It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!You never know when I might play a wild card on you!
Today's Wild Card author is:
and the book:
In the Arms of Immortals: A Novel of Darkness and Light (Chronicles Of The Scribe)
David C. Cook (2009)
Ginger Garrett knows how to take a risk. Talk about a topic there aren't many books on, maybe for good reason... the Black Plague. We step back in time to 1347 in Sicily. There we meet a couple of different women from different stations in life. Gio is a recluse who is a natural healer, she uses herbs, spices and natural cures to help people but she is looked down on by people (unless they need her help) and spat on my children. She is at odds with the local church man for reasons we don't see until later. Panthea is a daughter of leisure who's father is in charge of the village and they live in the castle. She is promised in marriage to a knight who loves her, but she just can't seem to be happy with that.
A mute woman arrives in town just as things start to change. The part of the book that I sometimes have trouble with is the Scribe and how the woman got to the village. But if I get past that confusion the story itself is very interesting. The Black Plague starts to break out and we see how everyone reacts differently to the death and destruction. The hardest part of the book is reading the descriptions of the Black Plague doing its killing, but I think Ginger handles that well.
Overall this is a very interesting book that sets itself apart by the unique subject matter it brings to light.
******************************
For a chance to win a copy of this book please leave your email address with a comment on what tragedy in history you think would make an interesting book (like the Black Plague breaking out). I'll enter your name in the drawing - good luck!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
An expert in ancient women’s history, critically acclaimed author Ginger Garrett (Dark Hour, Chosen: The Lost Diaries of Queen Esther, and most recently In the Shadow of Lions) creates novels and nonfiction resources that explore the lives of historical women. In addition to her writing, Garrett is a frequent radio and television guest. She resides in Georgia with her husband and three children.Visit the author's website.
Product Details:
List Price: $14.99
Format: Paperback
Number of Pages: 304
Vendor: David C. Cook (2009)
ISBN: 0781448883
ISBN-13: 9780781448888
AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER:
In the Arms of Immortals
Chapter One
Thirty thousand dollars bought her the right to avoid being scalded alive.
Mariskka Curtis did not miss the shoddy built-in shower that had been in her old apartment. Now she owned a penthouse, and one of her first decisions as a new millionaire was to have a high-end luxury shower installed.
“For thirty grand, it should make my breakfast, too,” Mariskka said to no one.
At least the bathroom was warm, making goose bumps and bad leg shaves a thing of the past. The maid had lit the fireplace in the master bath an hour ago and brought a fresh careen of coffee up. The milk still needed to be frothed, but Mariskka didn't mind that.
She pumped the handle six times and the milk bubbled up. She poured coffee into her monogrammed cup, then the foamy milk over the coffee. Mariskka inhaled, surprised that coffee could still bring her so much pleasure.
Rolling her neck to get the morning kinks out, she swung open the shower door and sat inside. The shower began as a slow warm mist around her feet, giving her a few minutes to finish her coffee before the gentle raindrops started from the overhead faucet and the dawn lights bounced pink off the shower glass.
Later this morning she was scheduled for an appearance on yet another talk show to dazzle America with her rags to riches tale. She hated the hollow feeling in her stomach that came from lying. She had stolen her best-selling manuscript from a patient's room. The patient, Bridget, had been a famous editor, and left it behind when she died. Mariskka stole it on impulse, thinking it might be valuable if sold on eBay. Only later, when packing the editor's belongings, had Mariskka seen the business cards thrown in the bottom of her bags. One was for an agent. Mariskka had contacted the agent, passing the manuscript off as her own. It couldn't hurt anyone, she had thought. Mariskka had also stolen Bridget's watch, but only because she intended to return it to the family. Only later did she realize Bridget had no family.
When the agent sold that manuscript in a seven-figure deal, it was as if God answered her prayers. Mariskka made a pile of easy money. She bought things she never dreamed of owning. She even donated some of it, paying hospice bills that threatened to bankrupt families and sent worn out care givers on vacations. Good things had happened to plenty of people because of her decision to steal.
