room became crammed with small black shadows.

Another whisper finally answered his question. “My children.” Alan forced his legs to move but he only made it a few

steps when the black forms rushed to surround him. It felt as if several pairs of small hands were tugging at his pants’

legs and there were arms wrapping around both of his legs. The air overflowed with agitated murmurings and whispers.

Every hair on Alan’s body stood up from the static electricity in the room. He blinked his eyes several times

trying to focus on the tiny black shadows which had suddenly appeared out of nowhere. They were all inside of the circle

of K2 meters and the lights on the meters were flashing on and off like crazy. The shadows were darker than the room’s

darkness. They were completely void of any light and the feelings emanating from them were if they were totally void of

any happiness.

It wasn’t so much the touching or even the presence of the black shadows that bothered Alan. It was those

feelings of pain and anguish that were slowly leaching away his own happiness. He could sense they needed his help and

this was the only way they knew how to ask for it. He broke out in a cold sweat, and just as the coldness was beginning

to seep into his skin, frantic screaming came from somewhere else in the hospital.

~~~

AUTHOR BIO

Regina Puckett

 

Regina Puckett is an award nominated author for her short story, Balloon Wishes.

Concealed in My Heart is a Readers’ Favorite Book Award Winner.

Claimed by Sin is nominated for 2014 Ellora’s Cave Golden Ankh award.

Concealed in My Heart won runner-up in the international 2014 MARSocial Author of the Year Competition.

Borrowed Wings, has received the Children’s Literary Classics Seal of Approval.

Memories won first place in the 1st WSBR International Poetry Contest. This poem may be found in her book of poetry,

Tilting at Windmills and Words.

Slowly Drowning won second place in the 3rd WSBR International Poetry Contest. This poem may be found in her poetry book, My Words into the Beyond.

Sir Galahad Comes to the Rescue won third place in the 3rd WSBR International Poetry Contest. This poem may be found in her book of poetry, Ramblings and Dreams.

Her collection of poetry, Fireflies, won 2013 Turning Pages Poetry Book of the Year.

She writes sweet romances, horror, inspirational, picture books and poetry. There are several projects in various stages

of completion and there are always characters and stories waiting for their chance to finally get out of her head and

onto paper.

AUTHOR FOLLOW LINKS

AMAZON ~ WEBSITE / BLOG ~ FACEBOOK

TWITTER ~ GOOGLE+ ~ GOODREADS 

OTHERS

~~~

giveaway photo: Giveaway Banner for 42nd giveaway.png

GIVEAWAY PRIZES

2 print copies of Short Tales of Horror Part II

Click on the rafflecopter below to enter.

Raffle button

~~~

Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew and Good Luck!

To see all of my giveaways click on the lucky horseshoe below!

horseshoe photo: Horseshoe horseshoe.jpg

Hi everybody! It’s Hump Day!

We’re over half way through this last week of October and Halloween is just days away.

These reviews are my trick – or – treats for you.

Have a scary good time!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbbKQzVTsbE]

~~~

Infested

by Mark R Faulkner

20706140

c8df8-add2bto2bgoodreads2bblack

My Review

The man did a really bad thing. It was in the heat of passion, and many would say the victims had it coming, but it was still a bad thing.

Now on the run, he takes to his canoe, revisiting the river one last time. The man doesn’t expect he’ll elude the authorities for long, but at least he’ll find some peace until he’s captured.

Making camp for the night, he lies back and gazes to the stars. So many up there. An ever expanding galaxy.

Then there’s a spectacular display of shooting stars, more than he can count. Must be a meteor shower.

As the man drifted off to sleep, he had no idea it wasn’t an ordinary meteor shower. They didn’t burn up when they entered our atmosphere. They are here.

They came from outer space. Sorry, had to say that. By the cover you’ve guessed what they are.

Spiders. Just normal looking, creepy, crawling spiders. They’re not huge. They look normal. But they are endless. They are hungry. And we are food.

In the beginning, I was hoping the man would get eaten by the spiders. Then, as events transpired, as another side of him emerged, as I discovered the bad thing he did, I started to pull for him. I started to hope for him.

But. Yep, the but comes next. This is a horror story. There are no promises made that a character you care about will survive.

Does the man survive? You’ll have to take a ride. A boat ride to where? To what end? Then you’ll know.

4 STARS

spiders photo: abstract dde08faafc0a8cf5916e15eoe2.gif

~~~

Synopsis

A novella, with spiders.

Knowing it would be his final trip down the river, he wished upon a star to be left alone.
He didn’t realize the stars would answer.

~~~

Drayton: The Taker

by Tony Bertauski

9538744

c8df8-add2bto2bgoodreads2bblack

My Review

Drayton is ancient. He has no idea how old he is. Who he is. What he is. He’s wandered the earth for centuries, taking. Taking what he needs. What he craves.

For a few folks in this story, he gives. From the others, he takes.

This story hypnotized me. When I finished reading it, the feelings lingered like when you wake up from a dream and aren’t fully awake yet.

