Giveaway – Death Tango by Lachi @GoddessFish @lachimusic

The cover is very eye catching and I love the concept. It seems all too real to me.

A Quick Fire Interview with Lachi

1. What’s the most adventurous thing you’ve ever done?

I’m blind, so pretty much everything. I’ll narrow it down to skydiving, camel riding and scaling up a New York City apartment building.

2. If you could dine with any literary character, who would it be and why?

Frankenstine’s monster. I think he gets a bad rep.

3. What’s your favorite joke?

Knock Knock

Who’s there?

To

To Who?

It’s To whom

4. Does your day job ever get in the way of your writing?

For my day job I tour and perform globally, so yes! I’ve written on plains, trains, boats and definitely hotels.

5. What’s your favorite Holiday?

Well it’s Halloween today, so let’s go with that!

6. What are your top three favorite genres?

1. Big Umbrella Horror (all but big T Torture)

2. Epic or Odessy Sci-Fi with long series

3. Adult Paranormal Romance

7. Did you have a specific audience in mind when you wrote Death Tango?

Adult Sci Fi readers. Some folks assume because I am a disability advocate that my fiction would be for younger folks. It’s not! This book has gore, violence, sex and language.

8. What was the first book you ever read?

My first horror novel was Cold Fire by Dean Koontz and my first Sci-Fi was Asimov’s Foundation followed by Frank Herbert’s Dune

9. What book do you like most among all the others you have penned down?

Death Tango is my most developed. I’ve also written the Ivory Staff.

10. Now, when you look back at your past, do you feel accomplished?

When I was young I wanted to be a musician and a writer with my own music studio in New York. I’ve managed to accomplish all of this and then some. Traveling the world advocating for identity pride and disability inclusion through music and storytelling has seen me to the White House, UN, BBC, GRAMMYs, a ton of very amazing places. But life is an ever-journey, and we’re just getting started.

11. Have you ever incorporated something that happened to you in real life into your novels?

Yes. I’ve been assaulted and my main character endures an assault.

12. If you had a superpower, what would it be?

To understand and to be understood.


13. What other projects are you working on now?

I’m working on a Non-Fiction, a music album called “Mad Different” that explores the weird, the different and leans in, and am forever touring.

14. Do you have any plans for a sequel?

Maybe. Let’s see where life takes us.

Death Tango by Lachi

GENRE: Science Fiction/Horror

BLURB

In a Utopian twenty-third-century New York City, where corporations have replaced governments, AI dictates culture, and citizens are free to people-watch any other citizen they choose through an app, this horror-laden Sci-Fi Thriller follows four mis-matched coeds as they attempt to solve the murder of an eccentric parascientist. Only someone or something able to navigate outside the highest levels of croud-sourced surveillance could get away with murder in this town. If the team can’t work quickly to solve the case, New York City will be devoured by a dark plague the eccentric had been working on prior to his death, a plague which, overtime, appears to be developing sentience.

EXCERPT

It is nine years ago. I stand alone on an unstable rock. Beneath that rock are a few precarious slabs of granite. Beneath the granite lies a hundred feet of air, of silence, of potential bone-shattering death. Surrounded by a dusk sky, Mount Venom—the cliff aptly named for the lives it has claimed—stretches endlessly beneath my quivering legs and far beyond my blurring vision.

Through the blaring wind, I hear several SOIs—School of Intelligence kids—hurl down demoralizing insults from the cliff’s edge. “She’ll never make it!” “Fall and die, swine!” Each year the SOIs goad us TFs—Testing Facility subjects—into scaling the cliff. If successful, the TF is accepted as an equal, putting an end to constant ridicule and torment. There is little sympathy for those who accept the challenge and fail. I tell myself to reach for the next stone along the slope, to keep my hands steady, to breathe.

I near the finish line.

Every inch of my body tastes it as much as my mouth tastes it. Get there; say nothing; feel no pride. My face wet with tears and mucus, my fingers slippery with blood, I feel around for my next grip and pull on my burning calves. I have only two heaves left. Two heaves, and no more being treated like trash.

I notice a small gap between two large stones above me. As I place my dampened hands into the hole for leverage, the rubble on which I stand gives out. My legs dangle freely. I have the willpower to lift my body onward, but my concentration is broken by a pair of black-gloved hands that pop out of the fissure above me.

Someone is hiding behind the rocks.

Tech Sports knitted in thin red stitching on each glove slides into view. My body ignores the anxiety presented by this new predicament, and I continue to lift. The gloves grab both my forearms and yank. I am now dangling by the grip of those hands; I am now at their complete mercy.

“Friend or foe?” I manage to growl between pained gasps, the wind forcing hair into my mouth.

“You’re so close,” replies a male voice I can hardly distinguish.

“I know! I know! Help me up!” I yell. My legs work uselessly to find hold. Receiving no verbal or physical response, I wriggle my shoulders. “Hey! Help me up!”

“Beg me!” the voice demands, barely audible over the blood rushing in my ears. I fend off a rapidly growing well of despair. Despair is a choice, a manifestation of surrender.

“Please!” I bark, the word taking with it all of my remaining willpower. I look up wide-eyed at the gloved hands, ignoring the falling stones as I await my fate.

