Morpheus Road: The Light Blog Tour *Win a $50 Gift Card*

Welcome it is time to walk the Morpheus Road...
are you ready?

Marshall Seaver is being haunted. In the first installment of this chillingly compelling trilogy, sixteen-year-old Marshall discovers that something beyond our world is after him. The eerie clues pile up quickly, and when people start dying, it’s clear whatever this isit’s huge.

Marshall has no idea what’s happening to him, but he’s soon convinced that it has something to do with his best friend Cooper, who’s been missing for over a week. Together with Coop’s sister, Marsh searches for the truth about what happened to his friend, ultimately uncovering something bigger than he could ever have imagined.

Read on for an excerpt from Morpheus Road: The Light and exclusive downloads of Chapter 1 & 2!

About the book:
D.J. MacHale, author of the #1 New York Times bestselling Pendragon series, has a new adventure for readers in Morpheus Road.

Marshall Seaver is being haunted. In The Light, the first installment of this chillingly compelling trilogy, sixteen-year-old Marshall discovers that something beyond our world is after him. The eerie clues pile up quickly, and when people start dying, it's clear whatever this is--it's huge.

Marshall has no idea what's happening to him, but he's soon convinced that it has something to do with his best friend Cooper, who's been missing for over a week. Together with Coop's sister, Marsh searches for the truth about what happened to his friend, ultimately uncovering something bigger than he could ever have imagined.

Book in stores April 20th.


About the author:

D.J. MacHale is the author of the #1 New York Times bestselling Pendragon series. He has written, directed and produced many television series and movies for young people including the cult-favorite TV show ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK. His work has been seen on Nickelodeon, The Disney Channel, HBO, Showtime, PBS, Discovery Kids and the broadcast networks. D.J. lives with his family in Southern California.


“There is a chance to Win a $50 VISA Gift Card to buy your copy of Morpheus Road on April 20! Details after the excerpt!

Tour Links:
Read my Review
D.J. MacHale's Web Site
April 20th is the next tour stop... visit Sci Fi Chick

Book Excerpt

Prologue

I believe in ghosts.

Simple as that. I believe in ghosts.

Maybe that doesn’t come across as very dramatic. After all, lots of people believe in ghosts. You always hear stories about some guy who felt a “presence” or glimpsed a fleeting, unexplainable phenomenon. There are mediums who claim they can make contact with the great beyond and receive messages to let the living know that all is well. Or not. Then there are those people who operate on a more philosophical level . . . the spiritual types who believe that the energy of the human soul is so powerful, it must continue on after death to some other plane of existence. Of course, there are millions of people who love getting scared by ghost stories. They may not believe, but they sure have fun pretending.

I’m not like any of those people. At least not anymore. A little over a week ago you could have put me in the category of somebody who didn’t necessarily believe in anything supernatural, though I did like horror movies. But that was then. Before last week. A week is like . . . nothing. How many particular weeks can anybody really remember? A week can fly by like any other. Or it can change your life. You tend to remember those weeks.

I remember last week.

It was the week the haunting began.Or maybe I should call it the hunting because that’s what it was. I was being hunted. And haunted. It wasn’t a good week.

My name is Marshall Seaver. People call me Marsh. I live in a small town in Connecticut called Stony Brook. It’s a suburb of New York City where moms drive oversize silver trucks to Starbucks and most kids play soccer whether they want to or not. It’s the kind of place where kids are trained from birth to compete. In everything. School, sports, friendships, clothes . . . you know, everything. I’m not sure what the point is other than to win bragging rights. Luckily, my parents didn’t buy into that program. They said I should set my own priorities. I liked that. Though it puts pressure on me to figure out what those priorities are.

I guess you’d call us middle class. We’ve only got one car and it’s almost as old as I am. I can’t believe it’s still running, because we drove it into the ground. My parents liked to travel. That was one of their priorities. Whenever they had two days off, we’d hit the road, headed for some national monument or backwater town that served awesome gumbo or had historical significance or maybe just sounded different. I complained a lot about how boring it was, but to be honest, I didn’t hate it. Bumping around in the back of a car wasn’t great, but the adventure of it all made it worthwhile. It’s kind of cool to see things for real instead of on TV. I miss those trips.

