. 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.
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I won an ebook of Mary Hades by Sarah Dalton some time ago, but I loved this story so much, I wanted to share it with you.
My thanks go out to Sarah Dalton and Laura @ fuonlyknew.
“I don’t blame her,” Seth says. “What I saw that night…I’ll take it with me to my grave. It’s with me every day. Every day. She is with me every day. We’re connected – like rope on an anchor – and we will be forever.” He shrugs.
MY ONE SENTENCE REVIEW
Mary Hades by Sarah Dalton is a creepy and fantastic tale of a girl who is able to see and communicate with the spirits, her vacation adventure that turns into a young girl’s ghostly revenge and I loved every minute I spent with her and her friends, leaving me wanting more.
I didn’t want to scare you so bad you wouldn’t stop in, so lets have some fun.
A ragtag band of characters are thrown together by chance. determined to solve, not one, but two mysteries. Who took EMMA and who killed Steven’s wife?
The gang physically resembles the Scooby Doo gang – Molly is Velma, the brainy one and is shot in a school incident, Ashdon is Shaggy, the cowardly and hungry one, Steven is Fred and Olivia is Daphne. Olivia is on a school teacher suspension of sorts.
The characters are what I keep coming back to. The neighbor lady is a trip.
We have a stalker, a murderer, a missing person, and even a mystery machine.
The story is told in a comical and humorous way, but it is not all laughs and giggles.
Pink Zombie With a Mist contains some serious and sad issues, yet I found myself laughing at the dialogue and the characters antics. They fumble their way through solving mysteries and become a tight knit group. The zombies…we will find the answer to that too, but it won’t be easy.
Jada Ryker kept me on pins and needles, wondering and worrying.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
Anthropologist Olivia West is determined to find her missing best friend. As children, she and Emma Martin wandered into Heaven’s Bottom, an isolated Kentucky community cut off by the Ohio River and mountainous terrain. The two women share strange memories of the traumatic experience. Emma is convinced they witnessed a blood sacrifice and moon magic, surrounded by zombies. As a scientist, Olivia believes there’s a logical explanation.
Detective Steven Lewis pursues his own investigation of the mysterious town. His wife, a social worker, fought her way into the Bottom to investigate suspected child abuse. She didn’t make it out alive. Haunted by grief and regret, Steven is obsessed with finding her killer. He’s convinced the murderer is hiding in the wild forest, camouflaged by the swirling mist.
Olivia and Steven enter into an uneasy partnership to find Emma and solve his wife’s brutal murder. They contact Sheriff Noah McCracken, who holds the local law enforcement role that’s been passed down through his family for centuries. Like his ancestors, the sheriff ignores the chilling events in Heaven’s Bottom.
Can Olivia and Steven convince Noah to “release the McCracken” in time to save their lives?
SPECIAL BONUS: As a reader appreciation gift, “The Hand of Karma” mystery/horror short story is included FREE at the end of the book.
Deadly Ruse is Book II of the Mac McClellan Mystery series. These novels will stand alone.
What do a blown up boat, a crashed airplane, sparkling “ice” and drugs have in common…Mac McClellan.
Mac is a former Marine and after helping to solve a crime in Deadly Catch, Book I, he has decided to become a Private Investigator.
Kate is his girlfriend. On a date with Mac, a ghost enters her life. She is sure her ex boyfriend has risen from the dead. She doesn’t realize how lucky she was to have escaped when she did.
The case of Dead Man Walking will be Mac’s introduction to becoming a private investigator. It is not a dream, but more like a nightmare come back to haunt Kate and it could have deadly consequences..
Mac lives in a camper in the Florida Panhandle. Shades of Rockford Files come to mind and I am very familiar with the territory. I love when the characters cross the same bridges and drive the same streets I have traveled.
Mac plows through interviews, quickly getting the hang of it, learning a little finesse one interview at a time.
Deadly Ruse is a twisted web of lies and deceit. We have a lot of suspects and intrigue. E Micheal Helms keeps the mystery and suspense building as we travel the Gulf Coast looking for answers. The mystery stretches from Georgia, through Florida and into South America. Who is alive? Who is dead? And why? I did need a flow chart to help me separate the good from the bad, but it all comes together in the end.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Deadly Ruse by E Michael Helms.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
Mac’s girlfriend, Kate Bell, thinks she’s seen a ghost. Wes Harrison, Kate’s former boyfriend, supposedly perished twelve years ago in a boating accident. But now she swears a man she spotted in a crowded theater lobby is Wes. Mac has his doubts–it was only a fleeting glimpse. But to calm her shattered nerves, he starts making inquiries.
