This is the blog of Samie Sands, author of Lockdown. There will be many great books and projects reviewed here. For more, check out thelockdown.co.uk.

Wednesday, 18 June 2014

The Possession

Cover_Secret Journals Posession

The Possession (Book 1 Secret Journals)
by J.D. Spikes
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BLURB:
Daphne Wentworth is almost seventeen, definitely a red head, and most likely the tallest girl in her class, which is awkward to say the least when it comes to dating boys in her school. But she doesn’t have to worry about school for the next two months since she’s spending the summer at her aunt Dwill’s lighthouse in Maine.
What she does have to worry about is seeing ghosts in the lighthouse cemetery, having strange dreams, and hearing the voices of star-crossed lovers who lived two-hundred years ago. And then there’s a local boy named Zach Philbrook who works for her aunt. He’s too gorgeous for his own good. He’s also very tall, with midnight black hair, and the most beautiful indigo blue eyes Daphne has ever seen.
Zach is treated like an outcast by the local teens in town. He’s Micmac and therefore not “one of the gang”. Daphne can’t help being drawn to his strength, especially considering that he’s had to live his entire life dealing with ignorance. But the local teens aren’t the only trouble-makers in town. As Zach and Daphne get closer, the lighthouse ghost lovers begin haunting them. When Daphne and Zach try to figure out how to fight them, the spirits get bolder and more dangerous.
So how do you protect yourself from something that isn’t really there?
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Excerpt:
Chapter 1
It wasn’t the first time a good idea had come back to bite me in the ass, but I was afraid it might be the last.
The plan had seemed harmless enough. I never intended things to get so out of hand, and I certainly hadn’t expected Zach to get involved. No, wait. If I’m going to tell this tale, write it down so it’s never forgotten, I must tell the truth—the whole truth.
I should start at the beginning . . .
I had always resisted being a redhead.
“My hair is brown,” I’d declare, “with red highlights.”
When you were one of six heads that spilled out onto the sidewalk every morning though, the sun unmercifully spotlighting the fact that you varied in shades from the red section of the crayon box, you eventually had to let that notion go. When I was twelve—we were only four heads bobbing off to Catholic school at the top of the hill by then—Mom tried to soothe me by pointing out my hair was auburn.
Auburn. I’d liked the sound of that. It wasn’t red, it was auburn.
Auburn sounded regal and refined.
So did Daphne Wentworth. That’s my name, but I can tell you truthfully I’m neither regal nor refined. I favor t-shirts and jeans and my battered sneakers. I usually have a basketball in my hands. Or a softball bat. I’m tall, always have been. Do you know what it’s like to go through school like a giraffe above the crowd? Above the boys?
But I digress.
My point is, I’m not at all what you’d expect from my name. And what happened to us last summer, what waited at the lighthouse, in that small copse of trees, well . . . you’d never expect that, either.
Not in two hundred years.
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AUTHOR Bio and Links:
AuthorPic
Jeanine Duval Spikes is a spinner of romantic tales with a touch of the supernatural. Lifelong research and experience with the paranormal infuse her stories with ethereal spirit, while her belief that love conquers all suffuses them with heart.
She is a paranormal investigator with a small local group, aspiring to help those in need by advancing this exploratory field both spiritually and scientifically. When not writing, you can find her cooking, gardening, horseback riding, or forever getting lost in secondhand shops. The mother of two grown sons, she lives in Rhode Island, the Ocean State, with her very own hero-husband Tim, and two crazy cats. She is the proud recipient of the Jo Ann Ferguson Service Award for selfless assistance and dedication to fellow writers and the craft.


