Artistic License 5

Artistic License 5

Book Blurb
Contest ended 6 years ago 11/22/2005 12:00:00 AM EDT

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  • Cost: 2 credits
  • Jackpot: 20 credits

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First Place
# 1
By Muse (Score: 6.726)
4

From the sensational mind of John Bentley comes a critically acclaimed thriller that will take you on the ride of your life.
________________________________________________________

Six months have passed since Joseph Salazar entered Westbrook Mental Institute as a delusional schizophrenic. Supported by a loving family and an extraordinary staff of doctors his return to a normal life was virtually guaranteed.

The day after his release his family is found gruesomely murdered.

Now he’s running for his life.

With authorities pursuing him for the grisly deaths, he must find his family’s killer and prove that his delusions played no part.

But time is running out.
________________________________________________________

Praise for Two Came Knocking:

“Amazing! John Bentley has outdone himself with masterful prose and a plot that will keep you turning pages!” – New York Times

“Two Came Knocking will have your emotions roiling. Joseph Salazar is a character you can truly imagine.” – Boston Review

“The man from Atlanta has done it again! The way Joseph Salazar interacts with reality will keep you guessing the entire time. A must read!” – Chicago Times

Word count: 175
 
Second Place
# 2
By Fanatic (Score: 6.687)
6

Dihydrogen Monoxide Vapor Cloud Emergencies:
A Railroad Worker's Handbook (7th Edition)

By Chief Patrick Fitzpatrick, Mystic Seaport Fire Department
Forward by Dr. D. Pawaters, HAZMAT Response Team, Chesapeake Aqueduct Railroad

The seminal volume in the Hazardous Materials Incident Response series by Overwrought Press, this edition has been thoroughly updated to reflect the new challenges facing first responders in the post-9/11 era. The authors brilliantly describe the hair-raising dampness and terrifying loss of vision that accompany dihydrogen monoxide vapor clouds. Nevertheless, they reassure emergency workers by demonstrating that knowledge, teamwork, effective use of truck-mounted dehumidification equipment, and timely application of desiccants can greatly reduce the threat to life and limb.

Chief Fitzpatrick's experience and flowing, reader-friendly style, combined with Dr. Pawater's deep technical knowledge, ensure that Dihydrogen Monoxide Vapor Cloud Emergencies will remain a timeless classic. A must for the library of every HAZMAT professional!


Reviewers laud Dihydrogen Monoxide Vapor Cloud Emergencies!

Dennis Smith, Editor, Firehouse magazine, and author of Report From Engine Co. 82: "Essential information for the brave men and women in the Fire Service. It will have impact from the Chief's office to the apparatus floor."

George Will, syndicated columnist: "Although the term 'fog of war' is often ascribed to Prussian military analyst Carl von Clausewitz, we should reflect that, far from the metaphorical impact on rational calculation implied by the conservative Clausewitz dialectic, fog, once condensed, has direct deleterious effects, such as the obliteration, in a mere 25 million years, of 40 billion cubic meters of what would become the State of Arizona. (Ironically, we call the results the "Grand" Canyon.) Fitzpatrick and Pawaters' handbook is a potent reminder of the potential dangers of our miasmatic environment. "

Gene Shalit, The Today Show: "I cried a river of tears.... It will change your feelings about saunas forever!"

Word count: 300
 
Third Place
# 3
By mennufer (Score: 6.475)
2

They begin at the edge of town and lead into the heart of the Arcanus Mountains. Not a speck of rust mars the shiny rails, and the ties are far from rotten, yet they had been there for as long as anyone could remember. And, for as long as anyone could remember, they remained unused, untouched, because everyone knew they led nowhere. Tales of the ghosts of long-dead miners haunting the far reaches of the tracks are dismissed publicly as archaic superstition, but even the most skeptical of unbelievers in Pickaxe Ridge, Colorado, wear crucifixes; to do otherwise invites freak accidents and unexplained illnesses.

Fifteen years ago, Michael Lang set off down the tracks for a day-long hiking trip. Search teams scoured the rocky wilderness for four weeks to no avail before a rare September blizzard obliterated any hope of success. Three days after the storm, police officer Jody Cochran found Michael's jacket, back pack and canteen lying in a neat pile on one of the rails. Michael's body was never found.

