First, I want to announce the uploading of Hellsinger File #241 as a PDF. It is the collection of blog posts from the Duck Duck Ghost Blog Tour! And… best of all…
FREE
You can find the PDF here at this link. And I’ll be adding it to the Hellsinger menu in a few if I haven’t already.
Now onto to other things…
As some of you know… Creature Feature 2 hits in… damn, less than a week! And to celebrate this… really celebrate this, I’m going to do a Giveaway. Of the book. Which I rarely do.
I’m really excited about this book. Because it was a damned fun write with Poppy Dennison. So, I want to really share that with all of you. I do. Here’s an excerpt from the beginning of the book AND if you want to win an ebook of Creature Feature 2, leave a comment below about what is your favourite type of “monster”. Or creature.
‘Cause I like dragons.
Contest ends Sept 26 at 7 pm! Creature Feature 2 is a standalone interwoven pair of novellas combined into one book and available at Dreamspinner Press.
Creature Feature 2. Two Men. One Apocalypse.
Rise of the Revenants by Poppy Dennison
Vampyres are on the loose in Detroit, and novice hunter Taz Cohen is on the job. The mission seems simple: stop the vamps. But Taz knows nothing about the mythical creatures, so he’s in for the fight of his life. Then he meets insanely attractive construction worker Darren Foster, who jumps into the battle with both feet. Sparks and bullets fly as they struggle against the vampyre horde and their attraction to each other. Avoiding gruesome death from the undead might be easier than shielding their hearts from each other.
Legacy of Blood and Death by Rhys Ford
For Javi Navarro, Detroit will become another blood-splattered city in his rearview mirror after he puts its dead back into the ground. Expecting an easy hunting job, Javi instead finds a kiss of ancient vampyres on the hunt for a descendant of their long-dead creator.
Reclusive Ciarnan Mac Gerailt abandoned his family legacy of blood and death magic after it nearly destroyed him. Unfortunately for Ciarnan, the Motor City can only be saved if he resumes his dark arts and joins forces with Javi Navarro, the hunter who brought the vampyre apocalypse—and hope for the future—straight to Ciarnan’s front door.
And without further ado. An Excerpt
Prologue
It was a tiny noise at first. Deliberate. Slow. So very different from the noises they’d heard over the time since their master and his enemy fell. Nothing like the scrabble of rats or the soft tread of a lost pet who’d somehow found its way into the sewers and happened upon their dark, hungry tomb.
Those sounds came with the erratic quick beat of a heart on edge.
These tickle of echoes brought with them showers of dust and crumbling plaster.
And more importantly, the dark, heavy schlub of sweet human blood coursing through strong, vibrant hearts.
It was the promise of nectar and life. The revenants edged closer to one another, crossing through long-held territories in their underground prison. They crawled over the remains of the mages who’d died battling one another—one defending his right to dominate the humans within his grasp while the other came to serve justice and retribution to the man who’d brought Detroit nearly to the brink of ruin.
There’d been many more of their brethren then. Twelve in each kiss and twelve of those—a kiss of kisses but one by one they’d fallen, dying of hunger or under their death-sibling’s teeth when the hunger ate away their control. The battle between life and death magic broke the walls, sealing them all in and in their dying breaths, the mages continued to fight, leaving behind a pocket of ravenous hunters with nothing the slake their thirst besides the occasional stray animal and the remains of the mages themselves.
Divided, the vampyres feasted on the two corpses, absorbing their meat and drawing on the magic from the mages’ flesh. Their hunger changed and they turned on one another, consuming the weaker who’d eaten off of the same body until one long ago day, only a full kiss remained; six for each body—six hungry for the blood of the mage they’d consumed.
Boiled down to their most primal essence, the kiss slept, feeding only when something small came into the death mage’s old quarters until one day, the sounds above them changed—growing louder as the heartbeats came nearer and they woke, gathering to where the swoosh-thump of hot blood resonated through the brick. Packed in tight, their hunger grew to a fevered pitch and the kiss clung to the wall, their nails digging into the crumbling mortar all while on the other side, the sounds echoed and clanged.
Soon after the scent of sweet hot human blood spilled into their tomb, a chunk of brick fell, hitting and bouncing down into the space and a shaft of light broke through the darkness. Scrambling to the ray, the revenants hunkered down, snuggling up as close to the rocky face as they could.
Then waited.
Taz pulled into what looked like a battlefield after all of the armies were gone. Parts of the street were pristine and gleaming, virile spears of prosperity set in the ruins of an embattled city. What gave the area a war zone feel were the herds of abandoned construction trucks corralled in by a couple of weary, battered cop cars. A light wind picked at streamers of yellow and red tape warning pedestrians away from an innocuous brick building set between an ancient department store gleaming with gentrification and a dry laundry business boarded up with plywood announcing their closure and Taz didn’t need a degree in rocket science to know there was another hunter on the prowl.
