Archive for the ‘horror’ Category

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.

Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page.
•Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

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My Teaser for today is from

Finding Eden

by Pembroke Sinclair

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Genre: Zombie horror

My Teaser

He stood and headed for the door. Pushing bookshelves aside, he took a deep breath. It was now or never. His hand hesitated on the handle. Should he spend one more day thinking about it? His stomach growled. He didn’t have another day. The sparse reserves he found in the building were gone. He needed something more. He wiped the sweat from his brow before jerking open the door…. Please don’t let them get me.

~~~

Book Description:

 

Drunk womanizer Duke, spends his life selfishly taking care of himself and screw the rest of the world. After one particular black-out alcoholic binge, he wakes to find the world changed the dead are rising from their graves.

Lonely, guilt-ridden Hank is someone who minds his own business, and sympathetic but strong-willed Lana is on the receiving end of harassment by other students. Forced together for survival, the three misfits must confront their world gone strange. God said the people of Earth would be punished for their sins, and so the end has come. Duke, Hank, and Lana must walk their own paths to salvation, but they also must depend on each other.

Will their salvation lie in Finding Eden?

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How about you? Got a tease? Tell me!

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Welcome to my Monday Minis.

This is where I review short stories and flash fiction.

For today I’ll be telling you about Just One Day

by Jacob Prytherch

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My Review

This story reminds me of the movie Ground Hog Day.

A man relives the same day over and over. Except this goes on for years!

Trapped on a space station overrun with flesh eaters, the engineer begins each day the same as the one before. He navigates obstacles and zombies, trying to keep more people alive each time.

While he knows he’s repeating the same day all over again, the other survivors don’t and it doesn’t seem to help when he explains it to them. Each morning he begins again.

“His calm demeanor was the resignation of the damned.”

Each time he anticipates what he learned the previous time, making it a bit further towards safety and keeping more people alive.

“It was just one day, one more, then it would be over. How many times has he said that?”

But the engineer begins to doubt whether he can do what he wants. Whether he can get most of the people to the escape pod and safety. He’ll just have to keep going through it until he reaches an end, if there is one.

For a short story this has a lot going on. Black holes, time travel, and space zombies!

The beginning is a calm introduction to the engineer and what’s going on. Then it quickly becomes a nail biting adventure with people screaming and fleshies gnawing on the poor saps that don’t survive that day.

It’s hard to find a zombie story with a unique spin on it. Kudos to the author for doing just that, plus giving me an ending that had me reading it twice. I wanted to be sure I got it right.

3  Stars

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Synopsis

The engineer awoke to the sound of the failing air conditioning, knowing four things above all else. He knew who would be beating a monotonous rhythm on the door, he knew that he had to kill them, he knew that they would already be dead and rotting, and he was painfully aware that they would not be alone…

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I’m sure most of you are thinking, “More zombies!”

Yep, I have three more zombie novels to showcase today. I just can’t stay away from zombies! LOL

Check out Finding Eden, Life After the Undead and Death to the Undead by Pembroke Sinclair.

Enjoy the excerpt and book trailer.

I’m just getting started reading so I’ll be back later to review and tell you all about them.

Make sure you enter the giveaway. The author has some great zombie survival kits for you to win! Crossing my fingers and toes!

Finding Eden

Pembroke Sinclair

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Genre: Zombie horror

Publisher: eTreasures Publishing

Date of Publication: March 2013

ISBN: ISBN-10: 1937809285 / ISBN-13: 978-1937809287

Number of pages: 150

Cover Artist: Jared Rackler

Book Description:

 

Drunk womanizer Duke, spends his life selfishly taking care of himself and screw the rest of the world. After one particular black-out alcoholic binge, he wakes to find the world changed the dead are rising from their graves.

Lonely, guilt-ridden Hank is someone who minds his own business, and sympathetic but strong-willed Lana is on the receiving end of harassment by other students. Forced together for survival, the three misfits must confront their world gone strange. God said the people of Earth would be punished for their sins, and so the end has come. Duke, Hank, and Lana must walk their own paths to salvation, but they also must depend on each other.

Will their salvation lie in Finding Eden?

Amazon       Barnes and Noble     eTreasures print     eTreasures ebook

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Excerpt -DUKE’S JOURNEY

            Duke’s tires squealed as he slammed on the brakes, stopping inches from the garage door. He shut off the engine. The keys fell from his hands and clinked onto the floor.

            “Shoot!”

