Welcome to my stop on the Virtual Book Tour for Rapture by Phillip W. Simpson presented by Reading Addiction Blog Tours.
Great news! The author is offering 4 print books for a giveaway. You can find the giveaway following my review.
Ya Dystopian
Date Published: 12/1/2011
The Rapture has occurred – the end of the world. The faithful have risen up to Heaven.
Those left behind are in a living hell. Armed only with his swords and his wit, a teenage boy
wanders this post-apocalyptic world alone, separated forever from everyone he loves. Cursed
by his demonic heritage, he must now embark on a quest that will take him across the US to
the City of Angels.
. My Review
Sam knows it’s time to move on, but he’s loathe to leave the only home he’s ever known.
The world as he knew it is long gone. All that’s left is a sky without stars, a blood-red moon when it can be seen through the continuous fall of ash. The world burns.
Just as his master, Hikari, prophesied, the Rapture has occurred and all that he loved has risen to heaven.
Sam has been preparing for this time since he was but a boy. Now, at eighteen, he sets off to fulfill his destiny.
He’s used to being alone, never having got the knack of making friends with his peers. His closest companion was Aimi, Hikari’s sixteen year old daughter. She helped with his training and demanded nothing but his best.
Sam had to struggle with the dark half of himself, being half-demon. Wearing a hood to cover his horns and keeping his inhuman eyes downcast lest he draw attention to himself.
Now he’s all alone, angered to be denied entrance to Heaven and to seeing his beloved Aimi and his sensei ever again. Because of his demon blood Heaven is closed to him.
Now he wanders the blasted world, providing protection to the hapless souls left behind. He questions his fate and his destiny.
“Why bother to rescue these humans? Why should I, if I, myself, am denied entry to Heaven?”
Sam encounters many lemures, or demons. They reminded me of Pumpkinhead. And he had several epic battles with the Astaroth, a 10 foot tall creature, clad in armor, with huge wings and foot long talons. His proficiency with his two swords, his rigorous training and his quick reflexes kept him alive.
His only ally is a strange being who appeared “…the sky burst asunder with an intense golden light and a clap of thunder.”
God has sent his messenger, Gabriel, to help Sam on his journey to reach his final destination, the city of angels.
The battles are vividly detailed and I now have a good idea of what Hell looks like. Sam’s struggles with his darker side drew me to him and the truth of who he is and the reason for his existence came as a shock. As I neared the end of the book, I realized there had to be more than one book. There was so much still to come.
Rapture is part of a series and a great beginning. I read it fairly quickly, never stumbled over awkward sentences and loved the action scenes. I’m ready to meet up with Sam again.
Four Stars for a great beginning.
Giveaway
Phillip is giving away 3 print copies of Rapture and 1 print copy of Tribulation.
To enter click on the link below.
Virtual Book Tour February 27 – April 12
February 27 – Reading Addiction Blog Tours – Meet and Greet
February 28 – I love Teen Books – Guest Post/PROMO
March 1 – Hooked in a Book – Review/Guest Post
March 2 – Weakling No. 14 Reviews – Review/Interview
March 3 – Lust For Stories – Review
March 4 – My Cozie Corner – Review
March 5 – Wintry Words – Interview/PROMO
March 8 – Mom With a Kindle – Interview/PROMO
March 9 – Reviews A La Tiffany – Guest Post/PROMO
March 10 – A Dream Within a Dream – Review
March 11 – Laurie’s Thoughts and Reviews – Interview/PROMO
March 12 – FUOnlyKnew – Review
March 13 – The Adventures Within – Review/Guest Post
March 14 – Andi’s YA Books – Interview/PROMO
March 15 – Delirious About Books – PROMO
March 16 – Reading With ABC – Review/Guest Post
March 17 – Kindle Obsessed – Guest Post/PROMO
March 18 – Oh! The Books You’ll Read – Review
March 19 – A Bibliophile’s Thoughts – Guest Post/PROMO
March 20 – Lisa Is a Bookworm – Review/Guest Post
March 21 – Shelfspace Needed – Reveiw
March 22 – Owlnestly Reviews – Review
March 23 – The Avid Reader – Review/Guest Post
March 24 – Framed in Words – Guest Post/PROMO
March 25 – Forever YA – Review/Interview
March 26 –
March 27 – Sweet Southern Home – Review
March 28 – Gothic Angel Book Reviews – Review/Guest Post
March 29 – Read Review Love – Review
March 30 – Books and Their Worldly Realm – Review/Guest Post
March 31 – Fall Into Books – Guest Post/PROMO
March 31 – Moosubi Reviews – Review
April 1 – Paranormal Goddess – Guest Post/PROMO
April 2 – Enchanting Reads – Guest Post/PROMO
April 3 – Pixie Dust Reviews – Review/Interview
April 3 – Bookworm Avenue – PROMO
April 4 –
April 5 – Books, Books, and More Books – Review
April 6 –
April 7 –
April 8 – Gimme The Scoop – PROMO
April 8 – Reader Girls – Review/Interview
April 9 – Lov Liv Life Reviews – Guest Post/PROMO
April 10 – Cherie Reads – Review
April 11 – RABT Reviews – Review
April 12 – Bibliophilia: A Love Story – Review/Interview
Author Bio:
Phillip W. Simpson is an author of mostly children’s books – both fiction and non-fiction.
As well as being a writer, he is an elementary school teacher. Career highlights include being in the
army, gaining a Masters in Archaeology, owning a comic shop, becoming obsessed with martial arts
and oriental weapons and turning down a job at the British museum.
His YA novel RAPTURE (the first in the Rapture trilogy) was released Sept 1st, 2011 by Pear Jam
books. RAPTURE is a dystopian/post-apocalyptic story about the end of the world featuring demons,
angels and a half demon protagonist caught in the middle. RAPTURE was shortlisted for the Sir Julius
Vogel award for best Youth novel.
Book 2, TRIBULATION, was released in December, 2012. The final book, APOCALYPSE, will be out
early 2013.
On a personal note, he is married to Rose, has a son (Jack) and two border terriers, Whiskey and
Raffles. He loves fishing, reading, football (soccer) and single malt Whiskeys.
Webite info:
Blog:
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/PhillipWSimpson.Author Follow me on Twitter! http://twitter.com/#!/PhillipWSimpson Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5167118.Phillip_William_Simpson
Buy Links Smashwords author page:
Amazon:
Rapture (kindle version)
Tribulation (kindle version)
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