CALLING THE REAPER
by Jason Pere
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BLURB:
The time of the Unity has ended. Now, the realm of man is stranded between Paradise and Purgatory. The Valkyrie and Reaper battle over the fate of all who pass from the land of the living and into the afterlife.
Eight mortal spirits from vastly different worlds tread the same, inevitable path toward their last, crucial decision. Within them all exists the defining conflict every man must face—to look upon the end of their life with glory and honor, or to give credence to their baser longings, calling the Reaper to their own demise.
In this rich, harrowing tale of pride, deceit, honor, vengeance, and redemption, each individual must battle their inner turmoil, facing the sacrifices they have made before their unavoidable end in the land of the living.
But their last day in life is also their first day of death amidst the terrors of the underworld. Lord Master Death wants them all…and the real battle has only just begun.
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Excerpt Two:
Aristo reached far within and blocked all the pain shooting through his being. I am Praetorian, my flesh does my bidding. Again, he commanded his eyes to open. When he finally managed to force them open, the agony consuming his head must have felt very much like staring straight into the blazes of the sun. He felt the tearing of skin as his world instantly turned from the darkest black to a moment of brightest white. His eyes watered heavily and he blinked, trying to clear away at least some of the dried blood which had sealed his eyes shut. For several moments, everything was a blur, but then he could distinguish colors and shapes again.
He nearly wished that he had in fact been blinded; he would have at least been spared the image before him. Aristo had been wounded in battle before, but never like this. His body lay covered in a blanket of dried crimson. No one would have known that he bore the deep purple uniform of the Praetorian Legion had they even bothered to look at him. It was confounding that he had bled so profusely and could still draw breath, still feel the beat of his heart within his chest. A moment of warrior’s pride overtook him when he studied his twisted form and realized the excruciating pain was not unwarranted. Then he remembered.
Captured, he thought. I’ve been captured.
I have to admit I don't usually read books of short stories but I was really surprised by this one. I set down with this book and could not put it down. I read late into the night, went to bed, got back up and read some more then finished it the next morning. All of the stories were very interesting. They were quick stories. There are 8 stories in the book. Each story was about a different person in a different time and land. How they lived and what led to their deaths. In just the few pages of each story, the author truly introduced you to the character, let you understand why the people led the lives they did, why they made the choices they did, and in the end you understood why they made their choices, right or wrong . For example the Pirate as a child was saved from a disease by his sister, later on she was struck by a sleeping disease and he over the years done everything he could to find the cure for her. In his quest he pillaged and murdered from ships he knew to carry medical supplies hoping to find the cure for her. When he finally found a person who could cure her, he himself was killed. This is just one story though. The others all have different reasoning in the people making their decisions.
I love how the author did not waste time and paper getting to the point of each persons story. You were filled with just enough background to drag you into each story. The stories were not overwhelming either. Though they may be short stories you had everything you needed.
I will be looking for the next book in this series to see if at some point the author ties all of these people together in the afterlife.
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AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Jason Pere is a born-and-raised New Englander. He always had a passion for the arts and creative storytelling. At the age of thirteen, Jason took up the craft of acting for film and theater. He pursued that interest for over a decade until refocusing his medium of expression into writing.
At first, Jason took a causal interest in writing, starting with poetry and journaling. Over time, he honed his direction and finally began writing larger works. In November of 2012, Jason self-published his first book, Modern Knighthood: Diary of a Warrior Poet.
Since then, Jason has continued writing on his own, mostly short stories and poetry. Calling the Reaper was his first experience committing to a full-length Fiction title.
In early 2015, Jason became affiliated with Collaborative Writing Challenge (CWC). Since then, he has joined many other writers on numerous collaborative projects. Jason is a regular contributor to CWC and is scheduled to have multiple pieces of his work appear in their publications throughout 2016.
You can find out more about Jason Pere’s involvement and publications in collaborative fiction at: http://www.collaborativewritingchallenge.com
Jason also writes fanfiction for Team Covenant on their Blog of the Pheonixborn, dedicated to the new game by Plaid Hat Games, ‘Ashes’. Go to http://teamcovenant.com/ashesonline/ to read Jason’s flash fiction work.
NOTE: The book will be $0.99 during the tour
INTERVIEW with Jason Pere
Do you ever wish you were someone else? Who?
No I don’t. The closest I come to wanting to be someone else if wishing that I was just a more successful version of myself.
What did you do on your last birthday?
My wife and I took our brand new puppy for his first walk around the neighborhood. I saw my younger brother graduate from high school. We ended the night with some baked goods, carrot cake rolls if I recall correctly.
What part of the writing process do you dread?
All the post production stuff. I loathe re-reading and revisions, let alone editing for grammar and spelling. I think that is probably why, once I get a first draft done, I immediately look for an editor.
Do you ever suffer from writer’s block? If so, what do you do about it?
Sometimes I have a scene that I have difficulty producing. When that happens I just power thru and pack text on the page. I don’t worry about the quality of my writing. If I’m struggling to get words out I just work on filling the page first. Once I get something written the rest of a scene becomes exponentially easier to finish. A lot of times a troubling idea might undergo a metamorphosis while I am writing and the scene may end up vastly different than my initial concept.
Tell us about your latest release.
My latest release is my very first children’s book, titled “Sir Percival and the Nightmare”. It is a warm tale about a young boy and his stuffed bedtime guardian. It illustrates the importance of bravery and introduces readers to the most courageous teddy bear that they will ever meet.
https://www.amazon.com/Sir-Percival-Nightmare-Jason-Pere/dp/1523968648~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GIVEAWAY INFORMATION
One randomly chosen winner via rafflecopter will win a $50 Amazon/BN.com gift card.
Follow the tour here: http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2016/09/fs-virtual-book-tour-calling-reaper-by.html
