What a great read. There’s so much action and intrigue. And the zombies are sporting a new twist too.
It’s raining buckets and not letting up. Flooding is a huge concern. The command post and the city are separated by an increasingly deep flow of water.
Some zombies fall in the raging current and soldiers are sent out to retrieve. Why, you wonder? Because zombies have rights too. You can’t go around juts killing them anymore. They’re contained and fed Z rations and this keeps them calm and easier to control.
Control? Yes, they can be trained. Not a guarantee they won’t turn on you, but it seems to be working.
Even the totally dead are utilized. The soldiers fear this because, if killed, they’re taken and reanimated as Z Troopers and put back into service. Some reward for KIA, eh?
As the tanks and armored vehicles roll out, they’ll have to contend with not killing zombies, avoiding gangs of roving living out to take what’s theirs, and one strange zombie who has a particular interest in them.
I have to say this. I’m always looking for a new zombie twist, and there are several in this book. Intelligent zombies? That doesn’t sound so good. Zombie Troopers? I guess if they can take orders, they’d come in handy. A rogue zombie on a mission? Not good at all. And the feral zombies? They’re more like what you’d expect. That’s not good either. Then there are the zombies that are carrying drugs. Yep, the drug carrying mules still have the drugs in their stomachs and enterprising humans want those. Seems to me it would be easier to just kill them all. But zombies are protected. They have rights now.
The soldiers are armed with non lethal rounds in their weapons. Sometimes, they use real bullets and take some zombies down. If they kill one, they’re fined and often spend time in the brig. WTF? I told you this was different.
The mission to retrieve the fallen zombies takes a new turn and it all goes FUBAR in a torrent, just like the rain that keeps falling, falling.
What a rush this was. I didn’t realize it was the second book in the series until I received the book, but that didn’t stop me from catching on to past events and settling in with the characters quickly.
There are some fun illustrations included in the book. I always like that. And I want to mention the title. There’s more than one meaning to it and its important to me that the title connects to the story inside.
Nonstop action and obstacles to overcome make this story fly. I’m looking forward to the next mission.
4 Stars
I received this book for my honest review.
~~~~~
Synopsis
Captain Jacob Billet
Journal Entry – Sunday April 5, 2026
It’s raining, it’s pouring, the undead are roaring…
Amassed at the UCRA east end enclosure, the dead strain the fence line while soldiers keep watchful eyes, the survivors on the opposite side of the rising river about to lose their minds.
It’s a crazy time: nonstop precipitation; everyone’s up in arms; paranoid city council members with an asshat City Treasurer. Water, water everywhere. Zees dropping into the churning drink. Troops afraid of being stitched up and thrown back into the fray as Zombie Troopers. Tank commanders getting itchy to head out on their own after drug-laden shamblers. Reganshire insurgents trying to extract our west side civvies for some unknown reason, possibly pushing the city into taking heavy-handed action against them.
Then there’s some black-haired dead dude staring at me through the fence, grinning like he’s off his meds.
About Peter Welmerink: Peter Welmerink was born and raised on the west side of pre-apocalyptic Grand Rapids, Michigan. He writes Fantasy, Military SciFi, and other wanderings into action-adventure. His work has been published in ye olde wood pulp print and electronic-online publications. He is the co-author of the Viking berserker novel, BEDLAM UNLEASHED, written with Steven Shrewsbury. TRANSPORT was his first solo novel venture. He is married with a small barbarian tribe of three boys.
Find out more about his works and upcoming projects at:
www.peterwelmerink.com
With Halloween fast approaching, I’ve amassed a bunch of creepy stories to share with you.
Last week I showcased several books I won from Michael Phillip Cash and I asked you to help me choose which order I should review them in.
The Flip was the top choice, so here ya go!
Come on in and get your scare on!
The Flip
by Michael Phillip Cash
My Review
I enjoy watching shows about flipping houses. It’s fun to watch the transformation from ugly to fantastic. If I had the money, I’d do some myself.
My luck I’d wind up in the same fix as Julie and Brad Evans.
They’re starting to get the hang of the flipping thing. Buy low, fix it up, sell for a nice profit. But Brad has his misgivings about the one Julie has her heart set on. It’s a monstrous undertaking and he’s getting bad vibes from the old mansion, Hemmings House.
Julie loves it, sees only the potential, and wants to turn it into a bed and breakfast. Brad caves and now he has to get his crew together and get the stinking trash hauled out of the place.
Weird things start happening. Doors open and shut on their own. Cold spots occur throughout the place. And Brad and the crew are being affected by the atmosphere. Something angry is rubbing off on them.
All the makings for a scary good haunted house story, right? The author delivers, giving you things that go bump in the night. You’ll meet these ghostly inhabitants and get to know their stories. I engaged with the ghosts as well as Julie and Brad and came to worry about all of them.
Welcome to Hemmings House. Where anything can happen, and does.
4 Stars
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?
The First Book of the Transitional Delusions Series
by Brick Marlin
My Review
Just imagine…Children are changing. Changing into brutal, gleeful killers.
I’ve loved horror books and movies ever since I was young. Something about being scared by fiction gave me thrills. The creepy crawlie covers always jumped out at me from the shelves and I scoured libraries and book stores for the next big scare.
