Excerpt: The Wolf Road by Beth Lewis


Crown Publishers • July 5, 2016 • Price: $26.00 hardcover • 368 pages
ISBN: 978-1-101-90612-5 • eBook ISBN: 978-1-101-90613-2

Summary

In her debut novel THE WOLF ROAD (July 5, 2016; Crown), author and managing editor at London’s Titan Books Beth Lewis introduces us to a world decimated by an unnamed, apocalyptic event and inhabited by desperate people accustomed to hunting, tracking, and killing to survive. Among them is Elka, the young heroine whose unmistakable voice guides us through the untamed landscape of the area formerly known as British Columbia on her journey to escape the horrors of her own past.

Everything Elka knows of the world she learned from the man she calls Trapper, a solitary hunter who took her under his wing when she was just seven years old. He has taught her how to shoot, track, set snares, and start fires—all the skills necessary to survive in a wild, lawless land where men are at the mercy of the elements and one another. But when wanted posters begin appearing in town, Elka realizes that the man she thinks she knows so well is harboring terrible secrets. The more Elka finds out about him, the less sure she becomes about her own identity—especially as she begins to recover some of the painful memories she’s kept at bay throughout her childhood.

As the horrific facts emerge, Elka makes her escape, armed with nothing but her knife and the survival skills he’s taught her. She sets out in the hope of finding her true parents, who traveled to the frozen north years earlier in pursuit of gold, but Elka can tell by the shadows that follow her that Trapper’s on her trail—and he won’t be letting his little girl go without a fight. As she encounters physical hardships, violence, and loneliness that at times test her sanity, she also strains to distinguish between fact and fiction in her own recollections. Ultimately, she will have to turn and confront not just Trapper but the dark reality of her past.

THE WOLF ROAD is a tautly suspenseful cat-and-mouse tale of justice and revenge, played out against a vast, unforgiving landscape—told by an unforgettable, tough-as-nails young heroine fighting desperately to escape the terrors of her childhood and rejoin humanity.
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Excerpt

His eyes searched the trees. Black as pitch them eyes, black as disease and disorder and hate and lies. He grinned, flat white teeth like gravestones, and twirled his little fish gutter in his fingers, flinging blood everywhere, rolling out the red carpet.
“Elka, you know I don’t mean you no harm.” His voice turned friendly. “I’d never hurt my Elka.”
He wandered around like a blind man, trudging through the snow, steam lifting off his body. Always hot after a killing. He was lean, carved out of wood some say, and but for the tattoos had a face you’d take home to your mother. He leaned up against a cottonwood tree, panting to keep the cold out, getting sick of hide-and-seek.
“Could a’ killed you a hundred times, girlie,” he said, slow. “Could a’ taken my pig sticker and cut your neck to navel while you slept. Could a’ peeled your skin off easy as boiled trout.”
I remembered all those years calling him Daddy and felt sick.
“Could a’ made my winter boots out of your back,” he carried on, voice getting more excited, smile getting bigger, like he was reeling off courses at a feast. “New belt out of your arms. Could a’ stuffed my mattress with your silky brown hair.”
He laughed and I felt sicker. He raised his knife, pointed it into the trees, right at my face though he didn’t know it.
“You’d make a fine pair of boots, Elka girl.”
Heard it all before but it didn’t stop the cold creeping up my back, cold that weren’t snow. Cold that weren’t ice and winter. I’d heard him say worse but never to me. I was still afraid of him, the things he’d done, the things he made me do. But damn if I wasn’t trying to turn it to good.
“All these months you been looking for me, Kreagar, and I found you first.”
I raised up my own knife. Weighted right nice for throwing. I told him in my head to stay there against the tree, told him don’t you move a muscle.
“I been worried something rotten for you, Elka. This world ain’t no place for a kid like you on your own. There are worse things than wolves in the dark. Worse things than me.”
But for the blood he could have been a normal Joe out on a stroll. But for the kid’s scalp swinging in the breeze, he could’ve been anyone. But he wasn’t. He was Kreagar Hallet. Murdering, kid-killing bastard Kreagar Hallet. Took me far too long to figure that out and no prettied-up words would change it now.
I stood up on the branch without making more’n a snowflake shudder and wound back my arm. Breathed out. Pictured him like a deer. Threw my knife with all the force I had, straight and true and hit him in that soft spot just below the collarbone. That metal went through his shoulder into that tree, pinned him hard, heard that wood thud you get during target practice. And I’d done a lot of target practice. Damn if that weren’t a perfect shot.


About the Author

Beth Lewis was raised in the wilds of Cornwall and split her childhood between books and the beach. She has traveled extensively throughout the world and has had close encounters with black bears, killer whales, and great white sharks. She has been, at turns, a bank cashier, a fire performer, and a juggler, and she is currently a managing editor at Titan Books in London. The Wolf Road is her first novel.