As the mist rose she finished her coffee and waited for the overhead shower to turn on. Hard rock blared suddenly through the shower speakers, and she dropped her coffee cup in surprise. It shattered at her feet. Instinctively she yanked her feet out of the scalding puddle. Losing her balance in the wet mist, she hit her head on the imported tile and blacked out.
The smoke stung Mariskka's eyes.
She blinked, trying to clear her mind, groping in the darkness for the shower door. The shower had stopped, and the music was dead. She wondered if the building had lost electricity.
She crawled over something sharp and jagged. The lights must have shattered above. It was too dark to see anything; she wished she had windows in her bath as she pushed back the shower door.
Something was coming.
She felt the vibrations through her legs, shaking her to her stomach. Straining to hear above her thundering heart, she heard a heavy scraping against her hardwood floors, the sound of a sharp tool being dragged over the floors, catching every second or so, bumping over a seam. Heavy footfalls shook the floor, and metal screeched together with each step. She thought of the armored boots she had seen on medieval knights in museums.
Something slammed against the door, making the wood split.
It hit again.
“There is no Blood here,” someone said.
“God help me,” she whispered.
When she said the word God, the thing outside the door shrieked like an animal. A sword pierced through the door, creating a jagged seam as the intruder jerked it back and forth in the split wood. Light streamed in from her bedroom windows, but she could see nothing except a sword sawing its way through the door.
They should be testing the microphones for the television hosts right now, she thought. Amber-Marie Gates, her publicist, was going to be furious when Mariskka didn't arrive on time. Or when she didn't arrive at all.… Mariskka's mind was gone, traveling down more familiar tracks, unable to process her death.
Then the door burst apart, and she was showered with wood fragments. A figure too large to pass through the doorframe stood, stood, twisting its head in different directions, staring at her. The glowing blue dawn outlined its frame. Morning sunrays shot up from behind its head and between its flexed arms, illuminating dust particles spinning down and turning the shifting light into a kaleidoscope.
Metal wings reflected the light at their sharp ice-pick tips; below these, the shoulders of a man were layered with scales. Each finger was tipped with dozens of iron claws, all pointing backwards. Once it grabbed her, she wouldn't get free without tearing herself to shreds. It was built for death.
“There is no Blood here,” he said.
“What?” she screamed.
“You have no Christ.”
A tail with an iron tip, long and scalpel sharp, raised behind him as he pointed his sword at her. He turned his shoulder to come through the door. As he thrust his wings against the frame, cracks ran up the walls above the door.
He lifted his sword, aiming for her neck. She wondered if her lips would still be moving after death, the way Anne Boleyn's had.
He spun back around, his sword in motion.
A shower of sparks was burning her.
She remembered lights like this.
She was a child at Disney, watching the Magical Parade of Lights. A green, scaled dragon floated past her as she sat on the sidewalk, full of lemonade and ice cream. When the dragon swung its head in her direction, with its blind paper eyes and red paper streamers coming from its mouth to look like fire, Mariskka vomited right between her shoes. No one noticed, not the least her mom, who had taken the wide white pills so she could get through the day, one of their last together. Mariskka wanted her to take the pills so she wouldn't be in pain, so she wouldn't groan in the night, but the pills made her dull and distant. Either way, Mariskka lost her mother a little more each day.
She stood, grabbing her mother's hand, pulling at her to run. Her mother laughed, tipsy from the combination of opiates and Disney princesses, swinging her around in a dance, not understanding the panic in her daughter's eyes. Mariskka struggled to get free, to see where the dragon went, but it was gone. She would lie awake for years after that, wondering where it was now. The eyes had only been paper, but she knew. It had seen her. It had seen something inside her.
