Archive for the ‘horror’ Category

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Halloween is fast approaching and I’ve been reading some scary good books.

I won all of these books by Michael Phillip Cash in a giveaway and being my type of stories, I dove right in. I read all of them in one week. LOL

Now, I need your help. I’d like to review one book each week, leading up to Halloween. I thought it would be fun to let you choose in which order I should review them. So, starting with Brood X as number one and Darracia ending as number seven, help me decide!

Brood X

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Synopsis

Seth is laid off from work. His wife Lara just found out they are expecting a baby this summer. Seth plans on documenting the entire pregnancy with his brand new digital camcorder.

During an evening home watching television, the news reports that a swarm of cicada (Brood Ten) are expected to overwhelm the entire Northeast.

Brood Ten is vicious and ready to invade.

During a sweltering summer night, Brood Ten emerges and wreaks havoc with the electric grid, phone and cell service, wi-fi, food and water supply. Civilization as they know it is gone.

Seth and Lara are thrown back to the stone age in their own home with trillions of cicada trying to deposit their eggs and breed.

Fast paced and filled with tension, Brood Ten is the perfect summer read when you’re sitting outside listening to the cicadas sing.

Trailer

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The Flip

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Synopsis

Julie and Brad Evans are house flippers. They buy low, clean out the old occupants’ junk, and try to make a profit. Enter Hemmings House on Bedlam Street in scenic Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island. Too good a deal to pass up, but with an ominous secret. The old Victorian Mansion has dwellers that do not want to be dispossessed. As the house reveals it’s past, will the couple’s marriage survive The Flip?

Trailer

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The Hanging Tree

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Synopsis

Enter a world where spirits roam the earth in Michael Phillip Cash’s haunting new novella, The Hanging Tree. Set amid the eerie backdrop of Long Island, an area famously steeped in old legend, two young would-be lovers contemplate their future while visits from those who have come before them reveal the lure of fate…and the power of free will. At seventeen years old, Arielle’s relationship with her parents is slowly deteriorating. Angry and defiant, she is at a loss on how to cope with the tumultuous situation in which she finds herself. Arielle’s only comfort is Chad, an eighteen-year-old young man who seems to truly understand her struggles. Arielle and Chad meet beneath the low-hanging branches of what the local community has nick-named the “Hanging Tree”. An ancient and majestic landmark, it has long been rumored that the tree is haunted by ghosts. These ghosts span various centuries and vary wildly in age, but each one of them has one thing in common: their deaths are all somehow connected to the tree itself. As Arielle and Chad commiserate over their current situation and their precarious nature of their future, the spectral inhabitants of the Hanging Tree witness their conversation. One by one,the ghosts begin reminiscing about their own lives-and deaths- as they examine the inner demons with which their human forms long struggled. An eerie meditation on the oft-overlooked power of choice, Cash’s The Hanging Tree will stay with readers long after they turn out the light.

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The After House

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Synopsis

Remy Galway and her daughter Olivia are rebuilding their life after a failed marriage in a 300 year old cottage in historic Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island. Little do they know, another occupant is lurking in the haven of their own home. Will the After House be their shelter or their tomb?

Trailer

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Pokergeist

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Synopsis

Sometimes life, as well as death, is about second chances. Luckless Telly Martin doesn’t have a clue. An awful gambler trying to scrape by as a professional poker player, he becomes the protégé of world famous poker champion Clutch Henderson. The only catch…Clutch is a ghost.
Telly and Clutch must navigate the seedy gambling underbelly of Las Vegas learning to trust each other in order to win the elusive International Series of Poker, repair their shattered personal relationships and find redemption in this life and the hereafter.

Trailer

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Witches Protection Program

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Synopsis

Wes Rockville, a disgraced law enforcement agent, is given one last chance to prove himself and save his career when he’s reassigned to a 232 year old secret government organization. The Witches Protection Program. His first assignment: uncover a billion-dollar Cosmetics company’s diabolical plan of using witchcraft for global domination, while protecting its heiress Morgan Pendragon from her aunt’s evil deeds. Reluctantly paired with veteran witch protector, Alastair Verne, Wes must learn to believe in both witches and himself. Filled with adventure, suspense and a rousing good time, Michael Phillip Cash creates a tongue-in-cheek alternate reality where witches cast spells and wreak havoc in modern day New York City.

Trailer

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The Battle For

Darracia 1 thru 3

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Synopsis

The Battle for Darracia Books I, II, and III, are now combined into one epic novel!

On the planet Darracia, an ever-widening social gap between its inhabitants is causing turmoil that is fracturing a once peaceful world. Struggling with his identity, nineteen year old Prince V’sair must harness the power of the elusive Fireblade, the secret to a warrior’s heart, in order to overcome his uncle Staf Nuen’s lust for supremacy. Will the energy of the Elements guide the young prince to his true destiny or will Staf Nuen conquer Darracia?

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Cast your votes!

And thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew!

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Welcome to my Saturday Screams!

With Halloween fast approaching, I’ve amassed a bunch of creepy stories to share with you.

For today, I’ve got a scary good one.

Come on in and get your scare on!

In The Eyes Of Madness

by Michael Pang

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My Review

The synopsis gives you a clue about what lies within in the pages of this story. And it is creepy.

I remember the after affects of going to see The Exorcist when I was a teen. I slept with the light on for years.

You’d think after such an experience I’d shy away from horror, especially anything to do with demons, unseen evil, and possession. But, nope. It’s one of my favorite genres.

I’ve got to hand it to Declan. After what his mother did, and continues to do to him, you’d think the last thing he’d want to do was be closer to her. Yet, he takes a job at the institute where she resides, and it’s not just his mother he has to worry about now.

