Catz of the Undead: British Occult Zombie Cat Horror Novel by Jools G King

Catz of the Undead: British Occult Zombie Cat Horror Novel
by Jools G King
March 24, 2025
An evil witch called Morella runs a pet cemetery dedicated to cats. Unbeknownst to her grieving clients, she is raising their beloved fur babies from the dead as grotesque zombies. Morella lusts after a half-cat, half-man demon who lies buried somewhere under Norfolk soil. Her feline zombie army can help her achieve her aim.

These zombie cats can infect others through fighting. Amber’s cat, Jasper, zombifies after a scrap in the woods. But Jasper is no ordinary feline zombie. He has unique psychic powers, which makes him valuable to the witch.

Only Amber’s having none of it. She’ll fight to the bitter end to protect her beloved cat from falling into Morella’s clutches. So unfolds a battle between the living and the Undead. Can Amber save Jasper? Or will they both fall victim to the evil Morella?

Will Jasper choose loyalty to Amber or eternal servitude to a witch?

Immerse yourself in a scary tale of witchcraft, zombies and occult horror that beautifully brings out the enduring bond between humans and their pets.

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About the Author:
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Jools G King is a British horror indie author who takes feverish delight in scaring readers, and occasionally himself. He’s self-published three novels and one novella, with more to come. His latest novel is Catz of the Undead, which features a malevolent witch and zombie cats.

By day, he’s a civil engineer, and when he’s not writing he enjoys watching movies, reading books, especially about history and the occult, chess and travelling. He lives with his cat, Yoshi, who last time he looked has not turned into a zombie. 

Dystopian Romance Author Remy Marie: 3 Things about Remy Marie! + giveaway

3 Things About Remy Marie

Describe yourself in 5 words or less!

Passionate, Stubborn, Loving, Curious and Patient.

What is your favorite food?

I have several favorites and they are all unhealthy. I like hamburgers, pizza and fries.

Why do I write?

I like writing because I like telling the story that wouldn’t necessarily be focused on by the mainstream media. Let’s face it, an interracial romance featuring zombies isn’t going to be a bestseller, but I know there’s a few people out there, who are like me, who likes romance and zombies, and knowing that I made them happy with a story like this, makes me happy.

Till the End
by Remy Marie
March 28, 2023
Genre: Post-Apocalyptic Zombie Interracial Romance
Zombies, cults, and a desperate search for a cure...two friends must test the limits of their relationship in this action-packed apocalyptic romance where secrets are the key to survival.

The US government has been keeping a secret…

During the Vietnam War, they created zombies, and if the undead ever escaped, they created a backup plan.

Code Z.

A last-ditch contingency for if their ill-advised creation should ever cause an outbreak.

Unfortunately, the day has come for that plan to be enacted.
Navy SEALs Malcolm White and Zack Morris are on a mission to rescue the Governor of Virginia from the spreading zombie invasion when they learn that Malcolm’s friend Anne Yamaguchi, and Zack’s wife Kelsey, are stuck in a mall in the midst of a zombie attack.

Abandoning the mission, Malcolm and Zack rush to save them and bring them to the safety of the Little Creek Naval Base. However, they discover that only those who are married to a member of the military are allowed to find sanctuary on the base. That is when a plan is devised, Anne and Malcolm pretend to be married, to protect her from the worst of the plague.

Soon Anne and Malcolm discover this plan creates more problems than it solves. Not only will the couple find themselves struggling to uphold the ruse, while also evading zombies and vengeful demonic cults, they will find that living a lie changes their growing feelings for each other. Feelings that could have the potential to ruin their friendship forever.
This fast-paced apocalyptic romance will leave you turning pages late into the night as stakes rise and friendships are tested. Will a cure be found? Or will the world fall to a monster of its own making?

TW: This book contains mature scenes, gore, sexual assault, and elements of horror

“A modern-day Zombie novel is only the beginning of this unique take on an old favorite. Following the characters as they try to survive, not only against the undead but against man's brutality. I enjoyed this story from start to finish and was rooting for the characters throughout. Some heart-stopping moments, which meant I struggled to put the book down.”

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Excerpt
They both ran to the nearest exit. As they ran, Kelsey pushed open the door to the stairwell and was shocked as there was a man in front of her. His mouth was covered in blood, and his stomach was open, with his guts dripping on the floor.

“What the fuck…” Kelsey exclaimed, and before she could say anything else the man was on top of her, attempting to chomp at her. Kelsey evaded his bites, screaming as she held his face away. Struggling, the man inched closer and closer to her neck until Anne pulled the man off her.

“Get off her!” Anne screamed, shoving the man away.

He growled as he was tossed aside, falling down the stairwell.

“Are you okay?” Anne asked, assisting Kelsey to her feet.

“I’m fine. Thanks for saving my ass. I owe you one. What was up with that man? He was obsessed with trying to take a bite out of me.“

“Call me crazy but I think that was a zombie.”

“A zombie? Those don’t exist, right? I mean that stuff is all fiction.”

“Then explain to me why that fucker with no guts was trying to take a bite out of you. Or what about those bodies in the mall. They all had bite marks like they’ve been eaten. Either they’re crazy cannibals attacking the mall or these are zombies. Take your pick.”

Kelsey didn’t need to reply as her answer was solved for her. There was another loud groan, and the man that attacked her stood off the ground. His leg was clearly broken as he paid little attention to the crooked appendage. He crawled up the stairs attempting to get to the women.

“Well…fuck me. I guess he’s a zombie. No normal man would be able to shrug off an injury like that.” Kelsey observed.

