Description:
Published: September 4th, 2018
What fate awaits a girl who hears monsters at night…
Sixteen-year-old Jaclyn looks up to her father. An honest man who once fought for the king, he now teaches Jaclyn how to use her wits—and her sword.
But he has a secret. And his secret may have a connection to the one thing Jaclyn is hiding from him.
Upon hearing “monsters” are terrorizing the small villages around Black Mountain, Jaclyn’s father and his friends head out to hunt them … but they don’t return.
Armed only with her sword and three magic beans—a gift from a mysterious old woman—Jaclyn sets out for Black Mountain to save her father.
On her climb, one bean drops and grows into a beanstalk, catching her when she falls.
She isn’t the only one that takes the ride. Jack, her childhood friend and secret crush, is following her.
Jaclyn and Jack will have to work together to save not only their fathers, but the townspeople the beasts plan to lay waste to before it’s too late.
EXCERPT
I sat up, this time not caring if men saw me. My teeth chattered, and the rain kept falling, and my vision stayed unclear except for the bobbing lights of the lanterns. I could no longer tell where Father stood as I peered into the night, until the sheep bleated louder.
The roar of the monsters whirled in the air—one deafening snarl after the other—and loud thumps steadily approaching shook the earth.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
From the sound of them, there were at least three. Maybe more.
Their rage rumbled the earth like a lion’s growl, but a hundred times worse. I wanted to see what they looked like, but the rain and the darkness made it impossible. I had to wipe water off my face every second to better my vision.
When the lanterns moved closer to the sheep, I stiffened. And not too far from them shone six glowing circles—radiant like the sun—high above the ground. My gut told me they were the monsters’ eyes, burning like Hell’s fire.
God help us.
“What are you waiting for?” Aldwin shouted. “Kill the beasts.”
“No, Aldwin,” Father said.
“We can’t fight giants, Richard.”
“May God have mercy.”
The angered monsters’ cries reverberated within the forest, loud enough to be heard for miles. When lightning struck again, shock slammed into me and my breath hitched, for I got a glimpse of the monsters towering over the men.
Their elongated arms possessed claws the size and shape of swords. To my horror, the beasts looked like the creatures in my vision when I’d touched the lance.
They are real … real … real. Taller than life. Claws like a beast. Teeth as sharp as knives. Phantom demons incarnate.
“Run,” William shouted, and then human screams followed.
About the author:
International Bestselling/Award Winning Author Mary Ting/M. Clarke resides in Southern California with her husband and two children. She enjoys oil painting and making jewelry. Writing her first novel, Crossroads Saga, happened by chance. It was a way to grieve the death of her beloved grandmother, and inspired by a dream she once had as a young girl. When she started reading new adult novels, she fell in love with the genre. It was the reason she had to write one-Something Great. She also toured with Magic Johnson Foundation to promote literacy and her children’s chapter book-No Bullies Allowed.
This sounds like an intriguing read.
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