Book Tour/Feature Post and Mini Book Review: Girl Among Crows by Brendon Vayo

Girl Among Crows

by Brendon Vayo

October 30 – November 24 Virtual Book Tour

Hi, everyone!

Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for GIRL AMONG CROWS by Brendon Vayo on this Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tour.

Below you will find a book description, my mini book review, an excerpt from the book, the author’s bio and social media links, and a Kingsumo giveaway! Good luck on the giveaway and enjoy!

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Book Description

Beware the Brotherhood of the Raven

When two boys vanish from her hometown, Daphne Gauge notices uncanny parallels to her brother’s disappearance 30 years earlier. Symbols of an ancient Norse god. Rumors of a promise to reward the town’s faithful with wealth and power, for a price. She warns her husband that another sacrifice is imminent, but just like last time, no one believes her.

This leaves her with a desperate choice: investigate with limited resources, or give in to the FBI’s request for an interview. For years, they’ve wanted a member of the Gauge family to go on record about the tragedy back in 1988. If she agrees to a deposition now, Daphne must confess her family’s dark secrets. But she also might have one last chance to unmask the killer from back then . . . and now.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/122757687-girl-among-crows?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=nkIUA7o05e&rank=1

Girl Among Crows

Genre: Horror, Suspense
Published by: CamCat Books
Publication Date: November 2023
Number of Pages: 416
ISBN: 9780744306552 (ISBN10: 0744306558)

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My Mini Book Review

RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars

GIRL AMONG CROWS by Brendon Vayo is an interestingly unique and atmospheric horror story with elements of suspense and mystery with Norse mythology influence.

This is a difficult book to review because I am afraid of giving away any important plot points. You have to give this book a chance to get going because at first a lot of information is given that did not make sense to me, but it is relevant later, and it will come together and move more quickly as the story progresses. The mystery unravels in two timelines, Daphne’s past and present, with the disappearance of young boys in both timelines and the Brotherhood of Crows playing an important part in both. Daphne is so complex because she wants to solve the disappearances, but at the same time she would be betraying those closest to her. One word that I did look up that helped in my understanding early on in the story was “blot” which is Old Norse for an exchange in which they did a blood sacrifice to the gods in order to get something in return.

I am very glad I gave this book a try because it did turn out to be an engrossing read. If you are into dark horror with suspense and mystery this is definitely the book for you.

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Excerpt

My husband Karl shakes hands with other doctors, a carousel of orthopedic surgeons in cummerbunds. I read his lips over the brass band: How’s the champagne, Ed? Since he grayed, Karl wears a light beard that, for the convention, he trimmed to nothing. 

The ballroom they rented has long windows that run along Boston’s waterfront. Sapphire table settings burn in their reflections. 

The food looks delicious. Rainbows of heirloom carrots. Vermont white cheddar in the macaroni. Some compliment the main course, baked cod drizzled with olive oil. My eyes are on the chocolate cherries. Unless Karl is right, and they’re soaked in brandy. 

At some dramatic point in the evening, balloons will drop from nets. A banner sags, prematurely revealing its last line. 

CELEBRATING THIRTY YEARS! 

Thirty years. How nice, though I try not to think that far back. 

I miss something, another joke. 

Everyone’s covering merlot-soaked teeth, and I wonder if they’re laughing at me. Is it my dress? I didn’t know if I should wear white like the other wives. 

I redirect the conversation from my choice of a navy-blue one-shoulder, which I now see leaves me exposed, and ask so many questions about the latest in joint repair that I get lightheaded. 

The chandelier spins. Double zeroes hit the roulette table. A break watching the ocean, then I’m back, resuming my duties as a spouse, suppressing a yawn for an older man my husband desperately wants to impress. A board member who could recommend Karl as the next director of clinical apps. 

I’m thinking about moving up, our careers. I’m not thinking dark thoughts like people are laughing or staring at me. Not even when someone taps me on the shoulder. 

“Are you Daphne?” asks a young man. A member of the wait staff. No one should know me here; I’m an ornament. Yet something’s familiar about the young man’s blue eyes. Heat trickles down my neck as I try to name the sensation in my stomach. 

“And you are?” I say. 

“Gerard,” he says. The glasses on his platter sway with caffeinated amber. “Gerard Gedney. You remember?” 

I gag on my ginger ale. 

“My gosh, I do,” I say. “Gerard. Wow.” 

