'Project Firebird' by Nick Green

Project Firebird

by Nick Green

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BLURB:

Don’t ask Leo Lloyd-Jones. Ask him how to steal a car, or why he got excluded from every school in Salford, but don’t come to him for help. This whole thing must be a daft mistake – and if anyone finds out, he’s done for.

Earth is on a deadly collision course that nothing can prevent. The only real hope is Project Firebird, deep inside a blast-proof bunker that shelters the brightest and bravest young people. Leo has got mixed up with the likes of Rhys Carnarvon, the celebrated teenage polar explorer, and other child prodigies chosen to keep the flame of civilisation.

Among them is the streetwise Paige Harris, a girl Leo likes a lot (but not in that way). Paige is desperate to rescue her little sister from London before the catastrophe strikes. But no-one is crazy enough to try that. Almost no-one.

Read an excerpt:

Kian tried to break the ice by spinning the bottle.

‘Okay.’ His eyes flickered at Lucy. ‘Next question. Who do we think is the prettiest girl in the room?’

Lucy blushed at once. Isabel looked merely curious, perhaps forgetting that she herself was a girl. But Paige shifted on her beanbag chair and turned her face away. Leo had to feel a bit sorry for her. Great though she was to have around, no-one’s choice was ever going to be Paige, in his expert opinion. He realised that the bottleneck had stopped on him again.

‘Truth or dare!’ said Kian. ‘Who’s prettiest?’

‘The bottle seems to think it’s me.’

‘Only ’cos it’s drunk,’ Lucy smirked.

'Prettiest girl. Come on,’ said Kian.

Leo laughed. ‘That’s easy.’

It was now. Their three supervisors had appeared in the lounge: David followed by Lenka and the long-haired Chris. Even in workaday jeans and her very uncool Firebird Foundation t-shirt, Lenka remained drop-dead gorgeous. She might have been a Hollywood actress relaxing between takes. The noise levels plunged as most of the boys stopped talking. Rhys pretended to throw a glass of water over Leo.

‘She’s too old for you.’

Leo shook his head. ‘Age can’t stop true love. See the way she looks at me.’

‘You mean like she’s about to be sick?’

‘She’s playing hard to get.’

‘So that’ll be game, set and match to her,’ said Rhys.

Leo gave him a friendly dead arm.

Available on Amazon

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Nick Green lives in the UK. He is the author of seven fiction books to date, including the middle-grade CAT KIN trilogy published by Strident. His other books include THE STORM BOTTLE, a fantasy adventure about the dolphins of Bermuda, and most recently the FIREBIRD trilogy, a YA science fiction epic.

www.nickgreenbooks.com

https://www.goodreads.com/nickgreen_catkin

Nick will be awarding a $20 Amazon GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

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'Vanished From Dust' by Shea Norwood

Vanished from Dust

by Shea Norwood

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BLURB:

A CHILL RUNS THROUGH HIS SKIN AS THE PHANTOM APPEARS.

HE SEES THEM EVERYWHERE . . .

Eric Stark is not insane. Or at least he doesn’t think so. He wishes everyone in Dust, Texas, felt the same way. But that’s not going to happen since the whole town thinks he’s crazy. Why didn’t he keep his mouth shut?

No one understands. Eric is alone as he battles his sanity in a town of tormenters. Suddenly a new friendship emerges after the new kid, Kyle Barrett, moves to town.

Eric reluctantly reveals his secret. Is it a curse or a gift? He isn’t certain, but with Kyle by his side he finds the courage to seek the truth.

They soon realize that something sinister is descending on the residents of Dust.

Is it caused by Eric’s phantoms or is it something else? Is it connected to the mysterious death of hundreds of townspeople over sixty years ago? One thing is certain—only Eric and Kyle can save them.

They set out on a heart-pounding adventure and find themselves transported to a disturbed and deserted version of their small southern town. They quickly discover that this new world has mysteries of its own to uncover. What they find could prove more than they bargained for, and it only leads to more questions. Eric and Kyle must face a horrifying fact—they may never get out alive.

“We’re gonna die here,” Kyle muttered.

“I don’t believe that,” Eric said. “And neither do you.”