I drifted with Drayton, kind of like an out of body experience.  I too struggled to understand what he was. A vampire, a reaper, or Death itself? I still don’t know.

 I know he can be kind, generous. I also know he can be dangerous. He may not be human, but he still needs to feed.

 I don’t know what else I can say to describe my thoughts on this story. The author mesmerized me with his prose.

There are several more stories about Drayton. I understand you can get them as a collection so that’s where I’m headed next.

5 Stars

~~~

Synopsis

Drayton once believed he was a vampire. He doesn’t know what he is. Or why he lives. He takes not his victim’s blood but the silky essence of their soul during their last breath. Often mistaken for the Angel of Death, his victims sometimes ask for forgiveness. Sometimes he delivers. After all, he is not without sin.

~~~

Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew and Happy Halloween Ya’ll!

Second Coming banner by Scott Pinsker

When I first spotted this book, I had no idea what it was about so I went to check it out.

The description is intriguing but it’s the reviews that really made me curious.

What if Christ came back and so did Satan?

How would you tell which was which?

I’m going to have to read this to find out.

~~~

Title: The Second Coming

Author: Scott Pinsker

 

Release date: June 5th, 2014

Tour: Irresistible Reads Book Tours

 

Book Description:

Two men claim to be the Second Coming of Christ. Each claims the other is Satan in disguise. But only one is telling the truth.

 In The Second Coming: A Love Story, the devilish new novel by Scott Pinsker, the culture war between Red America and Blue America turns shockingly real when two self-declared saviors appear on earth. The first “messiah” attracts legions of liberal and secular-progressive followers with his message of New Age brotherhood, quickly becoming the darling of the left. The second “messiah” preaches fire-and-brimstone traditional Christianity, gaining a grassroots army of conservative worshippers ready to battle to the death. It’s finally happened: Red America and Blue America are headed for Armageddon!

Amazon

 

Book Excerpt

 

The only two things Nate Konrad feared were indifference and anonymity.  As America’s preeminent radio personality and/or loudmouth, he figured out long ago that he who cultivates crowds stays on the air; he who blends into crowds fades away.

Nate Konrad refused to fade away.

Many moons ago, as a longhaired radical with a penchant for rabble-rousing, he dropped out of Yale to pursue his dream of becoming a wacky, irreverent disk jockey.  Many moons later, despite leaving every radio station on rancorous terms (or with litigation pending), he always landed in a slightly larger market, until Konrad inconceivably emerged atop the radio food chain.

He began his career by attracting an audience the easiest way possible: saying outlandish, offensive things, but veiling these diatribes with just enough witticisms to deflect criticism.  Konrad referred to supermarkets in the inner cities as “Negrocery stores,” and demanded that pro-life listeners add nine months to their date of birth when people ask of them their age.  He recommended solving the homeless problem by providing the homeless with complimentary camels—so we could then refer to them not as “homeless” but as “nomads” (and if that didn’t work, he explained, the homeless/nomads could eat their camels and at least get a good meal out of it).  When a famous Mexican-American actress was photographed breastfeeding her baby, Konrad sparked a mini-boycott (and lost the El Pollo Loco sponsorship) when he called her a “Lactino.”  Of course, when anyone took offense, the longhaired radio rebel would silence the offended by claiming they “lacked a sense of humor” or “just didn’t get it.”  But as his articulation increased, along with his knowledge of all things political, he found himself moving steadily to the ideological right.  Basically, he developed the ability to shock the public with ideas rather than insults, and became one of America’s most trusted—and polarizing—authorities on current events.

His world view was simple: The government that governs best governs least; empower the military and police to the utmost possible; feminists are fat and ugly; and finally, if you don’t love the United States of America with every inch of your red-blooded heart, then get out of this country, you ungrateful socialist scumbag.

Tanning salons and Marlboro Reds rendered his boyish features a thing of the past, replacing the rosy hue of innocence with a cantankerous scowl and scaly contours.  He still donned a shiny leather jacket and jet-black sunglasses, as if trying to overcompensate for his advancing age and eight-figure income.  All in all, Konrad was desperate to demonstrate that he’s still the same unpredictable madcap rebel who’s always ready to humiliate the establishment, despite becoming a corporate icon and political kingmaker in his own right.

“Greetings across the four corners of Americana,” growled Konrad through his gold-plated microphone.  “I am the living legend of talk radio, the Deacon of Democracy, the Golden Angel of the airwaves.  My name is Nathan F. Konrad and I can run faster, jump higher, dive deeper, stay under longer and come up drier than any man, woman, or animal on God’s green earth.  And that’s all before my morning cup of Colombian coffee!  But let’s dispense with the catch-phrases for a moment.  Normally, I don’t allow guests to sit in the booth with me.  You see, I view my radio booth as sacred territory, the birthplace of freedom for modern America, and I’m careful about corrupting its purity with outsiders.  But for the first hour of today’s program, I’m making an exception.  Just like the rest of you, I’ve been following the nonstop media coverage of the two men, Joe and Israel, who both claim to be the Second Coming of Jesus Christ—and perhaps more interestingly, also claim that the other is Lucifer.

