PHANTASM FRIDAY

I want to send a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to ALESSA on this Friday the 13th!!

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Instead of me gabbing about something nonsensical today, I want to brag about our Supernatural Sunday's guest blogger, G.R. Bretz, and his new novel, Absinthe Eyes & Other Lies, which was released by Noble Romance Publishing. From the first paragraph of the book, I was spellbound. Tell me what you think:

"The sun burned out this morning. Did it think that I would care? I have lost so much more. I lose it over and over again with every tortured moment of my pointless existence."

This book should be ingested slowly like absinthe liquor, but one sip and I was gulping the pages as fast as I could read. Absinthe Eyes & Other Lies is ingenious and very creative, startling unique. Once I started reading this novel, I couldn’t push it aside any more than I could have pushed my child into the deep end of the pool without the ability to swim.

It’s a brilliantly twisted story—and I mean that in a positive way. Half the fun is figuring out the secrets of Dahlia, so I don’t want to give away too much, but in her lovers she inspires equal parts creative masterpieces and insanity. Now, Dahlia has set her sights on Stephen who is heir to the Absinthe distillery. She has lofty aspirations for him even though he’s not artsy with paper, pen or canvas and he believes both artists and authors alike are fools.

The characters are so vibrant and well written that while reading them they were jerked from the pages to play out before my gaze like a schizophrenic movie that balanced between romance, horror and a psychological drama.

Absinthe Eyes & Other Lies is an extremely original work of art and I would love to know what muse inspired Mr. Bretz to write this fascinating novel. No doubt, I’ll be drawn to read Absinthe Eyes & Other Lies again, hopefully more slowly this time, so that I can absorb all the nuances of the characters and the storyline in greater detail. I’m certain I missed something as fast as I swigged the words from the page. And at times I truly felt intoxicated by Mr. Bretz’s ability to bring the scenes and the reader’s five senses alive with stark detail and brilliant turns of phrases, for example:

“I must vomit her tears onto the page while they still mean something worthwhile.”

“I stand up quickly and I have never been more profoundly aware that the world is round. After a few moments it flattens again and I regain my balance.”

But those were only two of the many amazing descriptions that salted the pages of this story.

This isn’t the typical romance, but it is a romance, along with sex scenes that are detailed and frank. If you like dark tortured souls, then you’ll love this book as much as I did. Accolades of the highest order are due Mr. Bretz for this brilliant, one-of-a kind novel!

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Be sure to check back on Sunday to hear from G.R. Bretz and to read a blurb and excerpt of Absinthe Eyes & Other Lies.