A clue leads him from his home in St. George, Florida, to a Texas orphanage. There he uncovers startling information that turns both his and Kate’s world upside-down. Diamond smuggling, sex, deceit, and murder are just part of the twisted tale that emerges from Kate’s earlier life. Using wit, grit, and the ingrained military training of a former Marine, Mac starts to fit the pieces of this scrambled puzzle together.
Further clues point to the Palmetto Royale Casino and Resort near St. George. He and Kate discover that the casino is a front for big drug deals. When they barely escape a murder attempt, Mac knows he’s on the right track.
ABOUT E MICHAEL HELMS
I was born in Georgia way back in the last century but grew up and lived most of my life on the Gulf Coast of Florida in Panama City (beautiful beaches, girls galore–ah, the memories!). In 2004 my wife and I moved to the Upstate region of South Carolina in the shadows of the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains, a land of stunning vistas and numerous waterfalls.
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I’ve been traditionally published since 1990 when my Vietnam War memoir, The Proud Bastards, launched. TPB chronicles my time as a combat U.S. Marine in 1967-68. It’s still in print after all these years, currently with Simon & Schuster/Pocket. I’ve since written a few novels in different genres. I’m also working on a collection of “Dinger, PI” short stories that are being published on Motive Means Opportunity, a crime/mystery blog I share with two other writers of the same ilk. Currently I’m writing the Mac McClellan Mystery series which is set along the coast of the Florida Panhandle where I grew up.
The cover and title for Eeny Meeny by M J Arlidge made this an easy reading choice for me. It gave me a feeling of danger and kept me reading to the end.
The cover and title for Eeny Meeny by M J Arlidge made this an easy reading choice for me. It gave me a feeling of danger and kept me reading to the end. It’s his debut novel…and it’s a good one.
Adult Reading. S&M, bondage.
Hitchhiking, I think not. It will be very hazardous to someone’s health.
Sam and Amy had been taken and Amy wondered if she was capable of doing what was necessary to survive.
The psychological horror for Amy starts on the very first page. Will it destroy her?
Helen was born to be a cop. She is a badass with a flawed, yet soft heart, dedicated to her job.
With a sadist serial killer, Eeny Meeny reads like a Criminal Minds episode.
Some characters are flawed, but for me, that makes them more interesting. What is normal?
Others are innocent, yet doomed. Who and why? Have I met the killer?
Mystery and betrayal. Confrontation and choice? Love and sacrifice.
Someone was playing a devious and cruel game.
It took me a while to figure out the connection.
Be careful. The author is not afraid to kill off anyone if it suits his purpose. I love dark and evil, with mystery and suspense to die for, and we have plenty of it here.
I will be on the lookout for the next story in the Detective Inspector Helen Grace series.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Eeny Meeny by M J Arlidge.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
Two people are abducted, imprisoned, and left with a gun. As hunger and thirst set in, only one walks away alive.
It’s a game more twisted than any Detective Helen Grace has ever seen. If she hadn’t spoken with the shattered survivors herself, she almost wouldn’t believe them.
Helen is familiar with the dark sides of human nature, including her own, but this case—with its seemingly random victims—has her baffled. But as more people go missing, nothing will be more terrifying than when it all starts making sense….
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
M.J. Arlidge has worked in television for the last 15 years, specialising in high end drama production. Arlidge has produced a number of prime-time crime serials for ITV In the last five years, and is currently working on a major adaptation of The Last of the Mohicans for the BBC.
I love conspiracies and political thrillers. The Master’s Key by Helen Hanson is filled with over the top suspense.
Technological terrorism that is terrifying to even think about.
We have betrayal, computer attacks, revenge, malice, and so much more.
The characters run the gamut. From good to bad: the evil bitch that’s pissed she didn’t get her way, the greedy partner, the CEO whose demands cross the line, the sick woman who’s heart is pure and the man who loves her.
The Masters’ Key is very frightening…filled with the technological implications and disasters that can occur when a psycho has you in his sights. I love trying to figure out characters motivations, but this psychos thoughts are so far past my understanding. Would anyone be safe, anywhere, if he wanted to get to you? I don’t think so.
I would like to reach into my Kindle, grab him around the throat, and…
Action packed. The tension level is off the charts, as I see the bad guys in every shadow, around every corner, and behind every door.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of The Masters’ Key by Helen Hanson.
