Save Her by Chris Patchell could have started out: It was a cold, wintry day and she found herself alone, stranded in a snowstorm…
Pacing, pacing, pacing…Chris Patchell is a master at keeping a high level of suspense going throughout the book. I know from her past books she will not fail to get my emotions roiling.
We’re back in Sweet Home, Oregon, with Lacey, who is struggling to adjust having Caleb home from Fort Hood on a permanent basis, though the kids are loving it. It sounds to me like she now has three kids to take care of and I’m uncertain if she hasn’t outgrown Caleb.
Being a cop in her home town isn’t easy for her either…A small town where she knows everyone. She’s quick with her words, witty and sharp, and I find myself laughing out loud, at times.
There is more than one person in the small town of Sweet Home, Oregon, that needs to grow up.
OMG…the rat bastard! I want to reach into my Kindle and beat him to a pulp! I am shocked, outraged and very pissed off!
Save Her may be a bit on the predictable side, but Chris Patchell has a way of creating tension, suspense, and a sense of urgency that has me racing through the pages to find out if or who will SAVE HER! I know Lacey is going to run into danger, but that’s okay. The pacing keeps me going. Gotta know…What’s…Next.
Lacey is too juicy a character for her story to end her. Next up: Tell Her, Book III in this stand alone series, and I can hardly wait to get my hands on it.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Save Her by Chris Patchell.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
Abandoned on a remote mountain road, the storm closing in isn’t the only deadly threat she will face.
A New Year’s Eve party is the perfect time to reconnect with old friends and make resolutions none of you will keep. Still, Audrey Drummond sees it as a good way to pass the time now that she’s back in Sweet Home, Oregon. She hitches a ride with her high school ex, but their ride down memory lane takes a perilous turn, and Audrey finds herself abandoned, cold and alone on a mountain road—miles away from the party.
From that moment on, her situation only gets worse.
When Audrey vanishes in a winter storm, Officer Lacey James knows that left to the elements, she won’t survive long. But when the initial search yields no viable clues, the missing persons case takes a darker turn.
Time is running out, and the killer storm isn’t the only immediate threat Lacey will face in the desperate quest to save her.
ABOUT CHRIS PATCHELL
Chris Patchell is the bestselling author of In the Dark
and the Indie Reader Discovery Award winning novel Deadly Lies.
Having recently left her long-time career in tech to pursue her
passion for writing full-time, Chris pens gritty suspense novels set
in the Pacific Northwest, where she lives with her family and two
neurotic dogs.
After looking at the cover, I had to have This Morbid Life by Loren Rhoads. I didn’t care what it was about. How about you? Have you ever grabbed a book because of its cover, without checking out anything else about it?
I am sooo excited to have Loren Rhoads visiting today. She is going to share some of her thoughts and an excerpt….are you tempted yet?
1. What’s the most
inspiring part of where you live?
I feel blessed to live in the most diverse neighborhood in
San Francisco. It’s really great to get my coffee at the Filipino-Hawaiian
cafe, pick up a pork bun across the street, and stop off for a Salvadoran
pastry on the way home.
2. Where did the
idea for This Morbid Life come from?
The incredible artist Lynne Hansen was doing a challenge
last October where she created a new book cover every day. One day she made
this beautiful collage of an autopsied body with wildflowers and butterflies
inside its rib cage. I immediately fell in love with the artwork. I knew I had
to put together a book that would do the cover art justice.
3. How long did it
take you to write the book?
Almost everything was already written, but it took a while
to gather up all the essays, polish them up, and put everything together. I
started in January and the book came out in August.
4. Which “character”
has etched its way into your heart and why?
A lot of the essays are about my friend Jeff, so I dedicated
the book to him. We met the summer after I graduated, when I sublet a room in
the house where he lived. We eventually lived together again when my husband
and I moved into a lovely old Victorian in San Francisco’s Castro neighborhood
and couldn’t afford the rent without a roommate. Jeff and I have known each
other for more than 30 years now. I remember when he came out, when he tested
positive for HIV, when his first husband died at home of AIDS. I was highly
entertained when his second husband got to This Morbid Life before Jeff had a
chance to read it. Jeff called to ask if there was anything too scandalous in
the book that he should worry about. I had to laugh at that.
5. What are you
working on now?