            He leaned forward, smacking his head on the steering wheel. Stars danced in front of his eyes, and he swore under his breath. Holding his forehead, he opened the car door and stepped out. He lost his balance and almost fell. Grabbing the top of the door, he chuckled.

            “Oooo!” he exclaimed. “Might have had too much to drink.” He laughed again.

            With shaky steps, he headed for his house. After two steps, he lurched to the right, almost falling into his hedges. He caught himself on the side of the garage. Footsteps sounded behind him. He turned, a little too fast. His vision blurred. Someone stood at the back of his car. The outline was distinctly female. Did he bring someone home with him? He usually remembered when he picked someone up. He usually focused on what he wanted to do with her.

            He blinked a few times, clearing his vision. The woman came into view. Duke smiled.

            “Heeey, Chanel.” He attempted to take a step forward, but swayed back and forth, almost falling on his face. He thought better of approaching her. “What are you doing out this time of night?”

            Chanel didn’t answer.

            Duke’s stomach clenched, the contents threatened to splash out. He swallowed the chunks back down. He needed some water, or another drink before passing out, but he didn’t want to pass up a chance of female companionship. Hopefully, she was just playing hard to get.

            “You wanna come in and have a drink?”

            In response, she gurgled. A low, rumbling sound that originated deep in her throat.

            At first, Duke though maybe she burped, and was taken aback. Chanel was one of those women who didn’t leave the house without every hair in place. Was she even capable of producing gas?

            His stomach lurched again. He barely closed his mouth before the vomit escaped. He covered his mouth with his hand and choked down the bile. He needed to get inside.

            “Well, I’m gonna head inside. That offer still stands if you want a drink.”

            He stumbled toward the stairs. His toe caught on the edge, but he caught himself before falling down. His face reddened, and he glanced over his shoulder. Chanel still stood at the back of the vehicle, watching his every move. Odd, he thought. What is she doing? But he didn’t have long to worry about it. His top priority was getting something to drink.

            Duke kept a bottle of orange Gatorade in his fridge for such occasions. Bathed in the white glow of the fridge light, he downed the entire bottle, liquid running down his chin. He gasped in air when he finished, then let out a long, rumbling burp. Something shuffled in the living room. He glanced into the darkness. A shadow moved. He smiled to himself. He knew she couldn’t resist his charms for long.

            Pushing the fridge door closed, he stepped into the other room. He contemplated turning on a light, but thought better of it. The hunt would be more fun in the dark. He took another step, and the floor rolled under him. He couldn’t regain his balance. His knee hit first. A dull ache throbbed up his thigh. He was going to feel that in the morning. Then his shoulder thumped onto the floor, followed by his head. He yowled.

            His expectation was that Chanel would rush to his side, maybe turn on a light, to find out if he was all right. Instead, she stood there. What was wrong with her? Didn’t she care? Duke rolled onto his hands and knees and crawled to his TV. He punched the button. The flickering light lit the room. He turned to Chanel.

            His breath caught. Instinctively, he crab-walked away from her. Her arms hung limply at her side, her skin pale. She stared at nothing, her eyes glazed white with dark circles underneath. Her normally flawless hair stuck out in various directions. Mud streaked her Capri pants. Her ripped white shirt exposed a lacy bra. He cleared his throat and struggled to his feet.

            “Chanel? Is everything all right?”

            She turned to face him, but stared right through him. That same throaty gurgle escaped her throat. It almost sounded like a growl. Duke’s stomach knotted.

            “You know, um, I’m pretty tired. Maybe, ah, we could reschedule that drink for another time.”

            She stepped toward him. He stepped to his right.

            “It was awfully great seeing you, though.” He glanced at the front door. How was he going to herd her toward it?

            She took another step, her mouth falling open. A hiss escaped her lips, and determination shrouded her face. The blood in Duke’s veins went cold. He froze. She lunged forward. She misjudged the distance between them, falling to the ground. Her nails caught his neck, and she dragged them down his flesh. He bolted to the right. Taking the steps two at a time, he ran upstairs. He slammed his bedroom door shut. What was wrong with his neighbor? Was she on some type of drug? The footsteps echoed up the stairs. Slow, methodical steps that thudded through the carpet.

            He locked the door and glanced around the room. His gaze fell on the gun safe. How would he explain to the cops the amount of alcohol in his system and his dead neighbor? Maybe just pointing it at her would scare her off. But what if it didn’t? What if she still came after him? He punched in the combination and took out the 300 Winchester and Smith and Wesson Model 629 revolver. Chanel pounded on his bedroom door. Crap! She was relentless! Why couldn’t she be that determined to get in his room before getting high? He glanced at the ceiling. It was his only chance. Pulling down the stairs, he scurried into the attic.

            Darkness surrounded him. He stared at the floor for a long time, waiting for the door to open. His head grew cloudy, his eyes heavy. Eventually, he drifted into an alcohol induced sleep, Chanel still pounding on his bedroom door.

