Archive for the ‘thriller’ Category

New Cover Reveal and Giveaway ~ Night Of The Chupacabra by Michael Hebler

Posted: May 21, 2015 in Cover Reveal, giveaways, horror, Series, thriller
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chupacabra photo: chupacabra chupacabra.jpg

I’m so excited!

Michael hebler has a new cover for his scary good Night of the Chupacabra!

I’ve read the first three book sin this series and ate them up and was thrilled to learn that the fourth book will be releasing this year.

Come on in and feast your eyes.

Check out my review.

And enter the awesome giveaway!

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Night of the Chupacabra reprint web

goodreads-badge-add-plus

Check out my5 Star Review HERE!

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Synopsis

WINNER OF THE 2014 NATIONAL INDIE EXCELLENCE AWARD FOR BEST HORROR NOVEL – No one ever disputed that the deserts of the American West were treacherous for the wandering man. Hot and desolate conditions give a home to many dangerous creatures, including one elusive beast which no traveler had ever laid eyes upon until the night Drake Byrne passed through with his family. Their encounter becomes a gruesome attack that rips the Byrnes apart, expected never to reunite. Now, five years later, Drake’s search finally comes to an end when he stumbles upon the unique town of Dillmore Valley. Hidden in the hills, the walls that protect the populace, and its secrets, quickly become their prison when the cunning creature that has been shadowing Drake terrorizes the town and feeds on the blood of anything that poses a threat.
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 Check out the trailer.
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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRiCp9MKQ6g]
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Purchase Links
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Trade Paperback price is $15.95 / eBook is $0.99 at most online retailers
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 Michael has been posting character bios of his upcoming new release, Dawn of the Chupacabra, on his website. You can check them out HERE.
And be sure to stop back by on Friday, May 29th when I reveal the cover art for Dawn of the Chupacabra and an excerpt. Michael will also be stopping in for a quick interview!
 

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Author Michael Hebler

Michael Hebler

Prior to becoming an award-winning author of his dark fiction Chupacabra Series, Michael was a full-time international film publicist who had worked on multiple titles for Walt Disney, Pixar, Lionsgate, Lakeshore Entertainment, Warner Bros., Summit Entertainment, and the 2013 Academy Award-winning Best Foreign Language Film, “La grande bellezza” (The Great Beauty).

Born in the early 1970’s in Los Angeles County to a salesman and homemaker, Michael dreamed of following his passions for entertainment and storytelling by acting. It was while studying theatre arts at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, California, did he realize his penchant for stories were better suited on the page rather than the stage. But creating tales with suspense, laughter, and heart is not Michael’s only love. Hebler also enjoys volunteering in his local community, as well as aid in the capture/spay/neuter/release feral program.

To date, Michael’s publications include NIGHT OF THE CHUPACABRA, CURSE OF THE CHUPACABRA, and LEGEND OF THE CHUPACABRA (Books I, II, & III of the six-part Chupacabra Series) as well as his first publication, THE NIGHT AFTER CHRISTMAS, a holiday picture book for believers of any age. Michael’s fourth book in the Chupacabra Series, DAWN OF THE CHUPACABRA will be available in print and for ebook on October 13, 2015.
Michael currently resides in Southwest Florida.
Author Links:
Email:
Michael also in the beginning stages of organizing a newsletter.  If you would like to be included on the list once it’s up and running, you can email Michael at the link above.

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 One Winner of either:

 1) a signed paperback copy of the new edition (USA only) OR 2) 4 ebooks (Night of the Chupacabra, Curse of the Chupacabra, Legend of the Chupacabra, and an ARC of Dawn of the Chupacabra when it’s ready sometime this summer) (choice of formats: MOBI, EPUB or PDF)

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

“What would be your weapon of choice against a chupacabra, or would you just tuck tail and run away?”

Giveaway ends June 8th.

After you enter the giveaway, go HERE to check out my interview with Michael and see the exclusive character bios and cover art for the the next book in this series, Dawn Of The Chupacabra!

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Other books in the series available now.

Click on the covers fro my reviews.

18307694  20488714

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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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Three New Anthologies ~ Release Blitz & Giveaway ~ Help Fight Diabetes While You Read!

Posted: May 4, 2015 in Anthology, Blitz, Contemporary Romance, giveaways, New Release, thriller
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Cure ForDiabetesBlitzBanner1

You can make a difference while you read!

All proceeds from the sales of these boxed sets will be donated to the Diabetes Research Institute via Brenda Novak’s Online Auction for Diabetes Research.

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An Intro for Brenda Novak by Author Lee Child

I’m a thriller writer, and a thriller reader, and hence a sucker for the classic thriller plot, where an ordinary man or an ordinary woman slowly becomes aware of a looming threat: someone or something is out there, close by, infinitely dangerous; or perhaps an intruder is already in the house, mocking, violating a sanctuary, or perhaps – really creepy – he’s been living in the attic for a couple of weeks already, camping out, undetected, silent, leaving odd nighttime disturbances … who moved that chair?