“So we solved that question. The next question is how. Like you said, zombies don’t exist.”

“While I would love to have this debate with you, we need to get to my car.” Kelsey said, backing up.

Anne followed her climbing up another row of stairs as the zombie crawled after them. They reached the top level and watched as the zombie continued to follow them up the stairwell.

“Well, I got bad news for you. Your car is parked on a level below Mr. Zombie. We got two options. We go back through the mall, dealing with the carnage out there…”

“I’m not going back out there,” Kelsey dismissed.

“Or we go through Mr. Zombie.”

“I’ll take door number two,” Kelsey mocked.

“Good, I was thinking the same thing. We can take him.”

“But how?”

“Well, if he is a zombie it’s safe to assume that a head shot could take him out.”

“How are we going to do that? We don’t have any weapons.”

“What does Master Sato always say? We are the weapon, the swords we use are only tools. We know hand to hand combat. If we can get the zombie closer, we can kick its ass.”

“The last thing I want is to have that thing be closer to me.” Kelsey replied, disgusted out by the grotesque figure.

“Focus. Breathe. We got this,” Anne commanded, as she stood in a fighting pose.

“You’re right. We got this. Remember to go for the head.”

“Took the words right out of my mouth.”

The man approached the duo at the top of the stairs and Anne let out a loud yell, as she struck first. She swept the leg, undercutting the zombie to fall on the ground. In a split second, Kelsey followed with a high leg kick, burying her heel through the skull.

“Ugh, I think I’m going to be sick.” Kelsey gagged and held her mouth as her shoe was covered with brain matter.

“Don’t say it.” Anne coughed and then looked at the downed man. “Well, at least our theory is correct. Zombies are confirmed. Head shots are confirmed too.”

“Yeah, let’s get out of here.”

Anne nodded and the two ran down the stairs towards the parking garage. There were multiple people running and attempting to drive out of the parking deck. Zombies attacked random strangers, as they begged for their own lives. It was violent, brutal, and horrifying.

As Kelsey ran, she spotted a young girl crying for her mother, that laid dead beside her. Kelsey paused and stared at the young girl.

Anne stopped, her eyes opened wide as she looked at her best friend.

“Kelsey, what are you doing? We need to get to the car.”

“We can’t leave that little girl. Her mother, she’s dead.”

“We’re going to be dead if we don’t move. Come on!” Anne commanded as she grabbed her friend’s hand. Before she could pull her away, the young girl shrieked as her mother had awakened. However, her eyes weren’t filled with life. Instead they were black and soulless like the rest of the undead.

“Kes! Let’s go!” Anne yelled.

“No, we have to save her.” Kelsey took a step towards the little girl, but by then it was too late as the mother stood up and ripped into her daughter, biting off large chunks of flesh. The child’s wails echoed in Kelsey’s ears as she stood frozen in fear. As the mother dug into the kid, she looked up from the child’s corpse, blood dripping from her mouth, and stared into Kelsey’s blue eyes. She stood up from the child and began her charge towards Anne and Kelsey.

About the Author

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Remy Marie is a romance author who loves to write about charming heroes and brave heroines. While writing never came naturally for Remy, he continued to strengthen his craft, by constantly reading and writing. If he is not writing or reading, he is usually watching TV with his supportive wife, aggressively cheering for his college and professional sports teams, playing video games, or crunching numbers at his daytime job.

Giveaway

$10 Amazon giftcard – 1 winner, WW,

Signed paperback of Till the End – 5 winners, US only

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Excerpt: Double-Booked: The Cases of Dan Shamble, Zombie P.I. by Kevin J. Anderson

Double-Booked: The Cases of Dan Shamble, Zombie P.I.
by Kevin J. Anderson
November 22, 2022
Book 8 of 8: Dan Shamble, Zombie P.I.
In the Unnatural Quarter, the Plot Thickens . . . and then runs uncontrollably!

When Howard Phillips Publishing announces the 12 + 1 anniversary edition (due to unavoidable production delays) of the famed Necronomicon—the very book that caused the Big Uneasy in the first place—it takes zombie P.I. Dan Chambeaux, a.k.a. “Shamble,” to root out the diabolical schemes surrounding the book, and the fanatics who wish to destroy it.

With enough plot twists to confound a professional contortionist, Dan Shamble doesn’t have time for light reading. Along with his ghost girlfriend Sheyenne, his firebrand lawyer partner Robin, his best human friend Officer Toby McGoohan, and his ultra-cute vampire half-daughter Alvina, Dan faces an unnatural caseload.

Entire neighborhoods in the Quarter have simply vanished into thin air.

Rogue werewolf cop Hairy Harry struggles to write and market his memoir.

Customer complaints turn monstrous over an auto-mechanic shop run by gremlins, to whom “repair” is a foreign concept.

And when unnatural doppelgangers appear in the shadowed streets, it does not mean double the fun.

Entangled in it all is the mousy virgin librarian—now turned superstar celebrity—whose blood sacrifice, through an accidental paper cut, brought back all the monsters thirteen years ago.

That anniversary is indeed an unlucky number.

Amazon

Chapter 1

“It’s a black-tie gala, Beaux—fancy-schmancy,” said Sheyenne, my beautiful ghost girlfriend. She hovered in front of me and fussed over my appearance like an obsessive-compulsive undertaker. “You can’t wear this old sport jacket with bullet holes all over the front.”

With zombie-stiff fingers I brushed at the lumpy black threads where the holes had been clumsily stitched up. “It’s what I always wear.”

“Not for special occasions.” Sheyenne was gorgeous in a phantasmagorical evening gown with sapphire sequins, manifested to perfectly fit her curves.