 ~~~

Life After the Undead

Book One Pembroke Sinclair

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Genre: YA Horror

Publisher: eTreasures Publishing

ISBN: ISBN-10: 1937809013 / ISBN-13: 978-1937809010

Number of pages: 356

Cover Artist: Jerrod Brown

 

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrgv7W9A_7w]

 

Amazon    Etreasures      Barnes and Noble

Book Description:

The world has come to an end. It doesn’t go out with a bang, or even a whimper. It goes out in an orgy of blood and the dead rising from their graves to feast on living flesh. As democracy crumples and the world melts into anarchy, five families in the U.S. rise to protect the survivors.

The undead hate a humid environment, so they are migrating westward to escape its deteriorating effects. The survivors are constructing a wall in North Platte to keep the zombie threat to the west, while tyranny rules among the humans to the east.

Capable but naïve Krista is 15 when the first attacks occur, and she loses her family and barely escapes with her life. She makes her way to the wall and begins a new life. But, as the undead threat grows and dictators brainwash those she cares about, Krista must fight not only to survive but also to defend everything she holds dear—her country, her freedom, and ultimately those she loves.

 

Death to the Undead

Book 2

Pembroke Sinclair

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Genre: YA horror

Publisher: eTreasures Publishing

ISBN-10: 1937809226 / ISBN-13: 978-1937809225

Number of pages: 286

Cover Artist: Jerrod Brown

Amazon eTreasures  eTreasures

Book Description:

The battle that began in Life After the Undead continues.

Zombies changed her life completely…

Tough teenager Krista escaped to the safety of Florida after her parents were killed by the zombie horde. She united with General Liet, a distant cousin, and moved with him to North Platte to help build a wall to keep the zombies in the West. Krista fell in love with Quinn, a survivor and fighter from the zombie-infested wildlands of the West, and together they freed the garrison at North Platte from the power-hungry Liet.

But zombies aren’t the only enemy they have to face…

Now, North Platte is free, but Liet was not the only one using the zombie apocalypse to control their people. Florida is ruled by five ruthless Families, who use intimidation and the threat of the zombie horde to coerce their populace. Krista and Quinn hatch a desperate plan to run guns into the state and help the people revolt. Krista and Quinn, labeled as rebels run for their lives when the Families attack North Platte. The Families want them captured, the zombies want to eat them, and other survivors want them dead. Caught in between powerful forces, they must survive long enough to devise a new plan and put it into action, all while trying to solidify their new relationship and trying not to self-destruct in the meantime.

~~~

About the Author:

Pembroke Sinclair

 

Pembroke Sinclair is a literary jack of all trades, playing her hand at multiple genres. She has written an eclectic mix of fiction ranging from horror to sci-fi and even some westerns. Born in Rock Springs, Wyoming–the home of 56 nationalities–it is no wonder Pembroke ended up so creatively diverse. Her fascination with the notions of good and evil, demons and angels, and how the lines blur have inspired her writing.

Pembroke lives in Laramie, Wyoming, with her husband, two spirited boys, a black lab named Ryder, and a rescue kitty named Alia, who happens to be the sweetest, most adorable kitty in the world! She cannot say no to dessert, orange soda, or cinnamon. She loves rats and tatts and rock and roll and wants to be an alien queen when she grows up.

You can learn more about Pembroke Sinclair by visiting her at :

Website ~ Goodreads ~ Facebook 

 

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Giveaway details:

 

I’ve recently completed my nonfiction zombie book.

To celebrate this accomplishment, I am giving away three zombie survival kits, which will include Life After the Undead, Death to the Undead, and Finding Eden, along with some fun zombie extras.

finding eden prize pic

 

If you don’t want to risk not winning one of these exciting survival kits, I am also taking orders for them. They will be $40, which includes U.S. shipping. If interested, please email me at pembrokesinclair[at]hotmail[dot]com.

Thanks ~Pembroke.

Three Zombie Survival Kits (US Only)

Click on the rafflecopter below to enter.

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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I can’t say enough about Edward Lorn’s books.

I’ve read all of them and am now on Episode 3 and 4 of his gritty, in your face, serial, Cruelty.

E. has some exciting stuff happening and I’m thrilled to be a part of anything he has coming up!

Now, let’s get to E. and his exciting news!

You said even by smoke signals E!

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Here’s the skinny, straight from Edward!

The bigger my catalog gets, the more books I can offer for free. Here is the current list of free content from yours truly. These are not on sale or going through some kind of limited promo. These books/short stories are permanently free at their respective sites. Feel free to share any way you see fit: reblog, tweet, Facebook, telegram, snail mail, boat charter, Morse code, messenger pigeon, smoke signals…

Thank you, every one of you, for your past, present, and future support.

***Please note that clicking on the Goodreads link will AUTOMATICALLY start the download of that book’s PDF.***

BAY’S END: Amazon, Kobo, Goodreads.

WORLD’S GREATEST DAD: Goodreads

JUST SHORT OF PARADISE (Flash Fiction Goodreads Exclusive): Goodreads

~~~

Don’t go yet. There’s more!

