REAPER: AFTERMATH

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Five years have passed since the Reapers invaded Earth and tore it asunder. Gregory, his mother, Trent, and their group of scavengers hunt the decimated wastelands for survival.

But when a sudden Reaper attack forces Gregory through a Reaper door, he finds himself in a bizarre place, one that may provide answers to the Reapers’ past and where they came from.

Can Gregory put together the pieces of the past and find his way home, or will he just become another human casualty in the lost war against the Reapers?

Read an Excerpt

Inside the grocery store was just as run-down as it was outside. The late afternoon sun did little to illuminate the space, but our flashlights revealed uneven aisles with busted shelves, dirt and litter-caked tile floors, and thick layers of dust everywhere.

There was a foul stench like rotting flesh that I attributed to the Reapers that had been hiding here. They’d most likely come charging out because we’d unearthed their nesting spot, but their bravery to reveal themselves in daylight was still unnerving. I’d never seen that happen before.

Mom had me stay with the noncombatants while she and the other sharpshooters scoped out the store for signs of Reaper offspring. Female Reapers laid large basketball-sized eggs in nasty gray-veined sacs. The slightest sound could awaken them, and they were formidable due to their size and speed.

Luckily, Mom and the sharpshooters came back momentarily and gave us the all clear. She had us split up in pairs of two, and we each took an aisle to stash supplies. I got paired with a mousy girl named Meredith who pretty much lived at the library back home. We rounded the corner of aisle four, canned goods, and I groaned when I saw its meager contents.

Cans sparsely populated the slanting shelves in tiny rows, a few dozen or so on each side. This was it? After risking our lives to get in here? I wondered how much of the food would still be good. Preservatives or not, it had been five hellish years. Nothing was exempt from that.

“I’ll take the right side,” I told Meredith. I walked ahead of her to my side of lopsided racks as I unzipped my large supply bag. I shone my light on the first can I saw. Sliced Beets. I recoiled. Grandma food. I begrudgingly threw the can and a few identical ones behind it into my bag, then moved on to the next row.

Dinty Moore beef stew. I chuckled to myself. More like dog food. After a couple minutes of scrounging I was done with my side, and boy was it depressing. Turnip greens, diced rutabaga, menudo. What the hell happened to carrots and green beans, peaches and pineapple? I didn’t even want to think of what monstrosities the cooks would make out of this stuff back home.

I glanced back at Meredith. She was looking over the cans meticulously, taking her time before placing each one in her bag. Geez, what was her damage? Our job was simple; put the goods in the bag and go. At her speed, we wouldn’t get out of here until nightfall when the Reapers came out in droves.

I tried waiting for her, but my patience wore out. In my frustration, I noticed the back aisle of the store. Several rows of knickknacks laid virtually untouched, and I weighed my options.

What was the harm? The others weren’t that far away, and with Mom’s birthday just weeks from now I had to find a present for her. I walked ahead in slow cautious steps, entering the back aisle. No one else was here. In front of me and panning to my left were the racks of trinkets I’d seen. This side of the aisle ended in a back room separated by tall, thin sheets of plastic. To my right was a freezer section. Whatever was in there had long since spoiled without electricity.

I rummaged through rows of untouched doodads, clouds of dust rising as I went. Most of it turned out to be junk: small stuffed teddy bears, fake jewelry, pinwheels, and other cheap crap. When I unearthed a small globe-shaped object, I didn’t want to get my hopes up, but as I brushed it off I couldn’t help a small squeal of excitement.

Mom always had a fascination with snow globes. I guess she just thought they were beautiful. This one said Billings, Montana and had a small, insignificant skyline. When I shook it, little flurries inside stirred to life. I smiled. She was going to love it.

I set my supply bag down on the ground, shuffling cans around to make room for the trinket down below so no one would see it. As I sorted through my supplies, one of the cans fell out and rolled down the dirty tiled floor to the entrance of the back room before settling. I groaned to myself and walked over before picking up the can. Sliced beets. I shook my head and chuckled. Fucking beets, man.

Suddenly, all the hairs on my body stood on end. I jerked my head up just in time to see a tall dark silhouette lurking behind the thick lines of plastic. Fuck, fuck, fuck!

