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Wednesday, October 21, 2020

The Unholy by Paul DeBlassie III - Book Tour - Book Trailer - Book Review - Giveaway - Enter Daily!


Hello, lovelies!  It gives me great pleasure today to host Paul DeBlassie III and his new book, “The Unholy”!  For other stops on his Goddess Fish Promotions Book Tour, please click on the banner above or any of the images in this post.

Be sure to make it to the end of this post to enter to win a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble Gift Card!!  Also, come back daily to interact with Paul and to increase your chances of winning!

Thanks for stopping by!  Wishing you lots of luck in this fabulous giveaway!


The Unholy
by Paul DeBlassie III

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GENRE: Thriller

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BLURB:

Winner of the International Book Award and Pinnacle Book Award for Visionary Fiction!

The Unholy is a dramatic story of Claire Sanchez, a young medicine woman, intent on discovering the closely-guarded secrets of her past. Forced into a life-and-death battle against an evil Archbishop, William Anarch, she confronts the dark side of religion and the horror of one man's will to power.

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EXCERPT ONE:

“Hush now, child,” said a voice she recognized as that of her mother’s closest friend. “The man cannot harm you, mijita, as long as you are with us. We will make him think you are dead. But you must be very quiet. Ya no llores,” the woman warned, raising a finger to her lips.

The woman then carried her into a dark cave illuminated by the light of a single candle. The cave was frightening, with shadows of what appeared to be goblins and demons dancing on the red sandstone walls. “I will return for you soon. You will be safe here,” the woman said. The girl watched the woman walk away, shivering as a breeze blew through the cave’s narrow passages.

Closing her eyes, she rocked back and forth—imagining herself safe in her mother’s arms—then opened her eyes to the light of the full moon shining through the mouth of the cave. The shadows on the walls were just shadows now, no longer goblins and demons. As she slipped into a trance, images flickered in her mind. She saw the woman who had brought her to this place scattering pieces of raw meat around the open mesa where her mother had
struggled, helped by two other women the girl could not identify.

Suddenly, the scene shifted to a stone ledge jutting over the mesa, and she heard the pounding footsteps of a man running toward the women. The girl felt her heart race and her breathing quicken, afraid that the bad man would spot them and kill them. Then the image shifted again, and she now saw on the mesa three gray wolves circling the raw meat and the man walking away from the granite ledge. As he left, she heard his thought: The child is dead.

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BOOK TRAILER:


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MY BOOK REVIEW:

This book was compelling, captivating, thought-provoking, reflecting, and stimulating!!!

This book is filled with many suspenseful, mysterious, mystifying, and thrilling scenes!!  There are dark corners, hidden secrets, dangerous forces, haunting memories, scary superstitions, and supernatural elements at play!!

This book starts right off with a dark, intense scene of young, 5-year-old Claire Sanchez, hiding among the tree line watching her mother being murdered by a scary black cloaked man.  This scene is quite catching and pulls you in quickly with so many questions and worries about little Claire.  However, it just as fast drops you out of this gripping scene as the next scene promptly fast forwards twenty years as Claire is now an adult, at twenty-five-years-old and is working at the Ecclesia Dei Psychiatric Hospital in this giant desert near the region of Aztlan.  She is working in a unique position as a licensed natural therapist with a background in mental health services working specifically with Hispanic and Native American patients.  This position couldn’t be more perfect for her as she had previously worked as a mental health worker while she was in training for her natural therapeutics license.  That plus her being raised in a medicine women culture – “Women of Lozen,” that had taken her in after Claire became a “huerfana,” an orphan.  With her strong upbringing in these traditions and the connection to her mom having also been part of this society it was easy to see why Claire chose a similar path and how she was excelling in it.  However, Claire is hesitant to follow directly in her mom's footsteps as a medicine woman; when called out, she firmly insists she is a natural therapist, not a medicine woman, as Claire knows following directly in her mom's steps would only lead to danger.  But now that Claire is the same age her mom was when she died she is starting to get curious and wanting to find out the truth behind the mystery of her mom's death.  Claire goes on a self-discovery journey while also tracking down her mom's killer.  What she finds is not only shocking and disturbing - it's more than she ever could have imagined!!  Sorry, no spoilers here!!  But you will definitely want to read this book and find out what happens and what Claire discovers!!!