Children of Lubrochius

Cover_ChildrenLubrochius
BLURB:
The vampire, Lucian val Drasmyr, has been defeated, but not destroyed: Now he serves another evil: Korina Bolaris, a young and gifted sorceress bent on subverting the power structure of Drisdak. Only Coragan of Esperia can hope to stop them. But is even he prepared to face the dark cult who claims her as their own: the Children of Lubrochius?
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Excerpt:
“We have gone a bit off topic, I think,” Korina said.
“You asked about magic,” Lucian said with an arrogant sneer. “I told you what I know.”
Korina frowned. He had not told her much. Barely a smattering. Instead, they had detoured into a lecture on philosophy. “Tell me about the Sceptre of Morgulan,” she said. She knew much already: the sceptre was a weapon of tremendous power wielded by Morgulan during the course of many wars and battles fought over a thousand years ago. It had mysteriously disappeared immediately after Morgulan’s demise.
Lucian sighed as if surrendering to the inevitable. “The Sceptre of Morgulan?” The vampire locked his gaze with her, and smiled. “The wizard Arcalian was also interested in the sceptre. That interest got him killed. As you may or may not know, I have a history with wizards. Generally speaking … I win.”
The arrogant monster! He had lost to Regecon and the guild.
“I’m not interested in your boasts, vampire. I’m interested in the sceptre. Tell me what I wish to know.” A part of her doubted if she was ready for the knowledge the vampire might give her. The sceptre, after all, was an artifact of legend. It had destroyed armies. She longed for its power, but she knew that she must match its power with her own else it would come to rule her. An untrained peasant with a sword was as much a danger to himself as he was to others.
Lucian folded his arms beneath his breast and looked askance at the wall. “Ask your questions, then,” he said.
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How "Children of Lubrochius" stands out against it's competitors. An article by Matthew D. Ryan

I’ve been steeped in the fantasy genre since I was a young boy. I think I read J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings when I was ten, and dozens of other books and series since then. My favorites include the aforementioned Lord of the Rings, as well as Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn, and Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time. As far as the vampire genre is concerned, I’ve had considerably less exposure. I’ve read Bram Stoker’s Dracula a number of times and that has served as the inspiration for my own vampire, Lucian val Drasmyr. I don’t go in for the romantic vampires. I understand that some people do, and that’s their choice, that’s fine. I far prefer the dark, quasi-demonic creature that threatens a mortal’s very soul. Once upon a time, vampires were evil; they were undead—basically a walking corpse. Who wants to build a romance with that?
In fact, it is this return to the original nature of the vampire that I would argue makes my book stand out. It is like a throwback to olden times. Drasmyr does not whine or pine away for lost love (at least not much). He is sinister and diabolical. You shouldn’t like him, and you won’t.
Further, this book isn’t, strictly speaking, a vampire book. It features a vampire, but that is but one facet of a larger whole. It is, most truly speaking, a fantasy book (as noted above). But it differs from many fantasy books because it follows the viewpoints of the antagonists as well as the protagonists. This reduces some of the mystery in the book, because you are usually aware of what Korina (the evil sorceress) and Drasmyr (the vampire) are up to; but at the same time, it increases the tension as you can watch all parties heading into conflict step by step.
Another quirk of my book is that Drasmyr’s point of view is written in first person present. This started way back in the prequel. In fact, that was how I wrote the original short story and the book grew from that. My justification for that odd point of view choice is that Drasmyr is a one-thousand year old vampire. His perception of time differs from ours. He is constantly living in the present, ever aware of his actions and their repercussions as he makes them. This odd point-of-view can be jarring at first, but once you adapt I believe it adds a richness to the story that makes it more compelling. And again, it makes the book stand out.
Further, one of the functions of fantasy literature is that it provides an escape from the humdrum of everyday life. At least, that is how it is for me. Tales of magic and derring-do stir the soul in a remarkably exhilarating fashion. My novel continues that tradition, but builds upon it with the aforementioned point-of-view of the vampire. In particular, Drasmyr’s point-of-view provides an outlet for the darker aspects of the human soul. Through him, one’s more sinister aspirations can safely find release. I’ve found that true of myself, for example, as I often refer to him as my alter-ego. He’s the character you love to hate. He is my own personal dark side and a catharsis from dark desires. And he is an integral part of my story.
So, although there is more to my novel than a vampire, the vampire is a critical element of the story. As such it is a blend of the fantasy and vampire genres, and the vampire and how he is presented is one of the critical facets that make this story stand out.
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AUTHOR Bio and Links:
AuthorPic