Hello everybody, E. here. Click HERE or on the cover below to be whisked away to a Goodreads portal for a free PDF copy of “Just Short of Paradise”. If you’d prefer .mobi or epub versions please send requests to edwardlorn@gmail.com and I’ll shoot you the proper format. Thank you and enjoy.

 

just short of paradise

 

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Whatcha waiting for? Go get em!!

Find out more about Edward Lorn and his books by clicking on the link below.

Edward Lorn’s Website

WWW Wednesday

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Hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…

• What are you currently reading?

• What did you recently finish reading?

• What do you think you’ll read next?

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What are you currently reading?

Steam and Sensibility

by Kirsten Weiss

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Synopsis

Steam rising. California Territory, 1848. Gold has been discovered, emptying the village of San Francisco of its male population. Steam-powered technology is still in its infancy.

At 19, Englishwoman Sensibility Grey has spent her life tinkering in her father’s laboratory and missing the finer points of proper British life. But when her father dies in penury, she’s shipped to San Francisco and to the protection of an uncle she’s never met.

The California Territory may hold more dangers than even the indomitable Miss Grey can manage. Pursued by government agents, a secret society, and the enigmatic Mr. Krieg Night, Sensibility must decipher the clockwork secrets in her father’s final journal, unaware she’ll change the world forever.

Magic, mayhem, and mechanicals. STEAM AND SENSIBILITY is a pre-Steampunk novel of paranormal suspense set in the wild west of the California gold rush.

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What did you recently finishing reading?

The Murmurings

by Carly Anne West 

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Synopsis

Everyone thinks Sophie’s sister, Nell, went crazy. After all, she heard strange voices that drove her to commit suicide. But Sophie doesn’t believe that Nell would take her own life, and she’s convinced that Nell’s doctor knows more than he’s letting on.

As Sophie starts to piece together Nell’s last days, every lead ends in a web of lies. And the deeper Sophie digs, the more danger she’s in—because now she’s hearing the same haunting whispers. Sophie’s starting to think she’s going crazy too. Or worse, that maybe she’s not….

 

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What do you think you’ll read next?

Mind Games

Cassie Scot Book #3

by Christine Amsden 

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Beware your heart and soul…Evan broke Cassie’s heart two months ago, and she still doesn’t know why. She throws herself into family, friends and her new job at the sheriff’s department, but nothing helps. The only thing that finally allows her heal and move on is the love of a new man, mind mage Matthew Blair. Cassie finds him… irresistibleMatthew may also be the only one who can help keep the nonmagical residents of Eagle Rock from going crazy over the murder of a beloved pastor’s wife. It looks like a sorcerer is to blame, but while Cassie tries to figure out who, others take matters into their own hands. With tensions running so hot, a single spark might set Eagle Rock ablaze.

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~~~~~

So, whatcha readin?

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Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.

Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page.
•Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

~~~~

My Teaser for today is from The First Days

by Rhiannon Frater

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Teaser #1

“Zombies, or whatever they are, definitely shouldn’t exist in a rational, ordered world. It suddenly feels like we’re living in a horror movie.”

Teaser #2

So small.

So very small.

The fingers pressed under the front door of her home were so very small.

~~~

Synopsis

Katie is driving to work one beautiful day when a dead man jumps into her car and tries to eat her. That same morning, Jenni opens a bedroom door to find her husband devouring their toddler son.

Fate puts Jenni and Katie—total strangers—together in a pickup, fleeing the suddenly zombie-filled streets of the Texas city in which they live. Before the sun has set, they have become more than just friends and allies—they are bonded as tightly as any two people who have been to war together.

During their cross-Texas odyssey to find and rescue Jenni’s oldest son, Jenni discovers the joy of watching a zombie’s head explode when she shoots its brains out. Katie learns that she’s a terrific tactician—and a pretty good shot.

A chance encounter puts them on the road to an isolated, fortified town, besieged by zombies, where fewer than one hundred people cling to the shreds of civilization.

It looks like the end of the world. But Katie and Jenni and many others will do whatever they have to to stay alive. Run, fight, pick each other up when they stumble, fall in love…anything is possible at the end of the world.

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How about you? Got a tease? Tell me!

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Jennifer Ainsley-The Final Demon War Banner 450 x 169

I was supposed to review this book for the tour but a family emergency has taken much of my time and I didn’t have time to finish reading it. I can say that at my stopping point it was really cranking up!

I apologize to Bewitching Book Tours and Sidney Stone and will be sure to post my review as soon as I can.

I do  have a great spotlight to show ya and a glimpse inside this exciting book.

Don’t forget to enter the giveaway!

Jennifer Ainsley

The Final Demon War

by Sidney Stone

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Genre: Urban Fantasy/Suspense/Horror/New Adult

Date of Publication: December 2013

ISBN: 1491200960 / ASIN: B00HFYK99Q

Number of pages: 308 / Word Count: 102,400

Cover Artist: Pencilbox Studios

 

Book Description:

 

“Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword” – Matthew 10:34

Demons are preparing to launch the Final War to destroy humanity.