Mariskka was still remembering herself as a little girl when she noticed her impending death had been delayed. Another creature was here, holding a sword, blocking the iron-winged monster from killing her. He had gold-and-straw colored dreadlocks that ran down his back and the body of a linebacker. Judging from how close his head was to her ceiling, Mariskka guessed he was about eight feet tall.
The man picked up the dark iron angel by the neck and slammed it against the wall. Plaster rained down.
“She is ours,” the iron-angel said. “We can take her.”
“Not yet,” the new creature said.
A dark stain spread underneath the iron-angel on the tile floor. The stain shimmered as teeth began to appear, ringing the edges.
The new creature yelled over his shoulders. “Cover your eyes!”
Mariskka stared at the stain, which was devouring the iron-angel as it moved up it his legs.
The new one screamed again, “Mariskka! Now!”
Mariskka obeyed.
She heard the sound of an animal screaming in pain, and then all was quiet.
She looked up to see the new creature staring down at her. His nose was inches from her face, and his dreadlocks fell forward, tickling her cheeks. If he were human, she thought, he would be beautiful. But he could not be real, not with his strange eyes that were like big, gold saucers and canine teeth that peeked out from his lips. His breath smelled of meat, too. She collapsed, losing all control over limb and thought.
His arms slipped behind her knees and under her neck, lifting her without effort. He carried her to the bed and laid her down, drawing the curtains and stepping back into the shadows. He sat in a chair, resting one arm on the armrest, watching her. A thick, numbing sensation started in her toes and poured slowly into her body. She felt it filling her, working its way through her abdomen, then her arms. When it got to her eyes, they closed and she slept.
©2009 Cook Communications Ministries. In the Arms of Immortals by Ginger Garrett. Used with permission. May not be further reproduced. All rights reserved.
Chapter One
Thirty thousand dollars bought her the right to avoid being scalded alive.
Mariskka Curtis did not miss the shoddy built-in shower that had been in her old apartment. Now she owned a penthouse, and one of her first decisions as a new millionaire was to have a high-end luxury shower installed.
“For thirty grand, it should make my breakfast, too,” Mariskka said to no one.
At least the bathroom was warm, making goose bumps and bad leg shaves a thing of the past. The maid had lit the fireplace in the master bath an hour ago and brought a fresh careen of coffee up. The milk still needed to be frothed, but Mariskka didn't mind that.
She pumped the handle six times and the milk bubbled up. She poured coffee into her monogrammed cup, then the foamy milk over the coffee. Mariskka inhaled, surprised that coffee could still bring her so much pleasure.
Rolling her neck to get the morning kinks out, she swung open the shower door and sat inside. The shower began as a slow warm mist around her feet, giving her a few minutes to finish her coffee before the gentle raindrops started from the overhead faucet and the dawn lights bounced pink off the shower glass.
Later this morning she was scheduled for an appearance on yet another talk show to dazzle America with her rags to riches tale. She hated the hollow feeling in her stomach that came from lying. She had stolen her best-selling manuscript from a patient's room. The patient, Bridget, had been a famous editor, and left it behind when she died. Mariskka stole it on impulse, thinking it might be valuable if sold on eBay. Only later, when packing the editor's belongings, had Mariskka seen the business cards thrown in the bottom of her bags. One was for an agent. Mariskka had contacted the agent, passing the manuscript off as her own. It couldn't hurt anyone, she had thought. Mariskka had also stolen Bridget's watch, but only because she intended to return it to the family. Only later did she realize Bridget had no family.
When the agent sold that manuscript in a seven-figure deal, it was as if God answered her prayers. Mariskka made a pile of easy money. She bought things she never dreamed of owning. She even donated some of it, paying hospice bills that threatened to bankrupt families and sent worn out care givers on vacations. Good things had happened to plenty of people because of her decision to steal.
As the mist rose she finished her coffee and waited for the overhead shower to turn on. Hard rock blared suddenly through the shower speakers, and she dropped her coffee cup in surprise. It shattered at her feet. Instinctively she yanked her feet out of the scalding puddle. Losing her balance in the wet mist, she hit her head on the imported tile and blacked out.
