Waiting on Wednesday: The X-Files: Origins: Devil's Advocate by Jonathan Maberry

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine where we spotlight upcoming releases that we're eagerly awaiting.  Last week I shared the first book in this series.  This week I'm going to go ahead and share book 2, because I can't wait for this new series!  Here is the blurb from Goodreads:

How did Fox Mulder become a believer? How did Dana Scully become a skeptic? The X-Files Origins has the answers in this young adult origin story.

The X-Files Origins: Devil's Advocate will explore the teen years of Dana Scully, the beloved character depicted in the cult-favorite TV show The X-Files. Her story is set in the spring of 1979, when serial murder, the occult, and government conspiracy were highlighted in the news.

The book will follow Scully as she experiences life-changing events that set her on the path to becoming an FBI agent.

Don’t miss The X-Files Origins: Agent of Chaos, by Kami Garcia, about 17-year-old Fox Mulder.

What book or books are you eagerly awaiting this week?

And while you're here, make sure to go here and enter my "Let's Get 2016 Over With a Giveaway."  US only though, sorry.

Blog Tour - Review and Giveaway: The Killer in Me by Margot Harrison

Book Info:

Title:  The Killer in Me  
Author:  Margot Harrison
Genre:  YA Fiction, Mystery, Thriller, Horror, Contemporary
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Published:  July 12th, 2016
Source:  Netgalley  


My Review: 
The synopsis of this book sold me right away. When I saw the tour, I signed up right away because I'd already been very interested in the story.  Honestly, I wasn't disappointed in this at all.  While it wasn't a perfect story, it was a very good one.  

We have two main characters that we get the story from. First is Nina.  She is a 17 year old girl who lives with her adoptive mom.  Nina has had dreams her whole life where she seems to see through a boy's, who is now a man's, eyes.   And it seems that while in the past, most of what she saw was pretty normal life things, she's begun to see murders, and other bad things that he is doing.  She knows that if it is real, she needs to do something. But she doesn't know how.  She's tried anonymous tips, but they didn't help.  It seems anonymous tips in the way she tried aren't really taken seriously by the cops.  And there's only so much she can do, without becoming a suspect or accomplice herself.  But this time, this time she thinks that she may be able to save an older couple that she sees the man that she called "The Thief" scoping out.  And she ends up getting one of her old friends, Warren, to help her out.

Warren is the other main character.  A long time ago he and Nina used to be like best friends.  But Warren's family is made up of some interesting, yet dangerous characters.  His father for one, and all of his brothers.  In fact there was one time that one of Warren's brothers said something to him when Nina was there about how he wondered if Warren had gotten with Nina, that she had a good body.  It was at that point that Nina became uncomfortable being around them, and really kind of stopped hanging out with Warren.  She'd only gone to Warren since then to get ahold of drugs, drugs that she used to keep herself from sleeping and dreaming about these horrible murders.  But that all changed when her mom found the drugs and made her get clean. But now she's gone to Warren because she wants to get a gun and go hunt this killer that she sees in her head.  

Nina gets Warren to help without actually explaining things, but when he catches on to the couple she's taken him to their house being missing, he thinks she is crazy, and wonders how she is involved with this most likely crime.  She tells him the truth, about her dreams, and of course he doesn't believe her at first.  But eventually she gets him to kind of give her dreams a fair chance.  And in doing so, convinces him to take a summer trip to go find  him, and take care of him in any way possible, even if killing him is the only way to do it.  Warren goes with her, to try to keep her from doing that very thing.  Also on the trip is being able to meet her birth mother who has reached out to her, and that gives her the excuse to go with her mom.  

But the trip to the desert will hold some really big surprises for Nina, she will run into the "Thief", or Dylan Shadwell.  She will end up being around him and getting to know him.  In which case she wonders if what she was seeing was real.  She even gives him lots of tests to see if maybe he can see back in her dreams at the same time she sees into his.  

In the end it all comes to a big head, as this type of story usually does. And it is such a great way that it comes around.  I could totally see this as a movie, one that I would be sure to go see.  This is such a great serial killer story, along with the strange ability of being able to see someone else's actions through your dreams.  Along with that, the connection that pops up between Dylan and Nina really makes the story.  I highly recommend this, and can't wait to purchase it for my school library for my students to read.