He recognized the vintage 1970 black Challenger parked in front of the department store, its gleaming sleek body screaming bad-ass and dangerous—much like the hunter who owned it.
Javi Navarro spotted him as soon as Taz parked, bringing his 2014 ebony-fleck Challenger up behind the older car. The Hispanic man waved at Taz to acknowledge him then broke off the conversation he’d been having with one of the cops lounging by a Caterpillar back-hoe. Well built and compact, Navarro was a few inches shorter and leaner than Taz but the weight of being a hunter hung on the man like a cloak. The man hurried down the sidewalk as Taz closed his car door and he tensed, unsure if Navarro was going to greet him or challenge him for being on the scene.
“Hey, Cohen!” Navarro hailed him, a bright white smile breaking over his face. “Man, glad you’re here. This shit is gone to hell in a hand basket woven by a cat who didn’t give a shit. Who called you in?”
“Detective Nuñez. He’s out of main HQ.” Taz shook the hunter’s outstretched hand. “Good to see you, Navarro.”
“Make it Javi. We’re on a job together. Might as well be friendly. Hey, nice car,” Javi whistled as he walked down the length of the new Challenger. “I went old school myself.”
“Yeah, I can see that.” Taz chuckled. “You’re enforcing stereotypes, you know. The whole vintage ride and a hunter. People are going to talk.”
“Shit, who the hell in their right mind would pick an Impala?” The other hunter spat in mock disgust. “They did it for the back seat, swear to God. That Chevy’s rear end is shit, slides all over the place but the back seat is big enough to camp in.”
“Saves on hotel costs,” he replied with a smirk and Javi grinned back.
“Didn’t know you were that cheap you can’t afford even paying by the hour,” the man teased and Taz flipped him off with a playful one-fingered salute. “‘Course if you can’t last an hour—”
“Okay, now you’re just wrong,” Taz protested lightly, falling into step with Navarro as they headed to the front of the building. “Never ever disparage how long a man can last. That’s about as bad as talking shit about his mother.”
“Fair enough.” Javi threw his hands up in quick surrender. “Just saying, sometimes old school is best. But yeah, this thing here? It’s a shit job.”
Don’t forget to leave a comment about your monster or creature and enter to win a copy of Creature Feature 2!
I’ve always enjoyed vampires. There’s something innately romantic about them, despite all the novels and movies portraying them as mindless, vicious, walking blood thirst. I broke my teeth on Dracula and moved right on in to Anne Rice. It’s been a love affair ever since.
Ah, I love Dracula type vampires 😀
I like shifters. But I am not sure if they count as monsters. Ghosts are good too. I guess my favorite monsters (not in books) are the monsters in the movie Monsters v. Aliens. And Cousin It from The Addams Family. And most of Monsters Inc. Hmm, OK, let’s face the truth. I am maybe not a creepy horror monster kind of person usually. I guess I go for the more humorous and/or brightly colored. My least favorite monsters are zombies. I hate zombies. So I would rather read about a vampire apocalypse than a zombie apocalypse.
Good monsters! I like those. We did do vampires here more animalistic but oh, like creatures. *nods* I’m never sure about a monster who keeps losing its bits.
My Favorite Creature or “Monster” I will have to go with the ghost that haunts my house. He is about 6’6′ and wears a long blue duster with a blue cowboy hat. He likes to haunt by turning on the tvs and lamps in the middle of the night. His favorite lamp to turn on is a touch lamp. He also cause loud noises through out the house, slaming doors, cupboards that type of thing, he has called my name a couple of times. Have I mentioned that all of this takes place in the middle of the night?!
Ghosts are always intriguing!
I collect dragons. I love them
I am so inked up with dragons
Definitely dragons! Thanks for the excerpt and contest!!
jen.f {at} mac {dot} com
DEFINITELY dragons
I have always adored dragons–ever since I read Anne McCaffrey’s Dragon of Perth while I was in high school back when dinosaurs roamed the earth. I love shifters too. Do I really have to choose? LOL–yes maybe dragon shifters?
Heh. I have dragons all over me.
I’ve never really thought about this before. I guess something a little bit off the beaten path like gargoyles.
OH I love gargoyles
Dragons! I have always loved them, whether they were scary, mean, noble, adorable or just plain awesome. Gotta agree with Cathy above about Anne McCaffrey’s books. Some of my favorite dragons of all time. Also love them in G.A. Aiken’s and Tamora Pierce’s books.