I really liked Claire and easily connected with her!!  She is strong, intelligent, caring, compassionate, respected, driven, persistent, polite, and kindhearted.  However, she has many heavy weighted memories, nightmares, and demons that haunt the little girl she was when she watched her mom get brutally attacked and killed.  That understandably would make anyone anxious, scared, fearful, worried, and on edge.  I loved Claire’s passion and drive about wanting to truly help her patients, to understand their pain, and help them heal.  She truly went above and beyond for her patients - putting them first.

This is the second book I have had the pleasure of reading from Paul DeBlassie III.  I must say one of things I have noticed and come to enjoy in his writing is the intense force of the ying and yang themes and how he compels the reader to look at and discover both sides of the coin.  For example, his books focus on good vs. evil, church vs. state, right vs. wrong, villain vs. hero, love vs. hate, Native American Spirituality vs. the dark side of institutionalized Christianity, etc., and even though many of us may unwittingly jump quickly to one side Paul pushes us to see and interpret both directions.  And shows us that each one is not always so black and white – there are many shades of gray!!

I really liked all the Native American cultural and historical references that were sufficiently placed throughout the book.  I also enjoyed the Native American language that was integrated into the story.  I appreciated that the author defined each word in the passage on the fly, but I would have loved to have had a glossary word list at the end of the book that showed all the words included and their definition/sentence example.

I really enjoyed the in-depth amount of research the author did while constructing this book that is well-established throughout the story.  That plus his strong background in psychology, and his love, passion, and respect of all things Native American is clearly evident from page one.

This book is an enjoyable, satisfying read.  Although only 222 eBook pages, it does feel longer than that and it is not a quick read.  In addition, this is definitely not a book that you can read while multitasking.  There is too much to the story and it really does need your full attention, otherwise, it will be easy to get lost or confused – found this out the hard way lol.  Not a flaw, I just normally juggle many things at a time, but it was nice to stop, take a break, cozy up, and focus on just getting whisked away into the story. 

However, I have to say there were a few times I felt the story was repeating itself as it re-described many pervious scenes.  I know what happened, I was there, I read it.  So, I felt this detracted a bit from the story and stretched it out longer than it needed to be.

There are some predictable scenes.  However, there are still a few unexpected twists and turns that you won’t see coming!

At this time, it does not appear that this book is part of a book series.  Therefore, this book can be read as a standalone.

All in all, I really enjoyed reading this book and would absolutely recommend it!  I think all thriller readers will like this book too!  So, add it to your TBR List and get to reading - you won't be disappointed!

**Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book and have voluntarily provided an honest, and unbiased review in accordance with FTC regulations.**

Did you find this review helpful?

If so, please, please, please mark it as helpful on Amazon here:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/review/R21CBKX6W9H4HJ

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AUTHOR BIO:


Paul DeBlassie III, Ph.D. is a depth psychologist and award-winning writer living in his native New Mexico. He specializes in treating individuals in emotional and spiritual crisis. His novels, visionary thrillers, delve deep into archetypal realities as they play out dramatically in the lives of everyday people. Memberships include the Author’s Guild, Visionary Fiction Alliance, Depth Psychology Alliance, International Association for Relational Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy, and the International Association for Jungian Studies.

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BOOK BUY LINKS:


Amazon Kindle eBook:

Amazon Paperback:

Barnes and Noble NOOK eBook:

Barnes and Noble Paperback #1:

Barnes and Noble Paperback #2:

The Book Depository Paperback #1:

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BAM! Books-A-Million Paperback:

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GIVEAWAY INFO:

Paul will be awarding a $25 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour.


**This post contains affiliate links and if clicked and a purchase is made, I may receive a small commission to help support this blog.  This does not cost you anything, it just helps pay for all those awesome giveaways on here.**

This contest is sponsored by a third party. Fabulous and Brunette is a registered host of Goddess Fish Promotions.  Prizes are given away by the sponsors and not Fabulous and Brunette. The featured author and Goddess Fish Promotions are solely responsible for the giveaway prize.

9 comments:

  1. Paul ~ Good morning! Welcome back! It's so great to have you here again! Congrats on your new book and good luck on the book tour! I really enjoyed reading and reviewing your book, thanks for providing the copy! :)

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  2. I appreciate getting to hear about a new book. Thanks for taking the time to share it with us. 

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  3. Ally, Good morning! Thank you for hosting The Unholy. Stay safe and well.

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  4. If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?

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