5 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
Clint Masters returns from the pit of disaster . . .
With his allies at the CIA, Clint battles a mysterious new threat targeting his company and the citizens of Boston who now live in fear. Under a gag order from his last confrontation, Clint can’t reveal the truth about the tragedies.
In spite of city-wide panic, Clint sees the terror attacks as personal. And he learns that not everyone at the CIA wants to catch the killer. With public suspicion at redline, Clint must fight to survive.
But can Clint capture the elusive and ruthless maniac? Or will he become the next victim?
An espionage and suspense thriller with a techno bent, THE MASTERS’ KEY is set in Boston and DC.
The Masters CIA Thriller Series: RECOMMENDED READING ORDER:
Q: What does Helen Hanson bring to the thriller genre?
HH — Heart-skipping pace, life-critical stakes, and broody, looming danger wrapped in a twenty-first century skin. We live in a time when technology surrounds us. The kid down the street has instant access to information unfathomable a century ago. Consequently crime had gone digital, online, and victims rarely see what hit them.
Because of my background, I present the technology employed by my characters in a fluent way to readers. They say I write about techno topics in a way that makes them enjoyable. I don’t burden the prose with jargon. Most readers want to know what kind of gun is fired, not how to field strip it.
Q: Tell us about your characters.
HH — My characters are unique beings, each requiring a different spark to light the fire. I explore their sparks.
I create believable characters with realistic dialogue engaged in page-flipping action. I like to watch ordinary people find the extraordinary in themselves when facing adversity. No one is surprised when Jason Bourne takes out a detachment of Marines, but we can’t say that about waitress Maggie Fender.
My protagonists don’t possess the Special Forces skills of a super spy. They stumble into dangerous situations and use technology to advance their position even if it isn’t strictly legal. The stakes have to be worthy of a fight.
Plus, they’re witty people who possess veins of humor. As in life, it punctuates disaster.
Q: Where do your thrillers take place? HH — The action in my thrillers takes place in a variety of locations around the globe. So far, we’ve landed in: Russia, Boston, San Francisco, Pakistan, Washington D.C., Santa Cruz, Venezuela, Half Moon Bay, and Mongolia. Since the characters across my novels exist in the same story world, they often appear in other works, though the current titles are not a single series.
Q: Do you write your thrillers in series? HH — At the request of my readers, I have. The sequel to 3 LIES is now out and called THE MASTERS’ KEY, with a third volume on deck. After that, I’ll expand from DARK POOL and OCEAN OF FEAR because those characters are bound to find new adventures. With an FBI agent, a hacker, and a robotics expert in the lineup, they offer continuous fodder for action and suspense
ABOUT HELEN HANSON
Bestselling author Helen Hanson writes thrillers about desperate people with a high-tech bent. Hackers. The CIA. Industry titans. Guys on sailboats. Mobsters. Their personal maelstroms pit them against unrelenting forces willing to kill. Throughout the journey, they try to find some truth, a little humor, and their humanity — from either end of the trigger.
While Helen writes about the power hungry, she genuinely mistrusts anyone who wants to rule the world.
Helen directed operations for high-tech manufacturers of semiconductors, video games, software, and computers. Her reluctant education behind the redwood curtain culminated in a B.S. in Business Administration with concentrated studies in Computer Science. She also learned to play a mean game of hacky sack.
She is a licensed private pilot with a ticket for single-engine aircraft. Helen and her husband spent their first anniversary with their flight instructor studying for the FAA practical. If you were a passenger on a 737 trying to land at SJC in 1995, she sends her most sincere apologies. Really.
Born in fly-over country, Helen has lived on both coasts, near both borders, and at several locations in between. She lettered in tennis, worked as a machinist, and saw the Clash at the San Francisco Civic Auditorium sometime in the eighties. She currently lives amid the bricks of Texas with her husband, son, and a dog that composes music with squeaky toys.
If you enjoy her books, please consider writing a review. If you don’t, please be kind.
. 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.
Patient Zero, as Donnie Quin would later be dubbed, was dead before the EMT’s wheeeled him out of his apartment. Because he was a cop, however, they took him to Cook County Hospital, en route to joining his two homeless pals at the morgue. A Sharp intern took one look at Donnie and ordered additional blood work. An hour later, the lab results came back. The intern didn’t know what he was looking at, but knew he didn’t like it. He sent the results to his boss, who ignored them when he got caught up in a conference call with Blue Cross bout a new regimen of mammoggram testing they were kicking back as unnecessary.
