Play Dead: Zombies & Unexpected Heroes

Play Dead
Author: Ryan Brown
Hardcover: 344 pages
Publisher: Gallery
First Edition edition (May 4, 2010)
Available from Amazon

Summary: For the first time in Killington High School history, the Jackrabbits football team is one win away from the district championship where it will face its most vicious rival, the Elmwood Heights Badgers. On the way to the game, the Jackrabbits’s bus plunges into a river, killing every player except for bad-boy quarterback Cole Logan who is certain the crash was no accident—given that Cole himself was severely injured in a brutal attack by three ski-masked men earlier that day. Bent on payback, Cole turns to a mysterious fan skilled in black magic to resurrect his teammates.

I received Play Dead as part of the book tour and contest I'm hosting today. Zombies. People either love 'em or hate 'em, depending on the book or movie. I like my zombies with a good dose of humor and suspense. Anyone can write about the undead munching on humans, but it's the creative minds that add a bit more to the mix. Ryan Brown had an idea, and he ran with it, much like a quarterback runs with his beloved football. Play Dead takes the hardcore high school football players, fans, and boosters and poses the question: What will some people do to WIN?

Simon & Schuster quotes Ryan Brown as saying:
"I considered what type of 'monsters' could actually be competitive against the most juiced-up football team I could imagine? Why, zombies of course. I really got excited about the idea of a zombie football team being the good guys...the team to cheer for."

I love that the author starts out with competitive craziness and pranks that go wrong, moves on to the black humor of zombies, then builds to the suspense and horror of a town in danger. I loved the humor, but also appreciated the author making us think about competition and doing anything for the big win. How far is too far?

Mr. Brown threw in some high school romance, teenage angst, abusive parenting, irony and a lesson about "playing God" in our own and other's lives, which made Play Dead much more than a typical zombie story. He attended high school in Texas, which I think really comes through in the book as he describes the town and it's residents in this book.

I really enjoyed Play Dead and would recommend it to fans of Dean Koontz and Stephen King. It's a faced paced thriller with shades of horror. Though the plot involves high school teenagers, the book is pretty gritty, including the language. I would let a mature 16 or 17 year old read the book. They've heard it all at that point in their life as far as language.

THE CONTEST SCOOP
The publisher has graciously allowed me to give away one hardbound copy of Play Dead. As usual, I'll ask a question, and you use your comment to answer the question as your entry. Leave your email if it's not in your profile or blog link. I will pick a random winner on June 1st, 2010 and post it on the blog.

Question: Do you have a favorite zombie book or movie? What is it, or why don't you have one?

Zombieland is my favorite movie because I really need humor to offset the grossness of zombies. They are truly gross!

~Moonsanity

YA Week: Vampires, Witches & Fae

Today is the official start to our first themed week! Young Adult Week will run today through next Sunday. You'll find our YA Contest Extravaganza, interviews, reviews, humor and opinions galore. Let's start out with the contest details.

THE PRIZES:

First Prize:
Bite Me! by Melissa Francis
Blue Bloods by Melissa De La Cruz
Evernight by Claudia Gray
Poison Ink by Christopher Golden
Tantalize by Cynthia Leitich Smith

Second Prize
Cart and Cwidder by Diana Wynne Jones (Book 1)
Drowned Ammet by Diana Wynne Jones (Book 2)
Daughter of the Sea by Berlie Doherty

All of these books are very gently read and will be shipped out by me after the winners are chosen by the Random Number Generator on Monday, April 12th in the morning after I log on to my blog.

THE CONTEST RULES
The rules are fairly simple. Starting today with this introduction post, each comment will be an entry in the contest. The comment must be something more than 2 or 3 words, interacting with each post in some way; opinion, agreement, additions, etc. Each person can comment ONCE on each post. At the end of the week I will assign each comment a number, and pick first from those numbers for the 1st Prize and again for the 2nd Prize.

Example: If you comment once on each post during YA Week, and there are 14 posts, then you'll be entered 14 times.

I'll sort through the comments and delete duplicates, spam, or skip my own comments if I reply to someone. I'll go down the line from today through the week and number all the comments in order. Leave your email if it's not connected to your profile.

That's it! No extra entries, but if you would like to become a follower, or have my blog delivered by email I would appreciate it greatly. When I reach 100 followers I will run a contest for that too:)

Enjoy the week and good luck!