            Or perhaps, for added anguish, it’s not the ordinary man or woman under threat: it’s his or her son or daughter, their child, their responsibility, the intended victim, a helpless target. What mother or father wouldn’t fight to the death? And they do … 400 pages later, an investigation has been conducted, the bad guy has been identified, close scrapes have been survived, and finally the family is sitting together on the bottom stair, stunned but finally safe, as the bad guy is put in the cop car and driven away. The end.

            Diabetes starts like that. But it doesn’t finish like that.

            It’s a mysterious malfunction. No one knows the cause. Researchers suspect an element of genetic susceptibility, and in those susceptible it’s possible the Coxsackie B4 virus kicks things off. Then a tiny balance among the human body’s billion moving parts goes slightly out of whack, and the beta cells in the islets of Langerhans (such an innocent name) inside the pancreas shut down and stop producing insulin, so the body can no longer deal with the kind of sugars we crave.

            The intruder is now in the house.

            Untreated, all kinds of complications will follow. Cardiovascular disease, and stroke, and damage to the eyes, kidneys, and nerves. And more. Including death. All in store, unbelievably, for the ordinary parent’s beautiful and vulnerable child. No one’s fault. Type 1 diabetes is unrelated to lifestyle. Most victims are thin or normal, healthy, well fed, well loved.

            The fight back begins with maintenance. Sometimes diet is enough; more often, insulin must be provided. An endless round begins: testing and injecting, testing and injecting. Most sufferers do OK for a long time, but only OK. Quite apart from the social and organizational burdens of diet and injection, they can feel under the weather a lot of the time. But in thriller terms, we can at least get them barricaded in a safe house, at least temporarily, doors and windows locked, guns drawn, with the bad guy lurking outside in the yard.

            But how do we get the bad guy in the cop car?

            Research is the answer, but it’s fantastically expensive. All around the world, teams of biochemists are working hard, but they have to pay the rent. And eat. Their funding comes from governments and institutions and drug companies – but also from hundreds of thousands of concerned individuals. Many of them are parents of diabetic children, and it’s easy to see why. The primeval instinct that makes a mother or father fight to the death is a powerful one – perhaps the most powerful among our emotional inheritance. But in the case of diabetes it’s frustrated. There’s no identifiable antagonist, no role for a gun or a blade. There’s no bar fight to be had. If only it was that easy. I know of no parent who wouldn’t gladly smash a long-neck bottle and join the fray. But they can’t. Such parents have to channel their natural aggression into a long, patient, endless struggle for progress. They raise awareness and money any way they can.

            This anthology is an example. It will help fund the search for a cure. All good. In fact better than good, because whatever else, there are some great authors and some great stories here to enjoy. So if you buy it, you’ll get some excellent entertainment – but also you might just get the chance to be that mysterious character on page 297 of our notional thriller, who contributes the tiny but vital clue that eventually leads to the big reveal on page 397. Your few cents could make the difference. You could be the one.

 

Lee Child

New York

2015

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Sweet Talk, Sweet Dreams, Sweet Seduction
Boxed Sets
Publication date: May 1st 2015
Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Thriller
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Cure Diabetes
Synopsis:

Sweet Talk Boxed Set
Priced at only $9.99, this heart-warming, limited edition collection features ten BRAND NEW contemporary romances by New York Times and USA Today bestselling authors

Sweet Dreams Boxed Set
Priced at only $9.99, this fascinating limited edition collection features thirteen BRAND NEW thrillers by New York Times and USA Today Bestselling authors

Sweet Seduction Boxed Set
Priced at only 9.99, this stunning limited edition collection features thirteen BRAND NEW contemporary romances by New York Times and USA Today Bestselling authors.

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Purchase:

Barnes & Noble: Sweet Talk ~ Sweet Dreams ~ Sweet Seduction

Apple: Sweet Talk ~ Sweet Seduction ~ Sweet Dreams

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a Rafflecopter giveaway

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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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Thursday Theatre #29 ~ Arnold Is Back! Maggie and The Last Stand

Posted: April 23, 2015 in Action/Adventure, horror, movies, Theatre Thursday, thriller, Trailer
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Come on in and sit for a spell.

It’s time to watch some fun trailers and audio readings!

theatre stage photo: Theatre Stage TheatreStage.png

Welcome to Thursday Theatre

Grab your popcorn and have a seat.

It’s time for the show!

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A lot of people scoff at Arnold Schwarzenegger. Say he’s not a real actor. Tell his bank account that! LOL

I’ve loved Arnold since way back when he did his body building movies.

He did it right. Came to America, used his sculpted body to get into movies and landed in the governors seat in California. Not bad, Arnold.

An oldie but a good was his role in Conan The Barbarian. Ad in James Earl Jones as the bad guy, and I loved it.

From there he went on to play military roles, become cloned, go to mars, and fight the evil Terminators after being one himself.

I have two movies I’d like to share today.

Arnold plays a small town sherriff in The Last Stand and an adoring, conflicted father in the soon to be released zombie film, Maggie.

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Maggie

Go to Indiewire to see more HERE.

I’ll be there when this comes out, you can count on it!

Are you going to go see it?