Unexplained things start to happen, evil is in the very air, and Declan could become a permanent resident, either insane or dead.

If you like the kind of horror that creeps up on you, makes you turn on the lights, that is, if you’re brave enough to get out of bed and cross the floor to the light switch, and won’t let you go until you’ve read ever chilling page, then this is one you should read.

Giving this a chill factor of:

4 Stars

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Synopsis

A near tragic incident at the hands of his psychotic mother left Declan Peters alone and with so many questions.

Years later, Declan is determined to find a way to be closer to his mother and takes a job at the institution where she’s being held. That fateful decision will be the impetus for a chain of events so terrifying that Declan will question his own grasp on reality.

What he finds will be more horrifying than anything he’s ever experienced and more dangerous than anything he’s yet known. In a place, rife with demonic possession and sadistic beings, will Declan finally be able to find the answers he’s longed for before its too late or will he succumb to the evil forces that inhabit the institution and all who live there?

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Author Michael Pang

Project manager by profession but modern Renaissance man by nature, Michael Pang has dabbled in many different areas in his career. From working with steam turbines to eventually switching into the world of IT, his plethora of experience highlights his personality – he’s a person always searching for more knowledge.
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Michael was born in Hong Kong in 1983. His family immigrated to San Francisco when he was three and eventually landed in Florida. After graduating from high school, Michael gained his degree in Mechanical Engineering from Georgia Tech. Despite his currently demanding work schedule, Michael is very involved in activities at his local Project Management Institute Chapter where he fulfills his passion for teaching as the Vice President of Education. But, his desire to serve and help others doesn’t end there, he’s an avid Christian and very active in his local church. He loves kids, with two daughters of his own with his lovely wife, and volunteers at children’s church in his ministry.
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He speaks fluent Cantonese and Mandarin and in his free time enjoys reading, writing, eating, cooking, playing music, dancing, singing, and watching musicals. One of his mottos is “Everyday that he hasn’t learned something new is a day wasted.”

Website / Twitter / Facebook

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Michael is giving away two eBook copies of In The Eyes Of Madness

(iTunes of Google Play)

 Also, a $15 gift certificate from SolaFide Publishing that can be used on any of their Marketing Packages (Bronze, Silver, or Gold) on their website (http://solafidepublishing.net).

Entry is easy. Just leave your email address so I can contact you if you win and answer this question:

“What is the scariest book you’ve read?”

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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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The Grave Winner banner
Welcome to my stop on the book blitz for The Grave Winner by Lindsey R. Loucks. This book blitz is organized by Lola’s Blog Tours. The book blitz runs from 15 till 21 September, you can view the complete blitz schedule on the website of Lola’s Blog Tours.

The Grave WinnerThe Grave Winner (The Grave Winner #1)
by Lindsey R. Loucks
Genre: Horror
Age category: Young Adult
Release Date: September 15, 2015

Blurb:
Leigh Baxton is terrified her mom will come back from the dead — just like the prom queen did.

While the town goes beehive over the news, Leigh bikes to the local cemetery and buries some of her mom’s things in her grave to keep her there. When the hot and mysterious caretaker warns her not to give gifts to the dead, Leigh cranks up her punk music and keeps digging.

She should have listened.

Two dead sorceresses evicted the prom queen from her grave to bury someone who offered certain gifts. Bury them alive, that is, then resurrect them to create a trio of undead powerful enough to free the darkest sorceress ever from her prison inside the earth.

With help from the caretaker and the dead prom queen, Leigh must find out what’s so special about the gifts she gave, and why the sorceresses are stalking her and her little sister. If she doesn’t, she’ll either lose another loved one or have to give the ultimate gift to the dead – herself.

You can find The Grave Winner on Goodreads

You can buy The Grave Winner here:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Kobo
iTunes

Review Quotes:
“This is such an imaginative story, and Leigh has so much voice, it’s like you’re there, living her nightmare with her… Miss Loucks knows her craft.” – Pam Godwin, author of Dead of Eve.

“Witty and fast paced, The Grave Winner by Lindsey R. Loucks is a snarky blend of zombie horror and urban fantasy… I loved it.” – Kayti Nika Raet for Readers’ Favorite

“The Grave Winner… is more of a fantasy-zombie hybrid, with both enchanting magic and romance you might expect from a fantasy novel, kick-butt action and creeps you might expect from a zombie novel, and strong characters and storyline a reader would want from any story!” – Moosubi Reviews.

Lindsey LoucksAbout the Author:
Lindsey R. Loucks works as a school librarian in rural Kansas. When she’s not discussing books with anyone who will listen, she’s dreaming up her own stories. Eventually her brain gives out, and she’ll play hide and seek with her cat, put herself in a chocolate induced coma, or watch scary movies alone in the dark to reenergize.

You can find and contact Lindsey here:
Website
Facebook
Twitter
Goodreads
Newsletter

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There is a tour wide giveaway for the book blitz of The Grave Winner.

These are the prizes you can win:

– a 10$ amazon gift card (US only)

For a chance to win enter the rafflecopter below:
a Rafflecopter giveaway


banner Lola's Blog Tours

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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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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!

My 56 for this week is from

 The Flip

by Michael Phillip Cash

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My 56 

When Brad got to the double doors, one swung open, inviting him in. It squealed on its hinges, adding to the macabre atmosphere. A laugh bubbled up from his lips.

Read on if you want to know more.

Synopsis

Julie and Brad Evans are house flippers. They buy low, clean out the old occupants’ junk, and try to make a profit. Enter Hemmings House on Bedlam Street in scenic Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island. Too good a deal to pass up, but with an ominous secret. The old Victorian Mansion has dwellers that do not want to be dispossessed. As the house reveals it’s past, will the couple’s marriage survive The Flip?

