Ghost Heart (The PSS Chronicles #3)
By Ripley Patton
Genre: Paranormal Thriller
Age category: Young Adult
Release Date: October 14, 2014
In the aftermath of a brutal tragedy, Jason and Passion are on the run. Marcus is lost beyond reach, and The Hold is in shambles. If that weren't enough, Olivia Black has been taken by the CAMFers to be used as Dr. Fineman's personal lab rat in his merciless quest to uncover the mysteries of Psyche Sans Soma once and for all. But only if he can break her.
They are scattered.
They are devastated.
They are ruined.
Their only hope is Olivia's stubborn determination to thwart her captors and unlock the secrets of her ghost hand before Dr. Fineman can. Will she finally find the strength within herself to embrace the full power of her PSS?
And will it even matter if Marcus has already betrayed her?
Ghost Heart Buy Links
You can buy Ghost Hold here:
Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Kobo
Book One Ghost Hand, is Free:
This series has quickly become one of my all time favorites now.Its intense, suspenseful, and just over all great.
I love the whole concept of the PSS , its a new original idea and love that its something I have never read about before. I love the paranormal genre over all, but feel at times the same things are wrote about with different story's and plot, but basically the same.Not so with this series.
I do not want to spoil anything for those who had not read the first 2 books, so will keep this short.
I love the characters, and am happy that some questions we had from previous book were answered here, but of course just more questions came-up, but know in time we will learn it all. This has just the right amount of suspense and some twist we do not see coming too.
I was saddened by a few losses, wont say who, but hate that we lost the ones we did through this series.
This 3rd book to me is the best, as it is alot with series, they build up from each book which makes it even better.
I highly recommend this whole series to any paranormal lovers, has a touch of sci-fi I think too. Its just right.
I received a copy of this book from the author for my honest review.
This review is also at Goodreads and Amazon
Note: I did this review for the author, but she has a blog blitz going on, so added the giveaway for that, the blitz info is Here, if you want to check it out. (put on by Lola's Blog Tours)
This review is also at Goodreads and Amazon
Note: I did this review for the author, but she has a blog blitz going on, so added the giveaway for that, the blitz info is Here, if you want to check it out. (put on by Lola's Blog Tours)
Ripley Patton lives in Portland, Oregon with one cat, two teenagers, and a man who wants to live on a boat. She is an award-winning short story writer and author of The PSS Chronicles, a young adult paranormal thriller series.
Ripley doesn't smoke, or drink, or cuss as much as her characters. Her only real vices are writing, eating M&Ms, and watching reality television.
You can find and contact Ripley here:
There is a tour wide giveaway for the book blitz of Ghost Heart. These are the prizes you can win:
- a set of signed cover posters (US only)
- a $10 Amazon gift card (international)
2 Excerpts at bottom of post
Here is info on the 2 earlier books in series
Here is info on the 2 earlier books in series
By Ripley Patton
Genre: Paranormal Thriller
Blurb:
Seventeen-year-old Olivia Black has a rare birth defect known as Psyche Sans Soma, or PSS. Instead of a right hand made of flesh and blood, she was born with a hand made of ethereal energy.
How does Olivia handle being the girl with the ghost hand? Well, she's a little bit morbid and a whole lot snarky.
Her mother thinks her obsession with death, black clothing, and the local cemetery is a bid for attention. But when Marcus, the new guy in Olivia's calculus class, stares at her like she's a freak, Olivia doesn't like it. And when her hand goes rogue, doing things she never imagined possible, Olivia finds herself running for her life with Marcus from a group of men bent on taking the power of her hand for their own nefarious purposes.
By Ripley Patton
Genre: Paranormal Thriller
Olivia Black is back.
Only this time she's not the one in need of rescue.
Samantha James, rich, popular, and an award-winning composer at age seventeen, is the next target on the CAMFers' list. In order to convince Samantha to come with them, Olivia and Passion must pose as cousins, blend into the most affluent high school in Indianapolis, and infiltrate a mysterious cult known as The Hold.
Olivia doesn't expect it to be easy, even with the PSS guys backing them up. But what she discovers over the course of the mission will call into question everything she ever believed about herself, her family, and especially about Marcus, the guy she is undoubtedly falling in love with.
GHOST HEART Excerpt from Marcus's perspective
I pressed my arm into the cartilage of my uncle's windpipe, pinning him to the door. My other hand found the lock, turning the deadbolt into place. No one was going to come rescue him now, none of his bodyguards or entourage. It was him and me, man to man. I wasn't a defenseless little boy anymore. I was bigger than he was. Younger. Stronger. All the weakness in me was gone. I had saved a life's worth of strength for this one moment.
"David, no!" Samantha cried, moving toward us. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Passion grab her hand and hold her back.
"They need to settle this," she said to my cousin. "You need to let them."
Nice sentiment, but it wasn't going to happen. There was nothing for me and my uncle to settle. I was going to hurt him the way he'd hurt me and Danielle and my parents. I would run him over, leaving him mangled and abandoned beside a road somewhere. I would make him feel pain, endless, insatiable pain.
"You killed them," I spat into his face. "You ran us into a fucking train, your own family, your own sister."
"No," he squeezed out, trying to shake his head.