“This is for putting in the application!” he yells, and with a quick jolt he lets go of my arms.

I fall.

I keep my eyes open, desperately hoping for something to grab, but all I see are a mix of gray sky, red rock face and my flailing arms. I hear my bones smash against the jagged teeth of Mount Venom and scream one long uninterrupted exhale, silenced only by the jarring collision of the back of my skull against the cold, hard pavement.

I don’t feel the fracture. I only hear it between my ears. Pop.

I lie at the foot of Mount Venom, looking up at dark clouds, a metallic taste oozing over my tongue, a harsh pain working its way down my neck. A thick puddle coalesces under my head as onlookers gather.

My vision snaps away instantly with a blink. Surrounding echoes fade slowly as the internal sound of my curtailed heartbeats takes over. Suddenly I feel cold and heavy. I am motionless, no longer taking in oxygen.

After an onslaught of euphoria, I feel my brain flatten. I hear its slight gummy movements of deflation against my last few heartbeats. And somewhere between no longer feeling the ground beneath me and no longer feeling the air around me, I realize I am dead.

I perceive only a black vastness about me. Like an autumn leaf I float in the Cartesian circle that is the keen awareness of my nonexistence. A mix of bliss and terror. I try to hold on to something physical, something I can understand. “You are safe. You are safe,” I repeat, exercising the remnants of my inner monologue.

Then I begin to see things.

A single bright blue diamond, about the size of a fist, appears five feet before me. It is soon joined by two more on either side, followed by two more still, until a string of blue diamonds surrounds me. I realize I can see my entire periphery, no longer limited by physical eyes. A light source switches on behind me, revealing that I am floating at the center of a rotating diamond-rimmed disco ball.

Trying to locate the light source, I push my perception upward, downward, left, right, only to find that I, myself, am the source of that light. The speed with which the disco ball spins steadily increases, faster and faster, until all is a blur of spinning frenzy. Suddenly thousands of quick snapshots of familiar faces speed toward me: my friends, my bullies, the dark skin of my estranged father, the Spanglish ravings of my drunken mother, their parents, their parents’ parents. Images of a cottage in France, a village in Africa, past wars, ancient discoveries, tree scavenging, gasping air, breathing ocean, swimming in gas, feelings of remorse, loss, shame, excitement, immense love, bitter anguish, and a desperate need for acceptance. Every imaginable emotion ravages me whole.

I experience my consummate past. A massive rewind that stops at a sweeping explosion. A sphere of white fire so bright, it could hardly be described as fire. I am an endless wave of raw emotion drowning in the unyielding flames. And in that eternal instant I understand everything.

Again, all fades to black, the warmth, the understanding. And though the blackness around me is infinite, I sense a presence. I am not alone.

“Look around you,” the presence communicates to me, not through sound, sight or touch, but through direct understanding. I am certain it is—at least in part—a being other than myself. I hold fast to my mantra. “Do not fear,” the presence continues. I allow the mantra to fade. “Do you see how far the blackness reaches, stretching beyond infinite horizons? That is how much you do not know, how much you’ve yet to learn.” A brief silence. “Fear is the great enemy of knowledge, and you, Rosa, are the switch between them.”

“Me?” I manage to convey through the slivers of my consciousness.

“Us.”

“Us? How? Why? What do you mean?” My figurative words come childlike and excited.

“You already know how,” the presence responds as it fades. “You already know why.” I feel a growing bitter loneliness as the presence drifts away.

“Wait!” I yell. The blackness around me congeals to a bumpy dark brown. “Come back!” The glistening euphoria gradually declines as my flattened brain begins to restructure. A physical atmosphere swiftly surrounds me, and a palpitating sensation starts beneath me, causing me to rise and fall. The pulsing sensation reveals itself to be my heart grappling for a pulse.

A crashing ocean of white noise fills my head. I feel that I have a head. A body. Arms. A face. My face.

I open my eyes as the rush of noise fades to the sound of an open room. I am lying on a bed in the infirmary, surrounded by the school nurse and Dr. Ferguson himself, their blurry faces examining my head wound.

Dr. Ferguson bends forward. “You had a very nasty fall, Ms. Lejeune. Do you remember that?” He watches a nurse as she dabs a cloth at my face. “You’re lucky to be alive.”

AUTHOR Bio and Links

Lachi is an internationally-touring creative artist, writer and award-winning cultural activist living in New York City. A legally blind daughter of African immigrants, Lachi uses her platform to amplify narratives on identity pride and Disability Culture. In her public life, Lachi has helped increase accessibility to the GRAMMY Awards ceremonies as well as create numerous opportunities for music professionals with disabilities, through her organization RAMPD. Lachi also creates high-quality content amplifying disability. She has hosted a PBS American Masters segment highlighting disabled rebels and releases songs such as “Lift Me Up” and “Black Girl Cornrows” that elevate disability and difference to the pop culture market. Named a “new champion in advocacy” by Billboard, she’s held talks with the White House, the UN, Fortune 100 firms, and has been featured in Forbes, Hollywood Reporter, Good Morning America, and the New York Times for her unapologetic celebration of intersectionality through her music, storytelling and fashion.

In her free-time Lachi writes sci-fi and fantasy novels with diverse, headstrong characters, focusing heavily on atonal world-building, quip-ridden character development, likable villains and psycho-spiritual discourse.