“Now, as you know, when these, uh, men first began appearing on the television dial, I predicted that it was a publicity stunt of one kind or another and the two, uh, entities were working in unison.  While I still believe such a possibility exists, I’m starting to hedge my bets.  Despite the widespread media coverage, nobody anywhere has been able to uncover any photos or documents that ‘outs’ them as being human.  Isn’t that strange?  One would have expected that a graduation picture, a birth certificate or even a mug-shot photo might be unearthed.  Now, this dearth of evidence doesn’t necessarily mean that Joe and Israel are actually God and Satan; the absence of evidence is not necessarily evidence of an absence.  But it does add circumstantial credibility to their claims.

“But even if they’re both liars, they’ve raised an interesting question: How do we, as mere humans, differentiate good from evil?  We’re deceived by leftwing evildoers with such regularity—and most of the time, the lefties aren’t even that smart!  Yes, you and I can smell ‘em out, but over 50 percent of our countrymen cannot.  So think about it: If we can’t even fend ourselves from the deceivers of earthly origins, what prayer do we have against deceivers of unearthly origins?

“And I’m not trying to be an alarmist here, but let’s face facts: Every election day, millions of Americans vote for anti-Christian secular progressives.  And I’m guesstimating that the S.P.s’ median age is, oh, maybe 50 to 70.  You compare this to Satan himself, who’s spent thousands of centuries perfecting his message, and you see that we’re facing a serious experience-gap.  Realistically, what hope do we have?

“To answer these questions, as well as many more, let us welcome Miss Margaret Magdala—the apostle of the, uh, entity she believes is the one true Second Coming, Joe.  Margaret, I’m glad you could join us.”

Margaret the Apostle grinned like the Cheshire Cat.  “Thank you, Nathan!  I’ve listened to your show for so many years now—I’m a super-big fan!”

Konrad motioned for the engineer to lower Margaret’s microphone while scanning through his notepad.  “And we’re delighted as well, Miss Magdala.  My opening question for you relates to my monologue.  Assuming that Joe and Israel are both of supernatural origins, how do you know that you’re following the Son of God and not Satan?  As you may or may not be aware, according to the latest poll numbers, a greater percentage of Americans believe that Israel is the Second Coming, and by a wide margin—a whopping 17 percent.  What do these numbers say to you?”

Margaret was unfamiliar with those statistics.  Still, she knew her heart and she knew her faith.  “They say I need to become more forceful at communicating Joe’s message to the world—and appearing on influential programs such as yours is an important first step.  Joe’s message is perfect, even if my presentation, evidently, is not.  You know Nathan, there’s a reason why Christianity caught on like a wildfire and spread throughout Europe, the Americas and the entire world, becoming the dominant religion on the planet.  Islam, Judaism, Hinduism… none of them comes even close to matching the success of Christianity.  And it’s not a coincidence that the greatest scientific achievements of the past 500 years can all be traced to Christian nations.  Christianity succeeds because Christianity is right!  Eventually, Joe’s message will prevail because his message is truth.  Lies are momentary; truth stands forev—”

Konrad jackhammered his gold-plated pen on his desk, distracting Margaret.

“Yes, yes,” interrupted the radio icon.  “Of this we are not in conflict.  I’m not one of those pandering relativists who preach that all civilizations are of equal moral worth, for I believe in the superiority of the American way of life and our Christian system of values.  Take Islam, for example.  That religion silences intellectual debate by labeling free-thinkers as heretics.  As a result, I can’t think of one Muslim philosopher over the past thousand years who’s worth a damn.  Can you?”

Before Margaret could answer, Konrad continued: “Now, I’m not saying that Islam is of no moral worth—you Arab listeners, don’t take my statements out of context and start blowing stuff up again.  Sheesh.  You people have to learn how to accept criticism better.   I’m simply pointing out that the Islamic faith, as interpreted by its radicalized Imams, does not promote rigorous debate in an open marketplace of ideas.  As a result, its philosophy has stagnated, with the majority of Arabs lacking flush-toilets and a military that makes France look like a nation of Rambo’s.”

Now Konrad was really rolling: “My friends, I’ve noticed that these Arabs like to declare ‘Holy Wars’ against America, Israel and Europe.  They never actually win these Holy Wars; they just like declaring Holy Wars.  Can you remember the last time an Arab nation actually defeated a Christian—or even a Jewish—nation?  I think you have to go all the way back to the Ottoman Empire—a kingdom so pathetic, its name is used to describe furniture we rest our feet atop!  Worst kingdom ever!  But while we’re not in conflict on this point, fair-minded individuals can differ on matters of faith, and in my humble opinion, therein rests the key dilemma between Joe and Israel: How do we know which of the two is speaking the word of God and which is deceiving mankind?  As Shakespeare wrote long ago, ‘Even the Devil can quote Scripture for his own purpose.’”

A bright bulb herself, Margaret decided that the best way to handle Konrad and convince his audience of her message’s authenticity was to speak a bit bolder than the host—for while the meek might inherit the earth, only the assertive wins control of the microphone.  (But just to hedge her bets, she allowed her top blouse button to slip out of place.)

 

About the Author:

A nationally-recognized marketing expert, Scott Pinsker has worked with a vast array of sports stars, Grammy-winners and entertainment icons, managing everything from crisis communications to film properties.  His analysis of publicity trends has been showcased multiple times on FOXNews.com, where he occasionally contributes as a marketing expert.

Official Website

 

Click on the banner below to follow the Tour

 

Irresistible Reads BT

Christmas in Transylvania Banner 851 x 315

Ever heard of a vangel? The vampires will sparkle for Christmas In Transylvania.

This is a Deadly Angels Novella.

I fell in love with the cover art.

The dark gothic castle and the creepy bat are offset by the glistening snow reflecting the glowing Christmas lights.

Cozy and creepy!

Christmas in Transylvania best friend

