NOS4A2

"Do you believe in a place called Christmasland??

What would YOU do for a lifetime pass to a place where every morning is Christmas Morning and unhappiness is against the law? 

Don't give up on wonder!

Don't give up on your dreams!

We're looking for Go-Getters who LOVE children and aren't afraid of adventure! Inquire about Special opportunities for our Security department. 

This isn't just a job...

It's a LIFE!

Christmasland is waiting for YOU!"

This was the ad that he couldn't wait to reply to and was hoping that this would literally change his life. Bing Partridge believed in something much more something just like this that would show people around him that he really was cut out for so much more than simply working for the last 18 years as a Janitorial Manager at NorChemPharm in Sugar Creek, Pennsylvania. All he simply needed now was a response to his letter of application to the 1949 advertisement in Spicy Menace.

Victoria McQueen or Brat as her father lovingly referred to her is about to discover something very special about her latest birthday present, a blue Raleight Tuff Burner bicycle. When she overhears a heated argument between her parents over the loss of her mother's diamond bracelet. She leaves the house, taking her bicycle out for a spin thinking all the time about how if she could just find the bracelet, it would end the fight between her parents. She soon learns that she has a special ability to time travel on her bicycle via the Shorter Way Bridge to find items that are lost. The Shorter Way bridge was a covered bridge that was seventy years old, three hundred feet long, and beginning to sag in the middle. When someone tried to drive his car across it, he went right through and brought down most of the bridge with him. What was left was demoed and it was that bridge that only appeared to Victoria when she rode her bicycle to look for lost things. When she decides to go looking for trouble one day, she finds Charlie Manx.

Charlie Manx was the only person who could take children to Christmasland. He saw himself as a bit of a savior rescuing children who he believed were unhappy and abused by their neglectful parents. He has taken over 200 children there including his own two daughters when he believed his wife was an unfit mother. Now Charlie spends his time looking for children to take to Christmasland in his 1938 Rolls Royce Wraith with the license plates NOS4A2. Victoria McQueen was the only child who he was never able to take to Christmasland and now he will stop at nothing to find her and make her pay. He lucks out when after all his years of trying to find her, he locates her son and soon learns that love makes for a very strong bait to lure Victoria to Christmasland after all.

In the horror novel, NOS4A2 by Joe Hill, the reader is definitely taken on one nightmarish adrenaline pumping ride. This is a hefty novel coming in at almost 700 pages in length. I must warn readers that this contains graphic sexual content, profanity, vulgarity and violence. The storyline is simply one I have never read before and literally had me wondering just how this would end. I didn't catch the vanity plate reference until I was more than half way through the novel and it makes complete sense when you consider it. I did find all the sexual references and profanity to be distracting and wanted to make sure I read this in its entirety to provide a fair review.

I received NOS4A2 by Joe Hill compliments of William Morrow, a division of Harper Collins Publishers for my honest review and have received no compensation to provide a fair evaluation. Based on my personal rating system, I'd have to give this a 3 out of 5 stars. Had the book removed the graphic sexual references, profanity and violence, I would have rated this story much higher based on the premise behind the novel. This is definitely not for the squeamish and is geared for those readers who love the Horror/Suspense Thriller genre. Considering who his father is, Stephen King, I had expected to read more horror and suspense content without all the extras to distract me from the meat of the story.

For more information about NOS4A2, Joe Hill or where to pre-order a copy of this book today, please click on the links below:

NOS4A2 by Joe Hill

You can also find Joe Hill on Facebook to stay up to date on all his latest novels.

Something Stirs

When the beginning page of a book begins with a warning not to read this book at night, one has to wonder just what they have gotten themselves into.

"Something Stirs is not a book to be read at night, or a novel for easily frightened people. Because Something Stirs delves into a kind of evil that actually exists, it makes the novel that much more compelling. " (excerpt from Michelle Sutton's review).

Yet as a reminder, I kept telling myself that this is a Christian book, so I must press on. It's been quite some time since I got the creepy feeling that I just might have to have a second look before heading into a dark room before turning on the lights and proceeded to dive in with caution on my side. I mean, if it got too scary I could always sleep with lights on or just stop til morning right?

Well after an hour and a half, I was well into the book with suspense happening at virtually every single page. At the half way point, I was hooked and simply had to know what would happen next. YES, it is that good!

