Thursday, June 9, 2016

Special excerpt from supernatural thriller, Marionettes, by Kerry Alan Denney

Welcome, readers.

Today I have a special excerpt from the supernatural thriller, Marionettes, by Kerry Alan Denney.

During his virtual book tour, Kerry will be awarding a $20 Amazon or Barnes and Noble (winner’s choice) gift card to a lucky randomly drawn winner. To be entered for a chance to win, use the form below. To increase your chances of winning, feel free to visit his other tour stops and enter there, too.

A little bit about the author:
Colleagues and readers have dubbed Kerry Alan Denney The Reality Bender. The multiple award-winning author of the paranormal thrillers Dreamweavers (Juju Mojo Publications, August 2015) and Soulsnatcher (Juju Mojo Publications, April 2014), the post-apocalyptic sci-fi/ horror thriller Jagannath (Permuted Press, February 2015), and numerous short stories published online and in anthologies, Kerry blends elements of the supernatural, paranormal, sci-fi, fantasy, and horror in his work: speculative fiction at its wildest and craziest. With joy, malicious glee, and a touch of madness, he writes reality-bending thrillers, even when the voices don’t compel him to. His protagonists are his children, and he loves them as dearly as he despises his antagonists... even when he has to kill them.

On July 24, 2015, Jagannath became a #1 Amazon bestseller. On March 31, 2015, Soulsnatcher won 2nd Place as 2014 Book of the Year in The Drunken Druid’s International Book Award competition. Jagannath and Soulsnatcher each received a rave blurb from New York Times bestselling author James Rollins.

Kerry lives in Stone Mountain, Georgia with his golden retriever Holly Jolly, a veteran professional Therapy Dog, where he is currently writing his next supernatural thriller... and deciding who to kill in it.

Be on the lookout for Kerry’s new post-apocalyptic/ paranormal thriller A Mighty Rolling Thunder, coming December 3, 2016 from Burning Willow Press.

A little bit about Marionettes:
Resuscitated after he drowns and dies in a flood, David Flint discovers he has returned from the other side with an uncanny ability: He can “jump” into people’s bodies and minds, and control their thoughts and actions.

David believes it's a gift, and wants to use it to help people. Then four members of a ruthless drug ring savagely attack his fiancée and leave her in a coma, and David tries to use his new power to destroy the whole ring. But the ringleader, a voodoo priest known as the Zombie Master, is a formidable man with a deadly secret: He has the same incredible ability as David.

When the two human marionette masters clash in a brutal bloody showdown, using the ring’s members as their puppets, David discovers he’s battling for much more than his life—he’s fighting to rid the world of an evil human abomination.

Marionettes illuminates the greatest achievements of the human spirit and the darkest corridors of our minds, and answers the age-old question: What are the consequences of absolute power?


Excerpt from Marionettes:
My head was turned sideways, and I struggled to push myself into a sitting position only to find another sadistic little swordsman was trying to slice his way out of my gut.

“Let me adjust your bed. Take your time, sweetie,” the angel said. She used the bed’s controls to raise it so I could sit up.

The combination of the brutal swordsman in my gut, the vicious little bastards in my throat, and jackhammer-man in my head made me want out of this bad dream. That’s when things got mega-weird: I found myself inexplicably staring down at… me. My face was slack, my features drooping, and my open eyes looked empty and barely aware.

It scared the hell out of me, dream or not.

I saw the angel’s delicate hands gently adjust my shoulders and brush strands of my long dark hair out of my eyes from her perspective, as though her hands were mine.

I’m Cynthia, a nurse, I realized. I have two kids—Johnny and Leah—and a doting husband named Paul who is a wonderful father to our children. I want more than ever to help my patient, David Flint—the subject of much gossip among the second floor nursing staff—to be well and whole again.

“Little pieces, David,” Cynthia said, feeding ice chips from a spoon to the bedridden zombie who looked like me. I worried about the slack look on my face. “Let them melt in your mouth.”

Cynthia knew about Karin’s tragic death, and felt sorry for me at the same time that she felt hopeful for my continued recovery. This screwed with my mind, and because pity is something I can’t tolerate, I found myself jerked out of Cynthia’s perspective and back into my own.

I felt the cool, soothing comfort of the melting ice slide down my throat and wash away some of the little swordsmen. Take that, you bastards. But the pleasant sensation triggered a darker, nasty memory of brackish waters involuntarily swallowed recently.

My body shook with spasms as the memory rose to the surface of my mind and hit me like a sledgehammer blow crushing my skull. The surrounding dark waters engulfed me, and I panicked.

“Can’t… breathe,” I rasped, grabbing Cynthia’s arm. “Save me.”

“Oh honey, you’re remembering, aren’t you?” Cynthia took my hand and set the cup of ice chips on the rotating bedside table.

“Drowning,” I croaked, squeezing her hand. “Save me.”

“No, David, you’re not drowning. You’re in the hospital, safe and alive, and I’m right here with you.”

“Don’t leave me.”

“I’m not going anywhere.”

I looked up into her kind eyes, and saw worry etch lines in her brow. I suddenly remembered the razor-sharp chunk of glass penetrating my gut as I submerged beneath dark waters, unable to stay afloat any longer. That was when I gave in to the merciless deluge, seeing Karin’s face before me as I drowned.


Links:


Dreamweavers on Amazon | Jagannath on Amazon | Soulsnatcher on Amazon

Kerry’s short stories:



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10 comments:

Goddess Fish Promotions said...

Thanks for hosting!

Mai T. said...

If you weren’t a writer and could choose any job, profession, or career, what would you do and why?

Peggy Hyndman said...

Do you write every day? Do you have a word goal for each day you write?

Marcy Meyer said...

Interesting story. Enjoyed the blurb and excerpt.

Victoria Alexander said...

Can't wait to read this one! Thanks for sharing :)

James Robert said...

Awesome giveaway and I am appreciative of you giving us the chance to win

MomJane said...

Fascinating and interesting excerpt.

Kerry said...

Thanks Lisa for hosting me and MARIONETTES today!

Unknown said...

thanks for the chance to win :)

Kerry said...

Thanks Mai T., Peggy, Marcy, Victoria, James, MomJane, and Lisa.

Mai, "If I weren't a writer" doesn't really apply, because I am what I am: a writer. However, if you mean if I COULDN'T be a writer what would I be, here is my answer:

I would be a quantum physicist so I could invent an Inter-dimensional Teleportation Chamber so I could teleport myself to an alternate universe where I CAN be a writer. :)

Peggy, generally yes, I do write every day. However, I have to take a break once in a while! I love taking my Golden Retriever Holly Jolly — who is a professional Therapy Dog — to the park to hike and play tennis ball fetch when my brain is overloaded with too much writing and story creating. Plus, about 50% of my writing time is spent editing my work, which I consider of major importance for ANY writer.

I set more of a “time” goal for my writing than a word count: To me, it’s more important to capture the scene, drama, story arc, and current action properly and in an irresistibly captivating way that makes my readers compelled to keep on reading than it is to achieve a set number of words. No matter how many words we writers write, they MUST develop the plot and characters and move the story forward at all times, with no superfluous action or drama. I believe that too many writers focus too much on quantity rather than quality. I always focus on quality versus quantity: the story must come out of my head and onto the “pages” in a compelling way that engulfs the reader in my stories, and “puts” them right into the action as if they’re experiencing it themselves.

I hope everyone will pick up a copy of MARIONETTES, and happy reading to all!