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The Last Stand

The Last Stand

Sheriff Ray Owens (Schwarzenegger) moved out of Los Angeles and settled into a life fighting what little crime takes place in sleepy border town Sommerton Junction. But that peaceful existence is shattered when Gabriel Cortez (Eduardo Noriega), the most notorious, wanted drug kingpin in the western hemisphere, makes a deadly yet spectacular escape from an FBI prisoner convoy. With the help of a fierce band of lawless mercenaries led by the icy Burrell (Peter Stormare), Cortez begins racing towards the US-Mexico border at 250 mph in a specially-outfitted Corvette ZR1 with a hostage in tow. Cortez’ path: straight through Summerton Junction, where the whole of the U.S. law enforcement, including Agent John Bannister (Forest Whitaker) will have their final opportunity to intercept him before the violent fugitive slips across the border forever. At first reluctant to become involved, and then counted out because of the perceived ineptitude of his small town force, Owens ultimately rallies his team and takes the matter into his own hands, setting the stage for a classic showdown.

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Arnold always said, “I’ll be back!” And he sure is for me.

I found this sleeper on Netflix. I’d never even heard about it.

The Last Stand

Great casting and the villain is sexy and cold as ice.

Lots of laughs, cliches, and action that will blow you away.

As long as Arnold keeps doing films, I’ll keep watching them.

Go Arnold!

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The Friday 56 #58 ~ Terror Never Sleeps by Richard Blomberg

Posted: April 17, 2015 in suspense, The Friday 56, thriller, Uncategorized
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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

Terror Never Sleeps

Jack Gunn #2

by Richard Blomberg

24018697

 

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My 56

I actually used page 55 since page 56 was the end of the chapter and only had one sentence.

He disappeared into the dark, screaming, until they heard a splash forty feet below.

Nina screamed hysterically as she scrambled to her bare feet and tried to run to the rail. Only, she made it about ten feet before her leash snapped tight and knocked her to the deck again…”Please let me go. I want to jump. I have to jump. You win.”

Last week I shared the first books in this series, Warpath. It’s getting even more intense in this one.

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Synopsis

Navy SEAL Jack Gunn’s life is turned upside down when terrorists kidnap his family and disappear without a trace. While Jack and his team search frantically for clues in Virginia, half-way around the world, his wife, Nina struggles to survive the terrorist’s daily persecutions.

Terror Never Sleeps is a sizzling tale of Nina’s transformation into a warrior who is fighting for her life, and Jack’s relentless pursuit of the terrorists from Timbuktu to Diego Garcia to Pakistan. A military coup, propaganda, dirty bombs, and the launch of Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal with one target—Israel—is all part of the terrorist’s master plan, who are hellbent on blowing the world back to the eighth century. The non-stop action keeps the reader constantly off balance with the bizarre and unexpected.

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Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew!

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

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Click on the widget to friend and follow me!

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The Friday 56 #57 ~ Warpath by Richard Blomberg

Posted: April 10, 2015 in Excerpt, Series, The Friday 56, thriller
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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

Warpath

Jack Gunn #1

by Richard Blomberg

18105125

c8df8-add2bto2bgoodreads2bblack

My 56

Hunting, tracking and killing was what he was put on earth to do. His ancestors hunted buffalo. He hunted sick perverted insane men.

and one more

“Sounds good, Jack, but it’s like trying to track a turd floating down a shit river,” said Big Daddy.

Pardon their language. You know those military guys. LOL

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Synopsis

Warpath is Navy SEAL Jack Gunn’s action-packed story of relentless pursuit across the Middle East, leading his Ghost Team to hunt down Pakistani terrorists responsible for murdering CIA agents and taking his brother Travis, hostage. Jack incorporates instincts he inherited from his great, great, great-grandfather, Sitting Bull with twenty-first century technology, to become the President’s most feared Special Ops warrior.

Jack walks the fine line between his duty to kill terrorists, his duty to be at the side of his cancer-stricken wife, and his duty to fulfill the promise he made to his dying mother to “watch out” for his little brother Travis, the brother he despises. The fast-paced action in Warpath only intensifies when Jack is faced with an even greater challenge: stopping the implementation of Grand Jihad terrorist attacks worldwide. Readers will turn pages fervently to learn how he draws on his unique Indian talents and warrior mentality to save his family, his brother, and his honor.

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Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew!

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

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Have you joined TSU yet?

Click on the widget to friend and follow me!

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Something so innocuous, now so deadly ~ Watch The Shadows ~ Tour Review

Posted: April 7, 2015 in Blog Tour, horror, New Release, reviews, suspense, thriller
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Watch The Shadows

by Robin Winter

Watch the Shadows Cover hi res

Publisher: White Whisker Books (April 20, 2015)
ISBN: 978-0-9863265-0-9
Category: Suspense/Thriller
Tour Date: March 16-April 30, 2015
Available in: Print & ebook, 176 Pages

My Review

 Nicole, a high school sophomore,  could be described as a child protege. She prefers the term science nerd. Her father works on the Nasa Panel, traveling a lot, and her mother runs her own lab at the university, so Nicole’s proclivity for science and biology are no surprise.

It soon comes to Nicole’s attention that the crows are leaving her small town of Isla Vista. When people’s pets mysteriously vanish, body parts are discovered, the homeless start disappearing from their sleeping spots in the park, and a strange gooey substance starts cropping up, Nicole uses her smarts to try to solve this deadly dilemma.

