Fantastic YA-Adult Story by Staci Stallings - Whisper If You Have To: A Contemporary Christian Romance

“You ready for this?” Kyle asked when Chad slid into the front seat of the little four-door car. It wasn’t great, but it ran. And it was better than walking. 
“I was born ready.”  Chad shifted his attention to the back. 
“Hey, Brooke.” 
“Hey,” she said, but never really lifted her head. Kyle’s younger sister, Brooke, was never without a book in hand. So close in age, they were more like twins, the two of them were never far out of sight of one another even though they ran in completely different circles. Kyle, the school’s jock premier, was only eleven months and three weeks older than his little sister, and although Brooke’s taste ran more toward choir and books than basketball and baseball games, she never missed a one. 
Chad angled his gaze over his shoulder again as they pulled away from his house. “Are you studying already? School hasn’t even started yet.” 
“Finishing up her summer college credit thing,” Kyle supplied. “She may beat us to graduation.” Lifting his chin, Chad nodded in understanding. 
Kyle glanced across the seat to his friend. “So, senior year…” “Yeah.” Chad took a breath to steady the thought. “Who would’ve thought?”
...It was about five minutes after her mother dropped her off that Alison first had the thought, but it would be a million times after that one that the thought would attack her. Jefferson High was nothing like St. Ann’s. Nothing. 
Jostled in the hallways until she thought her brains would rattle free, Alison diligently worked through her schedule.  Trig, History, Computer something, French. She was in the courtyard at lunchtime, sitting up next to a pillar eating her chicken salad sandwich before she really realized there was no religion on her schedule. Perusing it again, she confirmed the fact with a munch into her sandwich. That would be strange. She’d had religion every single day for four years, and now suddenly it wasn’t anywhere on the list. Her gaze took in her final three classes—Physics, English, and Choir. Besides the Physics part, she was kind of looking forward to the rest of the day. Okay, so she would spend it alone as part of the wall like she had the first part, but at least she liked those classes. 
She let her head fall back onto the hard, scratchy pillar behind her and let the warm sun soak into her. Happy noises that she would never be a part of drifted around her, and she let those soak into her as well. Nobody had to tell her the loneliness this year would hold. She knew it when her dad announced the move back in July, and for all intents and purposes, she had already lived with the loneliness for the better part of five years. 
At that thought she yanked her head up. Dwelling on things that would never change no matter how much she wanted them to did no good. That much she had learned. Move on. Move on, and don’t look back. Pushing to her feet, she crumpled the bag and tossed it into a nearby trashcan. One swipe on her light blue straight skirt, and she yanked her backpack up from its resting place. Onward and upward. At least that’s what she hoped. 
“You headed to English?” Kyle asked, clapping Chad on the back as he leaned over to get a drink in the fountain. He stood to straight, wiping the water that had jumped onto his face. “Yeah. You?” 
“You know it.” Together they started down the hall.  “So, you going to the gym after school?” Chad asked. 
“Na, I figured we’d go to my place. The gym’s going to be a mob scene with all the wanna be’s.” 
“Cool.” Chad followed Kyle into the English classroom and right to the back where he slid into the desk right in front of his friend. “You got much homework?” 
“As little as possible.” The bell rang just as Mrs. Whitman entered. Chad sat up a little straighter. He’d waited three long years to get this teacher. She was the coolest of the cool, not because she goofed off but because she didn’t. However, that didn’t mean Mrs. Whitman’s class was boring. No, instead she was quite famous for her unorthodox teaching style...
“Let’s start over here in the corner. Oh.” She stopped with a jerk when she looked at Alison. Tilting her head, the confusion was evident. 
“And you are?” Alison cleared her throat but it didn’t do much good. “Al… Alison Prescott.” 
The teacher turned her roll around, located the name, and smiled. “Well, Miss Prescott, it’s great to have you aboard. Come on up, and get us started.” 
...Alison ducked her head to keep from staring at the two guys presently standing at the teacher’s desk. The white guy had longish blond-streaked hair that brushed the tops of his dark eyebrows in the front and the top half of his collar in the back. His smile was nice, but what she noticed most was the faded jeans ripped just so and the light blue knit jersey that set off his eyes. Something about them screamed, look how cool I am.
