Blog Tour: Awakenings by J.E. Shannon- Review, Excerpt

Hi Everyone!

Today I am participating in the blog tour for Awakenings by J.E. Shannon organized by Emily Marquart of Entranced Publishing. 

Awakenings by J.E Shannon

Publication Date: July 29th 2013

Publisher: Entranced Publishing

Rating:

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Synopsis:

Evie Shepard awakens to a nightmare. She's been buried alive and has no idea how or why. As she struggles to remember what happened, she begins to notice changes -- heightened senses, as well as increased speed, agility, and strength. And her heart no longer beats. She soon makes a disturbing discovery: she wasn't buried alive; she was murdered. Somehow, she has come back...and she wants revenge.

About the Author:

J. E. Shannon currently lives in Florida, but is a Missouri native. She spends most of her time reading, writing, and taking care of her small child and two crazy dogs. Visit her at www.jeshannonbooks.com. 

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My Review:

My greatest fear is being buried alive. Actually, anything dealing with dirt over my face irks me. My face twitches base on smell of dirt. And dirt is itch enough when its on my skin.

When it comes to buried alive, I’m fear losing the ability to breath and becoming stuck in the narrow and tight space that is underground.

In Awakenings by J.E. Simmon, the protagonist Evie finds herself buried. But she neither is alive nor remains trapped. She is, in frank, a dead being bent on vengeance. Revenge for her killer and the awful people who enslaved her sister and many more people. These people had separated her family and many more families. Evie’s realistic struggle she had against her new supernatural urges was cleverly portrayed.

The dark subject matter explores a dangerous area of human nature filled with frightening descriptions. I enjoyed this story that highlights dangers of the world around us, but also the strength of good people, dead or alive.

This story has humor and good characters. It leans away from absolute happiness. Hope remains while Evie and her companions go through a story of great sorrow mixed with heroic action. The back-stories to ruthless Aime and determined Ethan were wonderful surprises that helped me completely care for them as I did for Evie.  

All in all, I found Awakenings well worth reading.

Excerpt: 

Lightning strikes the ground, leaving behind a thick, black scorch mark. Within seconds, it strikes a second time, pausing briefly before giving a third earth-shattering blow. I don’t see the actual bolts — all I see is a flash of light, followed by my sister and me running, out of breath and terrified. Another flash, and we are huddled together in a rusted, abandoned car. Another burst of light, and the car door screeches open and we are being ripped away from each other by unfamiliar hands. It’s with that final memory that I open my eyes. As soon as I do, something grainy flows into them, so I shut them again.

I can’t see, I can’t hear; but I can feel that I’m lying on cold earth. The longer I’m awake, the more I become aware of an unbelievable pressure on my chest. Slowly, I realize that it’s not just my chest — my face and body also feel as if I’m being crushed. Oily nausea roils through me, but I clench my teeth to stop myself from panicking. Where am I? I try to move my hands and find they’re pinned to my side. I try to open my eyes again and instantly get something in them. I flex my fingers, and the grittiness that slips through them makes me aware of the awful truth — I have been buried alive.

 I let out a shriek, but have to close my mouth as dirt begins to slip past my lips. Struggling frantically, I feel the earth move under my hands. I realize I can’t be buried very deep, or the pressure of the dirt would surely have suffocated me by now. I’m astounded it hasn’t already, though I have no way of knowing how long I’ve been underground. I force myself to be still, to stop and think about what I have to do. I need to be very careful getting out, making sure not to cause a cave-in and possibly crush myself. I need to remember to breathe shallowly or I will run out of oxy— And that’s when I realize that I’m not breathing. Not at all.

Thanks for reading!