BOOK LINKS:
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26095500-the-killer-in-me
Amazon paperback: http://amzn.to/29SZ9wE
Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-killer-in-me-margot-harrison/1122915326?ean=9781484727997
Book Depository: http://www.bookdepository.com/The-Killer-in-Me-Margot-Harrison/9781484727997?ref=grid-view
Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/es-es/ebook/the-killer-in-me

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

I was raised in the wilds of New York by lovely, nonviolent parents who somehow never managed to prevent me from staying up late to read scary books. I now work at an alt-weekly newspaper in Vermont, where my favorite part of the job is, of course, reviewing scary books and movies. The Killer in Me is my first novel.


AUTHOR LINKS:
Website: https://margotharrison.com/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14215617.Margot_Harrison
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MargotFHarrison 
Facebook: https://www.instagram.com/margotfharrison/ 

Giveaway:

• Prize: Win a finished copy of THE KILLER IN ME by Margot Harrison and some swag (US Only)

a Rafflecopter giveaway  

You can check out the rest of the tour by clicking on the logo below to go to the schedule.

Review: Phobic (The Forbidden Doors #1) by Cortney Pearson

First thanks to Netgalley and Victory Editing for allowing me to read an egalley of this.  I didn't get to it until just now, but I'm glad I picked it out to read.  There were some issues with the story, it wasn't perfect. But it had a lot of unique bits while also being reminiscent of other scary books and movies.

The main character is Piper.  She lives in a very weird house, doors that open into nowhere, stairs that go nowhere, it makes lots of noises and does other strange things.  But not only does she have a weird house to deal with in her life, her mother is in prison for murder, and her father has recently died.  Her brother is taking care of her, but doesn't seem to really "get" her, or really be the kind of a parent she needs.  She has a best friend named Todd. But other than Todd, the people at school are cruel to her.  She's been bullied since the day she moved there.  After her mother went to prison, her father had the house moved, the whole house.  She's lived next door to Todd since they moved, and has been best friends with him since then.  Only now he's gone out for sports and has made friends with the guys on the team and their girlfriends.  Some of the kids who have treated her the worst, really picking on her about her acne among other things. 

Things have kind of changed recently as well.  Her brother has started acting really strange, and the house has even done stranger things. When Todd tries to get Piper to be friends with his new friends, he invites them to her house for a party.  But they show up the day before, and the house seems to take note.  It seems as if at times the house protects Piper.  Even though she begins seeing ghosts, like a loop in time of a maid and the former owner of the home, as well as another servant, all somewhat a part of a strange love triangle.  But not only does the house protect Piper, if something happens to the house, she is now feeling it and getting hurt.  And then, her brother disappears. 

Piper must solve the mystery of what the ghosts want, maybe she can send them on and save her life.  Not to mention finding her brother and saving him from what could be happening to him.  She has to try to convince Todd of what is happening and that she isn't crazy.  And she has to try to do all this before the house and the ghosts in it take her life and her brother's as well.

Like I said, there were definitely some parts of the story that were familiar, but the being connected to the house to the point that if someone hit or kicked it then it felt like they'd actually done that to Piper was one unique bit I felt.  The whole back story of the house was really involved and pretty spelled out.  I liked it.  I was glad to see that the ghosts, even the good ones, might not be as perfect as you thought they were.  And I even liked the relationship between Todd and Piper, once I figured out just what he was doing.  I see there is going to be a sequel, and I will be on the look out for it in the future.

Review: Made For You by Melissa Marr

I had to read this book once my order from Amazon came in, well as soon as I had finished the last e-galley I read.  And I must say that I wasn't disappointed at all.  I will admit at first I was a bit worried, as the main character was a girl who was popular and pretty but complaining about all that and not wanting it.  But you do learn throughout the book that while she was those things, the popularity had a lot to do with who her family was, and it may not have been something she really wanted, so you are okay with it.  Or maybe I should say I was better with it.