Will they survive their encounter with these dark and mysterious beings?

Will they find a way back home?

Or will they be lost forever?

The Vanished from Dust series is perfect for anyone who craves a hair-raising thriller packed with mystery and suspense. This paranormal story for young adults can be compared to Stand by Me, mixed with Odd Thomas, and a twist of The Dark Tower.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Read an excerpt:

“Anyone there?” A large man asked in a loud and forceful voice.

Kyle peaked over the hedge and ducked down quickly. “I think he saw me.”

“No way,” Eric said, his heart still pumping hard in his chest. He edged his head over the hedge.

There was no one at the door.

Seconds later the light went out.

“He went back inside.” Eric stood up, ready to leave.

“Let’s go do another one.” Kyle walked into the street. “This time it’s your turn.”

“Okay,” Eric said.

A porch light came on without warning.

Eric thought of his mantra to run instinctively but froze instead as a large man darted outside with amazing speed for his size. He was pointing a shotgun directly at them. They were standing in the darkness of the street just out of reach of the man’s vengeful eyes.

“Stop right there, you little pricks,” the fat man said in an authoritative tone.

The shotgun was still pointed at them. “I’m gonna call your daddies and tell ’em what you’re up to. Or better yet, shoot you with this salt rock I loaded just for punk kids like you who knock on my door in the middle of the night.”

“Let’s run,” Eric whispered. His heart was pounding even faster now.

“Screw that! He has a twelve gauge pointed at us.”

“What are your damn names?” The man, still in his overalls, stood in his yard. By now, his wife and two young children were among the audience.

The hammer on the shotgun pulled back, making a distinctive click.

“Run!” Eric shouted and bolted. He was reminded of Kenny Rogers’s well-sung advice, which correlated nicely with his innate nature to run when confronted with danger.

An ear-piercing explosion shot through the night sky as rock salt slammed into the road in front of Eric. It sounded like thousands of shards of glass crashing against the pavement all around him.

 Available on Amazon

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Shea Norwood is a West Texas native that currently lives in the DFW area with his wife and son. He's an avid reader and enjoys the craft of writing. The fictional town of Dust is loosely based on a small town south of Odessa, TX.



Links: 

Facebook: http://on.fb.me/1pxjF3Q

Twitter: http://bit.ly/1pzlugW

Handle: @sheanorwood

GoodReads: http://bit.ly/1s2AEPt

Shea Norwood will be awarding a $25 PayPal, Amazon or BN GC via rafflecopter. Follow the tour for more chances to win!

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Cover Reveal! 'Unstrung' by Kendra C. Highley

Cover Reveal - Unstrung by Kendra C. Highley

Young Adult Sci Fi/Dystopian

Date Published: October 17, 2014

  

Book One: Unstrung Series

Lexa Pate, seventeen-year-old thief extraordinaire, has burned a bridge or two in her life. You don't make a career out of stealing other people's property without making enemies.

When a risky job goes from bad to worse, Lexa and her adopted family find themselves on Precipice Corporation's hit list because they've accidentally stolen the wrong thing--plans for a new model of genetically-engineered super humans. Now every bounty hunter, cop on the take, and snitch in the city is after them.

Lexa's world crumbles around her as she fights to keep her family safe even as someone strolls out of her forgotten past. Quinn claims to know who Lexa really is, but can she trust a stranger she met while robbing his boss?

More importantly, does she really want to know what Quinn has to tell her?

Based on the fairy tale Pinocchio, UNSTRUNG takes you into a near future world where the lines between fake and real are blurred, all that's pristine isn't always innocent, and being a criminal isn't always wrong.

About the Author

Kendra C. Highley lives in north Texas with her husband and two children. She also serves as staff to four self-important cats. This, according to the cats, is her most crucial job. She believes chocolate is a basic human right, running a 10k is harder than it sounds, and that everyone should learn to drive a stick shift. She loves monsters, vacations, baking and listening to bad electronica. If she's not writing, she's reading. If she's not writing or reading, she's likely a little cranky.

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'The Girl Who Sang With Whales (Islesong Book 1)' by Marc Secchia Kindle Countdown!

