Tag / scary

by Erik McManus | Breakeven Books

Book Spotlight: Whispers In The Dark

If you are looking for the ultimate book to read on Halloween night, look no further!

Welcome to the blog tour for Laurel Hightower’s Whispers in the Dark. This tale will give your goosebumps goosebumps! Follow along for exclusive content and a chance to win a signed copy (US only) or a digital copy in your preferred format (International)!

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Whispers in the Dark

Publication Date: December 7th, 2018

Genre: Paranormal Thriller/ Horror

Publisher: JournalStone

Rose McFarland is a trained killer–a Memphis S.W.A.T. sniper with a secret. Her team knows about the burn scars that lurk under her clothes, a legacy of the house fire that killed her father and brother sixteen years before. Her supervisors know that she spent two years in a rehabilitative facility, healing and learning to cope with the emotional trauma of the fire. But no one knows about the visions that drove her there, angry spirits that consumed her childhood, alienated her from her family and made her doubt her own sanity–the Whispers.

When Charlie Akers, a half-brother she never knew, ends up on the wrong side of Rose’s rifle, she unwittingly sets off a chain of events that puts her family in the middle of increasingly dangerous paranormal visitations. Charlie won’t stay dead, and soon ghosts from Rose’s past are creeping back into her life. People she’s killed in the line of duty, family she thought long buried, every one of them under the influence of Rose’s greatest fear, the Whispers themselves.

As the walls between our world and the world of the dead grow thin, Rose will have to face her old nightmares to stop the Whispers from breaking free. If she can’t, it won’t just be Memphis that falls to the dead–there will be no safe place left on earth for the living.

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Excerpt

His heart thudding again, Zack tried to hold his breath, peering

into the gloom. He didn’t have to wait long. Another shuffle, something

dragging against the grit. A shadow, darker than the rest of the

night. It moved, swayed. Waited.

“Matt?”

No answer, but Zack thought he could hear breathing now. Labored,

wheezing. The way Matt had sounded toward the end. He took a step closer,

stopped. “Matt?”

“Zack.” A whisper. Tired, but an uptick of hope at the end.

Zack swallowed. Matt had been waiting a long time. For the first

time, Zack wondered if his brother would be angry.

More dry dragging as Matt moved again. He was close now, almost

close enough to touch. Zack coughed, his asthma tickled by something in

the dry air down here. What was that? What did it smell like now?

“Zack?” A hand reaching out, slow, tentative.

Zack smiled tremulously, reached out too. Clasped the hand he’d

waited thirty-seven years to feel again. Felt it pull him closer, into a shaft

of moonlight coming through a broken window high on the wall. He looked

up, into his brother’s face. Faltered.

“Matt?”

No, Zack realized with regret as the bony clutch tightened and

pulled him close. Not Matt at all.

Amazon | JournalStone | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound

Giveaway Time!!!

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About the Author

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Laurel Hightower grew up in Kentucky, attending college in California and Tennessee before returning home to horse country, where she lives with her husband, son and two rescue animals, Yattering the cat (named for the Clive Barker short story) and Ladybug the adorable mutt. She definitely wants to see a picture of your dog, and often bonds with complete strangers over animal stories. A lifetime reader, she would raid her parents’ bookshelves from an early age, resulting in a number of awkward conversations about things like, “what does getting laid mean?” She loves discovering new favorite authors, and supporting the writing and reading community.

Laurel works as a paralegal in a mid-size firm, wrangling litigators by day and writing at night. A bourbon and beer girl, she’s a fan of horror movies and true life ghost stories. Whispers in the Dark is her first novel, though there are always more in the pipeline, and she loves researching anything horror related. She can usually be found working on the next project into the wee hours, sometimes as late as ten at night, as long as her toddler allows. Follow her on social media, even though she’s really bad at it, and she’ll follow you back. Plus you’ll be rewarded by pictures of cute dogs and kids.