The smoke stung Mariskka's eyes.
She blinked, trying to clear her mind, groping in the darkness for the shower door. The shower had stopped, and the music was dead. She wondered if the building had lost electricity.
She crawled over something sharp and jagged. The lights must have shattered above. It was too dark to see anything; she wished she had windows in her bath as she pushed back the shower door.
Something was coming.
She felt the vibrations through her legs, shaking her to her stomach. Straining to hear above her thundering heart, she heard a heavy scraping against her hardwood floors, the sound of a sharp tool being dragged over the floors, catching every second or so, bumping over a seam. Heavy footfalls shook the floor, and metal screeched together with each step. She thought of the armored boots she had seen on medieval knights in museums.
Something slammed against the door, making the wood split.
It hit again.
“There is no Blood here,” someone said.
“God help me,” she whispered.
When she said the word God, the thing outside the door shrieked like an animal. A sword pierced through the door, creating a jagged seam as the intruder jerked it back and forth in the split wood. Light streamed in from her bedroom windows, but she could see nothing except a sword sawing its way through the door.
They should be testing the microphones for the television hosts right now, she thought. Amber-Marie Gates, her publicist, was going to be furious when Mariskka didn't arrive on time. Or when she didn't arrive at all.… Mariskka's mind was gone, traveling down more familiar tracks, unable to process her death.
Then the door burst apart, and she was showered with wood fragments. A figure too large to pass through the doorframe stood, stood, twisting its head in different directions, staring at her. The glowing blue dawn outlined its frame. Morning sunrays shot up from behind its head and between its flexed arms, illuminating dust particles spinning down and turning the shifting light into a kaleidoscope.
Metal wings reflected the light at their sharp ice-pick tips; below these, the shoulders of a man were layered with scales. Each finger was tipped with dozens of iron claws, all pointing backwards. Once it grabbed her, she wouldn't get free without tearing herself to shreds. It was built for death.
“There is no Blood here,” he said.
“What?” she screamed.
“You have no Christ.”
A tail with an iron tip, long and scalpel sharp, raised behind him as he pointed his sword at her. He turned his shoulder to come through the door. As he thrust his wings against the frame, cracks ran up the walls above the door.
He lifted his sword, aiming for her neck. She wondered if her lips would still be moving after death, the way Anne Boleyn's had.
He spun back around, his sword in motion.
A shower of sparks was burning her.
She remembered lights like this.
She was a child at Disney, watching the Magical Parade of Lights. A green, scaled dragon floated past her as she sat on the sidewalk, full of lemonade and ice cream. When the dragon swung its head in her direction, with its blind paper eyes and red paper streamers coming from its mouth to look like fire, Mariskka vomited right between her shoes. No one noticed, not the least her mom, who had taken the wide white pills so she could get through the day, one of their last together. Mariskka wanted her to take the pills so she wouldn't be in pain, so she wouldn't groan in the night, but the pills made her dull and distant. Either way, Mariskka lost her mother a little more each day.
She stood, grabbing her mother's hand, pulling at her to run. Her mother laughed, tipsy from the combination of opiates and Disney princesses, swinging her around in a dance, not understanding the panic in her daughter's eyes. Mariskka struggled to get free, to see where the dragon went, but it was gone. She would lie awake for years after that, wondering where it was now. The eyes had only been paper, but she knew. It had seen her. It had seen something inside her.
Mariskka was still remembering herself as a little girl when she noticed her impending death had been delayed. Another creature was here, holding a sword, blocking the iron-winged monster from killing her. He had gold-and-straw colored dreadlocks that ran down his back and the body of a linebacker. Judging from how close his head was to her ceiling, Mariskka guessed he was about eight feet tall.
The man picked up the dark iron angel by the neck and slammed it against the wall. Plaster rained down.
“She is ours,” the iron-angel said. “We can take her.”