Website: www.bethklewis.co.uk

Twitter: @bethklewis



Tour Schedule:
7/11: The Story Sanctuary - Spotlight
7/13: Dizneeee's World of Books - Excerpt
7/15: Storybook Slayers - Spotlight
7/19: Here's to Happy Endings - Excerpt
7/21: No BS Book Reviews - Q&A
7/25: I Turn the Pages - Mood Board
7/27: Take Me Away to a Great Read - Excerpt
7/29: A Book & A Latte - Q&A
8/2: Novel Ink - Spotlight
8/4: Life According to a Bibliophile - Review
8/8: Bookish Lifestyle - Q&A
8/10: Emily Reads Everything - Review
8/12: Reading is Better with Cupcakes - Review

Praise for THE WOLF ROAD:

“An unrelenting psychological thriller of wilderness survival wrapped in a terrifying hide-and-seek game of trying to escape an unspeakable past. … Fans of suspense with a touch of horror will be pulled into Elka’s intense struggle to find peace and redemption as the whole truth is finally revealed.”
Booklist on The Wolf Road

“Arresting…[an] odyssey that highlights the striking wilderness landscape and Elka’s grit.”
Publishers Weekly on The Wolf Road

“A white-knuckle trip through a gritty, frightening, and all-too-plausible post-apocalypse. You won’t know whether to root for or be afraid of heroine Elka, and you won’t be able to put the book down.”
Paul Tremblay, author of A Head Full of Ghosts 

“A remarkable first novel that drew me in from page one. I was reminded of the beautiful savagery of Cormac McCarthy’sThe Road and the elegiac overtones of Dickey’s Deliverancewhile reading—but Lewis has crafted something completely unique here, carried so powerfully along by the voice of its indelible young narrator.”
Nick Cutter, author of The Troop

“Addictive and compelling…an apocalyptic thriller with a dark, horrible heart. It’s impossible not to root for Elka as she fights her way through a chilling—but disturbingly familiar—wasteland.”
Kelly Braffet, author of Save Yourself

“Stark and soulful, The Wolf Road is a brutal yet poignant journey into the truth of one girl’s origins in a shattered wilderness. It masterfully dances between the savagery of the wild and the raw, blunt humor of frontier logic. A rollicking, striking read.”
Robert Jackson Bennett, author of City of Stairs 

“Dazzling…a literary thriller that weaves lush language and unforgettable characters into a genuine page-turner.”
Scott Hawkins, author of The Library at Mount Char

“An extraordinary novel—dark and funny and full of wild energy. Elka is a brilliant creation—fierce and vulnerable at the same time. Her story and her voice pull you in from the first page and never let you go. Gripping and unforgettable.”
Antonia Hodgson, author of The Devil in the Marshalsea

Blog Tour: Sticks & Stones by Abby Cooper Review w/ Giveaway


Book Title: Sticks & Stones
Author: Abby Cooper
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
Release Date: July 12th 2016
Genre: Middle Grade, Fantasy, School

Synopsis

Ever since she was a baby, the words people use to describe Elyse have instantly appeared on her arms and legs. At first it was just "cute" and "adorable," but as she's gotten older and kids have gotten meaner, words like "loser" and "pathetic" appear, and those words bubble up and itch. And then there are words like "interesting," which she's not really sure how to feel about. Now, at age twelve, she's starting middle school, and just when her friends who used to accept and protect her are drifting away, she receives an anonymous note saying "I know who you are, and I know what you're dealing with. I want to help." As Elyse works to solve the mystery of who is sending her these notes, she also finds new ways to accept who she is and to become her best self.






 photo addtogoodreadssmall_zpsa2a6cf28.png photo B6096376-6C81-4465-8935-CE890C777EB9-1855-000001A1E900B890_zps5affbed6.jpg


Follow the Sticks & Stones by Abby Cooper Blog Tour and don't miss anything! Click on the banner to see the tour schedule.



Abby Cooper lives in Minnesota with her miniature poodle, Louis, and a whole bunch of books. A former teacher and school librarian, her favorite things in the world (besides writing) are getting and giving book recommendations and sharing her love of reading with others. In her spare time, she likes eating cupcakes, running along the Mississippi River, and watching a lot of bad reality TV.





US Only Giveaway | Rules & Conditions on the rafflecopter





Excerpt & Giveaway: The Telling by Alexandra Sirowy:

I'm happy to share a part of THE TELLING by Alexandra Sirowy with you today! 
Make sure to check each blog part of the tour (listed below) to find different chapter excerpts!