Just in front of him, talking to the teacher, was the black guy, leaning in to sign the roll—obviously a regular in the gym. His arm muscles rippled in perfect proportion down to his long fingers. He seemed as if nothing in the world ever had been or would ever be a problem. In a dark gray “Rock On” T-shirt, he looked the embodiment of cool confidence. The conversation came to an end, and the two made their way back to the back corner...

~~~

With all the turmoil happening in America right now, I found I needed to withdraw and pull away from the chaos coming out about our government at this time...

I scrolled through my options and pulled up a book by Staci Stallings, a Christian writer who I've accepted as a favorite for sharing God's love through her wonderful stories. This time, though, I got much more than solace, a time to watch as God could work in each of our lives...

Whisper If You Have To is

Powerfully Spirit Filled!

Timely For Today's World!

This book, for me, felt as if God had outlined the major issues we need to be reminded of today: racism, depression, pressure to succeed above everything, suicide, money, prayer-communication with God, and teen peer pressure...All that in one unforgettable story that is suitable for young adults and above. The two main characters are teenagers, but the adults and their roles play important parts as well. It is a book I immediately wanted to share with my niece...it's a beautiful love story of two teenagers from different cultures but who, readers begin to realize, are soulmates in the truest sense of the word... I loved this book and add it as a personal favorite for all time...

Alison and Chad met the first day in their English class, where they were immediately swept into a partnership on their first assignment. 

Alison had come from a religious girls-only school; her clothes were so different that, though she tried to be invisible, it didn't work? Who still wore straight skirts and blouses, with the same white sweater over her blouse every day. From the very first moment, Alison had noticed the two friends, one white, one black. After all, just looking at them and seeing the reactions of the others around them, Alison knew they were elite guys, probably even athletes, sure to never look her way... Still, they were soooo cool!

It was clear to Chad that Alice was new to school and was painfully shy in meeting others. Even after being matched for their assignment, Alison kept her head down, with her hair covering her face, until she was forced to deal with him...On the other hand, Alison wasn't about to allow him to know she was practically swooning and couldn't dare look into his eyes without totally embarrassing herself...

And so it began... While this is placed in the romantic genre, I would say that it fits more in family drama because it certainly is not just a "love story." First, neither Alison nor Chad shared anything about their personal lives, afraid to reveal just how different they probably were. It was Chad's friends, Kyle and Brooke, brother and sister, who little by little pulled them into their family life. 

Due to the complexity and interrelationship of the various plots, I've decided not to share much of the actual storyline. I do, want to highlight, however, the very awesome and amazing spiritual warfare scenes this book provides! I was gratified to see them included in a teen book especially to help our young people learn to pray and act on behalf of both their own needs as well as their peers. Kudos to the author for a truly inspiring novel that speaks, well, to the contemporary world in which we live... 

This is a personal favorite selection for me and, in my opinion, I have to call it a Must-Read novel! Buy it for your teenager children and read it yourself...then talk about it! There is soooo much in this book that responds to questions we all have. It's great to have such an excellent model against which a needed discussion could very well begin...


GABixlerReviews

Hillel Damron Presents Picture of a Future Never Before Seen! Fascinating Fantasy--Sex War One!

Quite some time ago, I had to set some priorities because of the volume of requests I receive. e-books lower than paperback. Well, this book is an example of what I've missed for doing that, even if I still need to use it as a guideline. This book, my friends who enjoy SciFi, is....waaaaay cool and I'm sorry I didn't get to it before this...

Sex War One

By Hillel F. Damron

Also by Damron Very Narrow Bridge

And Review of Unidentified Woman

I first read Unidentified Woman by Damron several years ago and then went back to read Very Narrow Bridge which immediately made me a fan of this wonderful author. Now he takes us into science fiction/fantasy of the future that hits readers right from today's world! You see, by the time the world is destroyed by nuclear bombs, there had been recognition of what had occurred on earth... Everything had become so sexualized that it was the driving force of any and every relationship...

Sooooo, why not make it the primary component of the world of the future? 