“Not yet,” the new creature said.
A dark stain spread underneath the iron-angel on the tile floor. The stain shimmered as teeth began to appear, ringing the edges.
The new creature yelled over his shoulders. “Cover your eyes!”
Mariskka stared at the stain, which was devouring the iron-angel as it moved up it his legs.
The new one screamed again, “Mariskka! Now!”
Mariskka obeyed.
She heard the sound of an animal screaming in pain, and then all was quiet.
She looked up to see the new creature staring down at her. His nose was inches from her face, and his dreadlocks fell forward, tickling her cheeks. If he were human, she thought, he would be beautiful. But he could not be real, not with his strange eyes that were like big, gold saucers and canine teeth that peeked out from his lips. His breath smelled of meat, too. She collapsed, losing all control over limb and thought.
His arms slipped behind her knees and under her neck, lifting her without effort. He carried her to the bed and laid her down, drawing the curtains and stepping back into the shadows. He sat in a chair, resting one arm on the armrest, watching her. A thick, numbing sensation started in her toes and poured slowly into her body. She felt it filling her, working its way through her abdomen, then her arms. When it got to her eyes, they closed and she slept.
©2009 Cook Communications Ministries. In the Arms of Immortals by Ginger Garrett. Used with permission. May not be further reproduced. All rights reserved.
20 comments:
I would be interested something that shows the culmination of the French Revolution and the storming of La Bastille.
Great review. I would love to be included in your giveaway. :) Thanks!
kalea_kane(at)yahoo(dot)com
My interst would be the Highland uprising in Scotland. This book sounds wonderful.
theresa N
weceno(at)yahoo(dot)com
I think the medieval time is interesting with it's knights in shining armor.
ABreading4fun [at] gmail [dot] com
I think that the sinking of the Titanic would make an interesting book.
simplystacieblog at gmail dot com
I think a story set during the time of the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake would be good.
Carol M
mittens0831 at aol dot com
I would like to see a book during the time of the Hindenburg disaster.
slcremer at gmail dot com
The Titanic would probably make a great story...
writer_weaver at yahoo dot com
Just going through my blogger reader of 666 postings. Yikes! lol I am listening to Billy Graham on Youtube as well. (Just Say No)
I would be most interested in winning this book too. Thanks,
gahome2mom/at/gmail/dot/com
The detonation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
aikychien at yahoo dot com
No need to enter me; just a note that we posted about this at Winning Readings:
http://winningreadings.blogspot.com/2009/09/in-arms-of-immortals.html
I think a story about when the Black death spread over Europe from 1348 to 1350. People facing hardship and disaster with little to help them but their faith and fortitude.
My Father was on a ship in Pearl Harbor...that would be a good time for a book.
Grammy
@ richkinz at hotmail dot com
I'd love to see more stories set during the Civil War -- I find that era fascinating!
marielay@gmail.com
I enjoy reading books set in the Roman era when early Christians were persecuted for their faith.
cherierj(at)yahoo(dot)com
We are currently studying the Middle Ages, and have all been very touched and saddened by the story of Masada. Such a horrible tragedy for the Jewish people.
Please enter me in your drawing.
asyouwiiiiish@gmail.com
I think a novel about the Titantic would be cool
marcus802001@yahoo.com
This book is on my TBR list. Enter me please at sallybradleywrites [at]gmaildotcom
Forgot to include the tragedy--I've read one on the Chicago fire which was really good. Or maybe a novel set in Pompeii?
Two others have said the Titanic, and I would love to see an author like Ginger Garrett (one of my favorites) take on such an event because I didn't like the movie.(Gasp, I know.) I disliked the heroine in that movie and how people were portrayed.
But I would love a chance to throw my hat in for this book, so there you go--my real agenda! Also, the Potato famine in Ireland might make a good background.
crystal.mrsinewaATgmailDOTcom
And the winner is...
Crystal Laine Miller!
Congratulations!
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