  • Website:www.lachimusic.com
  • Twitter: twitter.com/lachimusic
  • Facebook: facebook.com/lachimusic
  • Instagram: instagram.com/lachimusic
  • Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Death-Tango-M-Lachi-ebook/dp/B0BLGYMCQ7/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0
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Review – Noir: A Crimson Shadow Novel by Nathan Squiers @LitDark_Emperor

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I pulled Noir: A Crimson Shadow Novel by Nathan Squiers from my TBR, where I added it on 2.16.2020. This is the perfect time of year to share this Occult Horror story.

Amazon / Audiobook / Goodreads

MY REVIEW

Xander Stryker wants to die.

He has had an abusive upbringing, but there is so much more to the story. As his eighteenth birthday approaches, he gets caught up in the supernatural world and learns his true destiny. Poor Xander. His father missing. His mother murdered in front of his eyes. Now, someone wants him dead. Thank goodness, he has a couple supernaturals by his side, getting him ready to face the biggest challenge of his life.

I wasn’t sure how much I would enjoy this, seeing I think it was written for a younger audience, but the more I read the more involved I became. This is the first book of seven and I would love to watch him grow and become the man he is meant to be.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos
4 Stars

GOODREADS BLURB

Xander Stryker wants to die.
Ever since witnessing his mother’s murder at the hands of his abusive stepfather when he was a boy, he has spent every day trying to reach that goal. But every night he’s denied the death he craves. As his eighteenth birthday approaches, a chance for change is offered when his life is plunged into a supernatural world of vampires and other creatures of darkness.

Caught in the depths of this new reality, mysteries of his vampiric lineage begin to unravel and he’s offered the ultimate choice:
Continue on with his wretched human life or begin a new one as the vampire prodigy he was always meant to be.

Unfortunately, the supernatural world can be just as unforgiving and brutal as any other and Xander’s choice is met with disastrous consequences.

Now, with a little support and even less hope, the chaos of his new world collides with his torturous past and threatens to crush him once and for all.

ABOUT NATHAN SQUIERS

Nathan Squiers, along with his loving wife & fellow author, Megan J. Parker, two incredibly demanding demons wearing cat-suits, and a pair of “fur baby” huskies, is a resident of Upstate New York. When he isn’t dividing his time between writing or “nerding out” over comics, anime, or movie marathons, he’s chasing dreams of amateur body building. If he can’t be found in a movie theater, comic shop, or gym, chances are “the itch” has driven him into the chair at a piercing/tattoo shop… or he’s been “kidnapped” by loving family or friends and forced to engage in an alien task called “fun.” His Crimson Shadow series has gained international recognition and has been a bestseller in urban fantasy and dark fantasy. His novel, Curtain Call, won best Occult & Paranormal Thriller in the 2013 Blogger Book Fair Awards.

In 2016, he became a USA Today bestselling author and since then, has been on the list four times.

Learn more about Nathan’s work at www.nathansquiersbooks.com

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Delicious Delights Review for Bewitching Brews and Devilish Desserts by Roxanne Rhoads @RoxanneRhoads

Amazon / KindleUnlimited / Goodreads

MY REVIEW

I love the amazing cover for Bewitching Brews and Devilish Desserts edited by Roxanne Rhoads. I have read a lot of books, especially cozies and some vampirish novels that have recipes for food and drink. I wanted to start the Halloween season off with some suggestions for your horrolicious season.

You may even find a new or familiar author to follow, a book to read, or a favorite cocktail and dessert. They witchly delights are sure to add a little something extra to your repertoire.

Some of the authors you will find in the book that shared their devilish delights: Roxanne Rhoads,Sharon Bayiss, Ami Blackwelder, Cassandra Lawson, Susannah Sandlin, Cherrie Mack, Maggie Mundy, Suzanne Johnson, Katalina Leon, and Kay Dee Royal.

I highly recommend grabbing a copy for your collection.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos
5 Stars

GOODREADS BLURB

Stir up a little magic from our cauldron full of cocktails and desserts.

The authors of Bewitching Book Tours conjured a collection of delicious potions inspired by their books and characters.

Grab your wand (or spoon) and cast one of these spellbinding recipes today.

  • Witches
  • 50 pages, Kindle Edition
  • First published October 28, 2014 by Roxanne Rhoads

ABOUT ROXANNE RHOADS

Roxanne Rhoads is an author, book publicist, mixed media crafter, and lover of all things spooky.

Roxanne is the owner of Bewitching Book Tours, a virtual book tour and social media marketing company, she operates Fang-tastic Books, a book blog dedicated to paranormal and urban fantasy books, and she runs the blog, A Bewitching Guide to All Things Halloween, which is dedicated to everything Halloween related. Roxanne’s sells handcrafted jewelry, art and home decor through Bewitching Creations.

When not reading or writing, Roxanne loves to craft, plan Halloween adventures, and search for unique vintage finds.

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Splatterwestern – The Longest Thirst by Roxie Voorhees @theb00kslayer

I want to thank Roxie Vorhees for the opportunity to read The Longest Thirst.

Amazon / Goodreads

MY REVIEW

When I woke up this morning, I didn’t expect to be killing my father by sunset, but here we are.

