Archive for the ‘The Friday 56’ Category

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

 My Life As A White Trash Zombie

by Diana Rowland

9640626

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My 56

Usually if I craved something, I ate it. Simple. I didn’t need anyone else to tell me it was okay and that I should go for it.

But I’d been craving brains. The smell was like chocolate and cookies and biscuits and gravy and everything else that was delicious. It damn near drove me crazy every time I had to touch one. I’d been fighting the cravings the way I’d never fought the urge to take drugs or get drunk.

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My Review

Angel is no angel. She’s a pill popping addict with a felony record and she can’t hold down a job. She’s also a zombie.

When she wakes up in the hospital, she thinks she’s lucky to be alive after overdosing on pain pills. But then she starts getting these weird cravings, and she can’t seem to eat enough to get full.

An anonymous note leads her to apply for and land a job at the morgue. That’s when her craving shows it’s true colors. That sweet smell that’s making her stomach growl in hunger is brains.

What better job for a zombie than to work at the morgue. Nobody will miss a few brains here or there. I suspect any zombie would want the job. Another advantage is not having to worry about being so hungry you lose control and attack someone.

But someone does notice the missing brains. And someone made Angel a zombie for a reason. And even worse, there’s a serial killer racking up a body count and taking the heads. No more brains means Angel will have to find out who the killer is or she might graduate to full dead.

Angel isn’t the most likable character at first. I have little sympathy for drug addicts. Especially when they do harm to others to get their next fix.  Once she was turned into a zombie, I hoped she’d take the second chance she’d been given and do something good with her “life.” She has her work cut out for her.

And there’s a possible romance with a sexy deputy. I wondered what he’d think if he knew Angel craved brains.

Angel made me laugh. She made me shake my head in exasperation. Then she grew, accepted the role life gave her. She slowly won me over and made me care about her.

Looking for your next zombie fix. Try this series. It’s fun, kind of gross, (well, it’s about zombies and zombies eat brains), and has a killer plot. And there’s no cliffhanger ending, even though this is the first book in the series. Everything gets wrapped up. Yet it leaves you curious to know where Angel goes from here.

4 Stars

Read on if you want to know more.

Synopsis

Angel Crawford is a loser.

Living with her alcoholic deadbeat dad in the swamps of southern Louisiana, she’s a high school dropout with a pill habit and a criminal record who’s been fired from more crap jobs than she can count. Now on probation for a felony, it seems that Angel will never pull herself out of the downward spiral her life has taken.

That is, until the day she wakes up in the ER after overdosing on painkillers. Angel remembers being in an horrible car crash, but she doesn’t have a mark on her. To add to the weirdness, she receives an anonymous letter telling her there’s a job waiting for her at the parish morgue—and that it’s an offer she doesn’t dare refuse.

Before she knows it she’s dealing with a huge crush on a certain hunky deputy and a brand new addiction: an overpowering craving for brains. Plus, her morgue is filling up with the victims of a serial killer who decapitates his prey—just when she’s hungriest!

Angel’s going to have to grow up fast if she wants to keep this job and stay in one piece. Because if she doesn’t, she’s dead meat.

Literally.

~~~~~

Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew!

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

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

 Intersections

by Keith R. Wilson

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My 56 is actually from page 65. Switched the numbers to find a good quote. 

Every intersection is an opportunity to get out, to change, to choose, to be someone else, to do something else. Every intersection interrupts the hurtling train of our thoughts. Every little thing we notice turns us down a new road, opens a door to a new mansion, invites us to a party. Every little thing gives us new hope. Every little thing tells us there is more out there than what we know.

This book is so different from my normal reading. I’m really enjoying it!

Read on if you want to know more.

Synopsis

Go on the road with Larry, a suicidal psychotherapist. Middle-aged and obese, divorced and estranged from his children, Larry sets off across the country, ambivalently seeking restoration amid scraps of long-distance fatherhood. He encounters an amorous nursing home death cat, a serendipitous Rastafarian, a drunken Katrina refugee who just might be an incarnation of a Voodoo god, and a murderous mountaineer who teaches him how to let go. He’s transformed by a series of spiritual discoveries that proffer insight about life’s fundamental questions. Intersections takes unexpected turns on a journey from despair to re-enchantment, from loneliness to reconciliation, from the carnal to the transcendent and back again.

~~~~~

Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew!

