Title* - Sanctuary
Author(s)* -
Pauline Creeden
Pub Date –
October 10, 2013 (Paperback)
September
30, 2013 (eBook pre-release)
Price – $9.99
Buy Links:
Description –
“Left Behind for
the Hunger Games Generation”
In a heart-racing
thriller described as Falling Skies meets The Walking Dead, Jennie
struggles to find a safe place for what’s left of her family. But
it seems as though there is no place sacred, no place secure. First
the aliens attacked the sun, making it dimmer, weaker, and half what
it used to be. Then they attacked the water supply, killing one-third
of Earth’s population with a bitter contaminate. And when they
unleash a new terror on humankind, the victims will wish for death,
but will not find it…When the world shatters to pieces around her,
will Jennie find the strength she needs to keep going?
Advance
Praise
“Pauline
Creeden managed to mix more genres into one book than I could
possibly imagine. The overall concept, aliens attacking the earth, is
straight out of Science Fiction, but then you throw in a few zombies
and post-apocalyptic fiction with how the dead/sick humans are
acting. Overall, the entire story was charged with the adrenaline and
thrills of a suspense/thriller novel, but the mood was terrifyingly
eerie like a Horror story. There was almost too much sensory
information for my primitive human brain to handle. Still, all of
these genres combined made for one unique and fascinating story. This
kind of book is of the same flavor as The Hunger Games with its
originality, which I really appreciated.” - Katelyn Hensel for
Readers' Favorite
“Sanctuary is
a fast-paced Christian fantasy thriller that is original and quite
entertaining. The story revolves around Jennie and her family, Pastor
Billy and his wife, and two brothers who are polar opposites of each
other. Each chapter is presented in the point of view of Jennie, Brad
or Hugh (the brothers), which gives Pauline Creeden's Sanctuary, a
multidimensional feel. The three different story-lines merge into a
full-fledged fantasy/horror novel that never sags or lets up on the
action. While there are Christian themes present in Sanctuary, and
Jennie's faith is an important part of who she is, I, a
non-Christian, did not feel I was being preached to or proselytized.
I recommend Pauline Creeden's Sanctuary -- it's well-written and a
lot of fun to read.” – Jack Magnus for Readers Favorite
YouTube book Trailers:
About the Author:
In simple language, Pauline Creeden creates
worlds that are both familiar and strange, often pulling the veil
between dimensions. She becomes the main character in each of her
stories, and because she has ADD, she will get bored if she pretends
to be one person for too long. Pauline is a horse trainer from
Virginia, but writing is her therapy.
Armored
Hearts, her joint effort
with author Melissa Turner Lee, has been a #1 Bestseller in Christian
Fantasy and been awarded the Crowned Heart for Excellence by InDtale
Magazine. It is also the 2013 Book Junkie’s Choice Winner in
Historical Fiction.
Her debut novel, Sanctuary,
won 1st Place Christian YA Title 2013 Dante Rosetti Award and 2014
Readers’ Choice Gold Award for Best YA Horror Novel.
Website: http://PaulineCreeden.com
Facebook:
http://facebook.com/PaulineCreeden
Twitter: http://twitter.com/P_Creeden
Goodreads:
http://goodreads.com/PCreeden
Pinterest:
http://pinterest.com/pcreeden
A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR:
Why on earth did I write a Christian
novel that has both aliens and zombies in it?
When I was a teen/young adult and my
faith was wavering at best, there were several movies out with the
likely design to shake faith even more. End of the world movies were
in their hay day. Alien invasion was another big one. And I couldn’t
help but wonder. If something like this actually happened, would
anyone be able to maintain their faith?
And now today, Zombies are on the rise.
Could aliens be reconciled with the
Bible? Zombies? This is the purpose of Sanctuary.
Because of its poetic nature, the book
of Revelation lends itself to a plethora of interpretation. I am not
saying that my book is the only true possibility, but it could be
one. Could not demons be misinterpreted as alien life forms? Might
not Satan use this mirage to his advantage to explain the bitter
water or the blotting out of the sun, moon, and stars? And then
there’s Revelation 9:6 - "And in those days shall men seek
death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death
shall flee from them."
Zombies?
If anyone reading this book at least
opens themselves up to the fact that yes, a biblical interpretation
could resolve the problems between faith and an apocalyptic reality,
then Sanctuary has completed its purpose.
