GENERATION by William Knight @_William_Knight #Crime #Thriller #AmReading

After three nights lying in a sodden hole without seeing so much as a curious weasel, Hendrix had been tiring of the outdoor life. He longed for a regenerating cup of coffee and a heated discussion with his editor about faked Apollo landings. Such was the way of things. He didn’t mind the odd night roughing it, as it reminded him of the better times in the services, but this went beyond the call of duty.

The so-called Ashburton Wolf began devouring sheep a couple of years back, but this was the first time anyone from the editorial team at Strange Phenomena had investigated it.

Sam was a monster. A cross between a rottweiler and a German shepherd, it looked like a squat, black cow with shark-teeth and a full-moon attitude. It might have been called Sam, but the innocence of its name was an absurd contrast to its spittle-soaked canines and ink-pot eyes. The chain around its neck could have held an ocean liner at full steam ahead.

“Practically a vegetarian, that dog,” said the farmer, “and unless he keeps a key jammed up his arse, he ain’t been out the garden this morning.” Sam was tucking into a hollowed-out thigh bone stuffed with a mix of roasted vegetables and beef stock, not a newborn lamb.

“And how do you explain the blood trail?” Hendrix asked.

The farmer pointed to a brace of rabbits hanging from his belt. Blood oozed from their noses.

“Always blood somewhere in these paddocks. No surprise to me.”

 

A man emerges from the sodden undergrowth, lost, lonely and starving he is mown down by a speeding car on the edge of a remote forest.

Rumours of ghostly apparitions haunt a rural Northumberland community.

A renowned forensic research establishment is troubled by impossible results and unprecedented interference from an influential drug company.

Hendrix 'Aitch' Harrison is a tech-phobic journalist who must link these events together.

Normally side-lined to investigate UFOs and big-beast myths, but thrust into world of cynical corporate motivations, Hendrix is aided by a determined and ambitious entomologist. Together they delve into a grisly world of clinical trials and a viral treatment beyond imagining.

In a chase of escalating dangers, Aitch must battle more than his fear of technology to expose the macabre fate of the drugged victims donated to scientific research.

Buy Now @ Amazon

Genre – Crime, Thriller, Horror

Rating – R-16

More details about the author

Connect with William Knight on Facebook & Twitter

Website http://www.williamknight.info

Meet Lola from #Zombie Days, Campfire Nights by Leah Rhyne #Horror #SciFi #MustRead

One of the best parts of writing/reading a novel has to be meeting the main characters.

Meeting the main characters when writing a novel? What?

I know, but it’s true. Writers bring characters to life, but writing a novel is as much about getting to know your characters as it is about finding their adventure, and let me tell you – they come to life in so many surprising, unexpected ways.

Take Lola, for instance. Poor, sad, beat down Lola. Lola from NOLA.

The poor thing. Getting to know Lola was the hardest part of writing the entirety of the Undead America series for me. She was a tough nut to crack.

The abused child of an extremely poor single mom who brought a slew a different men through the house at any given time, Lola’s a punching bag for her brother, B.J. When we first meet her, she doesn’t even seem to realize it’s a problem. Not really.

I mean, it hurts when he hits her, and she cries when he spills blood, but she really, honestly, truly, deep down believes she deserves it. That he beats her because he cares, and because she’s just so darn frustrating that she just doesn’t deserve to be treated any better.

Readers, bear with me. I know that, if you’re in a healthy relationship, it’s hard to imagine ever feeling like that.

But there are so many women out there who do! They put up with being beaten because it’s all they know! They handle the punches, hide the bruises, and for all intents and purposes come back for more!

Abused women, those stuck in the vicious cycle of beatings and healings and more beatings, break my heart. It kills me to know there are people out there who don’t value themselves enough to know: no one has the right to hit you.

I’ve never been hit. Never even close. One guy threatened. Once. When I told him never to come near my house again or I’d call the cops, he listened…after a while. It took a long time for me to feel confident about going to bed at night, though, let me tell you.

But I’ve often looked back on that moment. What if I hadn’t said what I said? What if he had hit me? What if I’d been to embarrassed/scared/shocked to say anything about it? What if somehow my parents didn’t notice the bruise? What if I stayed with him and let him hit me again?

What if, what if, what if?

These are real, solid, concrete questions, maybe not what you often see in typical zombie fiction. But they’re the questions I thought about when writing it. What would happen to an abused woman if she was caught in the apocalypse? Would she suddenly get tougher? Or would she stay a little mouse, trapped away in a big old hotel, waiting for the next beating.

You’ll have to read the book to find out Lola’s choice. Her life is a nightmare; I can’t imagine it being mine. But knowing her for a while has been eye-opening to me.

Millions died when the zombie plague swept the country. For the survivors, the journey has just begun. Jenna, Sam, and Lola are still alive. Jenna avoids human contact, traveling East Coast backroads with her boyfriend, a dog named Chicken, and a Louisville Slugger. 

Sam escapes to the mountains, where he's conscripted into a zombie-slaying militia sent on nightly raids to kill the undead...and innocent civilians. Lola's imprisoned in the "safety" of a zombie-free New Orleans hotel, but life grows more dangerous when her brother gets bitten by a zombie. Jenna arrives in the French Quarter, lured by the false promises of New Orleans' drunken leader. 

There, she's ripped away from her boyfriend, drugged, and dumped in a death camp after refusing Franklin's sexual advances. Jenna and Lola's lives collide there, where the dead live and the dying are victims of gruesome medical experiments. Escape isn't easy: release the genetically-enhanced zombies from the lab to create a diversion, slip away, and don't get eaten. When Sam arrives, will he join the right side of the battle?

Buy Now @ Amazon

Genre – NA-Horror, Sci-fi

Rating – PG-13

More details about the author

Connect with Leah Rhyne on Facebook & Twitter

Website http://www.leahrhyne.com/