{"id":7674,"date":"2010-07-07T08:00:48","date_gmt":"2010-07-07T12:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shilohwalker.com\/website\/?p=7674"},"modified":"2010-07-08T13:40:53","modified_gmt":"2010-07-08T17:40:53","slug":"unholy-ghosts-unholy-magic-contest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shilohwalker.com\/website\/2010\/07\/unholy-ghosts-unholy-magic-contest\/","title":{"rendered":"Unholy Ghosts…Unholy Magic…contest…"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Contest is closed.\u00a0 Winner will be announced next week at the blog<\/h3>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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So last week, I read the most awesome urban fantasy.\u00a0 I’m talking ranking up there with Ilona Andrews and you all know I’m a total junkie for her stuff.<\/p>\n

Dear Stacia Kane.<\/a><\/p>\n

Um. Whoa. I’ve read some gritty, raw UF before, but this is like…well. Whoa.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

THE AFTERLIFE IS ONLY THE BEGINNING.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The world is not the way it was. The dead have risen and constantly attack the living. The powerful Church of Real Truth, in charge since the government fell, has sworn to reimburse citizens being harassed by the deceased. Consequently, there are many false claims of hauntings from those hoping to profit. Enter Chess Putnam, a fully-tattooed witch and freewheeling Debunker and ghost hunter. She\u2019s got a real talent for nailing the human liars or banishing the wicked dead. But she\u2019s keeping a dark secret from the Church: a little drug problem that\u2019s landed her in hot and dangerous water.<\/p>\n

Chess owes a murderous drug lord named Bump a lot of money. And Bump wants immediate payback. All Chess has to do is dispatch a very nasty species of undead from an old airport. But the job involves black magic, human sacrifice, a nefarious demonic creature, and crossing swords with enough wicked energy to wipe out a city of souls. Toss in lust with a rival gang leader and a dangerous attraction to Bump\u2019s ruthless enforcer, and Chess begins to wonder if the rush is really worth it. Hell, yeah.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

You can probably tell by the blurb there’s no fairy tale princesses or princes here, but yikes.\u00a0 It’s awesome. I loved, loved, loved it. Loved it so much I hit Stacia up for details on more in the series, and yessssss…. she shared.\u00a0 And um, I’m getting the other books, too.<\/p>\n

And book 2 is available now.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

ENEMIES DON\u2019T NEED TO BE ALIVE TO BE DEADLY.<\/strong><\/p>\n

For Chess Putnam, finding herself near-fatally poisoned by a con psychic and then stopping a murderous ghost is just another day on the job. As an agent of the Church of Real Truth, Chess must expose those looking to profit from the world\u2019s unpleasant little poltergeist problem\u2014humans filing false claims of hauntings\u2014all while staving off any undead who really are looking for a kill. But Chess has been extra busy these days, coping with a new \u201ccelebrity\u201d assignment while trying on her own time to help some desperate prostitutes.<\/p>\n

Someone\u2019s taking out the hookers of Downside in the most gruesome way, and Chess is sure the rumors that it\u2019s the work of a ghost are way off base. But proving herself right means walking in the path of a maniac, not to mention standing between the two men in her life just as they\u2014along with their ruthless employers\u2014are moving closer to a catastrophic showdown. Someone is dealing in murder, sex, and the supernatural, and once again Chess finds herself right in the crossfire.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I even got an excerpt out of her….info on the contest below.<\/p>\n

~*~<\/p>\n

and shuddered again There was no way to put it off any more. She\u2019d have to check the bathroom.<\/p>\n

It waited for her, seeming to breathe a sigh of welcome when she stepped onto the dark marble floor. In the dim, cold moonlight coming through the frosted window the entire room looked wet, slick with something dark and unpleasant.<\/p>\n

Her light scanned across the ceiling, revealing nothing. Not even a spiderweb in one of the corners, no surprise there. She did find a tiny seam of shadow on the nearest wall, which proved to be a small cupboard.<\/p>\n

Bleach, disinfectant, bleach, scrubbing cleanser, thick bleach to cling in crevices, spare disinfecting toilet discs to make the water blue\u2014why would people want to make their own bathrooms look like public toilets when you could get discs that didn\u2019t dye the water?\u2014scrub brushes, sponges, gloves\u2026 The entire cupboard reeked of bleach and cleansers, like one of the bottles had spilled. It was making her light-headed, making her eyes sting.<\/p>\n

