Please welcome my friend and an inspired writer, Kerry Blaisdell. The fourth installment of her acclaimed Dead Series will be released January 16, so we’re getting an early taste of it here.
The Wild Rose Press, January 16, 2023
Dead Series, Book 4
Supernatural Suspense/Paranormal Romance
PG-13, 330 pages
Be sure to drop in at her January 16 Facebook party for fun and prizes!
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So, Kerry, tell
us what on earth made you start writing about demons and returning from the
dead…as a comedy?
It’s hard to
pinpoint exactly where the inspiration for my Dead Series books came from. I’ve
always been fascinated with the supernatural—the Active Enzyme, Lemon-Freshened
Junior High School Witch was one of my favorite books as a kid. Plus I love a
good mystery, and adventure stories (Can you say Nancy Drew, Trixie Belden, and
The Five Books?) (And now you know how old I am—LOL!).
As an adult, I love
TV shows like Supernatural, Stranger Things – anything with “atmosphere”, and
otherworldly themes. Plus, I’m fascinated by religion in general, and early
Christianity specifically. So, after writing romantic suspense for a few years,
I got the urge to write something different, something I wanted to read.
I had no idea if it would be “publishable.” I just started writing, and Debriefing
The Dead is what came out, then Waking The
Dead and Damning
The Dead—and here we are at Book Four, Burying The Dead.
Blurb
Sometimes the only
way to stop the world from going to Hell is by working with Demons.
Hyacinth Finch has
one goal: Save her nephew Geordi from the Hell Demon who kidnapped him. But to
succeed, she’ll have to work with his demon Mafia relatives, which she swore
she’d never do. Worse, she’ll have to make another deal with the High Demons
who murdered her. But Geordi's life is worth it, even if she loses her own
humanity in the process.
Meanwhile, Hyacinth’s
ghost boyfriend Eric is wasting away, after being ejected from his “borrowed”
body. While digging in his past for something to make him fight for survival,
she uncovers secrets that could destroy their relationship. Moreover, her
feelings for Geordi’s demon cousin Jason are stronger than ever, though every
morally impossible choice she makes drives him farther away. Can she save Eric
and Geordi, without losing herself—and Jason—forever?
Excerpt: Facing
My Demons
I picked an invisible
speck of lint off my maroon tights and tried not to fidget with the hem of my
black pencil skirt.
Jason gave me the
side-eye. “Relax, will you? Everything will be fine.”
“Easy for you to
say—you’re one of them. They have to listen to you. Me, not so much.”
In fact, at best, the
“they” in question probably wished they’d never heard of me. And at worst—well,
let’s just say my current outfit could easily be accessorized with concrete
boots and a deep ocean dive, to make sure I never resurfaced again.
If you’re wondering,
I’m Hyacinth Finch, former graverobber turned “art dealer” for a certain select
clientele who like to steal from each other for fun. I’m also a former dead
person, with a brand-new third career as Assistant to the Angel of Death,
otherwise known as Archangel Michael. His job is to shepherd souls Up or Down,
depending on their life choices, and my job is to “presort” said souls, so he
can attend to other business, like stopping Satan’s escape from Hell. Which I
also help with, by tracking down rock shards that contain both his and Satan’s
powers, left over from a big battle they had, eons ago. If Satan gets enough of
these, he can use them to break out of his prison, and I’m the only “rock
senser” Michael’s ever met, so…lucky me.
But I’m on a
temporary hiatus from the day job, so I can grovel to my dead sister Lily’s ex
in-laws, Niccolò and Caderina Dioguardi—the aforementioned “they”—in hopes
they’ll help me save my nephew, Geordi, from the Hell Demon who kidnapped him.
The slight hitch being that they’re also demons—although not from Hell—and they
want Geordi for themselves. He’s their only grandchild, and has incredibly
strong supernatural powers himself. Which is why he was kidnapped in the first
place: to be used as a bargaining chip by various factions who want his powers
for themselves. Including Satan.
I shivered, and Jason
took my hand. “Hey—seriously—it will be okay. Marchosias won’t hurt him.
Geordi’s far too valuable to be damaged.”
The vast marble-columned
foyer in which we sat, awaiting an audience with Nico and Rina, felt cold and
unwelcoming, and I wanted nothing more than to burrow into Jason’s side and let
him keep lying to me that this would all be okay.
Jason is also a
Dioguardi, and a demon, but a “good one.” Supposedly. He uses Jones as his
surname, but even so, it’s hard to separate him from the larger family
sometimes, especially since he’s got the signature Dioguardi “look”: wavy black
hair, baby blue eyes—when they aren’t demon black—and a hefty six-foot-six
height. Which seven-year-old Geordi, who is technically his cousin, is well on
his way to achieving.
But things are
complicated between us right now, so instead of caving to my instincts, I
removed my hand and tugged at my skirt again, and Jason sighed and sat back.
“Look,” he said, “I
get how much it cost you to do this. Hell, Rina and Nico get it, too. I know
you’ve viewed them as the Enemy for months now. And I admit, you’re probably
not their favorite person.”
In spite of it all, I
laughed, and a smile crept onto Jason’s face.
I blew out a breath.
“I don’t trust them. I know you think there’s another side to the story, but
Nick didn’t happen all by himself. His abusive nature was augmented by their
nurture, and he meant everything to them. And I…”
Jason grimaced. “It’s
not your fault their only son—”
“Their only child!”
“—died. He brought
that on himself. But you’re right. They do blame you, in part. Still, they’ll
take into account that you came to them. The family as a whole has done
terrible things. But they’re honorable. If they give you their word, you can
trust it.”
His eyes were dark
and unreadable—not black, thank God, so his demon powers weren’t surging, or
whatever it’s called. But…did he count himself among the “whole” who’d done
“terrible things”? Did I want to know?
At this point in our
relationship, probably not. Not that we’re in a relationship—far from it. In
fact, I have a boyfriend. Sort of. Assuming his spirit recovers.
As though reading my
mind—an annoying talent he has—Jason said, “Eric will also be fine. If anyone
can save him, Nadezhda will.”
Eric Guilliot is a
former French police officer killed by the Dioguardis the same night I died,
and Nadezhda is a woman we met in Turkey who, like me, walks among the Dead.
She had saved Eric once before, by making him Full Dead, but this was
different. He’d been damaged, possibly beyond repair, when he appropriated a
fresh corpse, to gain a living body again. He’d succeeded for a time, but then
the man’s body began absorbing Eric’s spirit, and kept those bits behind after
Eric got ejected.
The nausea roiled,
and I shoved it down. “How can you be so sure? About any of it? How can you
stay so positive?”
What I really wanted
to ask was, Why are you always so damn nice? The words stuck in my
throat, and he looked away. But not before I saw the suppressed emotion in his
blue eyes—rage, but not at me. And fear—but not for me.
“I have to,” he said
quietly. “It’s the only way through.”
https://books2read.com/BuryingTheDead
Kerry Blaisdell is
the bestselling and award-winning author of the acclaimed Dead Series,
including Debriefing
The Dead and its sequels, which InD’tale Magazine recommends for “fans
of shows like ‘Constantine’ or ‘Supernatural.’” She also writes award-winning romantic
suspense (Publish
Or Perish, a Publishers Weekly BookLife Prize quarterfinalist) and historical
mystery. She holds a BA from U.C. Berkeley in Comparative Literature
(French/Medieval English), and a Master’s in Teaching English and Advanced
Mathematics from University of Portland. Kerry lives in the gorgeous Pacific
Northwest with her family, assorted animals, and more hot pepper plants than
anyone could reasonably consume.
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