After all, people didn't connect love with sex anymore. They did it with anybody and everybody... but, hey, they really didn't want the possible consequences of having a child--you know, about whom you then have to go on TV to seek help finding out who the father is in order to pay for support...

Or just turn the child over to your parents to raise since you're too busy out having sex every night...

Or having your child taken from you because you're on drugs...

Ok, I'll quit explaining some of the reasons that by the time the surface of our world has been destroyed, there were some very hard decisions made by, no doubt, scientific professionals who could project the future and create the mechanical processes by which the human race would survive... especially the birthing machine...

Enter the underground life module of what may very well be the last humans on earth.  There are just 40 men and women, plus children who are produced on schedule by a birthing machine process. Also plus the elderly who are sent away from the main functioning area, to wait until they die...

All the residents are genetically created to be similar in looks, though the women have been permitted small breasts... I don't know about you, but 20 Brad Pitts would be too much for me, especially when the 20 female versions are "almost" similar! There is no reason for comparison, jealousy, since all are equal in all ways and the group is governed by discussion and voting. 

They use pleasure machines and are no longer addicted to the sexuality that had help to ruin the world. Since it was now anything and anybody goes, sexually, the bodies' drives are well attended to, while the pleasure machines are used to obtain/drain out necessary bodily fluids from which the birthing machine takes over, analyzing and selecting the best options for the next group of children to be born... There are no known fathers or mothers...the children belong to everybody, and are raised by assigned caretakers...

And then one day the infallible birthing machine allowed a "merge" that resulted in someone "different..." Many called her Monster and wanted her destroyed...

D.L. (all individuals are only known by two initials which have been assigned), the head of the birthing room as well as the council had made a decision at that time. He had saved her and isolated her to ensure her safety...

D.L. halted in the far corner of the yard, in front of a transparent plastic fence. Inside he saw the small, lone shack he had designed and built. He entered the secret combination on the electronic panel by the fence’s gate, known only to him, and it slid open for him. He stepped inside and was just about to turn the light on when he thought the better of it. She was asleep, he realized. And in any case, the light would work against him now. The darkness, he hoped, would work for him.

He sat down on the small but sturdy toy-box he had built for her. She was sleeping peacefully, his Z.Z., lying on the air mattress by the toy-box. She was wearing her thick, crude one-piece nylon dress, the one she almost never took off, other than on those rare occasions when she went to the swimming pool – under D.L.'s supervision only, and when the other colony kids were not around – to wash her body. 

Her breathing was quiet and rhythmic. Her black hair was spread like a fan around her head, as if meant to protect her from bad dreams.

He watched her quietly and remembered. He remembered how the Birth-Machine had spewed her out into the test tubes, together with the other embryos that had been ordered that year. He remembered how the unusual embryonic-compound had caught the attention of the lab inspectors, causing them to call on him. He remembered how he had inspected it further, and – in his position then as Head-Laboratory-Scientist – had reached the conclusion that an unwanted, usually rejected female egg had come somehow to an undetected, undesired union with a male sperm cell. For some strange, unexplained reason, the Birth-Machine’s computer had failed to recognize the deformity of this union,  and therefore had not rejected it, and had gone through with the usual, preliminary steps of matching and preserving. 

Such cases were very common – the majority, in fact – a long time before D.L. had been born, before the dominant humankind, the superior colony-citizen of the present time, had been created, formulated, and fully realized.

His natural instinct, and scientific curiosity, had overcome all other notions and calculations at the time, and he had decided to let this unique embryo stay in the petri dish, and then in the test tube, to see whether it would develop properly and be capable of  sustaining life. Surprisingly, it did quite well. Not only that: it matured earlier and needed only ten colony-months, not the regular twelve, before it was ready to be taken out of the Birth-Machine's incubation tank and breathe on its own. At the time, it had not caused strong objections from the other laboratory workers and scientists, and not even from the colony-citizens at large, when D.L. had decided to let the unusual newborn live...