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Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew!

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

Looking for something to read now that the holidays are fast approaching?

Here’s a quickie that’ll wet your appetite. And it’s free!

Scroll down for an excerpt and how to get your copy.

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A message and excerpt from Anthony Renfro

There it is. The brand new cover for A Zombie Thanksgiving. I know it isn’t the holidays yet, but now is the time to grab yourself a free copy. I want to thank Pixabay for the image and Empire of the Claw for the font. I also want to send a special shout out to Laura for the Beta Read. Okay, here is the new intro. Hope you enjoy it.

Dawn stopped at the edge of the parking lot. What she saw in front of her was an apocalyptic nightmare. It was a picture of mass panic frozen in a time of chaos.

The parking lot looked like a war zone–cars burned to metal bodies, cars crashed together, cars turned over, shopping carts everywhere and in all kinds of positions, (food and supplies in these carts long since looted), and bodies, lots and lots of dead bodies. Most of them had been laying out here rotting in the hot sun for far too long, and they were now decayed and gooey, slipping back into the Earth one second at a time.

She closed her eyes, held the gold cross on a chain around her neck, prayed, and then crossed the parking lot.

She stopped when she reached the double doors that led into the grocery store. Sunlight gleamed off what was left of the glass in the frame, shards on the ground twinkled like stars. Two zombies shuffled out of the store, heading in her tasty direction. Dead things. Rotten things. Been walking around for a long time now as a corpse things. A couple of quick pops of her gun and both of them went down hard. Perfect, clean, head shots. Blood splattered ground.

Dawn looked to her left and right, back to the store in front of her, and then she turned around to make sure nothing was behind her. No other zombies shuffled about in the late fall heat, at least not from where she was standing; but there was a man, she did see a man, coming across the parking lot towards her. He stood about medium height, not too pudgy, not too thin. He had to be about 40 years old, she thought, as he put his hands up to show he wasn’t a threat.

“Who are you?” She asked, as she aimed her gun at him.

The guy looked down at her gun with the silencer on it, pointed directly at his gut. A nasty shot that would not end him instantly. “My name’s Mike, Mike Beem. You?”

“Dawn Sprig,” she replied, and paused. “Have you been following me?”

“I haven’t, just happened to see you crossing the parking lot. Thought I would walk over and see if you needed any help.”

“I’m fine.” She wasn’t, because she was terrified of being out here on her own without her boyfriend. So, she faked it the best she could. “Just need to do a little shopping. I hope my credit is still good,” she replied, smiling, hoping to ease the tension.

“Store’s probably picked over.”

“Probably, but there might be something left for the Thanksgiving Holiday,” she replied, lowering her weapon.

“I’m stuck on Christmas.”

“Any luck?”

“Some.” He paused. “You sure you don’t want me to go in with you? I can help if the store is overrun. Always nice to have back up.”

She wanted to say yes, she really did, but even though she had lowered her gun, stranger danger still popped into her mind when she looked at him. He might seem like a nice guy out here, but in there, in the dark, he could be someone totally different. “I’d rather go it alone. If you don’t mind? I’m better that way. No offense.”

“None taken. I Understand.”

“Thanks, though, for the offer.”

“Sure. Good luck and Happy Thanksgiving.”

“You too, Mike.”

He made his way out of the parking lot, and Dawn took another quick scan. No zombies about, just Mike evaporating into the distance. She turned back to the store, steadied her nerves, and turned on her light (this light was on a strap that ran around her head, so she could keep her hands free).  She made sure her weapons were ready to do the job they were meant to do, knife in place and gun ready to fire. She started to walk, ever so slightly, crunching on broken glass, moving from the light into the dark.

The smell inside the store wasn’t pleasant. All kinds of putrid things in a state of decay mingled and danced together in the non-air-conditioned air. Those smells were having a nice party in this tight enclosed airless space. Dawn tried to hold her breath and not breathe in too much of it, as she stopped just inside the double doors. She kneeled down in front of two bodies that were dead, flat, and squished. These bodies (elderly man and woman) looked like they had fallen down and nobody had bothered to help them up as the crowd trampled over them in a mad rush for supplies. She said a prayer for them, and then stood up. That’s when she heard it. It was a clicking sound, silent electronic keys being punched over and over again, hard to hear unless you were inside the store. She turned her light in the direction of that sound.

A quick note. Mike, the man Dawn bunps into in the parking lot, appears in A Zombie Christmas. He has quite a story to tell too.

Get A Zombie Thanksgiving free at the links below or anywhere Amazon is available.

Amazon: US / UK / AU / CA

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My Review

They say the holidays are no longer celebrated because of the zombie apocalypse.

Try telling that to Dawn. All she wants is to bring a little bit of normalcy into their lives. To remind them they are human, that they are still alive, that there is hope.

Guns and knife in hand, Dawn sets off to the grocery store to see if she can find a turkey. I know, this sounds nuts. But people get desperate for the old days, the easy days.

As Dawn stumbles over dead bodies and crashed, abandoned vehicles, she inevitably runs across some shufflers. She takes care of them coldly, efficiently. This is the new way of life.

Meanwhile, back at the safe place, George is handed a note by another survivor in their group. It appears Dawn has left to get food. Fool girl. Doesn’t she know there are zombies out there. What is so important she’d risk this by herself?

I can’t quite put my finger on it, but somehow the author had me feeling the warmth of Thanksgiving. Even As Dawn and George fought off the ravenous zombies that want them for dinner.

Dawn’s fierce determination has me adding her to my list of top female protagonists. She’s not going to stop until she finds that bird!

