Chaos Bound
Chronicles of the Applecross
Book 2
Rebekah Turner
Rebekah Turner
Genre: Urban
fantasy
Publisher:
Escape Publishing
Date of
Publication: 1 December 2013
ISBN:
9780857991072
Number of
pages: 177
Word Count:
82,000
Book
Description:
The long-awaited
sequel to Chaos Born takes us back into the Applecross, where Lora faces
increasing threats to her survival and her chance at love.
Lora
Blackgoat — mercenary and smuggler — has only just recovered from the last
threat on her life and hasn’t even begun to sort out the mess of having both a
nephilim warrior and a reborn hellspawn as potential lovers. Work should be a
refuge, but a job finding missing persons puts her in the crosshairs of a
violent gang and a merchant with a taste for blood sport.
Reluctantly,
Lora turns to the two men in her life for help. Roman — the nephilim —
professes to be her soul mate and turns to her when he feels the darkness of
nephilim madness descending. But though Lora is drawn to Roman, it is Seth,
ex-lover and reborn hellspawn, who Lora must ultimately ask to protect those
she loves. Can she trust Seth to save Roman and her adoptive family, or will
this be a fatal mistake?
MY THOUGHTS:
Rating: 4 Stars
I got this book from the author and publisher, free of cost, in exchange of an honest review from my side, for being a tour host of the blog tour of Chaos Bound.
Firstly I would like to thank the author and the tour organizers for giving me this opportunity of reading and reviewing this fabulous book.
OH.MY.GOD!!! What a great read !!! I liked book 1 - Chaos Born but I just fell in love with this book.This sequel is great and I really loved the ending though it made me want the next installment very much and I just can't help it.
The characters are developed and great as well but I think that Lora outshone the others completely. She is strong, confident and a bad-ass heroine who is adorable yet fierce and that's a deadly combo !!! Seth is drool worthy as usual but I loved Roman a lot and he was just awesome-sauce.
The action scenes are great and the mystery regarding the missing person and the truth behind it really kept me hooked in. Another great suspenseful point is Lora's actual identity and her true background. The fabulous world building is another positive point here that really intrigued me. The writing style of the author is great as well and I really liked the detailed descriptions that we got here.
Over all a great read that I would definitely recommend to all of you and hope that you'll like it as much as I did. Enjoy reading folks !!!
CHAOS BORN
CHRONICLES OF APPLECROSS
BOOK 1
SYNOPSIS:
A fresh and exciting debut novel introducing the Chronicles
from the Applecross.
Lora Blackgoat, smuggler and mercenary, has been lying low
after a job gone bad made her a laughing stock in the industry. When a
childhood friend turns to her for help, Lora leaps to restore her reputation
and starts hunting a killer who is stalking the gas-lit streets.
She never expects that her path will lead her to the Order
of Guides, a sadistic militant religious organisation - or to Roman, a deadly
and dangerously attractive half-angel warrior who also hunts the killer.
When Lora discovers that the killer has broken fundamental
laws of magic to enter the city, she also uncovers a conspiracy that leads back
into her own dark past.
MY THOUGHTS:
Rating: 3 Stars
I got this book from NetGalley, free of cost, in exchange of an honest review from my side.
Firstly I would like to thank the author and publisher for giving me this opportunity of reading and reviewing this book.
I liked this story very much. It has a fresh concept and the plot is also awesome. I liked the presentation of the concept and the awesome writing style of the author really made the read a gripping read for me.
I have a complaint here and that is the excessive descriptions regarding unnecessary things like clothes, room decorations, etc and this small thing made the read irritating at times and I really had to skip pages just to return back to the main stream.
The characters are good and Lora is a easy-going and 'devil may care' type of girl who isn't cliche and doesn't keep on drooling on guys though she has a knack for hot guys and honestly speaking who doesn't? Although I liked this carefree facet of her personality but there is a hidden facet as well which is emotionally weak and vulnerable. Though she tries to act smart and confident all the times but there are certain moments when the readers get to see her weak side as well and the author presented this beautifully.