~~~

Now Z.Z. had grown and D.L. had changed. The citizens noticed, especially one woman who had her own dreams and desires... They saw that D.L. had developed a close personal relationship with the child...some equated it to love, of a parent and/or as a lover, which was now archaic--forbidden??

N.R. had approached the council to have the Monster murdered and kept prodding until she had approval... However, when D.L. agreed to handle it, he took her up to the surface...and left her...which meant that he had no proof that he had really killed her....

K.G., D.L.'s best friend had found, as archivist, a copy of the movie, The Dictator, by Charlie Chaplin. He had noticed a difference with D.L. as well--specifically as now he spent most extra time with Z.Z. as opposed to K.G. or other members of the community. But most of all he had noticed the changes in N.R.

For one, she had fought to have D.L. removed as the council leader and she replaced him...only to start making major changes, such as, decreasing the number of male babies born while increasing the females...

It was at that time that K.G. sought out D.L. to watch The Dictator with him...

and its effect on that small underground was forever changed...

Unfortunately, when N.R. later watched the movie, looking to her future, she didn't realize she was watching a comedy, a farce...and took all of the potential negative things shown to heart!

Soon, K.G. had been murdered... D.L. set up a secret meeting to discuss what to do...

Suddenly, one of them who had not spoken yet – H.C. was his name – asked simply: 
"What is left for us to do then?"
"Fight back!" said J.D. without hesitation, looking up at him pointedly.
"No other way," reiterated D.L. "Either that, or death."
"Death… of what, of whom?" asked H.C. in alarm. 
"Of all of us," said J.D.
"Of our entire sex, probably," qualified D.L.
"What do you mean by that?" asked H.C. again.
D.L. took a moment to consider, looking down at the ashes of his dead friend. They all did that, staring at it for a long moment.
"I mean this is a war now, a war for our survival. A sex war, if you will."
"A sex war?!…" exclaimed A.F.
"That's right," said D.L. "Never happened before in human history, I think."
"Sex war one, then."
"I suppose so."
"Call it what you will," J.D. intervened, a bit impatient with his friends. "All I know 
is, if we don't fight back, she will destroy our way of life here in the colony and annihilate us all without any hesitation."
"Quite the opposite," suggested A.F. "If we don't fight back, she might let us live."
"And what kind of living would that be?" asked D.L. rhetorically.

~~~

Please note that at the end with N.R. in charge, the sexual activities/actions are extremely graphic and violent. Some could be considered laughable if N.R. wasn't so pathetic...

I consider this a definite adult book, not to be read by teenagers without guidance... Damron has created characters and a setting that forces readers directly into the daily actions of that underground world...and once it starts turning, it gets...dirty...

On the other hand, if you, too, are just as concerned as I am about teenagers and children being pulled into sexual issues far too earlier than they should be, then this is a quite an interesting book to provoke much thought. 

Can we live without love, without togetherness, without families? Hillel Damron has placed sufficient emotional angst and shock value in our hands in Sex War One that is so tantalizing to today's truth (of where we are right now and why things changed in this future), that it is quite mind-blowing. Frankly I loved it! Highly recommended and perhaps even a must read for some!

GABixlerReviews

Hillel F. Damron was born in Israel to parents who survived the Holocaust. He was an officer at an elite paratroops unit and was wounded in battle. He studied films at the London Film School and became a film director of TV documentaries, a feature film, and numerous video shorts. In Israel, he was an award-winning author of the Sci-fi novel, "The War of the Sexes," short stories and film reviews. Here in America he has published already two novels in the series of Gideon Gold's Investigations: "Very Narrow Bridge" and "Unidentified Woman," as well as the speculative fiction novel "Sex War One." In 2011, he won Moment Magazine's Memoir Contest with his entry, The Sweet Life, about the kibbutz in Israel where he was born.

To read a longer, more inclusive version of his bio - including detours and escapades - and explore more deeply his writing, visit his literary website: http://hillelbridge.com/

What a Bunch of Bull! Charles C. Anderson Presents Fourth Novel in Farm Series... Just Out!

Forty-six year old Andy Carlson, ex-SEAL, emergency physician, placed his infant son Caleb on his back in the crib in the nursery. He pulled the child's blanket to his chin. His wife Lindsey had sewn "U.S. Navy SEAL" on the blanket. Andy smiled. "You'll get used to the chilly air in this cave, son," he whispered. "If you hear moaning, don't worry about it. It's your Mom. I promised her a wild night."He walked out of the nursery into the Grand Chamber of the Confederate Cave, beneath the Carlson plantation. "Why are you still dressed?" he asked. "A motion detector alarm just went off from the plantation mansion hallway, in front of the spiral staircase," she said, "I don't see anything on the monitors yet." ...Two figures in diver's suits and night vision goggles appeared on the monitor screen and entered the master bedroom. They walked immediately to the armoire at the foot of the bed. They seemed to be whispering to each other..."They keep coming after us," Lindsey said. "You know the drill. Once you get mixed up with the CIA, the KGB, and the Iranians, you're a target the rest of your life. "Looks like a man and a woman," she said...

"I would prefer that the two on the monitor are not Nate and Tory," Lindsey said, shaking her head. "Me too...I think our family has suffered enough for what we did to Nate and Tory's family. Poor Jack and Ava. They can't put Nate and Tory behind them, even after a year."

~~~

Desperate Farm

By Charles C. Anderson

I don't mind telling you that this fourth novel simply blew me away! It surprised me in the direction the author chose to go and tossed me into a world  of young love...among warriors! Sure you'll see the latest activities of the Carlson family, who are constantly being placed in danger due to what they have access to and what knowledge and experience they both personally have.

Readers have watched the family expand when Jack and Ava were born and then watched them fall in love with Nate and Tory, only to lose them... Definitely YAs and Adults will both enjoy! It took me to almost the end of the book to figure out the rhythm I was experiencing as I read. Finally I realized that it was much like Burn Notice, where the main character must stop and explain as a narrator in order to ensure the audience knows what exactly is happening. Then, too, it wasn't hard to picture those main characters fitting right into the life of the Carlson family, don't you think?

If you haven't read Dr. Anderson yet, the above vid will help plus check out my reviews of  The Farm, Nuclear Farm, and Blue Farm. You'll learn about the Carlson's family home, the family, and how they were placed in danger. The Carlson's became a warrior family, and each member of the family, including Ben, work constantly to guard the Farm, the family and their very special underground world... Do bring yourself up to date, because this novel is a very beautiful, exceptional story that will first make you laugh and then cry all the harder later! Be prepared! Because this book is much about a bunch of Bull--Bulls, that is--Elk Bulls!