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

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

 Brooklyn Bones

An Erica Donato Mystery

by Triss Stein

15811825

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My 56 

Oh yes, and I had a fight with Joe. I meant to give him a heads up that the police would be asking him some questions about security when he was working at my house, but they got to him first. He was more than a little ticked off about this and tole me so by phone at seven a.m. I had an uncomfortable feeling he was right, too, so of course I came back with a strong, “I really don’t have time to deal with this!” and hung up.

There were several quotable moments on page 56. This one tickled my funny bone the most.

Read on if you want to know more.

Synopsis

In Brooklyn Bones, a crime of the past comes much too close  to home when Erica Donato’s teen-age daughter Chris finds a skeleton behind a wall in their crumbling Park Slope home. Erica – young widow, over-age history Ph.D candidate, mother of a teen, product of blue-collar Brooklyn – is drawn into the mystery when she learns this was an unknown teen-age girl, hidden there within living memory. She and her daughter are both touched and disturbed by the mysterious tragedy in their own home.

Chris’s dangerous curiosity and Erica’s work at a local history museum lead her right back to her neighborhood in its edgy, pre-gentrification days, the period when the age of Aquarius was turning dark. A cranky retired reporter shares old files with her. The charming widow of a slumlord has some surprises for her. The crazy old lady who hangs around her street keeps trying to tell her something. And there are people, including some she is close to, who know the whole story and will stop at nothing to make sure it stays buried forever.

~~~~~

Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew!

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

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

 Mechanica

by Betsy Cornwell

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My 56 

I thought I out to say something, but in that room, at that moment, I was suddenly afraid to speak my mind. I wonder sometimes if I should have guessed, even then, what was to come.

I won the hardcover copy of this book in a giveaway . I just opened it to take a peek and now I’m over halfway through and loving it!

Read on if you want to know more.

Synopsis

Nicolette’s awful stepsisters call her “Mechanica” to demean her, but the nickname fits: she learned to be an inventor at her mother’s knee. Her mom is gone now, though, and the Steps have turned her into a servant in her own home.

But on her sixteenth birthday, Nicolette discovers a secret workshop in the cellar and begins to dare to imagine a new life for herself. Could the mysterious books and tools hidden there—and the mechanical menagerie, led by a tiny metal horse named Jules—be the key to escaping her dreary existence? With a technological exposition and royal ball on the horizon, the timing might just be perfect for Nicolette to earn her freedom at last.

Gorgeous prose and themes of social justice and family shine in this richly imagined Cinderella retelling about an indomitable inventor who finds her prince . . . but realizes she doesn’t want a fairy tale happy ending after all.

~~~~~

Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew!

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

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?

~~~~~

Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew!

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

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

 Stillwater

A Jack McBride Mystery

by

Melissa Lenhardt

24693868

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My 56 

“I love you too.” His throat thickened; he couldn’t remember the last time he said those words to his son. He lifted his arm full of tubes and pulled Ethan closer. “We’re going to be fine.”

~~~~~

Read on if you want to know more.

Synopsis

Former FBI agent Jack McBride took the job as Chief of Police for Stillwater, Texas, to start a new life with his teenage son, Ethan, away from the suspicions that surrounded his wife’s disappearance a year earlier.

With a low crime rate and a five-man police force, he expected it to be a nice, easy gig; hot checks, traffic violations, some drugs, occasional domestic disturbances, and petty theft. Instead, within a week he is investigating a staged murder-suicide, uncovering a decades’ old skeleton buried in the woods, and managing the first crime wave in thirty years.

For help navigating his unfamiliar, small-town surroundings, Jack turns to Ellie Martin, one of the most respected women in town—her scandal-filled past notwithstanding. Despite Jack’s murky marriage status and the disapproval of Ethan and the town, they are immediately drawn to each other.

As Jack and Ellie struggle with their budding relationship, they unearth shattering secrets long buried and discover the two cases Jack is working, though fifty years apart, share a surprising connection that will rattle the town to its core.

~~~~~

Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew!

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

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.


~~~~~

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.

~~~~~

Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew!

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

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

 Pokergeist

by Michael Phillip Cash

25908720

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My 56

“Yeah, sure, honey. I got a good bridge to sell you too. That’s why we women outnumber them to to one in management,” she finished sarcastically. “Look, either Telly has to make enough to get you out of this shitbox, or you better get ready to make that bonehead happy. I read the book, and it don’t look like a happy ending for you.”