“I don’t have a black tie either,” I pointed out. “A tie feels like a noose around my neck.”

“You’ve never had a noose around your neck, so how would you know?” She drifted around me, checking my appearance. “And we need to do something about the bullet hole in your forehead. I have embalming putty in my desk drawer. Let’s make tonight special.”

We were in the offices of Chambeaux & Deyer Investigations, getting ready for the swanky reception at Howard Phillips Publishing. The event was a duty dance for our clients, but as a zombie I’ve done very little dancing. It doesn’t turn out well when I try.

With a poltergeist nudge, Sheyenne opened the side drawer of the receptionist’s desk and pulled out a jar of mortician’s putty. She let it hover in front of me until I took it from her insubstantial grip.

“For you, Spooky, I will even do without the hole in my head.”

She gave me a seductive smile that would have made my heart melt, if my heart still functioned, and then added in an enticing tone. “There’ll be hors d’oeuvres.”

“Maybe little cocktail hotdogs!” said a dangerously cheerful voice. “With blood ketchup, my favorite.”

Alvina, a spunky ten-year-old vampire girl, bounded across the office. She bubbled with more joyful energy than I’d ever possessed, even when I was alive. “I like playing dress up. This doesn’t suck at all.” My half-daughter wore a teal blouse with sparkly crystals on the front and a loose chiffon skirt over a silky underskirt. Her blonde hair was in pigtails, and her hopeful grin displayed pointed white fangs.

I knew I had to make the best of the situation. “I still have the dark suit I was buried in. I could wear that—it’s been dry-cleaned, all the dirt stains removed.”

A few years ago, after a case went sour and I got shot in a dark alley, I was buried in the Green Lawn Cemetery. But thanks to the magic released in the Big Uneasy, I clawed my way up through six feet of dirt and went right back to work. Back from the dead and back on the case, and since then, Chambeaux & Deyer has had a string of satisfied clients.

“You can look pretty snappy when you want to, Beaux.” Sheyenne glowed. “You always keep yourself well-preserved.”

“Yay!” Alvina ran to the closet in my office and pulled out the dark suit hanging there, still wrapped in its plastic dry-cleaning bag.

The little vampire girl had only recently come to stay with us in the Unnatural Quarter, abandoned by her sour-tempered mother Rhonda, who couldn’t deal with the fact that her child now had fangs. I harbored doubts that Rhonda herself was human, but that’s a different matter. We had history.…

We call Alvina my “half-daughter” because we aren’t entirely sure whether I’m her father or if it’s my best human friend, Officer Toby McGoohan. We both hooked up with Rhonda at about the same time—call it simultaneous temporary insanity, from which we fortunately both recovered.

The poor kid became a vampire through an inept blood transfusion after a skateboarding accident. Because vampire blood made permanent changes to DNA, paternity tests were no longer valid, so McGoo and I could never know the real answer. Alvina was a bright and cheery presence, and we all took care of her. Alvina would come with us to the book-launch gala, since McGoo was working tonight.

I shrugged out of my usual bullet-riddled sport jacket and donned the formal suit, while poltergeist Sheyenne whipped and swirled the tie around my neck, expertly tying a neat Oxford knot, a skill I had never mastered. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

Meanwhile, Alvina had fun plugging putty into the hole in my forehead, giggling as she probed with her forefinger.

Although it was a formal event, I drew the line at giving up my fedora. Even if the color clashed with my funeral suit, it’s my trademark. I’m a zombie P.I.

Robin Deyer, my human lawyer partner, emerged from her office dressed in a sapphire silk blazer and skirt. Her black hair was clipped back, her features highlighted by dainty gold earrings and subtle plum lipstick.

I gave a slight bow. “You look stunning.”

Robin straightened, exuding more confidence than I could manage on my best day. “My aim is less to stun people, Dan, than to impress them. I want to be seen as the best damn lawyer in the Quarter.” She adjusted the thin gold chain around her neck. “This launch party is important for our clients, and it could generate new business.”

The two witches Mavis and Alma Wannovich work on the editorial staff of the largest publisher in the Quarter. In exchange for letting them base a book series on my real cases, Mavis and Alma perform a monthly maintenance spell on me to counteract the wear and tear an unnatural detective is bound to encounter during the normal course of business.

Tonight, Howard Phillips Publishing would announce a big upcoming release, hoping to drum up media attention and also, presumably, to get rid of surplus cocktail weenies and blood ketchup.

Admiring my three lovely companions, I insisted on serving as chauffeur. We left the front door and stepped out onto the street, feeling like a million bucks … in sharp contrast to our rusty and battered vehicle, a lime-green Ford Maverick that we had affectionately dubbed the “Pro Bono Mobile.”

We climbed in, and I settled behind the steering wheel, while Robin made sure Alvina was buckled in the back seat.

“We should have rented a limo,” Alvina commented.

Shimmering in the passenger seat, Sheyenne said, “Style is in your heart and mind, honey.”

The hinge creaked as I pulled the door shut. The engine coughed, hiccupped, sneezed, and snorted like an orc with a severe head cold, but finally caught. “Don’t worry, I can park out of sight.”

I shifted into gear and lurched along the bright nighttime boulevard.