This Morbid Life is the first in a series called No Rest for the Morbid. The second book, Jet Lag & Other Blessings, will be a collection of my morbid travel essays: drinking all the absinthe I could find in Prague, encountering a rattlesnake in the Mojave, chasing alligators in the Louisiana bayou, flying over an active volcano in a helicopter, trying out Japanese love hotels, and basically stalking my morbid curiosity around the globe. That book will have a Lynne Hansen collage for its cover, too.
So many interesting essays. You kept me entertained, at times smiling and maybe even eliciting chuckle or two. I love the cover and find it as fascinating as the stories inside. No Rest For The Mordid sounds just as fascinating. Thanks so much for visiting and sharing your thoughts.
#1, Loren Rhoads was born in my hometown of Flint, Michigan. Gotta support another Michigander. #2, I couldn’t resist that cover.
Right out of the gate, I felt a kinship to Loren Rhoads. I was born and raised in Flint, Michigan, and this was like going home. I went to Mott Community College. I know Dort Highway very well, because I worked at the AC Plant, after being laid off from the Chevrolet Plant downtown Flint. I do love a walk down memory lane.
Loren Rhoads found inspiration from her personal experiences…you never know where it will come from. We need to be open to all our experiences.
HOLD ON TIGHT!f These essays are dark and gritty, filled with truth. Loren lays herself bare. This Morbid Life is an apt title for the book and is not for the feint of heart. She lets it all hang out and I loved every minute of it.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of This Morbid Life by Loren Rhoads.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
What others have called an obsession with death is really a desperate romance with life. Guided by curiosity, compassion, and a truly strange sense of humor, this particular morbid life is detailed through a death-positive collection of 45 confessional essays. Along the way, author Loren Rhoads takes prom pictures in a cemetery, spends a couple of days in a cadaver lab, eats bugs, survives the AIDS epidemic, chases ghosts, and publishes a little magazine called Morbid Curiosity.
Originally written for zines from Cyber-Psychos AOD to Zine World and online magazines from Gothic.Net to Scoutie Girl, these emotionally charged essays showcase the morbid curiosity and dark humor that transformed Rhoads into a leading voice of the curious and creepy.
EXCERPT
Burning Desire (an excerpt from the cremation essay)
At the
back of the warehouse stood the cremator itself. The Neptune Society used
British equipment, which was acclaimed as top of the line. A computer
controlled the temperature and length of burning time. The cremator had four doors,
two above and two below, so that bodies could be cremated simultaneously and
their ashes commingled. Before anyone could ask, Steve assured us that
California state law prohibited cremation of more than one body at a time, so
that ashes couldn’t get mixed by accident.
The
“ovens” themselves were built of fire-resistant brick. A metal rack slid out,
onto which the body was placed. Before the operator inserted a body, the
cremator would be preheated to 1800 degrees Fahrenheit. As we toured the
building, the ambient temperature rapidly became torrid. The ovens were
warming. Apparently, at 1800 degrees, the inside of the oven glows red-hot.
Natural
gas was used for the heating process. A human body provides its own fuel and
will burn on its own at a high-enough temperature, so the cremator was
preheated, the body placed inside, and the gas switched off to prevent
overheating. Toward the end of the cremation, the gas was turned on again until
the bones became calcined and brittle.
Someone
asked Steve how they knew when a body was done. He recommended sticking it with
a fork. Sobering up, he added that, on average, it took between one and two
hours for a cremation at the Neptune Society, with an additional half hour for
the oven to cool down enough to remove the cremains. All bodies burned
differently, due to their levels of fat or moisture. Both cancer and AIDS
deplete the body’s fat reserves, so victims of those diseases had less fuel
value. Those bodies required more gas and a higher heat and might take longer
to reduce to ash.
The
different compositions of people also produced a variety of colors as the body
burned. Sometimes the flames turned green or blue, but generally they were
orange or red.
When the
cremation was complete, human remains were white and very brittle. Any other
discoloration implied that the cremation was unfinished. The bones might have
shrunk or twisted, but they were still quite recognizable. The cremains were
scooped out of the retort with a tool like a hoe. They were placed in a machine
with a drum like a clothes dryer that used heavy iron balls to pulverize the
remaining bones. The process was complete when the remains fit through a sieve.
I asked
if I could see real human ashes. With a shrug, Steve found a beige cardboard
box that was maybe five inches on a side. Inside a plastic wrapper, the
cremains looked like Quaker Oats and weighed as much as an old-fashioned
solid-body telephone. No one else in the tour group was interested in holding
the box. In fact, they all took a step back when I held the box out to them.