And George is just as determined. Determined to find Dawn and get her safely back where she belongs. All limbs attached. I liked how his initial frustration turned to alpha male, to lover, as he set out to find her.

I had my fingers and toes crossed for these two. The ending was not set in stone just because it’s Thanksgiving. Maybe the zombies got a nice dinner. Nobody told them they don’t celebrate the holiday.

5 Stars

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Until the next time….

Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew!

 

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I had such fun with the first book, Paradise Rot. And I’m thrilled to share the second book, Once Again, With Blood.

Lots of laughs and adventure await. But beware. You might get more than you bargained for!

Once Again, With Blood

The Island Trilogy

Book 2

Larry Weiner

Once Again Front Cover

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Genre: Horror/Dark Comedy

Publisher: Forsaken

Imprint of Booktrope

ISBN: 2940150858305

Number of pages: 220

Cover Artist: Larry Weiner

 

Book Description:

“We’re getting the band back together!”

For Kyle Brightman, bipolar advertising-industry burnout, this is good news and bad news. Good, because he’ll get to see his zombie-killing friends again, and be reunited with Cate, the zombie he loves (yeah, yeah, I know, read PARADISE ROT and you’ll get it). Bad, because having to blast his way through battalions of bloodless corpses took a brutal toll on Kyle’s already fragile psyche. But duty, and booty, calls. And soon Kyle finds himself on another tropical island, duped again into creating an ad campaign to lure unsuspecting Middle Americans into the greedy mouth of ancient madness. This time, it’s vampires. But with the help of a) his comrades-in-ass-kicking; b) the love of a good (cold) woman; c) the enduring power of Herb Alpert; and d) the awesomeness that is Charo, Kyle just might find a way to save thousands of lives. And what little’s left of his sanity.

Splattered with folklore, dripping with history, ONCE AGAIN, WITH BLOOD, Larry Weiner’s sequel to the uproarious comic romp PARADISE ROT, is what you get if Jimmy Buffett, Carl Hiaasen, Sarah Silverman and Hunter S. Thompson took turns pummeling Anne Rice with a cricket bat.

Available at Amazon   BN

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Here’s a ‘bite’ from Chapter One. I didn’t include the whole chapter as my post would be way too long. But this will give you a tasty morsel!

“YOU’RE A NEWBIE. I MEAN, LOOK AT YOU. That look of terror. I’ve seen it before.

Of course, it was during a zombie invasion, but still. Whoops! That last sentence freaked you out. S’okay. Let’s focus.

“First, you’re doing it wrong. All wrong. You gotta calm down or you’re not gonna survive it. I’m about to make your life easier. I’m babbling right now because I’ve had a slight psychotic break. Not really a break, more a sabbatical from reality. It’s okay, they’ll give me a new drug cocktail plus some Law & Order, and I’ll be back in action.

“Back to you. Here’s the way it works. Used to be that when you got a patient in who was out of his mind, whether from psychosis or crank or whatever, you’d strap him down with his arms at his sides and cart him off. Problem was, these tortured souls would pull on the restraints so hard, it’d dislocate their shoulders, and then the real howling would start—not to mention the potential litigation. Now, since they’re in pain, they’re gonna smack their heads on the gurney repeatedly. Let ‘em. It’s a padded gurney. They’ll end up with a terrific headache. I suppose you can give yourself a mild concussion. Anyway, it’s the shoulders that were the problem. So someone, and I don’t know who, but someone, maybe a yoga instructor or a cop, came up with the idea of strapping the crazies one hand up by the side of the head, one down by the hip. Did they demonstrate that to you? They should, along with the Fleet enemas. Try some of that shit, chief. See what I did there? Focus. One hand over the head, the other by the side. Now you’re talking incapacitation. Right? Such a simple solution. Almost elegant.

“So listen, you’re the new guy and seem reasonably intelligent so I wanna give you some tools to utilize while working the psych ward. Here they are. First, let them masturbate excessively.

They’re burning off angst and energy and if you stop them they’ll do shit like stab each other in the eye with a plastic knife. There are not a lot of ways to blow off some steam in a psych ward. In fact, you might want to suggest they pass out hand lotion with toothpaste. You see a lot of awkward gaits around here—part of the reason is because they’re walking around with chafed cocks. Next, obsessively watching a TV show does not a crazy person make. It’s the repetition and predictability of the characters that provide comfort. A patient feeling safe is one who won’t try to hang himself off a doorknob. Lastly, tell everyone, regardless of how fucked up they are, that things are going to be okay and they’re gonna get through this. Even the thrice-admitted homeless paranoid schizophrenic meth addict. You tell ‘em they’re gonna be A-OK. Even if you know that it’s bullshit. It’ll make things go a lot smoother and you’ll breathe a little humanity into an otherwise inhumane situation.

“Remember, your job is to get ‘em back on their feet and get them the hell out of Dodge. That’s it. I’m sure you have questions, but it’s been a long day for me and I could really use some Law & Order SVU. It’ll help with the coming down. They’ve gotta process my paperwork. It’s gonna take a while before they even get to me. Law & Order. It’ll be on TNT, Bravo, and USA. Possibly on NBC. There are a few constants in the universe. One of them being that at any given time an episode of Law & Order is running somewhere on Earth. The lounge is off to your left. Why don’t we go hang out in there for a while? Don’t put me next to someone with their hands jammed down their pants. I’m in no mood for that shit. Watching that is like pissing out my soul. You’ll see.”

The orderly, a young man with thick horn-rimmed glasses, stood over Kyle Brightman, a little unsure of how to proceed. Kyle was right. The young orderly was in fact into his third day on the psych ward and had not yet mastered the skills for telling which patients had lost their way versus which patients were the truly batshit among them. Kyle seemed near normal, though he was brought in for beating a tourist couple at Pike Place Market with a twenty-fivepound salmon. The tourists, Scandinavians, had cut into a line that Kyle had been in for ten minutes. When Kyle let them know there was a line, the Scandinavians waved Kyle off.