About the Author:

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Kevin J. Anderson has published more than 175 books, 58 of which have been national or international bestsellers. He has written numerous novels in the Star Wars, X-Files, and Dune universes, as well as a unique steampunk fantasy trilogy beginning with Clockwork Angels, written with legendary rock drummer Neil Peart. His original works include the Saga of Seven Suns series, the Wake the Dragon and Terra Incognita fantasy trilogies, the Saga of Shadows trilogy, and his humorous horror series featuring Dan Shamble, Zombie P.I. He has edited numerous anthologies, written comics and games, and the lyrics to two rock CDs. Anderson is the director of the graduate program in Publishing at Western Colorado University. Anderson and his wife Rebecca Moesta are the publishers of WordFire Press. His most recent novels are Clockwork Destiny, Gods and Dragons, Dune: The Lady of Caladan (with Brian Herbert), and Slushpile Memories: How NOT to Get Rejected.

New Release/Cover Reveal: Angus: A Broken World Novel by Kate L Mary

Angus: A Broken World Novel
by Kate L Mary

December 20, 2020
Genre: Post-Apocalyptic Science Fiction Zombie
Brother
Asshole
Survivor
Savior
Prisoner
God

Angus James has played many roles in his life, but none have prepared him for the one he now finds himself in. Alone for too long, traveling the wastelands of what was once the United States, he’s all but given up hope of ever seeing another living person.

Then he finds her.

Naya is a tough and resilient kid, but she’s alone in a world full of creatures intent on wiping out what’s left of the human race, and Angus knows it’s up to him to keep her safe. And for once in his life, he’s determined to get something right.

Battling nightmarish creatures, feral animals, harsh conditions, and even their own demons, Angus and Naya must work together if they want to survive. But being with another person after years on his own brings up painful memories Angus had thought were long forgotten, making the journey as heartbreaking as it is treacherous. It gives him something else as well, though. Hope. And that’s something he never thought he’d have again.

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Kate L. Mary is an award-winning author of Adult, New Adult, and Young Adult fiction, ranging from Post-apocalyptic tales of the undead to Speculative Fiction and Contemporary Romance! Her YA book, When We Were Human, was a 2015 Children's Moonbeam Book Awards Silver Medal winner for Young Adult Fantasy/Sci-Fi Fiction, and a 2016 Readers' Favorite Gold Medal winner for Young Adult Science Fiction. Her book, Outliers, was a Top 10 Finalist in the 2018 Author Academy Awards for Sci-Fi/Fantasy Fiction, a Finalist in the 2018 Wishing Shelf Book Awards, and a First Place Winner in the 2018 Kindle Book Awards for Sci-Fi/Fantasy Fiction. Kate's Dystopian novel, Tribe of Daughters, was an Honorable Mention in the 2018 SPR Book Awards, 2019 Readers' Favorite Bronze Medal Winner for Science Fiction, and the 2020 RONE Awards Winner for Time Travel/Science Fiction.

Guest Post: Annette Marie's Top 5 fictional character zombie survival team

Top 5 fictional characters on her zombie survival team. 

Jack Sparrow (Pirates of the Caribbean) – Indomitable survival instincts, of course. He can get out of any situation. We’d need that kind of resourcefulness.

Lara Croft (Tomb Raider) – Kicks butts, survival skills, familiar with ruins and non-civilization, both very relevant for an apocalypse.

Frank Martin (The Transporter) – So we can make fast escapes. Plus, he kicks butt too.

Ygritte (Game of Thrones) – As a wildling, she can survive the harshest environments, and her archery skills would come in real handy.

Tony Stark (Iron Man) – Even without technology, he’s got brains. Genius brains. Plus, we’d need witty one-liners to keep our spirits up. 

(I chose only regular humans for my team, because the last thing we’d want is a magical, mutant, or superhero character getting turned into a zombie. We’d be totally screwed.)

Unleash the Storm (Steel & Stone Book 5)

by Annette Marie

March 4, 2016

300 pages

Piper and Ash's story concludes in the fifth and final installment of the Steel & Stone series. 

Piper thought she could handle the Sahar, the most powerful magical weapon in existence. She thought she could protect her loved ones and stop a war. She thought she could make a difference.

She was wrong, and her mistakes were paid for in blood.

Leaving her world — and her failures — behind, she retreats to the Underworld with Ash and the other draconians. They forge deep into long abandoned mountains, the first draconians to fly the valleys and passes in centuries — or so they thought. Until now, Ash’s mysterious heritage has been nothing but a name, but his presence does not go unnoticed. A new danger stalks him, one that may be even greater than what they escaped.

Cut off from the power she’d come to rely on and lost in a world where she doesn’t belong, Piper has never felt so hopeless. But she must find her strength, and find it quickly, before she loses Ash to an ancient power he can’t fight, before her home is devastated by the daemon war, and before her mind, body, and soul are consumed by the Sahar’s insidious magic.

The Complete Steel & Stone Series: 

About the Author:
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Annette Marie is the author of the Amazon best-selling YA urban fantasy series Steel & Stone, which includes the 2015 Goodreads Choice Award nominee Yield the Night. Her first love is fantasy, a limitless realm of creativity where she can break all the boring rules of real life, but fast-paced urban fantasy, bold heroines, and tantalizing forbidden romances are her guilty pleasures. She proudly admits she has a thing for dragons, and her editor has politely inquired as to whether she intends to include them in every book.

Annette lives in the frozen winter wasteland of northern Alberta, Canada (okay, it’s not quite that bad). She shares her life with her remarkably patient, comparatively sensible husband and their furry minion of darkness—sorry, cat—Caesar. When not writing, she can be found elbow-deep in one art project or another while blissfully ignoring all adult responsibilities.

Kory Shrum Guest Post: 5 Holiday Gifts for the Undead in Your Life + giveaway

5 Holiday Gifts for the Undead in Your Life

Dying and coming back to life isn’t easy. In fact, apart from dying and staying dead, it might be the absolute worst thing that could happen to a person. That is why it is so important to show the undead loved one in your life that you care about them this holiday season.

