Sample Chapters – Kristen Brand

Read the first chapter of The Cruelest Curse

The Cruelest Curse hits shelves on November 30th! This is the conclusion to the Dark and Otherworldly series (Start at the beginning with Poison and Honey if you haven’t already), and the story is ending with a bang. Expect tons of sword fights, at least one steamy scene, and one very cruel curse as the title promises.

Want a preview? Check out the first chapter below.

Chapter 1

Dredarion nearly stepped on the first dead sprite. She lay atop fallen leaves, body no taller than his finger, her delicate arms and legs limp. She’d lost her glow, and one of her butterfly-like wings was bent. She must have choked on the smoke and fallen.

They came across more of them, tiny corpses strewn across grass and tree roots, their colorful wings waving in the breeze and giving the illusion of life. Dredarion and the others stepped carefully. The smoke grew stronger the farther through the forest they trekked. It conspired with the leaves overhead to blot out the sun, so thick between the trees that it obscured everything more than ten feet away. His eyes stung, but that was nothing compared to the cold lump of dread that had settled in his gut. When he coughed, the sound seemed to carry through the entire forest.

Salvador raised a hand for them to stop, and both Dredarion and Leigh obeyed. Dredarion scanned the trees for a threat, but it seemed Salvador was just being cautious. They must nearly be upon the village—or what was left of it, judging by the ash floating in the air.

Superhuman Disaster Sneak Peak

We’re less than a week away from the new release date of Superhuman Disaster–and I’m actually on track to meet it this time! To celebrate, here’s a sneak peak of the first chapter. Thanks again to all of you for your patience, and I hope you like it!

Chapter 1

When I slept, I dreamt of death.

I stood in an amusement park surrounded by the dead. Their bodies lay in lines, blood running down the walls, brains splattered across the pavement, guts baking under the hot sun. They slumped over the counter in front of brightly lit carnival games, corpses strapped into rollercoasters that zoomed overhead. Their silence filled the expanse.

I fought the supervillain Bloodbath, too late to save anyone from him. We traded punch after punch, and it seemed like we’d be doomed to battle forever until I finally hit him hard enough, and he joined the rest of the dead at my feet. My triumph instantly turned to a sense of overwhelming wrongness, and the glassy eyes of the corpses stared at me in judgement. As I looked around, I couldn’t help but wonder…

Had Bloodbath killed these people, or had I? Continue reading Superhuman Disaster Sneak Peak

Read the first chapter of Kill Them All

We’re less than two months away from the release date of Kill Them All! I like to call this novel a “supervillain revenge thriller,” so expect lots of superpowered action and a snarky first-person POV. I love writing Val, a glamorous, middle-aged, semi-retired supervillain who just wants to protect her family. Though loving her doesn’t stop me from putting her through hell in this book. 😉

A big thank you to everyone who’s been following The White Knight and Black Valentine Series from the beginning, and a warm welcome to new readers who just discovered the books recently! I hope this preview gets you hyped, and that you enjoy the whole book when it hits the shelves. Continue reading Read the first chapter of Kill Them All

Last Week in Superhero Fiction (4/13/18)

Jason Reynolds, author of Miles Morales: Spider-Man, was interviewed on Late Night with Seth Meyers and spoke a little on the background of the book. The Mary Sue has the details.

Karen Diem has posted the first chapter of Power on her website! Book 3 in her Arca series, it’s coming out May 5^th, and you can preorder it now.

Russ Linton, author of Crimson Son, was at Dallas FanExpo selling books recently and wrote a blog post on the experience. His booth looks awesome, which isn’t surprising, because his books have really cool covers.

Toren Chenault has posted a full short story titled God Killer that relates to his upcoming novel, Mystic Man. You can read it on his website, PeaceLoveAndComics.com.

Any news I missed? What superhero fiction are you currently reading? Let me know in the comments!

Almost Invincible Sneak Peak

We’re two weeks away from Almost Invincible‘s September 30th release date, so to celebrate, here’s an exclusive sneak peak at the first chapter. Check it out and let me know what you think!

Chapter 1

Seven years ago…

My skull hit the pavement with a meaty crack, and my vision went blurry. As lightning pain shot through my head, it was all I could do to lie there wincing for several seconds. Eventually, I blinked and tried to refocus, my brain feeling like raw egg sloshing around inside my skull. But White Knight, said a voice in my head that sounded like a particularly annoying reporter who’d once interviewed me. You have super-strength. Surely, it couldn’t hurt that much. Yeah, I had super-strength, but that didn’t stop my nerve endings from sending pain signals to my brain, and right now, they were firing at a 110 percent.