( page 56, in harcover,1st edition, published in 2011)
Book Beginnings
Ring around the rosy…
A pocket full of posies…
Ashes, ashes…
We all fall down.
A folk memory of the black death, sung by children in the streets of seventeenth century London.
GOODREADS BLURB:Chicago cop turned private investigator Michael Kelly is racing to save his city from a deadly new foe: a biological weapon unleashed underground.
When a lightbulb falls in a subway tunnel, it releases a pathogen that could kill millions. While the mayor postures, people begin to die, especially on the city’s grim West Side. Hospitals become morgues. L trains are converted into rolling hearses. Finally, the government acts, sealing off entire sections of the city—but are they keeping people out or in? Meanwhile, Michael Kelly’s hunt for the people who poisoned his city takes him into the tangled underworld of Chicago’s West Side gangs and the even more frightening world of black biology—an elite discipline emerging from the nation’s premier labs, where scientists play God and will stop at nothing to preserve their secrecy.
It’s a brave new world . . . and the most audacious page-turner yet from an emerging modern master.
The tension and suspense from the very beginning of Infernal by Joseph Browder, kept me reading at a slower pace than normal, because the storyline does not tell me where I am going and as I traverse the pages with curiosity and caution I don’t want to miss a crucial piece of the puzzle.
Have you ever heard of Thundersnow. Well, you will now.
Joseph has done a fabulous job of creating many worlds, some with fairies, some with vampires…some beautiful and lush, some ugly and desolate, demons and devils.
Infernal has a religious bent, but not the preachy kind. It left me with more questions than answers. It reminds us to be careful when developing new science applications without knowing the repercussions.
The battle of good and evil had me questioning God, science and the idea of Utopia. One man’s ideal can be another man’s nightmare.
Why are we here? What is our purpose?
From Artificial Intelligence to God to dragons, the questions remained with me long after I finished reading.
It does start out a bit slow, as I try to figure out what’s going on, but I was devouring the pages as I approached the end, wanting to know…who will be left standing.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
Richard Farris, a man with a dark past, survives the worst blizzard to ravage the Kansas plains in decades only to discover a woman near death in a snow bank. Cut off by the storm, with only his faithful St. Bernard Charlie to aid him, Richard fights for his life, Charlie’s, and the life of the woman, Sophia, against a shadowy military unit that descends upon his farm.
His home and his life in ruins, Richard goes on the run. In California, Sophia, the woman he watched die in Kansas, finds him again — one step ahead of another strike force sent by BanaTech, a worlds-spanning corporate empire intent on enslaving humanity at the bidding of hellish supernatural beings.
Now entangled in an ancient war between angels and demons, Richard flees with Sophia through multiple versions of the Universe and even through time, across landscapes of horror where fantasy is reality and nothing is what it seems…not even Richard’s own identity.
They were once of the All. Something wonderful and full of light. But they became wicked…defiled the All and were cast out. So they seek to destroy every good thing. They are evil in its purest form. They are Infernal.
ABOUT T JOSEPH BROWDER
T. Joseph Browder was born in Lima, Ohio in 1969 and is the author of ‘Dark Matters,’ ‘Plague,’ and ‘Infernal,’ the first in a series of novels about the Multiverse and the age-old battle between good and evil.
Of writing T. Joseph Browder says, “I’m an addict. Some people are addicted to alcohol, some to marijuana, coke, or heroin. I’m addicted to writing. It’s my drug of choice and like the monkey on the back of the heroin user it compels me to sit down at my computer every day and check out of reality. Since I work a full-time job in the meat industry my time is limited. If I don’t ‘use’ often enough I suffer withdrawals. The pain is tangible. For me, writing is a high like no other. It’s one helluva buzz.”
A student of Psychology, T. Joseph Browder also holds Doctorates in Divinity, Metaphysics, and Religious Humanities. “I’m an ordained minister,” Browder says, “but that’s a prerequisite for the education I was pursuing. I’ve performed a wedding ceremony or two but have never felt the urge to preach before a congregation.”
Like his education, Mr. Browder’s writing is driven by an insatiable curiosity for what makes people behave the way they do, make the choices they make, and feel the way they feel. Drawing on an intimate knowledge of the evil alive in humanity his work centers on the darker aspects of life, the sudden changes and left turns life throws at all of us and how we react to those things that lurk around the next corner and go bump in the night.
