Blood Bank
by Zoe Markham
Genre: YA Fantasy/Horror
Release Date: July 2017
MY REVIEW
There is so much that drew me to Blood Bank by Zoe Markham – the title, the cover, the subject matter…
At first, I kept getting confused and had to go back and read the blurb. It seemed to be all over the place. But, maybe that was just me, because it didn’t take long for it to come together.
I know people tend to have a love/hate relationship with Twilight, so I must warn you right out of the gate, if you hate Twilight, you might want to move on. I loved Twilight and the further into the story I go, the more it comes to mind. Works great for me.
Zack owes a vampire a debt and must come when called. The debt will be paid in blood…his. They own him. There is no way out, but death. Or is there?
Zack is summoned and he leaves his girlfriend, Lucy, high and dry in a seedy part of town and I know something wicked this way comes.
Ben is part of The Clan and they use the internet and Club Dystopia to fulfill their financial and feeding needs. They walk among us, they look like us…sorta…talk like us, and could be standing right next to us. You do not want to get on the wrong side of them.
But Ben is different and is about to cross the vampiric line…Do vampires have souls?
They want nothing to do with women. Why? Is it true that we are the stronger of the species?
Zoe Markham got me good when Lucy was attacked with needles. I was fooled and I love when an author is able to pull that off.
As the characters are drawn together, the story heats up, the danger rises and lives are at stake, human and vampire alike. How they’ll get out of the mess they’re in, I am trying to figure out. They are flawed characters and I empathize with their conflicting thoughts and feelings.
OH MAN…no ending. I was left in an okay place, and I can guess most of what is to come, but I still want to take the journey with Lucy, Ben and Zack, right to the end.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Blood Bank by Zoe Markham.
4 Stars
Summary from Goodreads:
Benjamin is a programmer moonlighting as a security guard at Dystopia, a seedy club that caters to the down-and-outs, the desperate, the addicts. He’s been building his reputation, saving for a way out – but when he rescues a young woman from the nearby estate, he may just have stepped too far out of line…
Lucy is ordinary; a girl with a deadbeat boyfriend, a normal life and college studies. But when her world takes an odd twist, she starts to wonder about the people she’s meeting, the situations she’s in, the odd aversions and attacks happening around her. They’re just coincidences…aren’t they?
And Zack is in deep trouble. He’s losing his girlfriend, drowning in debt, and has dwindling job prospects – and that’s not the worst of it. His debt is to people who won’t ever forget it, and who want the things closest to Zack’s heart: his blood – and his life. In the heart of Swindon, an ancient order hides in plain sight, spreading their influence through the streets like a disease. But despite their widespread power they are catching up with the modern world: the vampires are going online, and the Order is about to become more powerful than even they would have dreamed…
About the Author
Mild-mannered editor by day, puppet-master of broken souls by night.
This is the third book in the series, and the finale, so I will do my best to not include spoilers. Just make you want to run right out and buy this mystery series. If you are a creature feature lover, like me, this will be a must read collection you want on your reading shelf.
It’s nice to be back in Point Pleasant, with familiar friends and monsters, waiting for the next adventure to begin.
Book II left me feeling so sad for Mothman and I worry about what will become of him. He has lived for A Thousand Yesteryears, the only one of his kind.
The Ouija Board had foretold QM would become a part of Sarah’s life. WTH is QM?
The curse brought HIM to Point Pleasant.
Caden is a cop in Point Pleasant and knows the Mothman, and others, that I won’t speak about. You’ll have to meet them all yourself…and you might want to have someone with you when you do.
Lach is back and there is always trouble when he makes an appearance.
Stone amulets…a deadly blade…a curse
Shawn and Preech will play their part as the curse rises from the past, demanding retribution. You can never escape the past…innocent or guilty, it just doesn’t matter.
A Desolate Hour, great title by the way, has an aura of menace from the beginning.
“A Desolate Hour when a tear in time renders past and present in one.” How can that be anything but bad news?
