[SPOTLIGHT] The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix

In Hendrix's latest novel, The Final Girl Support Group, he pays homage to cult classic slasher films such as A Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th, Halloween etc. In horror movies, the Final Girl is the one left standing, the survivor and the one that defeated the killer...but what viewers rarely see is, what happens next? And Hendrix's The Final Girl Support Group answers that very question!

To learn more about the novel and the author please continue reading.

AVAILABLE NOW
Publication July 13, 2021 by Berkley Books

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Lynnette Tarkington is a real-life final girl who survived a massacre twenty-two years ago, and it has defined every day of her life since. And she's not alone. For more than a decade she's been meeting with five other actual final girls and their therapist in a support group for those who survived the unthinkable, putting their lives back together, piece by piece. That is until one of the women misses a meeting and Lynnette's worst fears are realized--someone knows about the group and is determined to take their lives apart again, piece by piece.

But the thing about these final girls is that they have each other now, and no matter how bad the odds, how dark the night, how sharp the knife, they will never, ever give up.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Image via Goodreads and bio via author's website

Grady Hendrix writes fiction, also called "lies," and he writes non-fiction, which people sometimes accidentally pay him for. He is the author of Horrorstör, the only novel about a haunted Scandinavian furniture store you'll ever need. It has been translated into 14 languages and is being turned into a movie from the people who made quality films like 1917 and Black Swan. Foolishly, they are paying Grady to write it. He is busy inserting a whole lot of tutus into it right now.

Grady Hendrix used to be a journalist, which means that he was completely irrelevant and could be killed and turned into food at any time. He is one of the founders of the New York Asian Film Festival, but he is not responsible for the bad parts of it. He is also not Asian. For years he was a regular film critic for the New York Sun but then it went out of business. He has written for Playboy Magazine, Slate, The Village Voice, the New York Post, Film Comment, and Variety. He has a hard time making up his mind.

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[Spotlight] The Passengers by John Marrs

Technology has been advancing at the speed of light, so the concept of autonomous vehicles is something we're already familiar with (hello, Google cars). Marrs's newest release, The Passengers which hits shelves today takes thats concept to another level with the autonomous vehicles becoming  mandatory countrywide. What would you do if your driver-less vehicles was hijacked with you in it? Or what would you do if you were forced to make a decision whether someone lived or died? 

To learn more about The Passengers and the author, check out the synopsis and bio below!

Stay tuned, for my review this week. The stakes are high and the revelations shocking. Definitely a book you don't want to miss!

AVAILABLE NOW
Publication August 27, 2019 by Berkley

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You're riding in your self-driving car when suddenly the doors lock, the route changes and you have lost all control. Then, a mysterious voice tells you, "You are going to die."

Just as self-driving cars become the trusted, safer norm, eight people find themselves in this terrifying situation, including a faded TV star, a pregnant young woman, an abused wife fleeing her husband, an illegal immigrant, a husband and wife, and a suicidal man.

From cameras hidden in their cars, their panic is broadcast to millions of people around the world. But the public will show their true colors when they are asked, "Which of these people should we save?...And who should we kill first?"

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

via author's website

John Marrs is the author of The One, The Good Samaritan, When You Disappeared, Her Last Move and Welcome to Wherever You Are.

A former freelance journalist based in London, England, he spent twenty-five years interviewing celebrities from the world of television, film and music for national newspapers and magazines until becoming a full-time author in 2018.

He has written for publications including the Guardian’s Guide and Guardian Online, Total Film, Huffington Post, Empire, Q, GT, the Independent, S Magazine and Company.

His books have been translated into twenty different languages and The One is soon to be a major new Netflix series.*

*Via Author's Goodreads

Connect with John|Website|Twitter|Goodreads|Facebook|

The Dead Seeker by Barb & J.C. Hendee + Giveaway

Title: The Dead Seeker
Author: Barb & J.C Hendee
Genre: Fantasy
Series: Dead Seeker #1

Hardcover, 336 pages
Publication: January 3, 2016 by Ace books

Source: I received a review copy from my publisher in exchange for a honest review.