That’s the first sentence of the book and the hook was set. I thought this might be a good one, but I wasn’t prepared for how good. I love the dark side of life, but if you are a bit squeamish, you might want to think twice. We have brutality, racism, rape, torture…

Lillian had had enough when she took her father’s life. She rescued the woman tied to the stake, and has been on the run ever since. I love her thought, ‘I am so sick of men sticking their penis where it isn’t welcome.’ I would think twice, if I were a man, about putting it in an unwilling woman’s mouth. Could you resist the temptation to give him a what for?

I cringed, laughed and was shocked at the the levels of depravity…and that ending… WHAT…WHAT…marvelous, simply marvelous. Roxie Vorhees doesn’t hold back. It’s a short book, at 111 pages, and you won’t want to quit once you start.

I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of The Longest Thirst by Roxie Voorhees.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos
4 Stars

GOODREADS BLURB

he Quick and the Dead meets Carmilla.

When Lillian killed her father, getting the blood out of her dress was the least of her worries. The young Native woman to her left would soon prove to be a blessing or a curse. Just as hope is all but evaporated on the cracked earth of the Mojave, a beacon of light beams in the center of Calico.

Born into the rigidity of classism, Lillian struggles to trust the welcoming hospitality of the town and its inhabitants. Convinced this respite is brief, Lillian prepares to return the woman to her people, and flee from her crime. Even so, Calico softens her heart and Lillian soon feels truly at home.

But a stranger gallops into Calico. His presence commands obedience and soon he finds what he is looking for, Lillian.

And they have unfinished business.

  • Genre: Fiction, Horror, Splatterwestern, Western
  • 111 pages, Kindle Edition
  • Expected publication September 26, 2023 by Book Slayer Press

ABOUT ROXIE VOORHEES

Roxie Voorhees (she/he/they) is a tangled threesome of Gag me with a Spoon, Welcome to the Darkside, and Catch me Outside. When she isn’t writing, she is hyperfocusing on whichever of the many hobbies her ADHD demands.
A California native, he resides with his service dog, Bellatrix, in Little Rock, where he refuses to use the word fixin’, battles pollen, and fantasizes of using a public bathroom without it being a political stance.
They are the co-editor of MINE: An Anthology of Body Autonomy Horror published by Creature Publishing and READER BEWARE: A Fear Street Appreciation Anthology to be published October 2023, by DarkLit Press.

Instagram: @the.book.slayer
Twitter: @theb00kslayer
Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/rvthebookslayer
Website: www.roxievoorhees.gay

Roxie has come out as gender fluid! She prefers any pronouns and doesn’t mind being included in women specific lists, but asks you please note their fluidity.

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Review – The Broken Heart by N J Gallegos @DrSpooky_ER

Amazon / Goodreads

MY REVIEW

MMMMM All kinds of dark and delicious psychopathic goodness. Imagine hearing these words out of six year old child’s mouth: Fuck you, cunt and fucking bitch. You also have a useless drunken husband and an infant daughter to protect…for the six year old.

If you are on a matchmaking app, you may delete it after seeing how easy it is to be a fish in a barrel for a serial killer.

There are two story lines going on: Casey, with her psychopathic son, alcoholic husband, infant daughter, and heart failure. She will need an organ transplant and a serial killer is the one to save her. Or does he? Do you believe that an organ can pass the good or bad of the donor onto the receiver? What would happen if it did?

Of course, we know the serial killer has to die so she can get his heart, but the way it happens is sweet Karma at work. LOL He was a savage, reveling in his victim’s blood, so no matter what happened to him, I didn’t think it could be bad enough.

I was excited about the plot and wondered…would a good woman be negatively affected by a serial killer’s heart? Will she turn into a serial killer too?

The marvels of medicine do amaze me and creep me out at the same time. And after reading The Broken Heart, I am even more freaked out about hospitals. I’m sure I am not the only one that gets tensed up just entering one.

After the surgery she felt an icy cold in the center of her chest and would carry that for the rest of her life. She knew…things were going to be different now. No more doormat to Jack. No more shying away in fear from Owen.

Her rant in her therapist’s office…I could see it unfold and I loved it. He sits there in judgment, doing nothing to help a desperate mother save the life of her infant child from her psychopathic son. I couldn’t help but chuckle under my breath as I read on.

Her in laws sit in judgment, having no clue of the depth of her desperation and I don’t think they would have cared any way. Casey couldn’t do anything thing right, in their eyes. She has no one to support her, no one to lean, no help at all.

Their date night…I went back and forth between wanting to puke and laugh out loud.

I saw some of what was to come and eagerly devoured the words. N J Gallegos didn’t make it so easy to figure everything out and I am happy about that. I couldn’t imagine how the story would end. There are so many possibilities and I wondered what the author would choose. She chose well.

I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of The Broken Heart by N J Gallegos.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos
4 Stars

GOODREADS BLURB

Casey Philips has it all: a deadbeat husband, a psychopathic son, a beautiful newborn daughter, and catastrophic heart failure necessitating an organ transplant. When a serial killer becomes an unexpected organ donor, Casey gets a heart and a new lease on life.

But dark dreams plague the disgruntled housewife—visions of places she’s never been, chasing women she’s never met. Sometimes, Casey wakes up outside her kids’ rooms without realizing how she got there—knife in hand.