But how could the Scandinavians know that Kyle Brightman had seen some things this past year, things they wouldn’t believe, and had just come out of a broken relationship that smashed his heart into a million pieces? True, he instigated it by running away, but still. He looked like just another Seattleite, not someone who had survived a zombie war in the Caribbean and a subsequent relationship with a zombie woman. There were a great many things they didn’t know about Kyle, chief among them that there were moments when he knew he was about to do the wrong thing but felt compelled to do it anyway. So, they cut in line and Kyle grabbed the first thing he saw, a gigantic Copper River salmon, and commenced beating the Scandinavian tourists with it. The rest was all screams and a bin of mussels thrown at the bewildered Scandinavians when the salmon fell apart. It was meltdownville after that, and, once again, Kyle found himself at St. Eligius, fifth-floor psych ward.

It had been little over a year since his last visit.

After the paperwork, Kyle was shown to his room, where he found his clean pajamas on the bed. The bed next to him was empty and still made. Kyle had hoped he would have the room to himself. The last time, he ended up with Oscar Pilson, ex-military, ex-Halliburton mercenary and eventually a good friend who now shared a life in the Caribbean sunshine with the woman-with-no-name and her talking Chihuahua. The very sunshine he had abandoned to come back to the Northwest and lose his shit once again. Just like Cate said he would.

At the time he said Cate was full of it, but in the back of his mind a tiny voice had said, “We’ll see you soon.”

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Paradise Rot

The Island Trilogy

Book One

by Larry Weiner

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My Review

Welcome to tropical paradise. Welcome to The Isle of St. Agrippina. White sandy beaches. Delicious blended drinks. And island cuisine.

But beware. All is not as it seems. And you just might wind up on the menu.

You see, this long abandoned and now reopened and freshly renovated resort is run by zombies. Not the good ones, if there is such a thing, but the hungry ones. And their brains are working just fine. You’ll see.

Kyle, an advertising exec, should have known it was too good to be true. In fact, he did. Who would hire someone straight from the loony bin? But that didn’t stop him from using the plane ticket and jetting to a tropical paradise.

Right from the get go, things are weird. And they keep getting weirder.

What’s with the slow moving people with their perfect over-white teeth, spray on tans, and practiced pronunciation.

Who is the lady in the woods who likes to conk you over the head and drag you to a bar in the jungle tended buy some weird guy.

And did he really see a chihuahua with it’s butt on wheels, and did it actually speak?

I would have given this book 5 Stars just for the ingenuity. But I also laughed out loud, loved the eccentric mish mash of characters, and couldn’t get enough.

Looking for some fun with zombies. Give this one a try. And the next book, Once More, With Blood, is available now so you won’t have to wait for more fun.

5 Stars

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Book Description:

 

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.

Amazon   BN

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About the Author:

Larry Weiner

 

Larry Weiner is the author of PARADISE ROT (BOOK ONE), ONCE AGAIN, WITH BLOOD (BOOK TWO) and the forthcoming HINDU SEX ALIENS (BOOK THREE) that make up the Island Trilogy. Larry earned a degree in film from CSULA and was an award-winning art director. He lives on an island in the Pacific Northwest with his wife, two kids and a gaggle of animals. He plays bass and thus has poor hearing.

Website / Twitter / Facebook / Goodreads

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Until the next time….

Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew!

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This is a Tag Team Event hosted by myself and Sherry.

 I have some exciting news to share with you about Dinosaur lake III.  Read on to learn how you can win some books!

After reading my review, head on over to Sherry’s blog at fundinmental for more and check out her review. Two chances to win!

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Dinosaur Lake III

Infestation

by Kathryn Meyer Griffith

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My Review

The first book in this series had me on the edge of my seat. The action was intense and the scares were awesome.

The second book was just as, if not more, intense. And the bodies piled up.

Between those first two books, you lose some beloved characters and some not so loved.

So, now for the third book in the Dinosaur Lake series.

I started this book feeling a bit worried. After the first two, I wondered if the author could keep up the intense action and suspense. She didn’t disappoint. In fact, this may be the most nail biting of them all.

The dinosaurs are rampant with a capital R! They are everywhere, in many shapes and sizes. And, of course, they are very hungry.

Chief Park Ranger Henry Shore and his wife, Ann, have made it through many dangerous encounters with these monsters over several years, losing friends and hope. They managed to triumph, but this time they might not be so lucky.

Dinosaurs are emerging again. So many, so hungry, so unstoppable. It’s not just the park and their town in danger anymore. The dinosaurs are popping up all over the US and Canada and who knows whether this will become a worldwide phenomenon. It may be the beginning of the age of dinosaurs again.

I have to applaud Kathryn. She gave me more dinosaurs. Bigger, meaner ones, and sneaky, littler ones. The scenes of carnage were bloody wild and so many of them. I got all the action I could ever want.

And the characters. Well, there are my favorites, mentions of loved ones lost, and some new ones. I was crossing fingers and toes that my favorites would survive. You never know with this author.

I sure hope there are more books coming in this series. Please let there be more!

While this is the third book in the series, you could easily pick up the story here. But, if you are a fan of action, intense suspense, and monsters, you’ll want to, need to, go back and read the other books.