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In the dark reaches of the eastern continent, Tris Vishal travels from village to village, using his power to put unsettled spirits to rest. He works alone, having learned that letting people close only leads to more death. Still, he finds himself accepting the help of the Mondyalitko woman who saves his life a woman whose gifts are as much a burden as his own.

Mari Kaleja thirsted for vengeance since the night her family was taken from her. She has searched far and wide for the one she thinks responsible, known only as The Dead s Man. But before she can kill him, she has to be sure. Mari hopes traveling with Tris will confirm her suspicions. But as they embark on a hunt where the living are just as dangerous as the dead, she learns the risks of keeping your enemy close...Because it s no longer clear who is predator and who is prey.

Barb and J.C Hendee have an extensive backlog of books, but I’ve never had the pleasure of reading their books till now. And I must say it didn’t disappoint. The world building is pretty much straightforward and simple; there wasn’t a magical system or hierarchy that needed explanation. The only thing that was complex was the characters; Mari and Tris, which is exactly how I like my characters to be.

Tris is known as The Dead’s Man, banishing spirits wherever he is called to. He goes from town to town working his gift (or curse) for a fee and moves on. He has lived a life of solitude, people and animal alike fear him. That is until he meets Mari, a woman that saved his life from a couple of bandits. Mari specializes in a wide array of languages and he’d figure she’d be helpful when it came to translating.

Mari has been hunting The Dead’s Man for years, the one that murdered her entire family. And she’s finally found him, and gotten enough of his trust to travel with him but before she enacts her revenge she has to be 100% sure he did it. However, the more they travel together she begins to have doubts and starts seeing him as a person and not prey.

Whether Mari likes it or not, she and Tris worked well together. Tris is this antisocial guy and barely knows how to interact with others while Mari is this headstrong woman who’s always ready to get into the muck of things. I really liked Mari and Tris, the dynamics between the two is great. I thought it was funny that she's there to 'kill' him yet she's always saving him over and over.

The Dead Seekers is a great start to a new series and I can’t wait to see where the authors take it. If you’re looking for a light fantasy read, then this book is for you! I highly recommend it. 

Thanks to the wonderful people at Penguin Randomhouse, I have one (1) copy of THE DEAD SEEKERS to giveaway! To enter, fill out the rafflecopter below. 

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Release Day Launch: Avalon by Mindee Arnett + Giveaway

Happy Release Day to Author Mindee Arnett! Mindee's new YA sci-fi novel is out today wherever books are sold! Check out the quote graphic below and enter the giveaway to win 1 of 2 SIGNED copies of Avalon and a $50 gift card!

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ABOUT THE BOOK

Of the various star systems that make up the Confederation, most lie thousands of light-years from First Earth—and out here, no one is free. The agencies that govern the Confederation are as corrupt as the crime bosses who patrol it, and power is held by anyone with enough greed and ruthlessness to claim it. That power is derived from one thing: metatech, the devices that allow people to travel great distances faster than the speed of light.

Jeth Seagrave and his crew of teenage mercenaries have survived in this world by stealing unsecured metatech, and they're damn good at it. Jeth doesn't care about the politics or the law; all he cares about is earning enough money to buy back his parents' ship, Avalon, from his crime-boss employer and getting himself and his sister, Lizzie, the heck out of Dodge. But when Jeth finds himself in possession of information that both the crime bosses and the government are willing to kill for, he is going to have to ask himself how far he'll go to get the freedom he's wanted for so long.

With pulse-pounding action, a captivating mystery, and even a bit of romance, Avalon is the perfect read for hard-core sci-fi fans and non–sci-fi fans alike.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mindee Arnett lives on a horse farm in Ohio with her husband, two kids, a couple of dogs, and an inappropriate number of cats. She’s addicted to jumping horses and telling tales of magic, the macabre, and outer space. She has far more dreams than nightmares. She's the YA author of The Nightmare Affair (Tor Teen), an urban fantasy series about a girl who is literally a nightmare and must use her skills to solve a murder, and the forthcoming science fiction series, Avalon (B+B, 1/21/2014), where Jeth and his teenage mercenaries need to pull off one last big job in order to earn their freedom.

