Archive for the ‘Anthology’ Category

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Welcome to my Monday Minis Reviews

For today I bring you:

Bones

The Complete Apocalypse Saga

by Mark Wheaton

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MY REVIEW

I’m a huge fan of apocalyptic and dystopian stories so I knew right away I wanted to read this book. I also like it when there is an animal featured and Bones, the cadaver dog, has a starring role.

He isn’t your ordinary search and rescue dog. His first owner saw something feral in Bones and trained him accordingly. And this comes in handy for many of the survivors he encounters on his journeys.

There are three stories with a new threat to humanity in each one. From zombies that morph into something deadly strange, to rats and birds that mutate and hunt us, to  the most unlikely of threats, mans best friend.

You’ll follow Bones as he progresses through each story, hooking up with different groups of survivors and lending his canine smarts to each threat.

Now and then the dog encounters people who have heard of him and he even reunites with his beloved owner at one point. But as one disaster follows another, Bones travels further and further from home.

As the years go by and the world struggles to survive extinction, Bones has a new goal, one that will take all that he has if he’s to accomplish it.

As you follow Bones, you’ll meet all kinds of people, some good, some not so good. That’s to be expected when people are thrust into life or death situations.

Each story presents a different threat and while mother nature adds to that, it’s ultimately man’s stupidity that brings about their downfall.

I couldn’t choose a favorite story. Each one was as good as the next. The author took from nature, added in human culpability, and it all made sense. These things could happen.

There are many characters and I’m glad I didn’t get close to most of them, as this is an apocalypse and a lot of them don’t survive. One death in particular, a woman who survived through so much, was so horrific and sad. Be prepared for sudden death and it ain’t pretty. The author spares nothing in his descriptions, and, while I’m not the squeamish type, his ability to help you visualize the scenes will make you flinch.

I liked that the author put the prequel at the end of the book. I was still wanting more about Bones and the short story gave me some additional background and more of the hero dog.

5 STARS

Synopsis

When mankind is visited by Three Great Apocalypses, the only thing standing in their way is a feckless but loyal, easily distracted yet occasionally ferocious German shepherd named Bones, a one-time cadaver dog with the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police. This is his amazing story.

In Bones, our hero must battle a plague of dangerous parasites that brings the dead back to life with the goal of destroying the planet. Shepherd finds Bones delivered to earthquake-devastated Los Angeles to hunt for survivors only to run afoul of armies of rage-driven rats and birds emerging from the rubble. And when mankind reaches its final hour and a pocket of surviving Indians are all that’s left of humanity, it falls on Bones to save the species before civilization is wiped out forever in Alpha.

Three Apocalyptic novellas of nature run amok, three interwoven stories that feature a German shepherd at the center of the things, three stories with so much action you might just explode reading them.

Includes prequel short story, Mongrel.

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Do you like apocalyptic stories? Do you enjoy it when an animal is a character in the book? Tell me in the comments and thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew!

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BAD APPLES: Five Slices of Halloween Horror
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The five freshest voices in horror will make you reconsider leaving the house on October 31st with these all-
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A brother and sister creep out of the darkness with bags full of deadly tricks in Gregor Xane’s
THE RIGGLE TWINS
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A deformed boy just wants to be normal in Evans Light’s
PUMPKINHEAD TED
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A group of ghost hunters learn that looking for terror is a whole lot more fun than finding it in Adam Light’s
GHOST LIGHT ROAD
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Two bullies go looking for trouble but instead find a young boy and his imaginary friend in Jason Parent’s
EASY PICKINGS
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When a mysterious, Halloween-themed attraction comes to the town of Bay’s End, everyone is dying to pay a visit in Edward Lorn’s
THE SCAREROWS
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This cover art is freakin wicked! I was privy to a sneak peek, only a small hint of what it would look like. I never imagined it would be so awesome!
What do ya think?
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Bad Apples eBook Cover
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Available in eBook beginning September 7, 2014.
Paperback available September 14, 2014.
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I have read everything written by the Light brothers Adam and Evans. And almost all of Edward Lorn’s books too.
A funny thing was I had just read and reviewed It Came From Hell and Smashed the Angels by Gregor Xane when afterward I learned about this collaboration. I went and checked my shelves and discovered I also have What Hides Within by Jason Parent. It looks like all of these authors write horror the way I love it.
This is going to be such scary fun. I cannot wait!
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There’s a giveaway going on right now. Want to win a copy? Just click HERE and enter the Goodreads Giveaway for a print copy!
Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew and Good Luck!
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About the Editor:
“Rhonda Parrish is a shapeshifter with talents to match her every incarnation-magpie tenacity for picking the shiniest submissions, nightingale notes for crafting tales, and bright, feline eyes for seeking out her photographic subjects. She balances on the knife-edge of darkness and light, a sorceress of both realms.” – Sara Cleto
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Title:  A is for Apocalypse
Editor:  Rhonda Parrish
Cover Design:  Jonathan Parrish
To Be Published:  August 2014
Publisher:   Poise and Pen Publishing
Genre:  Horror
Content Warning:  Adult Themes
Synopsis:
What do you get when you take twenty-six amazing writers, randomly assign them a letter of the alphabet and give them complete artistic freedom within a theme?
A is for Apocalypse.
A is for Apocalypse contains twenty-six apocalyptic stories written by both well-known and up-and-coming writers. Monsters, meteors, floods, war–the causes of the apocalypse in these tales are as varied as the stories themselves.
This volume contains work by Ennis Drake, Beth Cato, Kenneth Schneyer, Damien Angelica Walters, K. L. Young, Marge Simon, Milo James Fowler, Simon Kewin, C.S. MacCath, Steve Bornstein and more!
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Excerpt
U is for… by Damien Angelica Walters:
My father and I used to stargaze when I was only a few years older than Millie. He taught me the constellations, patiently pointing at each one until I could recognize the shapes without his help.

They were a link to something bigger, something more, but no longer. Now Orion’s Belt mocks me with its precision; Cassiopeia with her beauty, a beauty that will remain even when no one’s left to see.

Once a comfort, all of them, now my enemy.

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Tour wide giveaway
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Print ARC copy of A is for Apocalypse
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Open INTL
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Click on the Rafflecopter below to enter.
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Raffle button

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Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew and Good Luck!

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

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Roane Publishing is giving away THREE ARCs of Portals!



Genre: Fantasy Anthology (mixed sub genres)
Release Date: June 5, 2014
Publisher: Roane Publishing
Keywords: Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, Sword and Sorcery, Urban Fantasy, Steampunk, Short Stories, Picture Prompt

Description: No matter what world you call home, or what your station in life, there are just some paths that weren’t meant to be tread.

Maronda’s Quest by Christy Thomas
Mexmur, the Huntress by Anna Simpson
Entrance of Lost Souls by Echo Shea
Where Once were Hearts by Havva Murat
Ordinary World by Laurie Treacy
The Lunatic Queen by Michael Siciliano

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Roane Publishing is giving away THREE ARC copies to three lucky winners!


You don’t even have to be a blogger.



If you are willing to leave an honest review between the dates June 5th and July 3rd, you are eligible to enter.

How? Simply fill out the form!


You have until Midnight of May 16th when three winners will be chosen by random drawing.


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Thanks so much for participating & best of luck!
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Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew and Good Luck!

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

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