Gift #1: Something Minty
If you thought your breath was bad after a night’s sleep, imagine how bad it is after a couple days of being dead! So why not get your undead loved one something minty fresh! There’s a wide range of breath fresheners on the market today: mints, oral rinses or even Listerine pocket packs. Get one or a variety and stuff those stockings with something other than rotting feet.

Gift # 2: Warm Fuzzy Socks
I don’t know about you, but from November to April I feel like my feet are constantly cold unless I have a warm pair of fuzzy socks to slip on. Imagine how much colder your feet must be if you were the living dead! Your feet might be as cold as a corpse! So share that bundled feeling with your recently resurrected loved ones. In fact, why stop at warm fuzzy socks? Fuzzy leggings, sweaters, scarves, earmuffs and gloves would all be a safe bet for your frigid friend. Better yet, why not invest in a Snuggie! I’m sure a Snuggie could warm even the coldest heart.

Gift #3: Books
No one likes feeling misunderstood. So why not brighten someone’s holiday season with books that an (undead) girl can really relate to? Might I suggest Warm Bodies, Zombies vs. Unicorns, or Dying for a Living? Perhaps stay away from unsympathetic stories like The Zombie Survival Guide. We don’t want anyone to lose their head.

Gift #4: A personal massager
No one likes to shuffle through their days with stiff muscles. And while getting a professional massage isn’t always practical, personal massages certainly can be. There are a lot of products on the market from massage chairs, to vibrating neck pillows and even the popular Hitachi Magic Wand—can we say “me” time?

Gift #5 Automatic coffee machine
Sometimes, the actual resurrecting part is the problem. For those loved ones who need at least a couple of cups in the morning in order to pry open their eyes, consider gifting an automatic coffee maker. It can be programmed to dispense coffee with just a touch of a button—great for those struggling with fine motor movements.

Excerpt:

Chapter 1

“Come on,” I wail. “Jumping out of a burning building is not the craziest thing we’ve ever done!”

“If you hadn’t panicked, the building wouldn’t be on fire,” Ally snaps back. She tucks the bundled laptop under her arm and starts yanking open desk drawers. Post-it notes of every color fly through the air, followed by pens, a stapler, paperclips and a Kleenex box.

I search the open office space for another door. Nada. Only one way in and out.

“I had to do something.” I thought firebombing the bad guy was my one good idea on this mission to retrieve a laptop for Jeremiah. “If I hadn’t, we’d still be stuck with him.”

We both turn our gaze to the locked door twenty feet away. A row of unoccupied desks rests between us and where we entered. The office is spacious, with rows of silver tabletops running the length of the room. Spacious—but not spacious enough with a homicidal maniac just on the other side of the door.

Something large slams into the locked office door, rattling the walls. Ominous black smoke seeps through the cracks and the smell of campfire wafts in. That smell is surely going to cling to my hair until I wash it.

“Just because we’ve been reckless before doesn’t excuse it now.” Ally slams a desk drawer shut and yanks another open. Her disheveled blonde hair hides most of her face, revealing only terrified eyes. She gives up trying to find a weapon in the desk drawer and hurries to the window. Her gaze falls on the street below. “God, Jesse. No. We’ll never survive a fall from this height.”

I shrug and pucker my lips. “It’s fine. I’ve fallen from higher. We’ll be fine.”

She blinks at me.

“You’re forgetting about my shield thingy.” I’m talking out of my ass here, but there is no way I’m letting him come in here and hurt her. He can trade punches with me all day if he wants, but not with Ally. I’ll have to find a way to break the window, jump out, and shield her on the way down.

The door shakes for the fourth time and a thick crack appears to the left of the jamb. A thicker plume of black smoke rolls through the crack and floats to the ceiling. The white popcorn tiles disappear beneath the black fog.

I go to the window and look through the glass beside her. The glass is cold under my palms and my breath fogs on the surface despite the growing heat of the room. Down below, tiny cars cut corners around buildings. One could easily be mistaken for a child’s toy.

Shit, it really is far down.

I meet Ally’s eyes and shrug. “We don’t have a lot of options.”

Sweat forms at my hairline and in the folds where my coat sits snug against my body. Chicago shines brightly around us, each pinpoint of light from the buildings and streets illuminating the dark sky.

My gaze flits from building to building, from illuminated window to illuminated window, but I don’t see salvation. We aren’t close enough to another skyscraper to signal for help. No scaffolding or window-washer platform is available to carry us to the safety of solid ground or to the roof above, where we were supposed to meet Jeremiah.

The coms in our ears buzz incoherently for the billionth time. Ally sighs in irritation. As the coms stop crackling she mashes the speak button flat with her thumb. “For the thousandth time, we can’t understand you. Something is wrong with our signal. If you can hear us, we are on the 34th floor of the Jensen building and we’re trapped. Send help.” A look of resolution solidifies on Ally’s face. “Jason’s going to kill us.”

“No.” I squeeze her arm. “So what if he’s like a hell-bent terminator with unlimited healing ability.” I snort, trying to hide my panic. “I’ve got this.”

She cocks her head. “It’s great you have firebombs and shields but we have to be careful. We don’t know the repercussions of your powers yet.”

“And getting ourselves locked in burning buildings with raging madmen is playing it so safe.”

“You know what I mean.” She steps away from the window and shifts the laptop in her arms. She yanks open more office drawers.

I arch an eyebrow. “A paper cut isn’t going to hurt him.”