5 Dynobite Stars

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Synopsis

Chief Park Ranger Henry Shore has dealt with and fought real live dinosaurs at his beloved Crater Lake National Park for over six years. With the help of his rangers, a few brave FBI friends and army soldiers he’d been victorious over a prehistoric lake creature and years later some particularly fiendish, and clever, specimens of the flying variety. He and his newspaper publisher wife, Ann, thought their park was finally rid of the monsters and they could reclaim their tranquil life in a place they cherished. Not so. For suddenly across the park new and even more malevolent mutant species of dinosaur begin to appear and create havoc, attacking the park’s visitors and threatening its peace. And this time the primeval scourge isn’t confined to just their park. The creatures have moved into the nearby towns, across the western United States and up into Canada. They are so much more aggressive, smarter and hungrier than any that have come before and the infestation is spreading further and faster than Henry and Ann can even imagine. This time there’s no easy way to defeat the dinosaurs. There’s too many of them and they’re too devious. This time it’s full out war and the victor will someday claim Earth.

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Dinosaur Lake II

Dinosaurs Arising

by Kathryn Meyer Griffith

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My Review

Here we go again. Chief Park Ranger Henry Shore thinks its over. They killed the dinosaur and he’s pretty sure they destroyed all of the eggs. But when strange things start happening in the park, when another ranger has to fight off a large creature to save some visitor’s, it looks like it’s not over.

Things go from bad, to horrific when one of the trolleys, full of tourists, is attacked by something huge, like the thing in the park, yet larger, and it has wings.

It looks like Henry will have to do battle with dinosaurs again, and he’ll have help from his rangers, along with some soldiers and his son-in-law.

Winged gargoyles, that’s what they look like, but much larger.

They are breeding. They fly and are no longer confined to Henry’s beloved park. They are hungry and they need food for their offspring. The park and surrounding towns become their feeding ground.

No one is safe.

I couldn’t wait to read this after finishing the first book. I love books and movies about dinosaurs, especially when they appear in modern times.

There’s so many things Kathryn does really well in her stories. Let me explain.

She gives you authentic characters. They have their flaws, foibles. You like them or you don’t.

When the town sheriff scoffed at the idea of dinosaurs, refused to believe they exist even after the town gets attacked, I could picture him. Standing there, shaking his head, a sneer on his lips, a posture of superiority. I figured he’d get eaten.

And this is my favorite thing she does. She kills off her characters. You don’t want to become too fond of them, but with some you will. And just because they may survive a first encounter, don’t count on them surviving a second one. I’m not saying the sheriff died. I’m not saying they all die. But I wouldn’t want to be in any of their shoes when the dust settles.

The author also doesn’t waste any time getting the carnage going. She quickly drops you in the middle of the mayhem and scares the bejesus out of you. The story never slows down. The suspense and dread builds and builds, and knocks you on your butt. You’ll want to look away, but you won’t be able to. You’ll have to keep reading, find out what happens.

Let’s get to the monsters now. They are just that, monsters. They may be dinosaurs, but they’re unlike the ones from history. They’ve evolved, are very different. I like that Kathryn chose to liken these dinosaurs to gargoyles. The first thing you think of when flying dinosaurs are mentioned is Pterodactyl’s. But not these. They are giant gargoyle like things. And they are blood thirsty, cunning, and relentless. They never stop coming for you.

Every book Kathryn writes is like this. She never lets you down. All of her characters, strong or weak, are genuinely written. We may scoff at their actions, but they are theirs not ours. It’s important to remember that.

And the action and suspense are almost immediate and it’s always a mad dash to the end. Usually with lots of people screaming. LOL

I loved this every bit as much as the first book. I missed some characters that didn’t survive the first one. Loved some of the new ones. I know I shouldn’t have. Lots of people die. But that’s what made this so good. It was unpredictable and the idea of where the creatures came from was plausible. That’s what really creeped me out.

This is everything I hoped for from the author and now I’ve just finished the third book. Holy hell, it’s awesome too!

5 Stars

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Synopsis

Prehistoric creatures have again invaded Crater Lake National Park
…and this time there’s more than one.

DINOSAUR LAKE II: Dinosaurs Arising
by Kathryn Meyer Griffith
Henry Shore has been Chief Park Ranger at Crater Lake National Park for thirteen years now and thought the days when he’d had to fight a rogue dinosaur that lived in the caves below the lake were long over.
Until one of his park rangers, to save a visitor’s life, is in a deadly struggle out in the woods with a new breed of dinosaur worse than the last one. It’s as big as a man, but this one is a young one. And growing.
Then more of the creatures begin to show up everywhere, threatening people and destroying the tranquility and safety of his beloved park.
A tourist trolley filled with fifteen people is snatched up off the crater’s rim by another version of the younger one…but this one has grown into a giant with fangs, claws and a deadly tail.
And this one has wings.
Ugly Gargoyles, Henry calls them.
For this one isn’t alone.
They’re flying beyond the park’s boundaries into the neighboring towns.
So Henry, with the help of his son-in-law, a paleontologist named Justin, and a band of brave park rangers, and a few good soldiers, must not only protect his park and his people from monsters once more but find their lair and destroy it and them before the creatures kill again.

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 Dinosaur Lake

by Kathryn Meyer Griffith.

This book is free on Amazon right now! Click on the cover to grab a copy!

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My Review

Enter at your own risk. There be a huge freakin dinosaur here.

I love books with creatures in them. This one has a dinosaur. A dinosaur that tasted humans and put them at the top of its list. We may be noisy, what with all the screamin, but we’re oh so tasty.

Chief Ranger Henry Shore likes to get out from behind his desk. He enjoys taking out tours now and then. The park is his love and he jumps at any chance to get out there.

The threat of an earthquake has him concerned. It’s predicted they’ll be hit with a major one, and if the tremors he feels are any indication, it could be soon. The rumors of a giant creature seen in Crater Lake make him pause. Maybe the earlier earthquake released something from the caverns under the lake.

