BooksChatter: ☀ Lies Ripped Open: The Hellequin Chronicles [5]

Thank you for joining us on the first day of the Virtual Book Tour for Lies Ripped Open, an Urban Fantasy by Steve McHugh (25 August 2015, 47North, 530 pages).

This is the fifth book in the The Hellequin Chronicles series.

PREVIEW: Read the Prologue and the first two chapters with Amazon Look Inside. Lies Ripped Open is FREE on Kindle Unlimited and Kindle Owner's Lending Library.

Check out the book's synopsis and the excerpt below, as well as information about the whole series. Also, don't miss out on our Q&A with author Steve McHugh.

Steve McHugh will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour. Please do take part: comment on our post and follow the tour where you will be able to read other excerpts (☀), interviews (ℚ), reviews (✍) and guest blog posts (✉).

Synopsis | Teaser | The Series | Author Q&A | About the Author | Giveaway & Tour Stops

Synopsis

Over a hundred years have passed since a group of violent killers went on the rampage, murdering innocent victims for fun. But even back then, sorcerer Nate Garrett, aka Hellequin, knew there was more to it than simple savage pleasure—souls were being stolen.

Nate’s discovery of the souls’ use, and of those supporting the group’s plan, made him question everything he believed.

Now the group Nate thought long dead is back. Violent, angry, and hell-bent on revenge, they have Hellequin firmly in their sights. And if he won’t come willingly, they’ll take those closest to him first.

The battle begins again.

Teaser: Excerpt

I glanced past Grayson at the orange and black Fiat Panda on my drive. It was the newer version of the car, so it no longer looked like the world’s ugliest box. Instead it appeared like someone had taken a bigger car and squashed it. Then added chrome in an effort to make people forget it about the rest of it. In short, it wasn’t what I’d have called a looker. “Is that yours?”

“It’s my work car. You’d be surprised how easy it is to damage your car, working with injured werewolves and the like.”

“You want to follow me, so I can pretend I don’t know you? Or do you just want to take my car? I’ll drop you back here after.”

“It’s a very good car.”

“Okay, but it’s also a Fiat Panda.”

Grayson held my gaze for a short time. “You’re a bit of car snob, aren’t you?”

I nodded and clicked the button on the garage door opener. One of the three doors slowly moved up, revealing a Jaguar F-Type R, in British racing green. Otherwise known as dark green. It looked how a sports car should look: sleek, sophisticated, and sexy. Everything about it was as close to perfection as a car could be. It helped that it drove like a dream, as if the wide grille on the front of the car ate the road as it went.

I turned to Grayson as we reached the garage and he saw the Jaguar in all its glory. “Yes, I’m a bit of a car snob when given the option. You want to go out in your Panda, or in this?”

Grayson glanced over at his small car, and then back to the Jag. “Is it fast?” I unlocked the car and we both got in, where I turned the engine on and allowed the sound of the V8 to wash over us. “Is it fast?” I asked. “A bit.”

Lies Ripped Open - available NOW!

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The Series: The Hellequin Chronicles

The Best selling Hellequin Chronicles series, mixes gritty and action-packed historical and dark urban fantasy with ancient mythology.

Every title in the series is FREE on Kindle Unlimited and Kindle Owner's Lending Library.

Click on the book cover to Look Inside the book on Amazon and read an excerpt.

Crimes Against Magic [1]

How do you keep the people you care about safe from enemies you can’t remember?

Ten years ago, Nate Garrett awoke on a cold warehouse floor with no memory of his past—a gun, a sword, and a piece of paper with his name on it the only clues to his identity. Since then, he’s discovered he’s a powerful sorcerer and has used his magical abilities to become a successful thief for hire.

But those who stole his memories aren’t done with him yet: when they cause a job to go bad and threaten a sixteen-year-old girl, Nate swears to protect her. With his enemies closing in and everyone he cares about now a target for their wrath, he must choose between the comfortable life he’s built for himself and his elusive past.

As the barrier holding his memories captive begins to crumble, Nate moves between modern-day London and fifteenth-century France, forced to confront his forgotten life in the hope of stopping an enemy he can’t remember. [First Published 27 April 2012, 415 pages]

Born of Hatred [2]

There are some things even a centuries-old sorcerer hesitates to challenge…

When Nathan Garret’s friend seeks his help investigating a bloody serial killer, the pattern of horrific crimes leads to a creature of pure malevolence, born of hatred and dark magic. Even with all his powers, Nate fears he may be overmatched. But when evil targets those he cares about and he is confronted by dire threats both old and new, Nate must reveal a secret from his recently remembered past to remind his enemies why they should fear him once more. [First Published 15 December 2012, 481 pages]

Infamous Reign: A Hellequin Novella [2.5]

In late 15th century England, two young princes are given over by Merlin to the protection of their uncle, King Richard III. They soon vanish from sight, igniting tales of their demise at Richard’s hand and breeding unrest throughout the land.

Nathanial Garrett, also known as Hellequin, is sent to London to decipher fact from rumor and uncovers a plot to replace the king. But his investigation quickly becomes personal when he learns that an old nemesis is involved. He soon finds himself racing against time to rescue the boys before their fate, and the fate of all England, is sealed in blood. [First Published 7 December 2013, 90 pages]

With Silent Screams [3]

His name is Nathan Garrett, but he’s also known as Hellequin. And murdering one of his friends and trying to blow him up is a good way to get this centuries-old sorcerer’s full attention…

An old friend’s dead body, a cryptic note, and an explosion that almost costs him his own life propel Nate headfirst into a mystery involving a new threat from an old foe. Now he must piece together the connections between a grisly series of tattooed murder victims, an imprisoned madman, a mysterious alchemist, and a deranged plot to usurp the throne of the hidden realm of Shadow Falls, rival to the power of Avalon.

Can Nate avert the coming slaughter, or will he become the latest to fall in this clandestine war?

This story is set between modern-day New York and Ontario and 1977 Maine. [Published 18 February 2014, 467 pages]

Prison of Hope [4]

Long ago, Olympian gods imprisoned the demon Pandora in a human—Hope—creating a creature whose only purpose was chaos and death. Remorseful, the gods locked Pandora away in Tartarus, ruled by Hades.

Now, centuries later, Pandora escapes. Nate Garrett, a 1,600-year-old sorcerer, is sent to recapture her and discovers her plan to disrupt the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games, killing thousands in a misplaced quest for vengeance.

Fast forward to modern-day Berlin, where Nate has agreed to act as guardian on a school trip to Germany to visit Hades at the entrance to Tartarus. When Titan King Cronus becomes the second ever to escape Tartarus, Nate is forced to track him down and bring him back, to avert a civil war between those who would use his escape to gain power. [Published 14 April 2015, 513 pages]

About the Author

Steve’s been writing from an early age, his first completed story was done in an English lesson. Unfortunately, after the teacher read it, he had to have a chat with the head of the year about the violent content and bad language. The follow up ‘One boy and his frog’ was less concerning to his teachers and got him an A. It wasn’t for another decade that he would start work on a full-length novel that was publishable, the results of which was the action-packed Urban Fantasy, Crimes Against Magic.

Steve McHugh lives in Southampton on the south coast of England with his wife and three young daughters. When not writing or spending time with his kids, he enjoys watching movies, reading books and comics, and playing video games.

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