Continued in This Morbid Life
ABOUT LOREN RHOADS
Loren Rhoads is author of This Morbid Life, a morbid memoir, and Unsafe Words, the first full-length collection of her edgy, award-winning stories.
Two attractive, young, blond women…missing body parts….an inverted cross on their breasts…One serial killer is bad enough, but they have two. I am very curious how Daniel Jeudy will bring them together.
Detective Addison Mowbray had believed people were good….until his father was murdered. His grief led him to a career in law enforcement and he has stayed with the LAPD for almost thirty years.
We actually have three plots going: Occult killing, Armenian Mafia, a vigilante.
I must say, as a debut novel…well done, Daniel. I picked it up and couldn’t put it down. Dark, gritty, twisted, perverted, the most depraved, despicable dregs of humanity ungrace the pages. Evil…and I revel in it. I love walking among the dark and damaged…and Daniel supplied that. I had wondered how he would end the story, and though he left it in a good place, there is still more to know. The work is not finished. Bring it on, Daniel.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Sons of Brutality by Daniel Jeudy.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
When Detective Addison Mowbray begins investigating the murders of two young women in the Hollywood Hills, he can’t imagine where the case will lead. He suspects the crimes were inspired by an occult fascination, due to some missing body parts and the inverted Christian cross branded on the victims’ breasts. But apart from Addison’s temperamental partner, Jed, the only other person keen on them pursuing that line of investigation is Lilly Coniglio, a medical examiner from the Coroner’s Department. The LAPD is already under immense public pressure due to all the bad press another killer – a vigilante – has brought to their door: it’s been over a year since the first organized-crime figure showed up full of holes, with a plastic police badge beside his body.
As Addison and Jed navigate a murky, disturbing occult landscape in search of answers, they uncover something even more terrifying than a killer hiding in the shadows: an organization so vile and powerful that it changes their lives forever. These two troubled detectives are all that stand between this organization and a spectacular season of carnage.
Set against a backdrop of urban bleakness and social inequality, ‘Sons of Brutality’ combines deeply flawed protagonists with human monsters, integrating strong dialogue, violent action and gripping suspense.
ABOUT DANIEL JEUDY (from his website)
Daniel is a musician who has toured throughout Australia and America with various bands. Founder of Xcel Business Solutions, he lives in the Blue Mountains. Daniel has written and collaborated on many different musical projects and traveled extensively. His passion for music, off-beat stories, and the written word ensure he is always busy. His first novel, Sons of Brutality, draws heavily on the situations he encountered inside smoke-filled spaces around the world throughout the 1990s and the underbelly culture he experienced while on tour in America. To find out more information about his book, please visit his website at: danieljeudy.com.au
Okay…first of all, I am going to do my best to not include spoilers.
It’s New Years Eve and Katie is ready for a change…and a kiss. Who would be the lucky guy? She is torn between Ranger and Pete. Who are you rooting for? I am Team Ranger. I love a little bit of the bad boy. Besides, when they fall, the fall hard!
The Academy…everything has good and bad, but I struggle to find the good. Things are not as they seem.
The characters grown and change, developing more depth as they are put into situations that are beyond their control.
Katie is caught in the middle, pulled in opposite directions. She is so young and naive, inexperienced. I love watching her learn life’s lessons and I do feel frustrated with how easily I feel she is being manipulated.
Completely flipped…and…I am very leery and afraid for her. AND…curious about where we will go next. Don’t think you know where we are going is easy, cut and dried, because C J Daly has so many twists, turns and questions that make me want MORE.
I will be up front. I don’t know who will win out in the love department, Ranger or Pete, but I am Team Ranger. There’s something about Pete I don’t like, don’t trust. Is it love, obsession, possession?
I had a good idea how Cap and Gown would end, seeing we have so much more of the story to be told. Warning…once you start you won’t want to quit, so be ready for many hours and thousand of pages, of love, hope, despair, duty….
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Cap and Gown by C J Daly.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
Katie Connelly is nineteen years old but feels like she’s been fighting for survival forever.
When Officer Ranger Nealson offers her a lifeline at The Academy, she snatches it with both hands. But she soon realizes that her lifeline might not be enough to keep her afloat and that her mentor might have ulterior motives. She wouldn’t be willing to compromise her principles if it wasn’t for one small thing–her brother Mikey. Her all-encompassing promise to her mother to protect her brothers causes her to forge forward with Ranger’s master plan. After all, this is likely the best deal she would get at The Academy, and she and Mikey need all the help they can get to survive in this cutthroat world.