This one is disturbing. Just warning those of you who are sensitive about monster children doing terrible deeds. I often wonder, especially after watching my favorite TV show The Walking Dead, if I could pull the trigger and shoot a child. Even if I know it’s not really a child anymore and it will kill me.
Not to say these kids are zombies. Oh no. They’re something else. Something dark and evil has changed them.
You’ve seen those movies where you can hear a child giggling in the dark? Such a hair raising, evil thing. These kids not only giggle, they taunt, and then they attack. Not much can stop them either.
I didn’t have much time to care about most of the characters as they didn’t last long. The ones I did connect with? A couple I could care less about, not such good people anyway. I did feel sad about some that fell under the knives of the kids.
There were some fun illustrations in the book too. I always enjoy it when the author shares their view of things.
I’d recommend this to anyone looking for some old school, edgy horror.
3 Stars
I received this book for my honest review.
~~~~~
Synopsis
A scarecrow crucified on a wooden cross made from a pair of two-by-fours sits in a field of corn, placed there to frighten away birds and protect the crops. Under its straw hat large buttons pose as its eyes, placed there by child’s fingers, view something sinister in the grave sky, appearing in front of the full moon.
Twisting, it forms into a sleek black mass, peering down upon the town of Woodbury. Four demons called The Reckoning has pulled this shadow, this urban legend from the past, out of an unmarked grave to bring terror across the planet, shoving it toward an apocalypse.
Now it cuts through the air, as if it were opening wounds in flesh, peering down at the first house that it hovers over…
Shadow Out of the Sky is Book One of the Transitional Delusions Series
~~~~~
About Brick Marlin: Brick Marlin has been writing since he was a child. From an early age he was exposed to older horror movies. The great ones making their mark in history. He also tackled reading the likes of Stephen King, Clive Barker, Ray Bradbury, Kurt Vonnegut, Dean Koontz, Charles Dickens, Harper Lee, H.G. Wells, etc. Thus, he decided to engage himself and write horror, dark fantasy and dark sci-fi, scaring readers such as his parents, his friends, neighbors, and even leaving a few school teachers scratching their heads wondering if the boy should be committed or not with his gruesome tales of terror. Short story ideas continued to visit. A book idea or two sometimes stopped by for a sit. In 2007 he decided to take a more professional approach with his work. Hence, as a member of the Horror Writers Association, already having nine books published by small presses – this you hold in your hand, constant reader, makes his tenth – nearly thirty short stories published, adding to the few anthologies and collaborations with other authors, Brick Marlin trudges onward, hoping to achieve more creations, wallowing in the brain pans of his characters, giving them the choice whether to twist the knob and enter through the Red Door, or enter through the Blue Door where a group of servo monkey badgers are consuming packages of cinnamon-flavored Pop Rock Candy with a Kung Fu Punch of caffeine.
Halloween is fast approaching and I’ve been reading some scary good books.
I won all of these books by Michael Phillip Cash in a giveaway and being my type of stories, I dove right in. I read all of them in one week. LOL
Now, I need your help. I’d like to review one book each week, leading up to Halloween. I thought it would be fun to let you choose in which order I should review them. So, starting with Brood X as number one and Darracia ending as number seven, help me decide!
Brood X
Synopsis
Seth is laid off from work. His wife Lara just found out they are expecting a baby this summer. Seth plans on documenting the entire pregnancy with his brand new digital camcorder.
During an evening home watching television, the news reports that a swarm of cicada (Brood Ten) are expected to overwhelm the entire Northeast.
Brood Ten is vicious and ready to invade.
During a sweltering summer night, Brood Ten emerges and wreaks havoc with the electric grid, phone and cell service, wi-fi, food and water supply. Civilization as they know it is gone.
Seth and Lara are thrown back to the stone age in their own home with trillions of cicada trying to deposit their eggs and breed.
Fast paced and filled with tension, Brood Ten is the perfect summer read when you’re sitting outside listening to the cicadas sing.
Trailer
~~~
The Flip
Synopsis
Julie and Brad Evans are house flippers. They buy low, clean out the old occupants’ junk, and try to make a profit. Enter Hemmings House on Bedlam Street in scenic Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island. Too good a deal to pass up, but with an ominous secret. The old Victorian Mansion has dwellers that do not want to be dispossessed. As the house reveals it’s past, will the couple’s marriage survive The Flip?
Trailer
~~~
The Hanging Tree
Synopsis
Enter a world where spirits roam the earth in Michael Phillip Cash’s haunting new novella, The Hanging Tree. Set amid the eerie backdrop of Long Island, an area famously steeped in old legend, two young would-be lovers contemplate their future while visits from those who have come before them reveal the lure of fate…and the power of free will. At seventeen years old, Arielle’s relationship with her parents is slowly deteriorating. Angry and defiant, she is at a loss on how to cope with the tumultuous situation in which she finds herself. Arielle’s only comfort is Chad, an eighteen-year-old young man who seems to truly understand her struggles. Arielle and Chad meet beneath the low-hanging branches of what the local community has nick-named the “Hanging Tree”. An ancient and majestic landmark, it has long been rumored that the tree is haunted by ghosts. These ghosts span various centuries and vary wildly in age, but each one of them has one thing in common: their deaths are all somehow connected to the tree itself. As Arielle and Chad commiserate over their current situation and their precarious nature of their future, the spectral inhabitants of the Hanging Tree witness their conversation. One by one,the ghosts begin reminiscing about their own lives-and deaths- as they examine the inner demons with which their human forms long struggled. An eerie meditation on the oft-overlooked power of choice, Cash’s The Hanging Tree will stay with readers long after they turn out the light.