Jack Carlson's cell phone rang. He picked it up from the coffee table in the common space of the house he shared with his twin sister Ava in Charlottesville, Virginia. The name on the caller ID caused him to choke on the peanuts in his mouth. He coughed and swallowed while his ring tone played a favorite Carrie Underwear song. Why, after more than a year, would she call him?

Carrie Underwear had nearly completed her ring tone when he slid his finger over Answer. "Hello."

"Jack, this is Tory...Jack?"

"Hello."

"Your voice sounds faint," Tory said. "Do you have a minute to talk?"

He looked for something to lean on and chose the couch. Ava  walked into their common space as he slumped to the couch. "Go ahead, Tory."

Ava jumped around the end of the couch onto her knees in front of him. His face was losing color. This was the way he had looked that night...

~~~

Of course, the time planned in the Sparkle Room never happened for the Carlson couple. Once again everybody must go on ALERT! It was still a surprise for Jack, however, to hear his lost love's voice, Tory, on the phone... He was so shocked, he could hardly talk, but was certainly willing to listen. By that time Ava knew who was calling and swiftly pressed the speaker button. Nate and Tory were asking for help of the Carlson family--they had found papers that belonged to their grandfather, and they had to realize just what Alex had been involved with and why everything happened. Jack had cared so much that he was willing to listen, but Ava wasn't the forgiving type. Still, when they sent the papers to their  parents, it was confirmed that the papers were real and that there apparently were more warheads! Andy decided to have Jack and Ava head a team with Nate and Tory to go to another location while he visited the real site in New Mexico... Only thing was, Ava wasn't willing to help along as Nate was around..

Only when her father called her directly and requested her help did she reconsider.But that didn't mean that she wasn't going to make Nate pay... And she knew just how because Andy had suggested they combine their work with Elk hunting so that they could get in place, while waiting for her father to join them...Jack and Ava both loved hunting, but Ava had a special passion for it...you'll see why!

"The Garden of Eden. Pristine wilderness, mountains, meadows, canyons, and ponds. We call it the Elk Farm."
...Ava pulled a latex diaphragm elk call out of her shirt pocket and licked it. She slid the call into the roof of her mouth with her tongue. Her twenty-four inch bugling tube hung by a leather strap around her neck,..She pointed the opposite end of the tube at Jack and Tory.
An incredibly loud, growling bugle erupted from the tube...She grabbed the scrub oak bush and shook it. Peeking through the bush, she could see them running. They were struggling to hold their britches up and keep their heads down...
It was time to reclaim her omnipotence on the mountain...She was still king of Prather Mountain, king of the Elk Farm. Nobody but her even knew who the king was. Each bow hunter who had heard her spent the rest of his hunt looking for a bull big enough, and old enough, and mean enough, and horny enough, to sound like her...

~~~

Ava arrived at the Elk Farm separately, in order to bring her and Jack's gear for the hunt. Then they bought everything Nate and Tory would need. Neither of them knew anything about hunting so they would learn as they hunted.

"That's a glunk," Ava said. "It's a noise a really old bull
makes to announce mis presence. Sounds like a large animal
swallowing something whole. He's saving his best bugle
for later, when he wants to show dominance. Elk bulls have
their own vocabulary. They bugle. They glunk. They grown
and moan. They whine, and they scream...

"I feel like we're lying down on the highway in the dark
and eighteen wheelers are converging on us."
"You'll get over it. It's no accident I brought you here.
This time of year the cows are not quite ripe. These
bulls are getting testy. The dominant bulls are already
collecting cows for their harem...
"Do you know why these bulls are getting frantic, Nate?"
"No."
"They're worried about the same thing you are."
She leaned to his ear and whispered, "No sex any time
soon...
"Think of this as a playground,mostly of adolescent
boys. Each one will beat on his chest, belt out some
challenge, and strut...
"What is that bull doing down there, the one rolling
around in the mud?"
"That's called a wallow...The bull stands in it and
urinates. Then he rolls around in it...A ruttin' bull
wants to stink as much as possible. He wants other
bulls to know he's coming...

"Ava, we need to talk."
"No we don't. You have to earn the right to talk with me in a civil tongue. I'm going to move to several
different locations and bugle several different ways.
Mostly I'll bugle behind bushes large enough to
conceal an elk. Try not to lose me...

At that point, neither Nate nor Tory knew it was mating season...

Ava had told Nate to pick out a bull for himself. She called him Dinky and then began to humiliate him in front of the herd...letting Nate know it was directed at him...

I must admit I was enjoying it so much that I began to feel sorry for Nate! LOL...I hope that makes sense! Finally, Ava went too far and they both suffered for it.