~~~

Christmas in Transylvania

A Deadly Angels Novella

By Sandra Hill

On-Sale 10/28/2014

ISBN: 9780062117557

Book Description:

 

For the first time ever the leader of the Viking Vampire Angels, Vikar Sigurdsson, has been talked into celebrating a traditional Christmas! The tree has been decorated, the gifts have been wrapped and the stockings have been hung. And that’s mistletoe, not cobwebs hanging from the ceiling of the creepy castle full of vangels…really!

The icing on the vampire cookie comes when vangel Karl Mortensen rescues Faith Larson, a battered young waitress, from her abusive boyfriend and hides her in the castle amidst the Christmas chaos. But what Karl thought was a frail young teenager is actually a very tempting woman. And she thinks his fangs are sexy!

But a strange “Christmas visitor” at the castle and demon vampires up to their old tricks could threaten the budding romance between Karl and Faith. It’s an impossible match: a human and a vangel, but Christmas is a time for magic.

Karl and Faith don’t stand a chance…

 

Available at Amazon

About the Author:

Sandra Hill

 

Sandra Hill is a graduate of Penn State and worked for more than 10 years as a features writer and education editor for publications in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Writing about serious issues taught her the merits of seeking the lighter side of even the darkest stories.

She is the wife of a stockbroker and the mother of four sons.

Website ~ Facebook  ~ Goodreads

Join the author’s mailing list

~~~

giveaway photo: Giveaway Banner for 42nd giveaway.png

Print Set (US Only)

Kiss of Wrath

Kiss of Pride

Kiss of Temptation

Kiss of Surrender

Click on the rafflecopter below to enter.

Raffle button

~~~

Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew and Good Luck!

To see all of my giveaways click on the lucky horseshoe below!

horseshoe photo: Horseshoe horseshoe.jpg

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.