Trailer
~~~
The After House
Synopsis
Remy Galway and her daughter Olivia are rebuilding their life after a failed marriage in a 300 year old cottage in historic Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island. Little do they know, another occupant is lurking in the haven of their own home. Will the After House be their shelter or their tomb?
Trailer
~~~
Pokergeist
Synopsis
Sometimes life, as well as death, is about second chances. Luckless Telly Martin doesn’t have a clue. An awful gambler trying to scrape by as a professional poker player, he becomes the protégé of world famous poker champion Clutch Henderson. The only catch…Clutch is a ghost.
Telly and Clutch must navigate the seedy gambling underbelly of Las Vegas learning to trust each other in order to win the elusive International Series of Poker, repair their shattered personal relationships and find redemption in this life and the hereafter.
Trailer
~~~
Witches Protection Program
Synopsis
Wes Rockville, a disgraced law enforcement agent, is given one last chance to prove himself and save his career when he’s reassigned to a 232 year old secret government organization. The Witches Protection Program. His first assignment: uncover a billion-dollar Cosmetics company’s diabolical plan of using witchcraft for global domination, while protecting its heiress Morgan Pendragon from her aunt’s evil deeds. Reluctantly paired with veteran witch protector, Alastair Verne, Wes must learn to believe in both witches and himself. Filled with adventure, suspense and a rousing good time, Michael Phillip Cash creates a tongue-in-cheek alternate reality where witches cast spells and wreak havoc in modern day New York City.
Trailer
~~~
The Battle For
Darracia 1 thru 3
Synopsis
The Battle for Darracia Books I, II, and III, are now combined into one epic novel!
On the planet Darracia, an ever-widening social gap between its inhabitants is causing turmoil that is fracturing a once peaceful world. Struggling with his identity, nineteen year old Prince V’sair must harness the power of the elusive Fireblade, the secret to a warrior’s heart, in order to overcome his uncle Staf Nuen’s lust for supremacy. Will the energy of the Elements guide the young prince to his true destiny or will Staf Nuen conquer Darracia?
With Halloween fast approaching, I’ve amassed a bunch of creepy stories to share with you.
For today, I’ve got a scary good one.
Come on in and get your scare on!
In The Eyes Of Madness
by Michael Pang
My Review
The synopsis gives you a clue about what lies within in the pages of this story. And it is creepy.
I remember the after affects of going to see The Exorcist when I was a teen. I slept with the light on for years.
You’d think after such an experience I’d shy away from horror, especially anything to do with demons, unseen evil, and possession. But, nope. It’s one of my favorite genres.
I’ve got to hand it to Declan. After what his mother did, and continues to do to him, you’d think the last thing he’d want to do was be closer to her. Yet, he takes a job at the institute where she resides, and it’s not just his mother he has to worry about now.
Unexplained things start to happen, evil is in the very air, and Declan could become a permanent resident, either insane or dead.
If you like the kind of horror that creeps up on you, makes you turn on the lights, that is, if you’re brave enough to get out of bed and cross the floor to the light switch, and won’t let you go until you’ve read ever chilling page, then this is one you should read.
Giving this a chill factor of:
4 Stars
~~~
Synopsis
A near tragic incident at the hands of his psychotic mother left Declan Peters alone and with so many questions.
Years later, Declan is determined to find a way to be closer to his mother and takes a job at the institution where she’s being held. That fateful decision will be the impetus for a chain of events so terrifying that Declan will question his own grasp on reality.
What he finds will be more horrifying than anything he’s ever experienced and more dangerous than anything he’s yet known. In a place, rife with demonic possession and sadistic beings, will Declan finally be able to find the answers he’s longed for before its too late or will he succumb to the evil forces that inhabit the institution and all who live there?
~~~
Author Michael Pang
Project manager by profession but modern Renaissance man by nature, Michael Pang has dabbled in many different areas in his career. From working with steam turbines to eventually switching into the world of IT, his plethora of experience highlights his personality – he’s a person always searching for more knowledge.
.
Michael was born in Hong Kong in 1983. His family immigrated to San Francisco when he was three and eventually landed in Florida. After graduating from high school, Michael gained his degree in Mechanical Engineering from Georgia Tech. Despite his currently demanding work schedule, Michael is very involved in activities at his local Project Management Institute Chapter where he fulfills his passion for teaching as the Vice President of Education. But, his desire to serve and help others doesn’t end there, he’s an avid Christian and very active in his local church. He loves kids, with two daughters of his own with his lovely wife, and volunteers at children’s church in his ministry.
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He speaks fluent Cantonese and Mandarin and in his free time enjoys reading, writing, eating, cooking, playing music, dancing, singing, and watching musicals. One of his mottos is “Everyday that he hasn’t learned something new is a day wasted.”
Michael is giving away two eBook copies of In The Eyes Of Madness
(iTunes of Google Play)
Also, a $15 gift certificate from SolaFide Publishing that can be used on any of their Marketing Packages (Bronze, Silver, or Gold) on their website (http://solafidepublishing.net).
Entry is easy. Just leave your email address so I can contact you if you win and answer this question:
“What is the scariest book you’ve read?”
~~~~~
Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew and Good Luck!
To see all of my giveaways click on the lucky horseshoe below!
I had such fun with the first book, Paradise Rot. And I’m thrilled to share the second book, Once Again, With Blood.
Lots of laughs and adventure await. But beware. You might get more than you bargained for!
Once Again, With Blood
The Island Trilogy
Book 2
Larry Weiner
Genre: Horror/Dark Comedy
Publisher: Forsaken
Imprint of Booktrope
ISBN: 2940150858305
Number of pages: 220
Cover Artist: Larry Weiner
Book Description:
“We’re getting the band back together!”
For Kyle Brightman, bipolar advertising-industry burnout, this is good news and bad news. Good, because he’ll get to see his zombie-killing friends again, and be reunited with Cate, the zombie he loves (yeah, yeah, I know, read PARADISE ROT and you’ll get it). Bad, because having to blast his way through battalions of bloodless corpses took a brutal toll on Kyle’s already fragile psyche. But duty, and booty, calls. And soon Kyle finds himself on another tropical island, duped again into creating an ad campaign to lure unsuspecting Middle Americans into the greedy mouth of ancient madness. This time, it’s vampires. But with the help of a) his comrades-in-ass-kicking; b) the love of a good (cold) woman; c) the enduring power of Herb Alpert; and d) the awesomeness that is Charo, Kyle just might find a way to save thousands of lives. And what little’s left of his sanity.
Splattered with folklore, dripping with history, ONCE AGAIN, WITH BLOOD, Larry Weiner’s sequel to the uproarious comic romp PARADISE ROT, is what you get if Jimmy Buffett, Carl Hiaasen, Sarah Silverman and Hunter S. Thompson took turns pummeling Anne Rice with a cricket bat.
Here’s a ‘bite’ from Chapter One. I didn’t include the whole chapter as my post would be way too long. But this will give you a tasty morsel!
“YOU’RE A NEWBIE. I MEAN, LOOK AT YOU. That look of terror. I’ve seen it before.
Of course, it was during a zombie invasion, but still. Whoops! That last sentence freaked you out. S’okay. Let’s focus.
“First, you’re doing it wrong. All wrong. You gotta calm down or you’re not gonna survive it. I’m about to make your life easier. I’m babbling right now because I’ve had a slight psychotic break. Not really a break, more a sabbatical from reality. It’s okay, they’ll give me a new drug cocktail plus some Law & Order, and I’ll be back in action.
“Back to you. Here’s the way it works. Used to be that when you got a patient in who was out of his mind, whether from psychosis or crank or whatever, you’d strap him down with his arms at his sides and cart him off. Problem was, these tortured souls would pull on the restraints so hard, it’d dislocate their shoulders, and then the real howling would start—not to mention the potential litigation. Now, since they’re in pain, they’re gonna smack their heads on the gurney repeatedly. Let ‘em. It’s a padded gurney. They’ll end up with a terrific headache. I suppose you can give yourself a mild concussion. Anyway, it’s the shoulders that were the problem. So someone, and I don’t know who, but someone, maybe a yoga instructor or a cop, came up with the idea of strapping the crazies one hand up by the side of the head, one down by the hip. Did they demonstrate that to you? They should, along with the Fleet enemas. Try some of that shit, chief. See what I did there? Focus. One hand over the head, the other by the side. Now you’re talking incapacitation. Right? Such a simple solution. Almost elegant.
“So listen, you’re the new guy and seem reasonably intelligent so I wanna give you some tools to utilize while working the psych ward. Here they are. First, let them masturbate excessively.
They’re burning off angst and energy and if you stop them they’ll do shit like stab each other in the eye with a plastic knife. There are not a lot of ways to blow off some steam in a psych ward. In fact, you might want to suggest they pass out hand lotion with toothpaste. You see a lot of awkward gaits around here—part of the reason is because they’re walking around with chafed cocks. Next, obsessively watching a TV show does not a crazy person make. It’s the repetition and predictability of the characters that provide comfort. A patient feeling safe is one who won’t try to hang himself off a doorknob. Lastly, tell everyone, regardless of how fucked up they are, that things are going to be okay and they’re gonna get through this. Even the thrice-admitted homeless paranoid schizophrenic meth addict. You tell ‘em they’re gonna be A-OK. Even if you know that it’s bullshit. It’ll make things go a lot smoother and you’ll breathe a little humanity into an otherwise inhumane situation.
“Remember, your job is to get ‘em back on their feet and get them the hell out of Dodge. That’s it. I’m sure you have questions, but it’s been a long day for me and I could really use some Law & Order SVU. It’ll help with the coming down. They’ve gotta process my paperwork. It’s gonna take a while before they even get to me. Law & Order. It’ll be on TNT, Bravo, and USA. Possibly on NBC. There are a few constants in the universe. One of them being that at any given time an episode of Law & Order is running somewhere on Earth. The lounge is off to your left. Why don’t we go hang out in there for a while? Don’t put me next to someone with their hands jammed down their pants. I’m in no mood for that shit. Watching that is like pissing out my soul. You’ll see.”
The orderly, a young man with thick horn-rimmed glasses, stood over Kyle Brightman, a little unsure of how to proceed. Kyle was right. The young orderly was in fact into his third day on the psych ward and had not yet mastered the skills for telling which patients had lost their way versus which patients were the truly batshit among them. Kyle seemed near normal, though he was brought in for beating a tourist couple at Pike Place Market with a twenty-fivepound salmon. The tourists, Scandinavians, had cut into a line that Kyle had been in for ten minutes. When Kyle let them know there was a line, the Scandinavians waved Kyle off.
But how could the Scandinavians know that Kyle Brightman had seen some things this past year, things they wouldn’t believe, and had just come out of a broken relationship that smashed his heart into a million pieces? True, he instigated it by running away, but still. He looked like just another Seattleite, not someone who had survived a zombie war in the Caribbean and a subsequent relationship with a zombie woman. There were a great many things they didn’t know about Kyle, chief among them that there were moments when he knew he was about to do the wrong thing but felt compelled to do it anyway. So, they cut in line and Kyle grabbed the first thing he saw, a gigantic Copper River salmon, and commenced beating the Scandinavian tourists with it. The rest was all screams and a bin of mussels thrown at the bewildered Scandinavians when the salmon fell apart. It was meltdownville after that, and, once again, Kyle found himself at St. Eligius, fifth-floor psych ward.
It had been little over a year since his last visit.
After the paperwork, Kyle was shown to his room, where he found his clean pajamas on the bed. The bed next to him was empty and still made. Kyle had hoped he would have the room to himself. The last time, he ended up with Oscar Pilson, ex-military, ex-Halliburton mercenary and eventually a good friend who now shared a life in the Caribbean sunshine with the woman-with-no-name and her talking Chihuahua. The very sunshine he had abandoned to come back to the Northwest and lose his shit once again. Just like Cate said he would.
At the time he said Cate was full of it, but in the back of his mind a tiny voice had said, “We’ll see you soon.”
~~~~
Paradise Rot
The Island Trilogy
Book One
by Larry Weiner
My Review
Welcome to tropical paradise. Welcome to The Isle of St. Agrippina. White sandy beaches. Delicious blended drinks. And island cuisine.
But beware. All is not as it seems. And you just might wind up on the menu.
You see, this long abandoned and now reopened and freshly renovated resort is run by zombies. Not the good ones, if there is such a thing, but the hungry ones. And their brains are working just fine. You’ll see.
Kyle, an advertising exec, should have known it was too good to be true. In fact, he did. Who would hire someone straight from the loony bin? But that didn’t stop him from using the plane ticket and jetting to a tropical paradise.
Right from the get go, things are weird. And they keep getting weirder.
What’s with the slow moving people with their perfect over-white teeth, spray on tans, and practiced pronunciation.
Who is the lady in the woods who likes to conk you over the head and drag you to a bar in the jungle tended buy some weird guy.
And did he really see a chihuahua with it’s butt on wheels, and did it actually speak?
I would have given this book 5 Stars just for the ingenuity. But I also laughed out loud, loved the eccentric mish mash of characters, and couldn’t get enough.
Looking for some fun with zombies. Give this one a try. And the next book, Once More, With Blood, is available now so you won’t have to wait for more fun.
5 Stars
~~~~
~~~~
Book Description:
Kyle Brightman—late of the advertising industry and soon-to-be-late of the 5th floor psych ward—has a job offer he can’t refuse. A new resort in the Caribbean is looking for an art director.
Kyle soon finds himself on the Isle of St. Agrippina working alongside a beautiful copywriter with an icy handshake. Questions arise: Why does the resort management team sport spray-on tans in the Bahamas? How can the resort offer such cheap vacation packages? What does one do with vats of Astroglide?
To get the answers, Kyle must first navigate a series of wildly unpredictable events with a cast of even more wildly unpredictable characters, including a seductress jungle assassin, her partially paralyzed talking Chihuahua, an Ivy League Rastafarian seaplane captain, Kyle’s ex-psych ward roommate, a former Haliburton mercenary, and a French tavern owner with a fondness for goats, all set to the greatest hits of the 70’s. Pablo Cruise never felt so right.
Larry Weiner is the author of PARADISE ROT (BOOK ONE), ONCE AGAIN, WITH BLOOD (BOOK TWO) and the forthcoming HINDU SEX ALIENS (BOOK THREE) that make up the Island Trilogy. Larry earned a degree in film from CSULA and was an award-winning art director. He lives on an island in the Pacific Northwest with his wife, two kids and a gaggle of animals. He plays bass and thus has poor hearing.
A Zombie Christmas and A Haunted House Tale will eventually go up to a dollar again, but for now you can download them for any E-Book reader that supports EPUB.
The cool thing about Leafless is that it allows the audience to choose the price. The two stories above will remain free until the demand pushes them up to a certain price. They are also available in EPUB, MOBI, and PDF files on that site.
Finally, this short story is available for free on Noise Trade. You can also get it in EPUB, MOBI, or PDF there as well.
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
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.
Gotta love an in your face beginning and this has a humdinger. I’ll warn ya, it’s a blood bath.
Cody somehow makes it home. But he’s not safe. Whatever tore apart his friends in the cemetery is hot on his heels. He crawls back through his bedroom window, the noise alerting his parents. They rush in to discover a muddy, bloody Cody cowering on the floor, unable to get a word out about what just happened. It doesn’t matter, as the thing that followed him home makes it’s presence known, crashing through the window and tearing his parents apart.
Detective Aaron Sanders, assigned to the case, is amazed to discover that the young boy, Cody, survived the brutal attack. As the forensics come in, indicating a possible animal attack, he is forced to stretch his belief. Especially after some scary encounters and his shared nightmares with Cody.
Aaron came across as very genuine. He’s all alpha male, yet his own ties to the orphanage Cody is sent to make him vulnerable. He grew up at Brackenridge and his memories aren’t pleasant. He doesn’t always handle events that well because of it, losing his cool and almost losing his job.
Poor Cody. I can see where he’d shut himself off from people after what he witnessed. And his secrets, while haunting him, scare him senseless.
I enjoyed the love/hate relationship between Maria Jiminez, Cody’s social worker, and Detective Aaron Sanders. I think they like each other, but Aaron’s copness might hamper this one. Maria is a tough cookie.
Things don’t get easier as the case gets stranger and stranger. Whatever unearthly is doing the killing won’t stop and can’t be killed.
These types of stories are a favorite of mine. Give me something unearthly, a beast from hell or whatever, and I’m rubbing my hands together in fiendish glee. I’m not squeamish, so the bloodshed only adds to the creep factor.
Throw in some sweet innocent victims and prey, some feisty, tough protagonists, plus a suspicious character or two, and you’ve got the makings of a great chiller.
A hellish feast of horror, to be sure.
5 Stars
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWnS32ZdjUY
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Synopsis
Veteran homicide detective Aaron Sanders thought he’d seen it all, but nothing could have prepared the seasoned detective for the mutilated remains of a kid’s parents or the equally vicious deaths of three boys at another crime scene.
As Aaron works to solve the cases and protect his only witness, an orphaned child, he learns of an ancient curse that leaves him questioning all he’s ever believed. Now, to save himself and the child, Aaron must confront his own inner demons, and some he never knew existed. But if he does, will he make it out alive?
Devil’s Nightmare is an occult suspense horror novel by Robert Pruneda, who shakes readers with his visually graphic scenes, supernatural twists, and disturbing settings in this first installment of the Devil’s Nightmare series.
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Enjoy this glimpse inside the book.
CHAPTER ONE
Sole Survivor
I arrived at the crime scene at seven-thirty on Monday morning and parked my black ’81 Corvette Stingray behind a police car that had the left rear door hanging open. A young boy with sandy blond hair sat in the back, staring at the seat in front of him. Emergency vehicles packed the street in front of the house. Police officers, crime scene investigators, and paramedics performed their jobs while reporters yelled out questions to anyone within earshot. A mob of reporters barked a barrage of questions at me, but I ignored them and ducked under the police tape, making my way to the front porch. A bloodstained curtain hung out of a broken window to the right of the front entrance. The shattered bay window to left of the entrance had pieces of the frame bent towards the interior of the house. The highest-ranking officer of the Austin Police Department, and an old friend of mine of many years, exited the home just as I stepped onto the front porch. I shook his hand. “So, what’ve we got here, Chief?” “It’s bad, Aaron. Tenemos dos víctimas.” Chief David Hernandez spoke perfect English, and without much of an accent, but that didn’t stop him from throwing in a little bit of Spanish for my benefit. It was David’s not-so-subtle way of trying to mold me into a bilingual detective, which of course is useful in Texas. I still couldn’t speak the language, but, thanks to David, I could at least understand it. “So, who are our two vics?” “Carol and Tony Scoletti. Whoever killed them must have been really pissed.” “Yeah, that’s usually the case” I bobbed my head in agreement. Murderers do tend to have slight anger issues. “So, we have a double-homicide. Doesn’t happen here much, but what’s so unusual?” “You haven’t seen the bodies… or what’s left of them, that is.” “Okay.” I lowered my brow. “Now you have my attention. Just what exactly are we dealing with?” “Follow me,” he said, and led me to the living room. The body of a decapitated Caucasian woman lay mangled on top of a shattered glass coffee table. Her left arm hung from her shoulder, attached only by tendons. Intestines spilled onto the floor from her torn stomach. She also had three large gashes across her breasts and several more on her bare legs. “Jesus! You weren’t kidding. What the hell did this guy come at her with, a chainsaw?” “You haven’t seen anything yet,” Chief Hernandez answered, and then headed down the hallway towards the bedrooms. I followed him inside the first bedroom. Blood and gore painted the walls and ceiling. Only the torso of what used to be a body lay in the middle of the room in a pool of blood, guts and ripped flesh. Pieces of bloody flesh hung from the ceiling fan. There was a severed arm on a blood-soaked pillow on the bed and a detached leg protruding out from underneath it. Where was the rest of the body? “This is the kid’s bedroom,” he said. “He’s lucky to be alive. I don’t mean to sound morbid, but why spare him?” I noticed muddy footprints mixed in blood underneath the shattered window. “Come on, Aaron. You don’t really think anyone would do this to a kid, do you?” No, I didn’t, but you could never know for sure. Some people have absolutely no conscience whatsoever. The kid was lucky. After examining the remains of a man’s body, I asked, “That kid in the squad car. Has he said anything?” “Nada. Not a word since we arrived.” “I’ll go to talk to him. See if I can get him to open up.” I tapped the shoulder of the crime scene investigator taking photos of the body. “You have a swab kit I can borrow?” “Yeah, sure.” The young CSI set her camera down and retrieved the items from her crime scene kit. “Need me to come with?” “Nah, that’s okay. I got it.” My heart sank from the boy’s blank expression. Dry blood splatter peppered his cheeks and forehead. The blood covering his clothes told me he’d had a front seat view of what had happened. A seat that would have also given him a clear view of the perpetrator. “What’s his name?” I asked the police officer in charge of babysitting the boy, while a bunch of strangers with badges, guns, and funny-looking suits, filtered in and out of his home. “Cody Sumner,” the officer answered. “I can’t imagine what he’s going through.” She shook her head and added, “Poor baby.” I knelt down next to Cody and introduced myself. “Hi, Cody. My name is Detective Aaron Sanders, with the Austin Police Department. Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?” Cody didn’t acknowledge my presence. “Are you hurt anywhere?” Nothing. He just stared ahead. “Can I see your hands?” That time he gave me a subtle shrug. I put on a pair of latex gloves and tenderly turned his hands over. Dried blood covered his palms. I sighed and placed the boy’s hands back on his lap. I pulled a buccal swab from the kit that I borrowed from the crime scene investigator. “I need to get some samples off your clothing and hands. It’s not going to hurt though. Can you give me a little nod if that’s okay?” Cody faced me, his blue eyes watering, and said, “They’re dead.” “I’m sorry.” I placed my hand on the back seat. “I promise we’ll find and punish the person who did this, Cody, but we need your help. Can you tell me what happened?” Cody focused on the back seat again. His crying came in constricted whimpers and sniffling. “That’s okay.” I squeezed the boy’s shoulder. “We’ll talk later.” “Aaron!” Chief Hernandez yelled from the porch, gesturing me toward him. I met him halfway on the front lawn. “What is it?” “We have another crime scene.” “Another one?” “Memorial Heights Cemetery. Busy day for the APD, and it’s about to get even busier for you, amigo.” “Can we get Anderson or—” “No, I want you on this. You should head over there right away.” “Why? What’s so special about this one?” “The grounds crew found three bodies. Two of them with their heads missing.” He rubbed his hand over his face and took a breath. “What?” Finding dead bodies at a cemetery was normal enough, but they tend to arrive in caskets. And they typically have their heads attached. I asked again, “What?” “They’re kids, Aaron. Niños!” I couldn’t believe what I had just heard. “What the hell is going on here?” “I don’t know, pero we have one sick cabrón targeting children now. I need you to head over to the cemetery. I’ll call the FBI. This is way over our heads.” “Whoa, wait a minute.” I hated dealing with feds. “The last thing we need is a bunch of bureaucratic suits flashing badges around here and putting up a bunch of red tape. We can handle it ourselves.” “Aaron, this isn’t a typical murder case. I think we’re dealing with a serial.” “Yeah… maybe.” “Maybe?” Chief Hernandez said. “Decapitations and bodies ripped apart don’t exactly fit the description of a normal homicide. And speaking of decapitations, where’re the victims’ heads?” Good question. “All right, I see your point. I’ll check out the cemetery. What about that kid over there?” Cody had stopped crying. A police officer handed him a bottled water. “He’s our only witness.” “I’ll let you know where he ends up. Probably Brackenridge. Now go.” “All right, all right. I’m going.”
~~~
About the Author
Robert “Sharky” Pruneda is a native Texan, video game “enthusiast” [addict], and fan of all things horror. He left a career in the newspaper industry in 2011 to pursue the life of a nocturnal author, brainstorming new and creative ways to creep out his readers. He doesn’t only write horror though.
He also pens the occasional family-oriented tale just to keep from going completely nuts with all those creatures of the night whispering in his ears. When he’s not pulling ideas out of his twisted brain, you’ll likely find him on social media or fighting alongside his fellow gaming buddies where they all get shot up into Swiss cheese (or turned into little bite-sized chunks because of “Sharky’s” obsession with explosives). Medic!
Welcome to the Cover Reveal and Book Blast for Hungry As A Wolf by Elizabeth Einspanier.
I was very lucky to get my hands on the ARC of this scary good tale and will be sharing my review.
There’s also a fun excerpt.
And a giveaway, so don’t forget to enter.
Hungry As A Wolf
Tales of the Half-Breed #2
by Author Elizabeth Einspanier
My Review
I’ve seen many movies about skinwalkers but this is one of only a few books I’ve read featuring them.
Wolf is a half-breed. Half native american and half skinwalker, but he keeps that to himself. He gets enough grief for being an indian. People would fear him, perhaps hunt him down and kill him, if they knew the truth.
Or perhaps not. Mayor Twohill has a major problem in Goldwater, located in the Black Hills. All but one of the men working his mine in the mountains failed to return after wintering there. Upon his return, the man attacked and ate part of the doctor who attended him. They’ve been keeping him locked up in the jail.
The poor man has gone completely around the bend. He hasn’t eaten in a month, and should be dead. This is beyond the towns capabilities and the Mayor sends a posse to fetch Wolf, placing a large bounty on his head to ensure they’ll bring him back alive.
Wolf awakens with a rifle pointed in his face. The fools think they’re in control. Wolf’s quiet nonchalance lends an aura of menace that begs to differ. He calmly agrees to go along with them.
He’s not one to turn his back on the strange. That’s what he does. Hunts down and takes care of the things most people don’t even believe exist.
What he observes and encounters in Goldtown is something new. He’s not sure what he’s dealing with.
I loved the partnership between Wolf and his demon steed, Lucifer. He acquired the massive animal after taking care of a vampire problem. Lucifer reminds me of the horse from Sleepy Hollow. The one the Headless Horseman rode. Huge, black, red eyes. A scary yet magnificent animal. And the only kind of horse that would allow Wolf near it.
Partially eaten bodies are being discovered around Goldtown. After Wolf tracks down whatever is stalking the town, the next step is a trip up to the mine to face whatever dwells in it’s dark depths.
Zombies, werewolves, shifters, wendigo. Whatever you want to call the creatures in these pages, they aren’t your normal ones. The author has changed them up a bit. Added some ancient lore, some intelligence, some new tics. As if these things weren’t bad enough already. Be prepared for some fun new creations.
Let’s talk setting. The author chose the Black Hills in the year 1865. I love western settings. And adding a supernatural element makes the atmosphere even more interesting. Some of the characters in this book didn’t find it too hard to believe in the beings they encountered. Perhaps they understood the lands once belonged to something else.
The author’s choice of having his characters speak in a western vernacular was great. I could almost hear their voices, their accents. Made them much more genuine and easy to visualize and connect with.
I talked about the creatures already, so lets meet Wolf. He’s part human, part skinwalker. He’s got the wolf in him and knows when to let it loose. He’s a loner, uncomfortable in crowds, and has some serious baggage. The loss of his true love, and how he lost her, haunts his every step.
When a very determined young lady crosses paths with Wolf, it’s blushes and confusion on both sides. I wasn’t sure if these two would develop a love interest, but I kind of had my fingers crossed. Finding someone new to love might heal Wolf. Let him drop his burden of guilt.
This is the second book in the series but don’t let that stop you from reading this. I jumped into it here and had no trouble getting into the story. The author slipped in some back story in just the right places so the story didn’t slow down and you could follow what was happening.
It appears to me each story will be about Wolf hunting down another strange creature and that sounds fun to me.
I wish I could have seen Mayor Twohill’s face at the conclusion to this book. There is an ending, no huge cliff hanger, and the author leads you towards another book to come.
Bring it on!
4 Stars
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Synopsis
Wolf Cowrie is back in his second adventure! In the Black Hills of the Dakota Territory in 1865, tensions run high between white settlers looking for gold and the Sioux people who consider this region their holy ground. When Wolf is hired to find out what happened to the workers of a mining outpost in the area, the general theory in Goldwater is that they were slaughtered by the Sioux. Wolf discovers something far more sinister lurking in the Black Hills, an ancient evil whose unending hunger drives sane men to ghoulish extremes.
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Enjoy this excerpt!
It was a young woman of perhaps nineteen years of age, with auburn hair and brown eyes. She was well-dressed in a white blouse with leg-of-mutton sleeves and a narrow column of ruffles down the front. A dark blue skirt respectably covered her ankles and black boots, and her hair was pulled back in a style he could not readily see from this angle, with wisps curling delicately around her face. She was a pretty little thing as well, and Wolf wished he could have made her acquaintance under better circumstances—like, say, fully-clothed, rather than stark naked with only his hat to conceal his shame.
The two of them stared at each other for maybe half a minute—him in a state of poker-faced, heart-pounding embarrassment, her in open-mouthed shock. Wolf’s heart and his stomach had lurched in opposite directions when he saw her—his heart upwards to lodge in his throat, his stomach downwards to gurgle in low panic somewhere around his knees. He swallowed hard to try to clear the lump of nerves behind his larynx. Somehow, Wolf was the first to find his voice.
“Ordinarily, miss, I’d be the first to tip my hat to a lovely young lady like yourself,” he said as politely as he could manage, with a glance down at the hat in question. “But I don’t think either of us wants that right now.”
She blushed bright scarlet and whirled out of the bathroom without a word, revealing the bun that secured her hair and slamming the door behind her. Wolf put his free hand over his face.
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Author Elizabeth Einspanier
Elizabeth Einspanier is the self-published author of the Weird Western novella Sheep’s Clothing and the upcoming sci-fi romance novel Heart of Steel. Her short stories have been published in Down in the Dirt and Dark Fire Fiction. She is a member of the St. Louis Writer’s Guild and an associate member of the Horror Writers of America. She lives in St. Louis, but frequently spends extended periods in worlds of her own creation.
About Peter Welmerink: Peter Welmerink was born and raised on the west side of pre-apocalyptic Grand Rapids, Michigan. He writes Fantasy, Military SciFi, and other wanderings into action-adventure. His work has been published in ye olde wood pulp print and electronic-online publications. He is the co-author of the Viking berserker novel, BEDLAM UNLEASHED, written with Steven Shrewsbury. TRANSPORT was his first solo novel venture. He is married with a small barbarian tribe of three boys.