~Moonsanity

Spider's Bite: Review & Giveaway

Spider's Bite
Elemental Assassin Book #1
Author: Jennifer Estep
Mass Market Paperback: 432 pages
Publisher: Pocket
Available at Indie Bound, Powells, Barnes & Noble

Summary: The Elemental Assassin series focuses on Gin Blanco, an assassin codenamed the Spider who can control the elements of Ice and Stone. When she’s not busy killing people and righting wrongs, Gin runs a barbecue restaurant called the Pork Pit in the fictional southern metropolis of Ashland. The city is also home to giants, dwarves, vampires, and elementals – Air, Fire, Ice, and Stone.

I received Spider's Bite from the publisher for review and as part of the blog tour, but I had been reading really good things about the book and the author before that, so I was thrilled to take part. It's the first of the Elemental Assassin series, which is a gritty, urban fantasy with some very interesting elements. First off, the main character, Gin, is a stone elemental, an assassin and a mighty fine cook. Yes, Gin has taken culinary classes at the local college for years, when she's not knocking off bad guys. I loved this aspect of the character, especially in a darker urban fantasy. Here is an example:

...I had two turkey-and-Gouda sandwiches on chewy pumpernickel bread. I added a kosher pickle and a couple of baby carrots to each plate, along with some double chocolate chip cookies. Color and presentation were the key when it came to food preparation.

Now, the contrast between that scene and this one is amazing:

I flicked my wrist, and the sharp point of the screw zipped across the room and sank into her throat, puncturing her windpipe. Ace. Evelyn's scream turned into a whistling wheeze.

Gin is not a sociopath. She has rules that she lives by; she doesn't kill the good guys, she never tortures, even when they deserve it. The cooking makes sense to me. Gin needs something in her life that is normal, plus I think it's a way of comforting not only herself, but the people she loves.

Spider's Bite is not a romance; it's dark and it's gritty with a fairly rough sex scene. I love complex heroines who kick butt, and Gin fits the bill. If you are a fan of Caitlin Kittredge, Marjorie M. Liu or Kelly Gay then you will love Jennifer Estep.

You can read a prequel short story from the author for free here:
http://www.jenniferestep.com/excerpts-short-stories/spiders-bargain/

THE GIVEAWAY
Leave me a comment with an answer to this question: Do you like your urban fantasy where the heroine has a happy relationship by the end of the book, or are you okay with her struggling with romance?

If you don't have an email connected with your Google profile please leave me one in the comments. The contest will end February 28th, 2010 and I'll announce the winner on Monday.

~Moonsanity

Saving Amanda Feral: Snarkiness Reigns

Perhaps you've seen mentions of Amanda around the blogosphere, perhaps not. If you hang around book bloggers, especially on Twitter, you most likely know the King of Snark, Mark Henry. Amanda is Mark's "insane zombie protagonist" from his book Happy Hour of the Damned, which has just been released this week in mass market paperback aka the cheaper version. Mark needs this version of Amanda's story to sell or her fourth book will never be published. Times are tough, and publishers are tougher.

Here is the blurb from Happy Hour of the Damned:

Donuts are deadly. One minute you’re getting your binge on, the next, you’re slipping on the box, cracking your skull, and in the weirdest turn of events, rising as a zombie. That’s just for starters. Now, the recently deceased Amanda Feral is trying to make her way through Seattle’s undead scene with style (mortuary-grade makeup, six inch stilettos, bangin’ Balenciaga handbag) while satisfying a craving for decent vodkatinis and the occasional human flesh—Don’t judge. And no, not like chicken.

Mark explains here (from his website) what the scoop is on his situation:

Lots of people bought and read the book, just not enough to make a dent in my advance, so that zombie chick right there has hit the skids (oddly enough the premise of the 3rd book revolves around a totally crappy lack of funds for poor Amanda), and by skids, I mean that her story might just come to an end with the third book, BATTLE OF THE NETWORK ZOMBIES (coming February 23rd).

You can read an R rated interview with Amanda at Wicked Pixie's blog here. However, don't come crying to me if you are scarred and traumatized by the interview. It's a Reader Beware kind of deal.

The writing and book community is awesome. Authors and bloggers help each other out through encouragement, reviews, contests and sales. We buy, and it supports are favorite authors. There are also some cool contests going on right now to help save Amanda. Check them out:

Mark Henry, the zombie man himself, has a contest for Amanda's second & third book:
http://hagelrat.blogspot.com/2010/02/save-amanda-feral.html
Hurry and Stop by before Monday, February 8th

Emma Petersen has a very cool interview with Mark & a Give-away!
http://emmapetersen.com/blog/
Ends February 7th, so hurry.