How far will a mother with a newly acquired taste for vengeance go to right the wrongs of an abusive husband, an increasingly violent son, and even her own sins? Only the heart knows what it truly wants.

  • Genre: Dark, Horror, Psychological Thriller, Suspense, Thriller
  • 340 pages, Paperback
  • Expected publication September 19, 2023 by Winding Road Stories

ABOUT N J GALLEGOS

N.J. Gallegos is an Emergency Medicine Physician who enjoys horror, medicine, and wicked women looking for revenge. Put all three together? Now we’re talking! She lives in Illinois with her wife and two cats. In her spare time, she enjoys binging reality trash tv, brewing beer, and running while listening to EDM so she can drink said brewed beer.

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Risen From The Dead – The Legend Of Rachel Petersen by J T Baroni #JTBaroni

I was excited to get my hands on this book. I mean, look at that cover..and his inspiration for writing it. How cool is that? Welcome to fundinmental J T.

How did this book come about?

          While hunting whitetail one year, I stumbled upon a weathered tombstone in the middle of the woods. Waiting patiently for that big buck to cross my path gave me plenty of time to think about that lone grave’s inhabitant and ponder her story, which I was then driven to write.

          Eerily enough, this is the premise of The Legend of Rachel Petersen, my first novel that Damnation Books in California published in 2012, which I have just recently revised, then self-published. Between holding down a job as a transformer repairman, and life in general, it me took two years to write the original book back then.

          However! I am now enjoying retirement; and in the first half of 2023, I revised the story by adding 165 pages and a new ending chapter. My ghost tale is now even more descriptive, has added details, and the final chapter comes out of left field and smacks you upside the head!

Describe your writing habits.

         I simply write when it’s raining, or when the urge hits, but mostly when I think of a good scene and the thoughts are flowing. Sometimes the rough draft will sit on the shelf for a month or longer, then I’ll dust it off and look at it with a fresh perspective.Only after ten or more chapters when I get lost, do I start an outline.

Do you listen to music while writing?

          Sometimes I tell Alexa to play Santa Esmeralda, Supertramp, Bob Seger, INXS, or the Golden Oldies, or the news. At times, silence, especially when I’m using the narrator function during editing.

Which authors influenced your writing?

         I enjoyed Harold Robbins’s The Adventurers, Mark Twain’s Tom Sawyer, and John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men. I know I’m telling my age with that answer, but I enjoyed their books because they wrote captivating stories that held my interest to the last page.

Are there any projects in the works now?

            I’m 32 chapters into a psychological thriller. The plot revolves around a psychologist and an attorney who are planning to rule the world; they both share the same dark secret, but one of them has a deadly, ulterior motive. Three more chapters should finish it. Then edit, edit, edit… Keep your eyes open for, “Tell Me about your Childhood.”

It’s funny, but when I asked you for your thoughts I left it up to you, and you covered all the things I was thinking of. I love when great minds think alike, don’t you? LOL I’m excited to see what you come up with next, since I think The Legend Of Rachel Petersen was a hit!

Amazon / Goodreads

UPDATE: J T Baroni now has an Apple audiobook available, created by AI.

MY REVIEW

I confess. It was the cover that drew me in. It had that horror, paranormal, supernatural feel to it and I investigated further. When I finished the book, I found where the author’s inspiration came from. He was deer hunting and came across a tombstone. As he sat there, waiting for that elusive big buck to come through, he had plenty of time to wonder and ponder…and that What If came to life.

Christian Kane is a sports writer for The Post Gazette. He doesn’t get the anticipated promotion he was expecting and quits to write fiction. The Legend of Rachel Petersen is about the characters finding a tombstone hidden in the briars on their property and what happens after.

“We are living in a house where a twelve year old girl went cuckoo, killed her family, an’ then hanged herself in our barn.”

A book in a book is always a fun concept. J T Baroni did foreshadow what was to come and I love that he did it in such a way that I never took notice. Well done. I found myself laughing…at myself. There are other moments of laughter and I love an author that incorporates fun into some doom and gloom.

The ending was worth a star alone. I love when an author can catch me so off guard I am left with my mouth hanging open. I highly recommend The Legend Of Rachel Petersen by J T Baroni and I would love to know what you think.

I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of The Legend of Rachel Petersen by J T Baroni.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos
4 Stars

GOODREADS BLURB

Did his book raise the dead? Outraged when The Post Gazette overlooks him for a promotion, thirty-nine year old sports writer, Christian Kane quits and moves to the country to write fiction. Inspiration flows from a grave he stumbles upon in the woods. He compiles The Legend of Rachel Petersen, a fascinating story revolving around the dead twelve year old girl lying beneath the weathered tombstone. His book becomes a Best Seller; then Hollywood makes it in to a blockbuster movie. Kane becomes rich and famous, but only to have Rachel rise from the grave to seek revenge on him for slandering her name!

  • Genre: Fiction, Horror, Paranormal, Supernatural
  • Kindle Edition (Revised Edition)
  • First published November 23, 2011 by Sky Publishing

EXCERPT

Page 79

               Staring back at him were two large empty eye sockets in a tiny skull, which rested on a satin pillow. Her facial skin, once having a flawless peaches and cream complexion, was now brown, deeply gouged with wrinkles, and drawn tight, exposing her baby teeth. Her nose was reduced to two narrow slits. Red hair, parted in the middle, covered her forehead before coming to rest in curls on her shoulders.

