DiSemblance by Shanae Branham Book Tour ~ Excerpt & 5 Star Review

DiSemblance
Shanae Branham

Genre:  Techno-thriller (

Subgenres: Sci-fi, suspense, mystery, paranormal

ISBN: ISBN-10: 1477527761

ISBN-13: 978-1477527764

Number of pages:  272 pages

Word Count:  55, 894

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Book Description:

Jason Tanner lives between two worlds. Problem is, only one is real.
 As a computer prodigy, Jason has spent his life with limited social contact due to his father’s secretive work on a hologram machine that can create digital immortality. When his father is murdered and framed as the Comfort Killer, Jason is targeted as the killer’s new fall guy. Having spent much of his youth living in the virtual world his father created, he must now go on the run if he is going to save himself, his brother, and the beautiful girl next door.

An exciting, action-packed ride to a future happening today, Shanae Branham's modern techno thriller is the perfect exhilarating adrenaline rush for a technosavvy generation. Expertly weaving cutting-edge technology with almost unbearable suspense, she crafts a wild, white-knuckled thriller that pushes the boundaries of science. Full of intensity and extraordinary vision, DiSemblance attacks the senses as it challenges the mind and imagination.

“Branham does a brilliant job creating suspense….She ramps up the tension by keeping readers guessing over the identities of Jason’s foes and about how Jason’s situation ties in with the hunt for the killer.”

“Jason’s love for his father and his motivation to find out what happened to him are particularly refreshing.”

“The characters of Jason and Isaac are … cool enough to rise to the occasion … making readers feel like they are rooting for real young men.”~  Jill Allen, Clarion Review (4 Stars)

Amazon

Short Excerpt

The lines between reality and virtual reality are about to blur—and the result is murder.

Lloyd Tanner is a former MIT computer physics genius turned private sector visionary: he has created a hologram machine that can create digital immortality. This revolutionary technology is both a blessing and a curse. There are many who would steal the technology, and Lloyd’s family has had to live secluded from the world. But no matter how careful you are, there is no such thing as a well-kept secret, and there are those who will stop at nothing to get their hands on Lloyd’s.

Detective Bruce Durante has been handed the case of the Comfort Killer, a serial killer so named because he abducts terminally ill patients and returns their corpses to their families in refrigerated coffins. Picking up the trail, Durante finds it leading straight to the home of Lloyd Tanner.

When Jason Tanner’s father is murdered and framed as the Comfort Killer, Jason destroys all of the evidence in an attempt to save his father’s name. Trouble is, now Jason is in the crosshairs to become the fall guy. Having spent much of his youth living in the virtual world his father created, he must now go on the run for real if he is going to save himself, his brother, and the beautiful girl next door. But the secrets of his father’s invention run deep and Jason, his brother Isaac, Boston, the Comfort Killer, and Detective Durante hurtle towards one another on a deadly collision course that leaves everyone’s life hanging in the balance.

About the Author:

I am a professional writer with a bachelor's degree in creative writing and a minor in grammar. I have also attended several years of classes and workshops in screenplay writing at the Los Angeles Screenplay writer's Expo.

I love suspense thrillers and am a master at plot and character development. I enjoy stories with happy endings. I promise all my readers that when they put one of my books down or walk away from one of my movies, they will be enthused with excitement and joy. This does not mean there will not be some sad parts, because you have to feel the bitter in order to understand the sweet.

I was born and raised in a small town in Idaho. I am the second out of six children. When I was in my early 20's my mother was killed by a drunk driver. This one incident drastically changed my life. I have always had a passion for reading and writing fiction. Owing to a life long struggle with Dyslexia, early teachers discouraged me from pursuing a career in writing.

As I have spent over twenty years wrestling with my language disabilities-turning them into professional writing skills, God has honed my insatiable passion into an incredible vision.

My Christian upbringing has instilled within me the belief that "...with God nothing shall be impossible" (Luke 1:37). This has sustained me through the hard times. Because of my language disability, I have had to learn the structure of the English language like other people learn math - building block upon building block.

I am grateful for this experience because it developed in me a skill and love for diagramming sentences, which unfortunately is becoming a lost art.

