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Sunday, September 30, 2018

The Last Hellfighter by Thomas S Flowers Haunted Halloween Spooktacular Book Tour & Giveaway



The Last Hellfighter
Thomas S. Flowers

Genre: Historical Fiction/Horror

Publisher: Darker Worlds Publishing



Date of Publication: Aug 10, 2018

ISBN: 1724369202
ASIN: B07FFND86J

Number of pages: 277 (Kindle)
410 (paperback)

Word Count: 78K

Cover Artist: Michael Bray

Tagline: They thought vampires were fantasy. They were wrong.

Book Description:

In the year 2044, reporters from the Public Relations Ministry gather at the home of Benjamin Harker, the last surviving member of the Harlem Hellfighters. At the age of 144, he is the oldest recorded man alive. Hidden among them, Clyde Bruner is looking for a different kind of story. Across the United States, despite the Great Walls and patrol drones built to keep America secure, something has found its way in. And now towns are vanishing during the night. Entire populations, gone. Only to return after the sun sets, changed, unholy, and lethal. And whatever this evil is, its spreading west.

According to a bedtime story Bruner’s grandfather told him when he was a boy, Benjamin Harker has seen this before. He’s faced this scourge. Fought this evil. Survived them. Killed them. From the trenches of the Great War to the jungles of Vietnam to the sands of Iraq, Harker will search his past to save our future.

But as each city light extinguishes across the country, is there no time left to stop what’s coming?


Excerpt:

“Hey, Mr. Green. Any ships due in tonight?”
“Huh?” the older man grunted, his full attention glued to the small box television set. Family Feud was on and Silas never missed an episode. As long as Julius had worked with him at least, in these past four months on the night shift, the seasoned longshoreman who acted very content with his life—who moved slow and never liked causing “trouble,” as he called it, to his superiors, could recite the most complex trivia questions.
Julius looked back to his monitor. Part of his job was to watch for ships that may have wandered off course, or even scheduled docks on the quay. The program displayed on his monitor was linked to AIS Marine database that monitored all vessel traffic around the world. He kept the screen displaying his assigned port—which showed a few red, which meant docked and inactive. The one that concerned him was another ship, inbound and blinking green.
“Mr. Green?” Julius pressed. 
The older black man sighed loudly, turning away from his small TV screen. “What? Why the hell would—listen son, you can’t let this job spook you. Working nights on the dock, I know, the long hours can get to you. But trust me, this sure beats working days out in that sun all day offloading ships.”
“But look,” the younger longshoreman pointed his screen.
Frowning, Silas rolled his chair over to the computer monitor. The green blinking ship reflected off his thick glasses. He pushed them back up on his nose, “That ain’t nothing, probably just a glitch in the system.”
Julius looked at the screen and then out the large window that overlooked the Port of Jerusalem. He’d just moved to town not more than six months prior from Bangor and he wanted to make a good impression.
“Okay,” the younger man said.
Silas nodded in quiet victory and rolled back over to watch his show.
Julius continued glaring at the blinking green ship as it approached the port on the screen. He swallowed hard as it inched closer and closer. He glanced at the old man as he howled at some man on the TV having missed a question that Silas thought was a “no brainer.”  On the monitor, the green blinking ship was upon them. Beads of sweat dripped down his forehead.
Closer.
And closer.
“Mr. Green, I don’t think is a glitch,” Julius protested.
Exhaling loudly, Silas stood and turned. “Listen, young blood, I’ve been doing this job for twenty years and I’ve never heard of no ship coming in that wasn’t on the manifest.”
Julius shrugged. “Yeah, but…” he gestured to the screen.
“There is no ship coming—”
Just outside, a large wave crashed against the port levee walls. A thunderous metallic screech vibrated off the walls of the little trailer office on the wharf. Manuals and notebooks and ship logs fell from the shelves as the ground itself felt as if it was opening. The small TV still playing Family Feud rattled off the table and crashed to the floor, sizzling out. The florescent bulbs above them burst raining shards of glass and casting the room into a yellow gloom. The horrendous grinding seemed to go on forever, shaking and shuddering the world.
And then it was over.
Silas Green was the first to prop himself off the floor. Looking around cautiously, as if any wrong move would send the world into chaos again.
Julius propped himself up, moving into a crouch. He peeked through the blinds. “What the heck was that?”
“Shit!” the older man hissed.
Julius glanced over his shoulder at him. “What? You okay?”
Silas held up what remained of his TV. “No, damn tube is busted.”
Shaking his head, Julius peered back out the blinds. “I think we should go check the dock.” He stood, not waiting for approval and went through the door of the office.
“Hold on, young blood.” Silas gave the TV a final kiss—he’d had the device for more years than he cared to confess, and then set it down on the floor as gently as he could. Standing, he opened the bottom drawer of his desk and retrieved a flashlight.
Outside, Silas trotted to catch up with Julius who was standing at the edge of the wharf looking up into the gloom.
“Somethings out there,” the young man said.
Silas wafted the fog around his head. “Can’t see shit out here.”
“Use the flashlight,” Julius suggested without taking his gaze from in front of him.
“Oh,” Silas grunted, flicking on the switch. A beam of bright white broke apart the misty smoke like haze. He shined out toward the wharf and at first still could not see anything. And then the fog parted as if controlled by some unknown force, separating and unfolding around a large cargo ship.
Silas traced the hull to the edge of the ship deck. “Mother of God,” he whispered, taken back by the sudden massive size of the ship. He’d never been this close to one. The larger vessels normally dock at Freeport. 
Julius stepped toward him, asking, “What do we do?”
The older man couldn’t think—this wasn’t on the schedule, the ship manifest, nothing. This ship shouldn’t be here. The harbourmaster would have said something. Hell, his superintendent would have damn sure said something. It would have been on the log. Silas moved the beam of light to the wharf itself, noting the broken shards of rock in the thick cement and the thick crack in the hull of the ship. It was taking on water for sure—it hadn’t even bothered slowing down. It ploughed into the quay. But why? Wasn’t there someone steering this damn thing? This wasn’t right. Something about this—everything about this wasn’t right.
“Mr. Green?” Julius pressed, whispering hotly.
Silas looked at him, the kid was rattled; he was rattled. He took a deep breath. “Okay, listen, I’m going to call this in—pray the lines in the office are still operating. Here, take the flashlight.” He handed it to Julius. “Stay put, yell out if you see anyone. Some dumbass is going to pay bigtime for this screwup and it ain’t going to be you or me.”
He gave one final glance at the monstrous freighter and started off for the office. Inside, he could use the phone on the floor. He scooped it up and dialed his supervisor.
“Green, there better be a good fucking reason why you’re calling me at—” Silas’s superintendent started through the speaker of the phone.
“A ship crashed into the port,” Silas blurted.
“What?”
“A ship, some damn cargo ship. Large motherfucker.”
“Are you fucking with me?”
“No, I ain’t fucking with you, sir. A cargo ship crashed into the port, took a good-sized chunk out of our wharf too.”
“Was it on the manifest?”
“No—that’s what I’m saying. This ship ain’t supposed to be—”
A scream from outside on the dock jarred Silas from the phone.
“Julius, what the hell was that?”
“Green, what’s going on?” his superintendent asked, sounding more and more irritated.
Silence.
“Green?”
“Hold on, sir.” Silas set down the phone, ignoring the muffled protest from his superintendent on the line. He glared at the open door and crept toward it. There were no other sounds, and he didn’t like that one bit.
Stepping outside he called, “Julius?”
It was hard to see through the fog as it rolled across the walkway.
Silas squinted, peering through the gloom turned yellow by the glow of the dock lights. “Julius, what’s going on?” he called to the dark shape in front of him.
And then he heard it.
A sucking sound.
He stopped.
The dark shape unfolded.
The fog parted slightly, revealing a tall, bald woman with pale skin. Her eyes burned red. She was looking at him with an expression of mild satisfaction, the look of a thirsty soul finally getting a cup of water. She was holding Julius, cradling him almost as if they were dancing.
“Who are—” Silas started, until he saw her teeth, her large fanged front teeth, salivating in blood. He took a step back as she let Julius go. His body crumbled to the wet dock.
“No,” Silas managed to say, like a child refusing to go to bed.

And then she was upon him. 

About the Author:


Who doesn't love a good story? Thomas's favorite books include All Quiet on the Western Front, Salem's Lot, and Hell House.