Laurel Hightower | Facebook | Goodreads | Twitter

WhispersintheDark

Blog Tour Schedule

October 21st

Reads & Reels (Review) http://readsandreels.com

Viviana MacKade (Guest Post) https://viviana-mackade.blog/

I Smell Sheep (Spotlight) http://www.ismellsheep.com/

Jessica Belmont (Review) https://jessicabelmont.wordpress.com/

The Reading Chemist (Review) https://thereadingchemist.com/

I Love Books and Stuff (Spotlight) https://ilovebooksandstuffblog.wordpress.com

October 22nd

Breakeven Books (Spotlight) https://breakevenbooks.com

Didi Oviatt (Review) https://didioviatt.wordpress.com

Banshee Irish Horror Blog (Review) www.bansheeirishhorrorblog.com

Dark Reads (Review) http://darkreads826573417.wordpress.com

October 23rd

The Magic of Wor(l)ds (Interview) http://themagicofworlds.wordpress.com

Reviews and Promos by Nyx (Review) https://nyxblogs.wordpress.com/

The Faerie Review (Review) http://www.thefaeriereview.com

October 24th

Musings of a Final Girl (Review) https://musingsofafinalgirl.wordpress.com/

Shalini’s Books and Reviews (Review) https://bookreviewsbyshalini.com/

Crossroad Reviews (Spotlight) http://www.crossroadreviews.com

October 25th

Eclectic Reviews (Review) https://eclecticreview.com/

Ity Reads Books (Review) http://www.ityreadsbooks.home.blog

J Bronder Book Reviews (Review) https://jbronderbookreviews.com/

Blog Tour Organized By:

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R&R Book Tours

Honesty you say?! Well, take a listen and let me be completely honest with you…..

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by Erik McManus | Breakeven Books

Book Review: Kiss Me Kill Me

Hey bookworms. How was your weekend? Mine was spent reading Kiss Me Kill Me by J.S. Carol. This psychological thriller was definitely a piece of work and one to look out for.

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Synopsis: Can you trust the one you love? When Zoe meets Dan, he’s everything she is looking for in a man – intelligent, charming, supportive.

It’s only after they’re married that she realizes that he’s controlling, aggressive, paranoid.
And there’s no way out.

Or is there?

Zoe knows she has to escape, but Dan’s found her once before, and she knows he can find her again. But Dan has plans of his own. Plans that don’t necessarily include Zoe.

Be careful who you trust . . .

I really liked this book. It was written very well and had multiple storylines that all eventually tie together for a climax of an ending. Zoe was a very strong main character that was well rounded and had a lot of backstory to her that was revealed piece by piece. Her husband Daniel was most similar to a robot, void of emotion (besides anger). Lizzy was spunky, wild and fun so I liked her a lot and Gabriel….well he was just straight up creepy as f**k.

There was an expectation where I thought the story was going to go and then the author threw me for a loop (which I loved). I found myself glued to my Kindle app reading into all hours of the night because I wanted to know what happened next.

Right up to the very end, I was super anxious for the main character and her struggles. Not knowing what was going to happen to her was like a fire building from a little spark to an intense flame, more and more just kept being added on to her life and you couldn’t predict where she was going to end up.

There were some parts where words were spelled a little differently than normal but I feel like they just might be the English way of spelling them so that was a minor detail.

All in all, this author kept me entertained with my nose glued to my Kindle app so it was a success! I would recommend this to anyone that wants a psychological thriller that will keep you continually guessing.

Book Rating: 4.5/5

You can buy this book on Amazon and find it on Goodreads. What do you think of psychological thrillers? Do you like them/not like them? Let us know in the comments!

Disclaimer: This book was sent to us in ebook format by NetGalley to read and give an honest review.

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by Erik McManus | Breakeven Books

Book Review: In the Dark

New review from Sara Mac hot off the press and available for your reading pleasure. Check out this review as she shares her thoughts on In The Dark by Becca Fox.


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Synopsis: How far would you go to save your family?

Movies and books have made being a monster sound cool.

Lindsay can’t wear silver jewelry or get drunk with her friends, but hey, she sprouts fur and fangs during the full moon. Totally rad, right? Not. Forget about exploring the beast within, Lindsay just wants to graduate from nursing school. When a stroll in the park ends with her and her little brother being surrounded by masked goons who want to sell them overseas, Lindsay has no choice but to change.