When Mothman vanishes for long periods of time and everything is normal in Point Pleasant, I wonder where he goes, what he’s doing. He didn’t ask for his fate. Alone. Isolated. Angry. Suffering.
As the people and forces in Point Pleasant draw together, it is ‘the culmination of A Desolate Hour’, and the door closes on the Mothman’s story. Mae Clair did a bang up job with the ending, leaving me satisfied, but…
I am so sad to be leaving Point Pleasant and the marvelous characters and adventure I have had, but I do not despair. I know Mae Clair has another marvelous story up her sleeve and I aim to get my hands on it.
If you are a creature feature lover, if you crave reading about myths and legends, if you like to be scared and surprised, run and soar through the air, this is one series you don’t want to miss.
I voluntarily reviewed a copy of A Desolate Hour by Mae Clair.
5 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
Sins of the past could destroy all of their futures . . .
For generations, Quentin Marsh’s family has seen its share of tragedy, though he remains skeptical that their misfortunes are tied to a centuries-old curse. But to placate his pregnant sister, Quentin makes the pilgrimage to Point Pleasant, West Virginia, hoping to learn more about the brutal murder of a Shawnee chief in the 1700s. Did one of the Marsh ancestors have a hand in killing the chief —the man who cursed the town with his dying breath?
While historian Sarah Sherman doesn’t believe in curses either, she’s compelled to use her knowledge of Point Pleasant to uncover the long-buried truth. The river town has had its own share of catastrophes, many tied to the legendary Mothman, the winged creature said to haunt the woods. But Quentin’s arrival soon reveals that she may have more of a stake than she realized. It seems that she and Quentin possess eerily similar family heirlooms. And the deeper the two of them dig into the past, the more their search enrages the ancient mystical forces surrounding Point Pleasant. As chaos and destruction start to befall residents, can they beat the clock to break the curse before the Mothman takes his ultimate revenge?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mae Clair opened a Pandora’s Box of characters when she was a child and never looked back. Her father, an artist who tinkered with writing, encouraged her to create make-believe worlds by spinning tales of far-off places on summer nights beneath the stars.
Mae loves creating character-driven fiction in settings that vary from contemporary to mythical. Wherever her pen takes her, she flavors her stories with conflict, romance and elements of mystery. Married to her high school sweetheart, she lives in Pennsylvania and is passionate about writing, old photographs, a good Maine lobster tail and cats.
How does the magical community spend Christmas? Well, they don’t scrub the floors. A simple wave of their had and the house is clean. I would love to be able to do that too.
BUT, Chris isn’t supposed to use magic. He’s a witch, so, like Harry Potter, he feels the need to test his abilities. He’s ahead of his class and easily bored. If he doesn’t quit getting in magical trouble, they’ll strip his powers and send him to human school.
He hates everything about Christmas, except his birthday, until….
He meets Nichole.
At first it’s fun and games, but when Nichole asks Chris for his help, he drops everything.
This sweet and innocent romance shares young puppy love, wonder and adventure, traveling the world through magic, flying through the air in Nichole’s Lamborghini.
What a sight to see.
In the magical realm, all things are possible, which is why I love to read about the paranormal and supernatural, and C K Dawn has done a wonderful creating a world of imagination and dreams that will entertain the young and old alike.
. 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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Bullet by Laurell K Hamilton is another book I picked up from a grocery store bin.
It must have been fate, because I rarely step foot in a grocery store. LOL
I am always up for one of her novels. How about you?
“If my choice is between opening a vein to you with Jean-Claude and Anita, or making that sadistic bastard Narcissus the animal king of St Louis, I’ll donate the blood.”
( page 56, in hardback,1st edition, published in 2010)
Book Beginnings
I was worming my way through a mass of parents and children with a tiny clown hat clutched in one hand. In my navy blue skirt suit I looked like a dozen other mothers who had had to come straight from work to the dance recital. My hair was a little curly and a little too black for all the blond mothers, but no one gave me a second glance. The one saving grace as I threaded my way through the crowd of parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents and siblings was that I wasn’t one of the parent. I was just here as moral support and last minute costume rescuer.. It was just Monica Vespucci’s style to leave part of her son’s costume at her house and need an emergency save. Micah and I had been running late with client meetings so we got to ride tot the rescue, and now since the vast majority of the performers were female I was the only one safe to go backstage without scandalizing the mothers. What did little girls who only had male relatives do at things Like this? My dad would have been at a loss.