In his own writings, he aspires to create fantastic worlds with memorable characters and haunted places. His stories range from Shakespearean gore, classic monster tales, and even stories that hurt him the most to write about, haunted soldiers and PTSD. Residing in the swamps of Houston, Texas, with his wife and daughter, Thomas's debut novel, Reinheit, was eventually published with Shadow Work Publishing, along with Lanmò, The Hobbsburg Horror, FEAST, Beautiful Ugly, and Planet of the Dead.

His veteran focused paranormal thriller series, The Subdue Series, filled with werewolves, Frankenstein-inspired monsters, cults, alter-dimensional insects, witches, and the undead are published with Limitless Publishing.

In 2008, Thomas was honorably discharged from the U.S. Army where he served three tours in Operation Iraqi Freedom. In 2014, Thomas graduated from University of Houston-Clear Lake with a Bachelors in History. He is the senior editor at Machine Mean, a site that reviews horribly awesome and vintage horror movies and books from guest contributors who obsess over a wide range of strange yet oddly related topics.






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Saturday, September 29, 2018

Cryptid Trilogy by Douglas E. Roff and Jacob A. Roff Book Tour & Giveaway


Cryptid: Discovery
Cryptid Trilogy Set 1
by Douglas E. Roff and Jacob A. Roff
Genre: Horror, Thriller 


Adam St. James, software genius and savant Chief Technologist of the massive American DataLab Project, had just returned to his home in Barrows Bay, British Columbia from Tucson, Arizona. He had spent the better part of the past month working on a pro bono assignment for his father’s friend Peter Berg, Regional Director of the FBI, working out of the Seattle field office. His favor for the FBI was to secure the mother lode and Holy Grail of the FBI’s Joint Organized Crime Task Force that Berg believed he had accidentally stumbled upon. Mere fortuity had led him to what he thought was fifty years or more of Mafia financial books and records detailing organized criminality from Seattle to Miami and all points in between. 

What Adam found was nothing even remotely resembling what Regional Director Berg was looking for. It had been a small clerical error made by a temp transposing a letter or two in a last name that led Adam St. James to his incredible discovery. But this discovery was too incredible, too massive to even contemplate as being authentic. Adam himself did not believe it could be true. Would he be proven correct or was the truth too immeasurably stranger than fiction? 



If Adam had accidently stumbled upon a great discovery, it would mean that he had fortuitously confirmed the existence of the cryptid of all cryptids. Had Adam found scientific and verifiable proof of the existence of an unknown species of creatures capable of transforming to human form or was this some immense practical joke designed to annoy and embarrass him and his father, noted forensic archeologist and author, Edward St. James? 

His journey will be fantastic. His discovery, if true, immense. 

But will Adam and his eclectic family survive discovery? Will humanity? 

Cryptid: Discovery chronicles the discovery of the Gens Collective, ancient and primal beings previously unknown to humanity but living among mankind as crypto humans. 

They live among us. 

Murder, intrigue, deception, treachery, lust and betrayal all come together in the Cryptid Trilogy as mankind faces off against an unknown species bent on its total destruction as the dominant species on the planet. 

Adam continues to develop his amazing natural abilities as he seeks to understand and control them. How will this saga end?




Cryptid: Probe
Cryptid Trilogy Set 2


They live among us. 



Working with his father, renowned archeologist Edward St. James, and his new wife, Misti Alarcon, Adam St. James continues his investigation into the Gens Collective and its rival rebel faction, the Black Shirts. Both factions seek the demise of homo sapiens and have developed the means to destroy humanity in what they call the Great Cull. And they seek to destroy each other. 


As Adam continues his dialog with Paulo Fortizi, leader of the Gens Collective, he is met with deceit and duplicity at every turn. The Gens Collective desperately seeks to find Adam, who they call the Human, and recover their lost Library. 

Adam continues to develop extraordinary new mental abilities with a close group of colleagues and finds his new abilities are more powerful and frightening than he could possibly imagine. Can he control his powers or will they be his undoing? 

With the addition of the beautiful and mysterious Alana McCarthy, world renowned NSA computer hacker, and the equally mysterious and lethal Nocera “Noki” Lee, Adam confronts his adversaries uncovering the depth and breadth of the plot against humanity. Can they succeed? Only Adam holds the key to prevent unleashing total annihilation. 

