Virtual Book Tour Dates: 9/23 – 9/30/14
I met Donna some time ago when she gifted me her book, A Human Element, the first book in her series.
It blew me away and I’ve been waiting a long time for A Hidden Element.
I won’t be posting a review yet as I’m still reading it. I can tell you that it is giving me just what I wanted so far!
Check out Donna Galanti and her thrilling new release A Hidden Element and enjoy the excerpt.
I’ve also posted my reviews for A Human Element and the short story collection. The Dark Inside.
And there’s a giveaway, so don’t forget to enter!
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Genres: Paranormal Suspense
Blurb:
A HIDDEN ELEMENT:
Evil lurks within…
When Caleb Madroc is used against his will as part of his father’s plan to breed a secret alien community and infiltrate society with their unique powers, he vows to save his oppressed people and the two children kept from him. Seven years later, Laura and Ben Fieldstone’s son is abducted, and they are forced to trust a madman’s son who puts his life on the line to save them all. The enemy’s desire to own them—or destroy them—leads to a survival showdown. Laura and Ben must risk everything to defeat a new nemesis that wants to rule the world with their son, and Caleb may be their only hope—if he survives. But must he sacrifice what he most desires to do so?
Excerpt:
She trembled beneath him. Color rushed back into her. Her bruises faded. She arched her back and gasped.
He held her to him. Her breath infused his neck with warmth.
“I just wanted to set you free,” he whispered.
“Caleb,” she whispered. “How did you save me?”
He pulled her up and put his robe on her. He would pay for losing it later. He had stowed his extra one nearby. “It doesn’t matter. You must go. Head to the road and away from town. You must reach another town and ask for help. Before night comes. Tell no one about this. Pretend you have no memory. Find a church. Someone will help you.”
She looked at him with watery eyes. “My children.”
He grasped her arms. “I will watch over them. You need to go. Now.”
She just stared at him. He shook her. “We’ll both die if you don’t.”
She nodded and hung her head. Caleb lifted her hair away from her face. It shone dark gold in the sun flickering through the trees.
She pushed her hands in his robe pockets and then drew out a piece of paper. He watched her unfold it and read it. He knew it by heart, this last poem he could give her like he’d once given her his love.
She read the last two lines aloud. “Wrapped up in my heart with no place to go. Come, unwrap my heart and set me free in you.” She looked up, a solitary tear rolled down her cheek. “You unwrapped my heart too, Caleb Madroc.”
He pulled her close. Pine cones plunked around them. The wind blew a sweet, mournful song through bare branches. Yellow swirled down. The last dying leaves of autumn. In that moment he believed they were together, out for a walk in the woods before heading home to mate by the fire. A normal life. Somewhere else. Not here. He bent down and kissed her. At first, she didn’t move and then she pressed herself into him. He stroked her hair and took her mouth as a token then he let go and pushed her off him.
“Go. Now. Be free!”
She stared at him with wild eyes and stumbled away, his poem clutched in her hand. Then she turned and ran. His cloak flowed behind her, protecting her. He watched her go. He unraveled his full heart and sent it with her. It did him no good in this place.
He wanted to leave with her, but he had to think of their sons. If he left, his father would kill them. The sun faded behind clouds. He still had work to do. He headed for the tree line to dig a fake grave. He pushed the image of the hand in the bog away. He didn’t want to know why it was there—or who put it there. There was just one person who would, but he couldn’t face that now.
It was time for his punishment for saving Thomas from humiliation.
His father would add to Caleb’s scars.
Those scars Caleb could suffer with.
The scars of Rachel and his sons seared his heart forever.
Buy Links:
Purchase Book 2 in the Element Trilogy, A Hidden Element
Purchase Book 1 in the Element Trilogy, A Human Element
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Other books in this series.
A Human Element:
Evil comes in many forms…
One by one, Laura Armstrong’s friends and adoptive family members are being murdered, and despite her unique healing powers, she can do nothing to stop it. The savage killer haunts her dreams, tormenting her with the promise that she is next.
Determined to find the killer, she follows her visions to the site of a crashed meteorite in her hometown. There, she meets Ben Fieldstone, who seeks answers about his parents’ death the night the meteorite struck. In a race to stop a madman, they unravel a frightening secret that binds them together.
But the killer’s desire to destroy Laura face-to-face leads to a showdown that puts Laura and Ben’s emotional relationship and Laura’s pure spirit to the test. With the killer closing in, Laura discovers her destiny is linked to his, and she has two choices—redeem him or kill him.
My 5 STAR Review of A Human Element
Ben is hiding from his parents on the shore of Coopersville Lake when it happens.
