Tuesday, July 14, 2015

END OF MERCY is Finally Here!


The third book in The Mercy Series is available today. It will be my first three-book series, and to say this is a milestone for me is nothing but unbelievable, shout-it-out-loud, hot-cross amazingbuns. Like all the stories I've written, I'm very proud of this book, and I can't wait for others to finally see it.

Anyway, I wanted to share this milestone with the readers I've come to know through all my crazy book adventures. Thank you, all, for making a life-long dream a reality.

Happy Reading!!!

Wednesday, June 24, 2015

END OF MERCY is Coming!!

For those of you who haven't seen the cover of the book, here it is!

End of Mercy is officially up for pre-order at Amazon.  The release date is July 14th, and I'm excited! My goal is to get it up for pre-order at the other retailers too, but that might be later this week. Anyway, here is a short excerpt from the book:

“Come in.”  The two words were short and impatient, and I didn’t have confidence she would be glad to see me again.  Regardless, he twisted the knob and stepped inside and I followed, dragging my feet the whole way.
It took me a minute to spot her by the large, picture window.  I hadn’t really noticed it last time I was here because curtains clearly covered it usually, but she had them pulled back currently and was sitting on the narrow ledge, staring down to the area below.  I didn’t know at what she might be looking, but that window faced the inner walls of the square the hospital formed.  Whatever was down there, was inside the facility.
She didn’t even turn around as she addressed us.  “So close to the endgame.  We can’t stop now.  Am I right?”
Ben didn’t acknowledge her rambling.  Instead, he gripped my arm again and said, “I found Charlie in the third floor test subject corridor.  She had a key…she knows who’s in there.”
            Dr. Drake’s breath released heavily and created a moisture cloud on the window in front of her.  I watched it fade as she explained, “It was bound to happen sometime.  Kind of surprised it took her so long.”

More to Come!

Happy Reading!

C. C. 

Saturday, May 30, 2015

Looks Like A Great Read and There's a Giveaway!

Jack Templar and the Lord of the Demons (The Templar Chronicles #5). With two of the Jerusalem Stones in hand, Jack and his friends must race the clock to find the remaining Stones as Ren Lucre's Creach forces gather strength. With two of their group now with Creach blood flowing in their veins, the team will be tested as never before. They must unite together if they have any hope of surviving their journey to the Underworld and their battle with the vicious Lord of the Demons. The fate of the entire world hangs in the balance.
Pre-order Your Copy Now!
Amazon

Author Jeff Gunhus Jeff Gunhus is the author of the Amazon bestselling supernatural thriller, Night Chill, and the Middle Grade/YA series, The Templar Chronicles. The first book of the series, Jack Templar Monster Hunter, was written in an effort to get his reluctant reader eleven-year old son excited about reading. It worked and a new series was born. His book Reaching Your Reluctant Reader has helped hundreds of parents create avid readers. Killer Within is his second novel for adults. As a father of five, he and his wife Nicole spend most of their time chasing kids and taking advantage of living in the great state of Maryland. In rare moments of quiet, he can be found in the back of the City Dock Cafe in Annapolis working on his next novel. If you see him there, sit down and have a cup of coffee with him. You just might end up in his next novel.
Website * Twitter * Facebook

  $25 Cover Reveal Giveaway $25 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash Ends 6/15/15 Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader and sponsored by the author. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.    a Rafflecopter giveaway

Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Places I'll Be This Year--Come Say Hi!

Sweet, sweet potatoes and peas, I'm going to be on the road some this year.  And it will be a fab-tabulous time to meet the readers who make my day on a regular basis with e-mails, Facebook LIKE's, Tweets, and all the other ways they reach out.

I'm not going too far from home this time around, but if you're anywhere near these places, feel free to stop by my table and say hey:

Lori Foster's Reader Author Get Together is an event where readers and authors can...well...get together and talk books, books, and more books. I'll have a table set up where I'll sign books June 5, 3:00-5:00 P.M.

Crikettes Bookshelf and Kickback and Relax Book Reviews Blog is hosting the first annual River City Book Bash in Cincinnati, Ohio. Date is set for July 25th, 2015. I'll be signing multiple books from 12:00 to 3:00.

Book signing with multiple authors at The Louisville Palace Theater on Saturday, September 19, 2015 from 10:00 A.M. to 7:00 P.M.

Hope I get the chance to meet some of you in person.

Happy Reading and Writing,

C. C.

Thursday, January 22, 2015

Sneaky Peeky of End of Mercy

Making progress peeps!  Here's one of my fave parts so far and a hint about a big risk I'm taking with this book.  Keep in mind, this is completely un-edited, so don't hold it against me!:

“These skinny mongrels are the forest firebugs?”  I looked into the hard, coal-black eyes of the man in front of me and knew he was the one in charge of all this.  He had short, brown hair that sat perfectly on his head.  His clothes were clean and his face shaven.  This was the face of the organization.  This was their Jonas, and I hated him on sight.
“We found them trying to steal one of the trucks, Harold.”
Harold stared in silence for a while before asking, “What should we do with them?”
Since no one answered, I figured he was thinking out loud.  Right now, I was watching his every move and picking up on the dynamics of the group.  The two guards were following orders and trying to impress Harold, but if he were as smart as I thought he was, we’d be able to deal with him.
“Names?”
I responded though it made my insides itch to do it, “I’m Thomas.  He’s Peter.”
“Where did you two come from?”
Peter spoke through gritted teeth, “Ain’t going to tell you.”
His reaction was a little dramatic, but I could use it.  “Come on, Pete.  These guys are obviously smart.  They’ll get the information out of us one way or another.  Might as well play along.”
True to his role, Peter looked at me like I’d lost my mind.  By now though, he knew me well enough to know I was working to get the upper hand.  “You’re just going to tell them?”
“What’s it hurt for them to know?”  I sighed loudly.  “We were in a school building over that ridge.  There are still some people there, and they need medical attention.  We were only going to borrow the truck to get them to Mercy.  We planned to bring it back.  I swear.”
Harold nodded.  I could see the plots developing in his eyes.  “You’d be better off letting them to die than taking them to Mercy.  That place is a deathtrap.”
“We can’t just leave them.  They need help.”
“I’ll send a group out to locate them and transport them here.  We’ll take care of all of you.”
I knew just how he planned to take care of us.  He’d use everyone he found and us for his little operation here.  I’d given him exactly what he’d needed—more bait—and he’d given Peter and me a stay of execution…at least for a little while.
“Take them inside.  Put them in the room above the stairs.  Once their people are here, we’ll get everything settled.”
As the two guards pushed us toward the side door of the warehouse, Harold walked off in another direction.  Going to send some of his men out to find the non-existent people holed up in a non-existent school, giving Peter and me an advantage.
Peter whispered to me low, “Hope you know what you’re doing.”
I wanted to reassure him, but I also needed to keep things real.  “Me too, dude.  We might need a little luck to get out of this completely, but I think I bought us some time.”
The room at the top of the stairs was barely bigger than a closet.  Some kind of office at one time, it had windows on all but one of the four walls, but they’d been blacked out with paint.  That meant we’d have trouble keeping an eye on those below us, which I intended to do.  The minute we got an opportunity, we were taking it.  We’d get the truck and get out of here.  I was determined, and often that’s all it took.  A little sweat equity went a long way.  At least that’s what my father used to tell me.  I just hoped he was still on our side when we got back.  Just hoped the community was still standing by the time we were finally out of this mess.
They’d left us tied up, our hands behind our backs, but this world was full of sharp edges.  You just had to know where to look.  Sure enough, a filing cabinet in the corner was dented pretty badly—to the point that a jagged edge stood out from the rest.
I signaled with a few nods of my head in its direction.  “There’s how we’ll get these damn ropes off.”
A little time and effort later and my hands were free.  It took a little longer for Peter, but to give him credit, you had to stand at an awkward angle, backwards to reach the edge.  Not to mention how many times I scraped my wrists instead of the ropes against that same edge.  But we were free from that nuisance, and I felt a feral smile form on my lips.  This could be simpler than I’d expected.  These people weren’t exactly criminal masterminds.  Just survivors like the rest of us, but they didn’t have a mission they couldn’t fail at, like I did.  For my goal, I was willing to do whatever it took, whether I had to fight one man or a thousand, I had no other option but to achieve my aim.  Too many were counting on me.  Charlie was counting on me.
I approached the window that faced the large open area of the warehouse below this office and scratched at the paint on the window until I had cleared a small spot I could see through.  It remained slightly blurred, but beneath us, I could see three men standing in a tight circle, talking to each other.  They seemed to be the only ones in the whole place.
After a few minutes, their heads turned in unison, as if they’d all heard something at the same time.  With no more hesitation, they all rushed toward the door to the outside.
“Now’s our chance.  Come on.”  I motioned to Peter and was at the door in three strides, but paused as the handle began to jiggle from someone on the other side of it.
I held my hand up and stepped to the side, motioning for Peter to do the same, so that when the door opened, we’d be hidden behind the door.  I grabbed an object from the nearby desk, barely looking at the hard, plastic stapler, but gripping it tight in my fist, ready to use it as a makeshift weapon, though I knew it would do very little damage, but it might slow down whoever was coming through that door long enough to push them out of the way and run.
The lock clicked and the doorknob turned.  I raised the pitiful stapler above my head, ready to crash it down or throw it directly at the person on the other side of the door.  Yet, the minute I saw the owl-eyed face searching the room, I lowered my improvised weapon and stepped out, curious to see the kid from the truck standing just inside the doorframe.
His gaze finally landed on me, and a determined look covered his features.  “We don’t have much time.”
Though the statement was meant to prod us into action, it had just the opposite effect.  Peter eased up beside me, his face a study in confusion, the way I thought I probably looked as well.
Peter spoke first, “What do you mean?  Time for what?”
“To get out of here.  They’ll be back soon.”
To be perfectly honest, I didn’t know if I could trust this runt any further than I could throw him, but I asked, “You’re willing to help us?”
“I’ll help you if you’ll help me.”
Always a catch.  “We aren’t leaving without the truck.”
He pulled something from his pocket and jangled it in the air.  A grin stretched across his face.  “Now, will you help me?”
“What do you need us to do?”  Peter asked.
He pursed his lips tightly as if holding back bad news, but his eyes hardened again as if he’d crossed a line and could never go back.  “I need help getting my brother free, and then I need you to take us with you.”
I stared at him thoughtfully.  We didn’t need two more bodies slowing us down, but he showed himself to be useful twice now.  Once in giving us a chance to escape and the other in getting the keys to the truck.
“What’s your name, kid?”
“People call me Snap.”
Peter’s face screwed up tight.  “What kind of name is that?”
He jangled the keys again.  “They call me that because I can get things others can’t, and I can do it quickly.”
Satisfied, I nodded.  “Well, I’m Thomas and this is Peter.  Lead the way, Snap.  Let’s go find your brother.”


Hope you enjoyed!  Happy reading!

C. C.