Kimberly Raiser Provides A Delightful Snack of Horror...

A Pound of Flesh
An e-chap




By Kimberly Raiser












Kimberly Raiser has a talent for quickly pulling readers into a scene of horror that instantly merges you and the main character in mutual despair. In this case you never even know her name. But you do know her terror...

A young woman has been abducted and taken to an old building where she is sprayed down with water, stripped and left to dry, while lying on a table. While she begs for release, her captor never says a word. When she awakes, she sees a man with a needle and he plunges it in deeply, noting that these bargains are not taken lightly.

Ever willing to bargain with the devil? This fast-paced short story will surely drive that idea completely out of your mind!

Great tension and suspense-building... Horror lovers will thoroughly enjoy this snack!

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Dakota Banks Shares Mythology Behind Mortal Path Series!

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The idea for the Mortal Path series originated with the looting of the National Museum of Iraq for three days in April 2003, but I didn't begin researching and writing it until years later.







Thousands of irreplaceable treasures from some of the oldest civilizations were lost in the museum looting. These losses were heartbreaking to me because of my interest in archaeology and specifically in Sumer (roughly 5,400 BCE to 1,800 BCE), during which so many inventions arose: written communication, a number system, timekeeping with hours and seconds, the first wheeled vehicles, the calendar, metallurgy, and the kiln, to mention some.

Ancient Sumer is present-day Iraq. Seeing photos of lost or smashed treasures that had survived five millennia generated ideas of other things that could have survived from that time.

Sumerians believed their gods came from outer space about 450,000 years ago. Eventually the major gods got around to creating humans as their servants when the lesser gods and demons refused to do the dreary work of maintaining a world. The gods all left Earth to return to space 12,500 years ago.

This creation myth correlates with today's search for Planet X, also known as Nibiru, the supposed home planet of those gods. This is a huge topic with many mind-boggling theories and dubious speculations. Planet X collided with Earth and created the moon; Planet X's orbit brings it close to Earth every 3,600 years; the planet will return in December 2012 and is described in the Book of Revelation as the prophecy of the sixth seal; previous close passages of Planet X caused the Great Flood in Noah's time and the sinking of Atlantis. Google Planet X and you'll see what I mean.

The primary gods of Sumeria are known as the Seven Who Decreed Fate.

Anu, the Sky god, and his wife Ninmah, the Earth goddess, were supreme.

Their son Enlil, the Air god, was next in power and influence, but he had a troubled life. Enlil had an intended bride named Ninlil, but he chose not to wait for their wedding day and raped her before marriage. Sex was continually tripping up both gods and goddesses, and many of their convoluted stories, relationships, jealousies, accomplishments, and failures came back to who was sleeping with whom. Enlil was banished to the Underworld for jumping the gun. His bride followed him into exile, probably because she was already pregnant.

Their first child, conceived of the rape, was Nanna, the Moon god, also known as Sin. Nanna and his wife fathered two more of the top gods, Utu, god of Justice, and Inanna, goddess of Love and War.

Enlil's next son was Nergal, who agreed to remain permanently in the Underworld as a tradeoff so that his father, banished there for rape, could leave. That was good for Enlil, who got to go free. His son Nergal was stuck with some less than than desireable real estate but at least he was Lord of the Underworld, ruler over Rabishu and the other demons, and obtained a prize of a wife, Queen Ereshkigal.

That accounts for six out of the Seven Who Decreed Fate.

The last one was Enki, god of the Primeval Sea and Fertility, well known for his rampant life style, even by the loose standards of the Sumerian gods. He was the twin brother to the Queen of the Underworld. Enki created humans from clay. He did this by mixing the clay with the "life essence" of the primeval sea-his semen or his DNA, depending on the interpretation of essence. There was some trial-and-error involved because there were several flawed versions of humans before Enki got it right, with the help of some constructive criticism from Anu's wife. Enki's emblem was serpents intertwined on a staff, the basis for the caduceus, the medical symbol still in use today.

Humans were created to be slaves and take over all the work of running Earth that the minor gods were tired of doing, such as plowing fields, planting, and building. It was not until many thousands of years later that the gods freed humans.