This is a truly creepy story. It starts like an average day in small town America and morphs into the truly bizarre very quickly.

The characters, even the minor ones, will become as familiar as your next door neighbors. Living in a small town myself, I could relate to the claustrophobic feeling of everybody knowing everybody’s business. Adding in the homeless people made it more intense. The odd behavior of some and the dangerous outbursts of others built the suspense.

As to what’s causing all of this; you know that saying “can’t fight your way out of a wet paper bag?”  It doesn’t matter if you are the best of the best. When you run into one of these things, you’d better be an Olympic sprinter or your dead.

I’ve always enjoyed horror like this. Something deadly comes to town. You don’t know where it came from, or why it chose your town. The tension and terror builds, slamming forward to that grand face off when you find out who wins or loses, who lives or dies. Once it’s all over your pounding heart finally slows to a normal rhythm and you mull over the story. I did anyway. Wondering what if this happened instead of that? What if so and so lived instead of died? And so on.

I’m also curious how the author came up with the horrific things that attacked the good people of Isla Vista. Well done on giving me something new to be afraid of. I’ll never look at an innocent object the same way again.

4 Stars

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Blurb

In the college town of Isla Vista, California, small, odd things start happening. Science-geek Nicole notes the crows are leaving.  Meg Burdigal can’t find her tabby cat, Schrand. Brian the postman feels uneasy at the rustlings, the shadows he’s seen at the edge of his vision on his delivery route in town. Now Nicole sees fewer and fewer homeless in the park. Using her knowledge of biology and forensics, Nicole searches for answers—but will anyone take the horror she finds seriously?

In this unusual thriller, ‘Watch the Shadows’, author Robin Winter explores where the ordinary slams against the extraordinary.

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Praise for ‘Night Must Wait’:

“’Night Must Wait’ is a knockout. Robin Winter really delivers the goods with her twisting tale.”-Norb Vonnegut, author of The Trust

“The world Robin Winter takes us to in ‘Night Must Wait’ is not the fantasy of Dorothy and Toto, no longer in Kansas; it is the scary, all too-real Africa.”-Shelly Lowenkopf, author of The Fiction Writers’ Handbook

“Readers never know when they pick up a novel if the story will become so compelling that they are taken away to that magical place where one finds oneself inside the world of the book’s characters, conscious of little else. ‘Night Must Wait’ did this for me. I read, forgot that I existed.”– Gina Rose St John, Amazon Reviewer

“Robin’s way around a sentence is nothing short of gorgeous. The beauty of her prose only highlights the tragedies of war and betrayal. In an era when women were still relegated to wife or teacher, Robin’s characters want, and get, more in ways both shocking and violent. I might not want to go to war torn Africa, but I do want to go on more adventures with Robin.”– Kathleen O’Donnell, Amazon Reviewer

Praise for ‘Future Past’:

“Robin Winter’s ‘Future Past’ is an original, meticulously crafted science fiction tale that blends the fantasy of Pinocchio and the hero’s journey with elements of time travel, redemption, and a post apocalyptic world that brings readers to a satisfying, yet unexpected conclusion.”– Matthew J. Pallamary

“Truly imaginative, unique, and gripping — I really really liked it! Robin Winter has a gift for inventing a world we’d be interested in saving, characters we’d be enriched to meet, and ideas about the human condition we’d be wise to ponder.”– John Foran

“Winter shows the strength and versatility of her writer’s voice in ‘Future Past’. Published shortly after her debut novel Night Must Wait, in which the setting offers a strong sense of place as a separate character, the science fiction themes of ‘Future Past’ haunts the reader long after the book is finished. Her first person approach with Ash gives chilling insight into a man-made world with apocalyptic consequences. Winter’s prose is crisp and her pacing sharp, giving fans a science fiction a thrill that is worth the spooky ride.”– Gretel Russell

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About Robin Winter:Robin Winter

Robin Winter first wrote and illustrated a manuscript on “Chickens and their Diseases” in second grade, continuing to both write and draw, ever since. Born in Nebraska, she’s lived in a variety of places: Nigeria, New Hampshire, upper New York state and now, California. She pursues a career in oil painting under the name of Robin Gowen, specializing in landscape. Her work can be viewed at Sullivan Goss Gallery in Santa Barbara or on-line at www.sullivangoss.com/Exhibits/RobinGowen2012.asp

Robin is married to a paleobotanist, who corrects the science in both her paintings and her stories. She’s published science fiction short stories, a dystopian science fiction novel, Future Past, and Night Must Wait, a historical novel about the Nigerian Civil War.