Book Title: The Telling
Author: Alexandra Sirowy
Release Date: August 2, 2016

Summary 

A chilling new novel about a girl who must delve into her past if she wants to live long enough to have a future when a series of murders that are eerily similar to the dark stories her brother used to tell start happening in her hometown.

Lana used to know what was real. That was before, when her life was small and quiet. Her golden stepbrother, Ben was alive. She could only dream about bonfiring with the populars. Their wooded island home was idyllic, she could tell truth from lies, and Ben’s childhood stories were firmly in her imagination.

Then came after.

After has Lana boldly kissing her crush, jumping into the water from too high up, living with nerve and mischief. But after also has horrors, deaths that only make sense in fairy tales, and terrors from a past Lana thought long forgotten. Love, blood, and murder.

Excerpt
Chapter 2 part 1
What comes next happens fast. It’s getting dark and everyone is out of breath, their panting magnified in my ears. Becca’s whimpers are desperate and grinding, bouncing off the trees. I want to tell her to shut up already, I need to concentrate. Josh leaves the surface, and there’s only black lapping water where he was.
Duncan makes it to the shore and his voice booms, “Carolynn, call 9-1-1.”
And she says, “My effing cell is in the car.”
Willa shouts, “Run for it.”
And then they stop making noise—except for Becca, who’s still wailing—so I assume Carolynn runs for her phone. I get caught up in the enormous unlikelihood of seven of us and not one cell, and then I want to smack my forehead because there’s no service at the spring.
Rusty vanishes too. He and Josh are diving for the girl. And I think, What is she doing down there? A split second later, I dive also.
I swim blind, the surface gone too dim to illuminate below. I wriggle through the black, my chest squeezing with the increased pressure. My hands jab the bottom. It’s soundless as death, and I wonder if Ben can hear anything where he is. Stupid to believe he could be anywhere, dead is dead. And I’m not dead, even if sometimes I wonder if we’d be together if I were. That’s a nightmare thought, the kind that filled the first month after we buried Ben’s empty coffin.
There’s a ripple in the water to my right—Josh or Rusty scouring the spring for the girl. The girl. I was below a minute ago and there was no one except loneliness and memories of Ben—but aren’t those two actually the same? My arms sweep back and forth, legs propelling me forward. Pressure behind my eyeballs. Too long since the surface. And that must be the case, because I have the inkling that I’m an astronaut in space and I’m only dreaming that I’m in water.
My arms close around something—no, someone—waxy and firm. I take hold and yank and yank, ripping the form free from an invisible grip. She’s slender in my arms, all sharp angles and poking bones. I wonder if she’s a kid as we surface, and I gasp so hard it’s a punch in the lungs.
“Help,” I sputter. Everything is silver edged. Rusty’s arms windmill toward me. His hands skate over mine to get a grip on the girl, which is good because she’s slipping, her breasts smushed against my arms as I try to keep hold. Breasts, so she’s not a kid. Rusty floats her on her back, and with an arm hooked under hers, he cuts through the water.
“Over here, man,” Duncan calls, crouched on the shore, blood smeared across his face. Josh jerks his head to the ladder, and we swim for it. Rusty must have reached the shore, because Duncan adds, “Lift her. Yeah, yeah, yeah, a bit higher.”
My arms go shaky and dumb as I climb from one rung to the next. I’m at the top, swinging a leg over a boulder, when Duncan shouts, “Holy shit, I know her.” Becca cries out from where she’s curled on her towel, the skipper hat and her face ducking intermittently behind her knees. “It’s Maggie Lewis,” Duncan says.


About the Author

Alexandra Sirowy is the author of The Creeping and The Telling. She was born and raised in Northern California, where she attended a women’s college as an undergraduate and received her MA at the University of San Francisco. She is a voracious reader, the oldest of three children, an avid traveler, a record-holding high school long jumper, a gourmet cook, a feminist, and forever grateful to her parents for reading to her as a child. Alexandra lives in Northern California with her husband.








Photo by Vivian Sachs

Giveaway

The publisher is giving away a copy to one of my blog readers!
This is for US entrants, 13+ only.
Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Tour Schedule:
7/11: The Book Cellar
7/12: Dizneeee's World of Books
7/13: I Turn the Pages
7/14: Actin' Up With Books
7/15: Such A Novel Idea

Cover Reveal: Remember Yesterday by Pintip Dunn

I'm so excited to share the cover reveal for Remember Yesterday by Pintip Dunn with you today! You can check out the gorgeous cover below! This cover reveal is brought to you by YaReads Blog Tours and YA Interrobang!