I want my life to be a living testament that with God's help anyone can achieve their worthwhile dreams. What God requires is the humility to change, a childlike teach-ability to learn, and the patience and persistence to practice and work until their weaknesses are transformed into strengths.

Author Links

Goodreads | Website | Facebook | Twitter

My DiSemblance Review

Wow, this book really can hook you in after you get into it, and it doesn’t take too long either. I am not really one to read the techno-thriller type books much, but have to say I did enjoy this one.

I found it to be really well written, and it kept me engaged and turning the pages of my kindle fast. The story is very interesting and the characters are well written, especially Jason and Bruce, who we get to see from their point of views.

It had that almost Star Trek vibe to it, but not in space, but in the technology of it, kindof. I ended up letting my mind think of it as fantasy, instead of trying to grasp the science of the technology, lol, it made my head hurt to think too hard on it. Just like when I read those time travel books, the technology, just goes over my head, but I still enjoy them, as I did this one.

When reading this book, you wonder what is real for the characters and what is not. But it’s not really confusing or anything, it’s the way it is supposed to be, I think.

It’s written like a mystery, and you follow detective Bruce Durante and Jason Tanner, while they are searching for the real Comfort Killer. I love seeing it from both of their eyes. It’s cool how one sees the real world and the other one is seeing an alternate one at times. What I loved is when the two collide and the truth comes out and we get a huge shock at which is actually the real world. The end will really shock you when you find out why the killer is killing its victims.

Overall I loved it, didn’t like Boston so much, to me, she is not very essential to the story, but that’s just me I guess.

I highly recommend this to anyone who likes a great mystery with some techno-thriller in there.

5 out of 5 stars for me. Give it a try!

I was provided a copy of this book by the author for my honest review.

If you like my review, would love some support at Amazon, by marking it as helpful , link Here. Thanks.

You can see the rest of the tour stops Here.

Spotlight with Excerpt: DiSemblance by Shanae Branham

Welcome to my Spotlight Post of this amazing Book DiSemblance by Shane Branham. 

You will find an expert here to get an idea of this book.

Summary:

Jason Tanner’s life has always been different from the ordinary citizen’s. It started when he was an infant and his parents were only teenagers. A computer science prodigy, Lloyd attended MIT but left a pariah in the eyes of the school’s dean—but a computer physics genius in the eyes of his primary investor. Then his theories and ideas created a holographic machine and their world shrunk as contact with the outside world became less and less frequent. A computer prodigy now himself, Jason is about to learn that the world never waits for you if you have the ability to change it: it will come for you.

Detective Bruce Durante has been handed the case of the Comfort Killer, a serial killer so named because he appears to abduct terminally ill patients before returning their corpses to their families in refrigerated coffins. When he picks up the trail, it leads straight to the home of Lloyd Tanner.

Jason has been living life through the world of Lloyd’s invention and wishing he could carry on a relationship with Boston, the beautiful girl next door. When his father is murdered and framed as the Comfort Killer, he is brought back to reality in a hurry. He is forced to destroy all of the planted evidence—and finds he is being targeted as the killer’s new fall guy. But the secrets of his father’s invention run deep and Jason, his brother Isaac,Boston, the Comfort Killer, and Detective Durante hurtle towards one another on a deadly collision course that leaves everyone’s life hanging in the balance.

Pimp My Profile Excerpt: Chapter 3

Dissemblance
~ The state of being disguised or
concealed behind a false
appearance ~

CHAPTER 4
Casanova

When Jason awoke on the mattress in the programming room, he felt as though only moments had passed, but was surprised when the clock on the wall revealed it was late afternoon. He felt strong and alert, ready to take on more waves. He glanced over at Isaac, who was seated at the computer terminal working on a digital copy of a woman. The wall monitor was split into six sections. The DC’s head and torso hung in the two center sections, while her legs and arms rotated separately off to the sides.

“You’re sick, dude,” Jason said as he sat up realizing that Isaac was making a digital copy of the girl across the street, Boston Komen.

Jason liked Boston. She and her mother had moved in two years ago. She was tall, slender and intimidating with her don’t-mess-with-me attitude. She had perfect curves, big brown eyes, and a smile that stopped his heart. He would have asked her out if his father had not forbidden them to date.