Page 80

               While jumping up and down, he tripped over the shovel’s handle and fell face first over the freshly dug dirt pile back into the grave, landing three inches from Rachel’s mummified face; he swore he saw Rachel smile at him!

Page 82

               His eyes widened and his jaw fell open. Floating on top of the broth were the words… ‘help me’… spelled out with the alphabet macaroni! Thaddeus quickly stirred his soup and watched in awe as the words reappeared amongst the chunks of chicken, chopped celery, and diced carrots — ‘help me.’

ABOUT J T BARONI (from Amazon)

Living in Western Pennsylvania all my life, I have been an avid Whitetail hunter since I was old enough to tote a rifle, which is also about as long as I’ve had a fondness for word games and literature. While hunting last year, I actually did stumble upon a weathered tombstone in the middle of the woods. Waiting patiently for any deer to cross my path gave me plenty of time to think about that lone grave’s inhabitant and ponder her story, which I was then driven to write. Eerily enough, this is the premise of The Legend of Rachel Petersen, my first published novel. I have also composed several songs that are currently signed with a music publisher.

My home is Johnstown, Pennsylvania, a small town outside of Pittsburgh, where my wife Becky and I are both proud members of the Lions International. We share our home with our son, Skyler, and an AKC boxer, Butkus.

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Creature Feature – What Doesn’t Kill You by Ken Brosky #KenBrosky #Horror

Amazon / Goodreads

MY REVIEW

The intriguing cover for What Doesn’t Kill You by Ken Brosky caught my eye and I had to check further. I am glad I did, because I love creature features and stories that put characters to the test…and they will be. Not all will survive and I love that too. (evil grin)

Emma rolls into town, bringing with her a gift that will change the town forever. It invades the town slowly, and has a sweetness to those who claim its gift. Don’t we all know that nothing comes without a cost, and no on knows what the cost will be.

Valerie and Danny are the stars, but they are not alone. Some of the most surprising characters are those staying at the halfway house, seeking help for their addictions.

In a small town, there are no secrets, and Seven Sisters is in dire need of anything that can help the people, since Highway 55 became the Old Highway 55. How many towns have died because progress has passed them by? Why do they stay, when there is no future? What would be the lure that would compel people to move on? Does Emma know?

For Seven Sisters to survive, residents will be put to the test, needing the courage to fight for what is their lives. They will need to work together. They will need to draw from deep inside and find the strength to overcome their fear.

What Doesn’t Kill You by Ken Brosky was not exactly what I thought it would be, but the more involved I became, the more the characters drew me in, the more the tension built. The pacing and action allowed the suspense to build and I did not see the end coming. I do appreciate an author that can make me say, “Well, I sure didn’t see that coming.”

I felt the rating jumping between a three and a four. Whenever that happens, a four it is.

I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of What Doesn’t Kill You by Ken Brosky.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos
4 Stars

GOODREADS BLURB

Valerie Miller and her younger brother have spent their entire lives in the dreary town of Seven Sisters, where most people are resigned to a bleak future of debt and despair. But when a mysterious woman with a dark past arrives, she brings with her a gift that could transform the town’s fortunes – and the lives of Val and Danny.

This extraordinary woman’s power is both awe-inspiring and terrifying, capable of unleashing a force that will shake Seven Sisters to its core. The stakes are high, and danger is omnipresent. Can Val and Danny rise to the challenge and seize the opportunity to finally break free from the suffocating grip of their hometown? Or will they fall victim to the terrors unleashed by this enigmatic figure? One thing is certain–when the sun rises on Seven Sisters, nothing will ever be the same again.

Part creature-feature, part survival story, What Doesn’t Kill You will keep you on the edge of your seat as Val and Danny fight for their lives and all of Seven Sisters.

  • Genre: Fiction, Horror
  • 274 pages, Kindle Edition
  • Expected publication September 5, 2023 by Timber Ghost Press

ABOUT KEN BROSKY

Here’s the short and skinny:

  • I got my bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing from UW-Eau Claire
  • I got my Master’s Degree in Writing from the University of Nebraska-Omaha.
  • I wrote a bunch of books and short stories.
  • Some got published, many did not.
  • I self-published a YA series, which was awesome.
  • More stuff got rejected.
  • I sold a book to Kindle Press.
  • I wrote a mystery novel.

Sometimes, in between this stuff, I do woodworking.

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Horrorlicious – Horror Library #8 by Eric Guignard @ericjguignard @Checanty

Amazon / Goodreads

MY REVIEW

First off, we have 31 contributors to Horror Library #8 and some wonderful illustrations sure to catch your eye. Look closely. You never know what might jump out at you. Each short story has an amazing illustration to introduce you to the wonder of an author’s imagination. At the end of the book is a guest artist’s gallery by Jana Heidersdorf!

Whether you like stories based on claustrophobia, repercussions, broken rules, a child that….covens, masks, art, time travel, perversion, temptation or witchcraft, you are sure to find something that whets your appetite.