Can one young woman wielding the Sword of Jesus ensure our survival and redemption?

Will she lose both her love and her soul in the process?

Available at Amazon in Paperback and Kindle formats

~~~

 

Please see following for Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest 284 word pitch and 1100 word opening chapter.

 

“Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword”

– Matthew 10:34

Jonathon Tait, whose demon-enhanced 170-year-old life has helped make him the richest man in the world, secretly renounces his alliance with demons in order to save his twins and redeem himself in the eyes of the two women he loved and lost. Jonathon has visions that his beautiful college-aged adopted daughter, Jennifer Ainsley, may be the key to humanity’s survival and works with an underground movement to fight back against both the demons and the human leadership that is guiding our civilization towards total annihilation.

Can Jennifer wield the Sword of Jesus to fulfill her destiny even as the planet hurtles towards its destruction? Is she mankind’s only hope and can Jennifer save everyone that she loves; including her destined soul mate Andrew Walker, or are we all doomed?

Jennifer Ainsley: The Final Demon War is a gripping, fast-paced fantasy/horror novel grounded in the contemporary world. The characters are extremely likable and engaging, and a great deal of humor is successfully incorporated into the book, despite its often grim and macabre themes. There are several action packed tour-de-force chapters including “Scenes from the End” and “Kasey and Tracey’s Amazing Adventure”.

The book deftly tackles issues of greed, humanity’s neglect for its weakest members, the race for power among individuals and nations, and the ability of love and courage to transcend personal weaknesses. It is a tale that combines horror and fantasy to tell a story of love, loss, sacrifice and redemption. It is the first chapter of an exciting new trilogy that deserves to find a wider audience.

~~~

Jennifer Ainsley-The Final Demon War Button

Chapter One

Heather

 

Heather couldn’t believe she was going to die in front of her peacefully sleeping twins, who were oblivious to the unspeakable acts occurring in their nursery. These infants, this life, were all she had wanted, and in those lonely nights before sleep overtook her, she admitted to herself that she had been groomed for this since birth. She had been groomed to be a beautiful, nurturing wife to a wealthy and powerful man and she had been groomed to care for his children and teach them to take their rightful place in the world while she also maintained this lovely home—with a slew of maids, servants, and other staff of course. She threw the best dinner parties and had a special banquet hall included in the new Napa Valley estate just for that purpose. She knew all the right people to invite, and they raised all the right money for all the right charities.

Yet here she was in midair, swaying back and forth, seeing herself reflected in the rectangular Craftsman-style floor mirror she personally had picked out for the nursery. The demon Palvakia held Heather by her strawberry-blonde hair, a mane her husband Jonathon Tait called “gorgeously luxurious,” while her lithe and toned, almost split-in-two body, spilled her blood and guts onto the new Berber carpet (a lovely light blue she also had personally picked out for the nursery). How important Heather had thought every design detail of this room was. She had placed so much importance on the mundane materials that now meant nothing. She was escaping into the blackness now, the dark abyss whose passage she hoped ended with a consummating light. Was there light beyond death and beyond this horror?

It was insane, Heather thought, that her husband, the man she loved and admired, was watching this scene unfold with an expressionless face as Mordock, a repulsive and despised demon, stood next to him. Mordock was in human form right now, unlike the demon who had torn her in half, but Heather still felt the evil lurking underneath. She had tried to banish Mordock from their lives and had pleaded with her husband to stand up to him. Yet Jonathon had done nothing to remove him from their lives or to stop Mordock from carrying out her murder. If there was a light at the end, how could the Keeper of Light cause this to happen or not prevent it in the first place?

And what of the twins? Alexander and Sophia were so beautiful and full of life, with old-soul eyes, even as infants. My lovely babies, Heather thought with her last bit of consciousness. Who will keep you from harm? Can your father somehow be your guardian angel? Will he succeed with you where he failed with me? The darkness with the light behind it is approaching. Will I see you in heaven? How long will I have to wait? Hopefully a long, long time…

Heather took her last breaths just as Palvakia began to devour her. To her horror, though, death did not come instantaneously. A morbid trick of the demons is to keep their victims on the cusp of dying so they can witness themselves being eaten. Heather couldn’t even scream as the pain ripped through the ever-decreasing parts of her body.

