Touching Madness (River Madden Book 1) by K S Ferguson #AmReading Contemporary #Fantasy

I cowered at the hooves of the eight-foot tall demon, wallowing in the soot and debris of the apocalyptic cityscape. He frowned at me, and his mouth formed words, but I couldn't understand him. Hoards of translucent black cloud nightmares rose and fell through cracks in the scarred ground, widening the fissures with each pass. They roiled around us, cutting off light coming from a source that I couldn't identify. I opened my mouth to scream, and one of the nightmare clouds poured in, clogging my throat, filling my lungs with ash, and shooting burning cinders up through my brain. I thrashed, trying to get to my feet so I could run, but I no longer had legs.

I jerked awake, thoroughly tangled in the space blanket, my legs numb, and looked into a pair of amber eyes that stared back at me along the blade of a big, scary military-type knife pointed at my throat. I swallowed hard. Boy, had I screwed up.

"Hi," I said.

She didn't blink. My God, she was beautiful in the pre-dawn light glowing through the windows. No human looked that perfect. Was she real? I freed my right hand and ever so slowly raised my index finger to the tip of the blade while she watched. When I pressed lightly against the point, it pricked my skin. I pulled my hand back. Blood welled from the tiny cut. Yep, real. Shit. She'd taken me prisoner.

"We're surrounded by cops," I said. "If you stick me, I'll scream like a girl."

Ah, crap, why'd I used that expression? She probably screamed like an Amazon warrior. How'd she even lift a knife that big? She was such a tiny thing. All the cops I'd met were big louts. But she had the drop on me, and the knife was a lot more threatening than her wand thingy.

"Who are you? Where are we? How'd I get here?" she asked. The taut muscles around her eyes telegraphed fear, and the knife trembled in her hand.

I rubbed my prickling wrist tattoos against my jeans and caught a whiff of something burnt. I glanced around the kiosk. Up near the ceiling, a trace of shapeless sooty cloud leaked out through the crack around the door. My mouth opened, closed.

"Do you smoke?" I asked, hoping she'd tell me she did. The cloud could have been cigarette smoke even if it didn't smell like tobacco… purposeful cigarette smoke, on the dark side. A hallucination. Not real.

A frown joined her stare. Oops. I'd wandered off topic. What had she asked? Who are you? But her team had that tracking device that reacted to me. How could she be looking for me but not recognize me?

"I brought you here so they wouldn't shoot you. I had to hide you while I led him away." I gave her a tentative smile and waited for her to gush her thanks for saving her life. Maybe she'd be so grateful, she'd tell me about the tracking device—and point that big knife some other direction. Then I could get away before she figured out who I was.

She added narrowed eyes to the stare and the frown. I chewed my lower lip. Maybe I wasn't communicating as well as I'd hoped. I felt woefully inadequate talking to someone as lovely as her, especially someone carrying a dangerous weapon. It could have been worse—at least I hadn't degenerated into word salad or spoken in rhymes.

Light bulbs talk to River Madden; God doesn't. When the homeless schizophrenic unintentionally fractures a dimensional barrier and accidentally steals a gym bag containing a million dollars, everyone from the multiverse police to the local crime boss—and an eight-foot tall demon—are after him. Can he dodge them long enough to correct his mistakes and prevent the destruction of three separate dimensions? If he succeeds, will the light bulbs stop singing off-key?

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Genre – Contemporary, Urban fantasy

Rating – R

More details about the author

Website http://www.ksferguson.net

NIGHT'S FAVOUR by Richard Parry @TactualRain #AmReading #Action #Fantasy

“We’ve got the prints back.”  Elliot banished the serenity with practiced ease.

Carlisle looked up from her computer — fucking thing — and gave her partner a stare.  “Prints?  From what?  The meticulously clean van?  Or from inside the bar with the ten thousand other prints?  No — you’ve got good news, I can see it from your face.  Something from the shotgun?”

Elliot’s smirk was almost unholy.  “You work too hard.  Maybe you should just take the rest of the day off.  Shoot some pool.  You’re clearly not made out for the long hours of real police work.”  He had a manila file, CONFIDENTIAL in faded red ink blocked out in capitals on the front.  He tapped on it with a finger.  “Leave this one to us.”

“You’re just sore you lost the bet.”

“I didn’t lose the bet.  It’s just been… deferred.”