"What can I do to prove that I am your true love?"
Ava's gaze bored through him. "I can't think of
anything that would convince me." Her eyes
settled on the giant elk wallow behind him, the
one the size of a swimming pool. This would be the
ultimate bluff.
"Nate, if you have any true feelings for me, as you
say you do, take off your clothes and get into that
wallow up to your neck.
~~~

It wasn't long before hunting was interrupted.
Andy had been right that they were all being followed and soon they saw SUVs on the way to the farm! Readers will be thrilled to learn what happens when Ava leads the way, using her calls for Elk cows and a very special decoy! And a bunch of stampeding bulls!

But it seemed that no matter where, they learned that Russians had joined with Iranians and they were headed to the Elk Farm, the location in New Mexico, as well as at the Carlson Farm. The amazing thing is the cool way that this small family, this time with Ben and his wife, as well as an 80 year old wild cat hunter,  plus Nate and Tory, draws upon their skills to completely destroy their enemies...BTW, there is a new member of the family, Caleb, who is right there in the midst of what's happening...giggling at his first adventure!

This is an unbelievable series that keeps readers on the edge of their seats as danger circles,

encompasses, and ruthlessly demands extraordinary actions on everybody's part to keep the family alive. Got to say, my favorite addition in this novel was Orvel! He quickly pointed out to Andy and Lindsey not to let his wife know--not about what danger he might get into, but because he'd be around beautiful Lindsey, noting how jealous his wife was! LOL!

Ok, my thought for this particular book...it's a lot of fun, but probably not the best one to start the series with. Yes, it can stand alone, but, really, the family situations, in my opinion, are so predominant that new readers may feel a little lost. On the other hand, anybody who loves a very unusual YA love story and/or elk hunting are going to be the first ones reading and enjoying... Personally, I have a thing for series...I want to start at the beginning... That's MY recommendation! If not, then the previous novel is a good lead in to the relationships between Nate and Ava and Jack and Tory...  

Anybody willing to sink into an Elk wallow for their true love? I'm sure glad I've never been placed in the situation! Enormous fun in the latest by Charles C. Anderson! Enjoy!

GABixlerReviews

I am a retired Naval officer and emergency physician who has spent the last 38 years directing intensive care units, directing emergency departments, or working as a physician in trauma centers or emergency departments. I live on a family plantation which was purchased from King George II in 1743. This plantation has been at the crossroads of American history more than once, and I am the direct descendant of its original owner. My passions are history, reading novels, writing thrillers, visiting battlefields, building historical structures like covered bridges and grist mills, and honing my expertise in both primitive and modern weapons. 

In my first thriller,"The Farm" I utilized my Navy background and exposure to SEALS, my emergency medicine career, my knowledge of the Civil War, my expertise with weapons, and my childhood experiences growing up on a colonial plantation to weave a story of a modern patriot sucked into a nuclear conspiracy.
In my second thriller,"The First To Say No" I called on my years of experience in emergency departments to highlight a little known scandal in American medicine, the rising level of patient violence toward healthcare workers. Were you aware that healthcare workers are twice as likely to be assaulted on the job as police officers? Healthcare assaults account for over 60% of all workplace assaults in America. In this book, emergency department physicians and nurses in an inner-city hospital devise a unique and permanent solution for a local gang that preys on them. All of the evil people in this book were real patients of mine under different names. I didn't invent them. Every event in this book occurred in front of my eyes over 38 years. People who are unaccustomed to seeing evil are sometimes uncomfortable with the choices forced upon victims, especially if the victims are care-givers. Some people believe that care-givers are obligated to be victims.

Weston Kincade's A Life of Death - Sensational YA - Adult Paranormal Novel!

“Every man has a turning point in their life. I would have to say that mine is by far the most interesting story I’ve heard. I don’t know what set the events in motion. It defies all logic, but to this day I attribute it to sixteen days and a research project a lot like yours.”
Jamie let out an exasperated sigh at the reference to school, a sore subject they often argued about.
Alex chuckled with familiarity. “When I was your age, I looked at life a lot like you do. I was a high achiever until I reached high school. But, there was one fateful day that changed my life forever.”
“The day Grandpa died?”
Alex nodded. “I was never the same after that. It started before I even made it to Madessa High School. Life at home fell apart after your grandfather passed. Your grandmother sold the house and moved us into a small trailer park. We stayed there, in Tranquil Heights. She found what work she could, but things were never the same. Before a year had passed, she remarried. For the following three years, I walked to school, passing through town like a stranger. Before your grandfather died, I did everything by the book. I got good grades, did what Dad asked, and things turned bad. With your grandfather gone, I became different, isolated. That went on for years.
By the time I realized something was changing, I had started my last year in high school. “School had become a chore. Each day was the same; hours were spent in classes where I did as little work as possible, and I barely managed to pass. I had a pathetic excuse for a substitute father and didn’t look forward to going home, if you could even call it home. So, I always tried to make that walk from school last forever. It was never long enough. “Each day I stopped by my father’s grave at the old cemetery. At the foot of his grave stood an ancient pine. I often sat under its drooping branches and stared at his gray, unadorned tombstone. Other headstones mentioned time served in the military, like my father’s. At the time, I didn’t understand how something like that deserved to be remembered. It had been his decision, but I hated how much of his time it had stolen from me.”

A Life of Death

By Weston Kinkaid

When his son has a paper to complete for school, Alex tells a strange, mystical tale that captures his attention...just as he now has done for many readers... You'll want to be one of them if you enjoy the paranormal, the spooky, and the unique. Yes, at least for me, I'd not heard of the concept for A Life of Death. It is about a young boy who has begun to "see" the deaths of those from whom he's touched a possession. Why just the death? Read it... 

Alex's father had died and his mother soon remarried...into an abusive environment. Alex was confused, hurt and still grieving, so he wasn't willing to do much to put effort into the family either. He had gained two sisters, both of whom he ignored, at least at the beginning. Still they wanted to walk to school with him, although later he would speed up and leave them... It was while he was walking when the first time happened...

What am I saying?

 I tried to look around, but movement was out of my control. The jumbled words became clear. However, it wasn’t my voice. It was feminine and too proper. There was something else in the tone, too… fear. The same emotion filtered into my thoughts and through my body.

 “Please, Theodore, I didn’t do anything.” Suddenly, I was thrust backward, away from the large house. I slammed into something cold and hard… the iron fence. Pain pierced my thoughts like a lightning bolt. Hands tightened around my throat. My eyes settled on a man less than a foot away. He pulled me back toward him. Something about his chiseled jaw and cheeks looked familiar. Large, rough fingers tightened around my neck, and the middle-aged man slammed me against the gate. Again, pain lanced through my mind.

“The hell you didn’t,” he rasped at arm’s length. His anger engulfed his eyes, lighting them with a fire that could illuminate the night sky. It was an anger I had come to know well over the last three years with the drunk. “I saw you at the Independence party. You were pandering to any man that set eyes on you. You even blew kisses at the Quigley boy, off the veranda.” 

An old family home appeared
with a cast-iron fence. Rounded
 steeples perched atop each post.
 The enclosure guarded the
 majestic house, which had always
 belonged to the Brogand family. 
They were well respected in town,
 and their ancestors were some
 of the original settlers of 
this part of Virginia. 
~~~