But during the course of her training, Kate can’t help but long for a different elite cadet. Where is Pete Davenport? He’s lost in the wind. Will he make an appearance before Kate marches into a destiny she’s not sure she wants? Much less can handle. Somewhere along this fast-forward march, Kate makes a major misstep that costs her biggest ally and forever changes the lives of everyone she’s trying to protect.
ABOUT C J DALY
CJ Daly grew up on the scrabbly plains of Eastern New Mexico. When she was supposed to be helping her six siblings with chores on the family ranch, she was really sneaking behind dusty haystacks to read. And dreaming about becoming a writer.
After graduating high
school, CJ moved to Big D, where she quickly put herself through college
while trying to rid herself of her country accent. She had better luck
with college, graduating magna cum laude with a degree in English
literature. After teaching a few years and pausing to have back-to-back
boys, she began writing in earnest.
A few years later, “The
Academy Saga” was born. It instantly earned a Readers’ Favorite 5-STAR
seal of approval and became an Amazon best seller.
I meant to have the Find Her by Chris Patchell review done around the November 16th release date, but life got in the way. It in no way reflects on my thoughts about the book, which I have a page plus of notes. I am sure I will be editing that down.
I love the cover for Find Her by Chris Patchell. I have a love of trees, naked or dressed, but naked is the best. Look closely at the branches. What do you see? To me it is like looking at clouds in the sky and deciphering the images that pass overhead.
Sadie saw the man in aisle four of the hardware store. All her spidey senses went on high alert, but he managed to lift the hammer and leave without being nabbed for nonpayment. Nine thousand eight hundred and fifteen people lived in the small town of Sweet Home, and she knew he wasn’t one of them.
Police Officer Lacey James is on the case. She was ‘this’ close to nabbing him, and after seeing what was in the back of the car….
Lacey James is married to a soldier who is in Fort Hood. She has two young boys and it looks like she will be raising them on her own.
Hmmm…at the end of Part I the story took a twist I didn’t see coming. Chris…whether you know it or not, you get me. Your books are right up my alley and give me hours of suspenseful reading pleasure.
I don’t know what is going on, or where we are going, but Noah and security at the Mall leaves a lot to be desired. A second storyline comes into play and I am curious how the parts will mesh together. I am on the hook and OMG! The quickness of the end of Part II caught me so offguard I can hardly wait to see what Part III has in store for me.
I so want to peek ahead, BUT no cheating. I know it will be worth the wait and I don’t think I will be able to put my Kindle down until the last word is read.
WHY? That is my question, as much as who, how…
Lacey is great, and if anything were to happen to me or mine, I would want her on the case. With her dogged determination and common sense, she won’t quit until the job is done.
There was one part that I was disappointed Lacey didn’t catch, but sometimes the author needs that creative license to make the story sing. Chris Patchell did wrap up the story nicely, bringing all the elements together. Though it seemed to end a bit abruptly, I was satisfied…AND…OMG…the cover for Save Her, the second book in the Lacey James series is to die for. Bring it on!
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Find Her by Chris Patchell.
A simple heist at a hardware store uncovers a brutal crime spree leaving a police officer dead, several innocents murdered, and the small Oregon town of Sweet Home shaken to its core.
Veteran police officer Lacey James answers the call. The robbery suspect has fled, but the items she finds inside the car at the scene raise the hackles on the back of Lacey’s neck: a hammer, a tarp, zip ties, and a stolen gun. This discovery pushes her suspicions to an all-time high and has her questioning what dark and dangerous crimes this man may be involved in?
Eden Mills is smart, kind, and fun-loving. Not the kind to make enemies or run away. But Eden has a stalker, and when Lacey discovers that Eden is missing, possibly kidnapped, there is plenty of reason to fear the worst. As Lacey peels back the layers of the suspect’s crimes, her pursuit of the truth leads to unthinkable tragedy.
A colleague is dead. Her suspect isn’t talking. And time may be running out for Eden.
Can Lacey find her before one man’s obsession destroys more lives?
ABOUT CHRIS PATCHELL
Chris Patchell is the bestselling author of In the Dark and the Indie Reader Discovery Award winning novel Deadly Lies. Having recently left her long-time career in tech to pursue her passion for writing full-time, Chris pens gritty suspense novels set in the Pacific Northwest, where she lives with her family and two neurotic dogs.
WHEW! (swipes hand across sweating forehead) What a cover for Lord King by Mimi Jean Pamfiloff. This ought to be fun. Mimi Jean Pamfiloff writes her stories with wit and creativity. Even though I have missed a book or two in the series, I feel it did not affect my enjoyment of Lord King, but I do recommend beginning at the beginning.
