ISBN-13 - 9781491072066
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. Her debut novel,
Sanctuary is scheduled for release September 30, 2013, and has already
been nominated for two awards in YA Science Fiction.
One of Pauline's short stories has won the CCW Short
Story contest. Other short stories have been published in Fear &
Trembling Magazine, Obsidian River and Avenir Eclectia. An urban fantasy
short will appear in The Book of Sylvari: An Anthology of Elves from
Port Yonder Press, and a vampire short will appear in Monsters! from
Diminished Media Group.
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.
