Devoured By Jason Brant Gives Us Some REAL Vampires!

Terrorist Attack?

Inside job gone awry?

Either way, the future isn't looking so good for humanity.

Welcome to Devoured, first book within the post-apocalyptic Hunger series written by Jason Brant.

So what's it about?

Lance York has hit rock bottom. He has no job, no future employment is in sight, he's in the midst of a particularly nasty divorce, and suffers from depression. Things just can't get worse. That's what he thinks, however...

One day, he discovers a woman that is clearly sick, and not in her right mind. She walks right in front of a car, oblivious to the danger, and Lance jumps out to push her out of the way. He gets hit instead, and winds up in the hospital. Soon after he wakes up, the hospital is inexplicably shut off from the rest of the city, quarantined.

A virus is sweeping across the nation's large cities, sickening its victims. This virus transforms people into hideous monsters that have lost all humanity, replacing it with rage and hunger. The woman Lance saved was one of the infected...

I'll be honest. I thought this was going to be a run of the mill zombie ebook.

I was wrong!

It shares many of those characteristics, but it goes beyond that - the people that have been transformed are still alive - no undeadness. Can I say 'undeadness'? Is that even a word? No? I claim it as my own, then...

It was different. These creatures were strong, they had a taste for human flesh and blood, and they stayed away from the light. 

That's right - 

Brant wrote about vampires! Not the lovey-dovey, pretty, sweet, and sparkly kind, but the awesome kind. 

The kind with no soul.

Brutal.

Animalistic.

And smart.

Exactly what I love! Bela Lugosi's Nosferatu... on PCP! And bigger. With enhanced limbs and musculature.

Ok, maybe they're nothing like Nosferatu... but you get the point. These creatures are awe-inspiringly complex and nasty - anyone that's looking for a vampire novel that doesn't portray them as beautiful will love Brant's descriptions.

I did have one problem with Devoured, however. Occasionally, I found that the dialogue didn't feel true. There were incidents in which I felt a particular character wouldn't speak in a certain way, or use specific speech patterns. This stretched my belief a bit thin, at times.

But overall, this ebook took me into imaginary territory that I was happy to follow it into. The action, sequence of events, and environment were all well written and believable.

And! And! And! 

Awesome vampires!

Forget the mushy, sympathetic, likeable vampire! Brant gave us the type of blood sucking, flesh eating creature of the night that many of us have been screaming for... and made it into a living, breathing beast.

Devoured can be found on Kindle, Nook, and Smashwords.

The Land of No Angels Inspires True Self-Evaluation

Ready for another foray into a post-apocalyptic setting?

This one has nothing to do with zombies.

Instead, we're delving into the realm of demon invasion!

Cover by Amanda Kelsey
at Razzle Dazzle Design

Welcome to Land of No Angels, the first installment in the Dark Ascension series, written by N.R. Wick.

So what's it about?

    One day, everything was fine. The next, our world spiralled into chaos as demons invaded the Earth. Many people died, and others went mad. Humans discovered by the new demon conquerors were killed or enslaved. Now, cities and homes are abandoned and left to rot.
    Rebecca and her sister Errol, however, have managed to survive with their wits intact, living in a tornado shelter and surviving off of canned goods and strange, unintelligent turkey demon meat. It's a lonely life, but life nonetheless.
    But one day, a demon attacks Errol after luring her into a trap. Errol survives, but is now poisoned. She'll die unless Rebecca can travel through demon territory and find the ingredients necessary to cure the affliction, and she only has a week to do it.

I have to be honest with you.

Reading about an awesome main character that just happens to have my name was very satisfying. I found myself thinking things like,

"Yep. Good name. All Rebeccas would make such a wise decision. 

And that one. And that one, too."

But can you really blame me for my moments of overinflated ego? I mean, come on... we all yearn to relate to a well-crafted character.

But! 

Even if the main character's name was, I don't know... Michaela Kennedy Kennsington LeBrat, III or something... even then, I'd like this book.

(Nothing against anyone with the name Michaela Kennedy Kennsington LeBrat, III, of course. 

That one is kinda growing on me...)

See, Wick managed to weave a beautiful tale of love, strength, and hope into an environment rich with hatred, cruelty, and desolation. The characters were all deeply flawed, yet still managed to overcome their personal weaknesses to work toward good, and at times selfless, goals.