Dakota Cassidy is giving away book goodness to help out Mark:
http://www.dakotacassidy.net/?p=497
Visit and enter before February 14th!

Stacia Kane is offering up some cool cover flats:
http://www.staciakane.net/2010/02/02/because-i-love-you/
Visit her before February 16th.

Michelle Bardsley is having an awesome contest to support Mark!
http://blog.michelebardsley.net/?p=1133
Head on over before Monday, February 8th

I bought my copy from B&N, plus it's available from & Powell's and Amazon.. Enjoy the read and help out a great author!

~Moonsanity

Kelly Gay Blog Tour Interview & Contest

I am especially excited today because this is my FIRST Blog Tour and my first Contest! I have a review, interview questions and then a giveaway below.

The Better Part of Darkness
Author: Kelly Gay
Publisher: Pocket Books
Mass Market Paperback, 416 pages

Summary: Divorced mother of one, Charlie Madigan, lives in a world where the beings of heaven and hell exist among us, and they aren't the things of Sunday school lessons and Hallmark figurines. In the years since the Revelation, they've become our co-workers, neighbors, and fellow citizens. When a new off-world drug is released in Underground Atlanta, her daughter is targeted, and her ex-husband makes a fateful bargain to win her back, there's nothing in heaven or earth (or hell for that matter) that Charlie won't do to set things right.

I signed up for Kelly Gay's Blog Tour because her book was urban fantasy and sounded like something I would be interested in. When my copy arrived I set it aside while I finished another book. The night I started it I opened it to the first page, read the first sentence and KNEW I was going to love it. How, you ask? Read this first bit of dialog:

"You told a two-thousand-year-old oracle to prove it".

I was not disappointed because it only got better after that sentence. Charlie, the main character is a kick-butt heroine with a daughter, an ex-husband, and an attitude. One reason I love urban fantasy is that it gives me an outlet of sorts for my frustrations at the world. How many times have you heard of an injustice and wish you could find the responsible party and kick their butt? The Better Part of Darkness is a story about a woman who just wants to do what is right for her, for her daughter, her partner and her city, and she gets to kick ass while doing it. Doing the right thing is never easy, though, especially when supernatural forces are set against you at every turn.

The Better Part of Darkness is an urban fantasy, but I wouldn't consider it a paranormal romance. Now, that's not to say that there aren't some very interesting males in Charlie's world, just the opposite. However, finding a Happily Ever After when you are simply trying to survive and protect your family is not a given. Charlie's world is dark with twists and turns that throw her for a loop when she least expects it. I was on the edge of my seat, never guessing what was going to happen next. What a ride!

I highly recommend The Better Part of Darkness for fans of Vicki Pettersson, Lori Handeland, Rob Thurman, and Jocelynn Drake.

PROBING, YET NIFTY QUESTIONS

Since it's a busy time of year I didn't do a full interview with Kelly, but asked her two questions that had popped into my head. I hope you enjoy her answers.

Kelly, I loved your characters, but I especially liked how you showed Charlie's relationship with her daughter. Were those scenes easier to write because you do have a daughter yourself, or did it make it harder, more emotional, to write them?

Thanks! I think it was definitely easier to write those mother/daughter scenes.This was one area of the book that I felt really comfortable writing. When I was writing those scenes, I was actually eager to dig deep because those types of emotions are ones I know firsthand, ones I can relate to, and ones I can easily envision if I were in Charlie's shoes. There were some strong emotional moments for sure -- one that stands out and I remember getting a little choked up about is when Charlie links hands with the others around Bryn's kitchen table -- but as a writer, I live for that kind of stuff. Those are some my favorite scenes to write.

I see so many possibilities for the men in Charlie's life. Without sharing any spoilers, can you just give us a hint of the possible turn on's, I mean, happiness that could be coming her way?

LOL. I do see some happiness coming Charlie's way . . . eventually. There *cough* might be a few 'turn on's' before that, though. :D There are a few guys in BPOD that could qualify in both areas, and I can tell you that things get a little bit hotter in THE DARKEST EDGE OF DAWN, but I can't give you any hints, other than you'll be surprised. ;-)

Thanks Kelly!

THE AWESOME, BUT SIMPLE GIVE-AWAY
Pocket Books has graciously allowed me to give away TWO copies of The Better Part of Darkness to my readers. Here are the instructions:

1. Leave a witty comment about the book, Kelly or how you feel about urban fantasy. You pick.

2. Follow my blog on the Google Friend Connect thingy.

Both things are mandatory for entry. I'll use the random number picker (yes, that might be it's technical name) to choose the winners on Monday, December 31st, 2009 at 9 a.m. The books will be sent out from the publisher after the winners are chosen. IF you don't have a blog please leave your email in the comment you make.

