by Christopher Kokoski
334 pages / Paranormal Thriller
First Rule Publicity Tour Stop
Summary: In a town besieged by shadowy, demonic forces, a father races against time to save his family.
Thirty-five-year old Landon Paddock has deserted his wife and daughter, abandoned his business, and secluded himself in his late parent’s southern Indiana ranch. But he’s barely lapsed into a drunken coma when a mysterious, winged stranger appears during a violent lightning storm, chasing him out into the maddening night with his estranged 15-year old daughter.
As layer after layer of reality is dissolved by a series of violent encounters, the only way to survive might be for Landon to band together with the family he destroyed to make one last stand against a sinister army of unthinkable magnitude.
Review: My nephew pats his chest and says “scawy, scawy” when something freaks him out. When I started this book my heart was racing and it was SCAWY!!! Tense! Eeeeek! Holy smokes, it pulls you and you go willingly, into the dark room, only to be jumping at noises, shadows and who knows what?! It seems the apocalypse is upon us. Landon, a man whose father had believed in UFOs, keeps second guessing himself when he sees outrageous things lest he follow the same delusions his father did. But with the evidence of evil all around him, angels falling from the skies and demons and dead bodies, he and his family find themselves back together and fighting for their lives. Something happened two years before so Landon has been living in an alcoholic haze away from his wife and daughter.
It reminded me a little of a Christopher Golden book, or The Taking by Dean Koontz. Chilling. The action is intense and keeps you reading so that this book moves quickly. People die, there are angels, demons, satanists and disgusting rat things. And a huge crazy storm. The only thing that gets a little old is that Landon has seen angels, demon rats and ghosts and he keeps saying “what was that thing?” like the new crazy vision/evil thing is so unbelieveable. I don’t know, I hope I am never in this situation, but after a ton of nutty things don’t you start to roll with it? Quit shuttering your mind and go into survival mode already! So, after a while I wasn’t too sympathetic with his difficulties processing the crazy. But then he gets back into the swing of things, so it was good.
The paragraphs are relatively short, so it is easy to keep reading “just one more” until the book flies by before you know it. If you are looking for non-stop paranormal action of the good vs evil variety, look no further. It is horror (paranormal horror?), so there is blood and death and nasty stuff, you lose both good and bad guys, bummer! 4 stars.
Awesome quote describing the evil “camp” – “Clotted arteries of darkness looped and bulged between tents, bonfires bleeding heat over the masses.” (59%)
About the Author: Christopher was born in Kansas, the son of an Army Ranger and Black Hawk pilot. He grew up in Kentucky and Germany, and graduated from Murray State University in 2002 with a degree in Organizational Communication. He spent the next three years laboring over his first book, Past Lives, while getting married to his college sweetheart, having a beautiful daughter, and more or less finding his stride in life.
He currently lives in Southern Indiana and works in Louisville, Kentucky as a national trainer. He has presented at local and national conferences on a wide spectrum of topics including communication, body language, cultural sensitivity and influence. Other notable activities include writing articles, short stories, novels and training materials for national and international audiences.
Christopher continues his passion and dedication to writing by working on additional novels, including a sequel to the Past Lives series. His most recent book is the standalone paranormal thriller, Dark Halo.
Social Media Links
- Author’s Website https://christopherkokoski.wordpress.com/
- Author’s Facebook Page http://www.facebook.com/Ckauthor.com/
- Author’s Twitter https://twitter.com/Eric_Shooter/
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book for review fromFirst Rule Publicity from the author as part of a virtual book tour. I was not compensated nor was I required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
EEEE! This sounds amazing. I love scary and intense reads. The summary is intriguing too. Thanks for suggesting it.
Great review, Elisa 😉 I just dropped by Christopher’s blog and said hello 😀
That is awesome! I need to drop by myself to say hello.
Very cool moody front cover, and the book sounds great too. 🙂