Returning home to sit by the side of her dying father, Elsie Lang receives a package that leaves her with no doubt that Michael is still alive in the ruins of the Arcanus gold mines. With the reluctant help of Officer Cochran, Elsie sets out on a journey to save her brother from the forces that keep him – and the town of Pickaxe Ridge – captive with a deadly curse.

About the author: Stephen King makes his home in Maine, with his wife Tabitha. This is his two hundred seventeenth book.

Word count: 262
 
4
By prembo (Score: 6.372)
2

“On a cold, foggy, London morning, P.C. McGrath responded to a call that 'a lunatic was staggering around the Eastern Railyards clad only in a thin summer shirt and light trousers'.
McGrath spotted the man from a hundred yards away and called out: “Police! Please stay where you sir.”
Instead of stopping, the man seemed to become more panicked. He flailed his arms, staggering around like a trapped animal.
McGrath felt the ground shudder. Realizing what it meant, he sprinted towards the man shouting: “Off the lines! Sir! Off the lines!"
As the train emerged from the mist like a giant wraith, McGrath leapt to one side and gave the man a desperate shove to propel him out of the way. His attempt failed. The man stumbled, and instead of clearing the line, he fell face forward across the gleaming rail. His trunk was whipped away by the train and his neatly decapitated head was left wobbling on the ground.
As the train passed, McGrath gazed at the head, mesmerized. The eyes had been gouged out. Staring back at him were two glittering diamonds that had been forced into the bloody sockets.”

So begins Master of Suspense Dean Korditz’s fifth novel, ‘Second Sight’.
Deviating from his usual supernatural trend, this time Korditz weaves an intricate web of greed and murder set in Post-Modern Europe. His acute insight takes us deep into the minds of a corrupt and merciless power elite that dominates a Europe already tottering under the assault of terrorists, the Russian Mafia and ethnic insurgents.

SECOND SIGHT, THE CRITICS' CHOICE.

‘Mr Korditz’s novel is not just eminently readable fiction but, in his detailed account, no doubt gleaned from his many years as an Interpol Police Officer, there comes a chilling sense that this is not mere fiction, but skilfully disguised truth.
Masterly.’
Stephen James; The Guardian

Word count: 311
 
5
By RJMiller (Score: 5.843)
1

Joey Barlow is a boy caught in a waking nightmare. After running away from home, Joey is trapped in the gray area between what is, and what might be. Fleeing from a gang of young hoodlums who think he's seen too much, and from a private detective hired by his rich parents, Joey careens through the streets of his home town and away on a cross-country trek that seems to be neverending. Along the way, he is haunted by visions glimpsed from the corner of his eye, and by sounds heard faintly in the middle of the night.
Are they ghosts? Stalking madmen? Or are they just a manifestation of his overwhelming and all-consuming fear of the dark?

In "Running From Shadows", New York Times best selling author Harry Chimlin takes the reader on a roller coaster ride from the depths of despair to the pinnacle of human perseverence, from the brightest sunlight of day to the blackest midnight. It is a journey of discovery and a primer from the school of good and evil.

Word count: 175
 
6
By Dragunfyre (Score: 5.61)
3

Station 47 was decommissioned nearly three decades ago. Before its sudden tumble into disuse and decay, it had been one of the busiest and most-used junctions on the East Coast transit system. Records concerning its turbulent "fall from grace" are difficult to locate at best and the reasons for its downfall tend to vary depending on what source you get your information from. One thing, however, remains constant among them all: Station 47 is cursed.
Investigator Donovan McMartin of the Andreas City police department has been on the trail of a serial killer with a strange pattern. The victims appear to be completely unconnected in nature, but in the end they all have one horrifying similarity: Their mutilated bodies are found on the North-Bound platform at Station 47.
As the evidence mounts and the history around Station 47 is slowly revealed, McMartin is forced to come face-to-face with a secret nearly thirty years old. And the growing realization that the true nature of the individual behind the recent murders may be greater and more terrible than he had been willing to believe...

Word count: 182
 
7
By Morcae (Score: 5.463)
4

Cover blurb:
Damned if he does. Damned if he doesn't.


Inside front jacket:
David is a bionic superweapon. He was designed and trained for international espionage.

