Young Adult Fantasy/Paranormal
Book #3 in Matt Archer Series
BOOK #1 Synopsis:
Matt Archer, an ordinary freshman living in Montana, discovers something unusual on a camping trip with his uncle. Monsters are real. And living in his backyard.
But that's not the half of it...throw in a mystical knife, a covert military unit of soldiers dedicated to eliminating walking nightmares, and a prophecy about a dark war, and Matt finds himself in a job he never imagined: monster hunter.
All this insanity will leave him wondering which is tougher--killing monsters, or asking Ella Mitchell for a date.
BOOK #3 Synopsis: (May Contain Spoilers)
When Matt Archer was fourteen, he was chosen—by a magic knife—to hunt monsters with a special
paranormal division of the Army. When he was fifteen, he was introduced to a global war that the
rest of the world knew very little about…and he was determined to keep it that way, no matter what
happened to him.
Things change.
Now Matt’s sixteen and he’s lost more than he ever thought he would. He’s also learned that the knifespirits have an agenda he doesn’t totally agree with. The only problem? The spirits have the upper hand,
and they plan to control the fight—and Matt.
Now, the next eclipse cycle is starting, a prominent physicist has gone missing, and Matt’s best friend’s
heart isn’t in the hunt anymore. If he loses Will—after everyone else he’s lost—Matt’s not sure how he’ll
fight alone.
Oh, and there’s one more thing. The SATs are coming.
And you thought high school was hard…
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Kendra C. Highley
Author Bio:
Kendra C. Highley lives in north Texas with her husband and two children. She also serves as staff to two self-important and high-powered cats. This, according to the cats, is her most important job.
Kendra believes chocolate is a basic human right, running a 10k is harder than it sounds, and that everyone should learn to drive a stick-shift. She loves monsters, vacations, baking and listening to bad electronica.
More information about the Matt Archer universe, works in progress and the nature of the Higgs Boson* can be found at www.kendrachighley.com
(*Yeah…not really. We’ll let the scientists handle that part.)
At what point in your life did you realize you wanted to be a writer?
The idea was planted by my mom when I was fifteen, and I majored in literature for my undergrad, but I didn’t really get serious about pursuing publication until my mid-thirties. Once the words started to flow, though, I couldn’t turn them off and I’ve been writing nonstop since then.
What would you consider to be the best book you have ever read?
That’s a really hard question for me to answer. There have been so many that left me utterly satisfied at the end. Others haven’t left me at all. Still others asked me hard questions. I’d have to say, in balancing wit, humor, drama, heartache and an excellent love story, Pride and Prejudice might just be the perfect book. A more recent book, Daughter of Smoke and Bone completely destroyed me with its evocative prose and amazing world-building. And I’ve always loved The Lord of the Rings.
What is it that you like to do when you’re not reading/writing?
When I’m not working at the day job, I love to spend time with my family, bake and hit the gym. I’m recent convert to the organized fitness thing, and I love the rush you get after a hard workout.
What are the most important attributes for remaining sane as a writer?
I have a mantra I follow: You can’t write the book in a day. It’s easy to get frustrated when you have so much story to tell and you can only write down so many words at a time. A good book takes a while to percolate and editing can’t be looked at as a “rush job” if you want the final product to be of a certain quality. I have to tell myself it’s okay to slow down, not to worry if my words aren’t flying onto the page. Chocolate helps, too.
Describe what it’s like to be an author in three words.
Schizophrenic. Focused. Dreamer.
What do you find most rewarding about writing?
I’ve always had stories rattling around in my head. It can be painful to draw them out and write them down, but it’s so satisfying when the book comes together. It’s also awesome when your characters take a right turn from where you wanted them to go, only to realize they know where they are going better than you do.
Is there a piece of advice that you have received that has really stuck with you? If so, what was it?
I met Laurie Halse Anderson at a children’s book even at the Dallas Museum of Art. I was wearing a T-shirt that said “Grammar Punk” and she asked about it. My husband (being more extroverted than me) told her I was a writer. She told me she’d give me the most important writing advice I’d ever receive. When she signed my copy of Forge, she wrote, “P.S. Don’t Quit!!!” on the title page. She told me that was the key. Reaching your goals as a writer is a matter of time and pressure: put in enough time, pressure yourself to always grow, and eventually you’ll meet your goals, whatever they are.
Excerpt
“Ouch! Man, that hurts,” Will whined.
Built like an Abrams tank, six-four and weighing two hundred-thirty pounds, you wouldn’t necessarily think my best friend was a wuss. Especially since he made his high-school football career out of slamming opposing quarterbacks to the turf.
He just hated needles.
“You’re awful big to be scared of a little tat,” the tattoo artist said. He shook his head in disgust. “I’ve inked little old ladies who complained a lot less than you.”
“Well, good for them,” Will said.
“Dude, chill,” I said, trying not to laugh.
He pulled at his hair with his free hand, his face scrunched up. “Chill? I’m getting stabbed with an ink-filled needle, you butthead! You were unconscious when you got yours done. You chill!”