When Palvakia was finished, not one ounce of the physical being that once had been Heather Tait was left in the room. Even the carpet was clean…and the twins continued to sleep peacefully.

~~~~~

About the Author:

jennifer ainsley author pic

 

Sidney Stone is a hiker, deer whisperer and non-pretentious wine connoisseur. An addicted reviewer on Yelp, he is also creator of affordable housing (although technically he is homeless part-time), thinks The Replacements are the best band of the Eighties and loves to boost his LinkedIn count with people he doesn’t know.

 

He lives in both Northern and Southern California while constantly traveling to Orange County to visit his son, who can now beat his father at ping pong and chess rather easily (and is charmingly arrogant while doing it). A graduate of UC Irvine and Pepperdine University, Sidney wishes he chose at least one university to attend that had a college football team to root for.

The first scene Sidney thought of for Jennifer Ainsley: The Final Demon War included a rather large massacre (take that for what it is worth). However, inspired by the works of Stephen King, Dean Koontz and Clive Barker; the book’s violence is offset by dark humor and deep human emotion just like in real life where Sidney’s darkness is offset by creatively placed sarcasm and an overwrought romanticism. For example, while Jennifer Ainsley: The Final Demon War is a Fantasy-Horror novel, Sidney also still tears up at the end of both Field of Dreams and An Officer and a Gentleman.

Contact him at:

Website ~ Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Goodreads ~ Amazon

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giveaway photo: Giveaway Banner for 42nd giveaway.png

Tour giveaway
$25 Gift card- winner’s choice of Starbucks or Amazon
1 signed print copy open to US Shipping
2 ebook copies

Click on the rafflecopter below to enter.

Raffle button

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Check out the other fun stops on this tour!

March 24 interview
Eclipse Reviews
March 24 Spotlight
Night Owl Reviews
March 25 character interview
Author Karen Swart
March 26 Spotlight
Share My Destiny
March 27 Guest blog
Mythical Books
March 27 Interview and review
Kannah M.
March 28 Interview
Books Direct
March 28 Spotlight
Paranormal Romance Fans for Life
March 31 Interview
Pembroke Sinclair.
April 1 Interview
Deb Sander
April 2 Spotlight and review
Nanna Three and Counting
April 3 Spotlight
3 Partners in Shopping, Nana, Mommy, & Sissy, Too!
April 4 Interview
Shut Up & Read
April 7 Guest blog
The Library Mistress
April 8 Interview
So Much To Write
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Midnight Musings with Bertena
April 10 Spotlight
Soaring Eagle Publicity
April 11 Spotlight and review
Laura’s ramblins and reviews
April 14 Interview
A Writer’s Mind
April 15 Interview
The Literary Noob
April 15 Spotlight
Lisa’s World of Books
April 16 interview
Annette Gisby
April 17 Interview
The Avid Reader
April 18 Guest blog
Roxanne’s Realm
April 18 Guest Blog
The Creatively Green Write at Home Mom
April 21 Tour Wrap Up Guest blog
Fang-tastic Books

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The Friday 56 hosted by Freda’s Voice.

The only rules are to grab a book (any book), turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader and find any sentence, or a few (no spoilers) that grabs you and post it.

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“So did she kill a lot of people?”

“Yeah. The first night she woke up, it was close to a dozen. Vampires usually awaken mad with the hunger.”

“So, she’s evil,” Samantha decided.

 “Not necessarily,” Jeff sighed a weary sigh. “Vampires are scary creatures. They don’t think like we do after a while. They are above us on the food chain and when they are hungry, that is all that matters.”

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Pretty When She Dies

By Rhiannon Frater

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Amaliya wakes under the forest floor, disoriented, famished and confused. She digs out of the shallow grave and realizes she is hungry…

… in a new, horrific, unimaginable way…

Sating her great hunger, she discovers that she is now a vampire, the bloodthirsty creature of legend. She has no choice but to flee from her old life and travels across Texas. Her new hunger spurs her to leave a wake of death and blood behind her as she struggles with her new nature.

All the while, her creator is watching. He is ancient, he is powerful, and what’s worse is that he’s a necromancer. He has the power to force the dead to do his bidding. Amaliya realizes she is but a pawn in a twisted game, and her only hope for survival is to seek out one of her own kind.

But if Amaliya finds another vampire, will it mean her salvation… or her death?

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Apocalypticon Banner copy

I can’t wait for you to get a look at the cover art for Apocalypticon! It is so awesome.

The creepy castle in the background and the hand coming out of the ground. And what’s that in the hand? Such excellent work.

I sure wish I’d been able to read this before the blast.

Check out the synopsis, enjoy the peek inside the book, and don’t forget to enter the giveaway.

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Synopsis

 

Three years have passed since the Jamaicans caused the apocalypse, and things in post-Armageddon Chicago have settled into a new kind of normal. Unfortunately, that “normal” includes collapsing skyscrapers, bands of bloodthirsty maniacs, and a dwindling cache of survival supplies. After watching his family, friends, and most of the non-sadistic elements of society crumble around him, Patrick decides it’s time to cross one last item off his bucket list.