As I backed away, the Reaper emerged from the back room into the aisle. This one was just like the other two we’d killed, boils, teeth, foul odor, and all. But unlike before, there was nothing between it and me.

“Reaper!” I spun around and bolted, only to catch my feet on my own supply bag. I went plummeting to the ground, cushioned by trash and dirt.

The monster gave a horrendous howl of rage just feet away, and I scrambled forward futilely. It was all over. At this range, there was no way I could esca–

Several thunderous gunshots sounded ahead of me, followed by a wail of pain from the Reaper. I looked up. It was Carlos, one of the only noncombatants with a gun.

“Get behind me!” he shouted.

I double-timed my crawl to him as he fired several more shots at the Reaper, the last one ending in a click from his gun. Carlos’s face went white. Oh shit, he was out of bullets! I closed my eyes in defeat, expecting the Reaper’s long claws to rake into my back and through my body at any moment. Instead, all I felt was a rush of air as the Reaper leaped over me and charged Carlos.

He punched and kicked fruitlessly as the Reaper grabbed him and lifted him into the air. It gave a hideous screech as it shoved Carlos headfirst into the glass door of the refrigerated section, keeping its grip on him. As it removed Carlos, I fought the vomit that lurched up my throat.

Large glass shards embedded in his face jutted out in all directions, blood flowing freely from each wound. He gave a gurgled cry before the Reaper threw him down to the floor.

Loud footsteps echoed closer to us.

“Over here!” I called out.

As Mom and several others entered the aisle, the Reaper lifted its razor-sharp claws, bringing them down on Carlos.

A deafening hail of bullets pounded all around me. I sank to the ground, covering my ears and closing my eyes until the carnage quieted. When I opened them again, the Reaper was in front of me, lying on the floor in a pool of its own black blood. As I set my eyes on Carlos, I gaped in horror. We were too late. Carlos was dead.

About the Author:

Jonathan Pongratz is a writer and author of captivating horror, fantasy, and other speculative fiction stories. When he’s not writing, he’s busy being a bookworm, video game junkie, and karaoke vocalist. A former resident of Dallas, he currently resides in Kansas City with his Halloween cat Ajax. By day he works magic in finance, by night he creates dark and mesmerizing worlds.

Website: http://www.jonathanpongratz.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jonathanpongratz
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Reaper: Aftermath Universal Ebook Link: https://buy.bookfunnel.com/3asmrg39g7
Amazon Paperback: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0578827441
Barnes and Noble Paperback: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/reaper-jonathan-pongratz/1138649891

Reaper: A Horror Novella Universal Ebook Link: https://buy.bookfunnel.com/yaar1pv37e

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VBT – HAUNTING IN OLD TAILEM

HAUNTING IN OLD TAILEM
by Janice Tremayne

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GENRE: Supernatural suspense, horror

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BLURB:

An Australian Ghost town. A resident demon and a local Shaman. A confrontation with evil awaits.

Clarisse realizes that running from evil is not a bad idea until you figure out you can’t hide. When some ghosts get tired of hanging around, they latch onto you. At the centre of the war on evil is a historic Church that carries dark secrets within its walls. After she meets with the local Shaman, Clarisse discovers secrets with evil consequences by digging too deep into the town’s past. When matters become complicated, she visits a circus of young performers on the outskirts of town triggering unexpected paranormal events and unleashing memories of a one-hundred-year curse. After being caught in the crossfire of a battle for evil supremacy, Clarisse confronts Little Charlie as he rallies the town’s ghosts into an impeccable evil stronghold.

Can the local Shaman and townsfolk rally in her quest to defeat the evil incarnate or will the town succumb to Little Charlie and his evil crew?

Haunting in Old Tailem is the third book of the Haunting Clarisse Series. If you like spine-tingling, chilling, creepy and spooky supernatural thrillers, then you will love this story by 2020 USA Readers’ Favorite International Book Awards Finalist in Supernatural Fiction, Janice Tremayne.

Pick up your copy today and follow Clarisse through her battles with evil!

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EXCERPT

He hung with the rope around his neck, his tongue sticking out with a red-starved oxygen face. At the same time, he was smiling as though he was only having fun. Death was a reenactment that he had become accustomed to, to the point he thought it funny; a way of horrifying others and making them pay attention. He had a young mind—innocent and conditioned to get the attention of others. Little Charlie didn’t know whether he was dead or alive; far too young to understand. As far as he was concerned, tying a loop around his neck, jumping, and choking to death made him realize he felt no pain. He could do it over and over again.