Other than that, my life is pretty usual. Unlike a lot of people in this town, I’ve never been inside a country club. Most of my clothes come from Target. I ride my bike to school. We don’t live in a monster-size house, but it’s plenty big enough for the three of us.

That is, when there were still three of us.

Things have changed. Not that long ago I thought I had a pretty good handle on what normal was. I was wrong. Nothing about my life is normal anymore. The events that unfolded over the last week weren’t just about me, either. Many lives were touched and not all for the better. As I look back, I can’t help but wonder what might have happened if different decisions had been made. Different paths taken. So many innocent choices added to a butterfly effect that fed the nightmare. Or created it. I guess it goes without saying that I’m still alive. Not everyone was so lucky. That’s the harsh thing about ghost stories. Somebody has to die. No death, no ghost. I survived the week and that gives me a feeling of guilt I’ll carry forever. Or at least for as long as I live. I hope that’s a good long time, but there are no guarantees because this story isn’t done.

The hunt is still on.

My story may sound like a fantasy, and maybe some of it is. But many things happened over that week that can’t be ignored or explained away as having sprung from an overly imaginative mind. People died. Lives were changed. That was no dream. After what I saw and experienced, there’s one other bit of reality I have to accept.

I believe in ghosts.

After you hear my story, I think you will too.

Dowload Chapter 1 PDF
Dowload Chapter 2 PDF

Win a $50 VISA Gift Card to buy your copy of Morpheus Road on April 20!

* Contest begins, April 16th 2010 and Ends April 30th 2010
* Winner will be chosen by random.org
* Entrants must fill out the google form to be considered
* Entrants must also be a follower of Parajunkee's View

Earn Extra Entries:
+2 Comment on my review >> here
+5 Blog about this
+5 Twitter follower: @Parajunkee
+1 Tweet
+5 Add the Morpheus Road count down on your blog. Get it here >> here  This apparently is not working.  If you get it to work great, if not don't worry about it.

Morpheus Road: The Light by D.J. MacHale

The Light (Morpheus Road) by D.J. MacHale
Review copy provided by Big Honcho Media

PJVs QUICKIE POV: Rollercoaster! This book was a macabre rollercoaster through a week of one boys life. Entertaining and spine chilling, The Light, flung me from one impending and near death experience to the next, never letting me up for breath. Not often does a book leave me chilled, but this one almost had me sleeping with the light on.

REVIEW: Marshall Seaver is in a bad place when we are introduced to him in The Light. Dealing with the repercussions of his mother's death, Marsh has become rather reclusive, content to get lost in books, movies and games revolving around fantasy and science fiction.  Marsh has one friend, Cooper Foley and that relationship is a bit tenuous. Cooper is everything that Marsh is not. Cooper is popular, a risk taker, a boy who doesn't care about what people think. Coop and Marsh are the exact opposites, yet have been friends forever. Lately Cooper has been getting into trouble, taking risks that aren't minor league anymore.  The latest spot of trouble involved some counterfeit tickets and a few policemen.

Because of the trouble, Coop is sent up to his parents lake house for the summer and Marsh is left at home with no friends and even his father is on a business trip.

This is when the haunting begins.  At first Marsh thinks it is all in his head, he's hearing things... he must be having hearing problems from the loud music.  Then he starts to see things.  Is he going crazy, is he seeing hallucinations?  When these hallucinations have him fleeing his home, desperate to save his life from something that can only be made up in his head, Marsh is desperate for any kind of help.  He finds that help in Coop's, older, ice-queen sister, or at least she helps him get in touch with her parents, only to find out that Cooper is missing.  Desperate to find his friend, Marsh heads up their to find answers and hopefully to escape the ghoul that is chasing him.

Along the way, discoveries are made, and the game goes from a simple haunting to a desperate fight for his life, the life of his friends and maybe the world as he knows it.

The Light is a high impact read that will keep the adrenaline pumping and wanting more.  This book never stopped it's forward motion.

Things I liked about The Light:
Intense action sequences
Well laid plot lines
Creepy bad guys
Supporting characters
Main characters growth

Things that I didn't like:
The main character was a bit of a pain in the beginning all whiney and whimpery, but he transitioned, so I guess that was the point
I'm not a big fan of foreshadowing and the prlogue was a foreshadow reminsicent of Twilight it was intriguing but I wasn't really that big a fan of it
There was a lot of stereotyping, which is rampant in YA fic/movies, sometimes I wish authors would step out of it.  Stop with the bully/jock, the snarky/pop/hot chick, the dorky/star wars geek/rocket builder geek...