When a couple of the boat captains from the lake tours go missing and all that’s recovered are their shattered boats, Henry begins to believe in the rumors. And when a group of campers are attacked, people are missing, blood and bits of gore are strewn around, and a trail of shattered trees leaves a huge trail to the lake, Henry has no choice but to believe the witnesses testimonies of a gigantic monster, a dinosaur, that attacked and ate their friends.

The creature has come on land and is ranging further and further from the lake to find the tasty morsels he craves and needs. No one is safe and Henry wonders how far the evacuation should go.

Henry has big problems. Will it go into the towns? Where is its lair? When will it strike again and how the hell can he stop it? He wants his park back. With the help of fellow rangers and one strange ex- FBI agent who deals in the unusual, he takes the fight to the monster and many die.

Dinosaur Lake starts out tranquil and quickly becomes a nightmare. When the creature discovers how tasty we are, it wants more. It’s intelligent and cunning and likes to play with its food.

I can’t imagine what is scarier, knowing it’s going to eat you, or having it play cat and mouse with you before crunching you between its giant teeth. A couple of the munching scenes had me squirming, feeling so sad for the victims. I knew they were goners.

The author slowly builds the terror, lulling you and then springing out at you, just like the creature.

Some characters I liked got killed off. Some survived. I kept fearing the worst as the pages flew by. I know the author has to kill off some of the characters, but I wish I could’ve saved a couple. This definitely makes for emotional and suspenseful reading.

Great writing, an awesome creature, likeable and diverse characters, chaos and terror. Everything I require in a creature feature.

Five Stars for Dinosaur Lake

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About Author Kathryn Meyer Griffith

Photo_black_capSince childhood I’ve been an artist and worked as a graphic designer in the corporate world and for newspapers for twenty-three years before I quit to write full time. But I’d already begun writing novels at 21, over forty-three years ago now, and have had twenty-two (nine romantic horror, two horror novels, two romantic SF horror, one romantic suspense, one romantic time travel, one historical romance, two thrillers, and three murder mysteries) previous novels, two novellas and twelve short stories published from Zebra Books, Leisure Books, Avalon Books, The Wild Rose Press, Damnation Books/Eternal Press; and I’ve self-published my last six novels with Amazon Kindle Direct and my dinosaur novels and Spookie Town Mysteries are my best-sellers.

I’ve been married to Russell for thirty-six years; have a son, James, and two grandchildren, Joshua and Caitlyn, and I live in a small quaint town in Illinois, which is right across the JB Bridge from St. Louis, Mo. We have three quirky cats, ghost cat Sasha and Cleo and live cat Sasha (Too), and the five of us live happily in an old house in the heart of town. Though I’ve been an artist, and a folk singer in my youth with my brother Jim, writing has always been my greatest passion, my butterfly stage, and I’ll probably write stories until the day I die…or until my memory goes.

2012 EPIC EBOOK AWARDS *FINALIST* for my horror novel The Last VampireRevised Author’s Edition ~ 2014 EPIC EBOOK AWARDS *FINALIST* for her thriller novel Dinosaur Lake.

*Click here to check out Kathryn Meyer Griffith’s.

Novels and short stories from Kathryn Meyer Griffith:

Evil Stalks the Night, The Heart of the Rose, Blood Forge, Vampire Blood, The Last Vampire,

Witches, The Nameless One short story, The Calling, All Things Slip Away, Egyptian Heart,

Winter’s Journey, The Ice Bridge, Don’t Look Back, Agnes, Before the End: A Time of Demons, The Woman in Crimson, Human No Longer, Four Spooky Short Stories Collection, Scraps of Paper, Dinosaur Lake, Dinosaur Lake II: Dinosaurs Arising and the just released Dinosaur Lake III: Infestation.

Kathryn’s Links

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kathryn-Meyer-Griffith/579206748758534  

http://www.authorsden.com/kathrynmeyergriffith

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/889499.Kathryn_Meyer_Griffith

 

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I have 3 eBook copies  of Dinosaur lake III to give away thanks to Kathryn!

This can be read without having read the first two books.

To enter, please leave your email address so I can contact you if you win and answer this question:

“Which dinosaurs scare you the most, the huge ones who can squash you like a bug, or the sneaky little ones who can mass attack and devour you like a piranha?”

Giveaway ends September 21st .

This is a Tag Team Event hosted by myself and Sherry at fundinmental.

Now hop on over to fundinmental, check out Sherry’s review, and enter for another chance to win  HERE.

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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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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!

My 56 for this week is from

 Brood X

by Michael Phillip Cash

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My 56 is actually from page 5 and 6.

Page 5

There was no way Chet was going outside. Instead he rolled on his squeaky chair 0ver to the door and opened it to survey the chaos. The sounds of screams filled the small security room.

Page 6

The door knob jiggled then turned, and both men swiveled to face the portal, fear written all over their faces. No one ever came to security. Not ever.


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Synopsis

Seth is laid off from work. His wife Lara just found out they are expecting a baby this summer. Seth plans on documenting the entire pregnancy with his brand new digital camcorder.

During an evening home watching television, the news reports that a swarm of cicada (Brood Ten) are expected to overwhelm the entire Northeast.

Brood Ten is vicious and ready to invade.

During a sweltering summer night, Brood Ten emerges and wreaks havoc with the electric grid, phone and cell service, wi-fi, food and water supply. Civilization as they know it is gone.

Seth and Lara are thrown back to the stone age in their own home with trillions of cicada trying to deposit their eggs and breed.

Fast paced and filled with tension, Brood Ten is the perfect summer read when you’re sitting outside listening to the cicadas sing.

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Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew!