Roman is great and swoon worthy and I liked the way his and Lora's life intertwined. The mystery and the suspense is thick in here and that kept me hooked in till the end. I loved the story very much and would definitely recommend it to others, hope that you guys will like it as well.
CHAOS BOUND - Excerpt:
Chapter 1
No one had
liked Rae Dowler. His nickname had been Captain Chunky, and that was from his
friends. He'd been a greedy bastard in life and now, in death, was a weight on
my conscience. This was the second co-worker to die on a job with me. The first
one I’d had to behead after he'd become infected at an exorcism with a demonic
entity, along with the client. Thankfully, my sword had been nowhere near Rae
Dowler when he'd dropped dead of an old-fashioned heart attack. Still, people
liked to talk.
Spring
had bloomed in the bustling city of Harken, and instead of the usual rain, or tepid
fog, the narrow, crooked streets had been flooded with gentle, golden sunshine.
For a city used to constant downpours and overcast skies, the unexpected
weather was viewed with some suspicion and considered most unseemly.
A
warm afternoon wind was blowing though the cemetery, ruffling black skirts and
sending hats sailing. I watched as the coffin was lowered into the ground, only
half listening as a priest of The Higher Path faith droned on about eternal
life.
Dowler
had been in the Runner industry for over forty years. He was the only other
Runner at Blackgoat Watch that didn't mind being sent on jobs past The Weald's
guarded entryways: out into the modern world, with its buzzing technology,
flashing neon lights and all things deep fried. Transporting anything from the
Outlands back into the hidden Weald was illegal, but somehow Dowler always
managed to return with a tray of Winkie Bill's Crème Donuts. A tray he never
shared, mind you. Just sat in the kitchen of Blackgoat and scoffed the lot
before he had to go home to his wife. In light of his less than stellar diet, I
guess the heart attack that killed him wasn't a complete surprise.
Gideon,
my benefactor and owner of Blackgoat Watch, stood to my left, reeking of stale
whisky and boredom. Cloete, another runner at Blackgoat, was on my right. A
five-foot dynamo, Cloete was otherkin: her bloodline a mixture of succubus and
goddess-knew-what other interbred, mystic race. Today she was wearing leather
pants and a suede coat, her petite horns hidden under a bowler hat. Her
inky-black tail wrapped around one leg, the end tapping impatiently against her
thigh. Tails were tricky things, always giving away the mind of their owners.
Tails never seemed to lie and I was thankful I didn’t have one.
The
priest said 'amen' and people dutifully took their cue and began shuffling
away. Dowler's widow, a heavy-set woman with coarse hair and fleshy jowls,
tossed wilted roses into the open grave, her expression a mixture of sadness
and regret, with a pinch of what looked like suspicion.
‘Thank
Kianna's sacred tits that's over.’ Cloete yawned, tail unravelling from her
leg. ‘Who's up for a brew at Growlers?’
‘That
was the most boring funeral I've ever attended.’ Gideon copied Cloete's yawn,
covering his mouth with a hairy hand. He was decked out in a long frock coat
with a red carnation tucked in the lapels and a natty yellow necktie. Gideon
was a full-blooded satyr, and though he made every effort to look human, today
he'd forgotten a hat, and his tangle of steel-wool grey hair revealed the tops
of his horns he'd had amputated years ago in an effort to fit in. He'd also
forgotten the contacts that changed his slit pupils to round, and his
fancy-made shoes didn't match. All this, and his hangdog expression, suggested
he was struggling with a hangover.
‘It
wasn't that boring.’ I tried to sound indignant on Dowler's behalf, but came
off sounding guilty. I was busy praying the wife didn't notice me.
‘Before
I forget, Lora,’ Gideon paused to yawn again, ‘I need you to come in to Blackgoat
tomorrow to talk about a new job.’