GOODREADS BLURB:The music came back up and the next group of little girls, slightly older, came out. There was a lot of that in the next hour and change. I liked dance, and it was no reflection on the kids, but my will to live began to seep away on about the fifth group of sequined children…
Anita Blake is back in St. Louis and trying to live a normal life-as normal as possible for someone who is a legal vampire executioner and a U. S. Marshal. There are lovers, friends and their children, school programs to attend. In the midst of all the ordinary happiness a vampire from Anita’s past reaches out. She was supposed to be dead, killed in an explosion, but the Mother of All Darkness is the first vampire, their dark creator. It’s hard to kill a god. This dark goddess has reached out to her here-in St. Louis, home of everyone Anita loves most. The Mother of All Darkness has decided she has to act now or never, to control Anita, and all the vampires in America.
The Mother of All Darkness believes that the triumvirate created by master vampire Jean-Claude with Anita and the werewolf Richard Zeeman has enough power for her to regain a body and to immigrate to the New World. But the body she wants to possess is already taken. Anita is about to learn a whole new meaning to sharing her body, one that has nothing to do with the bedroom. And if the Mother of All Darkness can’t succeed in taking over Anita’s body for herself, she means to see that no one else has the use of it, ever again. Even Belle Morte, not always a friend to Anita, has sent word: “Run if you can…”
The Jersey Devil is not my first Hunter Shea novel, nor will it be my last. His creature features are packed with horrifying thrills and chills that entertain me for hours and I always hate to see the story end.
I borrowed this paperback copy from Laura, my sister at fuonlyknew.
ALSO, be sure and check out Hunter Shea’s bio. I find him VERY interesting and I think you will too.
I love creature features and The Jersey Devil by Hunter Shea is a gripping and terrifying horror tale that unrolled like movie film as the images flitted through my mind. I am an avid watcher of B movies and this cover told me all I needed to know.
Boompa knew the legend of The Jersey Devil was true and his family had been waiting…waiting…waiting…knowing this day would come.
I love that Boompa, a farmer in his eighties, used a computer to keep aware of any monster sightings. The Willet family had prepared for this moment their entire lives and they will fight to the death.
I can’t imagine being in the woods and I mean so far back in the boonies that even the people that live there are off the grid…dangerous…Imagine how dark it is, how every rustle of leaves or crack of a branch leaves you shivering in fear. I have sat in my back yard, very late at night photographing the moon and freaked myself out listening to the sounds of the night, looking over my shoulder wondering if it is really some harmless lizard or…
The characters all have their purpose, some heroes and some not so much, and some who will not make it out alive and I felt Hunter Shea disposed of them in a way that made me feel it was okay.
So…look to the side, look to the back, look below, look above…
This action packed legend comes to life early with bloody, savage, gripping and terrifying horror. These super charged monsters will take you to a gruesome place where no one is safe. You won’t want to miss it.