Jason and Isaac were as different as a lion is from a hyena. Although they were the same height, Isaac was lean and bony while Jason was thick and muscular. Isaac was selfish and manipulative while Jason was thoughtful and responsible.

Jason knew how to fight. His mother’s bother had made sure of that. Jason could still remember that day when he was three years old and he first felt the power of aggression.

Uncle Steve was a stocky, muscular man with a thick mustache and kind eyes. Concerned about his nephew’s weed-like frame, he had carried the small boy out back to a downed spruce tree with dry branches. Then he grabbed a big stick, and ordered, “Watch me!”

Uncle Steve hit the trunk hard, sending a swath of small branches flying. Next he turned and handed Jason the club. “Your turn.”

When Jason hesitated, Steve placed his hand over the boy’s small ones. Together they swung the stick. Branches flew everywhere.

The big man let go and stepped back so that Jason could swing the stick on his own. Something clicked inside Jason the moment the branch struck the log. He felt powerful. He pulled back and swung again and again and again, harder and harder, until his lungs felt like exploding.

Heaving and out of breath, Jason looked at the log. The small branches where he had been hitting still clung to the trunk, bending to the far side. He looked back up and received a pat on the head. “You’re a natural!”

Then Uncle Steve did something that Jason would never forget. Reaching out, he took the small boy by the shoulders and bent down until their faces were only an inch apart. “Don’t ever let them get the upper hand. Hit first and hit hard!”

Jason knew he could force Isaac to back off Boston, but the confrontation would get ugly, and Isaac would probably end up in the hospital.

“I’m using Dad’s new digital-cloning software.” Isaac turned the wall monitor off and switched on the smaller monitor above his head. On the screen, a group of elementary kids were playing a game of kickball in the street. “I attached his identity detector to the security camera and repositioned it so I could get more visual feed of her. An alarm goes off if her presence is detected.”

Jason moved to his brother’s side. “You’re invading her privacy.”

“Come on, bro, I’m just having a little fun,” Isaac said as he turned to Jason. “It’s not like I’m looking in her bedroom window.” Isaac typed in more commands. Then he pointed at the wall monitor. On the screen, an image of Boston appeared standing in a park near some swings. The lower half of her body was fading in and out. “I made her better.”

Isaac picked up an old high school photo of Boston and handed it to Jason, pointing at the scar near her left eyebrow. “See that? Now look at her DC.” The picture of Boston’s face filled the screen as Isaac zoomed in on it. “The scar’s missing.” Isaac smiled. “I can change anything I want about her.”

Jason frowned. “Don’t mess with her.”

“Why not?”

“I like her the way she is.” Jason realized that he was revealing too much of his true feelings and quickly changed the subject. “What about her lower half? Why won’t it solidify?”

“I need more visual data to complete her DC.” An alarm beeped. Isaac grinned. “Gotcha,” he mumbled as he switched from Boston’s DC to the security camera. On the monitor, the real Boston climbed out of a black convertible loaded with teenagers. She waved at her friends. Then the car peeled out and disappeared down the road.

The kickball game scattered as a Jeep pulled up and parked beside her. Jason scowled as Ricky, Raoul, and Todd climbed out. Ricky Stedman was a large foul-mouthed senior and a linebacker on the football team. His two buddies were oversized underclassmen with bad attitudes, who idolized Ricky. Alone they were only fools, but as a group they were trouble. Jason didn’t have to attend the local high school to have heard of them. Their gang had been in the newspaper for vandalism, petty theft, and drunk driving.

Ricky said something to Boston. Jason wished the security system had microphones so he could hear them. Boston turned away from Ricky as Todd and Raoul stepped in front of her, blocking her path toward her house. Ricky grabbed her wrist. She slapped his face, twisted her arm free, and ran toward the park with the gang hot on her heels.

Isaac smirked as Boston disappeared off the monitor.

“Aren’t you going to do something?” Jason said.

“I got what I need.”

The screen door slammed against the house as Jason sprang across the porch and raced down the street in record-breaking time. Entering the park, he prayed he could get to Boston before Ricky’s gang hurt her.