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Early review: Dirty Magic by Jaye Wells

Title: Dirty Magic
Author: Jaye Wells
Genre: Urban Fantasy/Speculative Fiction
Series: Prospero's War #1

Trade paperback, 400 pages
Publication: January 21, 2014 by Orbit

Source: I received a review copy from the publicist in exchange for a honest review.

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The last thing patrol cop Kate Prospero expected to find on her nightly rounds was a werewolf covered in the blood of his latest victim. But then, she also didn't expect that shooting him would land her in the crosshairs of a Magic Enforcement Agency task force, who wants to know why she killed their lead snitch.

The more Prospero learns about the dangerous new potion the MEA is investigating, the more she's convinced that earning a spot on their task force is the career break she's been wanting. But getting the assignment proves much easier than solving the case. Especially once the investigation reveals their lead suspect is the man she walked away from ten years earlier—on the same day she swore she'd never use dirty magic again.

Kate Prospero's about to learn the hard way that crossing a wizard will always get you burned, and that when it comes to magic, you should be never say never.

 Kate Prospero is a bad-ass. I heart her. She is exactly the type of heroine I love reading about; she’s strong, smart, driven, flawed, and family oriented. Everything I look for in a protagonist. Kate is an adept (someone born with magic), and comes from the most notorious coven in the Cauldron, the Votary clan. Kate has a knack for cooking dirty potions and was the next heir for Grand Wizard after her Uncle Abe (Wizard crime lord) but after a tragic accident; Kate left the coven and everything magic related behind her for the straight and narrow…and became a patrol office for Babylon PD. It’s been 10 years since she turn her back on the people she grew up with but so far things been okay; it’s been a clean and magic-free life, (minus capturing potion junkies and dealers) exactly what she wanted for her younger brother Danny. But after a routine patrol goes wrong, Kate finds her past and present colliding and the only way to fix things is to embrace her heritage. 

Dirty Magic hooked me from the first page as readers’ plunge head first in the midst of the action as BPD officer Kate pursues a potion junkie in the Cauldron (covens’ turf). I didn’t really know what to expect when I first started Dirty Magic, just that it was a new UF series by Wells and anything she wrote, I’d read. I wasn’t prepared to be enthralled as I was; the world-building is incredible and so realistic you can imagine yourself smack dab in a city ruled and run on clean-dirty magic. There are two types of magic (clean and dirty), basically legal and illegal but both with different consequences; eventually making the user dependent or changing them on a physical level. The magic system in Dirty Magic is pretty complex, and this first book barely touches the surface…getting a glimpse at what the Votary (specializes in alchemy) and Sang (specializes in blood) covens all about. I really love the police procedure-magic combination; it made for an entertaining read.  I can definitely see this series as a TV show (if no one picks up the rights for this soon, they’re nuts).

After reading Wells’ Sabina Kane series (I’m still behind, forgive me!); I’ve come to expect three things from Wells, a kick-ass heroine, a colorful cast of characters and smart dialouge. And I’m glad to say Wells doesn’t disappoint. Kate isn’t only a kick-ass heroine but she’s also a guardian/single parent to her 16-year-old brother Danny. I liked Kate early on, but when I found out she was taking care of her young brother, I loved her even more. There’s just something extra special when I read a UF protagonist with family. I’m a sucker for anything family lol. It adds another layer to the character, and Kate was already plenty interesting with her crime loving wizard family. In terms of secondary characters, Kate’s MEA (Magic Enforcement Agency) team was a diverse group of people (both adept and mundane). They’re kind of exactly how I’d picture a tactical team…funny and tough as nails. The two people that made the biggest impression for me is Picasso (even though it was for a short time) and Little Man. They were a hoot!  Dirty Magic is a pretty dark book, I mean we are dealing with junkies and crime lords but they added a humorous balance during their page time. And to be honest, Little Man creep me out (the devil baby prank image kept popping in my head) but I couldn’t help smiling every time he and Kate interacted.  If that last sentence sounds confusing…you just got to read the book to know what I mean. 