He’s going to Disney World.

This hilarious, heartfelt, gut-wrenching odyssey through post-apocalyptic America is a pilgrimage peppered with peril, as fellow survivors Patrick and Ben encounter a slew of odd characters, from zombie politicians and deranged survivalists to a milky-eyed oracle who doesn’t have a lot of good news. Plus, it looks like Patrick may be hiding the real reason for their mission to the MagicKingdom…

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Buy Links

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Get a peek inside Apocalypticon

Ben ripped off a fresh, cleanish strip of blanket and wrapped it around the hand. Patrick whimpered as he pulled it tight and tied it off. “Next time the world ends, let’s make sure we’re stocked up on peroxide and bandages,” Ben said.

Patrick glowered at the first aid kit, which lay open on the hood. Its contents included, and were extremely limited to, six Band-Aids, four cotton swabs, a bottle of Tylenol, some nail polish remover, a packet of Midol, a travel box of Clorox Handi Wipes, and a roll of Tums. “Who packed that thing?” Ben asked. “Pee Wee Herman?”

“The really scary part is, that’s the kit we had in a house with a five-year-old. Criminy. We’re lucky 20 fold-up accordion snakes didn’t pop out when we opened the lid.” He picked up the Tylenol with his good hand and struggled with the lid for a while before turning it over to Ben. “Help. It’s childproof.”

He couldn’t tell if he really had a fever, or it if was a phantom sickness, but he wasn’t taking any chances. The most benign injury could turn fatal without basic medical supplies. And a half-inch hole through the hand was not a benign injury. If the alcohol didn’t kill the infection, he’d lose his hand. That’s a surgery he didn’t want to think about undergoing with full sedation, much less in the backwoods of Mississippi while buzzed on a bottle of Canadian Mist with Ben as his surgeon. He checked the bandage and made sure it was tight. The wound seemed to have stopped bleeding, at least, though he seemed to have lost feeling in his three middle fingers. He didn’t take that for a good sign. “We need real medical supplies,” he said. “Because I am not letting you cut off my hand.”

“What’s the point of even having a machete if we’re not gonna use it?” Ben complained.

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Author Clayton Smith

apocalypticon Clayton Smith Headshot

Clayton Smith is a sometimes-writer, sometimes-napper based in Chicago, where he uses neither his bachelor’s in journalism nor his master’s in arts management. He is often calamitous, and good at bacon. He lives with his impressively tolerant wife.

Clayton’s previous works include Pants on Fire: A Collection of Lies and the comedic play Death and McCootie, which debuted at the 2013 New York International Fringe Festival.

Links: Website ~ Twitter ~ Facebook ~ Amazon 

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Giveaway

Clayton will be awarding a $25 Amazon gift card to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour, and a $25 Amazon gift card to a randomly drawn host.

Click on the button below for more fun stops on the blast. And don’t forget to comment. The more you comment, the more chances to win!

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Parricide Banner 450 x 169

Nothing like a thirst for vengeance and blood to get you pumped up.

Stanley discovers there’s one Gandy still alive, but so much is standing between him and his target.

What took over a hundred years could now take his life.

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Parricide

S. Briones Lim

Genre: Horror

Date of Publication: 4/1/2014 / ISBN: 9781304790262

Number of pages: 362 / Word Count: 92,026

Cover Artist: S. Briones Lim

Synopsis

Stanley Heckley’s world was torn apart the night his wife and infant daughter were murdered by his wife’s ex-lover, James Gandy. Left with no family to call his own, Stanley is consumed with rage and thirsts to exact revenge in the only way he thinks is fair – to kill Gandy’s entire bloodline.

Unfortunately for Stanley, his timid personality and good conscience makes killing a difficult task to accomplish.

Tormented by his inability to avenge his family, Stanley seeks the help of a distant acquaintance known simply as the vampire, Geoff. Touched by Stanley’s plight, Geoff takes it upon himself to give Stanley a thirst for blood and the talent to kill. As a newly turned vampire, Stanley joins Geoff on a complex mission of murder and vengeance as they hunt each member of the Gandy family one by one, wiping the entire bloodline from existence.

Or so they thought.

Over a century later, Stanley learns that a dire mistake has left one Gandy alive. Once again faced with the monsters of his past, Stanley finds himself returning to his hometown of Meyers to hunt the remaining descendant, Amanda.  From the get-go, Stanley’s mission is plagued with many obstacles including a new henchman for Geoff, a ghost of a young, sadistic girl, and the fact that Amanda looks remarkably like his late wife. For this member of the undead, hunting the final Gandy may just be the death of him.

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Enjoy this excerpt

Stanley

April 9, 1904

“No! Please don’t shoot!” Her voice wavered slightly though she tried her hardest to remain firm and unfazed. Had it not been for the tremor in her tone and the unmistakable trembling of her shoulders, the intruder might have bought her act of valor.