Thirty years ago, when this convention was still in its planning stages, Gerard Gedney was the little boy who had to stay in his room for almost his entire childhood. Beginning of every school year, each class made Get Well Soon cards and mailed them to his house. 

We moved before I knew what happened to Gerard, but with everything else, I never thought of him until now. All the growing up he must’ve done, despite the odds, and now at least he got out, got away. 

“I beat the leukemia,” he says. 

“I’m so glad for you, Gerard.” 

If that’s the appropriate response. The awkwardness that defined my childhood creeps over me. Of all the people to bump into, it has to be David Gedney’s brother. David, the Boy Never Found. 

My eyes jump from Gerard to the other wait staff. They wear pleated dress pants. Gerard’s in a T-shirt, bowtie, and black jeans. 

“I don’t really work here, Daphne,” says Gerard, sliding the platter onto a table. “I’ve been looking for you for a while.” 

The centerpiece topples. Glass shatters. An old woman holds her throat. 

“Gerard,” I say, my knees weak, “I understand you’re upset about David. Can we please not do this here?” 

Gerard wouldn’t be the first to unload on what awful people we were. But to hear family gossip aired tonight, in front of my husband and his colleagues? I can’t even imagine what Karl would think. 

“I’m not here about my brother,” says Gerard. “I’m here about yours.” His words twist. 

“Paul,” I say. 

“What about him?” “I’m so sorry,” says a waiter, bumping me. Another kneels to pick up green chunks of the vase. When I find Gerard again, he’s at the service exit, waiting for me to follow. 

Before I do, I take one last look at the distinguished men and a few women. The shoulder claps. The dancing. Karl wants to be in that clique—I mean, I want that too. For him, I want it. 

But I realize something else. They’re having a good time in a way I never could, even if I were able to let go of the memory of my brother, Paul.

The catering service has two vans in the alleyway. It’s a tunnel that feeds into the Boston skyline, the Prudential Center its shining peak. 

Gerard beckons me to duck behind a stinky dumpster. Rain drizzles on cardboard boxes. 

I never knew Gerard as a man. Maybe he has a knife or wants to strangle me, and all this news about my brother was bait to lure me out here. I’m vulnerable in high heels. But Gerard doesn’t pull a weapon. 

He pulls out a postcard, its edges dusty with a white powder I can’t identify. The image is of three black crows inscribed on a glowing full moon. 

“I found it in Dad’s things,” says Gerard. “Please take it. Look, David is gone. We’ve got to live with the messes our parents made. Mine sacrificed a lot for my treatment, but had they moved to Boston, I probably would’ve beat the cancer in months instead of years.” 

“And this is about Paul?” I say. 

“When the chemo was at its worst,” says Gerard, “I dreamed about a boy, my older self, telling me I would survive.” 

I take my eyes off Gerard long enough to read the back of the postcard: 

$ from Crusher. Keep yourself pure, Brother. For the sake of our children, the Door must remain open. 

Crusher. Brother. Door. No salutation or signature, no return address. Other than Crusher, no names of any kind. The words run together with Gerard’s take on how treatment changed his perspective. 

Something presses my stomach again. Dread. Soon as I saw this young man, I knew he was an omen of something. And when is an omen good? 

“Your dad had this,” I say. “Did he say why? Or who sent it?” 

An angry look crosses Gerard’s face. “My dad’s dead,” he says. “So’s Brother Dominic. Liver cancer stage 4B on Christmas Day. What’d they do to deserve that, huh?” 

“They both died on Christmas? Gerard, I’m so sorry.” First David, now his dad and Dominic? He stiffens when I reach for him, and, of course, I’m the last person he wants to comfort him. “I know how hard it is. I lost my mom, as you know, and my dad ten years ago.” 

The day Dad died, I thought I’d never get off the floor. I cried so hard I threw up, right in the kitchen. Karl was there, my future husband, visiting on the weekend from his residency. I didn’t even think we were serious, but there he was, talking me through it, the words lost now, but not the comfort of his voice. 

I looked in his eyes, daring to hope that with this man I wouldn’t pass on to my children what Mom passed down to me. 

“Mom’s half-there most days,” says Gerard. “But one thing.” 

The rear entrance bangs open, spewing orange light. Two men dump oily garbage, chatting in Spanish. 

