The Nexus Game
by Shami Stovall
GENRE: Fantasy
BLURB:
Special Forces Soldier Alex Kellan has three problems. He’s on forced medical leave, he’s alone on Christmas, and two men are actively stalking his every step.
Things get worse when Kellan wakes up in a twisted world where people have magical abilities and high-tech weaponry. It turns out, Kellan’s stalkers want him to participate in a deadly competition—whether or not Kellan agrees.
Forced to compete in the infamous Nexus Games, Kellan must risk everything to survive the competition and save the other members of his ragtag team. Their new motto quickly becomes: Situation Normal: All Fouled Up.
A litRPG thriller with high-tech magic, set in a game for the ultimate prize.
Excerpt:
Alex Kellan wasn’t the type of person who stalkers typically targeted. He carried a loaded .45 handgun in his shoulder holster and regularly bench-pressed two hundred pounds. Most thugs could do the math—he wasn’t worth the inevitable hospital bill.
Yet, for some unknown reason, a pair of men had been following Kellan wherever he went. For the last four days, his stalkers had watched his every movement from the safety of distant shadows. But each day they grew a little bolder. Each day they moved a little closer.
Curiosity was getting the better of Kellan. He had called in the suspicious behavior, and his contacts were investigating, but there wasn’t much to go on.
Kellan took a swig of beer, content, for the moment, with the seedy bar atmosphere. Nino’s Place was a rinky-dink location stuck between a Japanese restaurant and a UPS store, both of which had been closed for years.
Despite the grit and grime, there were four others seated around the establishment. One man, heavy set and bearded, sat with a trucker’s posture. Another man, his hair silver and his naked ring finger permanently indented, likely drank to escape the memories that lingered.
Two others sat in the corner booth, hidden by the shadows of a burnt-out light, as silent as the broken jukebox.
There they were. Kellan’s stalkers.
He decided he’d wait them out. Perhaps once he stepped outside, he could get a word with them.
A bartender walked over and offered Kellan a quizzical lift of her eyebrow. All the hair on her head had been dyed dark purple—a flashy statement that didn’t match the woman’s plain black shirt and unassuming jeans.
“It’s Christmas Eve, ya know,” she said.
“Seriously?” Kellan replied. He finished his beer with one last swig. “Huh. That explains the holiday music on the radio.”
Obviously unimpressed by the sarcasm, the bartender frowned. “Don’t get cute. Shouldn’t you be with family? What’s someone like you doing in Nino’s Place?”
“Clearly, I’m here for the company,” Kellan quipped.
The trucker belched.
My Review:
You know when I picked up The Nexus Game and started reading it I didn’t know what to expect but one thing is for sure it really surprised me as to how well I liked it. The descriptions and the writing were superbly well done. I felt as if I has be transported to another world myself. I don’t believe that I have ever read a book quite like The Nexus Game before. I was awed by this world as well as the characters.
Alex Kellan, a Special Forces Soldier was home with his date watching TV when the next thing he knows he had been transported to another place or world. I don’t think Kellan quite knew where he was. He didn’t know if it was real or not. At first, I wasn’t sure if he had been transported to another world or if he had just awakened inside a game. Was he awake or was he asleep? I was like Kellan I didn’t know what to think either.
The Nexus Game reminded me a lot of Ready Player One and The Hunger Games. The Nexus Game definitely did not lack for action as there was plenty of it to keep me glued to its pages. There was plenty of action with the games Kellan had to compete in. The Nexus Game kept me hooked and guessing as to where the story was going next right up until I read that last page.
I am still in awe of how smoothly Shami Stovall made the transformation from the real world to being inside the game world for me especially since I am not a gamer. I look forward to the next book in the series.
I would recommend The Nexus Game to all gamer readers (gamers who like to read)! Grab your copy of The Nexus Game and be transported to another world today!
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Shami Stovall is a multi-award-winning author of fantasy and science fiction. Before that, she taught history and criminal law at the college level, and loved every second. When she’s not reading fascinating articles and books about ancient China or the Byzantine Empire, Stovall can be found playing way too many video games, especially RPGs and tactics simulators, or hugging John.
If you want to contact her, you can do so at the following locations:
Website ~ Twitter ~ Facebook ~ Email
6 comments:
Thanks for hosting!
Looks like a interesting book.
Thank you for the review!
Shami, I enjoyed following the tour and learning about The Nexus Games, which sounds like an exciting read and I like the cover! Good luck wtih your book and I hope the tour was a success! Thanks for sharing it with me! Thanks, Avid Reader, for sharing your review! Have a fantastic day!
Great excerpt, thank you.
The book sounds very interesting. Great cover!
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