TeaserTuesdays2014e

Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page.
•Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

~~~

My first tease is from

Moore Zombies: The Search for Gargoy

by Wendy Knuth

23274225

c8df8-add2bto2bgoodreads2bblack

My tease from 31% in the eBook

“Hey, Baby Zom, how about a game of Hungry, Hungry Humans?”

My Review

Baby Zom isn’t happy.

Baby Zom doesn’t want to go camping.

Baby Zom doesn’t want to play Hungry, Hungry Humans

Baby Zom wants Gargoy.

But Gargoy is lost.

Moore Zombies is a delightful picture book. Each page has a wonderful illustration depicting the scene as it’s told.

I would love to have seen the pictures in color, but they’re in black and white in the eBook. They are still fun to look at and there’s so much to see in each one.

Baby Zom is adorable, even if she is a zombie. And she looks to her older siblings to help find Gargoy.

Her brother Kamper is like a typical boy.  He’s always on the go and his room is a mess.

Next oldest is her sister Gothina. She likes pretty clothes and accessorizes with her creepy crawlies.

And the oldest of the bunch, Broheimer loves to read. He’s the nerd of the family.

Together they set out to find Gorgoy.

This would be a great story to read aloud with young children. But I think older kids and grown ups would have just as much fun following the dirt trail to the end of the mytsery.

Did you know zombies love tomatoes?

5 Stars

~~

Synopsis

You’re not really afraid of zombies, are you? Take a peek into the lives of the Moore zombie family. When Gargoy goes missing, Baby Zom enlists her siblings to help in the search. Follow along with Gothina, the critter loving goth zombie, Broheimer, the nerdy zombie, and Kamper, the messy zombie who enjoys camping. Who, or what, is Gargoy? Read on to find out!!

~~

My second tease is from

The Alien Next Door

Scary Neighborhood Adventures

by Donna Trueman

23291057

c8df8-add2bto2bgoodreads2bblack

My tease from 5% in the eBook

…the old woman turned and looked right at him. And that’s when he saw it…

It was only there for a second, but it was unmistakable.

My Review

 Lukas has a new neighbor. Ms. Weggley may look like a sweet little old lady, but in fact she’s an alien.

His parents don’t believe him, just chuckle at his vivid imagination.

Even his best friend Kianna laughs when he tells her about his neighbor.

The only one who seems to believe him is his dog, Lola. And she doesn’t like the new neighbor. It’s rumored aliens eat dogs!

Lukas sets out to get proof about Ms. Weggley and ends up in the pickle of all pickles.

I’d recommend this book to all young readers.  Lukas, his sidekick Lola, and Brianna make a great team. and this story lets your imagination take flight. Who hasn’t wondered about the strange neighbor. Maybe there are aliens among us.

I hope the author writes more of these Scary Neighborhood Adventures. I gather from the ending, Lukas and his pals have another neighbor to worry about. And this time it’s not an alien.

5 Stars

This book is a free download on Amazon. Click on the cover to get your copy!

~~

Synopsis

Lukas Matthews has been eager to get a new neighbor ever since his old neighbors moved away. But the day the moving van shows up next door, Lukas learns that his life is about to change forever. His new neighbor is not the kind of neighbor he was hoping for at all. His new neighbor, Ms. Weggley, is not the sweet little old woman she appears to be. The old woman has a secret–a secret that only Lukas seems to know . . .
As the resident alien expert in his school, Lukas can spot a being from outer space when he sees one. His new neighbor looks like a sweet little old widow, but there are telltale signs that she could be something other than human. The old woman refers to Lukas and his friend as “specimens,” she makes jokes about eating spiders, and, when most people aren’t looking, her eyes glow an eerie green!
Concerned for his safety and the safety of his best friend Kianna, Lukas hatches a plan to prove his case and expose his neighbor’s true identity. Will Lukas be able to thwart his alien neighbour before she can carry out her devious plans or will it be too late to save his family and friends and the entire neighborhood?

~~~

How about you? Got a tease? Tell me!

stick out tongue photo: rr-sticking-out-tongue roadrunner-stick-out-tongue.gif

I’m sure most of you have seen this book on my blog a few times.

I’ve featured it in several memes.

Now, I’m finally ready to tell you about it.

And the author has written a fun guest post about the cover art. I feel you’ll enjoy it as many of you commented on the cover before.

And there’s a giveaway too, so don’t forget to enter!

~~~

Here’s Author William Hage and his guest post about the covers for Porcelain.

Take it away William!

When my brother first showed me the original cover for Porcelain, I loved it. The one thing I knew it needed was a creepy doll on the cover and he delivered with that. I had no intention of changing the cover so I published the book on Amazon and Goodreads, and I was perfectly happy with the result. Maybe it was nepotism.

 

PorcelainCover50percent

 

A few days later I had contacted an Amazon top 100 horror author for another reason and sent him a copy (I’ll keep him nameless, because I don’t want him bombarded with messages). I was amazed that he actually read it. He had two criticisms. One was the editing, which wasn’t that huge of an issue to him. The cover, on the other hand, was. He said the cover looked unprofessional and, more importantly, it didn’t do the story justice. He said the story was ‘ultra creepy’ (super creepy, ultra creepy and uber creepy have all been used to describe the story) and the cover just didn’t deliver. The author suggested that I take a look at the top 100 books in the horror category on Amazon.

So I spent about an hour sifting through covers trying to get past the dozens of Stephen King books. What did I find? He was right. The cover really didn’t stand up comparatively. First, I noticed was that the title was really low on the visibility scale and I noticed that a lot of the covers on Amazon didn’t bother with fancy fonts. Some did, but many went with something much more basic. So the first change had to be making the text on the cover easier to read. Also, while I loved the doll image, I felt there was something missing then. When looking at the other covers, it felt like it was just taking up too much space on the cover. I still couldn’t afford a professional cover design, so I had to go back to brother with all of the criticisms and see if he would make some changes.

He loaded up Photoshop and tried some different things with the text, but unfortunately nothing really worked, then he tried making some changes to the doll and none of those really worked either. So we decided to just go back to the original image. It was then that we discovered that he forgot to save all of the original layers and alteration and the order they were done in. Basically, we couldn’t recreate it exactly.

At this time I saw the original picture of the doll and told him I though it looked pretty damn creepy on its own. We still had the problem of needing something else on the cover. I suggested somehow adding trees since the story starts and ends in the Pine Barrens. With that little information he went back to his computer. About half an hour later he said he was done. I really didn’t know what to expect, but I can honestly say I was not expecting what he showed me. I loved it. It looked professionally done and, now more so than ever, it really looked creepy. We were both pleased when we shared the cover with others and everyone thought it was great, and thought that it was really quite creepy. So that’s basically how we decided to change the cover and we can both agree that it was a really good decision. So I owe a debt to that nameless author who told me in not so many words that the cover sucked.

I’m also working on a new book which I plan to release in the next few months. It will probably be about 5 or 6 short stories. Then I have plans to release another short story collection that will have a wraparound story that sort of brings everything in the collection together. The wraparound will take place at the Whateley Bed & Breakfast featured in Porcelain.

Thanks so much for sharing William.

You can count me in when your stories are ready!

