Month: December 2018

The Hidden Cities Blog tour: Book Review

Hello guys, welcome to my spot for The Hidden Cities blog tour. For my spot I am going to review the fourth book in The Hidden Cities, The Shadow Men.

Mind the Gap
The Hidden Cities Book 1
by Christopher Golden & Tim Lebbon
Genre: Dark Urban Fantasy Thriller
“The super-fast pacing and creepy touches give this teen adventure plenty
of character.”—

Publishers Weekly
Returning to her home in London, teen Jasmine Towne realizes just how long
she’s been training for the moment she would be on her own. Her
paranoid mother’s last words, scrawled in her own blood, demand her
action: JAZZ HIDE FOREVER. In this moment, the strange men who have
always hung around her family’s life—whom her mother called the
Uncles—become starkly sinister. And they’re on her trail.
Seeking cover in the Underground, Jazz slips through a mysterious gate, down
tunnels, and seemingly through time. Inside an abandoned city of bomb
shelters and forgotten Tube stations, she finds temporary refuge with
a gang of petty thieves. Flashes of the past, spectral and haunting,
share the tunnels…with no regard for the living. For how long can
Jazz hide from the terrors of both her worlds?
The Map of Moments
The Hidden Cities Book 2
To what lengths would you go to undo the pain of the past?
“Golden and Lebbon have far outstripped their past efforts with this
wonderfully creepy thriller of a ghost story.”
Publishers Weekly starred review
“Golden and Lebbon vividly evoke the rich, enduring character of New Orleans,
as well as spinning a compelling fantasy yarn that builds momentum as
Max works his way through the city’s history.” —

Booklist

Max Corbett has returned to New Orleans for the funeral of his former
girlfriend, Gabrielle Doucette, but between the destruction wrought
by Hurricane Katrina and the devastation of his ruined relationship,
the city feels alien.
At Gabrielle’s graveside, Max meets Ray. Over a bottle of bourbon in a
dive bar, the two discuss Gabrielle’s unique connection to the city.
Ray suggests that this connection might mean her tragic death is not
truly her end. And he happens to know a real magic practitioner—not
some Bourbon Street phony—who could open a window to the past and
send a warning to Gabrielle. Maybe Max can even deliver the warning
in person? Ray offers him a cheap map and says the process is simple.
Follow the charted moments to build up a little bit of magical clout
and then find the man with the gift.
Surging with liquid courage, Max takes the ludicrous tourist map and sets
off. But it turns out this quest is not so easy. When Max enters the
First Moment, he is drawn into the fabric of history to witness dark
and violent periods, and with each passing step, a grim conspiracy is
revealed. Suddenly in too deep, there is nowhere for Max to go but
through. But when you trudge through a swamp, you’re going to get muddy.
The Chamber of Ten
The Hidden Cities Book 3
Archaeologist Dr. Geena Hodge is on the precipice of success: her team has found an
entrance to an underground chamber while searching for the Petrarch’s
lost library. A documentarian is joining her team for the descent
into the long-hidden structure and may be the key to extensive
funding. Best of all, she is able to share the excitement of this
momentous occasion with her assistant-slash-lover, Nico, whose
psychic presence resonates in her own mind.

Within a strikingly preserved room—unlike any Venetian excavation—the
team finds only one artifact: a small vessel that immediately
mesmerizes Nico. While the team investigates a slab of granite inlaid
in the floor, Nico becomes transfixed by the object, and before he
can be stopped, he has the urn in his hands. Then, it is broken open
on the ground. And with that, the impossibly withheld groundwater
begins to fill the chamber…
In the clamor to escape the rapidly flooding room and save the found
texts, the team is sent in all directions. And Nico’s mind, always
attuned to Geena’s, seems to go quiet. His actions in the days
after the incident feel unlike him, and his consciousness seems to
dissolve beneath the weight of his experience with the artifact. What
insidious force was within? And what can satisfy its restless will?
The Shadow Men
The Hidden Cities Book 4
From Beacon Hill to Southie, historic Boston is a town of vibrant
neighborhoods knit into a seamless whole. But as Jim Banks and Trix
Newcomb learn in a terrifying instant, it is also a city
divided—split into three separate versions of itself by a mad
magician once tasked with its protection.