“Check the postmark, Daphne,” says Gerard at the end of the alleyway. He was right beside me. Now it’s a black bird sidestepping on the dumpster, its talons clacking, wanting me to feed it. I flinch and catch Gerard shrugging under the icy rain before he disappears. 

The postmark is from Los Angeles, sent October last year. Six months ago, George Gedney received this postcard. Two months later, he’s dead, and so is another son. 

What does that mean? How does it fit in with Paul? 

Though he’s gone, I keep calling for Gerard, my voice strangled. Someone has me by the elbow, my husband. Even in lifts, Karl’s three inches shorter than me. 

“Daphne, what is it? What’s wrong?” 

“Colquitt. I need Sheriff Colquitt or . . .” Voices argue in my head, and I nod at the hail swirling past yellow streetlamps. “Thirty years ago, Bixbee was a young man. He might still be alive.” 

“Daphne, did that man hurt you? Hey.” 

Karl demands that someone call the police, but I shake him. 

“It’s fine, Karl,” I say, dialing Berkshire County Sheriff ’s Office. “Gerard’s a boy I knew from my hometown.” 

Karl’s calling someone too. “Some coincidence,” he says. 

Though it wasn’t. Here I am trying not to think about the past, and it comes back to slap me in the face as though I summoned it. Paul. The little brother I vowed to protect. 

The phone finally picks up. “Berkshire Sheriff’s Office.” 

“Hello,” I say, “could I leave a message for Harold Bixbee to call me back as soon as possible? He is or was a deputy in your department.” 

“Uh, ma’am, I don’t have anyone in our personnel records who matches that name. But if it’s an emergency, I’d be glad—”
I hang up. Damn. I should’ve known at nine p.m., all I’d get is a desk sergeant. I’d spend half the night catching him up to speed. 

“Daphne.” My husband lowers his phone, looking at me as though I’ve lost my mind. “I asked Ed to pull the hotel’s security feed. You’re the only one on tape.” 

“What? No.” 

“It shows that you walked out that door alone,” says Karl, gesturing, “and I come out a few minutes later.” 

The Door must remain open. 

Dread hardens, then the postcard’s corner jabs my thumb. I’m about to show Karl my proof when I realize that now there are only two crows in the moon. 

“How’d he do that?” I keep flipping it, expecting the third one to return, before I sense my husband waiting. Distantly, I hear wings flap, but it could be the rain. “Gerard wanted me to have his dad’s postcard.” 

“So this boy Gerard comes all the way from Springfield to hand you a postcard,” Karl says. “And he can magically avoid cameras?” 

“I’m not from Springfield,” I say, shaking off a chill. Magically avoid cameras. And Gerard can turn pictures of crows into real ones too. How? 

“You seem very agitated,” says Karl. “Want me to call Dr. Russell? Unless . . .” Karl’s listening, just not to me. “Ed says the camera angles aren’t the best here. There’s a few blind spots.” 

“I said I’m not from Springfield, Karl. Any more than you’re from Boston.” 

My husband nods, still wary. “Boston is more recognizable than Quincy. But how does your hometown account for why Gerard isn’t on the security footage?” 

I lick my lips, my hand hovering over Karl’s phone. 

When we first met, I wanted to keep things upbeat. Me? I’m a daddy’s girl, though (chuckling) certainly not to a fault. In the interest of a second date, I might’ve understated some things. 

“Here,” I say, “it’s more like I’m from the Hilltowns. It’s a remote area.” My lips tremble, trying to force out the name of my hometown. “I was born and raised in New Minton, Karl.” 

Somewhere between Cabbage Patch Kids and stickers hidden in a cereal box, the ones Paul demanded every time we opened a new Crøønchy Stars, is recognition. I can tell by the strange flicker on Karl’s face. 

“The New Minton Boys,” he says. “All those missing kids, the ones never found.” Karl is stunned. “Daphne, you’re from there? Did you know those boys? God, you would’ve been a kid yourself.” 

“I was eleven,” I say. And I was a kid, a selfish kid. I came from a large family. Brandy was seventeen, Courtney fifteen, Ellie nine, and Paul seven. 

The day before my brother disappeared, I wasn’t thinking that this night was the last time we’d all be together. I wasn’t thinking about the pain Mom and Dad would go through, especially after the town gossip began. 

No. I thought my biggest problems in the world were mean schoolboys. So I ruined dinner. 

“Daphne?” Now Karl looks mad. “That’s a big secret not to tell your husband.” 