The mysterious Cardinal Bellinelli plots against the Black Shirts and the Gens Collective to spark a war between the Gens and humanity he believes will eliminate the Gens species on the planet. Does the Vatican hold the answers Adam seeks? Which side will the Vatican choose and why? 

Murder, treachery and betrayal combine with unexpected twists and turns, as events pit friend against friend, family against family, and species against species. Nothing is as it appears to be, and new discoveries shed light upon old grievances. 

The Black Shirts and their charismatic leader, Saldana Ri, develop the means to destroy the rival Gens Collective and humanity, but will they unleash the devastation? Can they? What explosive secrets does Saldana hide that could destroy her leadership and shift the balance of power back to her rival, Paulo Fortizi of the Gens Collective. 
With the means of destruction of humanity complete, it’s a race against time to prevent genocide on a global scale. Can Adam stop the impending holocaust? Can anyone? 

With the fate of mankind and the Gens Nation hanging in the balance, forces array against Adam and his teams trying to prevent the conflagration that could signal the demise of intelligent life on the planet. 
New tech, new weapons and new adversaries, along with new powers never thought to exist, entertain the reader throughout the novel. New mind journeys and psychic powers begin to reveal themselves as both the savior and destructor of humanity.





Born in the United states, lived in Russia, the UK, Mexico, Costa Rica and Canada. Citizen of the US and Canada. Worked for US and Canadian governments as well as a long career in finance and trade finance. I live in Latin America between countries on and off. I am retired and now write novels full time.



I am single, have one son who was active in my first three novels, the Cryptid Trilogy. I speak Spanish fluently. 


I have completed three other novels that are now in edit, and have two more novels that are in various stages of completion, will be finished in 2018 but will not be published until 2019.

I was targeted by the Russian government for arrest in retaliation for the arrest of a Russian spy in the US.

I was never a spy, but was a visible American involved in trade promotion. The Russian spy was released and I was left alone after that. I left Russia in 1998.

I moved to Canada after that and spent over fifteen years in Vancouver, BC. I lived in Ecuador, Costa Rica, and Mexico after leaving Canada.

I have traveled extensively around the world, largely with my son, and extensively in my home country of the US.




Follow the tour HERE for exclusive content and a giveaway!







Friday, September 28, 2018

The Shifter Chronicles by Michelle Areaux Blog Tour & Giveaway


Evernight
The Shifter Chronicles Book 3
by Michelle Areaux
Genre: YA Fantasy Romance Thriller

For Elle, she thought the day she learned she was a Shifter was the most frustrating day of her life. Well, that was until she found herself in the middle of a war between her best friend and boyfriend. 


Now, everything is about to change for this trio as a known Witch in Shady Oaks has decided to wage a war against the Shifters and Otherworldly Creatures. This time, Elle may find herself battling with new powers and without her trusted best friend, Maddox. Discover how hearts are broken and mended in this exciting third installment of the Shifter Chronicles, Evernight.


**Only .99 cents!**


Everpure
The Shifter Chronicles Book 2

Sixteen-year-old Elle's life changed in a matter of seconds after learning she wasn't only human, but a shifter too. To make matters worse, her best friend Maddox and boyfriend Asher have a mutual hate for one another that leaves Elle in the middle of their constant battles. With a new discovery now lingering over Elle, she is left with more questions than she ever could have imagined.

Thinking she has found a way to handle her new found life as a shifter, she now finds herself faced with a much larger challenge. A huntress named Evaline is now seeking to destroy all shifters and vampires as she makes it her goal to avenge her father's death and end all otherworldly creatures once and for all.
Will Elle be able to survive the army now seeking to destroy her world?
Will Elle be forced to choose between her best friend and boyfriend?
Discover a new fantasy world with Everpure, the second book in the Evershade Shifter Chronicles.


