Book Blitz: Bad Blood | Nicky Peacock | Excerpt | Giveaway

---

Bad Blood
Author: Nicky Peacock
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Horror
Released: September 5th 2014

  

Librarian's note: Alternate cover edition of ASIN B00N3GYIWE.

“I am Britannia. I am your protector. I will fend off the hungry hordes of undead hands that reach toward you. I am your steadfast defender. I will stand between you and the zombie masses as they try to taste your flesh. I am strong, unyielding, and dedicated to your survival. All I ask from you… is your blood.”

A 500 year bloody game of vengeance will need to be put on hold if vampires are to survive the zombie uprising. Bitter enemies, Britannia and Nicholas must work together to save un-infected humans, delivering them to a stronghold in Scotland.

Unable to drink the zombie blood, vampires need humans to stay alive. But will they tell the survivors who they are, and what they want from them? Will Britannia be able to hold back her vengeance? Is survivor Josh the reincarnation of Britannia’s murdered true love? And can she bring herself to deliver him to the safe hold?

Survival instincts run deep, but bad blood can run deeper.

Excerpt

We ran to the hospital. On the way, we encountered hardly anyone, alive or dead. Where were they all? When we arrived at the hospital car park, I understood. Zombies were pack animals. A massive crowd of them were crammed in and around the main building like they were waiting for a concert to start, all barely paying attention to their surroundings and seemingly swaying against the force of gravity. The other thing was the smell. When watching horror films filled with shuffling zombies, the horror came from their ghastly looks—the reminder that death has a tight grip on us all, well, most of us. But what the filmmakers should focus on—if they could—was the acidic rank odor zombies gave off. They had been dead barely twenty-four hours. It took a normal human body at least thirty-six hours to really start to smell, and that was with a vampire’s heightened senses. These guys smelled like they’d been out in the sun for three weeks covered in rubbish and besieged by wily maggots. They were mostly intact, though. Maybe this hospital had been Zombie Ground Zero. Most had turned so quickly their comrades hadn’t had time to feed.
“Maybe we should try a less populated target.” Nicholas twitched his nose and turned away from me to dry retch.
“Maybe you should grow a pair.”
“Maybe you should act like a lady.” He now had his hands on his hips, squaring up for yet another
argument.
“Acting like a lady isn’t going to help now, is it? What do you want me to do? Drop my handkerchief in front of the zombies and watch them fight one another to scoop it up for me? Moron!”
“Always to the ‘nth degree with you, isn’t it?”
“Shut up. Look, the doors are holding, and they’re outside, not inside, which means there must be some people left in there alive to have barricaded this place so tight.”
“Or maybe there are just more zombies in there.”
“Well, there’s definitely a blood bank in there, and that’ll help matters no end!”
Nicholas looked thoughtful then nodded. He of course didn’t want to actually say aloud that I’d had a good idea. “So, how do we get past them?”
I assumed it was a rhetorical question, so I started down to the car park entrance, where most of the zombies were mobbing. I opened the outer door as quietly as possible.
“Ladies first,” Nicholas whispered in my ear.
“I thought we’d agreed I wasn’t a lady.” And with that, I shoved him as hard as I could into the throbbing throng of zombies.

---

I guess I’ve always been a storyteller, not in a ‘liar liar pants on fire’ kind of way, although I do work in advertising! When I was little, kids would crowd around me in the playground and I’d tell them tales of blood soaked horror filled with vampires, werewolves, ghosts and more. Yes, most would consider me a disturbed child, but my playmates couldn’t help themselves, they’d huddle around me every break time like an ancient tribe feeding off the fear; and that’s how I learned that horror stories hold a certain power, no matter what some might say, everyone is addicted to a good scare, especially if it is somewhat rooted safely in unrealistic beings… or are they unrealistic?

Writing was really a natural progression. Right now I’m obsessed with writing: a YA Urban Fantasy novel, a Paranormal Romance novella series, and several short horror stories! So I’m currently living in a functional fiction coma – and loving it!