Matthew D. Ryan is a published author living in upstate New York on the shores of Lake Champlain. Mr. Ryan has a background in philosophy, mathematics, and computer science. He has a black belt in the martial arts and studies yoga. He has been deeply involved in the fantasy genre for most of his life as a reader, writer, and game designer. He is the operator of the web-site matthewdryan.com which features his blog, “A Toast to Dragons,”a blog dedicated to fantasy literature, and, to a lesser extent, sci-fi. Mr. Ryan says he receives his inspiration from his many years as an avid role-player and fantasy book reader. He has spent many long hours devising adventures and story-lines for games, so it was a natural shift moving into fantasy writing.
Mr. Ryan is the author of the exciting dark fantasy novel, Drasmyr,, its sequel, The Children of Lubrochius, and a growing number of short stories. His first novel, Drasmyr, has consistently earned reviews in the four and five star range and serves as the prequel to his upcoming series: From the Ashes of Ruin. In addition to Drasmyr and The Children of Lubrochius, Mr. Ryan has published several short stories on-line, including: “Haladryn and the Minotaur,” “The River’s Eye,” and “Escape.”

Links to the Author on the Internet
Author’s website: http://matthewdryan.com
Author’s Amazon Author Central Page: http://www.amazon.com/author/matthewdryan

Buy Links for The Children of Lubrochius:

The prequel, Drasmyr, is currently available free as an ebook at Smashwords, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and elsewhere.

Thursday, 12 June 2014

The Bleeding by Max E Stone

Blurb: How does a maximum-security inmate commit a murder on the outside? The answer is more terrifying than you think.
Mark My Words…
Derek Warren is smooth, charming, and a master manipulator.
But is he a killer?
I swear…
If so, how is the former businessman committing murder from a maximum-security prison cell?
And what, if anything, does he have planned next?
You'll Never See It Coming…
Detective Stephen Bennett is sure he has the answers to these questions.
But the path of dead bodies leads him to a truth far more disturbing than he suspected…
You Will Bleed...


Note by Samie: "The Bleeding is a whole new level of horror! The plot details how childhood trauma impacts on your entire life in such a tense, suspenseful but also highly emotional way. The setting, the characters and the plot all feel very real from the word go, and once I'd started reading this book, I really struggled to put it down.
I gave this book 5/5 stars because it's highly unique and a thoroughly enjoyable read!"

Congratulations!


Congratulations to Simon O, Rosalind S, Chrissie A, Danelle J and Antoinette B for winning the Lockdown Ebook competition! Your prize has been emailed to you!
http://thelockdown.co.uk/competitions 


Tuesday, 10 June 2014

An Untimely Frost by Ted Morrisey


Blurb: In the novel An Untimely Frost, or The Authoress, set in 1830s London, the American author Jefferson Wheelwright seeks out the reclusive English novelist Margaret T. Haeley, creator of Dunkelraum's monster and widow of poet Stephen Haeley. The story was inspired by Washington Irving's rumored courtship of Mary Shelley, author of Frankenstein. The book also includes the author's essay "Researching the Rhythms of Voice" and discussion questions.


Note from Samie Sands: "This book had me gripped from the very first page - I absolutely love Ted Morrisey's use of descriptive language. Everything he writes is so vivid, I could picture it in my head. The plot and characters are wonderful and charming - a must read for....pretty much everyone! 5/5 Stars."

Sunday, 8 June 2014

Want to win a copy of Lockdown?

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The Return by Carter Vance


Blurb: The Return is a story of the modern day fulfillment of the Grail prophecy.
The time has come for the prophesied return of Christ. Long thought extinct, the secret Order of Knights Templar battle the Dark Forces that fear His return.
At the center of this battle of good and evil is Sarah Davidson, an expectant mother, who has a unique heritage, and Peter Christos, her shipping magnate husband. The couple, who were married in the presence of the Ark of the Covenant, is confronted with a series of surreptitious schemes and attacks causing them to flee and seek a secure birthplace for their son.
They are aided in this endeavor by the Knights Templar, a clandestine organization that has, over the centuries, amassed enormous wealth and power and the organization to deliver it in anticipation of this day.
Ultimately, they engage in a grand battle for the prophesied birth.


Note from Samie: "Carter Vance is a very talented author whose writing style had me gripped immediately. The Return in full of mystery and intrigue and the characters move the plot along fluidly. I can't wait for more from this very promising author 5/5 stars."

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