Bad points were few and far between though...definitly worth the time to read. I've been on a roll lately, both YA and adult. Go me.

RECOMMENDATIONS: For teens and adults. It is a bit scary but nothing inappropriate. Horror fans and thrill seekers should enjoy.

Stop by the Morpheus Road: The Light Blog tour that I am hosting April 16th and you could win a $50 Gift Card.

Question? What scares you?
My answer...Aliens! I have a bizarre fear of being abducted by aliens. Odd right?

Happy Easter - In My Mailbox!

"In My Mailbox" is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi The Story Siren. This meme features books that I have purchased or received in the mail this past week.

Morpheus Road by DJ MacHale

#1 NYT bestselling author D.J. MacHale's Morpheus Road trilogy brings readers down an ethereal pathway between the worlds of the living and dead.

Embers  by Laura Bickle

Truth burns.Unemployment, despair, anger—visible and invisible unrest feed the undercurrent of Detroit’s unease. A city increasingly invaded by phantoms now faces a malevolent force that further stokes fear and chaos throughout the city.Anya Kalinczyk spends her days as an arson investigator with the Detroit Fire Department, and her nights pursuing malicious spirits with a team of eccentric ghost hunters. Anya—who is the rarest type of psychic medium, a Lantern—suspects a supernatural arsonist is setting blazes to summon a fiery ancient entity that will leave the city in cinders. By Devil’s Night, the spell will be complete, unless Anya—with the help of her salamander familiar and the paranormal investigating team—can stop it.Anya’s accustomed to danger and believes herself inured to loneliness and loss. But this time she’s risking everything: her city, her soul, and a man who sees and accepts her for everything she is. Keeping all three safe will be the biggest challenge she’s ever faced.

Embers

Master of None by Sonya Bateman

ONE UNLUCKY THIEF. ONE UNLIKELY GENIE. ONE VERY ODD COUPLE.Gavyn Donatti is the world’s unluckiest thief. Just ask all the partners he’s lost over the years. And when he misplaces an irreplaceable item he was hired to steal for his ruthless employer, Trevor—well, his latest bungle just might be his last. But then his luck finally turns: right when Trevor’s thugs have him cornered, a djinn, otherwise known as a genie, appears to save him.Unfortunately, this genie—who goes by the very non-magical name of “Ian”—is more Hellboy than dream girl. An overgrown and extremely surly man who seems to hate Donatti on the spot, he may call Donatti master, but he isn’t interested in granting three wishes. He informs Donatti that he is bound to help the thief fulfill his life’s purpose, and then he will be free. The problem is that neither Donatti nor Ian has any idea what exactly that purpose is.At first Donatti’s too concerned with his own survival to look a gift genie in the mouth, but when his ex-girlfriend Jazz and her young son get drawn into the crossfire, the stakes skyrocket. And when Ian reveals that he has an agenda of his own—with both Donatti and the murderous Trevor at the center of it—Donatti will have to become the man he never knew he could be, or the entire world could pay the price. . . .

 Hex Hall (Book 1) by Rachel Hawkins

Three years ago, Sophie Mercer discovered that she was a witch. It's gotten her into a few scrapes. Her non-gifted mother has been as supportive as possible, consulting Sophie's estranged father--an elusive European warlock--only when necessary. But when Sophie attracts too much human attention for a prom-night spell gone horribly wrong, it's her dad who decides her punishment: exile to Hex Hall, an isolated reform school for wayward Prodigium, a.k.a. witches, faeries, and shapeshifters.

By the end of her first day among fellow freak-teens, Sophie has quite a scorecard: three powerful enemies who look like supermodels, a futile crush on a gorgeous warlock, a creepy tagalong ghost, and a new roommate who happens to be the most hated person and only vampire on campus. Worse, Sophie soon learns that a mysterious predator has been attacking students, and her only friend is the number-one suspect.

As a series of blood-curdling mysteries starts to converge, Sophie prepares for the biggest threat of all: an ancient secret society determined to destroy all Prodigium, especially her.

What books did you get this week? Join the meme...