~~~~~

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.

~~~~~

Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew!

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

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 Inescapable

The Premonition Series #1

by Amy A. Bartol

12925063

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My 56

We walk together to the bookstore. We have little trouble purchasing what we need. It’s fortunate for me that Russell offers to help me with my books because when I have them all, I almost need a crane to get them back to my room.

I had to use this. It’s about books! LOL

~~~~~

Synopsis

My name is Evie Claremont and this was to be the making of me–my freshman year of college. I’d been hoping that once I’d arrived on Crestwood’s campus, the nightmare that I’ve been having would go away. It hasn’t.
I may be an inexperienced seventeen-year-old, but I’m grounded…sane. I look for rational explanations to even the strangest circumstances. Since meeting sophomore Reed Wellington, however, nothing makes any sense. Whenever he’s near, I feel an attraction to him–a magnetic kind of force pulling me towards him. I know what you’re thinking…that sounds fairly awesome. Yeah, it would be…if he liked me, but Reed acts as if I’m the worst thing that has ever happened to Crestwood…or him. But get this, for some reason every time I turn around he’s there, barging into my life.
What is the secret that he’s keeping from me? I’m hoping that it’s anything but what I suspect: that he’s not exactly normal…and neither am I. So, maybe Crestwood won’t be the making of me, but it could be the breaking of me. I’ve been left to wonder if the dark future my dream is foretelling is…inescapable.

~~~~~

Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew!

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

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 Haunting Of Gillespie House

by Darcy Coates

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My 56

Almost without deciding to, I found myself climbing the stairs to the third floor. It had been dim the last time I’d been up there, thanks to the lack of electric lighting, but now, with the storm blocking out almost all natural light, it was nearly impossible to see.

When I read this scene, I couldn’t help but think, “It was a dark and stormy night…” LOL

Lots of atmosphere!

~~~~~

My Review

I do enjoy a good haunted house story.

Elle needs to get away from things for a bit. She grabs the opportunity to house sit for a month at the Gillespie’s house. It’s more of an estate with the large forests and somewhat neglected mansion.

First things first, Elle explores the house, finding rooms filled with beautiful antiques.  Then she walks the grounds, surrounded by heavy brush and trees, stumbling onto a graveyard filled with crumbling tombstones. Something peculiar catches her eye. All of these people died on the same date.

Not one to pass up a good mystery, Elle explores deeper into the house, looking for some history.

It’s not long before doors start slamming, ghostly footsteps prowl the floors, and scratches from the walls interrupt her sleep.

Someone or something is in the house.

This had all the makings for a creepy haunted tale and the sense of foreboding grew throughout the book.

The run down mansion with it’s dark corners and hidden secrets.

A previous owner that dabbled in the occult.

The strange tombstones in the cemetery.

Haunting noises and terror filled dreams.

Elle was a curious character. At first I couldn’t believe she’d stay in a haunted house. You’ve seen the movies. Don’t go in the basement. Don’t go see what made that noise. Elle did all of those things. I had to keep reminding myself, if she didn’t there wouldn’t be much of  a story.

And I remembered something. As a teenager, I was home alone and heard a loud crash in the basement. I did go down to see what it was. Granted, I was scared to go down those steps. But I was more scared not to. It turned out to be a cat that got in through an open window, jumping on a table and breaking something.

It’s not that simple for Elle.

There’s an Author’s Note after the end where Darcy Coates explains the origins of The Haunting Of Gillespie House. It stared out to be a short story but grew.

She includes the free short story, Crawlspace, that started it all.

If you like tales that give you the heebie jeebies, have you looking over shoulder, and make the hairs stand up on the back of your neck, you’ll enjoy this book.

4 Stars

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Synopsis

Elle can’t believe her luck; she’s spending a month house-sitting the beautiful Gillespie property. Hidden near the edge of the woods and an hour’s drive from the nearest town, its dark rooms and rich furniture entice her to explore its secrets. There’s even a graveyard hidden behind the house, filled with tombstones that bear an identical year of death.

If only the scratching in the walls would be quiet…

The house’s dark and deadly history quickly becomes tangled with Elle’s life. At the centre of it is Jonathan Gillespie, the tyrannical cult leader and original owner of the house. As Elle soon learns – just because he’s dead, doesn’t mean he’s gone.

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For more about Darcy Coates, her books, and where to find her, head on over to GOODREADS.

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Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew!

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