Even though the housing industry was in a slump it didn't mean that houses could be built with the hopes of selling it to a new prospective owner and half way through completion is where our story gets interesting. After the construction company leaves for the day, four teens head to the empty house on top of the hill known as Grants Ridge, overlooking the town of Pike's Crossing. They want to create what is known as an occult circle or club. A place where they can give each other the creeps like through seances or telling scary stories. Rodney Hardwick is the leader of the four teens and he has other plans. Plans to use an ancient spell book he's come across to call forth an entity to serve them to right the wrongs in all their lives.

However one of the girls, Robin, felt this was getting way out of hand when she saw the pentagram on the floor and the candles at each of the points. She feared this went beyond spooky and into downright evil. She decides to leave even after being teased that she is just a baby. However Rodney, Myra and Kenny decide to stay. Just as the spell is about to be completed, a local deputy spots the lights in the house and the kids flee, but not before trapping an evil presence within the walls of the house. All it will need is to be free is to gain more blood until it gains more power to find a host to unleash the greatest horror on mankind. So for now, it waits. It waits for the Chalmers family to move in completely unaware of the horror that awaits them inside.

I received Something Stirs by Thomas Smith compliments of Christian Fiction Book Reviews for my honest opinion and can honestly say IT'S THAT GOOD. 5 out of 5 spell-binding stars for this one to keep me trying to decide if sleep was really all that important before finishing the book. I kept inhaling chapter after chapter, telling myself, I would stop at the next one, but it kept pulling at me to read on. Needless to say I finished it after a delightful 3 hours. It will keep you listening for things that go bump in the night and to wonder how that cabinet door opened by itself after all, but the best part is the authors message that only the love of God and the redemption of Jesus' can defeat evil. Not anything we can wage war on our own but simply the submission of letting Him work through us gets us through the worst of our storms. I can't wait to read more from Thomas Smith in the very near future.

For more information on this book, the author, listen to an audio clip of the prologue, or where to purchase a copy of this book, please click on the links below:

Something Stirs by Thomas Smith

Voice

Sometimes we stand at the crossroads at a point in our life wondering which direction we should take. We all want the very best in our lives and sometimes we often have to ask the question, just how far are you willing to go to get what you want?

John Tsiboukas has been trying to get his rock band, Ragman, to be all that he dreams it can be, even if some of those dreams turn into the most horrifying nightmares possible. The only problem with the band is that John can't sing. He's even managed to replace his lead guitar player with Stephanie Case whose stage presence alone makes the band popular, besides her amazing ability to play and the fact that most of the men who come to see her want to go out with her. Only John believes he can be great if only he could find a way to sing and his voice lessons don't seem to be helping him improve at all except to make his vocal coach a whole lot richer by taking his money.

A dark stranger appears one night at a concert which one more confirms that if John can't find a way to sing, they will soon find someone who can. He meets with John outside the college and offers him a ride. Sensing danger but also an overwhelming curiosity, he goes along. Not sure where they are headed, the stranger lets him out at a dark stretch of road and tells him that he can go no further, John must go alone from here.

When John crests the hill, he sees an old dead tree by a road and it appears to be much darker here than it should be. When a man appears and asks John want he wants most in life, he tells him to be able to use his voice to draw people to him, for fame and riches beyond anyone could imagine.

After that encounter, John changes, a darkness now settles over him but the most astonishing thing happens at their next concert. John can sing, and he can sing really well. After a series of concerts, it appears that the band is headed for success. But when things begin to happen once John begins to sing, the band finds out that the price for stardom might be higher than any of them could have ever imagined. Now people are winding up dead!

In the latest novel Voice by Joseph Garraty, we get a look at what happens when something appears to be too good to be true and a deal with the devil is made. This book is a twisted tale on what happens when a desire is taken too far and evil is unleashed.

I received this book compliments of Joseph Garrarty and Pump Up Your Book Tours for my honest review. The story line is great and definitely keeps the suspense and thrills going to the end. Definitely on the creepy side. My warning for some of my readers is that it does contain a fair amount of profanity and some sexual content that would likely be found in a rock band scene, so it may not be suited for everyone. Those that enjoy a bit darker suspense thriller will be in for a ride when they pick this book up. I rate it a 3 of out 5 stars due to my rating scale for content.

For more information on this book, the author and where to pick up a copy of this book, please click on the links below:

Voice by Joseph Garraty