Welcome, one and all, to another book spotlight. Today, we’re looking at Tina O’Hailey’s Fantasy Thriller, Absolute Darkness.
A thrill ride through time that will make you hold your breath.
Sitting by the campfire, Brandy admitted a secret to her friends. She swore she saw a ghost when exiting a cave earlier that day. Was she seeing things? Did they believe her? The next day, breaking a cardinal rule, she snuck back to the cave alone. No one knew where she was. What if she fell or was trapped? There would be no rescue.
For ten thousand years Alexander had kept the time streams of this universe safe from an eternal destructive force that continually threatened to tamper and destroy all. Locked in an unremitting battle, the two foes become sidetracked by an unexpected visitor. An entangled journey begins with chilling twists and turns until becoming locked into an inescapable death in a submerged cave.
Who will come out of the watery depths alive?
Excerpt from Absolute Darkness
Chapter five: Blood in the Water
(317 words)
Darkness.
Cold.
The sound of dripping water in the distance.
Where? Brandy tries to remember how she got here.
“ROCK!” the scream splits the darkness above her. She instinctively recoils out of the fall zone. Brandy crouches under a rock overhang at the bottom of the pit. Cold mud seeps into her boots. A thud. The rope end, visible from Brandy’s muddy spot, jumps and jerks erratically.
A loud crash. A medium boulder hits the side of the pit. Chunks of rock and debris rain down. Dust gets in Brandy’s eyes. She holds her breath, knowing what comes next. Praying, in that split second, a silent plea that only the rock is falling. The boulder splits in two on the ground in front of Brandy.
Nothing else falls.
“SUSAN?” Brandy is on her feet looking up. A rain of
sand and pebbles dislodged by the boulder’s reckless path falls on her face.
No answer.
The rope sways, a pendulum. Not the steady swaying associated with someone climbing. The rope sways. Steady decaying arcs. Someone hanging.
“Sus…?” Her voice stops, refusing. In the dark, above Brandy, Susan’s headlamp shines on the sides of the pit as her body dangles from the rope. The light sways and arcs rhythmically back and forth, spinning slowly.
Brandy hurries to clip into the rope, to climb up to Susan.
As her gloved hand reaches for the rope she begins falling.
Why is she falling up? Brandy falls UP past Susan’s lifeless body, blood covered face, helmet split, neck twisted. She tries to grab Susan’s limp hand, manages to clumsily grasp Susan’s chest harness.
Nothing. Brandy is holding nothing, only darkness. She falls up.
Boots replaced with nurse shoes. Warm layers of muddy clothing replaced with a uniform, once white, now smeared with dried red blood. The blood looks black in the darkness, the same color as what had dripped from Susan’s shattered face.
From the Author:
The thing that interests me so much with this book is how many different types of people it resonates with. There are those that don’t normally read fantasy yet find this book attractive in such a way they forget it could be labeled fantasy. There are those that don’t normally read romance, yet they can’t put this book down and I apologize right up front—the characters fall in love. I couldn’t stop them. Then there are those that want a pure thrill—and they find that need sated as well. I’ve had a few comments from readers to the tune of “I truly couldn’t breathe when…” or “I almost had to stop reading ‘cause I was afraid for ________”
What I hear most is that the characters ring true; the action quickens the pulse; the storyline keeps everyone guessing. I hope you enjoy meeting Alexander and watch out for Yindi.
Please check out the virtual blog tour and you might find some embedded fun in the imagery. (https://www.rachelsrandomresources.com/absolute-darkness) In fact, I dare you. Can you find the hidden puzzles that lead to an autographed book give away? I’ll be waiting. Hint: follow the tag #forlinears to find images that have been posted since Mother’s Day. That very first post leads to the date of the book give away, if you can figure it out. Just a little fun.
Warmly,
…tina
Author Bio:
Tina O’Hailey (author of animation text books “Rig it Right” and “Hybrid Animation”, Associate Dean of digital media at SCAD Atlanta, professor in animation and game programming, caver and occasional mapper of grim, wet, twisty caves—if she owes a friend a favor or loses a bet—whose passion is to be secluded on a mountain and to write whilst surrounded by small, furry dogs and hot coffee) was struck by lightning as a baby.
Links:
Absolute Darkness: Virtual Blog Tour: June 28 – July 4
https://www.rachelsrandomresources.com/absolute-darkness
On Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Absolute-Darkness-Tina-OHailey/dp/1684330300
Preorder from the publisher. Use code: PREORDER2018 to receive a 10% discount!
http://www.blackrosewriting.com/sci-fifantasy/absolutedarkness
Author Blog:
https://coffeediem.wordpress.com/
Absolute Darkness Facebook page:
Matt Doyle Media 
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