**Only .99 cents!**


Evershade
The Shifter Chronicles Book 1


*New and Lengthened 2018 Edition*

How well do you know yourself? 
Sixteen-year-old Elle thinks she's got life in Shady Oaks all under control until new boy Asher comes to town. Elle can't explain it, but she can't deny the connection she feels to him. Things with Asher are going great until they're out one night and nearly attacked by a large wolf. Before she knows it, Elle's life is spiraling out of control: Maddox is in love with her, she and Asher are in danger… 
and she learns she's a shifter! 
If that wasn't bad enough, she finds herself in the middle of an ages-old war between shifters and hunters. 
What else can she do but join the cause? 
Will Elle stay with Asher or break-up with him to be with Maddox? What does it mean to be a shifter? Who will emerge victorious in the battle?


**Only .99 cents!**





Michelle Areaux is a wife, mother, middle school teacher, and author. As an avid reader and lover of all things literature, she followed her dream of becoming a published author and has never looked back!
She earned her Bachelor’s degree at the University of Kentucky and a Master’s degree in Literacy from Asbury University. 




Follow the tour HERE for exclusive content and a giveaway!








My Review of Osmocote Plus Indoor & Outdoor Plant Food






This year was the first year we decided to try a greenhouse for Sissy. We were able to get a free sample for Osmocote Plus


Oh my gosh, this is the first year that my granddaughter decided to have a garden. Once I put our #freesample of Osmocote I could see how fast they started to grow.It was so much fun and she was very encouraged when they grew so fast. I will always make sure that from now on we will use Osmocote whenever we decide to grow anything. I give this a 5/5.

Thursday, September 27, 2018

Hearts of Caledonia by Laura Strickland Book Tour & Giveaway


Valiant and Wise
Hearts of Caledonia Book 2
by Laura Strickland
Genre: Scottish Historical Romance

Enchantment binds them. Will duty part them?

Wick map Radoc has lost his direction. Following the death of his parents in a brutal raid, the Caledonian tribesman surrenders his place as chief and flees to the Scottish countryside. Tracked through snow by a band of enemy Gaels, he escapes by way of an unexpected transformation and stumbles upon a neighboring tribe, the Caerena. Is it chance, or has he been led there?
Verica, widow of the Caerena’s slain war chief, has lost her faith. Leading her tribe by raw grit and sheer determination, she awaits a miracle. When Wick arrives cloaked in enchantment, she hopes she’s found the help she so desperately needs. Yet Wick doubts his own courage, and Verica has sworn she will never love again.
Verica and Wick could restore one another’s belief… Together, will they discover the true strength of a Caledonian heart?



Loyal and True
Hearts of Caledonia Book 1

In defiance of her father, Caledonian tribeswoman Barta leads a daring raid against invading enemy warriors. But the fight goes badly, and her beloved war hound, Loyal, is killed. Unable to imagine existing without her dearest companion, she nevertheless must return home and accept blame for her terrible blunder. 


For the first time in his life, Loyal is unable to rise and follow his mistress. When he appeals to the Goddess for mercy, she grants him leave to return on one condition: it must be in the form of a man. And only if Barta recognizes him for who he truly is will he be permitted to stay. 

Loyal never suspects that, as a man, his connection with Barta will deepen, becoming passionate enough to transcend nearly any change. Will Barta recognize him before he’s lost to her forever?




Multi-published and multi-award winning author, Laura Strickland writes stories that span several Romance genres. Her Scottish Romances have been compared to Diana Gabaldon's Outlander and her American Historicals echo the work of authors such as Susan Wiggs and Kristin Hannah. Her award-winning Buffalo Steampunk series has broken new ground both for its setting and its portrayal of automaton characters pursuing their rights. Currently, she is at home in Western New York and at work on her next book.



Follow the tour HERE for exclusive excerpts, guest posts and a giveaway!







Stalk by Victoria Danann Haunted Halloween Spooktacular Virtual Book Tour & Giveaway


Stalk

Victoria Danann



Genre: paranormal romance



Publisher: 7th House, Imprint of Andromeda LLC

Date of Publication:  October 21, 2018

Number of pages: 388
Word Count: 82,000

Cover Artist: Victoria Danann

Tagline: Every breath you take.

Book Description: 

The first coming of chaos. Twelve thousand years ago, members of a more advanced race crossed into our dimension when the barriers temporarily collapsed.

Trapped in our world, the aliens, who were also shifters, built structures that eventually caused the great flood and the sinking of Atlantis.