The main character is Eva.  She is popular, because her parents are descended from the families that own a lot of the town, as well as the big minister in town.  She's dating the most popular guy, Robert.  She had a boy who had been her best friend when she was younger, who has grown up to be quite handsome.  His name is Nate.  But something happened a few years ago, and he changed.  He just quit talking to her, and kind of turned into a man-slut.  And then there is "Judge".  The killer, or in Eva's case, he hits her with his car, but she survives.  We get to spend some of the chapters from his point of view.  We don't know just who he is right away.  (Although I did guess and get it right!)  His mind is quite warped, as you'd expect someone like that to be.  He decides that since Eva didn't die when he'd tried to kill her, that it was God sending him a message and that she was meant for him.  So now he thinks he must send her a message.  And that is what leads to the other deaths. 

Eva wakes up in the hospital after the accident, not remembering anything about it.  She can tell her life will be changed as she sees the horrible cuts on her face, and now she has a broken leg as well.  Her parents were out of town when it happens, and her friend Grace and her mom are there taking care of her in the hospital.  This is how it is, it isn't that Eva's parents don't love her, they're just pretty hands-off.  But not when this happens.  When they get home, they decide they must do a better job being parents.  Nate shows up at the hospital, he is visiting his half-brother who spends a lot of time there.  Nate and Eva start talking, and their friendship picks up almost like it never ended.  But Eva had crushed on Nate, and soon she will feel she can tell him.  But first something strange is happening, that she wonders if it is a side effect of the accident.  When someone touches her, she can see their death.  It happens first with her friend Grace and Nate.  She says something to Nate, makes him promise to always have his cell phone, and then the next time he touches her, the vision changes.  So she sees that she can change these futures that she's seeing.  Soon the messages from the killer begin to show up and show their connection to Eva, when the killer cuts her name in one of them.  Eva must figure out who this person is, even though others want her to stay out of it and stay safe. 

Such a great story.  Reminds me of how much I enjoyed Don't Look Back by Jennifer L. Armentrout.  And like that one, I guessed who the killer was kind of early one, but again, so many things happened that made me doubt that was the person throughout the story.  And I like that, I like when it isn't just obvious and you know right away.  At least for this kind of story.  Such a great story, and I love the cover, and I'm so glad the book was as good as the cover made me want it to be. 

Review: The Body Finder by Kimberly Derting

I'm a bit ashamed to say that I got a copy of this book May of 2013 at the Romantic Times Convention, and didn't actually start reading it until after I read The Taking e-galley earlier this year.  Once I knew how much I loved her writing, I was hooked.  Since my copy of this isn't personalized, I will be donating it to the high school library where I work and probably ordering the rest in the series.
 The main character is Violet.  She has this weird sense that tells her where dead things are.  Usually she just finds animals, but one time when she was a little girl she found a dead body.  She can also sense killers by feelings that she gets from them, like a smell, or a sound.  Violet is only 16, and this year is noticing just how much her best friend Jay has grown up into a very attractive boy.  And she's not the only one who has seemed to notice.  All the others girls seem to be flirting a lot more.  But she's pretty sure that Jay still just thinks of her as a friend, and she doesn't want to ruin their life-long friendship by showing him her feelings.  While all this is happening though, girls have started disappearing.  And it seems there is now a serial killer in their town.

Because she knows she can sense these things, and Jay even kind of knows as well, she feels like she needs to help find this killer.  Only this will put her in danger, something that Jay is not happy about, and he tries to stick with her to keep an eye on her, and discourage her from doing some of the things she wants to do.  She tries going out with another boy at school when she sees Jay flirting back with some of those other girls.  But good friends do often make the best lovers, and soon they will be able to see how each other really feels.

I have to say that I loved the character Jay so much that I even dreamed about a guy that I can only say he was the way he was because I had been reading this book earlier in the evening before.  I'm excited to read on in the series as I said before, and I just hope that Jay and Violet stay together the whole way through!  Here's my picture with the author this past spring when I met her on a tour for The Taking.

While you're here, don't forget to enter my 5th Blogoversary Giveaway, just click on the picture below.

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Review: Velveteen by Daniel Marks

I got an ARC of this book through the YA Book Exchange a while back, and had loaned it to a friend.  I got it back a few months ago, and just got around to reading it this past week.  It was a longer book, over 400 pages, so I took a bit longer reading it.  Plus, I had so many posts already planned, that it wasn't a big deal worrying about what I'd post on my blog.  I'm not sure how much I liked this book.  The rating I gave it on Goodreads was that "it was okay".  I think the story had a lot of potential, and there were some really good parts, but at the end, I was left a little still not sure how I felt about it.