I’ve so far been published in 5 countries: USA, UK, Australia, Ireland and Canada and had short stories included in 40 anthologies with over 17 publishers.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

One lucky winner will receive eBook copies of all 28 books! That's a lot of supernatural Halloween reading featuring: vampires, mermaids, reapers, werewolves, demons, gods, dragons, ghosts, witches, a phoenix and much more! Books included are:

Soul Taken/ Soul Possessed/ Soul Betrayed by Kaitlyn Duncan
Crown of Ice by Vicki L Weavil
Tangled Tides/ Dangerous Depths by Karen Amanda Hooper
Shadows of Fate by Angela Dennis
Divinity by Michelle L Johnson
Call Me Grim by Elizabeth Holloway
Darkness  / Darkness Reigns by L M Justus
The Guardian of Bastet by Jacqueline M Battisti
My Sisters Reaper/ My Tethered Soul by Dorothy Dreyer
Soul Bound/ Soul Deep by Anne Hope
Daughter of Chaos by Jenn McConnel
Wicked Hunger by Delsheree Gladden
Shadow soul/ Shadow Heir by Kaitlyn Davis
Into the Fire by Asheynn Drake
Predator by Janice Gable Bashman
Whispers in the Darkness by Vanessa Barger
A Murder of Magpies by Sarah Bromley
Prayer for the Dead/ Aeonian Kiss by Nicki Scalise
Keeper of the Lost Souls/ Keeper of the Innocent by Kristy Centeno

Book Review: Bad Blood by Nicky Peacock + Author Interview

Bad Blood
Author: Nicky Peacock
Reading Level: Youg Adult
Genre: Paranormal
Released: September 5, 2014
Review Source: Evernight Teen

“I am Britannia. I am your protector. I will fend off the hungry hordes of undead hands that reach toward you. I am your steadfast defender. I will stand between you and the zombie masses as they try to taste your flesh. I am strong, unyielding, and dedicated to your survival. All I ask from you… is your blood.”

A 500 year bloody game of vengeance will need to be put on hold if vampires are to survive the zombie uprising. Bitter enemies, Britannia and Nicholas must work together to save un-infected humans, delivering them to a stronghold in Scotland.

Unable to drink the zombie blood, vampires need humans to stay alive. But will they tell the survivors who they are, and what they want from them? Will Britannia be able to hold back her vengeance? Is survivor Josh the reincarnation of Britannia’s murdered true love? And can she bring herself to deliver him to the safe hold?

Survival instincts run deep, but bad blood can run deeper.

I'm a HUGE Twilight fan, and since the series came out, it seems that the bookshelves are overflowing with vampire books. Bad Blood, however, is nothing like the other books out there. First of all, this book puts vampires vs. Zombies. I mean, how cool is that? There were things I liked about the book, but there were also things that I didn't like.

First, the things I liked. My favorite character was Britannia (even though it's hard to say). She's got a kick-butt attitude and is comfortable in her own skin. Not only does she save innocent people from other vampires, she also has a humorous side as well. She even has a sensitive side, which also makes her more complex. And she has blue hair! I also thought there was a lot of action in the story and I didn't get bored around the middle. I also liked how the author added in the Josh character. It made it a lot more interesting! I wasn't a fan of Nicholas at the beginning of the novel, but by the end I actually liked him.

And now, what I didn't like too much. There were times where I felt some of the descriptions where a little too much. I mean, I like knowing what a place looks like and how a character looks, but sometimes it felt a little overkill. Also, there were times where the writing was a little too cliche. It was an attempt at humor, but came out silly.

Overall, I really enjoyed the premise and characters of the story. It was definitely a unique story that was very creative. I would recommend this to my friends who like both zombies and vampires. It was definitely action packed!

---

1. Tell us a little bit about your writing history. When did you know you wanted to write? Have you written anything else?

I've always wanted to be a writer for as long as I can remember. English was my favorite subject at school, although my creative writing was a little dark at times! I've been published for about 3 years now. Before Bad Blood, I had over 40 short stories published in anthologies with publishers all over the world. The genres range from horror, paranormal romance and urban fantasy - these can be found on my Amazon Author Page. 

2. Where did you get the idea of Vampires vs Zombies?

I actually tired to find a book which had vampires VS zombies fighting against one another in, but couldn't. I'm avid reader of the genre myself so I thought, if I wanted to read this book, then others might too - so I decided to write it myself. 

3. How did Britannia come to be?

I needed a strong lead and also one, that although has her faults (like any good character would) takes a more active lead than the usual YA female protagonists.  Brit had to be able to kick some serious butt too, but not really start out as the hero of the novel. I guess you can say that she was born out of what I needed to maintain the action in the story.  She also managed to inherit my dry sense of humor!

4. What makes your book different than other vampire books that are out there?

Well, I suppose I'd say that it's two stories wrapped in one - you have the usual vampire politics but also the end of the world undead uprising for them and the humans to contend with. There's a lot of action in there - I personally hate books that dwell too much on conversations and character soliloquy. The zombies give the perfect formula for the vampires to not have too many of 'those' scenes in there - I mean, if zombies did happen, there really wouldn't be much time for that, people would have to be in a pretty consistent state of action to stay alive!