I’m not a fan of love triangles, and even though there really isn’t one in Dirty Magic…there’s a potential for one. Or, at least it feels like one. There are two main guys in Kate’s life, an old flame and a new guy. Kate definitely has chemistry with both guys, whether she cares to admit it…and I am interested in seeing where it goes. I’m conflicted who I’m rooting for as both guys have different appealing qualities….somewhat (one came off as a jerk but by the middle of the book we get the reason why)…just going to have to see how things play out. 

Dirty Magic is a great start to what I believe will be an outstanding series. I loved every moment of this book. Dirty Magic is a wonderful addition to the urban fantasy genre, giving readers a fresh take and unique spin on magic and wizards. If you’re looking for your next urban fantasy/speculative fiction fix, look no further. Dirty Magic has it all! This is the best book I’ve read so far, and Kate Prospero is a character that everyone will love; slowly climbing to the top of the favorite list with the likes of Kate Daniels, Gin Blanco, Arcadia Bell, Charlie Madigan to name a few. I can’t wait to read the next book in the series, Cursed Moon which comes out August of this year!!

Reivew: The Alchemy of Forever by Avery Williams

Title: The Alchemy of Forever
Author: Avery Williams
Genre: Paranormal, Young-Adult
Series: Incarnation #1

Hardcover, 256 pages

Published January 3rd 2012 by Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers 

ISBN: 1442443162 (ISBN13: 9781442443167)

Book can be purchase here on Amazon or  Book depository. 

Where did I get this book?: I bought this book for my own reading. 

Summary (via Goodreads):  Seraphina has been alive since the 1300's, made immortal when the boy she was beginning to love back then, Cyrus, saved her from death with a strange liquid - a method of alchemy that lets them swap bodies with any human being. But now, in modern day America, Sera has decided that she can no longer bear the weight of stealing people's lives so she can keep living on. So she decides to run away from Cyrus and end her stolen existence once and for all. Her plan goes awry when she accidentally takes the body of a dying teenager and feels forced to take over her life. When the lines between Sera and Kailey's identity begin to blur, Sera finds a reason to desire to live once more. But she can't shake the guilt of having taken Kailey's life, even if she was dying. And what if Cyrus finds her?

Review: Seraphina “Sera” has been alive for more than 600 years.  Her first love, Cyrus created an elixir that enables the human soul to transfer bodies when one is near death (usual, or if they take another body, one that is healthy, they are killing the current soul when taking over).  Cyrus, Sera and a couple of their friends are immortals called “incarnate” switching bodies every time their current bodies get wearied out/ or near death. Sera is tired of living forever and for taking the lives of so many innocent people. The boy that she once loved is not that boy anymore…and over the years she realizes it. On the day that she is suppose to get a new body, she drugs Cyrus and runs away so that she can end her existence. Just as Sera is about to leap off the bridge, she hears a car crash and rushes to the scene. Upon arriving, she tries to rescue the 16-year old girl, but instead she takes over the girl’s body. Kailey, the girl’s body she ended up taking, is different from all of the previous body she inhabited. As she goes through life as Kailey, Sera realize that she doesn’t want to die anymore and that there is a reason to live.

The story kept me engaged and interested the minute I started reading the prologue. There are a lot of immortals-related books out right now, but none have caught my attention like this book. The pacing of the book was quick, even reading about kailey (sera)’s high-school experience wasn’t as boring as I thought it would be. There was a lot of action packed into this small book (it’s only 256 pages or so and the words are large). The world building and characterization could have been stronger, readers only got to know about Sera through her flashbacks and all the other characters weren’t that developed. There is a sprinkle of romance towards the end of the book, which was surprising because I thought there was going to be more of it. Thank goodness there isn’t a love triangle it in this one!  The ending of the book ended abruptly leaving readers with a shocking cliff hanger, which we will have to wait till next year to find out what happened to Sera. 

I truly enjoyed this book, and would recommend it to everyone who likes reading in the paranormal genre or young-adult genre. It’s a fun and quick read!