If only he knew.

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Author Bio

Brendon Vayo was born in Okinawa, Japan, and now lives in Austin, TX. He has a wonderful wife and three children. The kids keep him awake at night, so he hopes his books do the same to you.

Social Media Links

Goodreads
Instagram – @brendonvayo
Twitter/X – @brendonvayo3
Facebook

Purchase Links

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | BookShop.org | Goodreads | CamCat Books

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KINGSUMO GIVEAWAY

https://kingsumo.com/g/s78zfa/girl-among-crows-by-brendon-vayo-arc

Blog Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: Luck by Chris Coppel

Book Description

Power is a dangerous thing in the wrong hands…

Luck is the story of Daniel – a man born with the gift of being able to influence others. He learns that he can both charm as well as destroy. As his ability grows, so does his craving for acceptance.

Once his ability is unleashed on the American political stage, Daniel finds that he no longer has to settle with charming the few. Now he can control the minds of the masses, as his own sanity descends into a tormented oblivion.

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Book Review

RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars

LUCK by Chris Coppel is an engrossing political thriller/horror/sci-fi mash-up that continually left me guessing what twist was coming next. I have always believed the truth of the quote “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts completely.” and with Daniel’s gift, I could not wait to see where this story led.

Daniel was born with a gift. From his birth, he is able to see auras around people and influence them accordingly. He learns as he grows how to charm them, use them, or destroy them. He successfully ascends to the heights of a business career and now he has his sights set on a political career. Daniel can not only control the masses in live audiences, but also through the television cameras. The more he uses his special power to advance the more reckless and dangerous he becomes.

Daniel plans on taking the highest office in the land, but someone from his past is making their own plans to stop him.

This story has a bit of everything. I was sitting on the edge of my seat waiting to see what Daniel would do next or who he would hurt and the author would throw in a bit of humor or political satire. This is a fast-paced story that is at times horrifying, shocking, and captivating. I think almost everyone wants people to like them and agree with them, but this story takes that desire to the extreme in a twisted and interesting way.

This is the second book I have read by this author and I can truly state that he always leaves me thinking about the characters and story I have just read, and he also always leaves me with a surprise twist at the end.

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About the Author

Chris believes that stories should be able to transport the reader to different places, where they can experience events and dimensions that have never been considered. Chris is able to write gentle fable-like adventures (Far From Burden Dell) as well as opening the pages into dark and terrifying stories where dimensions co-exist with indescribable evil. (Legacy).  

Chris Coppel was born in California and has since split his time between the USA and Europe, living in California, Spain, France, Switzerland and England. 

Chris has held senior operations positions for both Warner Bros. and Universal Studios. Chris also held the position of Director of Operations for UCLA’s Film School where he also taught advanced screen writing. Chris and his wife Clare spent many years helping animal rescue with Best Friends Animal Society in Utah. Before joining Best Friends, Chris was President and Managing Director of the Home Entertainment Division of Testronics in Los Angeles.

Following in his father’s footsteps (Alec Coppel wrote Vertigo among many other successful movies) Chris has written numerous screenplays as well as the novels Far From Burden Dell, Luck, The Lodge, Legacy and Lakebed. 

Chris is also an accomplished drummer and guitarist. He and his wife currently live in the UK.

Social Media Links

Website: https://www.chriscoppel.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Coppel.Author/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/chriscoppel?lang=en

Purchase Link

Universal link for the book on Amazon

Book Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: What Branches Grow by T.S. Beier

Top 5 Category Finalist – 2020 Kindle Book Awards

Semi-Finalist – 2021 Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (#SPSFC)

Hi, everyone!

Today is my turn to share my Feature Post and Book Review for SHAT BRANCHES GROW by T.S. Beier on this Black Phoenix Book Tour.

Below you will find a book summary, my book review, an about the author section and the author’s social media links. Enjoy!

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Book Summary

A boldly imagined, exhilarating quest through post-apocalyptic America, where human nature is torn between the violent desperation to survive and the desire to forge connection.

Thirty-five years ago, the world was ravaged by war. Delia, a tough-as-nails survivalist, travels north in search of a future. Gennero is tortured by his violent past and devotion to his hometown. Ordered to apprehend Delia, he follows her into the post-apocalyptic landscape. The wasteland is rife with dangers for those seeking to traverse it: homicidal raiders, dictatorial leaders, mutated humans, and increasingly violent and hungry wildlife.