~~~

c8df8-add2bto2bgoodreads2bblack

My Review

As a little girl, I wasn’t crazy about dolls. Sure, I had my barbies, but those bigger dolls, the ones that were almost actual size, with those creepy eyes, nope. I didn’t like them. It always felt they were watching me, their eyes following me. Now, all grown up, I still don’t like them.

I love horror, whether reading it or watching it. There are lots of movies about dolls. Let’s see. There’s all those Puppet Masters movies. How about Chuckie? Now, that’s one messed up doll. I would never have bought that for my kid. And now we have Annabelle. Have you seen The Conjuring? That doll was scary evil and wasn’t even the main plot in the movie.

I can go back much further. Ventriloquists. Their dolls come to life. Seen a few different takes on that idea.

So yes, the whole doll taking on a life of its own has been done before. It’s the author’s ability to take that and hone it to their own tale that reveals their talent and creativity. William didn’t disappoint me.

A weary traveler stops at a bed & breakfast for the night. It’s a rather lovely place with lots of collectibles on display.

The older woman who owns the place explains that each item has a history, it’s own story.

When the woman is pulled away from the conversation by a phone call and the guest kills time looking over the many objects, one in particular catches his eye.

A porcelain doll, quite lovely. His daughter would love it.

When the guest checks out in the morning, the doll travels with him to his condo. There it will wait until he visits his daughter.

But the doll won’t wait for long. It has quite a history and is ready to make a new one.

Once the doll began it’s rampage, I asked myself what I would do. Would I take it back where I got it from? I had a feeling either the old woman or the place wouldn’t be there anymore. Or, the doll would just return to get me so why bother. I’d just have to figure out how to deal with it.

 I thought I saw the end coming. I was so wrong about that. Once the author revealed the dolls history, it went every which way but the way I thought it would.

The suspense was nail biting. If this were a movie, I’d be peeking through my fingers.

Scary good stuff.

5 Stars

~~~

Synopsis

Out near the Pine Barrens in New Jersey sits the Whateley Bed & Breakfast, home of a wide collection of knick-knacks and antiques for its guests to view, including a beautifully ornate porcelain doll. However, after the Whateley’s latest guest purchases the doll as a gift, a horrifying series of nightmarish events begins to unfold.

Porcelain is a 8000 word novelette.

evil halloween doll photo: evil doll evil-dolly.gif

~~~

I also read this short story by William Hage.

Here’s a little something special from William.

With Halloween right around the corner, my short story “Welcome Home” will be free from Oct 30st – Nov 1st, so go ahead and pick up a free copy for something to read this weekend.

Use these links to get yours.

Amazon US ~ Amazon UK

Welcome Home

A Short Story

11658515

c8df8-add2bto2bgoodreads2bblack

My Review

I like it when I go into a book thinking I’m getting one thing, and I get something totally different. This happened when I began reading Welcome Home. I thought it was going to be a haunted house story.

The story is haunting but there are no actual ghosts. What’s there is something shadowing John Lester. It’s like when you see something out of the corner of your eye and when you turn to look, nothing is there. But this isn’t visual so much as it’s memories. They haunt his sleep, staying just out of reach of recall.

While this didn’t really scare me, it did surprise me and that’s always a good thing.

A good story for a rainy day.

3 Stars

~~~

Synopsis

John Lester is returning to a place he never really considered home to begin with, a place that he has not seen in years. But what he does not realize is that what went on in this house was much less homely than he thought as he unearths something dark about his family.

“Welcome Home” is a short story approximately 6600 words.

~~~

Author William Hage

Born in Trenton, New Jersey, William became obsessed with all things horror at a young age. He indulged himself greatly in horror films of all sorts as well as horror literature. Over the years he became heavily inspired and influenced by the likes of H.P. Lovecraft, Clive Barker, and Edgar Allen Poe.

William has recently self-published two stories on Amazon. Welcome Home: A Short Story & Porcelain: A Novelette. He also has 3 stories published in the magazine Sanitarium.

When he isn’t writing, William has a deep love for technology and bides his time researching the latest things and has spent years working with computers.

William also appeared in a few bands writing songs and playing guitar, having recorded two albums with his former band ESM.

Author Links

Goodreads ~ Amazon ~ Website ~ Twitter

Facebook

~~~

giveaway photo: Giveaway Banner for 42nd giveaway.png

I have three eBook copies of Porcelain to giveaway, courtesy of the author.

To enter, please leave your email address so I can contact you if you win and answer this question:

“If a doll were coming after you, which one would scare you the most?”

Giveaway ends November 3rd

~~~

Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew and Good Luck!