He's been on the run for almost two years. Five others like him are on his trail.

His money and food ran out four days ago.

The battery that keeps him alive will run out tomorrow.

The only way to get a new one is to go back to his creators.

If they catch him, they'll kill him.

That's the good news.


Inside back jacket:
Machina is Peter Mills' second novel. His first, Deus Ex, told of David's escape and life on the run and sold more than two million copies.

Word count: 117
 
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8
By StevieM (Score: 5.337)
2

‘DISCOVERING MY HERITAGE’ is the touching story of one mans journey to understand the country where he was born.

Born in Scotland, Gordon left at the age of 8 when his family moved to the United States. But as he grew up he never forgot the small town where he spent his early years, from the days exploring the caves below the town to meeting his father outside the mine after a long days work.

Now a successful author Gordon returns to Fife to rediscover the locations that formed such strong memories for him. What starts as a simple vacation soon touches a part of him he did not realise was there, as deep affection for the history and purpose of a region so heavily scarred by the closure of the coal mines and the hardship this left behind. From the physical scars of the disused railways to the emotional scars left on the population. Using these new found feelings he starts delving into the history of Scotland and the way the country and people were abandoned once their usefulness had gone.

About the author; Gordon Milne was born in Fife, Scotland almost 60 years ago. He spent the first (and most formative) years of his life in and around East Wemyss before moving with his parents to New York. After graduating with a degree in modern history he worked as a history teacher in schools around the city, while in his spare time writing novels, using historical figures and situations as the basis for the storylines. When he retired at 55 he returned to East Wemyss and it was this journey that became ‘Discovering My Heritage’.

Word count: 277
 
9
By angelize (Score: 4.937)
2

Some would call it an accident, others would call it Joseph's way out of an almost non existant life. Discover what lay beyond the tracks and the darkness they brought as you delve into the pain of a teenage boy struck by a horrible tragedy.

Only 15, yet years older in maturity, Joseph had been subject to a mothers alcohol abuse, and a father who had run out on his family when Joseph had just turned 3 years old. Had Joseph been trying to hitch a fast ride out of town when he was hit, or had he purposely intended to get hit by the train as it pulled into the station, its engine light blaring down on him?

The accident left Joseph alive, but paralyzed from the neck down, and in a coma for almost 2 years. Slowly as he comes out of the darkness, read the journey that led into the accident, and find out the truth of what really happened that night Joseph had been hit. Find out the truth of what Joseph dealt with as a young loner, in a poor suburban town with a mother who preferred her bottle of booze to a son, who longed for her love.

With this must read, you too will begin to understand as you find out the truth, as Joseph himself tells his story with the help of family, that he never knew he had, until it was almost too late.

You will get this, and so much more, from My Life and Beyond, by Joseph H. Livingston.

Word count: 260
 
10
By hydroIT (Score: 4.891)
1

“’Rail Tracks’ is by far the greatest leading mystery book for 2005!” - Joseph Finder
“By far the best mystery of this year … ‘Rail Tracks’ might win this years ‘Page Turner’ reward.” – USA Today.
“Simply brain storming!” – The Wall Street Journal.


John Martin is an orphan, lost in the world of grown-ups.
Banished from his dormitory, he travels from city to city, in search of abilities, capabilities, and powers.

On his trip, he meets an adult - Kevin Pierce. Kevin Pierce is a psychic, who specializes in Telekinesis.
While speaking to Kevin about his powers, John finds himself sleepy and tired, and suddenly fells asleep.
When he wakes up, still abit faint, he finds himself on a railroad track, with loud background voices.
The trail starts moving, and as he's trying to escape, he stumbles upon the tracks, but luckily falls aside, escaping the train.
He then moves on, trying to understand where is he, and what happened to Kevin.
After a day of unsuccessfulness, he rests in a forest he discovered earlier, where he also finally understands the loud background voices. “Those are people!” he thinks in his mind…
… He wakes up, again on the trail tracks…

The author, Paul R. Jakens, has just started his career as a writer, and after his 1st book – “Mind Warping”, he tries a new approach. This new and fantastic novel might make him famous. Paul R. Jakens is only 28 years old, but his work looks promising.

Word count: 243
 

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