Clarisse knew from her encounter in Hartley that Little Charlie was an attention seeker and someone who liked to cling onto you. That could explain how he had ended up in Old Tailem Town. Running away from evil might seem like a good idea at the time, but you could not hide.

“Come over here, Little Charlie. There is nothing to be afraid of,” she said.

He replied with a cheeky grin on his boyish face. His mousy brown hair thrown from side to side, he signaled with his right index finger, waving it left to right many times.

“Nuh-uh,” he mimed, his way of saying no.

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Janice Tremayne is an Amazon bestselling and award-winning ghost and supernatural writer. Janice is a finalist in the Readers’ Favorite 2020 International Book Awards in Fiction-Supernatural.

She is an emerging Australian author who lives with her family in Melbourne. Her recent publication, Haunting in Hartley, reached number one on the Amazon kindle ranking for Occult, Supernatural, and Ghosts and Haunted Houses categories, for hot new releases and bestsellers.

Janice is well-versed in her cultural superstitions and how they influence daily life and customs. She has developed a passion and style for writing ghost and supernatural novels for new adult readers.

The concept of writing the Haunting Clarisse series was spawned over a cup of coffee many years ago, and she has not looked back since. Her books contain heart-thumping, bone-chilling, and thought-provoking ghost and paranormal experiences that deliver a new twist to every tale.

www.janicetremayne.com.au
author@janicetremayne.com
https://www.facebook.com/hauntingclarisse

Buy the series: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08HGPL2G5
Buy Haunting in Old Tailem: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08B524JNW

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RAFFLECOPTER GIVEAWAY

THE AUTHOR WILL BE GIVING AWAY:

A print copy of the book to a randomly drawn winner

Enter to win a print copy of the book – a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Q&A With …

Tell us about you as a person.
So, it here comes—Janice Tremayne is my pen name. I write under the pen name of Janice Tremayne to separate my writing from my business life. In real life, I am married to my beautiful wife and two children. I am Australian and live in Melbourne. Yes, I am a male!

If you could hang out with one famous person for one day, who would it be and why?
I would like to spend a day with Stephen King and pick his brains about writing. Because I am a fan of his writing, I would like to get his perspective on what makes a great story and writing technique—learn more about the craft.

What’s the story behind your latest book?
My latest series is the Zack Bolder Supernatural Thrillers. Books one and two are launched, and I am writing book three. The story has the hallmark of everything I enjoy writing—a unique storyline, supernatural elements, thriller and suspense and characters that grow on you. There is the banter between the characters that also makes the story enjoyable. They are all based on real Australian ghost towns for the setting.

What is your writing process?
I plan my writing in advance from a thought process. I know what I am going to write about. Most of my ideas come from walking around the lake on a sunny day—when the endorphins kick in. I like to listen to music that helps stimulate my senses and creativity and set the mood. So, you will often see me writing with my headset on or talking to myself when walking around the like—people must think I’m mad!

Tell us about your main character.
In the Zack Bolder series, the main character is a priest turned parapsychologist—yes, it’s a mouthful but also intriguing. Zack Bolder is assigned to the police force to help solve supernatural murders. He is young, good looking and you would never think of him as a priest if you walked past him along the road. He can reach the dead and spirits (Reacher or lightworker).

If your book was to be turned into a movie, who would play the lead role and why.
It would have to be the Australian actor Chris Hemsworth. He has the right looks and age. I also believe he has the skills to portray a character like Zack Bolder convincingly with all his character’s peculiarities.

What are you working on next?
I’m working on book three of the Zack Bolder series—Guilt-Edged. It’s a hell of a story, and I take the protagonist and antagonist to another level. However, in another Australian ghost town and an unsolved murder, this demon screws with your head and is not your typical poltergeist. I’m having fun writing it!

What advice do you have for other writers who want to get the word out about their book?
Learn as much as you can about book marketing—its essential. Your first book will not be your best, and it won’t be until you write book two or three that you will start to put together some great stuff. Try not to over market the first book but built a strategy around two or three books.

