Archive for October 31, 2014

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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!

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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!

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And check out the giveaway after my review.

You could win a signed copy!

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Santa’s Little Helper

by H.D. Gordon

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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.

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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.

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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

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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.”

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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

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

Click HERE to enter and Good Luck!

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Other books I’ve read by H.D. Gordon.

Click on the covers for my reviews.

The Joe Knowe Series

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The Surah Stormsong Series

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The Alexa Montgomery Saga

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

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H.D. Gordon

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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.

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You can follow H.D. Gordon at:

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Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew.

Happy Halloween!

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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!

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My 56 for this week is from

Paradise Rot

by Larry Weiner

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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.

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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

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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.

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Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew and Happy Halloween!

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