It’s not often that a book’s blurb hooks me. I mean, they can sell me on a book based on the premise. What I’m talking about is borderline obsession with a blurb. (Don’t look at me like that. I’m not in this just for the wings.)
My editor handled Samhain’s recent Cyberpunk anthology call. The three novellas she picked were released on Tuesday, and I admit–I ogled the covers and moved on. While I love Steampunk jewelry, I’ve never gotten into reading it. I hadn’t even heard of Cyberpunk until that anthology call, so I was wary of the unknown. And then I saw the trailer for Ghost tweeted.
It grabbed me. I love, love, love the last lines: I’ve heard the warning my whole life. Never talk to Shadows. But no one ever told me what would happen if I kissed one. That right there sold this book to me. I’m swamped at the moment. Edits on Evermine and Frost are finished, which means I have crit work to catch up on and Eversworn to get back to. Once I’m all critted up, this book is my reward.
(Again, stop looking at me like that. I have willpower. Sure I do. Tons of it. *blinks*)
Rule number one: Run from the Shadows. Unless one knows the secret that will save you.
A Cybershock Story
I live in a world of waifs and shadows. Live might be an overstatement. I scrounge and scramble and survive in an atmosphere made thick and gray by the ashes of the Fallen. And sometimes I dream of sunlight. My parents were taken, even though they followed all the rules. Never scavenge at night. Never talk to Shadows. Don’t fight the Sweepers. Run. Run. Run.
Now that they’ve taken my little brother, Douglas, I’ve realized I’ve only been surviving for him. I have two choices: Follow him or lie down and die. I can’t just quit after years of struggle. I wouldn’t know how if I tried. Determination is all I have left.
And then I meet him.
He claims to be a rogue who can help me find my brother. It’s got to be a lie. But I don’t run. I stop. I listen. And I make a deal with a Shadow even though I know it will mean the death of me.
Never talk to Shadows.
But no one ever told me what would happen if I kissed one.
Warning: May cause fantasies of forbidden kisses from dark heroes who balance on the edge of evil. Where shadows wait and ashes fall…
For more information on this book, head over to Samhain or Amazon. For more information on Barbara J. Hancock, visit her website.
Hailey writes about questionable applications of otherwise perfectly good magic, the transformative power of love, the family you choose for yourself, and blowing stuff up. Not necessarily all at once. That could get messy.
