Blog Tour Stop including Excerpt, Review, Author Interview & Giveaway – Haven’s Creed by Parker Williams

BannerTemplate (8)

Author Name: Parker Williams

Book Name: Haven’s Creed

Release Date: December 14, 2015

Blurb:

An act of violence destroys his family and ends the life he knows. To escape his haunted past, he joins the military, where, as a sniper, he is trained to kill with precision and detachment. When a covert organization offers him a new purpose, he becomes Haven, an operative devoted to protecting the innocent when he can and avenging them when he cannot.

After ten years of battling the evil in the world, the life no longer holds the attraction or meaning it once had, and he’s ready to walk away. Then he meets Samuel, a young man forced from the age of twelve to work as a sex slave. If ever a man had a need for Haven, it is this one.

Yet nothing about this growing relationship is one-sided. Sammy gives Haven a stability he’s never known, and Haven becomes the rock upon which Sammy knows he can depend.

When Sammy reveals something about the enemy Haven has been hunting for months, Sammy fears it will destroy what they’ve built and he’ll lose his home in Haven’s heart.

Warning: This book contains violent and dark scenes

Pages or Words: 95,000 words

Categories:  Contemporary, Gay Fiction, Thriller, some romantic elements, some dark and violent imagery

960x350 (8)

Excerpt:

When I was fifteen, I killed my first man. Every time Arnie, the guy my mother was shacking up with at the time, drank, he got it into his head she was cheating on him. He’d start slapping her, and that turned into full-fledged beating within a few months. When he was done, he’d start on my sister.

There were nights she’d crawl into bed with me, sobbing. For the longest of times, she wouldn’t tell me what happened, but when I found blood on her pajamas, I knew. I’d tried to stand up to him, but he beat me badly enough that I couldn’t go to school for two weeks until the bruises faded. But I got off lucky. The things he did to Chrissy gave me nightmares. I’d hear her cry out and knew there was nothing I could do but hide in my bed, my pillow covering my head. He was bigger, meaner, and stronger than me, and he reminded me of that fact constantly.

The old lady never said boo about it. She always forgave him and tried to justify what he did by telling me how much stress he was under. How he was a good man and didn’t mean it. It was just the drinking, she swore. It was more like he was a bastard and she was his meal ticket.

I came home one night and found him whaling on her, my sister’s body crumpled in a heap, her head smashed in. The son of a bitch had a gun in his hand, slick with blood, and he threatened to kill them both, screaming he wouldn’t let her leave. She slapped him. It wasn’t hard, but it shocked him enough that he dropped the gun. I picked it up. He sneered at me and called me a weak-willed fag.

I looked at the gun I held in my hand. The instrument of my revenge. The means to saving my sister.

“Give me the gun, you fuck. It’s not a dick, you wouldn’t know what to do with it.”

The bullet I put in his forehead showed him how wrong he was. He lay on the floor, blood bubbling from the wound, and his eyes locked on mine as he took his last breath. I wanted that fucker to know it was the weak-willed fag who had done this to him.

 

 

Buy the book:

 Badge (8)

Amazon eBook

AllRomance eBook

Smashwords

 Createspace Paperback

 

BFD_review

Haven's CreedHaven’s Creed by Parker Williams
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Justifiable homicide.

In certain circumstances, homicide is justified when it prevents greater harm to innocents. Is it ok to kill someone if they deserve to die? This question has been debated for years…an eye for an eye and all that…and there is a fine line between revenge and justice.

I honestly could argue either side of this issue. I’m not sure it’s ok for anyone to take justice into their own hands even for a government agency, but let someone think about doing what these men did to one of my kids or nephews or friends’ kids and I’m ready to kill, regardless of what happens in the justice system. When you hear the stories of the folks Haven is sent to kill, it’s hard not to agree that what he’s doing is necessary. He was trained to be a killer at a very young age and has brought down hundreds of really bad people. However, as he gets older and kills more men and women, he loses a bit of himself every time. He starts to question the life he’s living and considers himself to be just one step up from those that he’s killing. He realizes that maybe there is more to life that what he’s doing and thinks maybe he wants to get out of this life.

“Eventually I would be carted off with a self-inflicted bullet through my skull. It was the only way anyone ever left this life.”

We are walked through a few of Haven’s jobs to get an understanding of the evil of his targets, and trust me there is a lot of evil. His biggest job leads him to Sammy. While I have a hard time with the MC’s thinking they are in love at first site, I do think that there is some hero worship on Sammy’s part that clouds his vision. The dom/sub elements of their relationship are believable and not surprising. After spending his life being controlled by others, Sammy needs to be in control now. Haven, who has been in control since he was 15, is all too happy to just be with Sammy and let Sammy make decisions for him and take care of him. Haven was finally able to let down his guard and let go. They perfectly balance each other’s needs. I liked seeing Sammy just take over and make sure Haven was loved and cared for.

Both of them need to work through issues that weren’t resolved in this book but that may not happen based on the status of their relationship in the epilogue. I think both of them could benefit from professional help because of all they’ve seen and done. They seemed to be a bit co-dependent and that generally isn’t a healthy situation.