A meteorite crashes. What was once the sight of a dozen or so cabins, one of them containing his parents, is now only a huge crater of steam and fire. In one bright green flash, Ben’s life is forever changed and for another, it has just begun.
No one could know the long-reaching consequences of that fateful night. Or of the horrors to come.
9 months later.
A young girl struggles to bring her child into the world. She came to the doctor in secret. Not even the Armstrong’s, the kindly couple who took her in, know where she is. The doctor doesn’t know why the mysterious man waiting outside wants the baby, he just wants to get paid.
In a rush, the baby enters the world. Sadly, the young mother does not survive the delivery. But wait, another baby is fighting to be born, a twin, a beautiful baby girl.
An exchange is made. The mysterious man leaves with the thing, the baby boy, but the doctor doesn’t mention the girl. He will give her to the Armstrong’s to raise.
Many years later, the baby girl, Laura, is all grown up and back home to find out why the people closest to her are being slaughtered. The answer lies here. Laura has always had the headaches and nightmares and she knows things are coming together now – the monster chasing her in her nightmares, the mysterious man in black, who has always been on the periphery of her life, and whatever happened on the night of the meteorite. It is all connected.
Laura and Ben are thrown together as death races towards them. Both need answers about the night of the meteorite if they are to survive what is coming.
I want to keep telling you more. I’ve only scratched the surface of this story.
Two babies were born that night, Laura and the boy child called X-10. One looks human in every way and the other looks like a monster.
The many secondary characters made this story real for me.
Everybody should have a friend like Jim, a grumpy curmudgeon with a gentle soul and a fierce love and loyalty to Laura.
The Armstrong’s, Laura’s adoptive parents, who though they knew she was different, had special talents, loved her as their own.
The mysterious man in black, who has always been around, lurking in the shadows.
The cruel and sadistic Dr. Bjord, who thrills in tormenting X-10, his failed experiment.
And X-10, the monstrosity who’s only thought is getting out, finding Laura, and tearing her to pieces.
From the first page to the bitter-sweet end, I was totally immersed in this book. A story of wonder, love, humanity and absolute evil.
Donna Galanti’s debut novel has, at its core, an energy, an essence, that gives it life.
Superb writing and a thrilling all-out race to the end, A Human Element is an excellent read.
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The Dark Inside
These short stories contain characters from A Human Element and the just released sequel, A Hidden Element.
So I’m issuing a mild spoiler alert.
The Well
It seems like no matter how hard he tries, Caleb can never be good enough in his father’s eyes. When he hears about the mission to the new world, he jumps at the chance to escape the dying planet and maybe get out from under his fathers disapproving control.
When his hopes are crushed, he’s devastated. And then his mother goes missing.
She’s disappeared without a trace.
The Well starts out being about Caleb and his conflicts with his father and his peers, and deepens into a mystery when his mother just vanishes. The author does a great job of misdirecting me, and I rushed to a wrong conclusion. This one is a deep, emotional read.
The First Time
X-10 is not going to give in. He’s not going to let the twisted Dr. Bjord control this experiment.
He’s scared of the human girl. Not for the usual reasons, but because he’s afraid he’ll give in to the rip, tear, kill, urges that are the base part of him.
It’s the first time X-10 has coupled with a female and he experiences some human emotions like nervousness, lust, and excitement. But can he control the monster inside, the one that needs to rend?
Donna, through her characters conversations, made the tentative bond between the monster and the prostitute endearing for me. I wanted things to be okay, wanted both of them to survive this experiment.
But she’s a prostitute, he’s a monster, and this is an experiment. A deadly one.
The Job
Felix is a Seeker. His partner, Maria, is all woman, all human.
He’s never felt attracted to her before, but he’s made a mistake. He’s let his guard down and things got messy. Now he has to clean it up.
I was surprised a couple of times with this one. Had a few, ‘what the???’ moments. This is twisted fun. Can’t help it. I sometimes laugh at the dark stuff.
Frat Night
Tara’s so excited. Tonight she’s going to do it with Jonah. She’s been lying to him, telling him she’s a virgin, so he’ll woo her, romance her. But she’s ready now. Tonight they’ll finally be together.
It was a beautiful spring night.
Kind of saw some of this coming, but still got a shock. I was grinning and thinking, yes!
The Tree of Sheltered Secrets
She was going to kill whoever did it. Whoever cut down her tree.
She’d spent her childhood hiding in that tree, escaping into her own world. It was the only happy memory in her miserable existence. And now someone had hacked it down. It felt like she’d been cut down too.