“Paper cuts hurt.” She forces a smile. “But we need something to slow him down. And you’re not helping.”

I throw my hands up and pick an aisle of desks. After uselessly searching two drawers, I lift one of the office chairs and immediately know this flimsy, ergonomic piece of crap won’t be able to break a window. I throw it anyway. It bounces off the glass and comes back at me with a vengeance, clipping my knee.

“Fuckity fuck! Ow. Ow.”

Ally looks up from the drawer and scowls at me. “Injuring yourself before he even breaks into the room is not what I had in mind.”

I give her a hard stare, rubbing my throbbing knee and stumbling to another desk.

I have half a mind to remind her that it wasn’t my idea to come to Chicago. I was happy in Nashville. Sure, my boyfriend Lane—ex-boyfriend—wasn’t talking to me, but everything else was okay. The first time Jason, the insta-healing terminator tried to rip my head off, Ally had a fit. Jeremiah capitalized on it, of course.

Come to Chicago where it’s safer. We have more people and more power there. And Caldwell is up to something in the city. We could really use the extra hands.

I just wanted to stay in bed and mourn Brinkley, the man who’d given his life trying to kill Caldwell. Everyone else keeps acting like I’m supposed to be working here.

The crack in the door widens and I see an angry eye fix on me. Jason screams as if the very sight of me enrages him.

Gabriel appears at a desk two rows up from the one I’m searching. He flickers in and out, unable to hold his form with another partis—a weirdo with powers like me—nearby. He’s crystal clear when I’m alone, but when there’s two or more partis, I’m lucky if Gabriel can materialize at all. This is real inconvenient given that I need him most when the others show up looking for a fight.

“Here.” Gabriel points at a giant rock sitting on top of one of the desks. “Use this.”

No, not a rock, I realize. I place my hands on the massive stone. It’s an amethyst the size of a grapefruit. Beside it sits a little note: Don’t touch me. Please. You’ll change my energy.

I look up, but Gabriel’s gone.

I lift the rock off the desktop. It sinks into my palms like dead weight, the purple spikes poking my flesh. “Sorry, but I need your energy to club this fucker.”

I meet eyes with Jason again as he inches his fingers through the crack and starts swiping at the locking mechanism we latched behind us.

“Get over here,” I shout to Ally.

Ally makes it halfway across the room before the door explodes. Splinters the size of my leg fly at my face. I duck behind the desk, clutching the gigantic stone to my chest.

I peek over the tabletop and see Jason standing in the flames. His body smolders. His blistered arm melts from burnt to scabby to pink. He spots me behind the desk and we lock eyes. His face twists into a murderous grin.

“Stop hiding,” he calls out. “Let’s do this.”

In my peripheral vision, Ally darts to another desk, staying low.

Jason takes a step toward me. “Just think, this power could be yours if you’d challenge me already.”

“Fighting is such a commitment.” I stand slowly, but keep the desk between us. I’m hoping it buys me time if he does anything crazy like lunge for my throat. “You have to get close. You have to touch people. Sometimes, like you, they smell. No, thank you.”

Jason’s face goes perfectly smooth. Was it something I said?

A flash of black wings catches my eye. Gabriel’s still here, even if he can’t materialize. The scent of rain overtakes me as Gabriel dials up my power. My muscles contract and my body warms. My skin starts to itch around the collar of my shirt and across my belly. I feel like I have to pee.

I try not to squirm. “You know who else is in the city? Caldwell. Why don’t you kill him instead?”

Jason’s face twists up in fury again. “After I’m finished with you.”

“Why does everyone keep saying that?” I would put my hands on my hip if not for the giant amethyst. “Don’t you think I’m a badass?”

“You’re smaller.”

My temper flares. “You’re trying to kill me because I’m short?”

Ally coughs on the smoke filling the room and I jerk my head toward the sound. Jason doesn’t hesitate.

“Jesse!” Gabriel’s voice booms in my head.

My soul rips open, power exploding from my center in all directions. It’s like someone is yanking my intestines out of my belly button. I’m so overwhelmed but I can’t stop the power from flooding out of me or even slow it down.

Fire and smoke whoosh away from me as if blown by a great wind. The air around me shimmers like pavement on a hot day. Blue flames roll over the surface of my body, suspended about three inches above my skin before erupting outward toward Jason, the office around us and anything else in its path. The only object that is safe is the amethyst cradled in my hands.

The walls and ceiling shudder under the force of my firebomb, raining dust and plaster down on our heads. One minute the windows shatter, and glass spills out into the night air. The next minute cold winter air is sucked into the room.

I open my eyes and find Jason sprawled on the floor, unconscious. My power blast knocked him out, burned his skin, but didn’t kill him. Damn.

I come around the desk, or what is left of it, and peer closer. His flesh is already healing.

I try to use my breath to slow my heart rate. I need to calm down, but my head is throbbing.

“Ally?”

No answer.

“Ally!”

“Here.” She pulls herself to standing in the middle of a cluster of desks that had obviously been pushed together in the blast.

She shakes glass out of her hair and checks the laptop in her arms for damage.

“Kill him,” Gabriel says in my ear. The weight of the amethyst doubles in my hands. “Kill him.”

The idea of killing Jason and taking his healing powers appeals to me. Instead of having to die in order to heal myself, I could simply stay alive, and after a few breaths, be as good as new again. Wasn’t that a hell of a prospect? Less pain. Less wasted time. Less danger for myself and the people around me.

I lift the amethyst, my eyes fixed on his skull.

“Jesse.”

I lift the rock a little higher as a strange calm washes over me. No, more than calm. Peace tinged with excitement. Oh god, I want to kill him. I don’t think I’ve ever wanted to kill anyone.