Mr. Browder currently lives in Kansas with his wife, Marie, and is hard at work on a new novel.
A Human Element is about man’s inhumanity to man, man’s callous disregard of other’s lives, but also, the lengths some people will go to do the right thing.
When her parents are killed and she is left alone, she is committed to finding the killer.
I felt such tension, suspense, fear and dread for the characters, that I was talking to them. Shouting at them. Telling them to watch out. He’s coming.
I LOVE this book. The further into A Human Element I read, the more engrossed I become. My heart beats faster as my eyes race across the words…faster and faster. I just have to know what is going to happen. I read on and it gets creepier and creepier.
One by one, Laura Armstrong’s friends and adoptive family members are being murdered, and despite her unique healing powers, she can do nothing to stop it. The savage killer haunts her dreams, tormenting her with the promise that she is next.
Determined to find the killer, she follows her visions to the site of a crashed meteorite in her hometown. There, she meets Ben Fieldstone, who seeks answers about his parents’ death the night the meteorite struck. In a race to stop a madman, they unravel a frightening secret that binds them together.
But the killer’s desire to destroy Laura face-to-face leads to a showdown that puts Laura and Ben’s emotional relationship and Laura’s pure spirit to the test. With the killer closing in, Laura discovers her destiny is linked to his, and she has two choices—redeem him or kill him.
I loved A Human Element by Donna Galanti, so to continue the story in A Hidden Element was a no brainer. This is Book II of the trilogy, which contains a mish mash of genres: science fiction, mystery, thrills and romance.
A Hidden Element does fill in some of the story from A Human Element, but for the full effect I recommend starting with Book I.
I knew bad stuff was coming and I was afraid for Charlie. He is an innocent, but will he be swayed to the dark side?
Some of the aliens want to just live among us, fit in with us, side by side.
Others want so much more.
Aliens or human, it seems like we all have the same wants and desires, motivations and ego, dark and light, good and bad.
Charlie: Tomorrow. He would tell her everything tomorrow.
Adrian: He couldn’t wait to see what tomorrow delivered.
Ben: Tomorrow. He would fix this tomorrow.
Donna Galanti can sure spin an amazing tale that will keep you reading. The characters captivated me as I journeyed along with them, trying their best to make the right choices. I struggled to figure out who was good and who was bad, who would be the betrayer and who would survive. There are plenty of surprises and suspense and food for thought.
What would we do if we found out aliens walked among us? I have a feeling it wouldn’t be good. Would it be like First Encounter or War of the Worlds? Would you be curious or afraid? Would you want them living next door to you?
I’m just saying….
5 Stars
ABOUT A HIDDEN ELEMENT: Evil lurks within…
When Caleb Madroc is used against his will as part of his father’s plan to breed a secret community and infiltrate society with their unique powers, he vows to save his oppressed people and the two children kept from him. Seven years later, Laura and Ben Fieldstone’s son is abducted, and they are forced to trust a madman’s son who puts his life on the line to save them all. The enemy’s desire to own them—or destroy them—leads to a survival showdown. Laura and Ben must risk everything to defeat a new nemesis that wants to rule the world with their son, and Caleb may be their only hope—if he survives. But must he sacrifice what he most desires to do so?
Writing Your Last Line by Donna Galanti
What makes you decide to buy a book? Do you open it open up to the first page and decide on the first paragraph, or even first line? I have one friend who studies first lines. She roams a library or bookstore and randomly selects books to read their first lines then dissects them based on how drawn in she is. Did it grab her attention? Did it raise a question? Did it introduce the main character? And most importantly, does she want to keep reading?
Those first lines. They either grab you or they don’t. As writers, we only have a few seconds to impress readers enough so they will buy our book.
But what about those last lines? Those lines that complete a scene, chapter, or THE END itself that propel you to turn the page and read on, or that keep the story alive in your mind long after you’ve finished it.
One early reader of A Hidden Element was intrigued by the last lines of my chapters. She actually typed them up and sent them to me because she was so thrilled with how each one ended like a cliffhanger and kept her reading.
Here’s a sampling:
Killing was useful in so many ways.
The dark took her anyway.
She would do anything to save her family.
And that scared him more than anything.
She welcomed Death, but he did not come for her.
The nothing took him.
She screamed and ran into a darker hell.
The last words he heard whispered were, “forever dead”.
And it was not of this Earth.
He drifted away in it.
He could live with that, if only he could be a father to his sons.
