This is my stop during the blog tour for Pretty Little Creatures by Vince Milam. This blog tour is organized by Lola's Blog Tours. The blog tour runs from 1 till 14 December, you can view the complete tour schedule on the website of Lola’s Blog Tours.
So far this series contains 2 books: The Unknown Element (The Challenged World #1) and Pretty Little Creatures (The Challenged World #2).
Pretty Little Creatures (The Challenged World #2)By Vince Milam
Genre: Supernatural Thriller
Age category: Adult
Release Date: September 10, 2015
Blurb:
Ebola, jihadists, blood diamonds, drug cartels, and a dark force driving events. In pursuit, an eclectic team of three very dissimilar individuals.
A reserved small town sheriff on a reluctant quest for justice. A beautiful and eccentric technology genius striving to piece together international clues to terrorism. An epicurean French priest committed to combat. Can they work together to challenge a nightmarish conspiracy without driving each other crazy?
The resurrection of the blood diamond trade in the fetid jungles of Ebola-infected West Africa draws the trio together. They are joined by a stunning CIA professional killer with a clear and final solution to any problem. Together they struggle against the leaders of the illicit diamond trade and the foul entity providing the child slave labor.
Have they won? The doggedness of the technology genius and the assuredness of the French priest uncover deeper plans—a game of misdirection and intrigue masterminded by a powerful source nested in the evil enclaves of ISIS.
The stakes rapidly rise as the trail leads them into the wild heartland of a Mexican drug cartel—a launching point to unleash a hellish scenario into the U.S. The final conflict looms as forces for good and evil muster for battle. Can three regular people prevent this terrorist attack? They need to, because failure will forevermore alter the life of every American.
EXCERPT:
She kissed him and then moved toward her
bedroom humming an old Beatles song. He sucked in a deep breath of Gulf Coast
air and the poignancy struck him hard. Adios,
Rockport. The sounds of young people playing drifted on the breeze and the
slide of a mini-van door heralded more kids. Grills would soon fire up and
folks would cast a fishing line into the Laguna Madre in hopes of catching a
flounder or redfish. Children would scurry around, chased by playful dogs—both
stopping at random intervals to pull a sticker burr out of their feet, one with
teeth and the other with careful fingers.
In
his bedroom he pulled a duffel bag down from a high shelf and started packing.
He tossed the Glock .40, his sidearm as sheriff, in with clothing and boots and
his Benelli twelve-gauge shotgun.
Nadine stuck her head in his room. “You know, in
silhouette, the Comanche blood you claim is, I guess, pretty obvious. That
private plane ride is sweet, isn’t it? Don’t worry. Really, Cole. JoBeth will
help.”
He took another deep breath, not wanting
to wet-blanket her obvious excitement. He leaned over to fiddle with some
duffel items. But the other-worldly reality—the reality they both had tucked
away to consider as seldom as possible—sprawled across this whole thing.
“She
won’t be able to help with one of those, Nadine. One of those creatures. And
your friends at the CIA, NSA, FBI, and any other alphabet soup acronym you work
with won’t help either.” His obsidian eyes captured hers. “You do know that,
don’t you?”
She broke eye contact, pursed her lips,
and stared at the floor. “Well, okay. There is that.”
A moment later she lifted her head and again locked eyes with him. “But we have
Francois. We have our faith. That’s a reality, and a strong one.”
“We
ain’t priests. Or preachers, or pastors.”
A dog barked and a man called to a friend
across the street as the comforting sounds of neighborhood life drifted through
the open window. One of the drawn shades lifted on the breeze. Cole Garza shook
his head slowly.
“No,
Nadine. No. The reality is—and you know it as well as I do—we’re fixin’ to head
back into hell.”
You can find Pretty Little Creatures on Goodreads
You can buy Pretty Little Creatures here:
- Amazon
- Amazon Paperback
First book in the series:
The Unknown Element (The Challenged World #1)By Vince Milam
Genre: Supernatural Thriller
Age category: Adult
Release Date: March 3, 2015
Blurb:
Three very different individuals. A dark force rising. The chase begins. A reserved small town sheriff in pursuit of justice. A beautiful and eccentric technology genius striving to understand. A bon vivant French priest committed to finding answers.
A horrific event in a sleepy Gulf Coast town pulls them together and the trio find themselves on a quest for the truth about good and evil, travelling first to Wales and the scene of another shocking nightmare, then on to the ISIS killing fields of Syria where the stakes rise even higher.
Can these three dissimilar people find answers without driving each other crazy? Can they survive while Middle East factional war rages around them? They need to, because the potential fate of millions hangs on it.
EXCERPT:
Cole remained planted in
the center of the room. The priest sat on the sill across from him and smoked,
while heat wafted in from the open window. Deputies and staff moved along the
hallway, attending to their duties. “Sir, I have my doubts as to your understanding
of evil given your life experiences. No offense. You’re a priest. I’m a lawman.
I’ve performed this business of mine for some time, seen a lot, and still
wrestle with what drives the terrible things I’ve seen, and how it all fits the
human experience.” He paused and Francois waited. “I don’t mean to insult you,
but the life of a priest is a heckuva lot different than that of a lawman.”