(US mailing addresses only and no P.O. Boxes please)

Thanks everyone for joining me on my first blog tour:)

~Moonsanity

Christmas Coolness

I realized today that I haven't posted anything at all about Christmas. This is odd since I am a twinkle light lover. My tree is in front of me as I type this with four strands of white lights and ornaments I've had 25 years or longer mixed with handmade ornaments, gold pinecones and golden apples. I love the holiday season. I thought it would be fun to list some cool holiday contests around the book blogging world. (Each link opens a new window.)

The Twelve Blogs of Christmas
From The Neverending Shelf Ends 12/31
Enter Here

A Paranormal Christmas Contest
From Book Bound, Ends 12/24
Join in on the fun with a scramble game-
Enter Here

12 Dayz of Blogmas
From JoJo's Book Corner, Ends 12/23
12 Authors Interview and 12 giveaways!
Enter Here

Twisted Christmas Contest
From The First Novels Club, Ends 12/25
Win Hush, Hush and Fallen!
Enter Here

I'll post more later, but everyone is yelling at me to get out of my pajamas so we can go Christmas shopping!

~Moonsanity

Halloween Goodies For Readers

It's Halloween week, and for fans of Paranormal fiction there are a lot of goodies out there for the taking.

The first one I found today and just finished reading. It's a cool little short story from Christina Dodd. This story takes place after the last Darkness Chosen book, Into the Flame. IF you haven't read all four books you'll want to save the short story until you do because it has spoilers. You can read it here: http://www.christinadodd.com/paranormal_scene_wilder.html

Writerspace is hosting the 2009 Halloween Mash Chat. It's on Wednesday, October 28th from 8 pm to 11 pm Eastern Time in the Writerspace Readers Chat Room. You can register here: http://www.writerspace.com/halloween/. They have authors galore and prizes too!

Kim Harrison is throwing her Annual Halloween Costume Contest! Category winners received a signed cover flat of a Hollows book. Grand prize winner is pulled from the category winners, and will receive a signed ARC of BLACK MAGIC SANCTION. All the details on entering are here: http://www.kimharrison.net/Halloween09.htm Isn't that fun?

VampChix are having a Vamp Bash this week! It's a scavenger hunt with author interviews and prizes through Friday the 30th. Vamp fun for all:) It's here:http://vampchix.blogspot.com/ (I'm multi-tasking and doing their hunt as I type this. *snicker*)

~Moonsanity

Book Giveaways & Contests: Vamps Galore!

There are so many cool give-aways going on in October. Spend a little time going to these blogs and have some fun. Good Luck! (A new window will open for each one.)

If you haven't seen the button or heard about it yet, Bitten by Books is having a 31 Days of Dark Events and it's crazy! Each day they give away multiple prizes to a few bloggers, not just one. You can enter all or some of the daily contests on the blog. It's easy, it's fun and while there head on over to their author interviews. MORE prizes given away on some of those. It will make your head swim! Here is the main page with details: http://bittenbybooks.com/?p=11197

Here are more contests going on around Blog Land:

The Story Siren: The Vampire's Assistant Prize Package. Ends 10/22/2009
http://www.thestorysiren.com/2009/10/cirque-du-freak-vampires-assistant.html

The Book Smuggler: The Vampire's Assistant Prize Package. Also ends 10/23/2009.
Double your chances to win this cool package!
http://thebooksmugglers.com/2009/10/cirque-du-freak-the-vampires-assistant-giveaway.html

Anna's Book Blog: Box O' Books Give way. Ends 10/31/2009
Cool book lot of paranormal fun!

Plus, guess what other giveaway she has? Yep, another Vampire's Assistant package!
http://annavivian.blogspot.com/2009/10/box-o-books-giveaway.html

Fantasy Book Critic: Riyria Revelations book set Ends 10/232/2009
They also have a (go ahead and say it) Vampire's Assistant Giveaway!
http://fantasybookcritic.blogspot.com/2009/10/giveaway-win-3-book-set-of-riyria.html

Last one for today is the first giveaway for Blog With Bite! They are giving away 4 sets of VAMPIRES by Joules Taylor and WEREWOLVES by Jon Izzard. Ends 10/31/2009
http://blogwithbitereviews.blogspot.com/2009/10/contest-with-bite.html

~Moonsanity