‘You've
already got me babysitting the theatre bimbo,’ I reminded him. It was a simple
bodyguard gig. No real threats...low stress...limited chance of beheadings.
‘Please.’
Gideon looked pained. ‘Nicola Grogan is an actress, and a fine one at that.’ He
sniffed and flicked a finger at his carnation. ‘And I must say, that doesn't
sound like gratitude from where I'm standing.’
My
lips tightened, but I had enough smarts to pause before I spoke, giving my
brain a chance to kick in. After being passed over for jobs because other
Runners refused to work with me, I was in no position to turn my nose up at any
opportunities. I'd only attended one other successful exorcism job since the
beheading incident. That client had been high profile: the daughter of the Lord
Mayor Corelli. Unfortunately, the Mayor was a staunch advocate of the Church of
Higher Path, who frowned upon things such as spells and magic, seeing them as
blasphemy. Blackgoat Watch had been hired by Mayor Corelli's wife, who'd sworn
Gideon to secrecy, all of which meant I couldn't put the job on my brag sheet
of clients I hadn't killed. As things stood now, Gideon had been forced to
strong-arm Rae Dowler to work with me on a stakeout of a suspected cheating husband.
The fact that the job hadn't ended well for Dowler was now going to make me a
social pariah. Again.
‘Sorry,’
I muttered. ‘I'm grateful. I'm grateful.’
Gideon
grunted and made a beeline for the rickshaw he'd hired to chauffeur him to and
from the cemetery. Despite his dishevelled look this morning, Gideon liked to
think most people couldn't pick he was a satyr, and that he was a master of
disguise. No one had the heart to tell him he wasn't.
I
rubbed my right lame leg and leant heavily on my goat-headed duelling cane,
jealous of the rickshaw. After downing two espressos and three pastries from a
local bakery, I'd walked to the cemetery as an act of contrition. Orella
Warbreeder, my adoptive mother, had been lecturing me on how walking would do
my joints wonders. But after standing in one place for so long, my hip had
seized. I had half a mind to beg a lift with Gideon when a wink of light caught
my eye, coming from the line of pine trees hedging one side of the cemetery.
The light blinked again. I was no super spy, but had enough smarts to know when
someone wanted my attention.
‘Lora?’
‘Eh?’
I realised Cloete had asked me a question.
‘Drink?’
She mimed throwing back a tankard of beer.
‘I
think I'll just stay here a bit,’ I said. ‘Catch up with you later?’
Her
eyebrows lifted. ‘Self-pity is an ugly emotion, Lora.’
‘Fuck
off. I've just got things to do.’
Cloete
pursed her lips. ‘You won't be bringing your boyfriend, will you?’
‘Boyfriend?’
My eyebrows arched. ‘Who would that be?’
‘Are
you serious?’ Cloete snorted. ‘You think people aren't gossiping about you
making goo-goo eyes at that fire and brimstone Regulator?’
I
flushed. ‘His name is Roman, and we're just friends.’
One
side of Cloete's mouth jerked up. ‘How very teen drama.’
‘Shut
up.’
She
began to stalk off, then paused, glancing back at me. ‘Just make sure you come
to Growlers tonight, yeah? I want to talk to you about something important.’
‘Fine,
fine.’ I gave her a surly look. ‘I'll make sure my teen drama doesn't follow
me.’
Cloete
chuckled as she left, striding towards the city with a smattering of other
burly-looking Blackgoat Runners. I'd heard she'd flat-out refused the
protection detail for Nicola Grogan. I wish I could have done the same. Spoilt
actresses were bad for my health. There was another flash from the woods and I
got the impression someone wanted me to hurry up.
The
hairs on my neck prickled and I turned to see Dowler's wife. Her lips peeled
back and she hissed at me, sounding like a kettle on the boil. I opened my
mouth a couple of times before managing to mutter condolences about her loss.
‘This
was your fault.’ Her eyes were slits of fury, face dry of tears. ‘My husband's
blood is on your hands.’
‘I
don't think that's fair,’ I protested weakly.
