Dead End Job by Justin Alcala - Book Blitz + Giveaway
A Dead End Job
by Justin Alcala
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GENRE: Urban Fantasy
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BLURB:
Fans of Terry Pratchett and Shane Kuhn's THE INTERN'S HANDBOOK will love this noir supernatural thriller.Death needs a vacation. Badly. But there's a catch: There are people who cheat the system, always falling through the cracks and not dying like they're supposed to. Who's going to take care of them while Death's sipping on sangria?The answer is simple: Death needs an intern, and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that one prospect, Buck Palasinski,-a bankrupt hitman with a roleplaying addiction-might have what it takes. While scoping out his next target, Buck gets drilled in the forehead by a bullet and falls right into Death's lap.If they shove him back into his body, he'll have a few weeks to prove that he has what it takes to be Death's right-hand.All he has to do is take out Public Enemy No. 1, John Dillinger, and quit smoking.
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EXCERPT
Today was going to be busy. I don’t know how I’d fit a murder into my schedule.
For starters, I was out of coffee. I don’t think anyone can really start the day
unless they have a cup of joe. Not me at least. Since I live in a more affordable
part of Chicago, there were no corner coffee shops charging mortgages for a fix
within walking distance. Which means I had to drive deeper into the city to feed
the shaky caffeine monkey beating on my back. I joined a local horde of zombies
in a hipster neighborhood called Bucktown as they waited in a Disneyland-worthy
line for a chance to be a real boy or girl again. This gave me time to think
about my to-do list.
I needed to return my library books. I was finally catching up on my Bukowski
novels after years of recommendations from friends. Why is good advice so hard
to swallow? Since I paid for everything in singles and change, I couldn’t just
buy a book online. I had to check them out whenever a reading itch needed a
scratch. Afterwards, I’d need to replace the squeaky brakes on the van, shower,
and then pick up a new hammer strut pin from Denny’s Pawn Shop. Denny and I had
built a relationship based on trading illegal firearm parts, which was great for
a guy that doesn’t like proof of sale when it came to his career tools. Finally,
my role-playing group had a six o’clock table reserved for our D&D campaign at
the neighborhood gaming store. We were nearing level ten, and as the party’s
wizard, they’d need me to survive our latest adventure. Hmm, when could I
possibly squeeze in work?
“That’ll be twelve-fifty,” declared the barista with black framed glasses.
“For a cup of plain coffee?” I stared at the register’s cost display. “I mean,
seriously?”
The acne covered art history major working the register didn’t flinch. He must
have been seasoned.
“Do I get a veteran discount?”
He shook his head. I used my sparse wallet insulation to pay for the mud, but
only after my debit card declined. Now I was really running late.
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AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Justin Alcala is a novelist, nerdologist and Speculative Literature Foundation
Award Finalist. He’s author of the novels Consumed, (BLK Dog Publishing) The
Devil in the Wide City (Solstice Publishing) and Dim Fairytales
(AllThingsThatMatterPress). His dozens of short stories have been featured in
magazines and anthologies, including It Dances Now (Crimson Street Magazine),The
Offering (Rogue Planet Press) and The Lantern Quietly Screams (Castabout
Literature). When he’s not burning out his retinas in front of a computer,
Justin is an adventuresome tabletop gamer. He’s also a blogger, folklore
enthusiast and time traveler. He is an avid quester of anything righteous, from
fighting dragons to acquiring magical breakfast eggs from the impregnable
grocery fortress.
Most of Justin’s tales and characters take place in The Plenty Dreadful
universe, a deranged supernatural version of the modern world. When writing,
Justin immerses himself in whatever subject he’s working on, from research to
overseas travel. Much to the dismay of his family, he often locks himself away
in his office-dungeon while playing themed videos and music over, and over, and
over again. Justin currently resides with his dark queen, Mallory, their
malevolent daughter, Lily, and their hellcat, Misery. Where his mind might be
though is anyone’s guess.
Website:
https://www.justincalcala.com
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/JustinAlcala
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/justin.alcala
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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION
Justin Alcala will be awarding a $50 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter
during the tour.
6 Comments
Thank you for hosting today!
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome!
DeleteOh, is this awesome! I want to thank my magnificent host for featuring my book. Second, I want to thank readers. As an uber-nerd, I feel like I’m the ugly duckling finally finding my homie-swans whenever I discuss books. On that note, if you didn’t know, A DEAD END JOB is an absurd urban fantasy novel dripping with geek references, pop culture, and dick jokes. Feel free to ask me anything you want, even if it’s advice about what you should do about finding your parent’s OnlyFans account. I’ll check in as much as I can to answer your questions with multiple segues about why I wear clothes in the shower.
ReplyDeleteYou're very welcome! :) Happy to have you here on the blog.
DeleteCongratulations on your new release, Justin! I enjoyed the excerpt and I can't wait to read Dead End Job which sounds like a fun "Death" book! Thanks for sharing it with me and have a spectacular holiday season!
ReplyDeleteGood blurb. I like the idea of death needing a break. Thanks for the chance.
ReplyDeleteApologies for requiring comment verification/captcha now. Too many "fake" bots are spamming my posts with comments, and deleting them is tedious and annoying. So for the time being, there will be comment verification on to weed out the spam bots. Thanks for understanding!