Archive for May 21, 2018

How to Catch a Magical

by Samuel Thews

Synopsis

If you want to catch a Magical, you have to go about it the right way.

You have to have the right tools, the right training, a certain disregard for danger and a flair for the dramatic. Oh, and it helps if you inherit your father’s wicked bounty hunter skills, which give you superhuman reflexes and senses.

It’s really hard without the last one.

Andromeda Nyx has all the skills to be a successful bounty hunter. But after five years of training and catching nothing but Flinks–the lowest-level Magicals, the kind that think it’s funny to steal just one sock from a pair and hide it somewhere in the garden–she’s itching for bigger game. When her mentor says going out on her own to catch a Sprite is too risky, she decides to freelance. When the Sprite she catches turns out to be a messenger, Nyx is chosen as an ambassador for the bounty hunters and must travel to the decrepit world of the Magicals, Himnara.

While there, she is informed of a plot by Arcanus Emerson Kain—the leader of a rogue sect of Magicals—to invade Earth for a seemingly bizarre purpose: he wants to steal people. Along with her mentor Ridge, Nyx must find a way to stop Kain before his power becomes too great.

 

Praise:

“Samuel Thews writes a rousing tale of magic, bounty hunters and war. I suspect that I like my teenage heroines to always be confident and either compassionate and positive, or cynical, violent and jaded.”

“Andromeda is a complex character, as are her Father and some of the others in the story. My favorites, outside of Andromeda, was Whitchurch. He was a charming, crazy and wild old bounty hunter that Andromeda meets in an enemy prison. Between his wit, his skills, his experience, his brilliance and his caring, he is just a wonderful person. The nude fishing and other zany things make him a bit crazy.”

Enjoy this peek inside:

I awakened to the patter of rain on windows in a dimly lit room. I don’t remember when the voices stopped, but they were gone. That’s all I cared about.

My head swam when I tried to sit up—actually, it felt like a mad elephant was dancing in my brain—and so it took me a moment to make out that I was still in the headmaster’s office. Perched on the couch, I listened to the rain while I waited for the dizziness to fade.

When I finally stood, I noticed several things about my surroundings. I don’t know how or why I picked up on these things; they just came to me as I took in the room. For one, the window to my right was ten paces away. I could reach it in a blink without even trying. Then there was the desk on the other side of the office. It was too far to run to in a pinch, but with a quick dash and a jump I could swing off the low-hanging chandelier and land just behind it for safety. I spotted a crystal paperweight on the desk and knew it was just the right thing to divert a Sprite’s attention.

What a Sprite was, I didn’t know (beyond the name of the soft drink) but that paperweight would do the trick.

Just then my hand shot out from my side unbidden.

I sensed it more than saw it, and before I could even blink I had snatched the small object that flew at my head right out of the air.

I turned as a familiar grunt emanated from the shadows by the door.

“Your reflexes have improved. Good.”

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Author Samuel Thews

Samuel Thews has been writing stories since he was old enough to hold a pencil. As a child, he reveled in the stories of C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Brian Jacques and other fantasy authors. A life-long reader, he is a fan of J.K. Rowling, Neil Gaiman and mystery author M.C. Beaton. He has also read Les Miserables not once, but twice. Unabridged, of course.

Although his educational background is in science and law, it is still the magical and fantastical that excites him. He enjoys writing stories for his daughters, who will hear one bedtime tale and ask that it be turned into a book. Writing with a whimsical style, he seeks to evoke the light, refreshing reading experience found in fairy tales and cozy mysteries.

A native of North Carolina, he currently lives in a rural part of Orange County with his wife, three children and their ever growing menagerie.

Website

 

 

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May 21st
I Am A Reader
FUONLYKNEW
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Why Not? Because I Said So!
Koops Konclusions

May 22nd
Room With Books
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Giveaway Details

$25 Amazon Gift Code or Paypal Cash

Ends 6/3/18

Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader and sponsored by the author. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Welcome to my Monday Minis where I share shorter reviews of books I’ve read.

Today it’s all about horror with Amy Cross!

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Laura

by Amy Cross

Laura by [Cross, Amy]

Genre:  Horror

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My Review

I’ve come across similar scenarios to this one and they never get old. Amy Cross managed to put her own spin on it and creeped me out but good.

You might find yourself pulling for Laura once you get the skinny on how things really went down.

Kept me entertained and I sure liked the ending.

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Synopsis

“You don’t think this could be about Laura, do you?”

Ten years ago, they were all friends. Ten years ago, something terrible happened. Ten years ago, they agreed to take the truth about Laura to their graves. All they had to do was forget, and keep their mouths shut.

