Book Blurb
Setting: Modern New Orleans
The heat is on, and a new threat to humanity has risen…
Nick has his driver’s license and he’s not afraid to use it. But turning sixteen isn’t what he thought it would be. While other boys his age are worried about prom dates and applying for college, Nick is neck deep in enemies out to stop him from living another day. No longer sure if he can trust anyone, his only ally seems to be the one person he’s been told will ultimately kill him.
But life spent serving the undead is anything except ordinary. And those out to get him have summoned an ancient force so powerful even the gods fear it. As Nick learns to command and control the elements, the one he must master in order to combat his latest foe is the one most likely to destroy him. As the old proverb goes, fire knows nothing of mercy, and if Nick is to survive this latest round, he will have to sacrifice a part of himself. However, the best sacrifice is seldom the sanest move. Sometimes it’s the one that leaves your enemies confused, and you even more so.
And sometimes, you have to trust your enemy to save your friends. But what do you do when that enemy is you?
Book Excerpt from sherrilynkenyon.com
…Damned is the soul that dies while the evil it committed lives on. And the most damned of all, are those who see the evil coming for others and refuse to confront it. For it is not out of fear that heroes are born, but rather out of their selfless love that will not allow them safety bought from the torture, death and degradation of others. It is better to die in defense of another than to live with the knowledge that you could have saved them but chose to do nothing.
And to those who think that one person cannot make a difference, I say this… the deadliest tidal wave begins as an unseen ripple in a vast ocean. Live your life so that your integrity will motivate others to strive for excellence long after you’ve passed on, and know that no good deed or sacrifice, or offer of sincere friendship or love, is ever forgotten by the one who receives it.
Her words haunted him. She had taught him that it was far better to be alone than to be surrounded by people who were morally bankrupt. People who sought to bring him down with jealous words and barbs they couched in humor, thinking he was too stupid to recognize the insults they thought they’d so cleverly hidden.
Book Quote - Dear Tormentor
Dear Tormentor,
Today, you made me cry. You made me feel like the lowest piece of dirt that has ever walked this earth. You stole a piece of my heart and soul, and my self-esteem. Just when I had finally managed to convince myself that I wasn’t quite the ugliest or dumbest person alive, you came in and reaffirmed that never ending playback in my head that insults me even when you’re not around. The same playback that tells me, over and over, life sucks, and it’s never going to get any better no matter what I do, because I don’t deserve anything better. I am nothing and nothing is all I’ll ever be. Even when I try my very best, like I did today, it’s not good enough to make me human or worth something in the world’s eyes. I don’t need you or anyone else to reaffirm something I already know about myself.
My hurt didn’t show on the outside because I learned a long time ago to make sure that you couldn’t take that pleasure, too; that you and the others who think you’re funny or witty or cute, or are too afraid of you to do anything more than follow along, couldn’t see how much pain you’ve caused me. The times in the past when I made the mistake of letting you see my tears, all of you laughed at me over them, and you made it worse. You made me choke on my dignity, and hate that which had been a source of pride until you mocked it.
You have kicked me in my heart, and ravaged what little self-worth I had managed to scrape together.
But that’s okay, because that is what makes me stronger than you and your followers. I don’t have to point out someone else’s flaws. I don’t need to put someone else down or mock someone in order to feel better about myself, or to prove my worth, authority, power or intelligence. The mere fact that you do proves that we who refrain from such cruelty are a superior species. We are the ones who have evolved beyond simple animal behavior that makes a base creature attack something it doesn’t understand; something that is different or not as strong.
It doesn’t take superior intelligence to tear down someone and/or their hard work. To mock their best effort or a physical trait that can’t be helped. It doesn’t prove that you’re more intelligent or better in any way. A stick of dynamite can level a building, but it can’t build one.
You have made me afraid to go to school. You’ve made me sick to my stomach whenever I think about going to work. You’ve made me afraid in my own home. You have needlessly insulted me in stores, on the phone, or wherever I accidentally stumbled upon you. You have ruined my past, my present, my day, and stolen a part of my soul.
Like the rest of us, you come from all kinds of backgrounds. Some not very happy, and cruelty is all you’ve ever known, so you lash out in an effort to ease your own pain. Others like you have no excuse whatsoever. Your background is above reproach. Rather, it's a vicious need inside you that we don't understand, and it's why it's so hard to identify you at times. You’ve been my teachers, clergy, my fellow students, coworkers, bosses, principals, sometimes you were a former friend or even family we once trusted.
You’ve taken things I told you in utter confidence, and twisted them into lies to be used against me. Without cause, you have told lies against me. You have refused to see me as a human being. You have kicked me when I was up, and you have kicked me when I was down.
But today, you will kick me no more. I will no longer be your verbal or physical punching bag. Today, I discovered the secret that will never allow you or your friends who will one day turn on you too, to hurt me again.
Today as I lay broken and bleeding in that dark place I crawl into when I think I can’t take it anymore, I found something extraordinary.
My humanity.
As my soul screamed in bleeding agony and I wanted to die rather than live one more day in a world where you exist, I realized that my tears and ability to feel pain without lashing out to return that hurt to someone else makes me human.