The main character is named Velveteen Monroe.  And while you may think she was named after the story of The Velveteen Rabbit, she was actually named after the fabric in the older movie theaters.  Now there is something unusual about Velveteen, she is dead.  And she is now in Purgatory because she must have some things she needs to complete before she can pass on to Heaven.  She has a job of going out and helping to get souls to come back to Purgatory, ones that have possessed living people, which is against the rules.  She has a crew made of two children, Luisa and Logan, not really children, that's just how old they were when they died, and also a boy named Quentin.  When these dead people from Purgatory go out and possess the living, they cause horrible disasters to occur in Purgatory, called Shadowquakes.  On one such disaster, Velveteen must take her crew out to find the soul causing this, and rescue them, as well as any other souls they may have stolen.  On this trip they pick up a dead soul being stored in a crystal ball, who is a teen named Nick. Nick is described as basically a Abercrombie and Fitch model type of guy.  And while Velveteen is more of a goth girl, there seems to be an attraction between them.  Which Velveteen doesn't want at first.

You see Velveteen was murdered by a serial killer named Bonesaw.  And she has found a secret crack to slip back into the living world, where she has gone and haunted him.  Trying to save other girls from meeting her fate.  Her goal is to one day be able to either make him kill himself while she is possessing him, or at least get him caught and put away so he can't do this to any more girls.  And she's not supposed to do this.  It is said that things like this could be what is causing all the shadowquakes.  When they get Nick back, it seems he will be staying and working with Velveteen and her crew.  And this is hard, because he doesn't seem to want to fight this connection, and it is against the rules for them to have relationships when they work together.  Not only are those things issues, there is a group of rebel souls that want out of Purgatory, and they are taking advantage of these shadowquakes to move their agenda forward.

As you can see there is a lot going on.  I definitely rooted for Velveteen to go back ad take care of her serial killer.  But some of the other stuff was confusing.  They had to take their clothes from Purgatory off when they went through to the living world because they would get shredded on the trip there.  But at first I wasn't sure if they were naked when they got to the world or what. Not sure how much it was actually made clear as I read.  I liked the little back story behind the bad guy who was in charge of the rebels.  But I still wasn't quite clear on exactly what they wanted to do.  Yeah, they wanted out, but to possess people?  That is mostly made clear at the end, even if it is still a bit unclear to me why they do it the way they do it.  And I feel like there needs to be a sequel.  I can't quite tell if the book ended and all this would be no problem anymore because of what was done or not.  So let's say it had good parts, but maybe had too many details that I felt were just left open or hanging with no resolution.  I don't see anywhere on  Goodreads about a sequel, but I feel like a sequel might help me be more satisfied with this story.

Deviant by Adrian McKinty

Deviant by Adrian McKinty

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


After reading the reviews already posted before I'd really gotten into this book, I was a bit nervous about reading it. But then I got into it and really enjoyed it. The serial killer aspect to the book was very interesting. I liked how really it kept me guessing, it's that guy, no it's this kid, no wait, it's that kid. I love when it takes me a bit to figure out who the bad guy is. As a science teacher I also like how it talked about Tesla and other science topics. As a teacher, can I say that while I don't think that is the proper method for helping children learn, I would be in heaven if I had a classroom of students who sat without talking when they weren't supposed to? HEAVEN!



The main character is Danny Lopez, but he is actually part Native American. He doesn't really know his real dad, but doesn't really like his stepdad either. He's grown up in Las Vegas now moving to Colorado because of a mistake he made. Also his mother will be in charge of the new casino opening up on the reservation here. His stepdad is working at the prison, with the convicts that are really close to being let go for the end of their sentences. Danny meets some interesting prisoners, on in particular who will be a help, but could be the problem later on. The girl who lives right by him, Tony, tends to just walk into his house without knocking, even going into his bedroom when he's still sleeping! But he kind of has a crush on her. He is immediately asked to join one of the secret societies in this school with its unorthodox method of teaching students. There are cats being killed, and this seems to be the work of a serial killer in the way it is being done. Danny has issues with other students at the school of course being the new kid. All in all this was a good book, I can see many boys I've taught that would enjoy it. Danny is also a big skateboarder, which is kind of difficult in Colorado with the snow.

I read this as an egalley from NetGalley.com from Abrams publisher, it will be released in October.



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