From this platform, I took a leap into fiction (or some would say, further into fiction). Suppose that a remnant of that pantheon of (alien?) gods and demons still exists in the present. They didn't all leave. Some of them are here, playing their tug-of-war of good and evil, with humans as pawns. The Mortal Path series explores that intriguing concept.

Used by Permission
From Dakota Banks

The Trinity Six by Charles Cumming (read by Dominic West)

The most closely-guarded secret of the Cold War is about to be exposed – the identity of a SIXTH member of the infamous Cambridge spy ring. And people are killing for it…

London, 1992. Late one night, Edward Crane, 76, is declared dead at a London hospital. An obituary describes him only as a ‘resourceful career diplomat’. But Crane was much more than that – and the circumstances surrounding his death are far from what they seem.

Fifteen years later, academic Sam Gaddis needs money. When a journalist friend asks for his help researching a possible sixth member of the notorious Trinity spy ring, Gaddis knows that she’s onto a story that could turn his fortunes around. But within hours the journalist is dead, apparently from a heart attack.

Taking over her investigation, Gaddis trails a man who claims to know the truth about Edward Crane. Europe still echoes with decades of deadly disinformation on both sides of the Iron Curtain. And as Gaddis follows a series of leads across the continent, he approaches a shocking revelation – one which will rock the foundations of politics from London to Moscow…

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Review: Dakota Banks Series Starter Demands Attention!

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Sumerian God Enki

Dark Time:
Mortal Path


By Dakota Banks












The Mortal Path Series, opening with Dark Time, is edgy, exciting, extraordinary... And the main character, Maliha Crayne is the reason why. Just take a look at the cover of the book; she's right there, center stage, demanding that you look at her--see how she's dressed, marvel at the weapons she carries...Yet see her bended shape, as if lost to anything but what is happening to her at that moment.

In action, she's a very, very, dangerous woman...

But she was not always as she is now. She was Susannah Layhem at one time, married and soon to be a mother. Unfortunately it was the year 1692. She was noticed because she was an herbalist and she was called a witch. She gave birth to her child in prison, without anyone to help her or her child who died. And soon she was set on fire to die as many other women had...

Before she died, however, she found herself somewhere else.She was being offered a chance to live--all she must do is serve Rabishu, a demon. By doing so, she would gain immortality... Susannah chose life!

And the first thing she had to do to gain life? To murder the woman who had accused her of being a witch! She pulled her into the very fire in which they had placed Susannah. And when she was dead, she threw her aside and walked out of that fire, past the terrified villagers who had been so quick to accuse...

Her power was great, she could easily heal from any wound and she now would do only the bidding of her master. She was now Ageless. During hundreds of years she had killed upon command, had gained many riches, and had been taught much about the ancient arts of death.

But then, in our time, in 1951, in fact, she was sent to kill but when she arrived the wife was pregnant and while her husband was murdered, she had come to find him, her baby was coming!

Immediately Susannah was thrown back to her own time of pregnancy, when she'd had to face her child's birth alone. The woman screamed to get away, but Susannah saw that the umbilical cord was around the child's neck. It would surely die. While damning her, still the mother sought help so that her child would live.

And the one who had murdered upon command, bent to help the child and later held the new life in her arms, thinking of her own Constanza, who she had never held alive...

After 263 years serving the death commands of a demon, her one act of compassion awakened her conscience!

And it had also awakened Anu, Ruler of the Sky, who insisted that she be given a choice. She now could choose not to continue to serve Rabishu!

Now it is her role to choose to save lives whenever possible and when she does, an opportunity is presented by which the scales of death can be balanced...Maliha fights a new game now!

And how!

In my opinion, this female heroine is way beyond any that fantasy has brought to us before! And as she has saved lives, she has gained a group of individuals who now support her work. Interestingly she is an author for her cover story. But it is in the small details that Banks sets this character apart. The method of actually balancing the scales between those lives saved versus those formerly destroyed  is just one image that readers will find is uniquely unforgettable. Truly Awesome Stuff! My review for Sacrifice, second in the series, coming next!



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Review: The Raising by Laura Kasischke

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The Raising


By Laura Kasischke














A literary masterpiece of Deception and Betrayal. Just as other reviewers quoted on the cover, I was pulled into Laura Kasischke's story of life on campus. A life I had lived in one way or another for nearly 40 years. It took me through about half-way before I started to pick up the clues the author was leaving for her readers. I could see what was coming; still I hoped it was going to be different.