Ansin is evil…and was dead. Now, he’s back…with a hot new body. He is evil, on a par with King. Jeni is a seer, the last of her kind, as is Ansin…so, he demands she marry him and give him children. He thinks they are destined to be together and carry on their bloodlines, even though it is King she wants.
King had lost his love, Mia, and his children. Even though he’s incapable of dying, that doesn’t mean he can’t suffer. The heart wants what the heart wants, no matter how evil. Jeni is there to help him die and go to his family. She wants revenge and he is paying penance, so they each have their own agenda.
“I’m sorry, King.” I reached out, covering his heart with my hand, “but, like it or not, you can’t hide from me. I see you. You see me. We are Connected.”
They are together until his situation is resolved. She is a human lie detector and they could read each other’s thoughts. I’m not sure I would care for that.
It was wonderful watching meek and mild Jeni grow up.
Soooo, two badass alpha males, evil and magical, want her for their own purposes. What to do.
NO! Mimi! I didn’t see that coming. That’s on me. With all the twists and turns, betrayals and double crosses, I shouldn’t have been THAT surprised, but I loved that I was…by the ending. We do have a cliffhanger…sort of. Yes…there are so many questions and I plan on being around to see the ending.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Lord King by Mimi Jean Pamfiloff.
4 Stars
From New York Times Bestseller Mimi Jean Pamfiloff comes a Paranormal Suspense, Lord King.
A curse he cannot break without her… KING Before I became evil, I was king of a great people. Now I am cursed to walk the earth until I pay for my misdeeds. After three thousand years, I have much to answer for.
Then along comes Jeni, further complicating matters. She claims to love me, though I could never reciprocate. Her loathsome people placed me in this predicament, and frankly, I gave my heart to another woman long ago. But I am about to discover that meeting Jeni is no coincidence. Our true connection will shock even me.
A power she didn’t know she had… JENI I am what they call a Seer, an ancient people with unusual gifts, and I’m the last of my kind. Surprise! Because up until recently, I thought I was a regular person. But meeting King changed everything. He opened my eyes to the world around me, filled with more darkness than I could’ve imagined. And King? He’s the darkest of them all. That’s why I can’t wrap my head around my feelings. With every moment we spend together, I’m falling for a man who can never love me back. His heart belongs to his dead wife. That’s when I meet Ansin. The only man on earth who could rival King for darkness and ruthless ambition. Like me, Ansin is the last of his bloodline, which is why he demands I marry him and give him children. Do I get to choose, or has fate already chosen for me?
MIMI JEAN PAMFILOFF is a New York Times bestselling author who’s sold over one million books around the world. Although she obtained her MBA and worked for more than fifteen years in the corporate world, she believes that it’s never too late to come out of the romance closet and follow your dreams.
Mimi lives with her Latin lover hubby, two
pirates-in-training (their boys), and their three spunky dragons
(really, just very tiny dogs with big attitudes) Snowy, Mini, and Mack,
in the vampire-unfriendly state of Arizona.
She hopes to make
you laugh when you need it most and continues to pray daily that
leather pants will make a big comeback for men.
From the USA TODAY bestselling author of Little Deadly Secrets
comes a highly anticipated novel that weaves an ancient family mystery
and tense drama into a page-turning psychological thriller. Perfect for
fans of Celeste Ng’s Little Fires Everywhere, Laura Dave’s The Last Thing He Told Me, Lisa Jewell, and Ruth Ware.
I love the contrast from black and white to purple on the cover for A Slow Ruin by Pamela Crane. This is not my first book by this author and she has never failed to give me hours of reading pleasure. That being said…let’s see what she has in store for us with A Slow Ruin.
I love when a story begins with an assault to my senses and A Slow Ruin by Pamela Crane does just that. Pamela does a great job of grabbing my attention and keeping me flipping pages, having to know what happens next.
A missing woman in 1910. 111 years later, a missing teen. What could they have in common?
Once we get going, I found myself being taken through each characters point of view. It has its good and bad points when done this way. I do like knowing what each character is going through, but it feels a bit choppy. Having read some of her work, I feel confident she’ll bring everything together as all their secrets are revealed. Secrets that haunt them. Secrets that dictate their feelings and actions every day.
No matter what, don’t become complacent. There is more going on than meets the eye.
