a forgotten evil...

 

NOW AVAILABLE

My name is Cyn and if you haven't figured it out already- I LOVE books/reading. Especially HORROR. 

Today I am featuring a new book by debut author Eric Leland(2/5/2021).

While I declined the offer from the publicist to read/review(I've got a bit too many books on my plate right now - plus that 571 page counts scares me a bit LOL)I still think it sounds really really intriguing. Plus it's on Kindle Unlimited so maybe that will inspire me to read it sooner rather than later!  

I'd also like to thank Smith Publicity for reaching out and bringing this book to my attention. And I'm happy to share it with you. 

Take a look- 

A forgotten evil lurks in Vietnam's dark jungle…
ERIC LELAND’S DEBUT MILITARY THRILLER GRIPS READERS FROM THE START AND NEVER LETS GO.

A forgotten evil waits in Vietnam's dark jungle…It is 1969. Somewhere over South Vietnam, Captain Brandon Doran sits aboard an unmarked aircraft on final approach to a Top Secret military base. A shadowy government operative is offering him a deal. Brandon is listening. Intently. In exchange for wiping away Brandon's tarnished military record, all Brandon will have to do is ensure the recon team, to which he is about to be assigned, follows orders. Easy enough. Or so Brandon thought. Sergeant First Class John Nicholas has no time to be salty about the inexperienced officer sent to babysit him and his team; Recon Team Florida has gone missing near a remote village in the north. Now John, with Brandon and the mysterious "Smith" in tow, leads the elite Recon Team New York deep into North Vietnam on a rescue operation. At first, John expects heavy resistance. But intercepted radio traffic suggests something near that village has spooked even hardened NVA. And soon after New York's midnight insertion behind enemy lines, John finds out what. Confronted in the night by a merciless demon, John reacts the way any soldier would: he shoots it. But John discovers, far too late, pulling the trigger is the worst mistake he can make. Flung headlong into atrocity and supernatural chaos, New York's surviving members discover an unexpected ally in Jaran, a young novice in the old magic of her ancestors. She is the only defense New York has against this powerful evil. But to use her magic, she must pay a cruel price. Now, with a ruthless NVA hunter-killer team on New York's trail, and an ancient evil lurking in the dark periphery, it dawns on this handful of survivors that escape has a brutal price. And to pay it, New York must become as inhuman as their demonic pursuer.

Inhuman is available on Amazon in both print and digital.

Audiobook forthcoming in Summer 2021.

Read on for a special interview with Leland (as provided by Smith Publicity) 

Question: What inspired you to write Inhuman?

Eric Leland: During a class for my MA I wrote a 25-page short story titled Recon Team: Mercury. That story was shortened to five pages and is now the prologue to Inhuman. For a NaNoWriMo idea I thought it would be interesting to see what happened when the rescuers came looking for the team that disappeared in my original short story. Inhuman is the result.

Q: What sets Inhuman apart from other military and horror books?

EL: The bravado one comes to expect when reading military fiction is quickly ripped away to expose and pick at the delicate flesh of fear and self-doubt we are ashamed to admit exists.

Q: What do you hope readers will take away from the book?

EL: It was never my intent for Inhuman to be didactic. Primarily I hope readers are entertained. I hope readers will remember the experience of Inhuman rather than any particular lesson.

Q: Inhuman features a diverse cast of characters. How did your military friendships, and experiences with “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” inform this inclusivity?

EL: A diverse cast adds verisimilitude to military fiction simply because any U.S. military unit features a diverse roster. In my first combat experience I found myself fighting shoulder to shoulder with Mexican Americans, an African American, and a gay woman. Unfortunately, DADT was still a thing for most of my military career and I would only find out after DADT was repealed that some of my greatest friends were gay. I think truth in fiction is important, and if I did not write a diverse cast I would by lying. Readers can spot a lie from a mile out.

Q: How did you develop your characters? And which of them do you have the strongest connection to?

EL: The character Jaran is heavily based on my wife’s experiences who was born in Vietnam. At an early age, she and her family fled to a refugee camp after the war. The chaos of displacement during war time seemed terrifying. I can’t really say which character I have the strongest connection to—John’s sense of duty; Chris’s refusal to take anything seriously; and Brandon’s severe depression and self-doubt—they’re all variations of me.

ERIC LELAND grew up in Massena, NY and entered Army basic training upon high school graduation. He was an MP in the Army for six years and reclassified to a Special Agent with the Army Criminal Investigation Division. Eric deployed to Honduras in 2002, and Iraq in 2003 and 2009 where he was awarded an Army Commendation Medal with “V” device for valor. He completed his MA in Creative Writing from Southern New Hampshire University and has happily traded in his gun for a pen. Eric lives in Seattle with his wife. Connect with Eric Leland on Facebook, Instagram, and Goodreads.