“No, I was not,” I whispered, too prim and proper, but my voice quaked with fear. His words brought memories of the night to mind, a party of elite celebrating a country’s newly acquired independence. The styles were archaic, but vivid. It was as though I’d been there that very night. Mr. Quigley was a young man in his early twenties, and he was quite taken with me—no, her. It was difficult to distinguish between the two of us, like when you take some other form in a dream. You almost lose yourself and live within the vision. That has to be what this is––a dream. The memories stitched their way through my thoughts, overwhelming my conclusion and giving her lie away. She’d done everything Theodore claimed––flirted, stolen kisses, and more. “Please don’t do this,” she beseeched him. 

The objection infuriated the man further. His black coat strained against his muscle-bound form, and his arm quivered, tense and strong. I tried to fight back, clutching at his forearm, but it didn’t faze the brute. He was solid as a rock. His rage took hold, and he threw me into the gate, over, and over. My skull rattled at each impact with the unyielding metal 

spires, shattering my thoughts until the world collapsed into the blackest of nights.   * * *  

I stumbled away from the iron-wrought gate. The Brogand manor stood like a silent witness under the sun’s morning rays. The light flew through sparse clouds to illuminate the large home, but something dark lurked in its shadowed corners. The trees still held their multi-colored leaves, each of them preparing to leave on the winds of change. Homeless Bob hadn’t even caught up to me, yet. What the heck was that… a dream? If it was, it was a doozey. I wavered between school and returning to the trailer park. After a few indecisive moments, I picked the least dreadful of the two and proceeded to school. The rest of the way, I stared at the sidewalk, contemplating the vision as I meandered down odd streets that barely registered in my conscious thoughts. Was it a dream, or am I going insane?

~~~

Alex had been walking through a residential area, happened to touch a gate and had seen a young girl being murdered...or, really, for awhile, he had been that girl and she had spoke through him! By the time he had dragged away from the fence and mindlessly walked on to school, he was late, of course and went right into his Coach who was telling him to run laps...

Soon Jessie, a friend, asked about how he was, but it was only when he met Paige, with whom he could talk about his home life, that he shared a little...

A moment later, the only other person I found worth listening to caught up and matched my stride. “Hey, Paige,” I mumbled.

 “Hey, Alex, how are you?” Her gray gym shirt attempted to make her into a drab clone of the rest of us. But if the school had enacted a uniform dress code, it wouldn’t detract from her beauty. Brown curls bounced over her shoulders like ocean waves. She smiled as she fell in step. For brief moments, she turned her honey-brown eyes on me. They were like amber pools, deep enough to drown in.

“Not bad,” I lied. I wanted to tell her about the dream. I was sure she’d see through my fib, like Jessie had. But I still didn’t feel comfortable telling anyone. What if something was wrong with me? 

“Is the drunk still being a Neanderthal?” she asked in a subdued whisper. She liked the characterization. Having only seen him once, the reference was motivated by my stories of his brute behavior and the aftereffects of his tirades that I couldn’t always hide. Paige was the one person I could talk to about my home life. She hadn’t gone through anything like I had, but her caring soul was visible with just a look. 

“Yeah, pretty much. I just ignore him as best I can. One more year and I’m gone.” Paige sent me a pitying look. “How’s your morning?” I asked, trying to steer clear of me as the topic of discussion. I could tell she was concerned, but she humored me. 

“Fine. You missed Trig this morning. Mrs. Easely gave us a quiz.” I shrugged it off. “You think you did well?” “Yeah,” she answered. “What about you. What’ll you do?”

 “Eh… she’ll have me do a make-up, like usual.” 