Probably the one that stood out the most for me was Only The Stones Will Hear You Scream. I am claustrophobic and felt shivers running up and down my spine as he squeezed and twisted into a space I feel no one was not meant to enter.

I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Horror Library #8 by Eric J Guignard.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos
4 Stars

GOODREADS BLURB

The +Horror Library+ anthologies are internationally praised as a groundbreaking source of contemporary horror short fiction stories—relevant to the moment and stunning in impact—from leading authors of the macabre and darkly imaginative.

Filled with Fears and Fantasy. Death and Dark Dreams. Monsters and Mayhem. Literary Vision and Wonder. Each volume of the +Horror Library+ series is packed with heart-pounding thrills and creepy contemplations as to what truly lurks among the shadows of the world(s) we live in.

Containing 31 all-original stories, read Volume 8 in this ongoing anthology series, and then continue with the other volumes.

Shamble no longer through the banal humdrum of normalcy, but ENTER THE HORROR LIBRARY!

Included within Volume 8:

• In “Saving the World,” a family feeds their captive devil the sorrows of neighbors.

• In “We Can’t Let Go,” a welfare check by a child services worker proves that not all in life is as expected.

• In “Only the Stones Will Hear You Scream,” a man meets his nightmares while caving through narrow underground passages.

• In “Broodmare,” a teen girl yearns to be as free as her beloved horse while waiting to give birth to the savior-figure of her tribe.

• . . . and more!

• Also including a special guest-artist’s gallery of Jana Heidersdorf!

  • Genres: Adult, Anthologies, Fiction, Horror, Short Stories
  • 420 pages, Kindle Edition
  • First published July 25, 2023 by Dark Moon Books

ABOUT ERIC J GUIGNARD

ERIC J. GUIGNARD is a writer and editor of dark and speculative fiction, operating from the shadowy outskirts of Los Angeles, where he also runs the small press, Dark Moon Books. He’s twice won the Bram Stoker Award (the highest literary award of horror fiction), been a finalist for the International Thriller Writers Award, and a multi-nominee of the Pushcart Prize.

He has over one hundred stories and non-fiction author credits appearing in publications around the world. As editor, Eric’s published multiple fiction anthologies, including his most recent, Pop the Clutch: Thrilling Tales of Rockabilly, Monsters, and Hot Rod Horror , and A World of Horror , a showcase of international horror short fiction.

He currently publishes the acclaimed series of author primers created to champion modern masters of the dark and macabre, Exploring Dark Short Fiction ( Vol. I: Steve Rasnic Tem ; Vol. II: Kaaron Warren ; Vol. III: Nisi Shawl ; Vol. IV: Jeffrey Ford ; Vol. V: Han Song ; Vol. VI: Ramsey Campbell).

He is also publisher and acquisitions editor for the renowned +Horror Library+ anthology series. Additionally he curates the series, The Horror Writers Association Presents: Haunted Library of Horror Classics through SourceBooks with co-editor Leslie S. Klinger.

His latest books are Last Case at a Baggage Auction ; Doorways to the Deadeye ; and short story collection That Which Grows Wild (Cemetery Dance).

Outside the glamorous and jet-setting world of indie fiction, Eric’s a technical writer and college professor, and he stumbles home each day to a wife, children, dogs, and a terrarium filled with mischievous beetles. Visit Eric at: www.ericjguignard.com, his blog: ericjguignard.blogspot.com, or Twitter: @ericjguignard.

ABOUT JANA HEIDERSDORF

Dark fantasy illustrator | beware of nature photography

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Supernaturalesque – Chasing Demons by C D Kester @CD_Kester

I received an email from C D Kester with an opportunity to read and review The Bunker and Chasing Demons. If you check out the covers (find The Bunker here), you will see why I did not hesitate.

Amazon / Goodreads

MY REVIEW

Just looking at the cover for Chasing Demons…and the one for the novella, The Bunker by C D Kester, made me jump all over these horror, paranormal, supernatural stories. You would benefit from reading The Bunker first. I will introduce you to the evil permeating these small towns. It is filled with detestable characters, heroic characters, and those that overcome their fears and make the ultimate sacrifice to save others.

I have so many highlights in my ereader, I had to sift through them and try to share only those that will tell you why I love the world that C D Kester has so vividly created. Thanks to the Supernatural TV show, it was easy to visualize many scenes and the actions of the demons that are called forth by vile humans that will do anything for greed and power.

I didn’t know what to rate the book, a four or a five, so I figured I would wait and decide while I write this review. Will it get my dander up, after it being a week or so since I have read it. Now, I will browse my highlights and we shall see. The point of view shifts from character to character, allowing us to experience their individual terror.

It has been ten years since The Bunker.

We are back in Texas, in a small town called Fairmont, right next door to Fern Hollow. If you are traveling in the area, don’t stop. Keep on driving. I am immediately drawn in as a body is dumped in a landfill. From there, the evil spreads, and spreads, and spreads. Blood flows and heads roll, literally.

The main characters are four youngsters, Tim, Mike, Logan and Dominic. They are in a band. They are bullied at school. Basically, just average kids, doing average things, until…

When Mike walked into the garage with a shadow following him, all I could think is…not Mike. He has been through so much. He doesn’t deserve this. And it goes downhill from here. It’s a good thing he has such good and loyal friends that will not turn their back on him.