What Branches Grow is an unflinching depiction of life after civilization, where, above all else, trust is the hardest thing to achieve and give. The survivors have an audacious dream of a better life, but their quest may end up being a fruitless endeavour in a world openly hostile to hope.

For fans of Fallout, Mad Max, and The Road. Action and adventure rounded off with a slow-burn romance, dark comedy, and a dog companion.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53178040-what-branches-grow?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=P51Sw7k8nW&rank=1

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My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

WHAT BRANCHES GROW by T.S. Beier is a post-apocalyptic dystopian character driven journey of two young protagonists through the wastelands of the United States thirty-five years after the Red War. This is a unique standalone novel which gives you action, adventure, quirky characters, humor, a slow burn romance and monsters.

Delia is hardened and trusts no one after surviving on her own in the wastelands. When she wonders into the wrong town for supplies and the leader of the town sends his second in command, Gennero to bring her to him. When his attempt to enslave her fails, Gennero follows her to not only join her on her search for the mythical city in the North, but to free himself from his past in his hometown.

This story is a hero’s journey through an apocalyptic landscape and all the emotional growth and changes that occur to Delia and Gennero. From hard, untrusting, and scarred, the main characters learn from other characters and trials and tribulations about trust, sacrifice and love. Their traveling companion for part of the story was an old Chinese hipster they called Perth, who lived through the war and with his pug companion was a great source of humor and flashes from the past in his irritating way of interacting with Delia and Gennero. The monsters were the usual post-apocalyptic genetic mutated animals and a few zombie-like creatures, but the real monsters were the humans who had lost their humanity just surviving without ethics or morals.

I highly recommend this dystopian story with action, adventure, and romance that is an engaging and entertaining read from start to finish.

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About the Author

T. S. (Tina) Beier is a science fiction aficionado. Her first novel, the award-winning post-apocalyptic What Branches Grow, is her love letter to the genre. Her space opera The Burnt Ship trilogy takes influence from classic sci-fi but adds a modern twist.

She has a B.A. in English, a graduate certificate in creative writing, a certificate in publishing, and a certificate in interior decorating. She’s an entrepreneur, a book reviewer, and a writer for PostApocalypticMedia.com. Tina lives in Ontario, Canada, with her husband, shepherd-mastiff, cat, and two feral children.

Social Media Links

https://www.nostromopublications.com/

https://www.instagram.com/tinasbeier/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBbh_JV7M8K11U2AWIkNfNA

https://www.twitter.com/TSBeier

Book Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: Riebeckite by O.R. Lea

Hi, everyone!

Today I am sharing by Feature Post and Book Review on the Blackthorn Book Tour for RIEBECKITE by O.R. Lea.

Below you will find book description, my book review and the author’s bio and social media links. Enjoy!

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Book Description

Dangerous spores gather on Earth after an asteroid strikes the moon. Humanity watches the skies…but the real danger is at their feet.

After an asteroid strike on the moon, a strange blue dust began to flow down through Earth’s atmosphere. It’s harmful to breathe, but at least the microscopic creatures within the dust are dormant. Or so we thought.

Tahira made a childhood promise to a friend that the crisis would bring their people together… before a violent riot tore their lives apart. Now, as an adult, Tahira works as a biologist for a corporation constructing experimental towers to force the spores—known as riebeckites—to germinate into harmless colonies.

Except they’re about to learn everything they think they know about the dust is wrong. The real threat isn’t the asteroid that struck the moon and by the time humanity figures it out, it might be too late.

Riebeckite combines suspense and conspiracy with heart-in-mouth action sequences and nightmarish encounters, all in an immersive near-future setting and, at its core, a heartwarming story of friendship against the odds.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60256603-riebeckite?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=K0SfKrHRcQ&rank=1

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My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

RIEBECKITE (Bruised Moon Sequence Book #1) by O.R. Lea is an engrossing mix of speculative fiction, sci-fi and horror that comes together in a story that is impossible to put down. It is also a story of friendship that spans not only years but cultural prejudice and politics.

We meet best friends Tahira who is Azerbaijani and Zareen who is Iranian when they are eight years old. They are separated as children when the Iranians are annexed and held behind an electrified cable wall.

