Jennifer
Ainsley
The
Final Demon War
Sidney
Stone
Genre:
Urban Fantasy/Suspense/
Horror/New
Adult
Date
of Publication: December 2013
ISBN:
1491200960
ASIN:
B00HFYK99Q
Number
of pages: 308
Word
Count: 102,400
Cover
Artist: Pencilbox Studios
Book
Description:
“Do
not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not
come to bring peace, but a sword” - Matthew 10:34
Demons
are preparing to launch the Final War to destroy humanity.
Can
one young woman wielding the Sword of Jesus ensure our survival and
redemption?
Will
she lose both her love and her soul in the process?
Please
see following for Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest 284 word
pitch and 1100 word opening chapter.
"Do not suppose
that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring
peace, but a sword"
- Matthew 10:34
Jonathon
Tait, whose demon-enhanced 170-year-old life has helped make him the
richest man in the world, secretly renounces his alliance with demons
in order to save his twins and redeem himself in the eyes of the two
women he loved and lost. Jonathon has visions that his beautiful
college-aged adopted daughter, Jennifer Ainsley, may be the key to
humanity's survival and works with an underground movement to fight
back against both the demons and the human leadership that is guiding
our civilization towards total annihilation.
Can
Jennifer wield the Sword of Jesus to fulfill her destiny even as the
planet hurtles towards its destruction? Is she mankind's only hope
and can Jennifer save everyone that she loves; including her destined
soul mate Andrew Walker, or are we all doomed?
Jennifer
Ainsley: The Final Demon War is a gripping, fast-paced fantasy/horror
novel grounded in the contemporary world. The characters are
extremely likable and engaging, and a great deal of humor is
successfully incorporated into the book, despite its often grim and
macabre themes. There are several action packed tour-de-force
chapters including “Scenes from the End” and “Kasey and
Tracey’s Amazing Adventure”.
The
book deftly tackles issues of greed, humanity's neglect for its
weakest members, the race for power among individuals and nations,
and the ability of love and courage to transcend personal weaknesses.
It is a tale that combines horror and fantasy to tell a story of
love, loss, sacrifice and redemption. It is the first chapter of an
exciting new trilogy that deserves to find a wider audience.
Chapter
One
Heather
Heather
couldn’t believe she was going to die in front of her peacefully
sleeping twins, who were oblivious to the unspeakable acts occurring
in their nursery. These infants, this life, were all she had wanted,
and in those lonely nights before sleep overtook her, she admitted to
herself that she had been groomed for this since birth. She had been
groomed to be a beautiful, nurturing wife to a wealthy and powerful
man and she had been groomed to care for his children and teach them
to take their rightful place in the world while she also maintained
this lovely home—with a slew of maids, servants, and other staff of
course. She threw the best dinner parties and had a special banquet
hall included in the new Napa Valley estate just for that purpose.
She knew all the right people to invite, and they raised all the
right money for all the right charities.
Yet
here she was in midair, swaying back and forth, seeing herself
reflected in the rectangular Craftsman-style floor mirror she
personally had picked out for the nursery. The demon Palvakia held
Heather by her strawberry-blonde hair, a mane her husband Jonathon
Tait called “gorgeously luxurious,” while her lithe and toned,
almost split-in-two body, spilled her blood and guts onto the new
Berber carpet (a lovely light blue she also had personally picked out
for the nursery). How important Heather had thought every design
detail of this room was. She had placed so much importance on the
mundane materials that now meant nothing. She was escaping into the
blackness now, the dark abyss whose passage she hoped ended with a
consummating light. Was there light beyond death and beyond this
horror?
It
was insane, Heather thought, that her husband, the man she loved and
admired, was watching this scene unfold with an expressionless face
as Mordock, a repulsive and despised demon, stood next to him.
Mordock was in human form right now, unlike the demon who had torn
her in half, but Heather still felt the evil lurking underneath. She
had tried to banish Mordock from their lives and had pleaded with her
husband to stand up to him. Yet Jonathon had done nothing to remove
him from their lives or to stop Mordock from carrying out her murder.
If there was a light at the end, how could the Keeper of Light cause
this to happen or not prevent it in the first place?
And
what of the twins? Alexander and Sophia were so beautiful and full of
life, with old-soul eyes, even as infants. My lovely babies, Heather
thought with her last bit of consciousness. Who will keep you from
harm? Can your father somehow be your guardian angel? Will he succeed
with you where he failed with me? The darkness with the light behind
it is approaching. Will I see you in heaven? How long will I have to
wait? Hopefully a long, long time…
Heather
took her last breaths just as Palvakia began to devour her. To her
horror, though, death did not come instantaneously. A morbid trick of
the demons is to keep their victims on the cusp of dying so they can
witness themselves being eaten. Heather couldn’t even scream as the
pain ripped through the ever-decreasing parts of her body.
When
Palvakia was finished, not one ounce of the physical being that once
had been Heather Tait was left in the room. Even the carpet was
clean…and the twins continued to sleep peacefully.
About
the Author:
Sidney
Stone is a hiker, deer whisperer and non-pretentious wine
connoisseur. An addicted reviewer on Yelp, he is also creator of
affordable housing (although technically he is homeless part-time),
thinks The Replacements are the best band of the Eighties and loves
to boost his LinkedIn count with people he doesn't know.
He
lives in both Northern and Southern California while constantly
traveling to Orange County to visit his son, who can now beat his
father at ping pong and chess rather easily (and is charmingly
arrogant while doing it). A graduate of UC Irvine and Pepperdine
University, Sidney wishes he chose at least one university to attend
that had a college football team to root for.
The
first scene Sidney thought of for Jennifer Ainsley: The Final Demon
War included a rather large massacre (take that for what it is
worth). However, inspired by the works of Stephen King, Dean Koontz
and Clive Barker; the book's violence is offset by dark humor and
deep human emotion just like in real life where Sidney's darkness is
offset by creatively placed sarcasm and an overwrought romanticism.
For example, while Jennifer Ainsley: The Final Demon War is a
Fantasy-Horror novel, Sidney also still tears up at the end of both
Field of Dreams and An Officer and a Gentleman.
Nice excerpt. Sounds like a fun read. Thanks for sharing
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for spotlighting my book today! I hope your readers enter the giveaway and if they purchase the book, I know they will enjoy it :)
ReplyDeleteThanks again!
sounds like a good book. thank you for the giveaway!
ReplyDelete