The old fear hit him again in the gut.
The words shattered through him like hammer to glass – not from Earth.
He was empty inside, as he had always been.
The first stone flew.
The scars of Rachel and his sons seared his heart forever.
He was just a kid suddenly terrified of his own dad – and his own destiny.
He looked up at the open door that welcomed him.
After fifteen years the nightmare had begun – again.
They marched on toward a hidden enemy who watched – and waited.
Would you turn the page to read the next chapter – and the next? When you read these chapter lines together do they tell a story to you?
And what about our last lines in life? They are the final cliffhanger we leave the world with, leaving those we leave behind to wonder about.
Here are some cliffhanger last lines from famous folks. Would you want to keep reading about their life? Would their life story resonate with you?
Let us cross over the river and sit in the shade of the trees. – General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson
I die hard but am not afraid to go. – George Washington, US President
Get my swan costume ready. – Anna Pavlova, ballerina
Go on, get out – last words are for fools who haven’t said enough. – Karl Marx, revolutionary
Why do you weep. Did you think I was immortal? – Louis XIV, King of France
I am about to take my last voyage, a great leap in the dark. – Thomas Hobbes, writer
It is very beautiful over there. – Thomas Edison, inventor
All my possessions for a moment of time. – Elizabeth I, Queen of England
What will be your last line?
PRAISE FOR A HIDDEN ELEMENT:
“Chilling and dark…a twisty journey into another world.” —J.T. Ellison, New York Times bestselling author of When Shadows Fall
“Fascinating…a haunting story…”—Rebecca Cantrell, New York Times bestselling author of The World Beneath
“Will keep you up long past your bedtime…a pulse-pounding read.”—Allan Leverone, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of Final Vector
PRAISE FOR THE ELEMENT TRILOGY:
“Unrelenting, devious but full of heart. Highly recommended.” —Jonathan Maberry, New York Times bestselling author of Code Zero
“Chilling and dark…a twisty journey into another world.” —J.T. Ellison, New York Times bestselling author of When Shadows Fall
“Fascinating…a haunting story…”—Rebecca Cantrell, New York Times bestselling author of The World Beneath
Donna Galanti is the author of the paranormal suspense Element Trilogy (Imajin Books) and the fantasy adventure Joshua and The Lightning Road series (Month9Books). Donna is a contributing editor for International Thriller Writers the Big Thrill magazine and blogs with other middle grade authors at Project Middle Grade Mayhem. She’s lived from England as a child, to Hawaii as a U.S. Navy photographer. She lives in Pennsylvania with her family in an old farmhouse that has lots of nooks and crannies, but sadly no ghosts. Visit her at www.elementtrilogy.com and www.donnagalanti.com.
ENTER GIVEAWAY!
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Win $15 Amazon Gift Card, e-book of The Dark Inside, Element Trilogy story collection, and become a character in the final Element Trilogy book!
I bonded with Krista quickly because of her curiosity, the need to know why the zombies do what they do and we head to Florida, traveling through the grisly horror with the excellent writing and storyline, including a laugh or two along the way.
GOODREADS BLURB:Seventeen-year-old Krista must quickly figure out how she’s going to survive in the zombie-destroyed world. The one advantage humans have is that the zombies hate humid environments, so they’re migrating west to escape its deteriorating effects. The survivors plan to construct a wall at North Platte to keep the undead out, and Krista has come to Nebraska to start a new life.
Zombies aren’t the only creatures she has to be cautious of—the other survivors have a dark side. Krista must fight not only to live but also to defend everything she holds dear—her country, her freedom, and ultimately, those she loves.
Join Krista in her quest to survive in this thrilling apocalyptic novel by Pembroke Sinclair.
Pembroke Sinclair keeps the twist and turns coming and the seed that was planted in my mind in Book I, Life After The Undead, comes to life, yet they battle the depths of depravity that are so far out there my mind has a hard time wrapping around the fight that seems futile, battling zombies and humans alike because, “What are the options?”
GOODREADS BLURB:Seventeen-year-old Krista has already proven she can survive the zombie hordes.
After moving to North Platte with her distant cousin General Liet to help build a wall that will keep the zombies in the West, it becomes apparent that the zombies aren’t the biggest threat—some survivors are far more dangerous than Krista had ever imagined.
With the help of Quinn, a survivor and fighter from the zombie-infested wildlands of the West, they free the garrison at North Platte from the power-hungry Liet. But there is a bigger battle to fight.