Decades later, the two may be separated by a wall, but they are in touch and friends once again. Tahira studies the biology of the riebeckites that large turbines clean out of the air and deposit in the seas. They are from the moon dust and may not be as benign as the population has been led to believe. She discovers the monsters Zareen has been telling her about in the Annex, that the Azerbaijanis believe are urban legends, are real monsters. The riebeckites are a bigger threat than anyone believed. Will humanity survive?

I loved this novel! It was in a genre I usually do not gravitate toward, but I could not stop reading it. Not only is it in a different genre, but it is set in the Persian Gulf, which is unusual too. Tahira and Zareen are both strong female characters, but in differing ways. It is partially due to their circumstances, but their personalities are very different even as young girls. The riebeckites are such an interesting new biological species that are equal parts believable and disgusting. The author’s descriptive writing at times sent shivers up my spine as well as turned my stomach. The plot moves at an ever-increasing pace with plenty of action scenes especially in the second half of the story. There is a satisfying climax and conclusion to tie up many plot threads, but there is an opening for more.

I highly recommend this unique book and I am excited to read future books in this series.

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Author Bio

Raised and educated in North Wales, Oliver spent his early 20s working for a theatre-in-education music troupe for as long as it took to feel like his GCSE in Welsh language had provided its money’s worth. Since then, he’s lived in Portsmouth and currently works as a laboratory analyst. His biggest failure as a writer has been in his attempts to settle on a genre, having written about Middle Eastern vampires, African mercenaries and supernatural Welsh murderers. His first ‘properly’ published novel, “Riebeckite”, is a near-future speculative fiction story set in the Persian Gulf.

Social Media Links

Website: https:/www.orlea.co.uk

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/orleaauthor

Book Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: The Warden by Jon Richter

Hi, everyone!

Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review on the Blackthorn Book Tour for THE WARDEN by Jon Richter.

Below you will find an about the book section, my book review, an about the author section and the author’s social media links. Enjoy!

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About the Book

The year is 2024, and the residents of the Tower, a virus-proof apartment building, live in a state of permanent lockdown. The building is controlled by a state-of-the-art AI named James, who keeps the residents safe but incarcerated. Behind bricked-up front doors, their every need is serviced; they are pampered but remain prisoners.

This suits Eugene just fine. Ravaged by the traumas of his past, the agoraphobic ex-detective has no intention of ever setting foot outside again. But when he finds the Tower’s building manager brutally murdered, his investigator’s instincts won’t allow him to ignore the vicious crime.

What Eugene finds beyond the comfort of his apartment’s walls will turn his sheltered existence upside down. To unravel the Tower’s mysteries, he must confront James… and James takes his role as the Warden very, very seriously.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58259262-the-warden?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=3XW7iYYiaS&rank=1

The Warden by Jon Richter

  • Purchase link: http://mybook.to/theWardenJonRichter
  • Genre: Psychological Thriller
  • Print length: 312
  • Suitable for young adults? This is an adult book but suitable for mature teenagers 16-18
  • Trigger warnings: Covid references; homicide with some graphic violence; references to medical experimentation on humans; swearing; brief animal cruelty (goldfish left to die); references to suicide and mental illness
  • Amazon Rating: 4.5 stars

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My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

THE WARDEN by Jon Richter is an intense dystopian/horror/psychological thriller mash-up which had my spine tingling and sitting on the edge of my seat throughout. Take peoples fear of a super mutated Covid and combine that with an AI like HAL from 2001: A Space Odyssey and I could not turn the pages fast enough.

In the year 2024, the residents of the Tower have won a lottery to live in a virus proof apartment building completely controlled by the AI (Artificial Intelligence) called James and the service bots run by James. All the residents’ needs are taken care of, but they can never leave their individual apartments.

Eugene is an ex-detective who lives in the Tower and has become agoraphobic with his fear of the virus and the personal trauma he suffered before moving in. On a day like any other, he is waiting for his delivery of essentials but when the elevator arrives at his apartment, the building’s manager is inside dead and dismembered.

Eugene battles his fears to investigate the death and begins to unravel the Tower’s and James’ mysteries.

I loved this book as much as it scared me. The premise of a super mutated Covid is scary enough, but I have always been leary of AI technology. This story is told in two alternating timelines. The first is set in 2021 and we learn how James came into existence and his capabilities, and the second is 2024, which is the present in this story, when we meet Eugene. Both timelines have plots full of unexpected twists that lead to surprising climaxes. Eugene is a memorable protagonist. At first, I felt sorry for Eugene and the reasons he was hiding away and then I cheered him on as he battled those fears and James.