If you are looking for dysfunctional, damaged characters, secrets, lies and betrayal, mystery and danger, life and death, all while clinging onto the edge of a roller coaster, jerked willy nilly, then A Slow Ruin by Pamela Crane is for you.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of A Slow Ruin by Pamela Crane.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
April 1910. Women’s rights activist Alvera Fields mysteriously vanishes from her home one night, leaving her newborn baby and husband behind, the case never solved.
April 2021. On the anniversary of her great-great-grandmother’s disappearance, Alvera’s namesake Vera Portman vanishes in an eerily similar manner.
Six months later, the police recover a girl’s body. While the family waits in the horror of finding out if it’s Vera, Felicity Portman clings to hope that her missing teenage daughter is still alive. Despite all odds, Felicity senses a link between the decades-apart cases—a mother feels such things in her bones. But all suspicion points to the last person who saw Vera alive: Felicity’s sister-in-law, Marin.
Marin, with her troubled past. Marin, the poor woman who married into the rich family. Marin, the only one who knows Felicity’s darkest secret.
As Felicity makes a shocking discovery in Vera’s journal, she questions who her daughter really is. The deeper she digs, the more she’s ensnared in the same mysteries that claimed their ancestor in a terribly slow ruin.
ABOUT PAMELA CRANE
PAMELA CRANE is a USA TODAY best-selling author and professional
juggler. Not one who can toss flaming torches in the air, but a juggler
of four kids, a writing addiction, and a horse rescuer. She lives on
the edge (her Arabian horse can tell you about their wild adventures
while trying to train him) and she writes on the edge…where her sanity
resides. Her thrillers unravel flawed women who aren’t always pretty.
In fact, her characters are rarely pretty, which makes them
interesting…and perfect for doing crazy things worth writing about.
When she’s not cleaning horse stalls or changing diapers, she’s
psychoanalyzing others.
Tagline: Greater Atlantis, where The Guardian Tribe roam
MY REVIEW
First off, Beyond Atlantis by Lucius Beauchamp has an amazing cover and I love anything to do with Atlantis. Add in some magic and angels, what more can I ask for?
The world I entered holds many things that our world does…love, desire, betrayal, greed, power, lust, good and evil, light and dark.
Priests are people too, with all the foibles the rest of us have.
Galen and Zithia are soulmates, but there is much to be risked for them to be together. I’m not so sure about Galen, but have no doubts about Zithia.
She struggles to build a life for herself. She is bright, determined, giving, an asset to any community. Her struggles and are richly detailed, brought to life through Lucius Beauchamp’s words. I had no idea what was coming, I was just along for the ride.
Sometimes things are so simple…right or wrong. It’s the people that make it complicated.
Will Galen learn in this lifetime, or, will he be doomed to return and try again?
Epic love story…Lucius Beauchmap pulled my heartstrings, drawing me in on this wild adventure.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Beyond Atlantis by Lucius Beauchamp.
4 Stars
Book Description:
10,000 years ago, ancient Atlantian Tribes of magicians flourished in the lower Americas and along the Mississippi.
Galen, an Atlantian magician priest is locked in a relentless power struggle with an envious sorceress who blackmails, lies, and manipulates. A prince of the blood, Galen is determined that nothing will stop his becoming an Archpriest.
Eten, blackest witch and high priestess sees angels and seeks a forbidden treasure. She finds Galen’s curse of having a soulmate particularly helpful.
Half a millennia ago the Island of Atlantis sank off the Biminis, the 13th Tribe was held responsible for the demise of Atlantis. The surviving Atlantians stripped the 13th of all technology and exiled them.
Vengeful, the 13th Tribe wishes to return but the 13th’s warlocks fear crossing into Greater Older Atlantis. They do not dare set foot on the Guardian-protected land. The great Guardian Tribe possess a formidable circle of psychics who roam North America keeping constant vigil to keep Greater Older Atlantis safe for all Atlantians.
With
lightning rushing to greet the barbarians, not only sulphur made their guts
wrench. That most feared God, the God of lightning, was among them. Sheets of
power forked across the ground, felling dozens of the pure race. Repeatedly, the
riverbed exploded and sprayed molten sand. Dripping glass sculptures remained
and pressure waves threw barbarians into the glowing glass pools. Where some
lay stuck, in death or dying.
The false day reached the refugees, the sky pulsing green.