Blurb:

Imagine an island world where the seas seethe with dangerous creatures, where those rare men and women called Bard-Navigators have learned to sing Whales to protect their ships. Only on the wings of Bardsong can ships avoid the Sea-Dragons and travel the great gulf between the Atolls scattered across the World-Sea.

I sang to the Sea; She sang back to me,

Tales and travails wreathed in mystery.

Zhialeiana has an astonishing gift of song. She can sing the unique songs of the mighty and magical creatures of the World-Sea. She can touch their souls. When her gift is discovered at her mother's funeral, the current of her life begins to sweep her to a future that she could never have imagined. She must navigate both opportunity and danger, and lay her life on the line for the Whales she loves. But Zhialeiana also has a toxic secret - a secret that will force her to undertake a journey beyond faith, beyond all hope, and beyond the World-Sea.

Read an excerpt:

It happened so quickly, there was no chance to scream. Zhialeiana snatched a breath just as she struck the water. Now she fell slowly into the blue, sinking beneath the weight of the net–had it dragged loose? She saw her right hand tangled up in the cords, making her the fish about to be heaved into the bottom of a fisherman’s boat. Her left hand still gripped the knife’s wooden handle with deathly intent. 

In the underwater world, events seemed silent and dreamlike, unfolding more slowly than she could comprehend and yet, inexorably. A red ribbon of blood streamed out of her calf muscle as she kicked weakly. Had she been bitten? She felt no pain. Here, suddenly thrusting her downward as it rolled into the net, striking her shoulder a juddering blow before tumbling away in a billowing cloud of pink, came half of the shark’s body. Half? 

This thought had barely registered when she perceived a mouth lunge out from between the boulders no more than three cords beneath her drifting feet, gape open, and attempt to swallow the remains of the shark whole. 

Bubbles exploded from Zhialeiana’s mouth. A Sea-Dragon! 

Now that it had moved, she realised that this Sea-Dragon was comfortably as long as the Whale above her–far larger even than the Sea-Dragon she had briefly glimpsed as a child. The creature struck her as a cross between a moray eel and a sea lizard. It had an eel’s flattened, sinuous body, and the squat, powerful legs of a lizard ending in the sharp claws she had seen before, which gripped the rocky side of the channel as though each foot were glued in place. Its head was broad, the mouth a wide thicket of needle-sharp teeth. Baleful, slit-lantern yellow eyes completed the picture. This Sea-Dragon could probably swallow six of her in a single bite. 

A sharp pain in her hand brought Zhialeiana to her senses. Great Mother, in trying to cut her trapped hand free she had nearly sliced off her own forefinger. 

The Sea-Dragon glared at her over its mouthful of shark meat. Its jaws ground deliberately up and down, masticating the tough sharkskin as though it wished she were the meal between its jaws, an altogether softer and tastier snack. It shifted closer, sinking those long talons into the cracks between the rocks. There was a fearful intelligence behind that gaze. She knew exactly what–who–was next on the menu. 

Zhialeiana ripped at the heavy netting, making panicked strokes left and right, desperately trying to find some kind of leverage to apply the knife effectively. She resorted to sawing at a handful of cords, glancing down every few heartbeats to check if the terrible eyes had moved any closer. Her breath was running short. The net folded down around her shoulders as she scrabbled about, threatening to entangle her further. The flotation gourds appeared to be doing nothing–perhaps they had broken and filled with water? 

The Sea-Dragon spat out the skull and grinning jaw of the great white. Its yellow lamp-eyes fixed upon her and the huge dorsal fin, which ran the length of its body, rippled. 

Zhialeiana kicked desperately and felt the net part around her like a shroud.

Available on Amazon

 Kindle Countdown Special!

About the author:

Marc is a South African-born author who lives writing about dragons and Africa, preferably both at the same time. He lives and works in Ethiopia with his wife and 4 children, 2 dogs, a rabbit, and a variable number of marabou storks that roost on the acacia trees out back. On a good night there are also hyenas patrolling the back fence.

When he's not writing about Africa, Marc can be found travelling to remote locations. He thinks there's nothing better than standing on a mountaintop wondering what lies over the next horizon.

Marc is the bestselling author of Aranya and The Pygmy Dragon and is currently working on sequels for both books.