Connor by Dormaine G. excerpt

Excerpt                                                           "He raised the black cane and struck the floor with it not twenty feet in front of us. The striking motion made a loud crackling sound, spontaneously creating electricity in the air.     It was such a strong surge that I started to walk toward it, but Tanzia physically stopped me.     A lightning bolt struck in the middle of the room, but it did not disappear like it should have; instead it lingered a while. It grew in size, opening up to form a big circular bright silver light. It sounded like a gush of water or wind similar to what Scott said he heard in the basement.     This had to be a portal to ‘time’, that unsafe place for us. Tochia yelled get back, but my legs locked. I didn’t move. I needed to see up close who or what felt our lives were so expendable.     Out stepped a man, an extremely tall man, who wore a black suit and a top hat. He just stood there smiling at us. It was the strangest thing I had ever seen. He didn’t look real. I slowly backed up to the others, wanting to get as far away as possible from him.     His aura was powerful, almost suffocatingly so. The light behind the tall man closed like a vacuum, and it was calm again in the room.     “Let me introduce myself to those who have not had the pleasure of meeting me. My name is Tanner.” He bowed when he introduced himself, top hat in hand, like in a theater. He acted as if he was on stage, putting on a Broadway show.     Ronin tossed the man the black cane, then stood off to the side and leaned against the front wall eyeing me. “Thank you, Ronin.” Tanner gestured toward the couch, smiling as if he wanted us to take a seat, like the show was about to begin any minute.     We just stood there ignoring his request, but rather observing him, strangely waiting for him to make a move. He pulled out three vials of something I could not make out, but this time insisted we take a seat.     Tochia tried to electrocute the man as he turned away for a brief second, but he was too fast for her.     Before the electricity could even get close to him, he moved out of the way, took one vial out, and threw it down on the floor, smashing into pieces. At first it seemed like nothing occurred, then Tochia dropped like dead weight, not moving.     As I reached for her, Tanner replied, “I would not do that if I were you. Even though I don’t need a vial for you, I would love to punish your babysitters for your actions.” I slowly moved back and sat down.     “If you’re wondering what this is, young lady, it’s my guarantee that your Keepers will behave. We can thank your oh-so-trusting Keeper Khan for these, te-he,” he said, making a sound, which I could only guess was a laugh.     I asked Tanzia what was in the vials, but Tanner answered for her. “I can answer that, young lady. Oh, don’t look so surprised. You have not learned to block your thoughts yet, so I hear you loud and clear,” he said, staring at me with that bizarre smile on his face. “My goodness, Tanzia, what are you teaching these kids nowadays?”     “Get on with it, Tanner. We did not come here to sit around and watch you perform. Trust me, you are the only one amused,” Bynder said.     “Well let me first explain to the girl,” he said to Bynder then turned toward me. “These keepsakes are part potion and part Keepers’ blood, your Keepers’ blood to be exact, young lady, te-he. It, oh, how can I say this nicely, kills them.”     Dead, Tochia is dead..."                 Amazon US        Amazon UK

DISEASE by M.F. Wahl

5 Stars

by

M. F. Wahl

Amazon

Humanity's war against the living dead has been lost. In the wake of the apocalypse, the living fight fiercely for what little they have. 

In this hell-on-earth Casey, armed with a baseball bat, and joined by a mute boy named Alex, struggles to survive. When a man named Danny stumbles upon them, it's mistrust at first sight – but times are desperate. Danny leads them to a thriving settlement where danger lurks beneath the guise of kindness. 

It's kill or be killed in a world where power is life, and the earth is overrun by walking dead.

Review

The story is a tale of survival.  Man against the world.

           The world has deteriorated and the dead now roam the earth. It begins with a young woman, Casey and a 9 y/o boy, Alex, who doesn’t talk, fight to stay alive after no one else in their group has survived.  It’s quite apparent from the beginning that these two have a bond as they are able to communicate without words. Unexpectedly, they meet up with a pack, lead by Danny, who at first rough houses them, but in turn offers them possible salvation. 

          Sadly, this salvation is run by Lot, a narcissist woman who only cares about power and what others can do for her and her elite group. Their base is in a hotel where everything seems perfect. Children go to classes, bonds are built and there is even military style protection but most of all there is plenty of food. Only there is ugliness behind these walls that most don’t know about unless they challenge Lot. Once that happens, they see the monster behind the facade. Casey thought the real threat was outside with the zombies but the war has just begun. The true monsters are called humans. This is all I want to give away as to not spoil what happens next.

          This book was such an easy read that the pages flew by. I liked how M. F. Wahl explained what was transpiring by getting to the point without dragging on with long drawn out descriptions. That fit the mood of the story. The author’s word choice of accounts engrossed me; ex: “Cannibalizing itself” was used to portray Casey’s hunger or “slither” to depict an untrustworthy person’s movements. This allows for remarkable visualization. 

          What I really liked about this tale was the topic of other issues rather than the typical zombie battle, different types of zombies or hunger. There was the discussion of the actual plague, diseases and parasites. I can appreciate when an author goes beyond simply stating an illness but actually gives an accurate report of the sickness as it was done with tetanus. Mainly, the characters were well developed and the storyline was well thought out. That’s what took this book to the next level for me.

So I have to give this book top notch. Disease drew me in and held me captive. M. F. Wahl gave me another horror author to follow.  I cannot wait for the author’s next installment of books. 