The Families who rule Florida and use intimidation and the threat of the zombie horde to coerce their territory want Krista and Quinn captured, the zombies want to devour them, and other survivors want them dead. Caught between powerful forces, will they survive long enough to devise a new plan and put it into action? Or will they self-destruct?
Find out in book two of this thrilling apocalyptic series by author Pembroke Sinclair.
This original and thought provoking novel of zombies, angels and God gave me lots of food for thought as each person told their story while driving through a horde of zombies with body parts flying willy nilly and I was not able to quit thinking about the story long after I put the book down.
GOODREADS BLURB: Drunk womanizer Duke, spends his life selfishly taking care of himself and screw the rest of the world. After one particular black-out alcoholic binge, he wakes to find the world changed—the dead are rising from their graves.
Lonely, guilt-ridden Hank is someone who minds his own business, and sympathetic but strong-willed Lana is on the receiving end of harassment by other students.
Forced together for survival, the three misfits must confront their world gone strange. God said the people of Earth would be punished for their sins, and so the end has come.
Duke, Hank, and Lana must walk their own paths to salvation, but they also must depend on each other. Will their salvation lie in Finding Eden? A Zombie story with inspirational elements.
If you like apocalyptic/dystopian adventure with characters that will win your heart, then Novus is for you. This is a series, so we will follow Cayden and his mismatched band of “family” as they struggle to survive and create a new world.
Novus by Crystal Marcos is the first book in The Cresecren Chronicles, an action/adventure, dystopian/apocalyptic romance of an inhuman sort. This is a series and after finishing the first book, I can hardly wait for the next.
I was drawn to Cayden’s story from the opening chapter. He is a Cresecren, created to be used in whatever manner his human’s see fit, a slave. When Cayden has served his usefulness, he is sent to Gavaron, with other Cresecren considered rejects and rebels.
He immediately hooked up with Alecander, even though they do not have friends, sex or mates…like humans.They are infertile. Is that considered a curse or a blessing? So what did he feel for Linnaya?
When we do get to Novus, a charming town – “A place to start over, a place to begin, a clean state…” – Just when I thought they were safe, this mismatched band of friends will be put to the test.
I became complacent, lulled into a sense of comfort by Crystal Marcos’s writing. Things are not what they appear to be and there is imminent danger of a different kind.
I felt happy in those moments when the characters could celebrate and enjoy life, and deep sorrow when tragedy struck.
The descriptive writing led me to visualize the action and the world that surrounds the characters. Example: Every once in a while her copper sandals would peek out as if to say hello. How great is that?
Novus made me think of our Civil War, but with a twist. The “people” just want to be free, human and Cresecren alike. The characters have become a family, of sorts, and I am totally invested in their survival. I marveled at their willingness to put their life on the line for each other as they began to realize their feelings and the ability to care. The Cresecren are not just robots, with no feelings and desires of their own. They had more in common with humans than anyone thought…or is that what put them in so much danger, hunted down like criminals or terrorists.
I love Novus and I look forward to more Cresecren adventures with Cayden, Linnaya and the family, as they struggle to make a free life and stay alive.
I received a copy of Novus by Crystal Marcos in return for an honest and unbiased review.
4 Stars
Summary from Goodreads: ~”Official Selection” Winner in the E-Book Young Adult category, 2015 New Apple Book Awards!~
~Winner Best Books in the Young Adult category, 2016 Pinnacle Book Achievement Awards!~
~”Honorable Mention” Winner in the Sci-fi category, 2016 New York Book Festival!~
~B.R.A.G Medallion Honoree, 2016 indieBRAG!~
~”Honorable Mention” Winner in the Young Adult category, 2016 Hollywood Book Festival!~
~Bronze Medal Winner in the Young Adult – General category, 2016 Readers’ Favorite International Book Awards!~
5 Stars -I would recommend not starting Novus (The Cresecren Chronicles, Book 1) by Crystal Marcos if you have anything planned for the rest of the day, as you will most likely not want to put the book down! . . . It’s the kind of book whose characters you miss when you finish the book. -Readers’ Favorite
Ideal for Hunger Games and Divergent fans, Crystal Marcos delivers Novus, a riveting novel set in a dystopian future of action-adventure, suspense, and romance. Intriguing characters and a gripping storyline keep the reader turning page after page.
Being a teenager is hard enough. And what if your life’s path is predetermined? On top of that, you aren’t even Human?
