Guest Author: Alma Katsu

Alma KatsuI am excited to welcome author Alma Katsu, author of the fabulously new Taker novel, The Reckoning.

Magic, love and longing come together in The Taker, the stunning tale of a mysterious young woman, Lanore, and an unwitting Maine doctor who falls into her world, a hidden world that exists outside the boundaries of time. Part old-world fairy tale, part dark love story, The Taker Trilogy is an exploration of love in all its forms, its depths as well as its heights, and asks the question: what would you be willing to do to be loved forever?

Lauded for its rich prose, The Taker was chosen by BOOKLIST as one of the top ten debut novels of 2011. The Reckoning, second book in the trilogy, has already been named a Top Pick for June by RT Magazine.

Make sure you stick around to the end. We’ll be giving away .
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I’m thrilled to be at Literary Escapism today as I think readers here will find my books to their liking. The Taker and The Reckoning, coming out on June 19, are paranormal, but not the kind of paranormal you’ve probably seen before. As a matter of fact, readers frequently tell me that The Taker wasn’t anything like they expected, and that they’d never read a book like it.

The Taker books are a combination of historical, fantasy and horror or paranormal, all centered around a dark love story. There’s one book The Taker has been compared to, and that’s Interview With The Vampire. Even though my novel has nary one vampire in it, it does have a protagonist condemned to life forever, trying to make sense of the gift/curse she’s been given.

In The Taker, the main character, Lanore McIlvrae wants only one thing: to be with the man she loves, Jonathan St. Andrew. And, of course, he is the one thing she cannot have. As she struggles to get on with her life, she falls in with Adair, a man with impossible powers, including the ability to grant eternal life. In this case, immortality is conferred through a magical elixir but there’s a catch: the person being made immortal is bound forever to whoever gives them a dose of the elixir. Lanore seizes this opportunity to bind Jonathan to her forever. She steals Adair’s elixir—stealing magic from the gods, as it were—and makes Jonathan hers. . . with tragic consequences.

Another reason for the comparison with Interview is, I think, because of The Taker’s villain, Adair. He’s been called a 21st century Lestat. If you like dark bad boys, you will probably love Adair. He’s more than evil. He’s charming, seductive, powerful—but oh so human. He dares to make himself vulnerable to Lanore, to his downfall. She manages to stop him—to stop the unstoppable—in order to save Jonathan, and herself. In The Reckoning two centuries of freedom come to an end as Adair escapes from his prison. She knows Adair will come for her, and she has no idea how to stop him a second time.

If any of this sounds intriguing to you, I hope you’ll check out The Taker and The Reckoning.
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Meet Alma Katsu!

Alma Katsu is a former career intelligence analyst turned novelist. She recently left CIA after 29 years as a senior intelligence analyst when The Taker Trilogy was sold to Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster (North America) and Random House UK (World). She’s currently working on The Descent, the last book in the trilogy, a YA novel and a screenplay for a spy movie. She lives in northern Virginia with her husband, musician Bruce Katsu, and their two whippets.

AKatsu - TakerContact Info
Website: website
Blog: Blog
Social Media: Facebook | Twitter | GoodReads

Want to purchase Alma’s novels?
The Taker at Amazon | Book Depository
The Reckoning at Amazon | Book Depository
The Devil’s Scribe at Amazon
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Contest Time!

Thank you Alma for taking the time to stop by Literary Escapism!

Alma is giving away a signed copy of The Taker. To enter, all you have to do is answer this one question: Would you be willing to do anything to ensure someone stays with you forever? Remember, you must answer the question in order to be entered.

Today, we’re offering a chance to get your name in the hat twice by joining Alma’s mailing list.  Simple add your email here and then leave a second comment saying you joined. Easy peasy.  You can still help support the author by sharing their article, and this contest, on your blog, Twitter, Facebook, or anywhere you can. After all, the more people who are aware of this fabulous author ensures we get more fabulous stories.

The winner must post a review of the novel someplace. Whether it is on their own blog, Amazon, GoodReads, LibraryThing or wherever, it doesn’t matter. Just help get the word out.

The contest will stay open until June 21st at which time I’ll determine the winner with help from the snazzy new plug-in I have.

About Jackie 3282 Articles
I am a 30-something SAHM with two adorable boys and a supportive husband who is very tolerant of my reading addiction. I love to read and easily go through about a dozen books a month – well I did before I had kids. Now, not so much. After my first son was born, I began to take my hobby of reviewing a little more serious and started Literary Escapism to help with my sanity. I love to discuss the fabulous novels I’ve read and meeting all the wonderful people in the book blogging community has been amazing.

10 Comments

  1. There are definitely things I would do to have someone stay with me but I wouldn’t do just anything. A quick example is that I would not kill someone else to keep the person I love alive (unless of course that said person attacks me)and unlike Lanore, I would never make someone immortal unless they want to be.

  2. I don’t think I would do anything there are lines that should not be crossed. And it would depend on if the person actually wanted to be with me.
    Thanks for the giveaway!

  3. Hi Erin & Crahm, Thank you for the comments! I see that I shouldn’t have been so cute in describing Lanny’s decision in making Jonathan immortal. It’s a bit more complicated than I let on. He’s been shot (by a husband he’s cuckolded) and Lanny gives him the elixir so she won’t lose him forever. One of the things I tried to do with the story is to make it full of twists and turns. Just as in real life, nothing is quite as straightforward as it seems… when does selflessness leave off and self-interest begin? What are the things we tell ourselves in order to go after what we want?

    Erin, thanks for joining the mailing list! Good luck with the contest!

    Alma

  4. I don’t know if I would do anything to ensure that someone stayed with me forever. There are a lot of variables to consider like if that person actually wanted to stay with me or if they wanted to live forever. If I were in a similar position like Lanore was experiencing in The Taker I would have made the same choice. Jonathon’s future would have been too horrific to imagine. However, if life and death weren’t a driving force and the person wasn’t amenable to the idea then, no, I wouldn’t force it.

  5. I would like to think I would but not if there is no love. In the long run, even if it takes an eternity at the end of it all happiness wouldn’t be there. I would do almost anything if I could have love forever but not simply to have them.

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