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Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Death and the Girl Next Door by Darynda Jones Excerpt + a Giveaway!

I'm pleased as punch to be part of the Grimlet tour for Darynda Jones's teen debut, Death and the Girl Next Door!

Lorelei's life is a bit odd. Her parents disappeared ten years ago and she's been raised by her grandparents ever since. And Lorelei has visions. Strange visions that she often doesn't understand, like the one she had about the new guy, Jared, fighting a dark, demonic creature. While Lorelei tries to figure that one out, she also realizes that a fellow classmate is stalking her. But that's just the beginning. 

Ooh, I don't want to give too much away on this one. This is the first in Darynda's new Darklight series and it's perfect for teen readers and fans of the Charley Davidson books as well. The premise is definitely unique and the characters are great -- plus it's all packaged in Darynda's trademark style!

Here's an excerpt to give you a taste -- and don't forget to check out the giveaways below!


Death and the Girl Next Door (excerpt)
By Darynda Jones


I laughed to myself and headed toward the back of our favorite
and pretty much only hangout. It sat a mere block from our
alma mater, Riley High, and we practically lived in our corner
booth. I ducked past the snack counter and into a very dark back
hall. Judging by the boxes lining the narrow passage, I’d be taking
my life into my hands if I risked a journey to the little senorita’s
room without illumination, so I ran my hand along a
paneled wall. Where would I be if I were a light switch? Just as
the tips of my fingers found the switch, a silhouette stepped out
of the shadows and brushed past me. I startled with a gasp.

“Excuse me,” I said, placing a hand over my heart.

“Sorry.” The guy paused slightly before continuing on his
way, and in that instant, I saw the makings of utter perfection: a
long arm with shadowy curves that dipped around the fluid
lines of muscle; a tall, wide shoulder; dark hair that curled playfully
over an ear and led to a strong, masculine jaw. Something
inside me lurched, craving a closer look at his face, but he walked
by too fast and the hall was too dark for me to catch anything
else.

After a couple of seconds, I realized my hand had brushed
against his arm. It was enough to send a vision crashing into me,
like the flash of a nuclear bomb, bright and unforgiving. Tamping
down my surprise— I hadn’t had a vision in a very long time— I
pressed shaking fingers to my forehead to wait out the familiar
storm, to see what treasures would wash ashore in the aftermath.

Yet the things I saw were unreal, impossible, and certainly not
of this world: A desolate landscape lay before me with scorched
clouds and a roiling, violet sky. The air was stagnant and so impossibly
thick, breathing it took effort. Then I heard the clanging
of metal. I turned to watch in horror as a being, a boy of no more
than sixteen or seventeen, fierce and somehow not quite human,
struggled with a dark, monstrous beast. The boy’s arms corded as
tendon and muscle strained against the weight of the sword he
wielded. He slashed again and again, but the monster was fast,
with razorlike talons and sharp, gleaming teeth, and the boy
knew what those teeth felt like when they sank into flesh, knew
the blinding pain that accompanied defeat. But he also knew the
power he himself wielded, the raw strength that saturated every
molecule of his body.

Another herculean effort landed a thrust in the monster’s
shoulder and continued through its thick chest. The monster
sank under the boy’s sword with a guttural scream. The boy
looked on while the beast writhed in pain, watched it grow still
as the life drained out of it, and somewhere in the back of the
boy’s mind, he allowed himself to register the burning of his
lungs as he struggled to fill them with air.

Blood trickled between his fingers, down the length of his
blade, and dripped to the powdery earth beneath his feet. I followed
the trail of blood up to three huge gashes across his chest.
Evidently three of the monster’s claws had met their mark,
laying the flesh of its enemy open. I gasped and covered my
mouth with both hands as the boy spun toward me, sword at the
ready. Squinting against the low sun, I could almost make out
his features, but the vision evaporated before I got the chance. A
heartbeat later, I was back in the dark hallway, gasping for air,
one palm pressed against my temple, the other against the wall
for balance.

I squeezed my eyes shut, fought the memory of the vision,
the fear that summoned the taste of bile in the back of my throat,
the feel of blood dripping down the boy’s arm.


There are a couple of tour wide giveaways with this one. The first signup below is to win a copy of Death and the Girl Next Door. The second is for a surprise giveaway. There's plenty of time to enter both.

Good luck!

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15 comments:

Unknown said...

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, this book. Darynda is so awesome!

Unknown said...

Loved Death and the Girl Next Door! So glad Darynda started a YA series!

Unknown said...

LOVE this book - and everything about Darynda!

Elizabeth H. said...

I love Darynda Jones and I would read anything she wrote, even a grocery list!

Sarah said...

LOVE Darynda! Have loved everything she's written and can't wait to see what she comes up with next!

Darynda said...

Thanks, all! And thanks so much for having me today! <3

Victoria said...

I love YA books because they remind me what it was like back then ;).
vsloboda(at)gmail(dot)com

Unknown said...

LOVED the first book in this new YA series! Cant wait for the second book along with Fourth Grave Beneath My Feet!

Margay Leah Justice said...

I think there's just such a high level of great writing in YA books - and thy help me reclaim my youth.

Jacki C. said...

I like YA because sometimes the issues are handled than they would be in "adult" genre.

Jacki

AquarianDancer said...

I like YA books because they take me back to a time where boys and friends were the most I had to worry about. No work, money, etc...

Unknown said...

I am reading this book right now and I am really enjoying it! Whether you are a long time Darynda fan or was just introduced to her, this is a must read! You won't be disappointed. :)

Unknown said...

I so loved this book and now that it's done now I have to sit and wait for the next WAITING SUCKS!!!!! But it will be well worth the wait I'm sure....

Becky LeJeune said...

Thanks for all the visits and comments, ya'll!!! This is awesome! I can't wait for book two in this series -- I'm dying to know what will come next.

As an aside, I'm in the FOURTH GRAVE blog tour next month. Hope to see you back!

awilliams said...

Love all Darynda's books! She is an amazing author!