You may contact Robin or read her blog at:

 

Blog ~ Website ~ Twitter ~ Facebook

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Follow the ‘Watch the Shadows’ by Robin Winter Tour:

Indie Review Behind the Scenes Mar 7 Live I 11 am cst

Teddy Rose Book Reviews Plus Mar 16 Tour Kickoff With Giveaway

Bound 4 Escape Mar 17 Review

Confessions Of A Reader Mar 18 Excerpt

Inspire To Read Mar 19 Excerpt

Carole Rae’s Random Ramblings Mar 20 Review

Devoted Mommy of 3 Mar 23 Review

The Book Diva’s Reads Mar 24 Excerpt  & Giveaway

Books, books and more books Mar 25 Review & Excerpt

Pinky’s Favorite Reads Mar 26 Interview & Excerpt

Mythical Books Mar 27 Review, Guest Post,  & Excerpt

Cassandra M’s Place Mar 30 Review & Giveaway

Kritters Ramblings Mar 31 Review

I Sold My Soul For Books Apr 1 Review, Excerpt,  & Giveaway

Christy’s Cozy Corners Apr 2 Review & Giveaway

fuonlyknew Apr 7 Review

Lisa’s Wordtopia Apr 8 Review & Guest Post

100 Pages A Day Apr 10 Review & Giveaway

WV Stitcher Apr 13 Review

Mary’s Cup of Tea Apr 14 Review

Beth’s Book Nook Apr 15 Review

Rockin’ Book Reviews Apr 16 Review

What U Talking Bout Willis? Apr  17 Review & Excerpt

Celticlady’s Reviews Apr 21 Review

Buried Under Books Apr 22 Review

Deal Sharing Aunt Apr 23 Review

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Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew!

For more of my reviews go HERE.

                                                                                   

In the frozen, dark and deep…VOSTOK ~ Review and Giveaway

Posted: April 3, 2015 in Blog Tour, giveaways, reviews, Science Fiction, thriller
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iRead Book Tour Logo Medium

I remember the day I spotted Steve Alten’s book Meg at my favorite book store. A prehistoric megalodon shark leaps off the cover. I was in love before I even read a word. From there I read his Dominion series and then The Loch.

I couldn’t wait to read the sequel, Vostok. To reconnect with some old characters and meet new ones.

I can’t wait to share with you!

Enjoy my review.

Have fun with Steve’s short interview.

And don’t forget to enter the giveaway!

New York Times best-selling author and screenwriter Steve Alten’s latest novel VOSTOK, the sequel to his popular novel THE LOCH, finds two major Steve Alten characters meeting up—Dr. Jonas Taylor from MEG and Dr. Zachary Wallace from THE LOCH.
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Vostok by Steve Alten

Book Details:

Book Title: Vostok by Steve Alten
Category: Adult Fiction, 416 pages
Genre: Science fiction thriller
Publisher: Rebel Press
Published: February 17, 2015
Available in: Print or PDF
Will send print books to: USA and Canada
Will send ebooks: International
Tour dates:  March 16 to April 10, 2015
Content Rating: PG

Enjoy this quick interview with Steve Alten!

How did you do research for your book?

You begin with a concept and hit the Internet.

 

Your book is set in East Antarctica. Have you ever been there?

Hell, no.

 

What genre do you write and why?

Fictional thrillers… and a comedy.

 

Do you write every day?

Yes.

 

If you were stuck on a deserted island, which 3 books would you want with you?

Playboy, a book on survival, and the Encyclopedia Brittanica to use as toilet paper.

LOL Thanks for sharing, Steve!

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My Review

I loved Steve’s Meg series. Who wouldn’t love a prehistoric shark loose in today’s oceans. I’ve read the complete series and then moved on to The Loch. Another winner with a prehistoric creature lurking in Loch Ness.

Steve has brought two amazing characters together from these books. Marine biologist Zachary Wallace and Dr. Jonas Taylor. Both of these men have drowned and come back from meetings with giant terrors of the deep seas. Neither ever thought they would enter primal waters again, but here they go.

From the village of Drumnadrochit, Scotland,  to America, and back to Scotland to battle and defeat the beast of Loch Ness,  Zachary is now about to jump down the rabbit hole into the coldest place on earth. Antarctica. But not on the surface. H he’s going two and a half miles below the ice cap to an undersea lake called Vostok.

No man has ever gone there before and Vostok has been undisturbed for over 15 million years. Here be monsters. Behemoths of unimaginable size and voracious appetite.

Imagine it if you can. Lasers burn the way, forming a narrow tube for the sub to pass through the ice cap. You break through and fall, plunging into a vast undersea lake over a thousand feet deep. A beast rises, mouth gaping wide, teeth taller than you, so huge you can’t grasp it.

When things go wrong, which they do, who do you call for help? How long will it take for them to get there, if they even can?

And what if there is another reason for sending you down there? Something ancient, powerful, non terrestrial that you have to retrieve. Big brother has their sticky fingers in this expedition. They want what’s down there. No one knows what they are up to. You get it or die trying. Sounds like a conspiracy doesn’t it?

The cast of characters is diverse and many. Some were old favorites and some were new to me. I crossed my fingers the good guys would survive, but you never know with Steve. He’s not above killing some off. And the bad guys. Some were just annoying, and some I’d drop through the tunnel myself.

By the time I reached the third part of the book, I was feeling the terror, the frustration, the courage of these characters. And then the author took the story in yet another direction. I stumbled  a bit. Partly because it was hard for me to grasp how it worked at first. And partly because I didn’t want it to go in that direction. I was dragged kicking and screaming away from my beasts. I went with it though, and soon was engrossed and into it.

Vostok is the crossover book that brings The Loch and The Meg series together for the upcoming release of Meg 5: Nightstalkers. The title alone has me imaging all types of monsters.