But
the widow was already leaving, an elderly man escorting her away. She let
herself be led, back stiff with anger. I watched her go, feeling miserable. How
was Dowler's death my fault? A small voice told me I was a jinx, so that kind
of made it my fault. I balked as the widow pulled away from her escort and
stabbed a finger at me, spit flying from thinned lips. ‘You're the angel of
death, Lora Blackgoat. You bring nothing but misery into people's lives.’
Her
escort tightened his grip, threw me a scowl, and hurried her from the cemetery.
I was the only one by Dowler's graveside now. Even the grave attendants had
retreated for a break, leaning against headstones and smoking tobacco pipes.
I
unbuttoned my coat and adjusted my work-belt with its heavy pockets, loaded
with knick-knacks most useful in a fight. This included pouches of salt, the
one medium guaranteed to act as a conduit to the ley-lines that ran under the
earth and fuelled all magic. It wasn't hard to cast; took a few years of
training to get the concentration right, then chuck a bit of salt, shout a few
words of power in the language of your choice, and hey presto, you could set
your own hair on fire. My belt was well stocked with salt, including one pouch
of my own special mixture: powdered consecrated silver, salt, and half a
teaspoon of gunpowder. I called it my Sucker Punch Special: guaranteed to rock
your socks when you needed it. Feeling prepared, I braced my cane against my
bad leg and strode towards the line of pine trees.
AUTHOR INTERVIEW:
1.
How will you describe your book within a
sentence?
·
Lora
Blackgoat, blade for hire, is hired to find a missing persons and her investigation
puts her in the crosshairs of a violent street gang and a sinister merchant with
a taste for blood sport.
2.
Tell us about your favourite one among the
characters of your own book? What special qualities make the particular
character your favourite?
·
Lora has
to be my favourite, because I connect with her outlook. Or to be more precise,
I wish I had her outlook. I think
the qualities that make her special are her ability to take a punch, but still
come up swinging.
3.
Genres you like to read? Genres you prefer to
write?
·
I like
to read and write urban fantasy, paranormal romance and New Adult. When I
write, my stories usually have subthemes of horror and crime.
4.
When and how did the thought of this story come
up?
·
Lora's
voice came to me five years ago, when I was brainstorming for a short story
idea. After writing a few, her background story evolved into something I wanted
to expand on in a novel.
5.
How do you plan out your writing?
·
I try
to set down the big goal posts, like the beginning, middle and end. Then I give
my heroine and hero problems to solve and the story evolves from there.
6.
Describe yourself in 2 words.
·
Chaotic
and forgetful.
7.
Three most important things that an amateur
writer must keep in mind while writing his first book.
·
Have a
writing routine and a weekly or daily writing goal.
·
Study the craft through classes and workshops.
Then study some more.
·
Join a writers’ centre or a supportive writers
group.
8.
Are you currently working on a project? If yes, would
you like your readers to have a sneak peek into it?
·
I’m
currently writing book 3 in Chronicles from the Applecross. In this book, Lora
is faced with multiple problems that force her to realise her carefree attitude
must evolve into something more, if she's to save the company she works for and
the man she loves.
9.
Your top three favourite authors?
·
JR
Ward, Nalini Singh and Janet
Evanovich.
10. Your
top three favourite books of all time?
·
One for
the Money, by Janet Evanovich
·
Dark
Lover, by JR Ward
·
Guilty
Pleasures, by Laurell K Hamilton.
About the Author:
Rebekah
lives in sunny Queensland and has worked in the past as a graphic designer. She
now does freelance work when her kids are looking the other way. An avid writer
since she could scrawl in her dad’s expensive encyclopedias, she has progressed
from horsey stories to tales of dark fantasy with lashings of romance and a
sprinkling of horror.
Her
vices include eating overpriced ice cream, over analyzing 80s action and horror
movies and buying stationery she just doesn't need.
Website: www.rebekahturner.net
Twitter Username: @RbkahTurner
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