Cover Reveal


Book Title: Remember Yesterday (Forget Tomorrow, #2)
Author: Pintip Dunn
Release Date: October 4, 2016
Genre: YA Sci-Fi

Summary

Sixteen-year-old Jessa Stone is the most valuable citizen in Eden City. Her psychic abilities could lead to significant scientific discoveries, if only she’d let TechRA study her. But ten years ago, the scientists kidnapped and experimented on her, leading to severe ramifications for her sister, Callie. She’d much rather break into their labs and sabotage their research—starting with Tanner Callahan, budding scientist and the boy she loathes most at school.

The past isn’t what she assumed, though—and neither is Tanner. He’s not the arrogant jerk she thought he was. And his research opens the door to the possibility that Jessa can rectify a fatal mistake made ten years earlier. She’ll do anything to change the past and save her sister—even if it means teaming up with the enemy she swore to defeat.



Forget Tomorrow (Forget Tomorrow, #1) 

Imagine a world where your destiny has already been decided…by your future self.

It’s Callie’s seventeenth birthday and, like everyone else, she’s eagerly awaiting her vision―a memory sent back in time to sculpt each citizen into the person they’re meant to be. A world-class swimmer. A renowned scientist.

Or in Callie’s case, a criminal.

In her vision, she sees herself murdering her gifted younger sister. Before she can process what it means, Callie is arrested and placed in Limbo―a prison for those destined to break the law. With the help of her childhood crush, Logan, a boy she hasn’t spoken to in five years, she escapes the hellish prison.

But on the run from her future, as well as the government, Callie sets in motion a chain of events that she hopes will change her fate. If not, she must figure out how to protect her sister from the biggest threat of all—Callie, herself.


About the Author

Pintip Dunn graduated from Harvard University, magna cum laude, with an A.B. in English Literature and Language. She received her J.D. at Yale Law School, where she was an editor of the YALE LAW JOURNAL. She also published an article in the YALE LAW JOURNAL, entitled, “How Judges Overrule: Speech Act Theory and the Doctrine of Stare Decisis,”

Pintip is represented by literary agent Beth Miller of Writers House. Her debut novel, Forget Tomorrow, is a finalist in the Best First Book category of RWA’s RITA® contest. She is a member of Romance Writers of America, Washington Romance Writers, YARWA, and The Golden Network.

She lives with her husband and children in Maryland. You can learn more about Pintip and her books at www.pintipdunn.com


Cover Reveal - Long Way Home by Katie McGarry


Being released on January 31st, 2017, the highly anticipated third book in Katie McGarry's Thunder Road Series has a cover that I'm excited to share with you! LONG WAY HOME is a Young Adult Contemporary Romance being published by Harlequin Teen! Pre-order your copy of the next book in this emotionally charged series, and don't miss Violet and Chevy's story!

Cover Reveal


Synopsis

Seventeen-year-old Violet has always been expected to sit back and let the boys do all the saving.

It’s the code her father, a member of the Reign of Terror motorcycle club, raised her to live by. Yet when her dad is killed carrying out Terror business, Violet knows it’s up to her to do the saving. To protect herself, and her vulnerable younger brother, she needs to cut all ties with the club—including Chevy, the boy she’s known and loved her whole life.

But when a rival club comes after Violet, exposing old secrets and making new threats, she’s forced to question what she thought she knew about her father, the Reign of Terror, and what she thinks she wants. Which means re-evaluating everything: love, family, friends . . . and forgiveness.

Caught in the crosshairs between loyalty and freedom, Violet must decide whether old friends can be trusted—and if she’s strong enough to be the one person to save them all.
"An intoxicating and unforgettable story that kept me glued to the page."
—Kami Garcia, #1 New York Times bestselling author, on Walk the Edge


LONG WAY HOME Pre-Order Links:

And Don’t Miss the First Two Titles in the Thunder Road Series!


Katie McGarry Bio

Katie McGarry was a teenager during the age of grunge and boy bands and remembers those years as the best and worst of her life. She is a lover of music, happy endings, reality television, and is a secret University of Kentucky basketball fan.
Katie is the author of full length YA novels, PUSHING THE LIMITS, DARE YOU TO, CRASH INTO YOU, TAKE ME ON, BREAKING THE RULES, and NOWHERE BUT HERE and the e-novellas, CROSSING THE LINE and RED AT NIGHT. Her debut YA novel, PUSHING THE LIMITS was a 2012 Goodreads Choice Finalist for YA Fiction, a RT Magazine's 2012 Reviewer's Choice Awards Nominee for Young Adult Contemporary Novel, a double Rita Finalist, and a 2013 YALSA Top Ten Teen Pick. DARE YOU TO was also a Goodreads Choice Finalist for YA Fiction and won RT Magazine’s Reviewer’s Choice Best Book Award for Young Adult Contemporary fiction in 2013.