5 Stars
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GOODREADS BLURB
“Old school horror.” —Jonathan Maberry
THE LEGEND LIVES
Everyone knows the legend of the Jersey Devil. Some believe it is an abomination of nature, a hybrid winged beast from hell that stalks the Pine Barrens of southern New Jersey searching for prey. Others believe it is a hoax, a campfire story designed to scare children. But one man knows the truth…
THE DEVIL AWAKES
Sixty years ago, Boompa Willet came face to face with the Devil—and lived to tell the tale. Now, the creature’s stomping grounds are alive once again with strange sightings, disappearances, and worse. After all these years, Boompa must return to the Barrens, not to prove the legend is real but to wipe it off the face of the earth…
THE BEAST MUST DIE
It’ll take more than just courage to defeat the Devil. It will take four generations of the Willet clan, a lifetime of survivalist training, and all the firepower they can carry. But timing is critical. A summer music festival has attracted crowds of teenagers. The woods are filled with tender young prey. But this time, the Devil is not alone. The evil has grown into an unholy horde of mutant monstrosities. And hell has come home to New Jersey…
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ABOUT HUNTER SHEA
Hunter Shea is the product of a misspent childhood watching scary movies, reading forbidden books and wishing Bigfoot would walk past his house. He doesn’t just write about the paranormal – he actively seeks out the things that scare the hell out of people and experiences them for himself. Hunter’s novels can even be found on display at the International Cryptozoology Museum. His video podcast, Monster Men, is one of the most watched horror podcasts in the world. He’s a bestselling author of over 13 (lucky number!) books, all of them written with the express desire to quicken heartbeats and make spines tingle. Living with his wonderful family and two cats, he’s happy to be close enough to New York City to gobble down Gray’s Papaya hotdogs when the craving hits.
I was born to die… But to defy fate is to control your own destiny.
Moving to Big Bear Lake was supposed to be a fresh start, but when Taylor Sparks is thrown into a supernatural world, her reality comes crashing down around her when she finds out she’s a KEY player in a dangerous game created 1,000 years ago that will give the witches and werewolves the upper hand against the vampires. Blood will be spilled and secrets will be revealed in this action-packed thrill ride and paranormal romance.
Will Taylor dive into a paranormal world she knows nothing about to be with the one her heart can’t live without?
Or will her life spiral out of control when she learns her blood is needed, just the serum necessary to lift an ancient curse from a group of supernatural beings and give the witches back their magic?
Werewolves will serve as her guardians and protect her until the first full moon of the new year, the night of her sacrifice…
Will she accept her destiny?
Or will she refuse to let evil swallow her up?
Excerpt
Grabbing my purse, I hurried out of the car and locked the doors. Just as I started to walk up the driveway, I felt the cold steel of a muzzle against my neck. My heart hammered against my ribs.
“One sound, and you’re dead,” a harsh, male voice said.
I froze in panic as somebody slipped a black blindfold over my eyes, then gagged me. A man duct-taped my mouth, while another tied my ankles, legs, and wrists with rope. He hoisted me over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry, and horror ripped through me. Help! I’m being kidnapped! my brain yelled, but I dare not cry out for fear of what they would do to me. I did try to fight back, at least to some degree, but I was tied and gagged and could do little about being manhandled.
“Put her in the trunk!” a man yelled.
As I fought, I was thrown, neck-first, into the trunk of a car, and my mind began to race. This can’t be happening! I tried to call out for my parents. If only they could hear me. If only I could scream, maybe Max would bark, and Mom or Dad would come to the door. If only…
Tires screeched, and the vehicle took off down the street. The smell of gasoline made me gag. I tried to kick and scream, but it was tight quarters, and I was still all tied up. I cringed at their muffled voices, wondering what they wanted from me.
“I’m tellin’ ya,” one of the guys said, “we oughtta just kill her now.”
My skin crawled at his nonchalance.
“He’s right,” the other said. “Just do it, right here, right now. We’ve outsmarted her protectors, but for how long? We need to do it swiftly and quickly, before they return.”
“You know the rules,” a low voice hissed. “If we just kill her, they’ll have the legal right to choose another, and we’ll be right back at square one again. We’ve gotta do this by the book.”
“I agree,” a woman said. “We need to stop the Millennium ceremony from happening.”
“I don’t want to kill her,” another woman said. “She’s just…an innocent victim in all this. It isn’t right.”
“If we don’t kill her, they’ll win,” another said. “They’ll gain the upper hand when she gives them what they need.”
“Our enemy will stop at nothing to destroy us,” another said tensely. “Killing her will keep them from becoming more powerful than they already are.”
“It will bring them to their knees!” another shouted.
