Blog Tour: Night Chill

From the author of middle grades spine-chilling horror series The Templar Chronicles comes a supernatural thriller for his adult fans

"Gunhus delivers a taut supernatural thriller...all the chops of an action-packed horror tale." - Kirkus Reviews

Emotionally scarred from a car accident in which a little girl was killed, Jack Tremont moves his family from Southern California to Prescott City in the quiet mountains of Western Maryland. At first, the small town appears to be the perfect place to reconnect with his family and to cure his troubled conscience, but Jack soon discovers he has left one nightmare only to walk into another. When a stranger who has been struck by lightning dies in Jack's arms, a child's voice comes from the man's smoldering body to issue a warning:  

They're coming for your little girl, Jack. . . you better run. Take your family and run. 

The warning turns prophetic when a local cult targets Jack's five year-old daughter Sarah and Jack finds himself in a fight against dark, supernatural forces that he cannot begin to understand. With the help of a mysterious Native American, Jack uncovers more than just a conspiracy that extends into the small community, but an ancient mystery larger than anything he could have imagined. Suddenly, he's not only fighting for his family, but also to stop a devastating evil from escaping into the world. Above all, he must rush against the clock to save his little girl.

Learn more at JeffGunhus.com

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So what did I think?

If I had to describe the overall plot and feel of this novel in one word, it would be creepy.  Jeff Gunhus really does give you the heebie geebies while reading Night Chill.  If you are super squeamish, this book is not for you!

Honestly, I didn't see the cover of this book until after I had already read it.  Isn't it horrifying?  Yikes.  After reading the much tamer, aimed for middle school-aged kiddos monster hunter books a few months ago, this was a shock to my reading eyes!  ::insert wide-eyed, scared face here::

Our main character, Jack, is a husband and father of two girls who is trying to hold everything together and forget about tragic event in his past.  When he starts hearing that the devil is after his family, no one believes him.

What makes this book so creepy is the believability of the lore explained throughout.  Sure, it's supernatural, but Gunhus rationalizes everything in a way that makes sense as to why people would do the horrible, unspeakable things that they do. 

If you're a scardy cat like me, you might struggle with the battle between wanting to hide under the covers and reading on to see how it ends.  When I'm scared while reading a book, I somehow think that reading faster will make the scary go away.  But this book is so well written and suspenseful,  you can't put it down.

About the Author

Jeff Gunhus is the author of the Middle Grade/YA series The Templar Chronicles. The first book, Jack Templar Monster Hunter, was written in an effort to get his reluctant reader eleven-year old son excited about reading. It worked and a new series was born. The book is a Book Of The Year Finalist for Foreword Reviews and a Finalist for the Next Generation Indie Book Award. Book #2, Jack Templar and the Monster Hunter Academy was released April 2013.  Night Chill is his first book for adults. As a father of five, he leads an active lifestyle in Maryland by trying to constantly keep up with his kids. In rare moments of quiet, he can be found in the back of the City Dock Cafe in Annapolis working on his next novel.

 Blog Tour Schedule

June 4 Tyrneathem http://www.tyrneathem.com Excerpt

June 5 The avid Reader  www.tarmyblogspot.blogspot.com Top Ten List

June 6 Rayborn Rambles Raybornrambles.blogspot.com Review

June 7 Girl Who Reads http://www.girl-who-reads.com Character interview

June 8 Cu's e-Book Giveaways http://cusauthorspotlights.blogspot.com/ Top Ten List

June 9 Drue's Random Chatter http://druesrandomchatter.blogspot.com/ Review/Book Promo

June 10 lubs Book Chatter www.lubsbookchatter.blogspot.com Review & Author Interview

June 11

June 12 The Ginger Nuts of Horror http://www.gingernutsofhorror.com/index.html Excerpt

June 13 I'm Shelf-ish http://imshelfish.blogspot.com TOp Ten List

June 14

June 15 Share My Destiny http://sharemydestiny.blogspot.com Top Ten List

June 16 From the Bootheel Cotton Patch http://fromthebootheelcottonpatch.blogspot.com Excerpt

June 17 Off the Page http://suzannevanrooyen.com/blog Middle Grades vs Adult writing

June 18 The Geekdom Of Gore http://thegeekdomofgore.blogspot.com/ail.com Top Ten List

June 19 Books Direct http://booksdirectonline.blogspot.com.au/ Review & Interview

June 20 Ali's Bookshelf http://alisbookshelfreviews.blogspot.com/ Top Ten List

Cabin Goddess http://cabingoddess.com Review & Excerpt

June 21 Wag the Fox http://waggingthefox.blogspot.com/ Top Ten List

June 22 Mom With A Kindle http://momwithakindle.blogspot.com Excerpt

Book Review: Jack Templar and the Monster Academy

This is the second book in the Templar Chronicles, in which we watch Jack Templar grow into a teen and a monster hunter all at the same time.  In the first book, he discovers and deals with the new monster hunter identity.  In this book, he travels to the academy, along with his friends, Will and T-Rex.  The trio of make-shift orphans have to try to find their place at their new schooling location, and Jack tries to cope with his romantic feelings for Eva, his battle buddy turned instructor.

We find that Jack is much more compassionate than his other hunter companions when he saves the life of a well-hated wolf, thought to be a werewolf.  He follows his intuition and goes out of his way to protect the wolf, despite the overwhelming negativity towards wolves at the academy. 

I liked the first book.  But I really liked this book.  The new characters at the academy are a great addition to the basic group from book one.  Monster Academy set a more serious tone as Jack comes to realize that although he managed to live through his first run-in with the Big Bad Vampire Lord, he has much more to learn.

I am already looking forward to reading the next book in the chronicles, whenever that happens to come out.  What will happen to Jack and his buddies next?  I love that the author began this series as an attempt to get his son excited about reading.  How awesome to have your dad write books just for you! 

Book Review: Jack Templar, Monster Hunter

If you read this book review, the monsters will come for you.

Jeff Gunhus begins this story with a candid message from Jack to the reader.  Turn back now!  This is your last warning!  Had I tried to read this when I was younger, I would have stopped there.  I was a scardy-cat who, while everyone else was devouring book after book of Goosbumps,  was afraid at the cover art alone.  But since I'm a big girl now and above the targeted age for this series, I got through it fine.

Only two monsters came after me.  Just kidding. 

Or am I?

Jack Templar is about to turn 14 years old.  How does he want to celebrate it?  With Pineapple and pepperoni pizza and mint chocolate chip ice cream.  This kid is me, if I were a fictional adolescent male.  He lives with his aunt, because like all super power books, he lost his parents a long time ago.  But when he woke up the day before his birthday, he noticed that he was stronger, and the people of the town were creepier.

Small spoiler - his principal  turns out to be a demon.  Well played, Gunhus.  I liked that little twist.  I"m sure that any reader, no matter the age can relate to an authority figure in their lives being demonic. 

Monster hunting is in his bloodline and at 14, Jack becomes fair game for all the vampires, werewolves, and demons of all sorts.  He's thrown into a world that he didn't know existed and has had no training to prepare for the fights he will have to battle.  And that girl he's been crushing on at school?  She's not exactly who you think she is.

I'm pretty sure my nephew Cameron would like this book.  It's well written with plenty of twists throughout the plot line.  Although it's a middle grade book, I still enjoyed it.  I'll be reviewing the second book before the end of this month.