The Spectrometer showed some extra interest around the sink, which had been restored to its original clean and sparkling white. Chess leaned over, ready to shine her light down the drain\u2014<\/p>\n

And almost jumped out of her skin when a face flashed in the mirror, just behind her right shoulder.<\/p>\n

The light fell, bouncing off the marble with a series of crashing clicks and clatters, rolling to the edge and finally falling on the floor. Chess searched the room, found nothing.<\/p>\n

She had not imagined that face. A woman, her eyes pale pupilless orbs set in the furious visage of her face. Tangled hair hanging in clumps down over her shoulders. Lips curled in a snarl\u2026 Chess shuddered, tried to get control of herself,.<\/p>\n

This time it did not stop. Her hands seemed controlled by someone other than herself. She tried to lift them to push her hair back from her face, to rub her forehead, but they trembled like she was in the throes of a seizure.<\/p>\n

She wrapped her arms around herself. When had it gotten so cold in here? The marble at her back froze her spine. She didn\u2019t feel like she could move, couldn\u2019t seem to get enough air into her lungs.<\/p>\n

A sound, barely audible, from the bedroom. She couldn\u2019t identify it, but when she turned to look she saw a pale shape taking form\u2026<\/p>\n

Her grip on her arms started to hurt, but she couldn\u2019t let go. The hazy mass writhed, trying to find its form, then snapped into being with sudden clarity.<\/p>\n

A man. Faint folds and lines indicated trousers and a loose, tucked in shirt. He hadn\u2019t seen her. His attention was focused on the empty bed, but she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt he didn\u2019t see it. He saw shapes there, sleeping forms. He must, because his translucent arms lifted and the sharp head of the axe formed a steep angle with the ceiling.<\/p>\n

The axe came down.<\/p>\n

She bit her lip hard enough to taste blood, but barely felt it. All she felt was a miserable sickness, fear and shame at that fear, the horror of witnessing a gruesome murder over a hundred years after it happened\u2026<\/p>\n

The axe came up again, and down. Up, and down again. She could practically see blood spurting from the long-buried figures on the bed, practically smell the\u2014<\/p>\n

The smell. The smell was back, waves of choking foulness that left her gasping on the floor. She couldn\u2019t get away from it, couldn\u2019t stand it. The window was only ten feet or so away, across the wide expanse of dark marble floor.<\/p>\n

As quietly as she could she reached into her bag, using every bit of her strength just to get her hands to obey. She was prepared this time, with graveyard dirt and asafoetida. She\u2019d even brought some melidia with her, just in case.<\/p>\n

She\u2019d take her chances with the ghost. She needed air. Had to have it, or she would die. Her stomach churned, her head pounded like she\u2019d drunk a case of beer the night before, and spots flashed before her eyes, but the window was there.<\/p>\n

She curled her legs beneath her, gave the figure in the bedroom one last look, and leapt forward.<\/p>\n

~*~<\/p>\n

Now…onto the contest.\u00a0 You interested?\u00a0 Want the books?\u00a0 Since I’m always into hooking people on to awesome books, you can win these books.\u00a0 Both of them.\u00a0 Here’s how…answer this question-(it’s rambling, but I ramble).<\/p>\n

One thing I loved about Unholy Ghosts<\/strong> was how damned flawed and scarred and real<\/em> the characters were-it’s a very harsh, brutal world, like nothing I’d want to live in and the heroine was somebody I didn’t know that I would have liked-but I loved her.\u00a0 So…what are some flawed characters that you’ve fallen in love with? Hhmmmm?\u00a0 To enter the contest, just tell us some scarred, flawed, imperfect characters you’ve enjoyed…I’ll draw one random commenter and that person will win both books (unsigned!).<\/p>\n

You have until 9AM EST on 7\/8\/2010 to enter!<\/p>\n

Make sure you read my disclaimer<\/a>-(follow the link and read please-by entering, you’ve acknowledged that you’ve read my rules) particularly the part where you have to check back to see if you win!<\/strong><\/p>\n

The basics…<\/p>\n