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

Anthony Renfro has a bunch of his stories free right now!

With Halloween and Christmas fast approaching, there’s a little bit of everything for everyone’s holiday reading!

If you click this link (https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/atothewr) you can get all of these short stories free.

 

 

A Zombie Christmas and A Haunted House Tale will eventually go up to a dollar again, but for now you can download them for any E-Book reader that supports EPUB.

He also has these two on Leafless for free.

Haunted House Tale - High Resolution

https://leafless.co/?browse&*=info&id=245

Zombie 2 - High Resolution

https://leafless.co/?browse&*=info&id=203

The cool thing about Leafless is that it allows the audience to choose the price. The two stories above will remain free until the demand pushes them up to a certain price. They are also available in EPUB, MOBI, and PDF files on that site.

Finally, this short story is available for free on Noise Trade. You can also get it in EPUB, MOBI, or PDF there as well.

Man

http://books.noisetrade.com/atothewr/the-man-from-the-road

You can find Anthony on his blog HERE.

Stop by and say thank you!

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Welcome to my Saturday Screams!

I figured I’d give you three scary reviews today and knock a few books off my TBR.

Two of these are horror and one, Fing, is a fun children’s story about a monster in the closet.

Get your scare on!

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The Gatherers

Harvesting #.5

by Ashley Ehlers

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My Review

I read The Harvesters, the first book in this series, and had an idea what I’d get with this one. Yep, a twisted story that had me looking over my shoulder, wondering who might be creeping up on me.

Coleen isn’t thrilled when her dad gets remarried. Not too crazy about her step-mother. And not too crazy about her step-sister, Virginia either. Or so the parents think. The two girls have grown close, very close. When Coleen is sent outside to find the missing family dog, the nice family getaway in the woods takes a chilling turn.

I enjoy scary stories. The scarier the better. And it doesn’t matter if I figure out the plot a bit early. The fun is what happens along the way.

I thought I had this all figured out, but I didn’t. There’s this twist, see.

Talk about your wicked step-mother tales.

And what’s waiting in the woods. I thought back to the first book, and no way would I go in there.

Another creepy tale that lingers, making you think about the evil that lurks just out of sight.

4 Stars

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Synopsis

Ashley and Jason weren’t the only ones to have an encounter with The Harvesters that day….

Coleen hasn’t been the happiest with her father remarrying, especially to the mother that gave birth to her enemy, Virginia. Bleach blonde bimbo as Coleen thought the moment they started high school. But since they’ve graduated, their parents married for a year now, Coleen has seen a whole new side of Virginia and the girls have gotten closer than ever. However the parents don’t see it, as the girls put up a front, so they plan a getaway to the family’s cabin before the girls go off to college.

Being away from the city is exactly what the girls wanted. Virginia even has something special planned for Coleen on this holiday and being out in the woods is the perfect setting for it. Though things get put on hold when their family dog Trudy runs away and Coleen’s step mother insists she goes out and find her. So as Coleen walks into the woods she gets a chilling sign from her step mother, Tori, which starts a domino effect of bloody unforgettable events.

You can read my review of The Harvesters by clicking on the cover below.

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Fing

by Papa G.

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My Review

What a fun little story.

Ulrich gets some really bad news. While his parents were in Africa, they were taken by some cannibals. Missing, and presumed eaten, he now has to live with Mrs. Lipstick, the families mean, chain smoking relative.

She says he’s a nasty, smelly boy and must stay in the cold, dark attic, only allowed out to eat once a day.

Alone and heart broken, Ulrich remembers his mother’s advice. Always stay positive and good things will come.

That’s hard for Ulrich when the strange noises in his closet reveal themselves to be a sock sniffing monster.

Ulrich is such a sweet boy. I forgot to mention he has a special disability. It’s very unusual but he stays positive and learns to adjust.

The nasty Mrs. Lipstick reminds me of Cruella DeVille from 101 Dalmatians. Just a loathsome woman and up to no good.

As for the monster, Fing, he grows on ya.

The moral of this story is maintaining good thoughts, staying positive despite the hard blows. The author had me chuckling at Ulrich’s problem solving and booing at Mrs. Lipstick’s evil doing.

A story to delight young readers with a worthy hero, or two.

4 Stars

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Synopsis

Ulrich Von Strudel has got no knees, but this is the least of his problems. Awful, terrible, despicable things are going to happen to this poor boy. And just when he thinks things couldn’t possibly get any worse. He discovers there’s a monster hiding in his closet. FING is a heart warming modern fairytale about the benefits of staying positive even when faced with the vile Mrs Lipstick!

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The Depot

When Life And Death Cross Tracks

by Carmen DeSousa

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My Review

A haunted tale of echoes.

Detective Mark Waters doesn’t believe the claim that The Depot is haunted. He’s eaten at the restaurant many times and never witnessed anything unusual.

So when he’s called there to investigate a suicide, it’s just another case. Or so he thinks.

The past meets the present and now Mark knows different.

Not a long story, but it has a lot of ghostly atmosphere.  You go back in time, then forward to the present, as the story is revealed.

Tragedy, betrayal, and a thirst for revenge, this a good one for a dark and stormy night.

3 Stars

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Synopsis

The Depot (When Life and Death Cross Tracks) is a thirteen-thousand-word mini mystery with a ghostly edge by bestselling romantic-suspense author Carmen DeSousa. If you are looking for her full-length novels, please check out her Amazon author page.

They say The Depot is haunted. But in all the years homicide detective Mark Waters has visited the ancient train station turned restaurant, he’s never seen proof. Until now.

As he investigates a supposed suicide by train, he learns secrets of a murder that took place eighty years ago may directly affect his case.

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Until the next time…..

Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew.