EEK! It’s A Spider – What Hides Within by Jason Parent @AuthorJasParent

Posted on January 16, 2019 by fundinmental

Jason Parent writes some scary stuff, just look at the cover for What Hides Within and you will see what I mean. Does it make you want to know want to know more? It does me.

Cover by Q Design

Publisher: Bloodshot Books

Amazon / Goodreads

MY REVIEW

Just looking at the creepy cover makes me cringe, yet I open it with sweet anticipation, looking forward to a great scare with same laughs, which I know Jason Parent is more than willing to provide.

With a name like Clive, I foresee some bad things coming his way. Will he be the victim or the perpetrator? We shall see.

The doctor cut open his head to remove…something…only to find everything is okay. He stitched him back up, offered an apology, and wanted him to go away. I’m sorry, but that wouldn’t work for me, and I don’t think it will work for Clive either. OMG! The nerve of the idiot moron doctor! If I was Clive, I probably would have killed him on the spot.

That is the present…NOW…let’s go to the past and find out how and why he got into this spot to begin with.

Detective Samantha Reilly was a hardened detective leading the investigation into a young girl’s death. She was inured to the brutality humans inflicted upon each other. Knowing Jason, I see more dead bodies on the horizon and a truly evil killer.

As soon as we went under the bridge, I knew where Jason was taking me. Now, I’m waiting for the twist.

Chester and Derek…OMG…I laughed so hard I cried. I love that Jason Parent packs so much action, along with the darkness and laughs, leaving me wanting more.

Chester, I wonder what’s going to happen to Chester. Every time I think about him, I try to imagine the details of his home, how and what he eats, and his dining accommodations. I wonder what Chester hopes to accomplish.

I shivered and freaked out a little. Spiders are one of my favorite critters to read about because they make me so uncomfortable. Talk about stepping outside my comfort zone.

Well, that didn’t go the way I thought and that is one of the reasons I love Jason Parent’s writing. He mixes genres seamlessly, dark horror and comedy with lots of action, and creates some amazing villains. Can’t hear so well? Have a stuffy nose? Well…

Jason, you did it again. Took me to a place filled with suspense and tension and a pace that kept me reading, wanting to know what was on the next page, and the next one…

I can hardly wait to get my hands on Victoria, Book II and the final book in the series.

I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of What Hides Within by Jason Parent.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos

4 Stars

GOODREADS BLURB

An award-winning horror/mystery with loads of dark comedy!

Inside all of us, there is darkness. Inside Clive, it’s tangible, and it’s aching to get out.

What Hides Within tells the story of a man held captive by an unknown evil. Clive Menard is a spineless slacker leading an ordinary existence. But when Chester enters his life, it becomes far from ordinary.

A disheveled Clive stands alone in a hospital waiting room. A series of incidences have led him to undergo unnecessary neurosurgery. A voice inside Clive’s head nags him to kill the doctor.

Weeks prior, a murder investigation and an unrelated kayaking excursion set the story’s interlocking events in motion. When a remorseful killer, a bomb-happy psychopath and a mysterious widow spider converge upon Clive, they bring with them destruction and death. Clive must discover who or what is steering his very existence before he, too, is consumed by the carnage around him.

With a driven detective following his every step and a vicious killer hiding within his circle of friends, Clive must walk a narrow and dangerous path, teetering between salvation and damnation. He must confront Chester and his own demons. But is he powerless to overcome them?

An EPIC Finalist, “Best Horror of 2013” read and eFestival eBook Award Runner-Up for Best Horror.

ABOUT JASON PARENT

In his head, Jason Parent lives in many places, but in the real world, he calls New England his home. The region offers an abundance of settings for his writing and many wonderful places in which to write them. He currently resides in Southeastern Massachusetts with his cuddly corgi named Calypso.

In a prior life, Jason spent most of his time in front of a judge . . . as a civil litigator. When he finally tired of Latin phrases no one knew how to pronounce and explaining to people that real lawsuits are not started, tried and finalized within the 60-minute timeframe they see on TV (it’s harassing the witness; no one throws vicious woodland creatures at them), he traded in his cheap suits for flip flops and designer stubble. The flops got repossessed the next day, and he’s back in the legal field . . . sorta. But that’s another story.

When he’s not working, Jason likes to kayak, catch a movie, travel any place that will let him enter, and play just about any sport (except that ball tied to the pole thing where you basically just whack the ball until it twists into a knot or takes somebody’s head off – he misses the appeal). And read and write, of course. He does that too sometimes.

Please visit the author on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/AuthorJasonP…, on Twitter at https://twitter.com/AuthorJasParent, or at his website, http://authorjasonparent.com/, for information regarding upcoming events or releases, or if you have any questions or comments for him.

MY JASON PARENT REVIEWS

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Friday 56 #151 – Heaven Denied by Ken La Salle @KenLaSalle

Posted on January 4, 2019 by fundinmental

The Friday 56 is hosted by Freda’s Voice.The only rules are to grab a book (any book), turn to page 56 or 56% in your ereader and find any sentence or a few ( no spoilers) that grabs you and post it.

Please join Rose City Reader every Friday to share the first sentence or so of the book you are reading along with you initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires.

Please include the title of the book and the author’s name.

~~~

I read Heaven Enough, Book I (see my review HERE) some time ago and loved it, so I am very excited to share the cover for Ken La Salle’s new sequel, Heaven Denied.

Amazon / Goodreads

MY 56 is the first paragraph, since I don’t have the book…yet.

In the remains of a bedroom down in the seaside town of Ocean Beach, California, a broken man bolted out of a nightmare and returned to his life.

(published in 2018)

GOODREADS BLURB

What would it be like to have heaven enough?

For just a few, brief days on the Pacific Crest Trail, Matt Murphy knew. He fell in love, faced his true self, and came to understand what was really important in life – until the woman he fell in love with died and his life was cast into the chaotic emptiness of grief. Within that emptiness, Matt lost his wealth, his job, and everything that helped his life make sense.

Matt believed he could accept that if it really was the price of true love… Until he learned that the woman he loved had already been married.

Where that left him and what it meant for the love he thought they shared, Matt couldn’t know. His only recourse would be to meet the man who had married his love and understand what that love had meant to him. How could he have lost her? How could he have pushed her aside? How could he have given her up when losing her broke so much of what was left of Matt’s heart?

Matt is going to have to find out. Even if it means blundering through another relationship, driving into a lake, just a bit of kidnapping, and possibly facing the kind of man he really is, was, and always will be.

The results of which could change Matt’s life forever…

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Giveaway – Library of Absolution by Jennifer Derrick @JDerrickAuthor @XpressoTours

Posted on December 17, 2018 by fundinmental

Library of Absolution
Jennifer Derrick
(Legacy of the Book Mesmer, #1)
Published by: Crimson Tree Publishing
Publication date: December 17th 2018
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Romance

Alarick Brandon is the powerful wizard who operates The Keep, a refuge for magical people fleeing the persecution of the Ministry. A bitter realist, Alarick knows it’s only a matter of time until the Ministry succeeds in eradicating magic from the world—and exterminating all magical beings—so he has been careful to avoid any personal involvement with the people who pass through his sanctuary.

But when Elissa Stone arrives at The Keep, her village a smoldering ruin, and only her magical talent and a forbidden library left to her name, Alarick’s ordered world descends into chaos. Elissa is a Book Mesmer, a magical talent long believed extinct. She can enchant books, making them indestructible, unreadable…even deadly to unauthorized readers. But while her magic can secure a legacy for future magical generations, it’s not a skill that’s good in a fight, and certainly not one that Alarick sees any real use for. But there’s something compelling about a woman who defies the Ministry’s edicts against female literacy, and she seems determined to prove that knowledge is a weapon in its own right…

The first installment in an enticing new fantasy series by author Jennifer Derrick, The Library of Absolution is a compelling story of perseverance and determination in the face of persecution, in a Dark Age where hope is lost—and knowledge is the only thing left to fight for.

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo

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EXCERPT:

“You told me you left to look for books,” Alarick said.

“I did, in part. That wasn’t a total fabrication. I figured if I was leaving I might as well make the effort. If I was going to get killed by the Ministry, it should be in the service of something larger than myself. Fool that I was,” she whispered.

Alarick ignored the last part. She was only stating a fact. There was no need for him to comment further on her foolishness.

“But you had no intention of returning?” he asked. “Because of something you found in my library?”

The thought of her leaving with no intention to return gutted him. It was bad enough she’d wanted to leave at all; to put her safety at risk for the sake of some books. It was bad enough that he had failed to keep her safe; to understand what she meant to do until it was too late.

But even at the worst of it, he’d believed she intended to return to him. To the Keep. That was why he’d gone after her, because he believed she still wanted to be here. That she’d intended to run away forever was unthinkable. That he’d risked his life for someone who had run from him, who wanted nothing to do with him, was galling.

He choked back his rage and sorrow, replacing them with cool disdain.

“Well, then, are you going to tell me just what was so terrible that it would make you flee and never come back? I’m aware that nothing in that library paints me in a flattering light, but you already knew of my unpleasantness. Surely the disjointed ramblings of a young man could not be quite so damning,” Alarick said.

Of course, he knew the truth. There were some secrets in there so damning he could imagine exactly why she wanted to run from him. It was why he kept that room protected. Damn her for finding it. Damn her for finding him.

She turned her head away from him. Not that it mattered. She couldn’t see him. But he wasn’t going to let her damn his soul and cast him out of her life without at least facing him while she did it. He reached over and with gentle pressure turned her chin toward him.

“If you expect me to forgive you for your trespass, you will at least face me while you tell me exactly what sort of monster you believe me to be,” he said.

“I’d rather you tell me the story as the man you are now, not the boy who did the things I read. Tell me there’s a better ending to your story. Tell me that you are not the monster.”

He laughed at that.

“Would that I could,” he said. “But since you read my books, I’m certain you know there is no redemption for me. That is why you left, isn’t it?”

“No. I didn’t leave because I feared you to be irredeemable. My time with you has taught me that there is more to you than the boy in those books. I left because I feared there was no place for me in your story. And that I could not bear.”

He was about to say something, but suddenly he couldn’t remember what it was. What had she said? She hadn’t left because of his past deeds, but because she was afraid he had no place for her? Was that possibly right? He struggled to make sense of it in his brain. He’d expected condemnation, not… Was it disappointment he heard in her voice?

Before he could sort out a proper response, she said, “I’ve read your grimoire. It’s terrifying. Start with why you took such an interest in dark magic and go from there.”

Alarick said nothing at first. Why had he taken an interest in dark magic? The question was better phrased as, “Why not?” He looked at Elissa. She might not be able to see him, but she had an uncanny ability to focus on his face as though she could. And something in her eyes compelled him to tell the story that he’d never told anyone in its entirety.

Author Bio:

Jennifer is a freelance writer and novelist. As a freelancer, she writes everything from technical manuals to articles on personal finance and European-style board games. Her interest in storytelling began when she was six and her parents gave her a typewriter for Christmas and agreed to pay her $.01 per page for any stories she churned out. Such a loose payment system naturally led to a lot of story padding. Broken Fate, her first novel, earned her $2.80 from her parents.

Jennifer lives in North Carolina and, when not writing, can often be found reading, trawling the shelves at the library, playing board games, watching sports, camping, running marathons, and playing with her dog. You can visit her at her official website: JenniferDerrick.com.

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