Then I did laugh. I held out my right hand. Just below the wrist joint was a tiny, silver pentagram. It was the symbol for the military unit we served with…and much, much more in my case. Mine had been inked by a Peruvian medicine man and had mystical properties. Will’s was a more mundane copy.
“Seriously, mister, are you trying to engrave this thing onto my arm bone?” Will howled.
I grinned at the tattoo artist. “Sorry, Jimmy, Will’s a pansy.”
Jimmy grunted, his head bent over Will’s meaty forearm as he worked. “You don’t say.” A few buzzes later and the job was done. “Look here, big guy.”
He set down the needle and raised his t-shirt, revealing a scrawny chest covered in a collage of body art from his neckline to his belly button. Will recoiled and I started laughing again.
“See? You don’t gotta be big to be a man,” Jimmy said, a hint of a smile twitching at his mouth. “Now, do you need some ibuprofen for that little boo-boo on your wrist, or can your friend walk you out?”
“I’ll be fine,” Will said, sounding humiliated.
I whacked him on the back. “Sure you will. Thanks, Jimmy.”
“Don’t mention it. Let me know if you blokes come back to Ottawa. Maybe I can stencil a few more items for you, eh?” He turned to clean his equipment, missing Will’s blanched face.
I led Will outside and we headed across the long parking lot. We’d told the team we were going to dinner, but took the bus here after a Google search described Jimmy as one of the best tattoo artists in Ottawa. As soon as Captain Parker saw Will’s wrist, we’d be in for some trouble but I doubted he’d come down hard on us. All five blade-wielders had the special pentagram tattoo, and several of the guys on our team had gone to get one, too. Will wasn’t the only one who wanted to fit in.
The mid-October night was cold and the wind had a bite to it. Nothing a couple of Montana boys weren’t used to, but I turned up the collar of my jacket anyway, glad I’d worn my hiking boots.
“Some fall break. Not in Canada eight hours and I’ve got a tat,” Will said, air puffing in little white clouds from his mouth. “Millicent’s gonna be pissed. If it wasn’t football season, I’d be looking to run away from home before she finds out.”
“You know, it sucks that I have to go back to school at all,” I said. “Mom’s being way too stubborn about that. So what if there isn’t much activity right now? I could be at the Pentagon, helping Aunt Julie research or something. School’s a waste of time.”
He snorted. “Can you blame her? You lied to her for a year before she found out what we were up to. Keeping you in school when you’re between ops is her way of punishing us and the Army for keeping her in the dark.”
“Look who’s talking.” I stopped and crossed my arms. “You ever planning to tell your parents that we travel the world, hunting monsters on school breaks? Or do you think they’ll keep buying all that crap about the gifted and talented program?”
Will looked away, jaw clenched.
“Dude, sorry. I didn’t think—”
“It’s okay.” He wouldn’t look at me. “Millicent knows now, and that’s enough for me. She seems to get why we’re out here. My parents wouldn’t.”
“True story,” I said. “Doesn’t mean it doesn’t suck.”
“I know, man. It’s just…I’m not a completely necessary part of the team; we both know that. If my parents found out, Colonel Black wouldn’t fight too hard to keep me around.”
I shook my head. “They would if I threatened to quit. You’re my wingman. I can’t do this without you and the Army better keep that in mind. Besides, I’m not willing to let all that training we did at your house the last few months go to waste. We have too many badass tricks to try out in the field next time.” I started walking again. “C’mon. I’m cold, and I’m sure there’s a pizza place still open somewhere in this town.”
“Good. I’m hungry enough to eat a brontosaurus.”
“Isn’t that what Fred Flintstone eats?” I asked.
“Yeah, but he only eats a steak. I’d eat the whole thing, except its tail.”
“You draw the line at eating a giant reptile’s tail? That’s your limit?”
Will shrugged. “I do have some standards, you know.”
“Now you tell me.” I wrapped my arms across my chest; the wind had suddenly gotten colder. Jimmy’s tattoo shop was in an industrial park, deserted this late at night, and a creepy place to be out walking after dark. Thin clouds, light gray in the moonlight, raced across the sky. I started walking faster, trying to cross between the amber circles of light from the streetlamps more quickly to stay out of the dark.
I could see the bus stop in the distance when a blue flash came from my backpack, catching my eye at the same time a voice crossed my mind.
Danger.
“Here?” I asked the knife-spirit.
Look. She sounded agitated, which usually meant we were about to be in big trouble.
The hair on the back of my neck prickled and I glanced back at the walkway between the metal buildings. Fog oozed from all four directions, tinged a phosphorescent green and stinking of a sewer.
“We got incoming,” I whispered, not like it wasn’t obvious. Monsters were rarely subtle.
Will already had his phone out. “…Yeah, northeast corner of town…No, no idea how many….You picking us up on GPS?...No, we didn’t go to dinner….Look, can I explain that later?”
An other-worldly screech, like ten-thousand metal nails dragging across concrete, filled the air. Will whispered, “Gotta go, Parker. Hurry up, will ya?”
“How long?” I asked.
“Parker said ten minutes.” Will glanced at his watch. “No bus for the next fifteen. Looks like we’re stuck.”
We are not stuck. We fight. Prepare.
Why did I know the knife-spirit would say that?
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