To see all of my giveaways click on the lucky horseshoe below!

horseshoe photo: Horseshoe horseshoe.jpg

I have a great post for you today.
I read Sanctuary back when I received the ARC and loved it so I’m excited to share it with you again today.
I loved the old cover art and love the new cover too.
Looking for a great Apocalyptic Dystopian. You’ll find it here.
Enjoy the excerpt and my review.
And don’t forget to enter the giveaway!
.

Title: Sanctuary

Author: Pauline Creeden

Genre: Apocalyptic/dystopian, clean NA

In a heart-racing thriller described as Falling Skies meets The Walking Dead, Jennie struggles to find a safe place for what’s left of her family. But it seems as though there is no place sacred, no place secure. First the aliens attacked the sun, making it dimmer, weaker, and half what it used to be. Then they attacked the water supply, killing one-third of Earth’s population with a bitter contaminate. And when they unleash a new terror on humankind, the victims will wish for death, but will not find it…When the world shatters to pieces around her, will Jennie find the strength she needs to keep going?

.

My Review

As the story begins, the aliens have already damaged the sun, causing perpetual twilight during the day, making it difficult to grow crops. And they’ve contaminated the water supply, which has killed off one-third of Earth’s population.

As the aliens don’t do anything further for quite some time, just hover in the skies, people try to go about their daily lives.

But the aliens unleash something horrific, something beyond imagination, and it has serious repercussions, killing off another third of the population.

This is where things really get dicey.

What comes next? Are they planning on wiping us out completely? Or do they have something else in store?

Jenny never did get to return for her second year of college. The aliens attacked again and life as she knew it crumbled.

Now, she’s separated from her parents and has to protect her five-year old brother.

I admire Jenny. She’s a young woman, alone, facing something we couldn’t even imagine. What she focuses on is getting her and her little brother to safety.

She’s scared to death as she navigates the streets. But she has keen instincts and stays sharp when things get really bad. She’s a natural nurturer and has a heart of gold.

You’ll get to know Hugh and Brad, the brothers.

Hugh was a teacher at Jenny’s old highschool. He was trapped in his apartment building. When people were being attacked in the street, his first instinct was to go outside and help, but the apartment manager wouldn’t risk unlocking the doors.

When he finally does leave his apartment, he ends up at the church. There he runs into his younger brother Brad.

There is no love lost between these two.

Brad is lucky when he stumbles upon the church. But he didn’t much like the fact his brother was there.

I liked Hugh. He was a quiet, introspective man. Willing to help in any way he could.

Brad was another story all together. Every story needs a villain and he seemed to wear the title proudly. He was arrogant and self-serving. Quite the spoiled brat. And he never missed a chance to get under Hugh’s skin. One thing he did had me thinking he might be redeemable but I can’t spoil it for you.

Each chapter is told from the points of view of Jenny, Hugh, and Brad, but they flow easily and you quickly recognize their individual voices.

This is listed as a christian thriller, but it’s not like any you’ve read before. There are aliens, dog/lion creatures that bite you and turn you into zombies, and the disturbing situations you have to deal with when in a group, struggling to survive.

I was kind of reminded of Stephen King’s The Mist, when they are all confined in the grocery store. Not everybody likes each other or gets along. Life and death situations make people do weird things.

While Jenny draws on her religious beliefs to get her through this, I never felt like I was being preached at. If anything, she had me asking myself how I would hold up, what would I turn to. And with so much going on, I was kept busy following the action, trying to stay one step ahead of the horror.

The religious tones in this story are a natural progression and make it more real. Look at all of the disaster movies and books out there. So many of them have people gathering at a church, either for spiritual strength or just solace in the company of others.

If you like a mix of genres, some science fiction and fantasy with your horror, I recommend you read Sanctuary. It keeps you connected, never bogs down, and there’s plenty of action and danger.

5 STARS

*****

YouTube book Trailers:

http://youtu.be/tVQNvPzk3rc

.