Someone had to pay.
I felt sorry for Hilary. She had a horrendous life and now the only thing good was gone. I felt her rage build and as I read on, I wanted someone to pay. Pay big!
The Beginning
They were seventy-five strong. Adrian and his crew silently entered the chosen town and quickly got what they needed with mind persuasion. No one realized the strangeness of these visitors.
But that wasn’t enough for Adrian. Oh no. He had to go and make it nasty, make two people do despicable things just for his pleasure.
He also made his son Caleb and the others watch. It was a warning and a lesson.
This one is so twisted. Adrian is a sick twist and I feel so sorry for Caleb. His hate for his father is changing him. Molding him. I hope he doesn’t follow in his fathers dark footsteps.
A Lucky Strike
Ben is all alone with his foster-father now. His foster-mother is now buried and Frank expects him to take over her duties. All of them.
As Ben fantasizes about ways to kill Frank, he knows it’s only a matter of time before things turn real ugly.
It’s time to flee, but has he waited too long?
I forgot this part in A Human Element. It’s disturbing and sad. You see where Ben came from, what he endured, what shaped him.
I’m surprised he survived at all.
Excerpt – A Human Element ~ Ben
This is an excerpt from A Human Element. It’s another short about Ben taking place later than in A Lucky Strike. I’ll give a tease and tell you what I got from it.
Ben had no business being in Hud’s Place.
“North of Hotel Street in Chinatown, or NoHo as it was called, carried its distinction as the known spot for prostitute action any time of the week. He swallowed the last of his beer and laughed to himself. SoHo could be a better name for the so-many-ho’s that could be had around here.”
He shouldn’t be here. He shouldn’t have got so drunk. And he definitely shouldn’t have stepped into it with the Marines.
If he thinks the ass-kicking he just got from them was bad, the locals that get a hold of him, set him straight.
If it weren’t for the tall man, the familiar looking stranger with the bright green eyes, he’d be totally screwed.
Ben just keeps putting himself in bad situation after bad situation. I hate seeing him in the self-destruct mode.
I’m curious about the tall man, why is he always showing up at the worst times? Why is he following Ben?
Seeing a character falter, make bad moves and stupid ones, helps me connect with them, makes them human for me. I’m connected with Ben.
I enjoyed all of these stories. If I had to pick a favorite, it would be…..Ha! Not gonna tell ya!
The Dark Inside gets Five Stars from me. Each story is distinct and wrings out my emotions.
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About Donna:
Donna Galanti writes murder and mystery with a dash of steam as well as middle grade adventure fiction. She is the author of books 1 and 2 in the paranormal suspense Element Trilogy, A Human Element and A Hidden Element, the short story collection The Dark Inside, and Joshua and The Lightning Road (Books 1 and 2, 2015). She’s lived from England as a child, to Hawaii as a U.S. Navy photographer. She now lives in Pennsylvania with her family in an old farmhouse. It has lots of writing nooks, fireplaces, and stink bugs, but she’s still wishing for a castle again—preferably with ghosts.
Connect With The Author:
Website ~ Blog ~ Twitter ~ Facebook ~ Goodreads
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Giveaway:
Giveaway through end of 9/30. U.S. only.
- 1 (#) winner(s) will receive [(1) Grand Thriller Prize: Bundle of 10 e-Books donated from these bestselling thriller authors David Morrell, Allison Brennan, M.J. Rose, Steve Berry, Eric Van Lustbader, Hank Phillippi Ryan, Doug Preston, Alan Jacobson, Allan Leverone, Jenny Milchman] (approximate retail value or “ARV”: $100)
- 1 (#) winner(s) will receive [(1) Super Get Mind Blown Prize: 2 signed paperbacks by NY Times best selling author Heather Graham, The Following Season 1 on DVD, Book on Conspiracies & Secret Societies, Inception on DVD] (approximate retail value or “ARV”: $100)
- 1 (#) winner(s) will receive [(1) $100 Amazon Gift Card] (approximate retail value or “ARV”: $100)
- 1 (#) winner(s) will receive [(1) Bundle of 5 Thriller e-Books from Imajin Books authors] (approximate retail value or “ARV”: $100)
- 1 (#) winner(s) will receive [(1) Paperback of Donna Galanti’s A Human Element, Book 1 in Element Trilogy] (approximate retail value or “ARV”: $100)
- 1 (#) winner(s) will receive [(5) e-Book copies of Donna Galanti’s short story collection The Dark Inside] (approximate retail value or “ARV”: $100)
Click on the rafflecopter below to enter.
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