 I follow Steve’s newsletter and have been waiting years for his Meg book to be made into a movie. It will be coming soon and I’m sure it will be a huge hit. From there, maybe we’ll be meeting these beasties on the big screen.

Thanks so much to Steve Alten and Rebel Press for gifting me a Limited Edition Hardcover copy for my honest review.

What a strange, terrifying, spectacular ride it’s been from the first Meg book to Vostok and beyond!

5 Stars

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Book Description:

East Antarctica: The coldest, most desolate location on Earth. Two-and-a-half miles below the ice cap is Vostok, a six thousand square mile liquid lake, over a thousand feet deep, left untouched for more than 15 million years. Now, marine biologist Zachary Wallace and two other scientists aboard a submersible tethered to a laser will journey 13,000 feet beneath the ice into this unexplored realm to discover Mesozoic life forms long believed extinct – and an object of immense power responsible for the evolution of modern man.

In this sequel to The Loch and prequel to the upcoming MEG 5: Nightstalkers, New York Times best-selling author Steve Alten offers readers a crossover novel that combines characters from two of his most popular series.

Watch this intense trailer!

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Author Steve Alten

Steve Alten

Steve Alten is the New York Times and International bestselling author of fourteen novels, including the MEG series about Carcharodon Megalodon, the 70-foot, 100,000 pound prehistoric cousin of the Great White shark and Domain trilogy, a series about the Mayan Calendar’s 2012 doomsday prophecy. His work has been published in over 30 countries and is being used in thousands of middle and high school curriculum as part of Adopt-An-Author, a free teen reading program, which he founded with teachers back in 1999.

Connect with Steve:  Website  ~  Facebook  ~  Twitter

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a Rafflecopter giveaway

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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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A Paranormal Twister ~ Darkness Within by Candis Vargo ~ Review

Posted: March 27, 2015 in Blog Tour, Paranormal or fantasy, reviews, thriller
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My title for the post suggests a paranormal twister. I’m not referring to a tornado. I mean how this story is so twisted.

Can’t wait to tell you about so enjoy the peek inside and my review!

Darkness Within

The Darkness Series

Book One

Candis Vargo

 

Genre: Paranormal Thriller

Publisher: Limitless Publishing

Date of Publication: March 10

 

My Review

After the death of her young son. Mia continues to act like he’s still alive. Her husband, Mike, is at the end of his rope. Nothing will convince her otherwise and  he feels like he’s going crazy.

To save his marriage and his sanity, Mike goes to a psychiatrist and she has something she wants him to try with his wife. Not long afterwards strange things start happening. Something is haunting them, something dark and dangerous.

You may think you know what’s happening since we’ve all read books or seen movies with this plot. I thought I knew what was happening. Then I didn’t. Then I did. And so on.

The author kept me guessing and the story got creepier as the darkness got more violent.

I knew Mia was crazy. Then I thought Mike was crazy. It about drove ‘me’ crazy trying to figure things out.

While I was reading the end I knew what was coming. Then I didn’t. Then I did.

The entire book had be jumping back and forth between knowing and not knowing what was going on. It was as if the author put me in Mike’s shoes, and I was as confused and scared as he was.

This is a creepy story and I recommend it to anyone looking for a paranormal thriller with a great mystery thrown in. Just be prepared to think you do… Then you don’t… Then you do…

4 Stars

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Book Description:

 

Tragedy strikes the Roseburg family and leaves Mike struggling to help his wife, Mia. After losing their only child in an accident, Mia is far from emotionally distraught…instead, she continues on like their son is still alive.

Four months passed since the accident…

Mike begins to work with a psychiatrist to help his wife with her delusions when a darkness begins to haunt them. As this dark presence becomes violent, making itself known, Mike wonders if the illusion of their child that his wife is seeing is something far more demonic.

With the dark force looming over them, Mike is left questioning his own sanity as he tries to unravel what is real and what is not.

Soon he realizes…

Something is dreadfully wrong.

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A Glimpse inside Darkness Within

Chapter One

The force of the impact with the truck thrust the Jeep forward, throwing Mia deep into her seat as they went nose first into a ditch. What was left of the back of the jeep rolled up over the front. It continued to flip over several times before seeming to levitate in the air after rolling off the embankment. It felt like an eternity, the world moving in slow motion, before it smashed against the icy cold river sending shards of glass and ice throughout the vehicle. As it slowly began to sink Mia automatically reached down to unbuckle herself. After struggling to free herself from the seat belt she reached back for her son.

Her long, dark hair floated through the thickness of the icy water and streams of blood swam around her face. As she turned around everything became hazy and the darkness fought to take away her control. A panic began to set in as her heart raced. She needed to get back to Eli, to unbuckle him…she needed to save her son.

Being a mother she couldn’t care less if she was hurt, she just needed to save her son. Like a tiger protecting her young, it was a mother’s first priority.

As she tried to move into the back seat she reached out to Eli again.

He gently placed his outstretched hand into hers. His eyes, so soft and gentle, stared into his mother’s, whose were full of pain and fear for him. He smiled his sweet innocent smile as if telling her that things were going to be okay.