~~~

Fear took hold, and a
 feminine voice tumbled across
 my lips, pulling my thoughts
 back to the overflowing
 bathroom.
 “No, I tried… I did…
I’m sorry.”
The child gave no sign
 of hearing.
~~~

And when, later, she suggested they work together on an English paper, he was thrilled because he'd wanted to spend more time with her... But then, that's when it happened again... Alex had gone to her home to work on the project and had gone to the bathroom... He bent over to admire and touch the claw-toed tub and immediately knew...

When he returned, he looked pale and Paige noticed so he mentioned the tub and maybe having stomach troubles. But then Paige shared the back story with him and how she hated the tub...

A visible shudder ran through Paige. “It haunts me every night.”

 “What do you mean?” Her answer made me less certain about the truth of the dreams. 

“Aunt Sarah hit her head and drowned in that tub. Why my parents kept it, I don’t know. They said it belonged to my great grandmother and they couldn’t bear to part with it… but each time I step out of it, I still feel dirty.”

 I nodded, knowing the feeling.

 “What caused it?”

 “The police said she probably slipped on the tiles, but I always wondered if it might have been something else.”

                                                                            ~~~

Alex thought more and more about what was happening and realized that what he was seeing was apparently true accounts of the deaths of different people!

So while he and Paige began to work on the paper which would cover the Civil War, a different type of investigation began--who had murdered the people he was seeing die?!! And when they visited the battlefield, he blacked out, having been involved as men died all around him. It was only when a small group told him, "it's not your time." that he realized he was alive...

By now Paige was used to things and sharing in the investigation...as well as working to complete their paper!

Secrets from the past are never easily discovered...and uncovered...but when somebody was right there at the scene, it helps quite a bit! But when terrible things happened at home, that was first priority...and made a connection with the police that moved things much more quickly. Readers get the chance to participate in searching and putting the researched clues together. Although the ending was hard to accept, it fit well into the story and was not unexpected...

Kinkaid's written a fascinating tale that will both share psychic scenes of murders in progress as well as the personal life of a teen within a terrible home life, as he struggles with the death of his father and a completely new family, including an alcoholic, abusive father, while discovering a gift that's he's received that's scaring him more than even his stepfather! The story flows easily and quickly becomes a page-turner as readers are thrown into horrible murder scenes at any time--i.e., when Alex touches something connected to death...

I'm looking forward to the next book in what appears to be a promising long-running series that can't help but have a very successful run. I recommend you get in right at the beginning with A Life of Death!


GABixlerReviews

Official Author Bio:

Weston Kincade is the author and editor of the science-fiction/dark fantasy series Altered Realities, the paranormal coming-of-age mystery A Life of Death, and co-author and editor of Strange Circumstances, a short story anthology about twists of fate. Some of Mr. Kincade's short stories, including "Prison Torment" and "House Al-Amin," have been featured in separate short story anthologies by Thadd Presley Presents. Weston is currently working on the sequels in his series and a few new books. To find out more about Mr. Kincade and his work, visit http://www.kincadefiction.blogspot.com.

Tagline
I'm an editor, author, and writing instructor and can't keep my thoughts to myself. I hope people enjoy them, but at least now they aren't banging around in my head.
Introduction
Editor at http://www.wakeediting.com, author, and writing instructor. I hope to help people through my experiences and writing. I enjoy books, movies, and much more.
Bragging rights
I have a great wife, have written multiple books, wonderfully supportive friends and family, and even a few wonderful fans.

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