Great, I thought. A case of mistaken identity is the last thing I need. By their talk, I assumed that killing me was some way to get back at their rivals, though I had no idea who those rivals were. The mafia? Some kind of…street gang? I had absolutely no idea, but I desperately wanted to tell them who I really was, to let them know they obviously had me confused me with somebody else. Maybe if I explain that, they’ll let me go. After all, I hadn’t seen their faces, so I wasn’t a threat. Then it dawned on me: Jesse had just revealed his identity to me. Maybe his clan wants to kill me because I know too much. I wanted to scream at them and tell them, to assure them that I’d never reveal Jesse’s identity, that I’d take his deep, dark secret to the grave with me. Jesse meant everything to me, and I would never betray his trust like that; unfortunately, my captors didn’t give me a chance to explain that to them. I wasn’t completely sure if it was vampires that had me. But they had heard me messing with my ropes and that took Immortal hearing. No human could hear that over the sound of the engine, the radio, and voices talking.
We drove down the lonely stretch of road, and I didn’t hear one car pass by. I considered trying to pop the trunk open so I could jump for freedom. I figured the car was going about eighty, but I figured it’d be easier to heal from a broken neck than a bullet to the head. The rope bindings cut into my skin and began to sting and burn. I wiggled my numbing hands, trying to find some relief, when a man yelled back at me.
“Stop it!” he said. “Or else I’ll kill you right here.”
I shivered at his voice, then obeyed his commands. There was no way he could have seen me no way he could have heard me picking at the ropes. I contemplated how they were going to kill me. It had to be a contract hit, but I wondered why there were so many of them there just to take out a defenseless woman. I also wondered how they could be so heartless.
The vehicle stopped, and my stomach dropped when I heard the doors swing open. This is it, I thought. My time has come. When footsteps approached, I held my breath. The trunk popped open, and strong arms lifted me out and set me down on a hard surface, maybe concrete or asphalt. My legs were wobbly, but one of the men steadied me and untied my ankles. Jerk, I sarcastically seethed. The cold night air hit and my hair blew around. I tried to see through the blindfold, but all I could see was darkness.
A man shoved me forward. “Walk!”
I let out a trembling breath and stumbled to the edge of the hard surface, then felt my shoes sink in grass and damp earth. As I carefully walked forward, a towering fern brushed softly across my face. I took tiny steps because my imagination was in overdrive; I couldn’t help picturing all those pirate films I’d seen of people walking off the plank, and I knew there were a lot of cliffs around. The man behind me kept pushing and shoving, making me go faster than my hesitant feet wanted to carry me, forcing me to trip over what I assumed to be a very long log. Twigs snapped and crunched underfoot. An owl hooted, and crickets chirped. The smell of wet moss, damp dirt, and decaying leaves mingled with the scent of pines, wafting up my nostrils; any other time, the aroma would have been beautiful. My heart lurched. I was sure they were leading me to some isolated location for my execution, a place where no one would ever find me, and that thought sent droplets of nervous perspiration rolling down my face, perhaps mingled with tears.
I refused, however, to go quietly. I couldn’t do much to fight them off, but I wanted to make it harder on them. They’ll have to carry my corpse, because I’m not gonna walk out to the middle of nowhere and shovel my own grave. I’m not doing their dirty work for them! I took a huge step to the left, and then bolted.
Strong arms caught me within seconds, and I flailed and thrashed like a gazelle in a lion’s grasp.
“If we don’t keep movin’, we’re not gonna make it to the designated spot on time,” a man said.
“Maybe I oughtta just snap her like a twig, right here, right now,” said a deep-voiced man.
I screamed through my gag at the thought that the guy wanted to rush my demise.
“No!” another said. “She must be sacrificed at midnight.”
Sacrificed?
Trembling with fear, I thrashed even harder in the guy’s grasp. I suddenly realized that my abduction had nothing to do with a mafia hit, vampires, or a street gang initiation; rather, I was in the hands of some strange cult. I could barely breath, terrorized by fear.
“How much farther?” a man asked.