Heh. Yes. Dragons
While i love almost anything that goes bump in the night, and I adore dragons, and Godzilla is a childhood favorite, I think my absolute favorite are vampires (as in Dracula, not Twilight).
Thank you for compiling File #241 into a pdf for us! I enjoyed your blog tour. 🙂
Gojira!
Talking animals of any type. Although centaurs are cool too. Thanks for the contest and the Hellsinger short.
Centaurs rock
Besides dragons, I like shifters and elves too. It’s hard to have one favorite. Thanks for the contest!
Thank you.
I’ve had a recent thing with gargoyles (no, not THAT kind of thing, though I’ve certainly read THAT kind of story), and I’m pretty certain it’s not going away since I’ve never had a favorite creature before. There’s just something about them that just clicks with me.
I’m so glad a new Creature Feature is coming out because I really enjoyed the first one. Thanks for always being generous, Rhys, and also just all-around awesome!
I do love Gargoyles. And not just because of the cartoon although that rocked 😀
of course i’m addicted to shape shifters, and i have a decent dragon collection (statuary)…but i’m really fascinated by Japanese Yokai, especially Tsukumogami (old objects). i love the seemly random idea that inanimate objects come to life after 100 years and have adventures.
i blame the GeGeGe no Kitarō stories as the start of my love
oooooo that is a good one
Love Dragons – Anne McCaffrey’s books are the best and Michael Whelan’s artwork is superb! I also generally love vampires – JR Ward’s vampires especially. Thanks for the giveaway.
Have you seen the People of Pern book?
Hi. My name is Poppy and I love werewolves. Particularly of the alpha variety. *eyebrow wiggle* I also loved writing Creature Feature 2 with Rhys. <3
Such a dork 😀
I love vampires and shape shifters. Any books with those are on my must reads
*grins*
I am firmly in the dragon camp. But mostly because I don’t consider my 2 biggest faves – shifters and vamps – as “creatures”. They’re people, too! 🙂
I would agree with you on shifters and “regular” vamps. The revenants in Creature Feature 2 are more… gollums I would say. But we called them vampyres because of their blood bonding aspect.
I love most creatures: shifters, vampires, dragons, gargoyles. They all have great aspects.
I also love Kirin.
I’ve always been very partial to dragons myself. Gargoyles and Pegasus are also up the top of my list.
ooooooooo dragons
My fave monsters are the weeping angels in Dr. Who. Super creepy! Don’t blink.
ooooooooooooooo
Always had a fondness for vampires. Long lived,but what they have to do to BE
Long lived, plus the loneliness that they are sometimes written with can be very
moving. Would love to be able to read this different “take” on them!!!
We tried to make them more revenants *nods* But ah, traditional vampires are lovely.
I love gargoyles!
Oh yes.
I’ve had a thing for Vampires since I was a teen. From Dracula to Barnabas Collins to Spike & Angel to the BBD and more. Yep. Vamps.
Oh yes! *grins*
LOL…Ya know…when I typed that I thought it didn’t make sense…then it did…now it doesn’t…BBD should be BDB. D’Oh! I wish there was a edit feature for those of us who can’t spell worth a darn. 😉
Heh… I read BDB 😀
If we’re talking childhood monsters that go bump in the night, I hold the memory of the Chupacabra. My cousins and sister liked to scare me with tales of how it would appear in dark corners and alleys, waiting for a quick meal…like a little girl. It’s a dumb thing, but it scared the beejeezus out of me as a child, so only on that merit, it HAS to be my favorite. Otherwise, creature/monsters? I’m partial to dragons, but I generally love anything that is large, furry, has horns, and is very scary but very misunderstood. For example, Beast/Adam from Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. I totally love his beast/creature form. Then there is Ludo from Labyrinth. Large, hulking, treated like a criminal, but super cute and loving.
Oh god I love Ludo! And well….. dragons are sublime.
I like Creature Feature 1. My favorite monster is a vampire.
vampires are great 😀
Dragons and vampires are good, but I enjoy some of the other creatures, such as griffins and centaurs.
Oh griffins are lovely 😀
Shapeshifters rule .Especially hairy ones. I like anything with lots of body hair.
Heh… so no were-crocs 😀
My favorite creature is definitely a dragon, followed closely by almost every type of shapeshifter.
We have a lot of dragon fans here 😀
Hellhounds! Great big supernatural dogs with giant teeth and killer breath to chase away the other monsters. Its a dog- a really big dog! Whats not to like?!
Ooooo yes 😀
Muppet monsters count, right? Hell, even Grover and the gang are kind of afraid of Frazzle! And there’s Sweetums and…no? Really? Okay. The minotaur has always fascinated me, kind of a tragic soul…
awwwwwwwwwwwwww