"The writing is very colorful with lots of British slang and strange and seedy characters. The plot is fast and furious with unexpected developments and exciting scenes. A nice piece of gritty urban fantasy." ~ Kasey's Book Nook
"Smart, funny, irreverent with tons of action... [Bad Soul] has it all in spades." ~ K. Bird Lincoln
Promises, rules, bones; Erin Banks will break them all.
Unscrupulous and lethal, Erin has everything she needs to be an assassin in a world full of mobsters, monsters, and magic.
She wasn’t born with powers, but thanks to her Uncanny Ink—arcane tattoos that transform her body into a magic-fuelled killing machine—she’s more than a match for anyone dumb enough to stand between her and getting paid.
Fresh out of prison, Erin wastes no time getting back to what she does best: running down wanted men and claiming their bounties.
But when a powerful demon lurking in a black cathedral hires her to round up an errant soul, the creature offers a reward far more valuable than money…
He offers Erin the key to unlocking her tragic past. The key to the mystery surrounding her long-lost brother.
Magic, scares, and acid-tongued snark collide in this thrilling urban fantasy series set in the Uncanny Kingdom. Buried secrets and whiplash twists will keep you riding the edge of your seat. Read Bad Soul now for a pulse-pounding tale you won’t be able to put down.
EXCERPT
As it turned out, the giant of a man—whose name was Gerald—didn’t want
to stab me. Which was a bit of a relief. I’d yet to have my tattoos reapplied,
and I didn’t fancy my chances against a bloke his size without them. By the
looks of him, he could’ve gripped me in a bear hug and squeezed my insides
outside like the contents of a tube of toothpaste.
‘The Long Man is
waiting for you,’ said Gerald.
The Long Man? That
rang a bell. We hadn’t crossed paths before, but I’d heard all sorts of
whispers about things like him in the darkened corners of pubs at three in the
morning. About demons.
‘Okay. Where’s he at?
Maybe we could do lunch.’
‘He is inside of me,’
he replied.
‘Ah. Oh. Christ.’
Demons tend to occupy
little realms of their own, separate from the everyday world but connected to
it via hidden portals. Well, hidden unless you know where to look. It might be
a crack in reality at the bottom of an ancient well, or a hollow in a tree that
leads to another place. Or the door might be a living thing, in this case a really
tall, wide man named Gerald.
"Hits the ground running and doesn't stop." ~ Sean Cunningham, Author of the Hawthorn House series
‘You’re sure he
wouldn’t just like to do this over the phone?’ I asked as I followed him across
the pebble beach and into a small hut.
‘Face-to-face,’ said
Gerald as he began to undress, carefully folding each item of clothing and
placing it aside as he did so.
Well, the sight of
Gerald stark bollock naked wasn’t exactly a delight, but what he did next was
grimmer still.
He took the knife he
was holding, turned it upon himself, and jabbed it into his throat. He didn’t
flinch, didn’t scream, he barely even blinked. He dragged the knife down his
neck, down his chest and stomach, until he reached his groin. The whole time he
cut away at himself, not a drop of blood was spilt. Finally, when he was done,
he kneeled down and used his fingers to dig into the long gash he’d fashioned,
then he began to peel himself open until there was a gap large enough for me to
crawl through.
"Bussell and Stott deliver a dark and gripping read in Bad Soul, marking Uncanny Ink as a must-read series for urban fantasy fans." ~ Readers' Favorite
‘You know, you’d go
down a storm on Britain’s Got Talent,’ I said.
He didn’t laugh,
which was fair enough. Crap joke.
‘The Long Man is
waiting,’ he said.
‘Right. Just gonna
crawl inside you now, Gerald. Nothing weird about that.’
I got down on my
hands and knees and began to creep into the opening. I wasn’t sure what I was
expecting, exactly. Would I be fighting my way through organs? Apparently not.
Instead, it was like I was making my way through a gap in a fence, and I found
myself crawling across a carpet of brown, fallen leaves and twigs. I turned to
see a gap in reality. A hole through which I could still see the beach hut I
was in just moments ago.
‘Okay. Right. Cool.’
I stood, brushed the
clinging sticks and leaves from my jeans, and took in my surroundings. They
were, in a word, bleak. The colour scheme was shades of grey and black, the
surrounding landscape mostly barren rock. A light breeze toyed with loose
stones and twigs, stirring up the parched earth. It wasn’t the kind of place
tourists go mad for, put it that way.
"Bussell and Stott deliver a dark and gripping read in Bad Soul, marking Uncanny Ink as a must read series for Urban Fantasy fans." ~ Inspired Chaos
There was a single
building a little way in the distance, an ancient, crumbling cathedral, made
from large blocks of stone blacker than Hitler’s heart. Its spire was broken in
two, most of it laid out on the ground like a fallen tree. A twin pair of
stained glass windows looked down at me depicting jagged flames licking at the
bodies of anguished sinners. A wide-open set of wooden double doors formed the
mouth of the building.
‘Time to stick my
head into the lion’s gob,’ I said to myself, and walked towards the entrance.
On sale for only .99 cents April 1st – 13th!!
About the authors:
David Bussell is a winner of the P.G. Wodehouse New Comic Writer Award. David is an avid fencer, and a committed comic book fan. Rumours that David was conceived on an Indian burial ground remain unfounded
Matthew Stott writes strange stories. Influenced by the likes of seminal TV show ‘Doctor Who’, and writers Neil Gaiman and Stephen King, he crafts stories full of creep, wonder, and adventure. Matthew is not a murderer.
Authors' Giveaway
19 comments:
Looks like an interesting read.... Thanks for sharing the excerpt with us! :)
HI CJ. David here, one of the book's authors. Thanks for the kind words. If you have any questions, just let me know at mail@uncannykingdom.com
Looks like an awesome read! Thanks for the opportunity to win
I like the cover. It is very well done with great colors and graphics.
abfantom at yahoo dot com
I really like the cover. Great job! Thank you
The cover looks nice and I enjoyed the excerpt.
My daughter would enjoy this book
New author for me, nice cover!
I like the cover-it looks magical and has great colors.
She looks like a strong chick.
I think the book cover looks great! good job! Can't wait to read it.
I adore the cover. The storyline sounds great. Best wishes to the authors on the novel.
Simple and eye-catching covers :)
The book cover is strong and eye catching.
I want this series :)
I would love to read this series!! I've added them all to my wish list!
The book cover looks really good.
Looks like a good cover!
I love the colors and it definitely makes me want to check it out, see what it is about.
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