“We’re here,” another answered.
At that point, I was gasping for breath at the thought of being sacrificed in some weird ritual. I recalled what Fred had said about witches and realized it wasn’t so farfetched of a theory. My heart had never raced so hard. The man held me tight in his grasp, and I tried to fight, but he was so strong, and I was no match for him. My feet suddenly left the ground as he picked me up and carried me. I turned and twisted in his grasp, to no avail. He gently set me down on a cold slab of concrete and forced me to lie down, and I’d never been so terrified in my entire life.
Fingers gripped my ankles and wrists as the rope was tightened around me, securing me to a cold slab. It didn’t make sense to me that they left my blindfold on and my gag in, since they were clearly going to kill me anyway. For all I knew, maybe they thought it was more humane to kill me that way. Perhaps they want to spare me the misery of watching the dagger pierce my heart. I listened intently as they shuffled around, and then I struggled in my bindings.
Get the entire boxed set for just 99 cents this week! Ends 11/19/16
This was a fantastic box set with magic, action, mystery, twists and turns, vampires, werewolves, witches, and gargoyles. Each book gets better and better and takes you deeper into the mystery!
Book 1 is about Taylor moving to Big Bear Lake and learning it’s a supernatural place and that her crush is something more. Book 2 gets deep! And this is when all hell breaks loose! Taylor is tossed into the supernatural world. She thought she was observing it from the outside, but little does she know that she’s a major player! And she didn’t even know it!
She comes from an ancient line of witches and is supposed to be sacrificed in The Millennium Ceremony. She’s stubborn and fights her supernatural enemy with everything she has. I loved how tough she becomes. There’s a paranormal battle raging and I loved every page. This is one of my favorite paranormal romances ever!
Author Chrissy Peebles
Chrissy Peebles has always loved reading and writing fantasy from the earliest age she can remember. She lives in a busy city with her husband, two children, and one cat (Shadow) and three dogs. (Sparkles, Rosie, and Jack) Chrissy also loves to snap photos as her favorite hobby.
Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader and sponsored by the author. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW. a Rafflecopter giveaway
I love a great paranormal and supernatural story, so Jericho by Alex Gordon was a no brainer. Even the cover makes me pause and look deeper. How about you?
Title: Jericho
Author: Alex Gordon
Publisher: Harper Voyager
Genre: Supernatural
Format: Ecopy/Paperback
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MY REVIEW
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After reading Gideon by Alex Gordon, my expectations were very high for Jericho. Any fears I had were unwarranted. Jericho is the second book of this supernatural thriller series and I was just as enraptured with Lauren’s continuing story as I had hoped to be.
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Gavin should have heeded the warnings…Phantom orchids…shelf fungus…on his search for a photo of Jericho for his soon-to-be website. Being a photographer and blogger, I love it. Alex adds special bits throughout the story, making it a novel that rises above the rest.
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In Gideon, Lauren was “called” from her home on the West Coast to Gideon, Illinois. Now she is being “called” back…to Oregon to be more precise.
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The evil is subtle, whispering all the things you want to here, offering all the things your heart desires. I am captured, taken on the winds of flight, soon to be in Portland and meeting the Carmody Group. Which side are they on? Good or evil? I hope Lauren is fully prepared for Witch Camp.
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Organized witchcraft is not Lauren’s forte. She operates by the seat of her pants. I loved watching her grow and develop from being unaware of her powers to laying her life on the line to take down evil and save us all.
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Alex Gordon’s storytelling gift is alive and well in this wonderful novel of paranormal horror. Sometimes I forgot that it wasn’t real. I can hardly wait to read more as the ending left the story with plenty more tales to be told, all while wrapping up the current story.
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I received a copy of Jericho by Alex Gordon in return for an honest review.
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5 Stars
For readers of Deborah Harkness, J.D. Horn, Lev Grossman, and any supernatural thriller, a young witch must risk death and damnation to defeat a powerful ancient evil in Alex Gordon’s follow-up to the masterful debut Gideon.