The writing was very good and I liked the supporting cast of characters. I love that Haven’s sister’s name is Christina! There are definitely some gruesome scenes described in detail and quite a few triggers – child prostitution, rape and slavery; physical, sexual and emotional abuse; drug abuse; dog fighting; etc. If you have a hard time with any of these issues, this will be a very hard book for you to read.

View all my reviews

  Author Interview: 

images (16)Tell us a little about yourself, your background, and your current book.

Today I’m very grateful to be visiting BFD Book Blog!

My name is Parker Williams (or Will Parkinson if you prefer). I live in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with my husband, our four dogs, and three cats.

Girls&Boy

Cats

Dogs from left to right: Sadie, Brownie, Casey, Korey.

Cats: Star (my 18 year old kitty), Toeby in the back (so named because he’s polydactyl) and Cider manning the cleaning station.

Haven’s Creed is a huge departure from anything I’ve ever done in the past. Haven is not a nice man. He’s an assassin whose job it is to protect the innocent when he can, and avenge them when he can’t.

Q:  What book do you wish you could have written?

A:  To be honest, I’m really happy with what I’ve done. While I might enjoy another author’s work, I really don’t want to emulate them or wish I had written the book I enjoyed. Though there are two characters I have a hankering for. Wes & Tristan from Silvia Violet’s Wild R Farms. They play naughty pony games in my head.

Q:  How important are names to you (in your books)? Do you choose names based on liking the way it sounds or meaning? How do you choose your names?

A:  Usually it’s because I like the way a name sounds. K.C. Wells and I are currently working on the final Collars & Cuffs book, and one of the main characters is JJ. K.C. and I sat in her hotel room for about an hour looking for names we liked, then we had to find a picture of him, then we had to discuss what kind of person he would be. It was great fun!

Q:  Have you always been a great writer? Have you always enjoyed writing? How long have you been writing?

A:  I’m not sure I’ll ever be a great writer. I suppose it depends on how you define ‘great’. I want to enjoy writing the stories, and hopefully have others enjoy something I’ve written, too.

I started writing when I was fourteen. Then my lovely father (the previous two words were written in sarcasm font) asked me, “What are you wasting your time on that shit for? It’s never going to amount to anything.” (Yes, the words were burned into my memory.) And I believed it. I stopped writing. Threw everything I had written (six stories, all handwritten and about 130 pages each) into a box. Only one of them survived.

Q:  Which character, from any of your books, do you consider your greatest work?

A:  Until now, I would have said Benny Peters. He was…just wow. Almost universally liked, very protective of his boyfriend and their circle of friends. To me, Benny is a very alpha character and I love him to death. Now? Haven might have taken over. He’s got a depth to him that Benny lacked, and he’s also got a lot of flaws (like killing people for a living.) I really liked Haven, and I hope others can get past his violent ways and come to enjoy him, too.

Q:  What hobbies do you enjoy?

A:  My only real hobby is reading. My dogs and cats take up too much time demanding cuddles and love for me to do much beyond that. When I sit down on the couch to partake in a book, they’re always there, watching. Waiting for their opportunity to strike and insist on bathroom breaks or rubs.

 

 

Meet the author:

Parker Williams believes that true love exists, but it always comes with a price. No happily ever after can ever be had without work, sweat, and tears that come with melding lives together.

Living in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Parker held his job for nearly 28 years before he decided to retire and try new things. He enjoys his new life as a stay-at-home author and also working on Pride-Promotions, an LGBT author promotion service.

Where to find the author:

Connect with Parker on: Twitter: @ParkerWAuthor

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/parker.williams.7564

Or you can visit his website: www.ParkerWilliamsAuthor.com

 

Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28017836-haven-s-creed

HavensCreed-400x600

Publisher: Parker Williams

 

 

pride2
Tour Dates & Stops:

14-Dec

Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words, Multitasking Mommas, Rainbow Gold Reviews, Fangirl Moments and My Two Cents, The Fuzzy, Fluffy World of Chris T. Kat, Cate Ashwood, Wake Up Your Wild Side

15-Dec

Love Bytes, MM Good Book Reviews, Book Lovers 4Ever, A.M. Leibowitz, 3 Chicks After Dark

16-Dec

Divine Magazine, Cathy Brockman Romances, Unquietly Me, Louise Lyons, KathyMac Reviews, Havan Fellows

17-Dec

Bayou Book Junkie, Inked Rainbow Reads, Happily Ever Chapter, Nephy Hart, Iyana Jenna, Lee Brazil

18-Dec

The Blogger Girls, Carly’s Book Reviews, Wicked Faerie’s Tales and Reviews, Mikky’s World of Books, Tara Lain, Emotion in Motion

19-Dec

Sinfully Addicted to All Male Romance, Book Reviews, Rants, and Raves, BFD Book Blog, Jessie G. Books

21-Dec

Joyfully Jay, Molly Lolly, Bonkers About Books, Open Skye Book Reviews

 

Final (9)

Rafflecopter Prize: $30 gift card from All Romance eBooks
a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

 

Tagged , . Bookmark the permalink.

2 Responses to Blog Tour Stop including Excerpt, Review, Author Interview & Giveaway – Haven’s Creed by Parker Williams

  1. Parker Williams says:

    Thank you so much for hosting me today, and for reading Haven’s book. 🙂

  2. H.B. says:

    Congrats on the new release! Thank you for the excerpt!