“Deferred my ass.”  The murderer had been meticulous enough to stack the bodies in a single location, but had left two things out of place.  One, a body impaled on an elephant — sans head — and two, a severed hand.  The body had printed easily, ex-military records describing a man better off dead.  Sealed file, no name, but the memo from Defence had described an SAS officer deployed into Afghanistan, then dishonourably discharged.  The only thing longer than the crimes against noncombatants was the list of heroic missions.  The memo had politely suggested they contact Ebonlake Associates, a private security contractor known to pay good rates for men with moral flexibility.

It was on her to-do list.

No, the bet was all about the hand.  Elliot thought it had simply been misplaced, that they’d find a matching right hand, or maybe an arm.  Carlisle didn’t think so — the killer was too particular.  Forensics had done a pretty good job of assembling near complete cadavers from the remains, only a few pieces still out of place.  Smart money was on the hand belonging to someone who got away.

So far Carlisle was in the lead.  The hand hadn’t matched any of the bodies.  Sure, it was possible that it was all that remained of someone, but the killer hadn’t seemed to take trophies.  Complete corpses remained, albeit disassembled.  It wasn’t conclusive, but it wasn’t looking good for Elliot.

“Prints from the hand on the sidewalk.  Valentine Everard, works in computers.  Haven’t been able to track down his boss yet.  Everard’s on file — we got him for DUI a couple years back.”  Elliot flipped a page in the file.  “Here it is.  Vehicular homicide.”

“Let me guess.  He’s not turned up at the hospital yet?”  They’d thrown up nothing but dead ends at the ER when they called from the scene, the staff harried and unhelpful.  Yes, they were sure that they’d have noticed someone coming in without a hand.  Of course they’d call if something turned up.

“Nada.”  If anything, the smirk grew wider.  “So why’s a guy missing his left hand not turn up to the ER?”

Carlisle turned off her screen, grabbing her jacket from where it hung in a crumpled mess over the back of her chair.  “The only reason I wouldn’t go to the hospital is if I’d just killed twenty guys.”  One arm through her jacket sleeve, she scrabbled around the clutter on her desk for a notebook.  “What I don’t get is why you’re so happy.  This is only going to prove that I’ve won the bet.”

Elliot nodded.  “I just took your view, opened an office pool.  I might lose to you, but I’m going to win against — so far — five other fine detectives.”

“Even if you lose, you win?”

“Yep.”

Valentine’s an ordinary guy with ordinary problems. His boss is an asshole. He’s an alcoholic. And he’s getting that middle age spread just a bit too early. One night — the one night he can’t remember — changes everything. What happened at the popular downtown bar, The Elephant Blues? Why is Biomne, the largest pharmaceutical company in the world, so interested in him — and the virus he carries? How is he getting stronger, faster, and more fit? And what’s the connection between Valentine and the criminally insane Russian, Volk?

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Genre – Action, Thriller, Urban Fantasy

Rating – R16

More details about the author

 Connect with Richard Parry on Facebook & Twitter

Website http://www.rage.net.nz

Absolution (The #Vampire Alliance) by Angela Louise McGurk @Angela_McGurk #AmReading #PNR

Eve Blakethorn can barely remember what it was like to be unaware of the vampire world around her. Many years have passed since she met the stranger, the man who saved her life, gave her the world and promised her immortality. Unfortunately for Eve someone in power had not wanted her to have the world. Within days of her marriage her life is shattered. Everyone Eve cares for, vampire and human, is taken from her and she is left alone to fend for herself in a world she neither understands nor fits into.

How can she hope to survive her dark and lonely existence while still plagued by the horrors she witnessed when her husband died? How can she avoid becoming prey to the monster who stalks her footsteps, the devil she has long suspected to be the one who brought about her husband’s downfall?

Desperation drives her every move, leading her into the darkness where monsters wait. Can Eve discover the truth about how her world came to crumble and who was really responsible? Is there another stranger out there capable of bringing her some sense of peace? And just what is the vampire government, The Senate, hiding in the dark tunnels under the city?

Praise for Absolution*: 

“I enjoyed every chapter haven't stayed up so late for a book in so long I just couldn't put my phone down. Great book.”

“Wow! It's a nice change to read something in the vampire category with a more mature storyline. Your story was interesting and had me captivated from the beginning until the end. It was beautifully written, and falling in love with with the characters was easy. Great job absolutely loved it!”

“I have thoroughly enjoyed this book! I think this has been one of the most original, mature vampire stories I have ever read... The lives of your vampires are fully realised, their abilities are believable, and the twists in your story are sublime.”

*All comments are from readers.

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Genre - Urban Fantasy, Paranormal Romance

Rating – R

More details about the author

Connect with Angela Louise McGurk on Facebook & Twitter

Blog http://angelamcgurk.blogspot.co.uk/

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