In unearthing her father’s secret past, Lauren Reardon discovered a shocking truth about herself. She is a Child of Endor, a sect of witches who believe they are the guardians of the “thin places”—areas across the globe where evil can seep through the divide between the worlds separating the living and the restless dead. At any time, she can be called upon to close one of these breaches and prevent demons from infiltrating our realm. When Lauren has a disturbing vision of an Oregon forest, she is drawn back to the familiar woods of the misty Pacific Northwest to investigate.
Locals had long whispered about an abandoned logging camp known as Jericho—of the strange disappearances and eerie sounds heard in the woods deep in the night. But these ghost stories only hint at the true evil lurking within the camp’s dilapidated buildings, a primeval malevolence far more terrifying than Lauren’s darkest imaginings. And now, Lauren must face this evil, even if it takes her life . . . even if it costs her soul.
Meet the Author
Alex Gordon resides in the Midwest. When she isn’t working, she enjoys watching sports and old movies, running, and playing with her dogs. She dreams of someday adding the Pacific Northwest to the list of regions where she has lived.
I have finally picked up and read Book II of the Ocean’s Gift series, Ocean’s Infiltrator and I will have my answer to the question…will she let him live, now that he knows she’s a mermaid?
MY REVIEW
Recommended for Adults. Lots of hot and steamy sex scenes.
Ocean’s Gift, Book I, made me teary eyed as I was left with the most awful cliffhanger imaginable for a mermaid story. Alone…in the sea…watching her human sail away.
Ocean’s Infiltrator by Demelza Carlton is Book II of the Ocean’s Gift series and I am so happy to find out if Sirena (Vanessa is her human name) will have a happy ever after or kill her human. What would she do…send a Hitfish to take him out? I couldn’t help but laugh!
The Ocean’s Gift series carries a message along with the fantasy. Sirena (Vanessa) is the Ocean’s Infiltrator, doing her best to warn humankind of the damage being done to the oceans and seas. Now the question – continue to help the humans or let them die?
Carved Wood Mermaid (c) Sherry Fundin
She travels between the ocean and land, making the transition easily. On land she is a Harley riding badass. She is very much her own “woman” – funny, a tease, a lover, a mommy, a leader, and a mermaid – the complete fantasy package.
Joe and Vanessa cannot keep their hands off each other. They are soulmates, fins and all.
Do you want to know how mermaids have sex? Well, you will learn more than you ever thought to ask, in Ocean’s Infiltrator. The sexual tension between Vanessa and Joe steam up my Kindle, love and romance oozing off the “pages”, making it too hot to handle. My only complaint is sometimes I thought the sex was there, just for sex’s sake, but maybe mermaids have to grab it when they can. LOL
The characters, mermaid and human alike, are complex and I am sure you will find your favorite, just like I did.
Politics and a world beneath the waves to rival our own. Atlantis…I was there!
I love the hints and warnings of the damage being done to the oceans and seas. They fit right in and leave me thinking, what can I do? Who is our Ambassador of the deep? After all, I don’t want to be the one that contributes to the extinction of the mermaids. Do you?
Demelza Carlton’s writing brings the Ocean’s Infiltrator world to life. I was entranced and enchanted, letting the story wrap around me like a warm, wonderful cocoon, leaving me with a dreamy smile on my face and a wandering gleam in my eyes.
I hated to see the Ocean’s Gift series end and it will stick with me for a long, long time. I look forward to reading more of Demelza Carlton’s work!
The Bones Omnibus by Mark Wheaton is a collection of the complete Bones saga, consisting of nine “tails” of a Pittsburgh Police Department K-9 German Shepherd caught in a zombie apocalypse.
He goes through Hell as he battles to save the world.
Some of the stories are normal K-9 cop stories until..
We have the paranormal and the supernatural, along with some gruesome horror and dark fantasy, making up this dsytopian collection.
The “tails” range from your run of the mill crooks to zombies, earthquakes and hordes of rats. Would you rather be killed quickly or eaten alive?