“Jesse.”

Ally’s face appears in front of mine. Eye to eye, she blocks my view of Jason. “Baby.” She’s whispering. “We need to get out of here.”

Her voice. Something about Ally’s voice seeps into my mind and untangles my thoughts. The cold hand inside me, the one delighting at the idea of peeling Jason open and stealing his ability to heal, grows warm. Its hold on me slackens as her brown eyes come into focus. I can’t murder someone in front of Ally. What the hell am I thinking?

My muscles relax and I let the amethyst slip from my fingers to the floor.

“Come on.” Ally squeezes my shoulders. “Maybe we can crawl down the hall a little bit and find the stairs.”

“No we can’t go that way—” I don’t finish my thought. The smallest movement steals my attention and I turn just as Jason snatches up the amethyst and throws it at Ally.

“No!” I scream as the rock sails through the air. “Gabriel!”

My shield goes up around Ally. The shimmery purple light envelops her from head to toe. The rock ricochets off the force field, shoots through the broken window and out into the night. Jason screams and runs at me, head down as if he might tackle me like some football player.

“Fuck this.” I sidestep Jason and grab hold of Ally. Her shield falters just long enough for me to wrap her in my arms and yank her forward. Before she can process what is about to happen, I shove her out the big window and don’t let go.

Her shriek is muffled by the wind whipping around us, tearing at our hair and clothes.

I suppose this is a perfectly natural reaction to your friend shoving you out of a high-rise building.

“It’s okay.” I squeeze her against my chest. “The shield will hold.”

“Right?” I ask Gabriel.

“What about you? What about you?” Ally screams.

“You will not survive the fall.” He plummets with us, his wings folding back to embrace the drop. “You must shield yourself.”

“Ally lives, not me. We have a deal.”

“You must shield yourself also.”

“I don’t know how. You have to help me.”

“Envision it.” Gabriel’s wings open, lifting him up into the air. “See it grow larger.”

The field shines about an inch or so above Ally’s skin, it touches parts of me, but it sure as hell doesn’t cover anything important.

“Hurry,” Gabriel says. “See it around you.”

I close my eyes and see us falling in my head. The building rushes past us. The freezing air tears at our clothes and hair relentlessly. Lights shine from windows in a blur as we pass. I picture my shield bigger. I picture it around me and Ally, covering us both from head to toe.

“Good. Do not stop now,” Gabriel says.

I peek my eyes open to see purple has crept over my arms and shoulder, the shield half devouring my body—until pain erupts through my legs, my back, and the whole world goes black.

Dying Light (Jesse Sullivan Book Four)
by Kory M. Shrum
Genre: Contemporary/Urban/Dark Fantasy
Publisher: Timberlane Press
Date of Publication: November 2nd
ISBN: 0-9912158-9-3
ASIN: B014GMBV28
Number of pages: 220 Kindle/ebook
Number of pages: 465 paperback
Word Count: 79,000
Cover Artist: John K. Addis
In the wake of her handler’s death, Jesse has never felt more alone. Her best friend is distracted by a new love. Her mentor Rachel is missing and her boyfriend Lane isn’t returning her calls.

Worse, a Necronite with the ability to heal any wound wants to kill Jesse and absorb her power of pyrokinesis.

With little to hold her to Nashville, Jesse agrees to work as a freelance agent for Jeremiah Tate, a pharmaceutical tycoon in Chicago. Together they plot revenge against Caldwell, the mastermind responsible for the genocide of over 100,000 Necronites worldwide.

When Jeremiah fails to dominate Jesse and her pyrokinesis, tensions escalate, dividing her from her allies.

Then Caldwell gives Jesse an ultimatum she cannot refuse.

Amazon

About the Author:
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Kory M. Shrum lives in Michigan with her partner and a ferocious guard pug. She has dabbled in everything from fortune telling to martial arts and when not reading or writing, she can be found teaching, traveling, or wearing a gi. She is the author of four books in the Jesse Sullivan contemporary fantasy series. She is also an active member of both SFWA and HWA.

Tour giveaway 

3 audiobooks (as audible codes; no audible subscription necessary 

A signed boxset (Books 1-4) in paperback (International) 

Books 1-4 ebook set Jesse Sullivan Novels

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Book Review: Revenge & the Zombie Apocalypse (Zombie Apocalypse #3) by Chelsea Luna Bellingeri

Revenge & the Zombie Apocalypse (Zombie Apocalypse #3)
by Chelsea Luna Bellingeri

176 pages
May 14, 2015

Revenge & the Zombie Apocalypse is the epic conclusion to the Zombie Apocalypse Trilogy. The zombie outbreak has ravished the country for over two weeks. Rachel and her friends are at their breaking point. They have suffered casualties, unspeakable horrors, murder and betrayal.

To survive, the battered group must continue on through the great expanse of the American wasteland. Their only hope lies at Camp Freedom Two in Las Vegas—the last major survivor camp still safeguarded by the military. The long journey from Michigan to Nevada is filled with the undead. Danger lurks in every twist of the road. Will the group survive? Can they work together and overcome their struggles?

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In the final book of the Zombie Apocalypse series the group is still trying to find a way to a safe zone. The final one still standing is Camp Freedom Two in Las Vegas which is a long way from Michigan. Rachel and Adam grow closer as the group is forced to kill to survive. The group can’t seem to catch a break. Along the way the group meets up with some new friends and foes. Survival is there only goal at this point and sometimes that doesn’t even seem like an option.

