Title: Growl
Author: Ashley Fontainne
Publisher: RMSW Press
Pages: 315
Genre: Gothic Horror/Suspense
Format: Paperback/Kindle
My name is Sheryl Ilene Newcomb. And yes, my
initials are S.I.N. A funny little piece of whimsical humor my parents found
amusing when I arrived.
Then, it turned out to be true. Looking back with wiser eyes now, my family and I concluded that the events leading up to my transformation started the summer I turned nine. But the day we realized there was a problem, and no turning back, was a week before I started my senior year at Junction City High. The day the fangs and claws appeared and the monster inside of me emerged.
When mutilated corpses appeared near a pile of brush down by Caney Creek, everything changed. Because evil woke up and growled, its ominous rumblings heard by every living thing inLocasia County , Mississippi
Book Excerpt:Then, it turned out to be true. Looking back with wiser eyes now, my family and I concluded that the events leading up to my transformation started the summer I turned nine. But the day we realized there was a problem, and no turning back, was a week before I started my senior year at Junction City High. The day the fangs and claws appeared and the monster inside of me emerged.
When mutilated corpses appeared near a pile of brush down by Caney Creek, everything changed. Because evil woke up and growled, its ominous rumblings heard by every living thing in
It was
all over—for now. The ending completed, and the living nightmare of what
happened in our sleepy little town nothing more than a permanent stain embedded
in my mind and body. I stared at the words on the page, the white paper covered
in bright blue ink. The empty pages behind it waited, impatient for me to add
more. They sat in mocking silence on the desk in front of me. A twinge of
apprehension slithered up my back.
What am I doing?
During
the last three months, I thought I’d done a decent job of stopping the
memories. None of what happened was something anyone could be prepared to
endure. No longer did the vile sounds and unbelievable images pop up during the
middle of the day. I felt a sense of pride I stopped them without the use of
medication. With the support of my mom and dad and the Lord above, I worked
daily to bury the horrific events.
I shivered
at the disturbing recollections. When the crystal clear images of the final
battle exploded inside my head, they turned my slender torso into a shivering
pile of goose bumps. I was unable to stop the screams of agony and anger when
my mind replayed the events at night. Physical and mental anguish would slam
into my body and soul as I fought not only the animal inside of me, but the one
that stared at me from inside my mind.
The
eerie visions of the final confrontation were as terrifying in my mind’s eye as
the actual day they occurred. Dark, jade-green eyes lit from within bored
through my own with their anticipatory killing stare. The growl from its furry
throat would seem as loud in my memories as it did when it happened. The flexed
muscles of the creature jerked in its readiness to shred me down to a bloody
pile of mush. The bright moon’s rays shimmered off of its stark white fangs.
One swipe of the enormous paw or bite from the strong jaws would end it all. My
cries of sorrow erupted at night when the images of the dismembered corpses
appeared inside my mind. They were seared into my memory banks. I hadn’t
experienced a moment of heart-stopping, frozen-to-one-spot freakouts in two
months during the daytime. I whittled them down to only haunting my dreams at
night.
Progress,
plain and simple.
A sound
caught my attention, so I lifted my stare from the ruled, white paper on the
desk and looked out my bedroom window. My sharp, one-eyed gaze glanced over to
the pool and settled on the old, rusty swing at the edge of our backyard. I
recalled with a slight smile the day last week when I took my first step out of
the house and sat outside for almost an hour. The warmth of the sun and the
gentle urges of my mother’s voice lured me into the water—at least the shallow
end. I considered it a big leap in my recovery progress since I had developed a
strong distaste for water. I had sat on the bottom step, the cool water barely
up to my shins, and fought the urge to run back inside and lock myself inside
my bedroom. The task of quelling my paralyzing fears had taken every ounce of
mental strength to overcome. It was beyond weird at my age, but I felt safe in
my adolescent bedroom. It was my territory. But I also knew it would become my
prison if I didn’t learn to live outside its four walls again. Like a normal,
sane person lives.
A quiet
snicker from my lips bounced off the walls of my room. Sanity. Normalcy. Those
ships sailed away eons ago, pulled
under the dark waters of the mighty Mississippi River ,
never to be seen again.
Book
Trailer at YouTube:
About the Author
Award-winning
and International bestselling author Ashley Fontainne is an avid reader of
mostly the classics. Ashley became a fan of the written word in her youth,
starting with the Nancy Drew mystery series. Stories that immerse the reader
deep into the human psyche and the monsters that lurk within us are her
favorite reads.
Her
muse for penning the Eviscerating the Snake series was The
Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. Ashley's love for this book
is what sparked her desire to write her debut novel, Accountable to None,
the first book in the trilogy. With a modern setting to the tale, Ashley delves
into just what lengths a person is willing to go when they seek personal
justice for heinous acts perpetrated upon them. The second novel in the
series, Zero Balance focuses on the cost and reciprocal cycle that
obtaining revenge has on the seeker. For once the cycle starts, where does it
end? How far will the tendrils of revenge expand? Adjusting Journal
Entries answered that question: far and wide.
Her
short thriller entitled Number Seventy-Five, touches upon the
sometimes dangerous world of online dating. Number Seventy-Five took
home the BRONZE medal in fiction/suspense at the 2013 Readers' Favorite
International Book Awards contest and is currently in production for a feature
film.
Her
paranormal thriller entitled The Lie, won the GOLD medal in
the 2013 Illumination Book Awards for fiction/suspense and is also in
production for a feature film.
The
suspenseful mystery Empty Shell, released September 29, 2014 . Ashley then delves
into the paranormal with a Southern Gothic horror/suspense novel, Growl,
scheduled for release in the Spring of 2015. Plus, she will be teaming up with
Lillian Hansen (Ashley calls her Mom!) to pen a three-part murder
mystery/suspense series entitled The Magnolia Series. The first
book, Blood Ties, is due out the Summer of 2015.
Ashley
also hosts The WriteStuff, a popular BlogTalk Radio show, each Friday
night at 10 p.m. CST .
For More Information
- Visit Ashley’s website.
- Connect with Ashley on Facebook and Twitter.
- Find out more about Ashley at Goodreads.
- Visit Ashley’s blog.
- Contact Ashley.
My Review:
This is a great book about inner demons that can cause trouble. Some people have imagined demons and some people like Sheryl have real demons. It was hard for her to fight her cravings and to give in to her cravings. I also really liked the ending and I can't wait to find out if the future holds evil or good for this family. I am giving this book a 3/5. I was given a copy to review, however all opinions are my own.
No comments:
Post a Comment