EXCERPT:
When
Jennie reached the back door, she saw them. Four large dog-like
creatures with pinched faces like bulldogs and lion-like manes. They
snarled, and one of them leapt at the window on the top half of the
door when it saw her. Jennie jumped back and fell hard on the cold
tile floor. The bottle of painkiller bounced across the kitchen
tiles. The creature slammed against the window a second time,
cracking it. She blinked hard. Her heart sunk, and the hairs on her
arms stood on end. A horrendous gargling howl rent the air, causing a
shiver down her spine. She held her breath and waited for the
creature to slam into the door again.
“What
on earth?” she whispered to herself.
When
the third attempt never came, she scrambled toward the door. Blinking
hard, she used the door knob to help herself stand. Out the cracked
window, her mother was still out of sight, but the last of the dogs
headed across the field behind her backyard.
“MOM?”
Jennie called out.
The
rumbling faded, and the vibrations in her chest receded with the
dogs. She pulled open the door and rushed onto their back deck. “Mom,
where are you?”
When
she reached the banister, she looked over the side. Her mom lay
sprawled with one hand on the lattice. Blood gushed from Mom’s leg
and her opposite arm. Jennie’s ears rang and flooded with every
beat of her heart.
Jennie
didn’t know how she got to the second floor of her house, but she
found herself shaking her sleeping father. How had he slept through
the rumbling? “Outside, it’s Mom…”
Her
father leapt from the bed. Mickey, her little brother, lay asleep and
undisturbed. Dad ran down the stairs and outside in his flannel
pajama bottoms and white t-shirt. He scooped Mom up to his chest and
carried her inside. Blood stained his shirt in crimson.
“Jennie,
call 911!” Her father had said it at least three times before it
finally registered in her brain.
She
pulled the cell phone from her pocket, but it refused to connect.
With a groan, she grabbed the cordless from the wall receiver, glad
her heart stopped pounding in her head so she could hear.
“All
operators are busy at this time,” a mechanical voice deadpanned,
“Please stay on the line, and the next available operator will take
your call.”
“They
have me on hold, Dad. Should I hang up and try again?” She held the
phone in both hands away from her face.
“No,
just stay on the line.” Her father lifted the shredded jeans from
Mom’s leg. “It looks like a shark bite. What on earth happened?”
Jennie
took in the damage through tear-filled eyes. A huge chunk was taken
from her mother’s calf, exposing the fibrous tendons that covered
the bone in her leg. A bloodstain grew on the beige couch. Was she
going to die? Panic rose up.
“What
happened, Jennie?”
“I...I...They
looked like lions, or dogs, or something. The rumbling shook the
whole house…I tried to go outside to get Mom, but—” A sob
blocked her throat.
Her
father grabbed a throw pillow and held it against the leg. Mom’s
exposed forearm laid across her chest in much the same condition as
her calf.
“Grab
me the duct tape.”
Jennie
suddenly remembered the phone, put it back to her ear, and headed to
the hall closet. She reached for the shelf above the jackets and
grabbed the junk basket next to the toolbox.
“Please
stay on the line. An operator will be with you shortly.”
She
shoved the phone in the crook of her neck and fished through the box.
Half the contents dropped around her feet. Who cares? When
her fingers wrapped around the silver duct tape, a short-lived relief
sent prickles down her arms. But the urgency gripped her chest in
less than a heart beat, and she threw the junk basket on the ground
with the rest of the items.
“Hurry,
Jennie!” her father called from the living room. “And turn on the
TV. Maybe they’ll have something about what’s going on.”
She
handed her father the tape and turned toward the TV. The mechanical
voice on the phone came through again, followed by more easy
listening.
When
she clicked on the TV, the shouting and wailing began before the
picture warmed up on the screen. A sideways picture of New York City
broke through, with the shaky voice of the newscaster voicing over.
“What
we are watching now – I can’t believe it – is live footage of
Times Square,” the newscaster’s voice paused for a deep breath.
“We’ve lost our man on the scene and his camera man to what
appears to be some kind of new alien creature. Just a short half-hour
ago, the doors to the ship that hovered above Central Park opened and
these dog-like creatures flooded out.”
Jennie couldn’t
pull her eyes from the screen. She straightened and dropped the phone
on the hardwood. The battery popped out and skidded across the floor.
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