I enjoy Luna’s books but was a little disappointed with this final book. The book has some great plot twists that you don’t see coming which made it a great page turner. I would have liked the ending to have more of a resolution than it did but still recommend this book as well as her New England Witch Series as well.

  Getting 4 sheep

Denise B

About the Author: 

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Chelsea Luna is the author of the bestselling NEW ENGLAND WITCH CHRONICLES, a young adult paranormal romance series comprising of four novels. Chelsea is also the author of the bestselling LOVE & THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE, a young adult horror trilogy.

Chelsea received a Juris Doctorate from New York Law School in New York, New York in 2007, and a B.A. in Sociology, with a concentration in Criminal Justice, from the University of Tennessee in 2004. She lives in Tennessee.

Book Review: Wisteria (Wisteria #1) by Bisi Leyton

Wisteria (Wisteria #1)
by Bisi Leyton

278 pages
August 15th 2012
Sixteen year old Wisteria Kuti has two options—track the infected around the Isle of Smythe or leave the only known safe haven and face a world infested with flesh eating biters. But even with well-armed trackers, things go wrong and Wisteria ends up alone facing certain death, until she is rescued by the mysterious Bach. Uninfected, Bach is able to survive among the hordes of living dead.

Eighteen year old Bach, from a race known as The Family, has no interest in human affairs. He was sent here to complete his Great Walk and return home as a man—as a Sen Son. The Family regard humans as Dirt People, but Bach is drawn to this Terran girl, whom he has never seen before, but somehow knows.

Hunted by flesh eaters, cannibals, and the mysterious blood thirsty group called Red Phoenix, Wisteria and Bach make their way back to the Isle of Smythe, a community built on secrets and lies.

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I don't read much YA because I fear running across a female protag who I want to go all little bunny foo-foo on (you know, bop them on the head). Wisteria is one of the emotionally strongest female YA characters I've read. Dealing with bullying and betrayal she still manages to do the right thing when others would look for revenge. She is a good person thrown into a horrible situation and manages to hold onto her humanity when those around her don't.

There are so many layers to this story. The blurb doesn't even begin to cover it. There are two separate story lines: Wisteria's post apocalyptic world and Bach's, we'll call it alien, world. Bach has only experienced the worst of the human race and was raised with no tolerance for the lesser Terrans. The author keeps Bach and Wisteria true to their characters as both try to understand each other. The story stays away from the Romeo and Juliet troupe and delivers something more real. It flirts with some teenage angst, but I like the way Wisteria handles things.

And then...plot twists! The two protags start uncovering a conspiracy that shakes both their foundations.

The story is well written and moves at a quick pace with a creative plot.

4 "Terran" Sheep

SharonS

About the Author:
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Bisi Leyton was born and lives in London.She has worked around Europe including France, Germany, Ireland, Belgium and the Czech Republic. She has a fondness for reading graphic novels, and cracked.com.She grew up in the UK, Nigeria and the States, listening to the stories life and love from aunts, cousins and big sisters. As a fan of the Sweet Valley High Series, she started writing fan-fiction at eleven, will never reveal under pain of death.

What to Help a Nerd out? Short Story Competition on Amazon

Want to help a nerd out? Jay Faulkner, a Following the Nerd dude has a short story (13000 words, just 9 pages) in a competition on amazon. Give it a read and review and you will be entered to win (details below).

Always and Forever (short story)

Kindle Edition

ASIN: B00QTYI2OM

From the 2010 Penguin Ireland Short Story short listed author comes a heartrending vignette involving a couple irrevocably changed by the zombie plague.

Always and Forever is a short story.

Praise for Always and Forever:
“Jay Faulkner’s ‘Always and Forever’ was a heartrending vignette involving a couple irrevocably changed by the zombie plague” ~ Paul Goat Allen (Barnes and Noble)

“This is a beautiful and sorrowful tale of a married couple whose life is destroyed by a virus, and the lengths they will go to to honor their love. In just over two pages the author allows us to feel the longing, fear and the depth of love this couple share.” ~ bittenbybooks.com

Competition
Every review* of Always and Forever (Amazon, Goodreads, or on blogs) will be entered into a draw.

Everyone who enters, by leaving a review, will be eligible to name a character that gets killed – in horrible and inventive ways - in the upcoming apocalypse thriller, ‘Tower’.

The grand prize winner (chosen randomly) will be eligible to name a survivor in the story as well as receive an Amazon gift voucher for $15.

Always and Forever will be FREE from Friday 12th December 2014 to Tuesday 16th December 2014.

The competition itself is open now and will end on Wednesday 31st December – the winner will be announced by Monday 5th January 2015.

*links to reviews will need to be emailed to info@jayfaulkner.com by the closing date.

Where to find it:
Amazon UK - http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00QTYI2OM
Amazon US - http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00QTYI2OM
If required outside of these locations please search by title, author, and/or ASIN.

Excerpt:

When the outbreak began, news reports said it was just a variation of seasonal flu. Two days later hospitals were over capacity, the rail network had all but collapsed, and military troops had been deployed to quell riots in major cities. The flu outbreak became an epidemic so fast that it overwhelmed the country. The epidemic turned into an apocalypse; at least according to the last radio transmissions we’d heard five days back. The radio announcer was somewhere in London, he never said where, and when he wasn’t quoting from the Bible, or quietly sobbing to himself, he was repeating the same information over and over.

The dead walked.

About the author:

www.jayfaulkner.com
Jay Faulkner resides in Northern Ireland with his wife, Carole, and their two boys, Mackenzie and Nathaniel. He says that while he is a writer, martial artist, sketcher, and dreamer he's mostly just a husband and father.