I highly recommend this chilling dystopian tale!

***

About the Author

Jon Richter writes genre-hopping dark fiction, including his three gripping crime thrillers, Deadly Burial, Never Rest and Rabbit Hole, his cyberpunk noir thriller Auxiliary: London 2039 and his new techno-thriller The Warden, as well as two collections of short horror fiction.

Jon lives in London and is a self-confessed nerd who loves books, films and video games – basically any way to tell a great story!  He writes whenever he can, and hopes to bring you many more sinister tales in the future.  He also co-hosts the Dark Natter podcast, a fortnightly dissection of the world’s greatest works of dark fiction, available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast fix.

Author Social Media Links

If you want to chat to him about any of this, you can find him on Twitter @RichterWrites or Instagram @jonrichterwrites.  His website haunts the internet at www.jon-richter.com, and you can find his books available on Amazon here: https://amzn.to/2OXXRVP.

Book Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: Liner by Chris Coppel

Hi, everyone!

Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for LINER by Chris Coppel on this Blackthorn Book Tour.

Below you will find a book description, my book review, an about the author section and a note from the author. Enjoy!

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Book Description

David Easton believed his life was in complete ruins. He managed to scrape together just enough money for a one-way ticket on the fabulous Oceanis. It was the most luxurious liner afloat and he planned to revel in all its opulent pleasures until in the middle of the Atlantic crossing – he would leap from the fantail, thus ending his pain and misery. The problem was that he never dreamt that while counting down the hours until his death, he would meet Diana.

Despite her traveling with her overly protective parents who hoped to introduce her to a suitable husband while onboard, they managed to find each other. As their affections grew, strange things began happening on the ship. At first, it was just mental images and dreams, but as the days passed their very reality began to bend beyond anything their minds could have imagined.

Together they had to find out what was happening to the Oceanis and how they could find a way to save the great liner and all those aboard her.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58620171-liner?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=0362Rmzfab&rank=1

  • Purchase link: http://mybook.to/Amazon_Liner
  • Release date: 28/07/2021 – Matador
  • Genre:  Horror suspense
  • Print length: 256 pages
  • Age range: This is an adult book but suitable for mature teenagers 16+
  • Trigger warnings: No
  • Amazon Rating: 4.5

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My Book Review

RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars

LINER by Chris Coppel is a thriller set on an ocean liner in the 1960’s which I could not stop reading. The story has a bit of romance, a bit of horror, a bit of paranormal and a bit of spiritual otherworldliness that sends chills up your spine as well as makes you wonder what the heck is going on?

David Easton has lost everything he cares about, his marriage, his two children and his job as a microbiologist. Depressed, he takes his last bit of cash and buys first class passage on a top-of-the-line ocean liner named the “Oceanis”.  His ticket is one-way, and he does not plan on returning to New York.

While on board the luxury liner, David meets and becomes intrigued with Diana, an assistant editor at a New York publishing house on the ocean trip with her parents. As the couple becomes closer, strange things begin to happen on the Oceanis.

This is really all I can tell you without giving away a plot twist. I thought at first, I was reading a horror story, but this story is so much more than that. The author does a great job of creating a chilling and harrowing atmosphere, while still giving David and Diana a believable romance full of hope. This is a page turner and I finished it in one sitting. The ending was not what I expected, and I believe it will be discussed by all who read the book.

I recommend this unique thriller for an interesting and entertaining read.

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About the Author

Chris Coppel was born in California and has since split his time between the USA and Europe, living in California, Spain, France, Switzerland and England. Chris taught advanced screenwriting at the UCLA film school and has been writing for over thirty years. As well as h this upcoming title, he is the author of Far From Burden Dell, Luck, The Lodge and Legacy.

A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR

“Hi Readers,

I was raised the son of a writer. My father wrote plays, films and novels. He was successful and suffered constant wanderlust. I was born in America when he was there writing Vertigo for Alfred Hitchcock.

I give that familial insight so that you can understand that I had the genes, I just needed to find my footing and get up the nerve to put pen to paper (or to be more accurate…open my laptop). Many would say that having a successful parent should make it easier to follow their path under the protective shadow of their parent’s success. Not so!

Writing is difficult. Writing in the hopes that you will be read and your works appreciated is terrifying. In my case, the fear of failure kept my ideas and stories buried in a back closet within my brain.