Logan is sent to Camp Gensis for conversion therapy. I think most of us know what that means. Cruelty and torture, but this camp is run by a pedophile. A sheep in wolves clothing.

Nancy is the owner of the Halloween story and has become their friend. Her, on the airplane, I was terrified. I have a fear of flying and sure wouldn’t want to read this book while I was on a plane. LOL

There are so many evil, terrible characters that belong on the bottom of the pond, or that may be too good for them. They conjure evil worse than themselves and I can only hope it will demand a steep price from them for doing so. After all, demons are not your friend.

Every time I turned around, another evil popped up and I was terrified for all the characters I came to love. I was constantly surprised, shocked, saddened, devastated…and the ending. As I write this and check out my last note in my ereader…

She broke down into tears…

And so did I, at least, tears formed in my eyes…again. And that is worth a 5 star rating.

I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Chasing Demons by C D Kester.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos
5 Stars

GOODREAD BLURB

Be true to yourself and stand up for what’s right. Michael, Tim, Dominic, and Logan are four buddies in the suburban town of Fairmont, Texas. Their lives are turned upside down when a demonic entity begins to terrorize their families and all of Fairmont as a whole. Logan knows that he is gay, but has to deal with his family that go to a hate-fueled church led by Johnny Cumberland, otherwise known as Johnny Gospel. The four friends must band together through thick and thin to stand up in the face of evil and hatred. Days and years may come and go, but one thing remains the same. When you’re at your lowest you shouldnt be afraid to admit you need help. And don’t forget, that we can get by with a little help from our friends. Thanks, Joe Cocker.

  • Genre: Fiction, Horror, Paranormal, Supernatural
  • 298 pages, Kindle Edition
  • First published November 17, 2022

ABOUT C D KESTER

C. D. Kester is an author of fiction who does most of his work in the horror genre. He lives in Kingwood, Texas with his wife and two children. Kester recently published his first full length novel, Chasing Demons. His first self-published work is a novella titled The Bunker. He has also had many stories published in anthologies, ezines, and read in podcasts and YouTube videos.

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Couldn’t Stop Reading – Nobody by T Joseph Browder #TJosephBrowder

Amazon / Goodreads

MY REVIEW

The hunkalicious NCIS looking customer ordered a Chocolate Overdose and said, “Keep your head down.” Robyn Carr wondered why he kept hanging around after finishing his drink. Four clowns enter, begin blasting away with their automatic weapons, until the customer makes a stand. When Robyn asked who he was, he responded, “I am Nobody.”

And that is the beginning of the book. It took me by surprise, because I thought I had it all figured out early on, and I was sooo wrong. So wonderfully wrong. The writing flowed smoothly, leading me deeper into this fabulous story, making me unable to stop until the last word was read, shaking my head, and thinking….what an awesome ending! Sure didn’t see that coming.

Arianna Price was fourteen years old when Nobody had saved her life. Twenty five years later, she is a Special Agent of the FBI. A profiler. She has never quit searching for the man who appears at violent, traumatic events, saving some and letting others die. She has a question only he can answer, and she will not quit looking until she finds him. WHY? Why did he save her and her mother, but let her father and brother die? That is the question I always seek an answer to when I read a murder mystery, when I read about serial killers. Many times the why is never answered, but this time may be different.

Is she special…or is it more than that?

Arianna had fought for her position, being a black woman in a man’s world. When she met Goldenfeather, a Navajo woman, she was told her to stop searching. It is a fight between good and evil and it will destroy her. I love the addition of Navajo folklore, myth and legend, and voodoo.

The history of the pacemaker was fascinating.

The ‘In The Bank’ chapter was wonderfully inspiring.

I also learned about the immortal jellyfish, Turritopsis dohrnii. I love a book that has me going to the web for more information, and the author did his research.

If you love books about battles between good and evil, this is for you. I got so much more than I had anticipated, and I have read a couple other books by T Joseph Browder, so my expectations were pretty high. No worries. He met and surpassed them.

Be sure and read the Afterword and Acknowledgments and let us know if you think T Jospeh Bowder was prescient.

I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Nobody by T Joseph Browder.

Animated Animals. Pictures, Images and Photos
4 Stars

GOODREADS BLURB

Fourteen-year-old Arianna Price, rescued, bloody and terrified, from a bathtub by a stranger after witnessing the brutal slaying of her father and brother during a home invasion, had no time to ask questions of the man who’d interceded on her behalf before disappearing, without a trace, into the night. Twenty-five years later, her future and profession dictated by that single event, Special Agent Arianna Price of the FBI is determined to bring the still unidentified vigilante, her erstwhile savior, in for questioning. Except he seems to have never existed. He has no name. No past. No identity. He appears during horrific acts of violence, intervenes, then vanishes like a wraith. Evidence suggests he’s been doing so for thirty years, or more. Yet, according to witnesses, he has never aged. He is punishment. He is vengeance. He is Nobody.

  • Genre: Angels and Demons, Fiction, Horror, Paranormal, Supernatural, Vigilante
  • 296 pages, Paperback
  • Published: June 5, 2023 by T. Joseph Browder

ABOUT T JOSEPH BROWDER

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.

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