From the Safety of the hillside they saw it all, with deafening thunder rocking
them. Dodging lightning bolts, the barbarians ran when they could to slid into
super-hot streams of glass where their flesh seared so completely that bare-bones
were exposed among living tissue. There was screaming at newly blackened limbs
and sizzling holes within a shoulder or thigh, created by actual lightning
strikes. And then more astral screams as the black shadows of the underworld
chased and fell upon the freshly dead. Only a handful survived. It was another
mist-night.
*
Tancah. Ten ships comprising another fleet had landed. Gold. Mounds of gold was
being turned into ingots for shipment to the Far World.
The gangplanks were sunk into the pink sand by the tread of
disembarking
warriors.
The scarred pyramids were towers with large stone tablets
standing
on top. Not very wide, with ladder-like stairs, each had an almost sheer
drop at the back. Saplings burst forth in unexpected places among the ruins.
The seventh ship to dock was grander than the others. Its
occupants always liked to be seventh, from superstition. Rhaim, the
commander-in-chief hurried to meet these new arrivals. They were the main
reason he’d come back to Tancah. After all, he didn’t want their leader to take
offense. In black clothing with wide purple edging, the thirteen glided down
the gangplank. Weary soldiers made hasty signs in the group’s direction while
dropping their eyes. Even with a close trimmed mustache, the outlines of the
first face were a death mask. Udo, the leader. Tall, white-haired and eyes
robin’s-egg blue. The whole group was from similar molds.
Not on land yet, Udo glanced at Tancah. A connoisseur, he
breathed
deeply of the destruction. Then he put a foot hard on the sand and dogs began
to howl. A flock of monarch butterflies, resting on their way to their wintering
ground, filled the air. Raising his hand to the sky, Udo cut a swath through
the gossamer wings. The lovelies rained down among the pyramids, while the
coven roared with laughter.
Invisible to everyone, a watcher hovered over the beach
within sight of the ships. As one, the black-garbed group turned to look at
him, eyes burning. Languidly, Udo said, ‘Kill.’
Two men vacated their flesh so utterly that their bodies fell
to the ground. Their spirits were shadow hounds. Instantly the temple
flyer telepathed the sight to his temple, then spirit claws were on him.
Dying, screams filled the heads of other flyers.
The murdered watcher’s body, seated in the temple chamber,
spasmed and went limp. A high priest wiped the corpse’s brow, ‘Where is the other?’
Simultaneously, Udo’s face was in the room, hanging in
mid-space.
Gloating, he disappeared. Then he was back at the beachfront. ‘Find the other
watched.’
The two dark hounds pounced forward, but Udo’s snarl sent
them scurrying into their bodies. He believed in sharing and signaled a fresh pair.
About the Author:
Like Plato, Lucius believed Atlantis existed. Interpreting Plato’s description of location, backed up by Edgar Cayce’s readings, the Island of Atlantis was off the Biminis. Therefore, for him, the Continent of Atlantis (Greater Older Atlantis) was North America.
I am excited to be sharing Dragon Clan by Kristie Clark. I want to thank Kristie Clark, Delphi Imprint and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review a copy.
It is fantastic to be back in Roatan with Eva and the gang to find out what happens next in this creature feature. No slow start. Action from the getgo.
Now, they are being moved from Roatan, Honduras to Hawaii, courtesy of DARPA and the US Navy.
Kaili is the guardian spirit of the Dragon Clan. She is a Komodo Dragon like no other.
Eva is worried about her dolphins. They have dealt with a mutant Tylosaurus, drug lords, mutant CobiX fish ad Julian Gulliver. It’s hard to tell which is the most dangerous. As if that isn’t enough, now we have to deal with tsunamis.
Kristie Clark does insert ecological, climate change as it applies to the events in the story. She doesn’t get preachy, just includes the pertinent data, just like any other part of the story. I find, when an author does that, it adds that real element and makes the story richer.
You may wonder how someone can write a series with dolphins as the stars. Ask Kristie Clark. She has managed to keep me eager for more and surprises me with how quickly I become involved. She blends fact and fiction seamlessly.
I caught the hint, but was still surprised when she hurt her arm.
I am soooo loving this series. Kristie Clark does her due diligence when it comes to research, sharing the rich history, myths and legends of Hawaii.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Dragon Clan by Kristie Clark.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
A dragon will kill her creator to protect her family.
Dr. Eva Paz wants only a peaceful life on Roatán for herself and her dolphins, continuing their research in dolphin communication and educating children on the importance of caring for the reef.
But when the Navy reactivates Taffy and Finn for exercises in Pearl Harbor, that all changes. For she finds Julian is there as well, and he is armed with yet another genetically modified creature. This time, it has the spirit of an actual dragon.