I pushed myself up dizzily and found the pavement smashed into pieces where I’d fallen. Okay, maybe it was a good thing I had superpowers. Otherwise, my head would have burst like a piñata on impact. Noise assaulted my ears: shrieking police sirens and the steady whump-whump-whump of helicopters overhead. I hoped they belonged to the government and not a news channel recording this horror show. Union Square came into focus as my vision cleared, eerily deserted for mid afternoon except for the corpses of those who hadn’t escaped in time. They were scattered across the grass and walkways, blood pooling on the plaza. The closest to me was a leg. It had belonged to a woman wearing sandals and was ripped off from the knee down, toenails painted light pink and fair skin splattered with more blood. The coppery stench saturated the muggy summer air.

The Capitol Building stood proudly in the distance to my right, the turbid waters of the Capitol Reflecting Pool to my left, and twenty feet in front of me loomed the monster that had done this. Ten feet tall and composed of pale light that formed the shape of a man, he was difficult to see in the bright sunshine. That was problem number one. Problem number two was that nothing we’d done seemed to hurt him. Whatever he was, he’d shown up out of nowhere and hadn’t even made the traditional supervillain speech before destroying everything in his path. He moved fast for something so big, and he was currently advancing on a slender figure in a bright orange and blue uniform.

Julio. Continue reading Almost Invincible Sneak Peak

This Book is Full of Ghosts

Ghost Machine is available on Amazon now–and already a bestseller in the young adult steampunk category. Woot! Check it out here. Not sure if it’s a book you’d like? Here’s some of the stuff you’ll find inside:

A creepy Victorian asylum full of ghosts
Airship battles
Mad science
A logical heroine and Byronic hero
Giant killer iron automatons

Still not sure? Then read the excerpt below:

Chapter 1

The door shut behind me with a deep thud followed by a clink as the nurse locked it from the other side. A jingle of keys, a rustle of skirts, and then the nurse’s footsteps trailed off down the hallway, leaving me alone in silence.

The meat pie I’d eaten for lunch tried to make its way back up my throat. I swallowed firmly.

My new room was small and simple. The only pieces of furniture were a bed with white blankets and a battered wooden nightstand. There was a washing basin, bucket latrine, and… well, that was all. Night was approaching fast, but they hadn’t even left me a candle. The walls were gray and bare, and metal pipes ran across the ceiling. The window had cheerful yellow curtains at least, but the effect was ruined by the iron bars outside the glass.

Bars… locks… My knees shook, and the room swam dizzily before my eyes.

No. I pressed my hand against the door to steady myself. I refused to faint, no matter how ladylike and appropriate it might be in these circumstances. Continue reading This Book is Full of Ghosts

Hero Status, Chapter 1

Hero Status is almost ready to be uploaded to Amazon! (That sound you hear is my excited squeal.) While I’m working on the final steps, check out this sample chapter.

Chapter 1

People like to debate where superpowers come from. What genetic mutation causes special abilities beyond what seems naturally possible? Experts theorize how the traits are inherited and what part the environment plays in affecting if and how they develop. I don’t have much to add to the discussion. Just because I have superpowers doesn’t mean I know how they work. Sometimes, though? I think they’re fueled by caffeine.

Lack of coffee was definitely my problem this morning. When the cook burst into the dining room with a shout, I should have calmly assessed the situation before reacting. Instead, I jumped and hit the table, jolting the silverware and knocking over my full cup of café con leche. Coffee drenched my wife’s favorite—and very expensive—white tablecloth and splattered onto the imported wood flooring. I winced and grabbed a napkin to sop up the spill.

Our cook was a big, burly man who’d gone to seed with age, the apron stretched across his beer gut reading, “Charred and Dangerous.” He tried to untie it, but his hands were still covered by oven mitts.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Feds outside.”

Before I could ask anything else, he rushed down the hallway, muttering something about hiding his guns. But I doubted federal agents had come all this way just for our cook’s illegal firearms.

“It’s probably nothing to worry about.” The maid smiled at me, ignoring the spill as she snatched a steak knife off the table. “They like to come around and ask questions every now and then.”

“This happened a lot in the old days?” I asked.

She shrugged and hurried off in the same direction as the cook. I stared stupidly after them for a moment, coffee still dripping onto the floor, then picked up my cane from where it rested against my chair. Standing up always made my knee twinge, but I ignored it and walked slowly into the kitchen. The room was wide, its floors and granite countertops so clean they reflected the light. The cook had left an omelet sizzling on the stove, and it filled the air with a smell that made my mouth water. I walked past it to the big window over the sink, and sure enough, two black SUVs were coming down the palm tree-lined driveway.

The omelet hissed and crackled angrily. I flipped it over, but the fluffy yellow egg mix was already crusted with black. I turned off the burner with a sigh. If I was going to have to deal with a government raid first thing in the morning, I’d like to do it on a full stomach, at least. Continue reading Hero Status, Chapter 1