Resurrection (Returned Book 1) by Kish Knight

5 Stars!

Amazon

Synopsis

Returned is a four-part serialized paranormal Young Adult romantic thriller. Each book is short, gritty, and fun, and ends with a suspenseful turning point. A new book will be available every 4 weeks. 

***

Bargaining her soul had literally cost her .... her life.

Sionne Webster comes to in a new body, that of a recent suicide: an unpopular, mousy girl. She's got no clue who this chick was, or why her body was chosen for Sionne's Earth resurrection. What Sionne does know is that she's only got a few days to find her own murderer before the demon master, Tevit, whisks her back to Hell, hopefully with a killer in tow. Until she discovers that her unknown body donor IS her murderer. Unknown to the demon, Sionne has no intention of returning to the fiery pits, not when all she needs is a human guy to fall in love with her. Luckily, something has delayed Tevit, but any day now, he will seize the body, no questions asked, and toss it to River Styxx with her trapped inside. A slight problem...

Now Sionne will do anything to keep from going back to Hell, even depend on the hot, sexy chaos demon that she had to ... get closer to... as a part of the resurrection ritual.


The clock is ticking...

My Review

Resurrection was a quick sassy read! The main character has attitude; I love rebelliously strong females. Due to vanity, Sionne makes a deal with the devil for beauty but when you make a deal with the devil do expect to get tricked and she did. Two years later she’s at her funeral watching everyone she loves mourn her.  Well, mostly everyone. Now Sionne makes another deal, she really needs to stop making deals, to go back to earth to find out who killed her. Only, she has a secret mission to find a way to stay on earth permanently. Once she arrives, things already start off on a bad note but chaos always makes for an interesting read. So how will she manage? 

Envy: A Twisted Taste of Seduction by K'Aliyah Knight

Amazon

Synopsis

      Rameer Banner is fine as hell, with buku money, and the sex will make you delirious. He's the kinda dude that gets what he wants, when he wants. He owns it. 
     After 8 years of Rameer playing with her heart, Ki is done. Forget the sex, she's moving on, or so she tries. 
     Getting away from Rameer gets easier when a handsome detective catches her attention. But Ki can't move on, Rameer isn't having that. Will trying to let go cost her more than love...? Take a wild ride with these Crazy and Sexy Vampires and get the thrill of your Life. A Twisted Taste of Seduction will leave you wet with envy. 

My Review

       From the first chapter, I was sucked (pun intended) into the life of Ki and her woes. Sadly like most women, we fall for a man who gets into our system so much so that we can’t get rid of him and that’s the case with Ki and Rameer. Rameer was not my favorite by any means although he played a great antagonist. Even after all his drama I wanted them together. What can I say, I’m a hopeless romantic & a vampire lover. As far as Fatima, she was jealous, petty, an unnecessary witch that I could not stand. She was no Queen in my book. But as much as I couldn’t stand Fatima, Latoya, Ki’s sister, was the worst.

      From page one I was held spellbound by the development of characters which were well developed and well rounded. There never seemed to be a dull moment in the storyline. This book has action, romance, paranormal antics and a character you could either relate to or hate. Well done. Loved it!

5 Stars!

Micco, Anguta's Reign...a supernatural mystery thriller with a heart wrenching twist

Newly Released

Amazon

Synopsis

Revelation can be a disheartening truth

     Micco, a captivating man with a desirable physique and statuesque features, radiates a mysterious allure. Living on the reservation with his unapproachable father, he doesn’t believe in the old ways and works as a cop in the local town. The only reason he lives on the land is Nara, his childhood friend and the love of his life, who is married to a cruel reservation man.

     Waking up in the heart of a murderous scene, he flees for his life, unfamiliar with his surroundings or how he arrived there. To his horror, he’s assigned to the case. As he works with the local detective, more murders transpire with unusual, terrifying sightings of wolves.

     His behavior starts to drastically change, forcing others to take notice. Although trying to avoid the inevitable, Micco is forced to accept the undesirable truth, unable to fight what has been awakened, and all that he has forgotten is finally revealed. 

Excerpt

     After taking notes, he walked into another room, a bedroom, to catch his breath and inhale cleaner air. Not that it was much better. There were bloodstains on the floor and across the bed. By now the odor clung to his nostrils but at least there were no flies in here.

      He looked around for something, anything that gave a hint that he was here last night. He checked in the closet and took in the bloody sheets. As he bent down to check under the bed, he heard a peculiar sound. He stood up to get a better idea of what it was. It was a scratching noise of some kind coming from inside the room. It sounded familiar but he didn’t know from where or why it was recognizable. Peering around, he couldn’t find the source in any direction.

     Without warning, a blinding, flashing memory of screaming, running and piercing noise took hold of him. He grabbed his head, squeezing it, trying to stop the distorted thoughts. His eyes were blinking uncontrollably. A sharp twinge ran up his back. It was so excruciating that his muscles contracted, contorting with a loss of control. He tried to remain silent, though to no avail. It felt like someone was cutting him open from the back.

    Just as suddenly as it began, it stopped.

    Micco found himself on the floor, shirt drenched with perspiration, panting like his heart was about to jump out from his chest.

    Holy shit, what was that?

    He stayed there on the cold hardwood floor for a minute, gathering his breath and thoughts. He’d never experienced anything like that before. The full memories were gone but he did recall the screaming.

     A memory from last night? Please don’t make me have to go through that pain every time I remember something.

     Rolling over to get up, he saw a shirt tucked in the corner. It looked familiar; it was his own... 

 Amazon