Thankfully, Eva has her friends and her family—and Thomas—on her side. Not to mention a whole host of new friends: the members of Dragon Clan.
Join Eva as she works with Thomas and her dolphins to save the Hawaiian Islands from an environmental disaster that could destroy them all.
For fans of Michael Crichton, Dragon Clan is book three in Kristie Clark’s Order of the Dolphin series.
Book club questions included. May be read as a standalone, but Dragon Clan is best enjoyed with the other Order of the Dolphin series books: Killing Dragons and Dragon Gold.
ABOUT KRISTIE CLARK
KRISTIE CLARK, a pediatrician, lives on the High Plains with her
husband, sons, border collies, and a cat named Bonsai. An avid scuba
diver, she holds a Roatan Marine Park Bay Islands Lionfish Spearing
License.
Is there a Santa Claus? Elves? Reindeer? Do they live at the North Pole? Why haven’t humans ever found them? If you have been following the series, you may have some of the answers already.
Avery Neva (Snow) Tannenbaum was born on her Nana Rai’s birthday and they celebrated it together every year. This year is different. Her Nana has passed away and left a last request.
Toymaker is all about him, and the Hunt for him. But there is so much more going on the just a game and there is more to the Hunt than win or lose.
I love the unique characters and the world they live in. Dangerous and magical, good and bad…and TOYS. Thank you Santa.
Tony Bertauski has a way with words and has written of a fantastical, magical fantasy world, filled with imagination and creativity, weaving the real world, the future, the past, and the present into a present (?).
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Toymaker by Tony Bertauski.
4 Stars
AMAZON SYNOPSIS
The 9th standalone novel in the Claus Universe.
One
Christmas morning, a mystery gift appeared under trees around the
world. It was the exact same gift, inscribed with the maker’s initials
in tiny letters: BT and Company. It was months before anyone knew
exactly what the gift did.
Avery Tannenbaum’s brother was one of
the lucky few to receive one. It was on her birthday when the mysterious
gifts came to life. A contest was announced. It was also on that very
same day Avery’s grandmother passed away.
An eccentric, wealthy
woman, Nana Rai left detailed instructions on how to commemorate her
passing, a celebration to be held on Christmas morning, which just so
happened to be the same day the contest was set to end. Avery’s family
travels to a cold and snowy land to honor her grandmother’s wishes. And
it’s here she uncovers the true purpose of the mystery gift, and why the
makers launched a global contest.
As Nana Rai’s celebration
nears, Avery follows clues her grandmother left behind. BT and Company
are searching for the Toymaker. And Avery knows what they’ll do when
they find him. She becomes part of her grandmother’s plan to stop them.
The real mystery isn’t where the Toymaker is hiding.
It’s why he’s hiding in the first place.
REVIEWS FOR THE CLAUS UNIVERSE
“Amazing rewrites that will astound you!” –Ruth Jackson, Amazon Reviewer
“Best Santa Story Ever!” – Bob, Amazon Reviewer
“Simply lovely.” –jl, Amazon Reviewer
“MY HEART GREW THREE SIZES…” – Amazon Reviewer
“Couldn’t Put It Down.” – Amazon Reviewer
“Fantasy at it’s [sic] finest.” –Carol, Amazon Reviewer
My grandpa never graduated high school.
He retired from a steel mill in the mid-70s. He was uneducated, but he
was a voracious reader. I remember going through his bookshelves of
paperback sci-fi novels, smelling musty old paper, pulling Piers Anthony
and Isaac Asimov off shelf and promising to bring them back. I was
fascinated by robots that could think and act like people. What happened
when they died?
I’ve written textbooks on landscape
design, but that was straightforward, informational writing; the kind of
stuff that helps most people get to sleep. I’ve also been writing a
gardening column with a humorous slant. That takes a little more
finesse, but still informational for the most part.
I’m a cynical reader. I demand the
writer sweep me into his/her story and carry me to the end. I’d rather
sail a boat than climb a mountain. That’s the sort of stuff I wanted to
write, not the assigned reading we used to get in high school. I wanted
to create stories that kept you up late.
Fiction, GOOD fiction, is hard to write.
Having a story unfold inside your head is an experience different than
reading. You connect with characters in a deeper, more meaningful way.
You feel them, empathize with them, cheer for them and even mourn. The
challenge is to get the reader to experience the same thing, even if
it’s only a fraction of what the writer feels. Not so easy.