Jim is happily married to Jenny, with whom he has a young daughter,
Holly. Trix is Jenny’s best friend, practically a member of the
family—although she has secretly been in love with Jenny for years.
Then Jenny and Holly inexplicably disappear—and leave behind a
Boston in which they never existed. Only Jim and Trix remember them.
Only Jim and Trix can bring them back.
With the help of Boston’s Oracle, an elderly woman with magical powers,
Jim and Trix travel between the fractured cities, for that is where
Jenny and Holly have gone. But more is at stake than one family’s
happiness. If Jim and Trix should fail, the spell holding the
separate Bostons apart will fail too, and the cities will reintegrate
in a cataclysmic implosion. Someone, it seems, wants just that.
Someone with deadly shadow men at their disposal.

Review

The Shadow Men starts when we are introduced into the world of Jim, his strange dreams and his beautiful family but soon his world goes upside down and he finds himself in a situation where everything he believed has become a lie…..

First of all, I loved the setting of the book. The concept of the parallel worlds is very fascinating and how each world provides a different possibility, a different journey for the people in it is very interesting.

And secondly, The Shadow Men was an absolute page turner filled with suspense and twists and turns. If you are a fan of Urban Fantasy thriller then you definitely need to have The Shadow Men in your collection.

LIFE AT 17 RATING

🎐🎐🎐🎐🔸️

(4.5 STARS OUT OF 5)

CHRISTOPHER GOLDEN
is the New York Times bestselling author of such novels as Ararat,
Snowblind, Tin Men, The Myth Hunters, Wildwood Road, The Boys Are
Back in Town, The Ferryman, Strangewood, and Of Saints and Shadows.
He has also written books for teens and young adults, including
Poison Ink, Soulless, and the thriller series Body of Evidence,
honored by the New York Public Library and chosen as one of YALSA’s
Best Books for Young Readers.

Goldenco-created (with Mike Mignola) two cult favorite comic book series,
Baltimore and Joe Golem: Occult Detective. As an editor, he has
worked on the short story anthologies Seize the Night, The New Dead,
and Dark Cities, among others, and has also written and co-written
comic books, video games, screenplays, a BBC radio play, the online
animated series Ghosts of Albion (with Amber Benson), and a network
television pilot. A frequent speaker at conferences, schools, and
libraries, Golden is also co-host of the podcasts Three Guys with
Beards and Defenders Dialogue, and the founder of the Merrimack
Valley Halloween Book Festival.

Golden was born and raised in Massachusetts, where he still lives with his
family. His original novels have been published in more than fourteen
languages in countries around the world.
TIM LEBBON
has been published for over twenty years and have written over forty
horror, dark fantasy and tie-in novels, including The Silence,
Relics, Coldbrook, The Cabin in the Woods, the Noreela series of
fantasy books (Dusk, Dawn, Fallen and The Island), the NY Times
Bestselling novelisation of the movie 30 Days of Night, Alien: Out of
the Shadows, Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi – Into the Void, and several
books with Christopher Golden, including Blood of the Four, The Map
of Moments and The Secret Journeys of Jack London. He’s also written
hundreds of novellas and novels and have won several prestigious awards.

The movie of The Silence, starring Stanley Tucci and Kiernan Shipka, is
out summer 2018. Pay the Ghost, starring Nicolas Cage, was released
in 2016. More of his work is currently in development for the big screen.
Follow the tour HERE
for exclusive content and a giveaway!
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In Servitude Book Blitz

Inservitude

I thrilled to share this gorgeous book today! In Servitude by Heleen Kist, has been blowing readers away in Europe since it’s release and now is taking North America by storm!

