Book Spotlight: The Legend of the Firewalker by Steve Bevil

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Title: The Legend of the Firewalker
Author: Steve Bevil
Genre: YA Paranormal Fantasy / Action Adventure

A black hooded figure suddenly appeared behind her. She gasped and her brown eyes grew wide. Nathan watched helplessly as a small trickle of blood fell from her mouth. 

Other hooded figures appeared; their silver swords clutched upright against their chests. Nathan held tight to her lifeless body while trying to fight back the tears that swelled in his eyes. “No,” he cried. “No!”

Nineteen-year-old Nathan Urye is supposed to be having a relaxing summer as a camp counselor but ever since he started having nightmares about a beautiful girl being hunted by flesh-clawing monsters, his life has been anything but normal.

Soon, Nathan discovers that the sleepy college town of Cahokia Falls is far from ordinary when two unexplained deaths rock the town and campus. Who or what is behind the murders? Does it have anything to do with the newly-discovered cave symbol? And what about the spine-chilling campfire stories about ancient tribal beliefs and mystical legends?

For Nathan Urye, things just keep getting creepier and creepier, and now it appears that everyone at camp is in danger…

Excerpt:

She was pretty sure everyone knew about her nightmares due to her frequent middle of the night screaming, but she had started to feel proud of herself. It was the end of the school year and even with everything, she had managed to finish the semester without withdrawing from school like Amanda and her mom had wanted her to.

Leah took a deep breath and relaxed her shoulders. She was determined not to let anything get to her. Tomorrow, she would be home in St. Louis and she could put the whole nightmare behind her.

The narrow hallway from the bathroom to her dorm room opened up to the common area that was frequently used by the girls on the floor to hang out. On most nights, you could find people playing cards or studying at the round tables.  “Hey, Leah!” one of the girls from the card game called out. “You think we’ll have a chance to get a good night’s sleep with this storm?”

Another girl at the table let out a stifled chuckle. “I mean, it would be nice to sleep through the night for once without your screaming.” Sounds of laughter suddenly filled the room. “Maybe you should sleep with the lights on!” she laughed.

Leah could feel her cheeks turn red as the blood rushed to her head. “Sure!” she let out, her voice shaking with anger.

She walked quickly to her room; trying to beat the laughter before it ended. Forcibly, she closed the door behind her and sighed heavily as she pressed her back against it. “Can this be over any faster?” she yelled. In frustration, she tossed her toothbrush and her towels on the floor. “Ugh!”

At the same moment, a gust of wind rushed violently through the open window, knocking the lamp on her desk onto the floor. The room was suddenly in complete darkness. “Grrreat!” she said in a drawn out huff.

She bent over to pick up the lamp but felt a little uneasy as lightning from the approaching storm created strange shadows around the room. As the sound of thunder filled the room, she stumbled to find the socket to plug in the power cord. Duh, she thought. I should just turn on Amanda’s lamp. As she reached out to turn on the lamp, she paused. She had an eerie feeling that someone was standing behind her. No one is behind me, she thought, as she extended her arm to turn on the lamp.

“Aaah!”

There was a burst of light in the room followed by a loud crack as the light bulb from Amanda’s lamp shattered into many pieces; landing across the table and the floor. Startled, Leah jumped back; withdrawing her hand. At the same time, the door to her closet slammed shut, causing her to let out a stifled scream. Quickly, she spun around; her heart pounding against her chest.

Leah stood in the dark frozen with fear. Through the darkness, she could see that a strange mist began to fill the room, and when lightning struck, there was no thunder to follow…


What the reviewers are saying…

"Starting with chapter one this book held my attention. The legends in the book told around the campfire gave me goose bumps and the supernatural creatures; Necrocritters, dark hooded guards with swords and red hooded priests added a lot of layers to this story. Not to mention the Fallen Ones! 

At times I wasn’t sure how things would play out because there were so many challenges facing Nathan and his friends. I really enjoyed the climax of the book and could easily see this book adapted as a movie. I can’t wait to see what's in store for Nathan and his friends...but you have to read the book to see if they all make it out" ~Reviewer

"It’s terrific! I love your wise-cracking hero, who finds himself thrust into these bizarre circumstances with no real guide. And I love the set up of the supernatural world and these well-defined characters. The supernatural conflict and the relationships that took root here will be able to take you through book after book. That eerie, spirit realm where everything is gray except for the people – sound doesn't behave as it should – and objects are frozen in place, is really imaginative and creepy. It’s got a strong cinematic feel and it creates tremendous atmosphere. In short, you’ve done some terrific world building here that’s highly imaginative and peopled with appealing, interesting characters we can care about." ~Reviewer

About the Author:

Steve Bevil, the author of The Legend of the Firewalker series, recalls vividly as a child running to the library to check-out and read the latest The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew books. He started writing short stories at a young age, but never took writing seriously, and as an adult, would only write to jot down the many storylines and mystical characters he would often fantasize in his head.

It wasn't until he was inspired by the story of author Stephanie Meyer, a stay-at-home mother of three and Christopher Paolini, the author of the Inheritance Cycle, that he entertained the idea of writing a book. Steve recalls sitting at his computer one day, after reading promotional emails announcing the latest books, daydreaming a dialogue between two people.

"It was just so Harry Potter-esque as far as the classic story of good versus evil. I just kept getting more and more detail; it was like the story wanted to be written, there were so many layers to it. I had first and last names, character back history, and everything. Immediately, I started writing."

After months and months of developing the plot and writing, the end result was his first book in the series, The Legend of the Firewalker. The daydream, a dialogue between two of the main characters; Nathan Urye and Stephen Malick, ended up appearing in Chapters 11 and 16.

Steve Bevil graduated from Eastern Illinois University with a Master's degree in Communication. He is a native of Chicago, Illinois and when he isn't writing, enjoys music, watching movies, fitness, and walks with his little Westie, Wyatt.

To learn more you can follow him on Twitter - http://twitter.com/steve_bevil
or visit his blog - http://stevebevil.blogspot.com/
or find out news at his Facebook fan page: http://www.facebook.com/stevebevilwriting