Dark Earth [Kindle Edition]

Jason Halstead (Author)

Book Description

Book 1 of the Dark Earth series

Eric's dreams were shattered when his wife was taken from him by a reckless driver on a snowy Alaskan road. All that remained was his newborn daughter, Jessica. Uprooting to provide a safer life for his child, Eric moved back home to northern Michigan.

Thirteen years later with Jessica raising the bar in everything she does, darkness returns to the Baxter's life in the form of a crazed gunman. Surviving the assassin and seeking answers, Eric has to dig into the secrets of an unbelievable past hidden between the pages of history.

Check out Devil's Icebox, the second book in the Dark Earth series.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Fast paced - interesting - heart wrenching." - Diana Oswald

"With a mix of Celtic myth, werewolves/changelings, witches, and secret organizations that protect the world as warders, you will get a wonderful mix of fantasy and fairy tale." - Cana

From the Author

Dark Earth practically flew off of my fingers. I used to spend a few weeks every year as an over-imaginative child in Michigan's upper peninsula, right where much of Dark Earth takes place. That made the setting something I've been wanting to right about for many years, I just need a character who had a reason to be there.

Finding that character was easier than I expected, I only had to tap into that inner father persona I'd never really dug into before. My own daughter was very young at the time (toddler age), and I was still learning a lot about what that meant since she was our first. It was pretty easy to imagine how I'd feel and what I'd do as she got older though, and that's what turned Eric into the man that he was.

Now I'm not saying I'd be anywhere near the character Eric is, but I'd like to think I could come close. After all, don't we all want to be a hero?

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• File Size: 414 KB
• Print Length: 226 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1451572964
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
• Publisher: Novel Concept Publishing LLC (May 22, 2011)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B0053KJ6PM
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,597 Free in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Free in Kindle Store)
  • #59 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Fantasy > Fairy Tales
  • #69 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > World Literature > Mythology

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Dark earth December 13, 2011

By North

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Two parallel world developing different abilities and cultures. Earth is technology, democracy, equality between the sexes and justice. Dark earth is magic, tyranny, sexist and cruel to the weak.

On Earth, a young witch is born, Jessica, who shows remarkable gifts in anything she tries. Her father Eric is her sole parent, her mother having died in a car accident moments before her birth. At the age of thirteen, Jessica is suddenly attacked. Opposing forces are in motion to either kill her or to have her moved to Dark Earth in order to create a bridge between the two worlds.

Both Eric and Jessica are really nice characters and the plot is well-paced. Unfortunately, once in Dark Earth, Jessica mainly disappears from the story-line. It is nice to follow what happens to Eric but some balance between the two heroes would have been better.

My biggest problem is that the book ends when things start to really be interesting and, from what I can gather from the two other books in the series, there is no direct follow-up to the adventures of Eric and Jessica. So, I'm left with an incomplete first part and nothing to look-forward too. Disappointing.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars A strong build becomes a big let-down. January 16, 2012

By LemurKat

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

This novel started strong - the characters were interesting, the writing good and the emotions portrayed convincing and powerful. Eric's dedication to his daughter was admirable and Jessica was appealing and interesting. There were some truly tense scenes and good horror/suspense novel fare. Then things started to go downhill. The warder was a weak and pointless character, serving only to dump some information and then essentially commit suicide in a truly stupid manner. And it deteriorated further when Jessica crossed the bridge and Eric trailed after her.

Firstly - I get the impression that Jessica crossed the bridge on her voalition - nobody had captured her or whatnot, so why was it just immediately assumed she had been captured by the Evil King (cliche)? The squalid, dark and nasty lives of the peasants seemed exaggerated and unnecessary, with the only ray of light being the Smith. Now, there's a tale I would like to hear more of. Instead, it appears as though the author no longer wanted to make much effort - plot points were rushed; emotions were told, not shown and there was repetition of phrases and other such grammatic errors that choke the plot and show that the editor lost interest about partway through (and with good reason, as so did I).

Dark Earth was nowhere near as interesting as Mundania (and can you say "rip-off", I could not help but think of Xanth and Florida). It was a generic fantasy kingdom ruled by greed. Yawn. And as for the concept of the Dark Earthians taking over our world - well, that's ridiculous, given their fickle loyalties, their selfish behaviour and their primitive weaponry, I would say it was all one big farce.

And why was Jessica - by far the most interesting character - relegated to little more than a trophy to be rescued and owned. She served no purpose and showed little initiative throughout the latter part of the plot. I would suggest that the author were to step back from the first person narrative - something like this would be much stronger were we able to see what Jessica was going through - to discover who had captured her as she went through the gate and to feel her distress at watching her father tormented.

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Peters out a bit December 11, 2011

By Jetpack TOP 1000 REVIEWER

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I picked up Dark Earth for free a while back. It's just under 3,300 locations.

It's well reviewed, though, interestingly, Ms. Oswald seems only to review the books of the author. Which she all loves. Hmm...

Anyway, Dark Earth starts out strongly. The father and daughter are good characters and the sense of mystery at the beginning as to what is going on is strong. Although the head warden is rather wasted. Rather incompetent of him to fail as badly as he does. He couldn't recognize the ward?

Dark Earth gets in trouble when it switches to the other world (Dark Earth). The author makes the huge mistake of having the people of Dark Earth refer to our Earth as Mundania. Now, as Piers Anthony has been using the term Mundania for 30+ years for the residents of Xanth to refer to our part of the world, the author ends up forcing the well read reader to compare his works to classics such as a Spell for Chameleon, or Castle Roogna. The author will never win that comparison, as when it comes up, I think about reading Crewl Lye. On the bright side, the smith is a good character.

Still, there is some talent, but the author needs to be careful about unintended comparisons with classic works of fantasy.

More About the Author

Short version: Jason Halstead is a science fiction and fantasy author who spends his free time with his wife and two children, writing, and powerlifting.

Long version: Jason's always wanted to write, but making a living at it seemed unobtainable. So instead of writing fiction, he turned to writing code. That paid the rent and let him dabble in fiction.

The common theme shared by almost every great writer is perseverance. Refusing to accept denial by traditional publishing and agents, Jason was finally accepted at a publisher that was harnessing the cresting wave of ebooks. That ride, although bumpy, gave him the experience and knowledge necessary to strike out and improve his craft.

Jason now has multiple books out and regularly helps out other budding authors struggling to makes sense of the industry. He's a stickler on editing and professionalism, but also believes wholeheartedly that his readers aren't just customers, they're his friends. He wants to know them and encourages them to visit his website (http://www.booksbyjason.com), his blog (http://booksbyjason.wordpress.com), and even more to email him ([e-mail]) so he can interact with them. His books come from his imagination and from his heart, and more than one of his friends has inspired him and shown up for at least a cameo appearance in one of his titles.