What is your favorite book on your shelf right now?
Stephen King-The Stand

Do you have any special/extraordinary talents?
I have a very imaginative and creative mind. I can conjure up stories that readers find refreshing and different. It helps me with my branding and providing a point of difference.

You are given the choice of one super power. What super power would you have and why?
To be invincible like a fly on the wall!

List 5 things on your bucket list:

• To write a best seller.
• To give something back to the community through charity
• Changing careers successfully (I don’t want to work in a corporate job anymore)
• Travel to Antarctica
• Rediscover my faith and be humble.

Any final thoughts?
We don’t write for the money but for the love of the craft. When I get messages from readers halfway around the world in small towns I have not heard before—I pinch myself. I can’t think of many jobs in life that enable you to reach people in such away. And for that short time that they engaged in your writing and their precious time to your story—it’s a privilege.

Book Blast – LOVE HAS NO LIMITS

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

At sixteen, Armine fell in love for the first time and lost that love for the first time. She was the youngest daughter of three in Armenia and the only one underage when her parents decided to immigrate to the United States. She had to go with and leave her beloved Alex behind. Her parents saw a land of opportunity while Armine saw heartbreak. It wasn’t the end of her story with Alex and certainly not the end of her life,as it had felt at the time, but there was more pain to follow. Sixteen-year-olds are resilient, but even when losses and hurt came calling repeatedly throughout Armine’s life, she had the strength to love and to rise again and again. Even as life moves on for Armine and Alex, their lives intersect again and again over the course of thirty years. Through deaths and divorces, their lives never quite line up from their opposite sides of the globe. Love Has No Limits is Armine’s story of keeping faith in oneself and in love despite heartbreak, betrayal, and loss. It reveals the joy available to those who rise and rise again.

Read an Excerpt

Throughout the early ’80s, I had been dating here and there, some longer relationships than others but I wasn’t feeling the connection I was looking for with anyone. There was Ed, who was Armenian and went to USC studying engineering and seemed like a nice guy, but did not seem to have a backbone to stand up to his parents. His parents did not take my education very seriously and expected that once we got married, which we were not even discussing, I would be staying home and keeping myself busy like his mom did by raising children, being a “good” wife, socializing, shopping, making myself look good and whatever else she did. That choice certainly worked for some people, but it was not going to be my choice. Then there was John whom I met in college, an engineering major and he was a very nice guy, a gentleman, treated me with respect but we didn’t really have any common interests. Then there was Nick who was a Levitz customer; he had been stationed in Germany for a while and now he was an electrical engineer.

He was also nice and very handsome, but again, not a very interesting person. I was realizing that although many of the guys I was meeting were nice, educated and polite, none of them had a wide range of interests, had read any classical literature, or knew anything about art, poetry or classical music, nor did they have the wanderlust of wanting to experience life’s many pleasures or travel. Then I met Richard at Levitz.

About the Author:

Arminé was born in Soviet Armenia and immigrated to United States with her parents when she was 17. She worked in the health care industry for 33 years and held key leadership roles in various health plans. Most recently, she retired from a senior executive position to pursue service and paying forward.

She is currently involved in various volunteer roles. In her free time, she enjoys reading, hiking, gardening, art museums, concerts, dancing, and spending time with family and friends.

Love Has No Limits is her first book.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56512392-love-has-no-limits
Buy Link: ttps://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08RJ6152L/ref=x_gr_w_bb_sin

Armine Papouchian will be awarding a $20 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

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Book Blast – HER TIMELESS GAMBLE

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

When Matthew McAlister pulls a nearly-drowned woman from the mucky waters of the Mississippi, he has no idea what’s in store for him. Or, how easily he’ll willingly give up his carefree, love-em-and-leave-em lifestyle for a chance at real happiness.

Kathryn (Kate) Lowell can’t believe her bad luck. Or the fact she’s somehow been transported from the twenty-first century back to the post Civil War south. Worse yet, into the arms of the one man she grew up hating. The man she blames for her father’s recent demise.

Can these two off-kilter and infinitely stubborn individuals fight their mutual attraction? Or, will they give in to the inevitable? And, when the time comes, will Kate choose to stay with Matt in the past, or return to her former life?

Read an Excerpt

Kate moaned softly, and lifted a heavy hand to her aching forehead. “Where am I?”, she wondered aloud.