Cayden was given life as a Cresecren. He expected to live out his days with the dysfunctional Human family he was assigned to serve. One fateful night, however, landed him in Gavaron, the home of maimed, elderly, or defiant Cresecren.
Beyond its borders is the Den, an area much more dangerous than he ever imagined. Now seventeen, Cayden unwittingly becomes involved in a conspiracy and is one of a handful of survivors fleeing a deadly attack. They set off on a perilous journey in search of refuge and the truth. Along the way, Cayden begins to comprehend the difference between fully living and merely surviving, while trying to balance his emotions and a forbidden love.
The eBook is $0.99 thruSept 30! CELEBRATING the NEWEST BOOK AWARDS during the AUTHOR’S BIRTHDAY MONTH!
I slid the door open to find Kayella standing wide-eyed. She looked shaken, beads of sweat covering her forehead. Her arms were crossed in a protective position, and one finger twisted a lock of her auburn hair.
“Kayella? What happened? Are you hurt?” I asked as I pulled her inside and glanced both ways down the seemingly deserted corridors. I slid the door shut.
“What is it, Kayella? Did Dahsie do something to you?”
“No!”
I waited patiently and offered her my rest pod. She remained standing, staring ahead.
She swallowed. “You have no reason to believe me. None at all. Ever since I can remember, my dreams have reflected reality. They are jumbled and I never remember the entire dream but something always stands out and I see it come true.”
“Why has this brought you here?”
“You can’t go into the Den to the Supply Depot. At least, I feel you shouldn’t go.” Kayella rubbed her forehead with the sleeve of her blouse.
“Let me get you a drink.” I pulled down a metal can and filled it with water.
Before I turned around, Kayella’s hand was on my arm. Her footsteps were so silent that she startled me. I pivoted to look at her as she spoke a single word hauntingly. “Death.” Kayella looked so serious that I did not speak my initial thought of “nonsense.” Instead, I handed her the can and asked her to tell me about her dream.
“It won’t make any sense to you. How can I explain something I don’t understand? They are bits and pieces of a puzzle.” Kayella became flustered, her hand began to tremble, and water sloshed to the floor. “I came because I felt I needed to warn you not to go tomorrow.” She grabbed my arm tightly. “Have someone go in your place. I have to go and warn Alecander.” She dropped the can into the sink, splashing water along the wall. Before I could stop her, she ran out the door and down the corridor. I stood there, taken aback. The Kayella I knew was timid and sweet. I knew nothing of this Kayella.
Death. Such an ominous word. Is it that I might die? Or Alecander? What exactly had Kayella seen? Did it even matter?
BOOK TRAILER:
About the Author
Award-winning author Crystal Marcos has been a storyteller her entire life. As the oldest of five children, she had to do a lot of entertaining. She lives on the Kitsap Peninsula in Washington State with her husband, daughter Kaylee, and infant son Jaxon. Crystal is the author of BELLYACHE: A Delicious Tale and HEADACHE: The Hair-Raising Sequel to BELLYACHE. Novus, her third book and first Young Adult novel, is Book One of The Cresecren Chronicles.
“Thanks for the help,” I said, trying to be polite. “No problem.” As she leaned in a little closer, my toes dug into my soles. Her whisper caressed my ear. “I slipped in a couple extra bags of oats and a jug of milk.” She winked. “Don’t tell.” I was not used to a Human being that close or that generous before. I just stood there, staring back at her. “There you go again, staring! If I wasn’t a confident person you would give me a complex.” Linnayah bent down, lifted up a box and handed it to me. I took it and loaded the last of the boxes into our cargo vehicle. For the remainder of our time in the Supply Depot, I tried hard not to look for Linnayah but failed miserably. I could not help it, she fascinated me. Why would she give us anything extra to eat? Why risk getting in trouble? Where does she live? What is her family like? Where does she go to school? I would like to read her school report sometime. Would she get high marks for it? Will I see her again?
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.
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.
5 Stars
Bestselling author Helen Hanson writes thrillers about desperate people with a high-tech bent. Hackers. The CIA. Industry titans. Guys on sailboats. Mobsters. Their personal maelstroms pit them against unrelenting forces willing to kill. Throughout the journey, they try to find some truth, a little humor, and their humanity — from either end of the trigger.
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.
4 Stars
T. Joseph Browder was born in Lima, Ohio in 1969 and is the author of ‘Dark Matters,’ ‘Plague,’ and ‘Infernal,’ the first in a series of novels about the Multiverse and the age-old battle between good and evil.
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