Some of the alien DNA survived in progeny that carried an untraceable shifter gene, dormant until awakened by mating with a full blooded werewolf.



Excerpt: 
Shortly after the incident, the event came to be known as May Day simply because it occurred on the first of May. The term would be forever after altered to represent the pandemonium that followed the dimension overlap that left so many stranded. It worked because it was a good choice because of disassociating the incident with high emotion.
Some from other places were left here. Some that belonged here had disappeared and, even though every city had a centralized location where loved ones could post photos and leave flowers or burning votives, everybody knew somebody who had lost someone. And the world had been turned on end in the blink of an eye.
The conventional wisdom about withholding news panic-inducing news from the public was bypassed. Cover up was impossible in this case and overnight, everyone knew that we experience reality alongside many others, invisible to us. Everyone also learned conclusively that other species exist in those realities.
One of the species that had been stranded in this dimension were canine shifters, werewolves as they were sometimes called in fantasy. Being disinclined to panic, the werewolves, each individually, used their cunning to quickly assess their circumstances and determine what was required to survive. Utilizing their innate talent for strategy, and seduction, they were able to identify missing humans who were a reasonably close match to anthropoid bodies, were without families and were, basically, antisocial. Being shrewd as well as cunning, they made matches with candidates with financial assets.
New lives could be built in a new world without money, but money could go a long way toward building walls of privacy and providing the one thing they needed most, after company, of course. That thing was territory. Freedom.
The government made it almost too easy by publishing an open database of the missing and requested that corrections be made if someone listed was present and accounted for. Each shifter made his choice then notified the government that they were not missing. They were sorry for the misunderstanding, but had been sailing in the Caribbean or fishing in the Gulf or on an archeological expedition in the Amazon.
By the time the dust of the catastrophe began to settle, seven shifters had found each other through a curious intersection of tech and primeval instinct. Each of the seven, while dealing with his own personal disorientation and sense of loss, quickly identified the Pacific Northwest as the most suitable habitat on the North American continent. Millions of acres of national parks and wildlife reserves was attractive. That, and the cooler temperatures, made the locale almost ideal as shifter temperatures run a full three degrees warmer than humans.
It took only a few weeks to come across each other. Shifters in wolf form can cover great distances. In so doing they came across the scent of others who were similar to themselves if not identical, but definitely distinctive from wild wolves. And each felt immeasurable relief to find others. For social animals, abject solitude would be a sentence to hell.
That was one of the reasons why Ken Sahabe was admitted to the pack without hesitation even though he was not a canine, but a spotted hyena. The pack decided Ken’s social and hunting needs were close enough and admitted him.

The hard wiring of pack behavior hadn’t changed for millennia. However, the language used to describe certain facts of pack life was altered for modern times so that it seemed more politic. For example, rather than saying the alpha decided, which was true, the thought would be expressed as ‘the pack decided’. In Ken’s case, though the actual wolves didn’t have a real vote, they accepted him like one of their own species.

About the Author:


Eight times #1 Amazon Paranormal Romance Bestseller

OVER ONE MILLION BOOKS SOLD

New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author, Victoria Danann, has won the prestigious Reviewers’ Choice Award for BEST PARANORMAL ROMANCE SERIES the past four years in a row! Click follow to get notifications of new releases.

Knights of Black Swan – BEST PARANORMAL ROMANCE SERIES (2013, 2014, 2015, 2016)

A Summoner’s Tale – BEST PARANORMAL ROMANCE NOVEL (2013)

Moonlight – BEST VAMPIRE/SHIFTER NOVEL (2013)

Solomon’s Sieve – BEST VAMPIRE NOVEL (2014)

Falcon – BEST PARANORMAL ROMANCE NOVEL (2016)

In addition to the brave and beautiful vampire hunting knights, Victoria writes other paranormal romances that often touch on scifi/fantasy along with contemporary bikers for those who love it when the bad boys are soooooo good.

Victoria co-hosts the popular ROMANCE BETWEEN THE PAGES podcast which can be found on itunes or at www.romancecast.com. She and co-host, Riley J. Ford, interview the biggest names in romance every week. Ever wonder about the personalities behind your favorite books? Some of them just might surprise you with their interests, wit, lifestyles, and sense of humor.






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