The characters, well, don’t get too attached. The star is Bones and the stories are his. I love this twist of the oft told zombie, end of the world apocalypse.
Bones is an amazing saga that I only put down when my eyes crossed making it impossible to keep reading. I read this 716 paperback in two days and my only complaint is…I did not want it to end!
The fun title, Horseshoes and Hand Grenades by Amanda Lyles, jumped off the page at me and when I read it was about mermaids, I wanted it even more. I had not seen the cover when I picked this up, but I love it.
So, come on all you paranormal lovers and let’s dive into the world of Nina Garnet.
The title, Horseshoes and Hand Grenades by Amanda Lyles, jumped off the page at me and when I read it was about mermaids, I wanted it even more. I had not seen the cover when I picked this up, but I love the beautiful cover and mermaid stories. This one read, almost, as if it was real…at times humorous, at other times dangerous.
Nina Garnet had left home and was hiding out, trying to keep a low profile. I will not tell you why she left or about her home, Zephyr Island, because I think you need to find out for yourself. Nina lives on a houseboat called The Star Puzzle. She is good at acting human, but has mermaid needs…water and lots of it. She helped the police out when they needed to locate a body in the water, using scuba gear so they did not become aware of her ability to function without it. Now, the other supernatural beings, that she knew were around, requested her help to locate some of their members believed missing in the water.
Mermaids, dragons, the FBI, werewolves, witches, vampires, faeries, supes galore…Oh yeah, I am loving every minute of it. The creative writing had all the supernaturals working together to achieve a common goal but Amanda Lyles kept me guessing who was friend and who was foe.
Nina is shot at, mugged, stalked and attacked. I bet Jaws wouldn’t mind nibbling on a mermaid or two. Could that be why sharks mistake humans for food, they think we are merpeople?
“You;re leaving? Seriously?”
Tobias said, “Oh, I’m sure you boys will get along just fine without me. I won’t be long…Try not to eat the human. I’m sure there’s food inside.”
The sometimes humorous writing went well with the serious side, murder and magic. From the opening page, when Nina is singing Karaoke and I couldn’t help but laugh at what happens, I knew I was going to love this.
Will there be romance? I have come to appreciate a romantic entanglement in my stories. I think it lends that something extra, along with a feeling a reality and an ability to connect more closely to the characters…of which there are a lot of wonderful ones.
“Almost only counts in Horseshoes and Hand Grenades.”
I think most of us have heard of that phrase.
Amanda Lyles had me swimming with the fishes, literally. The characters had me laughing and worried at the same time. Amanda’s pacing and fresh take on a familiar story kept me entertained and engrossed. There is more than one storyline that had me trying to figure out the who and why. We find the answer to one, but the other is left for another time, which is my only complaint. But, The Hand That Rocked The Boat, Book II, is available, so no waiting is necessary.
I received Horseshoes and Hand Grenades from Amanda Lyles in return for an honest review.
4 Stars
SYNOPSIS
Nina Garnet works as a part-time diver for the Hawaii police. She’s also a mermaid but she has worked very hard for several years to hide this fact from everyone. She goes on what she thinks is a routine dive to recover a body tangled just below the surface. The very next day the supernatural world she tried to leave behind literally breaks into her house and leaves her a package that chills her to the bones by showing her that someone knows her secret.
Then someone attacks her and the F.B.I. agent she keeps running into and they are saved by the local werewolf pack. Caleb, the alpha, tells her that the body she recovered was part of his pack and was one of five missing men. He hires her to search for the remaining missing men and as she searches she find clues that point to the men being used in a ritual that, if completed, will wipe out all supes for hundreds of miles. With the help of a vampire, several weres, a couple of witches, and the F.B.I. agent she races to find the men before the ritual can be completed.
4 Stars
About the Author
Mae Clair opened a Pandora’s Box of characters when she was a child and never looked back. Her father, an artist who tinkered with writing, encouraged her to create make-believe worlds by spinning tales of far-off places on summer nights beneath the stars.
The Friday 56 is hosted by 
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
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