Despite her best efforts, these kidnappers know how to handle a werewolf inexperienced in hand-to-paw combat. She regains consciousness hours after the scuffle to find her brother gone. In a panic, she turns to the only werewolf she knows: Wayne, Mr. Werewolf Pride, the guy Lindsay rejected none-too-kindly several years ago. Being the forgiving kind of guy he is, Wayne agrees to help. . .so long as Lindsay joins his pack. Living among others of her kind is the last thing Lindsay wants, but for her brother’s sake, she bites her tongue and agrees.

Lindsay learns a few things while traveling through Europe in search of her brother. One: Being a werewolf can be pretty badass when you know how to use your abilities. Two: Being a freak isn’t so bad when you’re surrounded by other freaks. And three: She might have misjudged Wayne.

When she and Wayne stumble onto the mastermind behind the kidnapping, this werewolf mafia king decides they know too much. Lindsay and Wayne should get out of dodge but, they know that unless this man is stopped, innocent people will die.

In this novel, Lindsay, a young adult werewolf, is kidnapped, along with her brother, her ex-boyfriend, and a few high-profile children. Though Lindsay eventually manages to escape, the rest are taken and flown across the world to be sold as slaves, and she must work with an old acquaintance in order to rescue them all. It is a story about coming to terms with who she is, with some romance, adventure, and action thrown into the mix.

The overall plot of the book was interesting, and the premise, though common, is entertaining enough.

Unfortunately, the book isn’t very detailed, and so often reads like a synopsis of itself. The characters are well developed, but unfortunately, they are developed into cliché, predictable archetypes of themselves. For example, Lindsay, a young werewolf, struggling with the beast inside, torn between loving two men who both aren’t capable of expressing their affections, and uncontrolled anger over saving her brother – well developed, but kind of boring.

I feel like this book is a good first draft of itself. I liked the story well enough to finish it quickly, but I just wanted MORE from it. I would have loved some more unique character development, more detail, and explanations throughout, and a little less predictability in the plot. Maybe I’m just getting pickier, but this book just doesn’t stand up well compared to other novels in the genre.

Book Rating: 3/5

You can find this book on Amazon and Goodreads!

Disclaimer: This book was sent to us in ebook format by the author to read and give an honest review.

Also, we are still pretty excited about it and if you haven’t seen, we are on the Top 100 Book Bloggers list of Canadian Book Bloggers! Check out that post to see all the other brilliant bloggers.


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by Erik McManus | Breakeven Books

Book Review – I’m Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid

I recently finished I’m Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid and man oh man was it ever intense! I was sent this book by Simon and Schuster Canada for winning their Book Club Pick of the Month contest. Now this happened in the summer and I had a huge list of books to go through but I am finally getting to it.

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I read this book on a flight to the great northern city of Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada over the Christmas break to visit my friend Jordan. I had my nose in this book from takeoff to landing on the flight home and was completely engrossed in the intricate web of a masterpiece Iain Reid created.

The story starts with a woman in a car with her boyfriend and they are travelling to his parents house so that she can meet them for the first time. Meanwhile, she is thinking of ending the relationship and a lot of the book is her constant struggle in her head about what to do in this situation since she no longer wants to be in the relationship. They get to the farm and she meets his parents but things seem to be out of place and she starts to notice a lot of things that are “off”. Thus ensues a crazy twisted nightmare of a story that I never expected in the least.

I will be spoiling the ending because holy crap it was crazy. But I will clearly define where the spoiler is so don’t worry. Before that though, I wanted to share the best quote from the book.

You can say anything, you can do anything, but you can’t fake a thought.

This line is so haunting once you know what the ending is. Alright without further ado, spoiler time…

*SPOILER INSERTED HERE, DON’T READ FURTHER IF YOU WANT TO READ THIS BOOK*

So it turned out that this woman was one of multiple personalities inside the boyfriend’s head and she was never real the entire time. When she is thinking of ending it, she is meaning ending his life. After you come to this realization, the entire book becomes so much creepier.

I also never caught it till after but the author just says “a woman” instead of giving the main character a name because she is the one telling the story. It made so much sense at the end but it was a very intense plot twist.

*SPOILER ENDED*

If you wish to read this book, you can find it here: http://www.simonandschuster.ca/books/Im-Thinking-of-Ending-Things/Iain-Reid/9781501103452

Disclaimer: I was not compensated for this review in any way. I chose to write it because I wanted to.