But when a hidden force starts cutting them down one by one, in a series of increasingly horrific incidents, the remaining friends are forced to face the truth.

Somehow, Laura has come back.

Laura is a horror story about six people who thought they could hide the truth, and about the girl who returns from the grave to make them all pay.

Amazon

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The Dog

by Amy Cross

The Dog by [Cross, Amy]

Genre:  Horror

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My Review

It’s hit or miss when I read a book from a dog’s point of view. I’ve read several in this genre. The Dog was a hit.

The funny thing is how we can accept the death of a human during the break down of society, but the author kills a pet, that’dsa big no no. I was fretting throughout the book. Can’t tell you how Jon and his dog, Harry, managed but this was hard to put down and I didn’t throw the book after I read the ending.

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Synopsis

One man and his dog come face-to-face with the end of the world…

When Jon takes his dog Harry to a remote cabin for the week, he just wants to get away from the rest of the world. And then one morning, after finding that his phone is dead, Jon looks at the city in the distance and realizes that something seems very wrong.

All the power has gone out. At night, the city is completely dark. There are no planes in the sky, and when Jon drives to the nearest gas station, he finds a desolate and bloody scene. He refuses to believe that something truly awful has happened, however, until he spots a figure stumbling through the forest, heading ever closer.

A figure that smells of death.

Soon Jon is facing a desperate fight for survival. While he and his dog have been up at the cabin, the whole world has been struck by a huge, global catastrophe that has left billions dead. Many are dead, but many more have risen again. Can Jon and his dog survive, or are they doomed to suffer the same fate?

The Dog is a novel about the end of the world, told through the eyes of a dog who finds himself stuck at a remote cabin with only his owner for company.

Amazon

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Alice Isn’t Well

Death Herself #1

by Amy Cross

Alice Isn't Well (Death Herself Book 1) by [Cross, Amy]

Genre:  Horror

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My Review

Yep, Alice isn’t well and she has good reason. I like stories where the character is considered to be not quite sane. It allows the author to do a lot with their characters.

I really liked Alice. I was sad that she questioned her own sanity but sure could see why. Wendy’s story takes place many years in the past. At first it’s sad and then it gets macabre. And Hannah is a piece of work. I think I liked how much she lived in her own skin and never doubted herself. She had a weird job and just accepted it and kept on doing it.

Their stories are told separately but then begin to merge and you finally are shown why. A solid story that I read in one sitting. And the author wrapped it up nicely while leaving it pen for more in the series. I’ll be following it.

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Synopsis

“There are lots of demons in the sky above London. The problem is, this one came crashing down to earth.”

Ten years ago, Alice Warner was attacked and disfigured by an attacker in her own home. She remembers nothing of the attack, and she has been in a psychiatric hospital ever since. When she’s finally released, however, she starts working as a security guard at an abandoned shopping mall. And that’s when she starts to realize that something is haunting her, keeping just one step out of sight at all times…

Meanwhile, seventy years earlier, a little girl named Wendy is left orphaned after a World War 2 fighter plane crashes onto her house. Taken to a monastery, Wendy is quickly singled out by the nuns for special attention. They say she has been possessed by a demon, and that there’s only one way to save her soul. Fortunately for Wendy, however, there’s someone else who seems to know far more about the situation.

What is the shocking connection between Alice and Wendy, reaching out across the years? Does a demon really lurk in the girl’s soul? And who is Hannah, the mysterious figure who tries to help Wendy, and who seventy years later begins to make her influence felt in Alice’s life too?

Alice Isn’t Well is the first book in the Death Herself series, about a dark figure who arrives in the night, promising to help deal with the forces of evil whenever they appear.

Amazon

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A House In London

by Amy Cross

A House in London by [Cross, Amy]

Genre:  Horror

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My Review

I read the blurb and thought it sounded like something else I’d read so I had to give this a go.

Creepy it is and I had a blast. Thought I knew what was really happening but I should have used more imagination. The author sure did.

A read  straight through book and one of those that makes you worry about turning out the lights.

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Synopsis

“You’ll love him. He’s such an easy boy to love.”

Short of money after moving to London, Jennifer Griffith accepts a job babysitting for a wealthy couple. When she arrives at their house, however, she quickly learns that this particular baby isn’t quite what he seems.

Although she agrees to go through with the job for one night, it doesn’t take long before she starts to regret her choice. Something dark lurks in the shadows of the house, something that wants something from Jennifer. Something that won’t let go, not even after she heads home…

A House in London is a horror novella about a girl who always dreamed of a house in London, and who finally discovers a nightmare waiting in the shadows.

Amazon

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You can find a list of my reviews HERE.

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