“Just rest. You’re safe, everything is fine.”

The muffled sound of a man’s voice penetrated the throbbing in her head and she struggled to open her eyes, to identify the source. A dim light shone on the man’s handsome features and Kate realized she’d come face to face with the devil. His intense expression, an expression she felt certain could stop rush hour traffic in Times Square, seemed to mock her. Haunt her.

I must be dreaming. That’s it, I’m dreaming. I didn’t really drown, I’m just asleep.

Kate closed her eyes and waited, certain that at any moment she’d awaken. Until then, she’d allow this ridiculous dream to run its course. She’d let this man who looked suspiciously like Matthew McAlister sit at her bedside without so much as a single complaint. After all, it was only a dream, a dream most likely resulting from the trauma of her father’s death. A dream in which her subconscious had conjured up a man who’d been dead himself for nearly a hundred years.

Cautiously, she reopened her eyes and met the man’s darkened gaze.

“Oh my gosh, it is you. And just like my father’s sketches, and the way he described you, right down to the scar above your left brow.”

Unconsciously, Kate suspected, he reached up and ran his finger across the scar. “Someone described me?”

As soon as he spoke, Kate recognized the voice from her dreams. Either she had totally lost her mind or, like Matthew McAlister, she was dead. “I’ve got to be dreaming. This can’t be real. And, you can’t possibly be Matthew McAlister.”

Nervously she scanned her surroundings, taking in the beamed ceiling, the heavy wooden furniture and the brocade coverings. The dim light, she realized, came from an oil lamp on the bedside table.

“Lady, I don’t know who you are, or where you came from, but I can assure you, I am definitely Matthew McAlister.”

She shook her head in disbelief, regretting the quick motion when a shooting pain radiated from back of her head forward. “Where am I? Never mind, don’t answer that. I’m dead. I must be dead because that’s the only way I could be seeing you.” She scrambled for the edge of the bed, saying, “I’ve got to get out of here. I can’t…”

Rather than free herself, her legs tangled in what seemed like yards of bed linens. In her haste to get away, Kate slipped unceremoniously off the edge of the bed and landed flat on her backside, the thick carpet cushioning her embarrassing attempt at escape.

“Are you all right?”, he asked.

Bracing himself on the foot rail at the end of the bed, he reached out and offered his free hand. His gaze settled on her bare legs. A man’s shirt, most likely his Kate realized, rode high on her thighs, exposing far more than she was willing to show.

“All right?”, she repeated nervously. If being insane is all right, then I’m fine.

“Are you hurt?”

“No, I’m not hurt. I’m just in a room that looks like something off the set of Maverick, and any minute now a young and rakish Mel Gibson will burst through that door with someone shooting at him, and I’m talking to Matthew McAlister. Other than that, I’m fine.”

Matthew McAlister looked positively baffled by her insane rambling. Yet, when he spoke, his voice held firm conviction rather than confusion. “First of all, you are not dead. And second, who is this Mel Gibson fellow who’s going to burst into my stateroom at any moment?”

About the Author:

NANCY FRASER—Jumping Across Romance Genres with Gleeful Abandon—is an Amazon Top 100 and Award-Winning author who can’t seem to decide which romance genre suits her best. So, she writes them all.

Like most authors, Nancy began writing at an early age, usually on the walls and with crayons or, heaven forbid, permanent markers. Her love of writing often made her the English teacher’s pet which, of course, resulted in a whole lot of teasing. Still, it was worth it.

Published in multiple genres, Nancy has published over thirty-five books in full-length, novella, and short format.

When not writing (which is almost never), Nancy dotes on her five wonderful grandchildren and looks forward to traveling and reading when time permits. Nancy lives in Atlantic Canada where she enjoys the relaxed pace and colorful people.

Website: http://www.nancyfraser.ca
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Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Nancy-Fraser/e/B004AOL61Y/
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Puzzle Link: HTG Jigsaw Puzzle – https://bit.ly/39sXqh7

Buy Links: The book is on sale for only $0.99

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08RZBYQZV
Apple: https://books.apple.com/us/book/id1547274584
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/her-timeless-gamble
BN/Nook: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/her-timeless-gamble-nancy-fraser/1138562029
Universal: https://books2read.com/u/4NXpRx

Nancy Fraser will be awarding a $15 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

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