The terrified cries of my wife echoed against the bare wooden walls causing me to run in a panic. I flew down a flight of stairs towards the parlor area and noticed the dim flicker of a single candle illuminating the room. It added an eerie ambiance to what was to be the most horrifying moment of my life.

“Gandy! What do you think you’re doing?! Get your hands off my wife!” I shouted with pure ferocity. I wouldn’t be surprised if the blood vessels in my eyes had burst open given the tint of red that shadowed my vision.

“Well, well, lookit ‘ere who it is,” Gandy slurred drunkenly as he gripped my wife’s strawberry blond hair between his fingers. “It’s Stanley Heckley! Or might I say, the Great Stanley Heckley.” He cackled and peered down at my wife.

My eyes fell instantly onto Christiana’s tear stained face. I made an attempt to rush forward, however, she shook her head slightly and mouthed, “Go! Save Katie.”

My stomach wrenched as I pictured our three-month-old daughter hidden under the floorboards in the main room upstairs. She was safe – for now.

I cleared my throat and stood up straighter. Holding my hands out as a final plea, I said as calmly, but with as much authority as I could muster, “Gandy, please put down the gun. You had a little too much to drink tonight and I promise that if you walk out of here this instant, I will not tell the authorities of this little incident.”

I braced myself for his reaction and was surprised to hear a hearty chuckle in response. Christiana winced as he continued his belly laugh and pulled tightly against her head. Her beautiful braid was now a rat’s nest and I was surprised not to find clumps of her pinkish locks strewn along the floor.

“Do you think you have the right to tell me what to do?” Gandy laughed hysterically. With his gun toting hand he reached up and wiped tears from the corners of his eyes.

“I beg your pardon but I don’t see the humor in this situation,” I growled.

“You want to know what’s funny?” Gandy snapped. “The fact that Christiana here picked you over me. What does she see in you anyway? Nothing but a stack of cash that your daddy gave you.”

I glanced around the room frantically, looking for any escape route. My eyes focused on the window and my mind methodically went over any possible option I had to get my family out of this situation. It was as if everything was running in slow motion, from the flow of my blood through my veins to the harsh beating of my pained heart.

“Are you listening to me?!” Gandy’s hazy voice interrupted my frantic thoughts.

I gulped. “Yes, Gandy.”

His eyes widened as he pointed the barrel toward me. Christiana gasped and began pleading frantically, begging for him to drop the gun. Ignoring her cries, he lifted an eyebrow as he looked me dead in the eye. “It’s yes, sir,” he corrected.

I nodded my head. “Yes, sir,” I replied through gritted teeth.

His lips curled up into a sinister grin and he began pacing the room dragging Christiana along with him. She grabbed at his hand, trying to pry his fingers from her scalp, but was unsuccessful. The gray skirt of her dress, a birthday present from me, dragged behind her, becoming soiled with the dust from the floor.

“Now, I don’t know why you’re stupid enough to come back to town,” he said through gritted teeth. “The folks here were finally steer clear of the Heckleys, yet here you are infesting our town again with your filthy riches. You think your family’s better than all of us here, don’t you? Just because of your blue blood ways.”

“Gandy,” I said in an even tone. It pained me to even speak, my throat dry and parched from fear. “Please leave my property. We’ll deal with this when you’re sober in the morning.”

“This ain’t about being sober! This is about the abomination that your family has bestowed upon the less privileged. That’s why you came back to town now, isn’t it? To take over all the businesses that your greedy father wasn’t able to get his cold, vile hands on! You should have stayed in God knows where you were!”

“It was a mistake to come back,” I agreed as I nodded my head; and good God did I agree. “We only came back to tie up ends concerning my father’s estate. Nothing more.”

“Ah, yes,” he grinned. “That’s right! Your old man croaked a month ago, didn’t he?”

My blood began boiling and instinctively my fists clenched together. “Yes,” I said in a raspy tone. The pain of having lost my father still burned freshly in my heart. Hearing Gandy speak so nonchalantly about his passing made me want to gouge his eyes out. That would have to wait. For now I needed to focus on helping my sweet wife.

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About S. Briones Lim

S. Briones Lim

Thanks to her Mom’s unwavering devotion to read a bedtime story to her every single night throughout her childhood years, S. BRIONES LIM’s love for books began before she could even speak.

Raised in Southern California, Author S. Briones Lim initially dreamt of becoming an artist and/or Book Author. A Psychology Degree (Summa cum Laude), a stint in ArtSchool, and a career in Advertising/Media later, she is finally delving back into her first love – books. As a self-renowned bookworm, S. Briones Lim’s love for books has inspired her to pen her own novels and hopes her readers will fall in love with her stories as much as she enjoyed writing them.

Author of the Life Force Trilogy, S. Briones Lim’s other obsessions include time with family, POPCORN, watching movies and her pug, Tobi. She currently lives on the East Coast with her husband and continues to write every day.

Blog ~ Facebook Page ~ Goodreads

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A signed copy of Green: A Life Force Novel

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