Crimson Son Blog Tour! (+$10 Amazon GC Giveaway!)

Title: Crimson Son

Author: Russ Linton

Series: N/A

Pages: 418

Date Published: June 16th, 2014

Publisher On Demand Publishing:

Format: Paperback

Genre: Superheroes!

Source: Goddess Fish Blog Tour

Synopsis:

His mother kidnapped, his superhero father absent, powerless Spencer Harrington faces a world of weaponized humans to prove himself and find the truth. Nineteen-year-old Spencer is the son of the Crimson Mask, the world's most powerful Augment. Since witnessing his mother's abduction by a psychotic super villain two years ago, he's been confined to his father's arctic bunker. When the "Icehole" comes under attack from a rampaging robot, Spencer launches into his father's dangerous world of weaponized human beings known as Augments. With no superpowers of his own save a multi-tool, a quick wit and a boatload of emotional trauma, Spencer seeks to uncover his mother's fate and confront his absentee superhero father. As he stumbles through a web of conspiracies and top secret facilities, he rallies a team of everyday people and cast-off Augments. But Spencer soon discovers that the Black Beetle isn't his only enemy, nor his worst.

~Guest Post!~

Have you ever wanted to be a superhero? Fly through the sky at supersonic speeds or juggle cars? Maybe the more subtle type where you can read people's minds or, most tempting of all, (if some crotchety, old philosophers are to be believed) turn invisible?  Would having those powers change who you are as an individual? Would it make the planet a better or worse place to live? 

I set out to answer some of those questions with Crimson Son in a unique way. Spencer, the main character, is the powerless son of a superhero. Through his experiences, we see how the existence of superpowers have changed the world.

The answer? Not that much.

People are people. They will do amazingly heroic things and devilishly evil things, regardless their ability to bench press a semi. Sure, there is a certain higher magnitude to those individual things and I suppose that covers the "super" part, but "power" is an entirely relative term.

For Spencer having no powers is a bum deal. It creates an antagonistic relationship with his father which only gets worse once he is thrust into his father's world. He uncovers several not-so-super truths about his father's secret past and then, has to fight against forces that had always dictated the course of his own life.

Turns out though, these same forces have controlled his father's every move, too.

Superpowers didn't make his father, the Crimson Mask, immune to human frailty. And not having powers, Spencer decides, doesn't make him helpless.

In most stories, the powerless kid, the four-eyed step-child, the whiny farm boy - they all receive some sort of magical power to solve their problems. Flight, magic wands and Jedi mind tricks. Those are all fabulous stories but what if you could solve your problems without the cheat code?

That's the real question and hopefully the one I've answered with Crimson Son. Yes, this book won't appeal to everyone. Real people, real problems all dressed up in a crazy, emotional, yet action-packed read. It's sorta like the fat guy in spandex. A fat guy confidently sporting spandex and giving the finger to the world.

You don't need anyone else's permission to be super, just your own.

~Try an Excerpt!~

THUMP.

Thump.

Thump.

My ear is pressed on the floor right where the downstairs neighbor has been tapping out S.T.F.U. in Morse code. Emily’s face comes into focus.

“Emily?”

She’s laying on the floor beside me, her eyes closed. I put a hand on her throat, blindly groping for a pulse. She’s got to have a pulse. Somewhere? I don’t know what the hell I’m doing, but I feel a shallow breath on my forearm. Glass shatters and I peek over the couch to see the robot shouldering through what’s left of the window.

I grab Emily’s arms and drag her closer to the couch. Broken shards of brick clatter onto the breakfast nook’s linoleum while the drone rips through the wall.

Awake, asleep, how many times do I have to relive this scenario? People diving on me, surrendering for me. Maybe this time, we can both get carried off into the sky. All of this can end.

A fog of mortar dust hangs in the air. The swaying shadows are sharply outlined against light from the busted overhead lamp, its naked bulb swinging wildly. Outside air rushes in as the robotic arms gouge more chunks from the wall.

The aromatic scent of the flowers in the courtyard carries on the breeze. I recall their bright colors, the complete opposite of the frozen hell I came from; a place I will absolutely, positively never see again. Never.

With that thought, I’m juiced. Alive. The entire world is waiting. Waiting for me to prove I don’t need to be locked up and praying for someone to come save me. If anyone needs to be saved right now, it’s Emily. She needs my help, and carrying her out of here isn’t going to work. You’ve gotta work with what you’ve got.

I’m going outside and the drone is coming with me.

~Meet Russ!~ 

In the fourth grade, Russ Linton wrote down the vague goal of becoming a “writer and an artist” when he grew up. After a journey that led him from philosopher to graphic designer to stay at home parent and even a stint as an Investigative Specialist with the FBI, he finally got around to that “writing” part which he now pursues full time.

Russ creates character-driven speculative fiction. His stories drip with blood, magic, and radioactive bugs. He writes for adults who are young at heart and youngsters who are old souls.

Russ lives in Denton, Texas where he writes beside an unnervingly quiet dog with the support of his history-obsessed son and his extremely patient wife. He regularly pursues community service and is currently scoutmaster for his son’s Boy Scout troop. He is a regular at the North Branch Writers’ Critique Group and has honed his craft through creative writing courses with Stanford University’s continuing studies program as well as writing workshops at local conventions.

Russ holds a black belt in Tae Kwon Do which was marginally more useful in a former life not making his living from behind a desk. He enjoys the outdoors and when he isn’t leading his scouts on virtual campouts in Minecraft, he’s making them haul their gear across state parks in the North Texas area.

Russ will be awarding a $10 Amazon GC to a randomly drawn winner and another winner will receive a signed copy of Crimson Son (US ONLY), both prizes via rafflecopter during the tour. A $10 Amazon GC will be awarded to a randomly drawn host.

a Rafflecopter giveaway