The story mostly takes place in Godwin Honors Hall, where a new coed program had just begun. While most of the students were high school honors students, Craig Clements-Rabbitt's father used his influence to get him admitted, although Craig did not realize it until he was already there on campus. Craig's background is a little bit shaky, having gone through periods of depression, but in general he's an intelligent individual, troubled and making it through with a little help from drugs. He's cynical, but begins to change as he starts to become friends with his roommate Perry and a number of others, including Nicole Werner.

Readers learn in the Prologue that Craig and Nicole have been in a terrible car accident. Shelly, who works on campus, was first on the scene and quickly calls to Craig not to move Nicole, since she was thrown from the car. Sporadically thereafter, Shelly tries to have her voice heard--to "correct" what has been printed about the accident, her role in coming upon the scene and her actions...Because according to every account she has read, Nicole was found in the car, burned beyond recognition, and everybody believes Craig caused her death while driving under the influence.

While the accident actually occurred late into the semester, readers learn the details of events leading up to what finally happened. Normal life of college students? I hope not. There is an underlying revelation of not just sexual escapades, but a norm of lies and deception between and among them as different sexual roles are "played" for different relationships.

The roles of sororities and fraternities become dominant as Nicole decides to join a sorority while Craig does not. Influence by sorority members seem to take control, while Craig is slowly denied access to even talk with her whenever they wanted.

Beginning a new semester, we find Craig back at the campus, still rooming with Perry. Both of them have moved into an apartment building since Craig was not permitted to come back to Godwin Hall. Perry shows just how good a friend he is by sticking with Craig, who has no memory of what happened after the accident. But Perry does remember and he's worried because there are signs of Craig being haunted by Nicole--and even of another ghost who inhabited Godwin Hall...

Perry begs to audit a freshman course on death and dying, suggesting to the instructor, who is in need of meeting the "writing or perish" issue faced by non-tenured faculty, that she explore the deaths that occurred on college campuses, and, in particular, right there on theirs! Soon there are quite a number of on-campus individuals involved--those who want to know what happened and what is now going on.

And those who will do anything to prevent that from happening...

Campus politics gave me the first clue and I was on to the end before each page was turned. It is in the very potential reality that I found myself turning more and more away from this book. I knew how it was going to end and I didn't want to feel that devastation of knowing, yes, this is reality. Peer pressure is scary stuff, lies to protect an institution or careers do indeed occur. Kasischke created a masterpiece of reality that I hated to finish, because of what story it revealed (confirmed?) of college life.

Still, it is an excellent book that may be just what you are looking for! Like a little bit of paranormal, scary campus thrills and a murder mystery with twists and turns that keep you on the edge? This is it. Kasischke's writing is wonderfully creative and insightful of college life.

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Welcome - Dakota Banks! Author of the Mortal Path Series!

Dark Time: Mortal Path Book 1

In the 17th century, a woman is ripped from her husband's arms, thrown in jail, and then set afire as a witch. Saved from the flames by an ancient Sumerian demon, she becomes the Black Ghost, his Ageless assassin gifted with otherworldly skills and superbly trained in martial arts.

Centuries pass before Maliha Crayne finds a way out of the life she hates.

If she achieves a balance between lives taken and lives saved, she'll break the demon's hold on her.

If she fails, she will suffer the demon's torment ... forever.

The Mortal Path Series

What if a woman sold her soul to a demon
and 300 years later wanted it back?

Sacrifice: Mortal Path Book 2

Now Available!

A Sumerian demon's enslaved executioner--a ravager of lives and souls--Maliha Crayne has been reborn, willing to sacrifice her immortality for a chance at freedom ... and salvation.

Now she has an opportunity to prevent the death of thousands to help balance the countless lives she has obliterated over the centuries. To do so, she must locate and destroy an evil cabal of madmen in possession of a weapon of unspeakable power--and survive the immortal assassins who are now after her blood.

But it means reverting to the old ways and surrendering once more to the darkness. And if Maliha dies before the mission is accomplished, the hell she once knew will seem like a picnic compared to the eternal torments awaiting her.

Related articles

• Sacrifice, Dakota Banks, EOS, ISBN 978-0-06-168732-7, $7.99, 285 pgs., (booksfantastic.wordpress.com)