Purchase:
—————————————————————————————
Enjoy this glimpse inside Sanctuary
Jennie filled the
glass and set it on the counter. She needed an ibuprofen.
As she reached up
to the top shelf in the pantry, a vibration started in her chest. Holding the
white bottle in her hand, she turned around confused.
Like a jet when it
flew too low, the rumble increased in intensity as it approached. Jennie
watched the glass tremble on the counter top for a moment before fear clenched
her stomach. “MOM!?”
She rushed to the
sink and looked out the window, but her mother wasn’t in the garden any more.
Jennie barreled through the kitchen, the vibrations in her chest like bass on a
stereo. “MOM?”
When Jennie
reached the back door, she saw them. Four large dog-like creatures with pinched
faces like bulldogs and lion-like manes. They snarled, and one of them leapt at
the window on the top half of the door when it saw her. Jennie jumped back and
fell hard on the cold tile floor. The bottle of painkiller bounced across the
kitchen tiles. The creature slammed against the window a second time, cracking
it. She blinked hard. Her heart sunk, and the hairs on her arms stood on end. A
horrendous gargling howl rent the air, causing a shiver down her spine. She
held her breath and waited for the creature to slam into the door again.
“What on earth?”
she whispered to herself.
When the third
attempt never came, she scrambled toward the door. Blinking hard, she used the
door knob to help herself stand. Out the cracked window, her mother was still
out of sight, but the last of the dogs headed across the field behind her
backyard.
“MOM?” Jennie
called out.
The rumbling
faded, and the vibrations in her chest receded with the dogs. She pulled open
the door and rushed onto their back deck. “Mom, where are you?”
When she reached
the banister, she looked over the side. Her mom lay sprawled with one hand on
the lattice. Blood gushed from Mom’s leg and her opposite arm. Jennie’s ears
rang and flooded with every beat of her heart.
Jennie didn’t know
how she got to the second floor of her house, but she found herself shaking her
sleeping father. How had he slept through the rumbling? “Outside, it’s Mom…”
Her father leapt
from the bed. Mickey, her little brother, lay asleep and undisturbed. Dad ran
down the stairs and outside in his flannel pajama bottoms and white t-shirt. He
scooped Mom up to his chest and carried her inside. Blood stained his shirt in
crimson.
“Jennie, call
911!”  Her father had said it at least
three times before it finally registered in her brain.
She pulled the
cell phone from her pocket, but it refused to connect. With a groan, she
grabbed the cordless from the wall receiver, glad her heart stopped pounding in
her head so she could hear.
“All operators are
busy at this time,” a mechanical voice deadpanned, “Please stay on the line,
and the next available operator will take your call.”
“They have me on
hold, Dad. Should I hang up and try again?” She held the phone in both hands
away from her face.
“No, just stay on
the line.” Her father lifted the shredded jeans from Mom’s leg. “It looks like
a shark bite. What on earth happened?”
Jennie took in the
damage through tear-filled eyes. A huge chunk was taken from her mother’s calf,
exposing the fibrous tendons that covered the bone in her leg. A bloodstain
grew on the beige couch. Was she going to die? Panic rose up.
“What happened,
Jennie?”
“I…I…They
looked like lions, or dogs, or something. The rumbling shook the whole house…I
tried to go outside to get Mom, but—” A sob blocked her throat.
Her father grabbed
a throw pillow and held it against the leg. Mom’s exposed forearm laid across
her chest in much the same condition as her calf.
“Grab me the duct
tape.”
Jennie suddenly
remembered the phone, put it back to her ear, and headed to the hall closet.
She reached for the shelf above the jackets and grabbed the junk basket next to
the toolbox.
“Please stay on
the line. An operator will be with you shortly.”
She shoved the
phone in the crook of her neck and fished through the box.  Half the contents dropped around her feet. Who cares? When her fingers wrapped
around the silver duct tape, a short-lived relief sent prickles down her arms.
But the urgency gripped her chest in less than a heart beat, and she threw the
junk basket on the ground with the rest of the items.
“Hurry, Jennie!”
her father called from the living room. “And turn on the TV. Maybe they’ll have
something about what’s going on.”
She handed her
father the tape and turned toward the TV. The mechanical voice on the phone
came through again, followed by more easy listening.
When she clicked
on the TV, the shouting and wailing began before the picture warmed up on the
screen. A sideways picture of New York
City broke through, with the shaky voice of the
newscaster voicing over.
“What we are
watching now – I can’t believe it – is live footage of Times
Square,” the newscaster’s voice paused for a deep breath. “We’ve
lost our man on the scene and his camera man to what appears to be some kind of
new alien creature. Just a short half-hour ago, the doors to the ship that
hovered above Central Park opened and these
dog-like creatures flooded out.”
Jennie couldn’t
pull her eyes from the screen. She straightened and dropped the phone on the
hardwood. The battery popped out and skidded across the floor.
—————————————————————————————
About Pauline

In simple language, Pauline Creeden creates worlds that are both familiar and strange, often pulling the veil between dimensions. She becomes the main character in each of her stories, and because she has ADD, she will get bored if she pretends to be one person for too long. Pauline is a horse trainer from Virginia, but writing is her therapy.

Armored Hearts, her joint effort with author Melissa Turner Lee, has been awarded the Crowned Heart for Excellence by InDtale Magazine. It is also the 2013 Book Junkie’s Choice Winner in Historical Fiction. Her debut novel, Sanctuary, won 1st Place Christian YA Title 2013 Dante Rosetti Award and 2014 Reader’s Choice Gold Award for Best YA Horror Novel.

—————————————————————————————
.
giveaway photo: Giveaway Banner for 42nd giveaway.png
.
$20 Amazon Gift Card
.
 Click on the rafflecopter below to enter.
.
Raffle button
.
.

~~~

Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew and Good Luck!

To see all of my giveaways click on the lucky horseshoe below!

horseshoe photo: Horseshoe horseshoe.jpg