“A valid point,” replied
Francois. “Allow me to provide some history. Some context. For many instances,
I would agree. Perhaps you will see I possess some rather unique experiences.”
Francois gave a
high-level overview of his work. He talked of possessions and exorcisms, his
research into the nature and manifestations of evil, and his conviction that
the human experience included evil external forces.
“It is not my intention
to be intrusive, Sheriff. No. It is my intention to pursue a personal endeavor.
Your knowledge of the current situation may be of great help. With such
matters, I fear great danger for those unprepared. Therefore, I do not seek
physical assistance. No. I seek your perspective. Private insights.” Francois
extended his hands, palms up, as if to receive something.
Cole’s chin dropped to
his chest and his defenses began to fade under the weight of uncertainty and
isolation. Other than the phone call to Nadine to gather intelligence on Moloch,
he had dealt with all of it alone. No definitive third-party ties or motives
looped back to the nursing home horror. Burt Hall had killed his own mother,
for God’s sake. But something didn’t fit. On a visceral level, something felt
wrong. After three days, it had worn on him. Justice had not been fulfilled. He
suspected answers might not be available through any normal or rational means. The
thought of that dismissive SOB Moloch—flicking his damn hand—in the middle of
that mess made for sleepless nights. Now this priest had arrived out of nowhere
and clearly had no intention of leaving him alone. But the guy had different perspectives,
for sure. There was a strange comfort in that.
He closed the office
door. Francois stayed perched on the windowsill. Cole sat on the edge of the
desk and let one leg dangle. The giggles of two young girls carried from the
sidewalk through the open window, mixed with cigarette smoke and the musk of
old-fashioned roses.
“I need to bounce some
things off somebody, and do it without getting straitjacketed. Maybe …” Cole
hesitated. “Maybe you can, or maybe you are able to—and I’m pretty hesitant to
mention it—shed some light on some things. Things that I’d sure like answers
to.”
Francois remained
motionless, so Cole continued.
“I don’t know you. And
I’m fixin’ to trust you with something. Something I haven’t talked with anyone
about.” He was crossing the Rubicon, hell-bent on answers. “Sorta confessional,
isn’t it?”
“You can trust me,
Sheriff. I give you my word as a man of God.” Francois took another drag,
crushed the cigarette against the outside brick wall, and showed Cole the butt
as he tossed it in a nearby wastebasket. “And you can trust me as a man who can
relate to your experiences.”
Gulls called from the
outside salt air, and the sounds of coins as they slid into the soda vending
machine drifted through the closed door from the hallway.
“There was someone.”
Francois slid off the
windowsill and eased toward Cole, as if any sudden movements might spook the sheriff.
“You saw. Your eyes
observed?” asked Francois.
At that moment, a clerk
gave a cursory knock and stuck his head in the door to announce, “Sheriff,
there’s a call on line two you’ll want to take.”
Francois raised both
hands, blew out a puff of disgust, and gave the young clerk a glare that caused
the door to slam shut. Cole snapped out of his reverie and moved back behind
the desk, grabbed the phone, and punched line two on the antiquated system.
“Yes, sir. No problem. No, sir. Three hours. Will do.” He set the phone down
and turned to grab his hat. “I’m afraid I have to go, Father. Right now.”
“Again, call me Francois.
And to where, might I ask? It is most important, our discussion.”
“Austin. It’s three
hours. I won’t be back until late today.” A decision made and potential lunacy
averted, Cole added, “I believe our discussion has ended. It’s all craphouse
crazy. There’s nothing I can do for you, Francois.”
“Bon. I shall see you
tonight then.” The priest moved with his determined style to the door,
apparently unable to grasp the meaning of “ended.” Before he exited, Francois
spun and pointed a finger at Cole. His round, florid face had taken on a hard
intensity.
“You saw. Your heart. You
felt. You saw.”
A
loud, puffed-cheek exhale, rife with resignation and relief, accompanied Cole’s
reply. “Yeah. I saw
You can buy The Unknown Element here:
- Amazon
- Amazon Paperback
About the Author:VINCE MILAM has lived all over the world, traipsing through the Amazon, Congo, and Papua New Guinea—all the while demonstrating bourbon has medicinal qualities. Raised in Texas, he lives in the mountainous West where he proves—annually—that God doesn’t want us driving on snow. He relishes great reads, fine trout streams, family, old friends, and—especially—writing fast-paced thrillers with a dose of humor and a spiritual twist.
The first two books in the Challenged World series rank high on the Amazon lists in both Thrillers/Terrorism and Christian/Mystery. You can visit him at www.vincemilam.com to learn about new releases and writer’s angst. He can also be visited at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100006177615953 or on Twitter @vince_milam
You can find and contact Vince here:
- Website
- Goodreads
- Amazon
There is a tour wide giveaway for the blog tour of Pretty Little Creatures. These are the prizes you can win:
- 5 ebook sets which include the following ebooks: The Unknown Element and Pretty Little Creatures by Vince Milam
For a chance to win, enter the rafflecopter below:
a Rafflecopter giveaway
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