It was the end of February, a time the weather was supposed to be warming up as it was readying for spring. Supposed to…but of course it wasn’t.

Mia had been trying to avoid what happened. Just moments ago she was talking to her husband on the phone through the Bluetooth she managed to con him into installing, stating that she was going to wait for the storm to pass.

“Hello,” Mikes groggy voice had echoed through the car.

“Hi, Daddy.” Eli’s enthusiasm rang throughout the vehicle. “Dad…Dad, I’m out of school, Dad. And it’s snowing!”

“Oh yeah, buddy,” Mike replied. “Well, I guess I will see you soon then.”

Mia had angled her rear view mirror down to look back at Eli. She placed her index finger in front of her mouth to shush him but smiled underneath it.

Eli puckered his lips out and grabbed them with one hand to keep himself from talking as he gave her a thumbs up.

“Yeah, it’s snowing like crazy.” Mia took her time as she drove. She was never a fan of the winter weather and only liked snow on Christmas Eve and

Christmas Day, any time before or after that she’d prefer it be seventy degrees and sunny. “We’re going to be late for dinner. I think I’m going to pull over when I can manage to even see anything so I don’t slide into a damn ditch.”

When Mia left to pick Eli up from preschool there were just a few flurries floating in the icy wind. Now it had come to near white out conditions, causing her to curse winter even more.

“All right, just take your time and watch out for the crazy people out there. And I came up with an awesome idea for big man’s birthday party. Turning the big five soon, eh, buddy.”

Mia looked in the mirror and saw Eli’s deep brown eyes light up. He hopped up and down in his booster seat with excitement. “Do I get a guitar,

Dad? Daddy, I want a guitar!”

“You’ll have to wait and see, buddy, but I better let you guys go so you can get home. Maybe this snow will be good enough to take you snowmobiling later.”

Mia rolled her eyes and shook her head in frustration. “See you when we get home.”

She was still upset with him over what had happened the night before. She could swear that sometimes it seemed like he’d rather be anywhere but where the man of the house should be at night…home. Gender roles were never really her thing, but to her it always seemed like the man did a better job of protecting the family from intruders.

“Stay safe,” Mike said before he hung up.

After Mike hung up Mia had slowed down even more, trying to find a place to pull over before she got anywhere near the upcoming bridge that crossed the river. She wanted to be out of the way of any oncoming traffic but with the snow falling as hard as it was, it was nearly impossible to see anything.

After a few more minutes of driving the snow let up ever so slightly, enough for her to spot a place where she could pull over. Slowing down to a near stop, she started to turn the wheel.

The distinctive sound of a big rig’s horn snapped her attention to the rear view mirror, still angled for her to see Eli. She snapped her head to the right side mirror and saw a tractor trailer turned sideways, sliding towards her. Her heart raced as she pushed the gas pedal, trying to get out of the way as fast as she could. The wheels seemed to turn in pace and the air horn blared again, but was drowned out by the screeching of metal as it collided.

Everything went black.

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About the Author:

Candis Vargo

 

Growing up on an old dirty road in the middle of nowhere, as a child Candis used her love for books as a way to escape reality (and her brother constantly trying to kill her—literally). She blames her love of all things Horror on being born on Friday the 13th and will always find joy in scaring her friends.

 

You will find a little piece of her in every book she writes. She loves a good happy ending, but most of the time she prefers one she never saw coming.

 

When she’s not writing or reading, she can usually be found chasing her children around. She currently lives in Rome, Pennsylvania with her husband and three children. And her fat cat.

Twitter ~ Facebook ~ Goodreads

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Never, Never Go…..In The Woods by Nancy Gideon ~ Tour Review & Giveaway

Posted: March 6, 2015 in Blog Tour, horror, reviews, suspense, thriller
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In the Woods (Based upon the original screenplay by Lynn Drzick)
Genre: Horror/Thriller/Suspense
Published by: Katharsys Pictures Publishing
Release Date: January 17, 2015
Length: 201 Pages

My Review

Horror is my favorite genre. Adding in something supernatural, not human, makes it even better. I had a great time reading In The Woods.

The very title, In The Woods, is scary. I can’t think of anything good coming out of there, and something very very bad does in this book.

Evil was born into the world a long, long time ago. A foul bargain was struck. One brother was rewarded, one condemned, and payment was made.

When the brothers clashed on the battlefield, a fiend from Hell was unleashed. To stay the beast, another bargain was struck. Again, payment was made. One beast is tasked with guarding the remains of the other. Deep in a forest, it keeps it’s vigil.

One day, many many years in the future, two firemen are out hunting and stumble upon a grave deep in the woods. They know a serial killer is stalking the people of their town, so they dig up the grave, sure they’ll find one of the killer’s victims. Instead, they find the bones of a beast, something that shouldn’t, couldn’t be. Now they’ve awakened the guardian, and luck is on their side when they escape it’s wrath. Or do they?

The beginning takes place long in the past and introduces the beast. Then you move into the present when the creature is unleashed again.

It gets creepy really quick. Something is leaving gifts for Alex, one of the firemen that survived the encounter in the woods. A bloody torso here, part of a shoulder there. Kind of like when a barn cat brings you the mice it kills. Such a pleasant surprise it is. My cat used to leave the feet and the tail by my bed. It was so gross when I’d get out of bed and step on the tiny body parts. I can only imagine how gruesome and terrifying it would be to find human body parts.