Today I will be sharing an exclusive excerpt, and inviting you to enter an international giveaway for a chance to win a paperback copy of this exciting thriller!
In Servitude is also available for review through R&R Book Tours. Find out how you can get a copy below!

InServitude_HeleenKist_Cover_.jpg

In Servitude

Recently voted Top 50 Best Indie of 2018 on Read Free.ly

Publication Date: August 23, 2018

Genre: Thriller/ Suspense/ Mystery

Do you owe your family your life?

Grace thought her sister led a charmed existence.

She was wrong.

Now she has to pay the price.

When Grace’s beloved sister Glory dies in a car crash, her carefully planned life spirals out of control. She discovers Glory had been manipulated into illegal activities at her trendy vegan café. What’s worse, Grace finds herself an unwitting accomplice now forced to take over her sister’s shady dealings.

Determined to keep her fingers clean and protect those Glory left behind, Grace plots to escape the clutches of Glasgow’s criminal underworld. But her moral certainty is challenged when more family secrets emerge and her sister’s past intentions remain unclear.

Grace grows convinced Glory was murdered. Why won’t anyone listen?

Seeking justice, she finds betrayal…

Add to Goodreads

Excerpt

inservitude_heleenkist_cover_1.jpg

Blue pulled at the lead. I let him off once I’d scanned the area and noted no loose dogs. Only a lone figure loitering. His eye line crossed mine as he also examined the park, and paused on me long enough to raise a creepy sensation.

I moved to a bench by the play park and pretended to tie my laces. When I straightened up, the man was striding straight towards me. I searched for Blue, hoping for a semblance of protection, but he was nowhere to be seen. Nor was anyone else.

Before I could stop him, the man sat down next to me. He whistled and shouted, ‘Here boy!’ then faced me with a disturbing grin. As if he knew the dog wouldn’t come. I jumped to my feet and looked around. What had he done?

On the second blow of silent air through my dry mouth, Blue appeared from behind a tree thirty yard away. Safe. He showed no interest in me or the man, instead sniffing out the ground’s many treasures.

I turned back to the intruder. Standing over him gave me an edge—at least I thought it did—and I raised my chin and my voice when I asked, ‘Do I know you?’

He chuckled. ‘Nah, hen. I’m only the messenger.’

‘What?’

His smile faded. ‘We’re not very happy about you closing the café for so long. You need to open up again. There’s a delivery coming on Thursday.’

‘What do you mean? How do you—’

His eyes turned to ice as he grabbed my wrist in a flash. ‘We’ll be very disappointed if you’re not there to receive the goods. Ken what I’m saying?’

He rushed off, his dark coat billowing behind him like a cape, almost engulfing Blue who circled his legs, tail wagging, until he turned towards the road.

For a limited time, In Servitude will be on sale, so be sure to download your copy today!

Amazon US only 2.99

Amazon CA only 3.99

Amazon UK only 1.99
Europe only 2.99

Paperback also available Barnes & Noble & other outlets!

About the Author

InServitude_HeleenKist_Author

Heleen Kist is a Dutch businesswoman who lived all over the world while growing up and for her career. Then she fell in love with a Scotsman and his country, and now writes about its (sometimes scary) people from her garden office in Glasgow.

She was selected as an ‘up and coming new writer’ and awarded a Spotlight at Bloody Scotland 2018, the International crime writing festival.

Her debut psychological suspense novel ‘In Servitude’ was inspired by Heleen’s expertise in small business finance mixed with her friend’s courageous idea to open a vegan cafe in a city renowned for its dubious diet. She is currently working on her next book, which will be dark women’s fiction.

Heleen Kist | Amazon | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

2 paperback copies of In Servitude by Heleen Kist are up for grabs!!!

*International Giveaway

Winners will be selected at random on 23 December and notified personally, only your initials will be used in the winner’s announcement.

Enter Here!