How many people would be willing to sacrifice themselves for a stranger? How many would ignore a person in need in order to ensure their own survival? What would we do in the same circumstances that the characters were forced to endure?

None of those questions has a true answer. 

We know what we believe, and what we would like to believe, but since we've never actually been faced with a world in which demons have conquered and even transformed our environment, we really don't know those answers.

Wick explores these questions. 

She makes the reader question what s/he thinks is obvious. A few times, I found hope within situations and actions which I otherwise wouldn't. I also found pain. I found myself questioning what I thought I knew about the characters - especially bit characters.

This drew me into the world, and kept me there.

Even now, I don't feel I have the answers. Wick left just enough loose ends to make me crave the second installment, without leaving so many that I was plunged into frustration. I think I've stared at the cover for Land of No Mortals about fifteen times already, with my finger hovering over the 'Buy Now' button.

The pacing is great, and emotions run high. Throughout, the question of what separates us from the demons hovers above the reader's head. Wick's ability to thread the psychology of morality into her work without turning the story into a preach-fest is superb.

I found myself pondering: 

What, realistically, would I do in this same world? What choices would I make? How strong would I be? Where would I draw the line?

In all honesty, I'm a bit nervous about what those answers would be, and I think the same could be said for anyone.

Land of No Angels can be found on Kindle, Nook, and Smashwords.

Anywhere But Here: Emotionally Exhausting... and AWESOME.

I want to begin this review with a warning:

NEVER 

stay up a few hours

past your bedtime to read

a zombie story.

(especially a good one)

Never.

Well, ok. Maybe I'm overgeneralizing just a bit. This isn't the case with all zombie stories. This isn't even the case with most zombie stories... but it is definitely the case with this one.

Cover Art by Melchelle Designs.

Anywhere But Here, the first installment of the Starborn Ascension, is a post-apocalyptic thriller by Jason D. Morrow that will send your imagination soaring... or diving for cover.

Because, you know... zombies.

So what's it about?

Waverly was in the middle of a simple game of Go Fish when news of 'greyskins' was first reported. Media reports talked of people whose skin turned gray, and whose eyes turned black. Those people were seemingly unstoppable and attacking en masse, even though their bodies appeared to be dead.

That was three years ago. Now, people struggle in a world overrun by greyskins. Even worse, they have to be careful of each other. Trust doesn't run high in a devastated world. There are stories of a town called Crestwood, however, that allows travellers to settle within its walls. All a person needs to do is get there. Somehow.

I expected a run-of-the-mill zombie story, but that's not what I got. In fact, I got

Another Treasured Tome!!!

I know what you're thinking. 

"Already?"

I thought the same thing. Two Treasured Tomes in a row? No way!

But... yep. It happened. See, this was a spectacular work from the very beginning. Not only did the first few pages draw me in, but somewhere around 2/3 of the way through, I cried.

Not little, easy to ignore tears. Big ones. Huge ones that forced me to take a break because I couldn't read the blurred words in front of my eyes.

I was hooked, and good.

But then... then!

After the waterfall finally ended, I kept reading, puffy eyes and all. I read through dinner. I read through tooth-brushing. I then read long past my bedtime.

Big mistake.

Don't do that. I didn't sleep well at all, largely because my dreams were infested with zombies and vacant cities. And raiders.

Then, then next night, I had more nightmares. Everybody noticed the shadows under my eyes, and "...it was a good book" was the wrong response, triggering eyerolls, rather than commiseration.

The thing is, I don't have nightmares. My dreams are about eating a sandwich, typing on the laptop, tying my shoes. They're usually are usually quite boring, and even when they aren't, I find them more fascinating than anything else. Nightmares are rare.

Nightmares after reading a book? That just doesn't happen.

Although, I guess it does now, right?

See, but that's not everything. The worst part is that the ebook isn't. 

Even. 

Scary. 

Not really, anyway. I mean, yes there are zombies, and yes, people die. But super-creepy Steven King type stuff? There's none of that.

Rather, this book gets under your skin. It slowly takes over your subconscious, making sleep a distant memory. 

I haven't had a book do anything like this to my mind in a very long time. Morrow crafted a story that draws the reader in, causing them to beg for more... then releases the reader in an emotionally exhausted state.

Yet, all you can think about is going back for more.

Anywhere But Here can be found on Kindle, Nook, and Smashwords.

Read it.

But not right before bed. That's a really bad idea...