Soon the whole town is in danger. Don’t forget there’s also a serial killer out there, stalking his next kill too. The author ratchet’s up the suspense and thrills.

Alex goes from victim to suspect and the local chief of police has got his killer. Once he focuses on Alex, he looks no further. This could be big for him. Get his name in the papers, get him elected to a higher office. He’s such a jerk, you love to hate him.

Poor Alex. How can he prove he’s not the killer? Can he stay alive long enough to do that? Why is the beast following him, leaving his bloody gifts?

From the very beginning, I ate this book up, tearing through it, rubbing my hands together in glee. Creatures, a serial killer, suspense, thrills, terror. All things I love to read about.

I loved this bloody book and can’t wait for the movie!

5 Stars

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Synopsis

Hundreds of years ago their battle began . . .

In an age of knights and sorcery, a good king must raise a monster to protect his people from the demon unleashed by a dark-hearted enemy determined to claim his kingdom. But once called forth upon blood-drenched fields, can such evil ever be truly laid to rest?

To a present day community held hostage by fear, a serial killer will soon be the least of its worries after two off-duty firefighters enter a forest and find a grave. What they dig up isn’t a victim or family pet. When they race from the woods, they bring a timeless hell with them . . .

Based upon the original horror screenplay IN THE WOODS by Lynn Drzick, now an independent motion picture.

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About Nancy Gideon
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With over 58 sales since her first publication in 1987, which was written in long hand then typed up on a manual Smith Corolla, Portage, Michigan author Nancy Gideon’s writing encompasses romance genres from historicals and regencies to contemporary suspense and the paranormal.Under her own name, she’s a bestseller in contemporary romantic suspense, has written an award-winning vampire romance series, and has a six book shape-shifter series with Pocket Books. Also listed on the International Movie Database (IMDB), she collaborated on Indie horror films In the Woods and Savage with screenwriting and ADR script credits, and even played a small role, that of “bar extra.”Writing historical romance as Dana Ransom, she’s a “Career Achievement for Historical Adventure” and “K.I.S.S.” award winner with books published in Romanian, Italian, Russian, Danish, Dutch, Portuguese, French, German, Icelandic and Chinese.
As Rosalyn West, she’s a HOLT Medallion winner with nominations for “Best North American Historical Romance” and “Best Historical Book in a Series.”

A prolific writer, Nancy attributes her creative output, which once peaked at seven novels in one year, to her love of history and a gift for storytelling.  She also credits the discipline learned through a background in journalism and OCD.  The due date for her third book and her second son were on the same day . . . and both were early!  When on deadline, she turns on the laptop between 4:30 and 5:00 a.m. to get a chapter in before heading in to her full time job as a legal assistant. She’s a member of GDRWA, MMRWA, FF&P and dotes on her critique group.

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Website 3 Blogger  Twitter Facebook Google+ Pinterest Goodreads  Amazon

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A not so ancient curse ~ Ribbons Of Death by Edita A. Petrick

Posted: March 4, 2015 in Blitz, suspense, thriller
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I enjoy a good suspense thriller and Ribbons Of Death sounds exciting.

Science, myth, and legend clash.

Is the curse real? Can it be explained away? Are they doomed?

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Ribbons of Death 2

 

Title: Ribbons of Death
Author: Edita A. Petrick
Publisher: Solstice Publishing
Pages: 371
Genre: Suspense Thriller
Format: Paperback/Kindle

The ancients believed that once in a Blue Moon a child with Peacetaker powers is born. Such child, when grown to maturity, can seed murderous madness in people’s minds by merely walking amongst them. A simple amulet activates the Peacetaker’s powers. When a horribly scarred man knocks on the door of Stella Hunter’s ramshackle cottage in upstate Montana, she lets him in. What’s there to lose? The book critics killed her chances to warn the world about myths and legends behind the myths and legends.

But once the man pushes a book smudged with bloody fingerprints across the table, Stella sees a glimmer of hope. She may re-establish her credibility within the scientific community and vindicate her ‘peace-taker’ theory. She may also be murdered by anyone standing next to her if her theory is correct because the ancient curse is anything but extinct. In fact, the ancient curse has a new attitude….

Ribbons of Death is available at Amazon.

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About Author Adita A. Petrick

By profession, I’m an engineer and ten years ago, I left a corporate job to concentrate on writing. It was perhaps the scariest thing I’ve done. Of course, there were other considerations at the time, life, kids, economy and my mother who was battling cancer. I wrote as means of staying grounded because I had to hold it together. There was no one else to pitch in. There wasn’t a single moment that I didn’t have doubts about whether what I was doing was the right thing or not, but doubts come and go, while the need to write goes on forever. Since 2005 I’ve published 5 books and this year alone I have 6 new ones coming out. I live in Toronto with my family and our two pets – wheaten terriers. And whenever I’m tempted to look back, and start second-guessing my past decisions, I sit behind the computer and start another book. At least for me, that’s a cure-all.

Website ~ Blog ~ Twitter ~ Facebook

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