Book Blitz Organized By:

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R&R Book Tours

Fountain Dead Book Tour: Excerpt

Fountain Dead
by Theresa Braun
Genre: YA Horror
Mark is uprooted from his home and high school in the Twin Cities and
forced to move with his family into a Victorian in Nowhere-ville.
Busy with the relocation and fitting in, Mark’s parents don’t see
what’s unfolding around them—the way rooms and left behind
objects seem alive with a haunted past.

Of course, Mark keeps his ghostly encounters to himself, all the while
sinking deeper into the house’s dark, alluring, and ultimately
terrifying history. As romantic entanglements intensify, the
paranormal activity escalates. Past and present come together.
Everything is connected—from the bricks in the walls to the hearts
beating in their chests, all the secrets of Fountain Dead are finally
unearthed.

Goodreads * Amazon

Excerpt

The vapor wafting from the stagnant pool smelled like the rancid rot from inside a carcass. Mark felt he breathed in fire. The gooey surface boiled and foamed as if a prehistoric substance. His heart stopped as something emerged. A goopy and gnarled dome became a sickly face. The eyelids still closed, the rest of the form rose, covered in green.
A tattered dress clung to the feminine curves. The cloth slipped from the shoulders, drawing his attention to her skin. The texture made him gag.
A sour taste of bile filled his mouth. His skin contracted as he contemplated her spongy flesh. Her black eyes sprang open like a demonic doll’s. Her inhuman gaze stabbed his very core, and he knew he was facing a soul-less being. The eyes burned like hot stove burners.
A decomposing hand extended toward his throat.
Mark woke, wet with perspiration. His pillowcase and sheets were damp, as if he’d taken a swim in the fountain. That idea made him unable to breathe. His heartbeat sped along at a rate close to heart attack status as he tried not to blow a gasket about the evil that lie in wait. He whipped his pillow from behind his head and squashed it to his chest. No one would grasp what he’d been feeling—or what he’d been seeing.
His lip trembled.
Something—a fiend, a spirit, the fountain—wanted to hurt him.
Mark’s chest compressed.
The devil on his shoulder advised him that his mother had to be right. All of the metal music, the cartoons, the swearing, had been an invitation for demons and darkness. Forget the fact that none of his friends had ever mentioned opening some gateway to hell. These dark forces had chosen him.
He lied back, exhaustion sinking him deeper into the mattress. After pulling the blood warm sheets up to his chin, he shunned the moonlight streaming into the room. The crooked claws of the branches squealed against the half-open windowpane. Summer’s hot breath puffed into the house. Mark didn’t have to strain to hear its griping—the sighs of the woodwork and the building’s various joints.
The door to the servants’ quarters was open again. However, that bothered him less and less. A perfume of fragrant flowers sent him to sleep.

Theresa Braun was born in St. Paul, Minnesota and has carried some of that
hardiness with her to South Florida where she currently resides. An
English teacher and adjunct college professor for over thirteen
years, she continues to share her enthusiasm for literary arts with
her students. She earned a Masters in English literature with a
thesis on Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. In her spare time, she
enjoys delving into her own creative writing, painting, photography
and even ghost hunting. Spending time with her family and traveling
as often possible are two of her passions. In fact, her world
meanderings are often backdrops for her work. Striving to make the
world a better place is something dear to her heart.

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

Successor Blog Tour: Promo

o SUCCESSOR10/24/18 release date
Genre: YA Fantasy Romance

Purchase Links:

o Amazon – https://amzn.to/2payjHG

o Barnes & Noble – https://bit.ly/2p9OQM7

o The Book Depository – https://www.bookdepository.com/Successor-Rae-Miles/9781509222162

o Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40793401-successor

o The Wild Rose Press – https://catalog.thewildrosepress.com/all-titles/6178-successor.html

o For seventeen-year-old Evan, graduation means the freedom to leave behind her small-town life and find where she belongs. She never expected it to be in a different world.

