Lies Ripped Open
by Steve
McHugh
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
Over a
hundred years have passed since a group of violent killers went on the rampage,
murdering innocent victims for fun. But even back then, sorcerer Nate Garrett,
aka Hellequin, knew there was more to it than simple savage pleasure—souls were
being stolen.
Nate’s discovery of the souls’ use, and of those supporting the group’s plan, made him question everything he believed.
Now the group Nate thought long dead is back. Violent, angry, and hell-bent on revenge, they have Hellequin firmly in their sights. And if he won’t come willingly, they’ll take those closest to him first.
The battle begins again.
Nate’s discovery of the souls’ use, and of those supporting the group’s plan, made him question everything he believed.
Now the group Nate thought long dead is back. Violent, angry, and hell-bent on revenge, they have Hellequin firmly in their sights. And if he won’t come willingly, they’ll take those closest to him first.
The battle begins again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EXCERPT:
I walked over to the second agent, whose back was toward me
as he stood a little further into the park, and placed my hand on his shoulder.
“That’s enough,” I repeated, but he spun around and all of the breath left my
body at once, followed immediately by pain as it exploded across my torso. I
glanced down as a shimmering blade of ice was pulled free from my chest. It was
covered in my blood. I dropped to my knees and watched as the magical weapon
vanished from view. The pain forced me to abandon my night vision, and the
darkness once again took control.
The overwhelming thought that bounced around my head was
that neither of the SOA agents had been sorcerers. My attacker crouched beside
me. “They interrupted me and my prey got away,” his accent was from East London,
but sounded slightly different from many of those living in the city. As if
he’d been away from here for a long time, and had not quite remembered how the
accent was meant to sound.
I glanced up at him, still unable to breathe; the blade had
punctured a lung. It wouldn’t kill me, but it would be a few hours until I was
back to normal, and without my night vision I could have been staring into
Merlin’s own face and I’d never have known.
The man got back to his feet and kicked me onto my back. “I
should make sure you remember your time here, but I’m sure your comrades over
there will be able to do that better than I could.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Talking with author Steve McHugh!
Who is your perfect hero/heroine and why?
What authors have caught your interest lately and why?
What type of book have you always wanted to write?
Top 3 things on your bucket list?
How did you get the idea for this particular novel?
What is your favorite scene in your new release?
What are you working on now and when can we expect it to be available?
What do you like to do when you are not writing?
What is one interesting fact about you that readers don’t know?
Talking with author Steve McHugh!
What is your writing
environment?
Usually
I write in my office. My office is the greatest place on earth. For a start the
door locks, meaning my three young daughters can’t come barging in every five
minutes. It’s full of books and my bearded dragon, Kaiju lives there too. Also
there are a lot of star wars figures, and figures from anime and comics.
Basically it’s a geek paradise. And it’s awesome.
Who is your perfect hero/heroine and why?
I
don’t think there is perfect hero or heroine. The best heroes are, by their
very nature, imperfect. James Bond, Sherlock Holmes, Black Widow, Han Solo,
Ripley, all of those are great heroes that I love, but all are flawed in one
way or another. I think the fact that they either overcome or use that flaw to
their advantage is what makes them a great hero.
What authors have caught your interest lately and why?
John
Gwynne Faithful and the Fallen is some of the best fantasy I’ve read in years.
I’ll add Brian McClellan and Jen Williams to the mix too. Kurtis Wiebe’s Rat
Queens is probably the most fun comic I’ve read in a long time too. And Pretty
Deadly by Kelly Sue DeConnick is staggeringly beautiful with a fantastic story.
What type of book have you always wanted to write?
Ones
I like to read. That was always my intention. I love fantasy and sci-fi and
write both, but I’d like to write a thriller too. I’d like to write an
historical fantasy book one day. I do pieces of it in the Hellequin books, and
the Hellequin Novella, Infamous Reign, is sort of historical fantasy, but I’d
like to do a full-on novel.
Top 3 things on your bucket list?
I’d
like to go to Japan, learn to play the guitar and write a Star Wars book. I’m
not entirely sure how likely any of them actually are, but they’d all be pretty
cool to do.
How did you get the idea for this particular novel?
Lies Ripped Open is the basically the book where a lot of
answers about Nate’s past are given, but it’s also where a lot of new questions
get asked. It was the story I needed to tell to take Nate and his friends to
the next stage of the series.
What is your favorite scene in your new release?
My
favourite scene is one between Nate and Remy, who is a half-fox/half-human
friend of his.
“Right, well you went to sleep and they dragged
us all down here, but Ellie here woke up. Tore some guy’s arm off before they
subdued her. By that point Alan and I had woken up, and they gave us all a
kicking. Still, she tore some guy’s arm off, which was pretty badass of her. If
we find it, and then find him, can we beat him to death with it?”
I stared at my fox friend for a moment. “I’d
rather use something more . . . stable for bludgeoning someone to
death, but sure, why not?”
Remy
has a few moments in the book where he says something that probably shouldn’t
be funny, but is.
What are you working on now and when can we expect it to be available?
I’m
currently writing Hellequin book 6, and then the first book in a new series.
After that I’ve got edits on a sci-fi book I’m working on, and a few other
things. Basically I’m in no concern of being bored through lack of work.
What do you like to do when you are not writing?
I spend time with my family, read, play videogames, and
watch movies. I tend to like to do stuff that I find relaxing.
What is one interesting fact about you that readers don’t know?
I have several tattoos on my arms. I’ve got a half Japanese
sleeve, a samurai, Daredevil, two wolf cubs, Harley Quinn, an alchemist’s
circle from Fullmetal Alchemist and Discworld’s death. And I want more. Yes,
I’m almost out of room on my arms.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Steve’s been writing from an early age, his first completed
story was done in an English lesson. Unfortunately, after the teacher read it,
he had to have a chat with the head of the year about the violent content and
bad language. The follow up ‘One boy and his frog’ was less concerning to his
teachers and got him an A.
It wasn’t for another decade that he would start work on a
full-length novel that was publishable, the results of which was the
action-packed Urban Fantasy, Crimes Against Magic.
Steve McHugh lives in Southampton on the south coast of England
with his wife and three young daughters. When not writing or spending time with
his kids, he enjoys watching movies, reading books and comics, and playing
video games.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/StevejMchugh
BUY
LINKS:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GIVEAWAY:
Steve McHugh will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes and
Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
Thanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteWhat kind of smoothie sounds really good right now?
ReplyDeleteGreat interview.
ReplyDeleteGreat post, I enjoyed reading the interview! Japan is on my bucket list as well :)
ReplyDeleteReally great excerpt.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading the interview, thank you for sharing! I'd love to visit Japan, too!
ReplyDeleteThanks very much for having me on your blog.
ReplyDeleteAn interesting bio.
ReplyDelete