[Booked]
Now scheduling a Review Tour for Reaper Madness by Nessie Starange. This is a 71k word, Urban Fantasy Novel.
Reaper Madness is the sequel to Living Dead Girl. If you sign up for the tour you will receive both novels.
Book Title: Reaper Madness
Author: Nessie Strange
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Word Count: 71k
Publisher: Etopia Press
Formats available: .mobi, .pdf, .epub
Description:
This isn’t the afterlife she
expected...
Jen MacLellan can’t get the hang of
being a reaper. She’s been separated from Jack, the man she loves, and is stuck
with an annoying telepathic link to her ill-tempered mentor, Sam. Now Death is
breathing down her neck, promising to remove that annoying link if she gives
him what he wants. But when reapers begin to disappear back on earth, leaving
behind walking, talking dead people, Jen and Sam are thrust into a dangerous
mission to recapture the souls, and a passionate physical relationship that
complicates everything.
Jack Norris has no memory prior to
waking up on the half-demon Nulcifer’s couch six months earlier. As he begins
to investigate his past, he discovers a string of past lives tied together by a
beautiful, mysterious brunette. Who is she? And why does finding her seem like
a life or death proposition?
When Sam falls victim to fate
during a routine visit to earth, Jen’s devastated. Desperate to get him back,
she runs smack into the man she never thought she’d see again—Jack. She tries
to keep her distance, but there’s no time to be awkward if they want to save
Sam. When sinister plots are revealed, and betrayals threaten everything, she’s
forced to make some tough choices—and learns that life is just as difficult
when you’re dead.
Excerpt:
Sam wasn’t kidding when he said I
had no idea what I was getting into. And now, as I stared Death in the
face—literally—from an uncomfortable black leather executive chair, it occurred
to me for the first time that I was in way over my head. Between the pinstriped
suit and dark, slicked-back hair, he resembled a character from The Godfather
more than a deity who ruled over the dead and dying. Death was one scary
motherfucker. And he was smiling.
“Care for a drink, Jennifer?”
I shook my head, but he rose
anyway, retrieved two glasses from the cabinet behind him, and filled both with
amber-colored liquid. “Relax, I’m not going to bite.”
That wasn’t what I was worried
about.
“Now, how long have you been with
us? About six earth months?”
I cleared my throat. “Ah yes. About
that long.”
“I find it intriguing,” he said.
“You have been telepathically linked to one of my reapers this entire time, yet
you really demonstrate no capability when it comes to this job. One would think
that would give you an edge, hmm?”
Ouch.
“You’d think,” I laughed. OK, I
sucked at it. It was only recently I’d been allowed to travel back to earth to
help retrieve souls. Sam did most of the work, while I trailed behind, like one
of those ankle-biting little purse dogs. What I wanted to know was why he’d
insisted I do the job in the first place. I’d never asked to be a reaper. It
wasn’t like I wanted this.
“The occupation listed from your
most recent incarnation on earth was a mortician, was it not? So you should be
accustomed to working with the deceased and the sensitivities that go along
with it.”
“These two jobs are absolutely
nothing alike.” Shit. I’d reacted again, lost my cool because of something he
said. Now that my brain had caught up with my mouth, the fire snuffed out and
with it went my nerve. I needed to learn to bite my tongue. Considering the habit
crossed over with me from my last life, maybe that was wishful thinking. “Well,
I mean, because when I was a mortician, those people didn’t talk back to me.”
Death studied me. “No, I don’t
imagine they did.” He scrunched his lips up, his brow furrowed—the only hint of
emotion I’d seen from him—but it quickly faded. “What exactly is it that’s
holding you back or hanging you up? I’m just trying to understand here.”
“Well, I guess some of it is that I
feel bad for them. I want to make things easier, but Sam’s all about scaring
them and intimidating and manipulating them. It doesn’t seem right. I mean,
we’re their first point of contact with the afterlife; why does it have to be
frightening?” I was doing it again. OK, I needed to breathe. “I just… I see the
fear in their faces, and it tears at me. It doesn’t feel right. It’s not me.”
“Fear makes them more pliable.
Which in turn, makes your job easier when it’s time to collect.”
“But I don’t…”
He held up a hand. “I don’t like
excuses, Jennifer. You may not agree with all of the methods you have been
taught, but you still need to learn them and be able to utilize all of them.
Years down the line, when you actually have some experience, perhaps then you can
develop your own strategies. For now, as a rookie in the division without a
single reaping under your belt, you are obligated to follow the instruction of
your mentor. Do you understand?”
I nodded.
“I also hear that you’ve been
visiting the civil records bureau every day, searching for the whereabouts of a
human soul that you arrived with.”
I twisted the glass between my
fingers. Jack and I had been separated soon after our arrival, and I hadn’t
seen him since. We’d been a couple on earth, but since arriving in purgatory
he’d all but vanished. “I had no idea that was against the rules.”
“I suppose it isn’t, technically.
Though I do wonder if some might construe it as an abuse of power. Your
position as a reaper gives you access to a wealth of information beyond what
the general public can see, but it is meant for research and job purposes. Not
personal business.”
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