Across time and space, deep in a mysterious jungle, Evan discovers the hidden heritage of her mother’s people and her own legacy. She becomes their elemental, a protector gifted with the power to control nature. The role has its challenges, but the biggest is the inexplicable connection with her scarred bodyguard, Ren. Frustrated and fascinated by him, Evan resists the magnetic pull after realizing there’s more to it than simple attraction.

Claiming her birthright reignites the wrath of a ruthless enemy with a score to settle. To protect her new family, Evan will need to call on her formidable power. But embracing it could cause her to lose herself and the man who holds her heart.

About the Author:

Rae Miles started creating characters at the ripe age of nine, dreaming that one day they’d have a place to call home. Many years and a creative writing degree later, that dream became a reality with her debut novel, Successor. When not writing, Rae’s absorbed in reading, movies, music, and napping. She loves animals of all kinds, and currently lives in Wisconsin with her three quirky cats.

Website: http://www.raemiles.com

Twitter:_rae_miles_

The Giveaway:

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The Tour:

November 26th
Mythical Books – Author Interview
November 27th
Deliciously Savvy – Spotlight Post
November 28th
Stacking My Book Shelves! – Spotlight Post
November 29th
YA/NA Book Divas – Guest Post
November 30th
bookblogarama – Author Interview
December 1st
YaReads – Author Interview
December 2nd
Just One More Chapter – Spotlight Post
December 3rd

GKSihat – Review

December 4th
Crossroad Reviews – Spotlight Post
December 5th
RoloPoloBookBlog – Spotlight Post
December 6th
December 7th
Life at 17 – Spotlight post
December 8th
All the Ups and Downs – Guest Post
December 9th

12 days of Clink Street: The Haunting of Mount Cod

The Haunting of Mount Cod
by Nicky Stratton

Lady Laura Boxford lives with her pug, Parker in the retirement complex of Wellworth Lawns, formerly her family home. One day she and her friend Venetia see the ancient actor, Sir Repton Willowby arriving. He’s Venetia’s cousin by marriage and Venetia says he murdered his wife. He lives at the Edwardian pile, Mount Cod and he says he’s being haunted by the ghost of an eighteenth century serving wench called Rosalind.

Laura is convinced he’s a charlatan using the ghost as a ruse for finding a new wife. She determines to get to the bottom of the mystery on account of Venetia’s daughter who stands to inherit Mount Cod. But did Sir Repton murder his wife and is the house haunted?

Information about the Book
Title: The Haunting of Mount Cod
Author: Nicky Stratton
Release Date: 28th June 2018
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Page Count: 292
Publisher: Clink Street Publishing
Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40364671-the-haunting-of-mount-cod
Amazon Link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Haunting-Mount-Cod-Nicky-Stratton-ebook/dp/B07D3HNWT1

Black Moss Blog Tour: Promo@Nolanwriter @fahrenheitpress #LoveBooksGroupTours  

*I was supposed to review this book today for my tour stop but unfortunately I wasn’t able to finish reading the book on time. So I am hosting a promo only today. I am going to review it real soon.*

Blurb

In April 1990, as rioters took over Strangeways prison in Manchester, someone killed a little boy at Black Moss.
And no one cared.
No one except Danny Johnston, an inexperienced radio reporter trying to make a name for himself.
More than a quarter of a century later, Danny returns to his home city to revisit the murder that’s always haunted him.
If Danny can find out what really happened to the boy, maybe he can cure the emptiness he’s felt inside since he too was a child.
But finding out the truth might just be the worst idea Danny Johnston has ever had.

Buy Link

https://amzn.to/2RuWRaP

Author Info

David is a multi-award-winning author, television producer and crime reporter. He has written a dozen books including Tell the Truth and Shame the Devil, the true story of the largest historic abuse case ever mounted by Greater Manchester Police. He presented a BBC Radio 4 documentary based on the book called The Abuse Trial. It won both the Rose D’Or and the New York International radio awards in 2016. Officers involved in the case helped David with the police procedures featured in Black Moss, particularly the way the system deals with missing children.