An ominous cloud passed in front of the sun, darkening the sky as Jason moved down the path through the long shadows, which spread out across the underbrush. The hard-packed path lit up as lightning flashed across the sky. Thunder crashed followed by a chilling scream.

Boston!

The cloud let loose, and raindrops pelted his skin. Jason grabbed a large branch from beneath a nearby tree and headed at full speed in the direction of the scream. He burst into the clearing and instantly took in the scene. Maple and elm trees encompassed the park. A silver slide stood out like an ancient metal sentinel amid the tall foliage. Next to it was an old merry-go-round. Ricky had Boston pinned beneath him atop that rusty circular structure. His back was to Jason, and his legs stuck out between the bars. The mass of his body restrained Boston’s kicking. She screamed again. Ricky groped her thigh with one hand, while his other hand was trying to stuff her mouth with a piece of cloth he had torn from the bottom of her skirt. She twisted her head and shoulders side to side, fighting him. Amid the rain, Todd and Raoul held the merry-go-round steady while Ricky worked, gawking in pleasure at her struggle.

Without hesitation, Jason rushed forward and slammed the branch into Ricky’s back with a loud crack! Boston stiffened as the linebacker collapsed against her.

Surprised by the sudden attack, Todd and Raoul let go of the merry-go-round and stepped aside. Lunging forward, Jason grabbed Ricky and yanked him backwards. As the bully came off the wet apparatus, his left leg caught on one of the metal bars and twisted grotesquely. Jason heard a snap as the would-be rapist hit the ground with a sickening thud.

Jason swung around hard, striking Todd in the shoulder. The boy cried out and sank to his knees in the wet grass. Jason’s next swing passed within a hair’s breadth of Raoul’s right ear.

The moment Ricky was off her, Boston scooted to the center of the merry-go-round. Suddenly, the rain stopped and the clouds parted. Jason bounded onto the vibrating device and positioned himself between her and her assailants. “Leave her alone!” he commanded.

“Take her!” Raoul threw up his hands in surrender, turned, and sprinted into the woods. Seeing his buddy flee, Todd followed behind like a drenched, doting donkey, clutching his right shoulder. Ricky moaned, wrenched his leg free, and collapsed on the ground, whimpering. He looked soggy, scared, and vulnerable. Jason stepped down beside the bully, wondering if this was some sort of a trick. His uncle had taught him never to turn his back on his enemy unless he was sure his adversary had been incapacitated.

Jason lifted the club above Ricky’s head and kicked at his side. Instead of grabbing Jason’s leg like he had expected, the hulky thug curled up in the fetal position and moaned even louder. Jason shook his head in disgust. The thought that any man would force himself on a woman, especially Boston, made his blood boil. He wished the linebacker would give him reason to finish him off, but he wasn’t about to strike a defenseless opponent. No matter how horrible he was.

Jason was glad Boston was safe. He admired her for the courageous way she had fought off this animal’s attack. He looked over at her and saw her shaking. Her wet clothes clung to her. Tears ran down her cheeks. He didn’t know what to do. He wasn’t equipped for tears. Suddenly he felt vulnerable and uneasy. He could not date her. Not now. Not until his father’s invention was patented.

Jason turned toward home. He had to get away from her before the yearning in his heart made him say or do something he would later regret. He sprinted down the trail as hard as he could. The rain-washed air felt good pumping through his lungs. He ran until he was sure there was a safe distance between them. Then he slowed to a walk.

The brush behind him rustled as soft footsteps mirrored his own. He glanced back and scowled. She was following him. Anxiety rose within his chest. His heart raced at the prospect of speaking with her. As they crossed onto the street between their homes, she stopped and stared at him. His face flushed, and his hands perspired. The thought of speaking with her was too much for him to handle right now. He bolted for home.

Pimp My Profile What I have gotten to read of this book so far, I have loved. Its written very well, and  is exciting. Hooks you in right away.  Watch for another post soon, with my review, and will also be doing a giveaway of this book. and be sure to read the expert, its chapter 3, but does not spoil anything, it will give you a taste of the book.