"Yes!" I pressed my arm even harder into his throat. He didn't get to say no to me. Not ever again.
"David," Samantha pleaded behind me, "don't do this. Let him explain."
"There's nothing to fucking explain," I snarled at her, never taking my eyes off of him. "I was there. I know what happened."
His face was turning red and his eyes were bulging a little. He was running out of air.
Footsteps pounded up the stairwell beyond the door. Someone downstairs had heard the noise, and they were coming to save him. Too bad there was a solid oak door between him and his lackeys.
"David, please," Samantha said, laying her hand gently on my bulging bicep. "He's my father."
I turned just enough to look at her.
Passion was standing behind her, still holding her other hand.
I looked back at my uncle.
I could kill him. It would only take a little longer. He was gasping for breath now, struggling weakly under my arm.
I looked back at Sam, her eyes full of fear and pain, so like Danielle's.
"Fuck!" I roared, pulling myself off my uncle and pacing to the window, my back turned against all of them. I was too weak. I couldn't do it. Not in front of Sam.
My uncle was coughing and hacking, trying to catch his breath.
There was a loud banging at the door and the knob rattled frantically. "Everything okay in there?" a man's voice boomed. "Mr. James, are you all right?"
"Yes, I'm fine," my uncle called back hoarsely. It was hardly convincing.
"Sir, do you need assistance?" the voice persisted.
"No," my uncle said, louder this time. "I'm fine. Stand down."
"Yes sir," the voice said, but I didn't hear the guy go back downstairs. He was waiting out there for me. I'd lost my chance, my only chance. My uncle would open that door, and I'd never be alone with him again. I'd never get the satisfaction I'd yearned for all these years.
I turned and looked at him, a pompous man in an expensive suit. God, I hated him and the look of self-righteous pity in his eyes. How could he pity me when he was the one who'd fucked up my life in the first place?
"Why'd you do it?" I asked. I couldn't murder him in front of Sam, but I could expose him. It wasn't anything compared to what he'd done to me, but it was still something. "I want to know, really. What's your justification for killing me and my parents? I'm dying to hear it."
GHOST HEART Excerpt from Olivia's perspective
When I came to, I wasn't back in my cell. I was still handcuffed to the chair in the interrogation room with Dr. Fineman and Anthony. I was slumped over the table, my hair wet with blood from the blow to my ear. It wasn't crusting though, which meant I'd only been out a few minutes.
"Welcome back," Anthony said, grabbing my hair and lifting my head up, leaving a brownish-red smear on the table where it had been. "No time for naps. We're not done with you yet."
My head was spinning, and I felt like I might throw up. If I did, I would aim for the doctor.
And that's when I noticed the new guy in the room. He was a CAMFer soldier, an older guy I didn't recognize with a prominent scar across his right cheek, running from eye to chin. I did the best I could to pretend he wasn't intimidating, but he was. I had a bad feeling the torture was about to ramp up a notch. Great. Something to look forward to.
"This is Major Tom," Dr. Fineman introduced him, smiling. "And he has somewhat of a bone to pick with you."
Really? Major Tom? Was that his real name or was he just a huge David Bowie fan? Either way, I was pretty sure I'd never met the guy. And if he was out to get me, he should probably get in line.
"You see," Dr. Fineman said, "The Major had a reputation as one of the best knife fighters on this continent. I say 'had' because it was somewhat ruined when you stole a knife from his person and used it to stab three of his men."
Shit. This was the guy who'd been carrying me the night of the Eidolon. I hadn't seen his face because I'd been slung over his shoulder. But I had reached straight into his back with my ghost hand and pulled out a knife, the same knife that was now sitting on the table in front of me. My eyes flashed to it.
"Yes," Dr. Fineman said, smiling at me. "Now you understand." He turned to Anthony. "Let's have the other hand for this," he directed.
Anthony fumbled at my flesh hand, unlocking the handcuffs. Then he yanked my left arm onto the table, pinning my hand palm-up.
I didn't struggle. It wouldn't do any good. Anthony had proved many times he was stronger than me. Still, sometimes I could outsmart him if I was patient enough. He wasn't the brightest crayon in the box. For example, he'd just forgotten to recuff my other arm to the chair, and my ghost hand was now tucked in my lap, hidden under the table.
Dr. Fineman picked up the knife, turning it in his hands. Then he lowered it gently, setting it in my open palm, handle-first.
I was never willingly going to do what they wanted me to. They were going to have to force my hand every inch of the way.
Anthony squeezed my wrist even harder as Dr. Fineman closed my fingers around the knife.
Suddenly, I was standing at the door, huge and looming, looking at the pitiful, bloody, minus girl. No, at me. I was looking at me.
"She's in my fucking head," I—he—Major Tom said, stumbling back toward the door. "I can feel her there. I can feel where she is."
"Hold your ground," Dr. Fineman barked at me—no, him. I wasn't him.—and I held steady at the door, remembering my training and honoring my rank. This little bitch wasn't going to embarrass me a second time.
What the fuck? That hadn't been my thought. It had been his thought in my head.
I looked down at the knife in my hand and tried desperately to unclench my fingers, but Dr. Fineman squeezed them even harder around it.