I find my pleasure when someone smiles over something I've said or done. When I make them feel better about themselves and their lives. When I look at an okay drawing and tell the artist that it is a work of art, worthy of hanging in a museum. The smile on their face, the pride that glows in their eyes, the happiness I see inside them makes my heart swell. It gives me a joy you can never understand.
Kindness costs nothing to give, but to the person who receives it, it could be the one thing that saves their life. The one thing that gives them hope in their darkest hour. No act of charity or kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.
In the immortal words of Maya Angelou: ...people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.
Whenever they think of me, I want them to smile... And I will never allow you to take that from me.
No matter how you taunt or beat me, I will not become you, and pay your cruelty forward. In time, you will be gone from my life, and I will move forward to become even stronger and smarter than I am today. Because I can celebrate with others and applaud their efforts with an open heart capable of love and acceptance, I will evolve to an even greater level of happiness while you lay mired in your hatred and bitterness.
More than that, I discovered the best secret of all. I don’t care what you think because I don’t think enough of you to listen. You're not worth the energy it would cost me to hate you. There is nothing about you that I want to be. I don’t want your clothes. I don’t want your friends. Your job. I don’t want your life, and I definitely don’t want to live an existence where I have to hurt someone else in order to feel good about myself.
I will not let you steal my humanity. You will not teach me your hatred or intolerance. Not today. Not ever.
In spite of what you think, you’re not anonymous. You’re ubiquitous. No matter where you come from, or the clothes you wear, or the computer screen you hide behind, you are just like all thieves. Rather than work and create something yourself, you prefer to steal from someone else. Even your emotions are stolen.
And while I might not be able to see the future today, I know it will come through this darkness and free me from this ugliness. If I hang on with both hands, my strength will save me. My life is a gift and I will not let you take that from me, too. You’re definitely not worth it.
I am here and I am important. Maybe not to you. But to those I make smile, to the ones who see the beauty inside me, the ones who seek me out because of who I am and because of the positive emotions I give to them, I am irreplaceable.
You are not. Should you die tomorrow, no one would weep. I’ve been to your funeral and I’ve seen that truth, too. When you die, there will be another bully, just like you, spewing the same cruel lies and lines that never change, to take your place. As I said, you never change. You’re all alike.
But we are not. We are individuals. We do matter, and to those closest to us, we are the entire world. Our loss would cut them to the core of their hearts and they would weep forever. Our death would leave a hole inside them that never closes. We are the fragile flowers that spill our fragrance into the world, and bring beauty and smiles whenever we’re spotted by those capable of seeing us in all our glory.
And so I finish my letter with this. Go ahead and laugh at me. Mock me. Insult me. Tear me down. Do your worst. Because through it all, I will do my best in spite of you and your cruelty. From this day forward, I will never hear your ugly words again. I will live my life for me and those few who love me, the ones who cannot imagine a world without me in it. From now on, I will laugh at you when you start in on me because I now know the simple truth.
Animals attack what they fear. And you, in spite of all your bluster and bragging, fear little old me. If I truly were insignificant and worthless, you wouldn’t bother tormenting me. So I will continue living my life for me with the happy knowledge that I threaten you.
Meanwhile me and the rest of my real friends won’t bother talking about you. You don’t matter enough to us to take up time better spent on preparing for a future where you don’t exist. Time changes everything and everyone. Today you’re the bully. Tomorrow someone will bully you. And when that happens, unlike you, we will reach out to you in sympathy and love, and try to make you feel better. Because that is who and what we are:
Intelligent and beautiful human beings.
Forever yours,
The Anti-Bully Brigade
Toot's Review
Ok so those who don't know, yes I love my indie authors but
I am a HUGE Sherrilyn Kenyon fan. The reason I'm telling you this, is because I
realize I might be a bit bias towards her but honestly, come on, if you've read
her, you know what I mean!
So with that being said, I'll give you my review of her new
Chronicles of Nick book Inferno.
In this installment, Nick is coming of age, well turning 16
and everyone has words of wisdom for him but first he needs to break up with
his girlfriend, I mean really, she's an assassin, who's been sent to kill him
before he turns into the Malachai. Also he needs to get his driver's license before
his teacher, Acheron, kills him and he needs to see about buying better clothes,
oh and auditioning to be in a band. Typical 16 year old concerns. What he
doesn't bank on is that his friend and protector is a slave to his father, his
father is dying and still in love with his mother, his teacher might be his
worst enemy and every girl seems to be hitting on him. WTH???
Anywho, I don't want to give you too many spoilers but
basically this book is not only a coming of age book for Nick but also a
turning point in the series. You can actually start seeing the past, present
and future Nick's merging a bit and it's going to be one heck of a ride! We also get more of glimpse at the present and future Nick. What he'll become if his course does not veer towards the good and there's a fab scene with current Nick and Artemis, which is a blast, freakin' finally, LOL. Oh and
the epilogue of the book is a hoot! Definitely a "do not miss" for
any fan of the Dark Hunters and/or Nick books. Also, as only SK can write it,
it's full of wonderfully profound advice, phrasing and quotes *see the Anti-Bully letter above* that will haunt
you for awhile. I totally have a book hangover from this one and it will take
me awhile to get into another book because this one is sticking with me for
awhile. HIGHLY, HIGHLY, HIGHLY recommend it!!!
5 out of 5 books!!!
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