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Paranormal Privateers Is Your Wildest Ride — Get Your Excerpt

Paranormal Privateers Is Your Wildest Ride–Get Your Free Excerpt! Why am I giving you this? It’s one of my favorite books. It’s my most complex and surprising. Please try it. And I’ve already given you seven gifts for Advent. This is the 8th.

  1. Advent Day 1 – Get Your Free Copy of Secret Supers on Advent Day 1

2. Advent Day 2 – Grab Villain’s Vacation for 67% Off, For Advent Day 2

4. Advent Day 4 –Three Free Excerpts from Three Secret Supers Books – Advent 4

5. Advent Day 5 – Get Your Free Copy of My Most Popular Book–Advent Day 5

6. Advent Day 6 – Three Free Zombie Detective Excerpts – Advent 6

7. Advent Day 7 –Meet My Undead Mother-in-law My Gift for Advent 7

Paranormal Privateers Is Your Wildest Ride – Why?

So what is it about and why do I like it? I give you a free sample below. It’s in a unique humorous zombie hero genre.

Happy Mother's Day
Paranormal Privateers All About
Diane Newby, in her natural environment.

But let’s start at the beginning: My Undead Mother-in-law, introduces the Newbys, a zombie family. The son, Don Newby, shows up in Zombie Turkeys. The family, led by the matriarchal undead mother-in-law Diane Newby, fights for zombie rights and any criminals that cross their paths. It helps that my zombies regenerate from injuries and get stronger each time.

This leads to Paranormal Privateers where the President has given them a letter of marquis to fight as privateers on behalf of the United States. They’re given assignments that are too dangerous or sensitive for the US to intervene directly. For example: they fight Somalian pirates in Somalia.

There are a ton of villains in the book (at least five). I have a whole post about them here: Meet My Villains from Paranormal Privateers. Plus, my book’s is on sale. My book is .99 from January 5th until January 12th, 2025. Merry Christmas! Get your copy by clicking here.

Paranormal Privateers Is Your Wildest Ride – Who’s Who

George Newby
Zombies Versus Aliens i
George Newby, a wide-body zombie.

A heavy tread down the stairs announced George Newby. His eyes shone red too, but while Diane was built like a middle-aged woman, George was a classic wide-body. His shoulders filled the stairway. You’d think he was a truck driver or a lineman rather than an accountant.

“Hi, Karen. Hi, Ron,” he rumbled. He hugged his daughter, as if he held a baby bird, and shook my hand without hurting me in his bratwurst fingers. His bright red eyes looked squarely into mine.

George and Diane are also on the back cover of Paranormal Privateers.

Buy it here!

“Sharon Windham – tall blonde bodyguard from England. “Her eyes shone bright red under a broad brow, with blonde eyelashes and a square chin. She could be a marble idol from a Greek temple. A zombie goddess”–from Paranormal Privateers

She was a former crime lord bodyguard who switched alliegiance to Diane Newby. Former Crossfit athlete, model, and competitive swimmer.. She deamt of becoming a UN translator. She speaks 11 languages: English, French, German, Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, Chinese, Korean, Arabic, Hebrew, Greek, and Russian. Trained in katana, nunchuks, and naginata.

My original character description I created before I wrote Paranormal Privateers.

Meet Lulu Guitierrez

Zombies Versus Aliens

Darkly beautiful bodyguard from Acapulco Mexico. 5′ 4″ Former cliff diver and rock climber. Former crime lord bodyguard, now protecting Diane Newby. Former MMA fighter and bodybuilder. Trained in katana, nunchuks, and naginata.

This is my character description I created before I wrote Paranormal Privateers.


Excerpt from Paranormal Privateers – Synthia

I examined my cell methodically. A drainpipe, two inches in diameter. A toilet. A hard bed. A steel door with hinges on the outside. I’d probably need to escape from somewhere other than this cell. Once they established a routine with my interrogation, I’d look for escape routes.

I chuckled to myself. Synthia Smith was my true name, in the sense it matched my birth certificate and other current identification. Before Synthia Smith, I was Rachel Rathbone, and before that Quinella Quincy, and so on, through the alphabet. My earliest memory was a toddler named Betty Botter. I had to be cute and pick pockets. Who knew what my original name was? Changing identities was a standard procedure for me with each new assignment.

This had been my most challenging operation, and I’d almost pulled it off. Those damn zombies! Had I blown up Harrods, the demands for billions in exchange for each national landmark’s safety would have been credible.

They had no idea of the bigger picture—and they wouldn’t get it. My terrorist cover story was completely true, but neither the terrorists nor Scotland Yard knew they were merely a means to an end. It was the truth: total subjugation of the United Kingdom was a reasonable goal for one like me, a child of the world’s greatest criminal.

I knew more about Papa Smith, my ostensible grandfather, than any of my siblings. I think I actually touched his feelings as a loving granddaughter, and I believe he shared more with me than with any of his other crime-lord grandchildren. Of course, he might be manipulating me, just as I tried to manipulate him. That was the most reasonable assumption, especially if we were actually related.

What Is Paranormal Privateers All About? – Synthia Smith, Part 2

Paranormal Privateers All About

Regardless, I felt fond of him. When I overthrew him and took over his crime empire, I thought I’d keep him alive. I enjoyed our talks via our secured video line. When he’d shared Sid Boffin’s failure with me, I clapped in delight as he praised me for staying in touch with him. I think that was genuine emotion and not an act. It was hard to tell sometimes.

A motion on the floor caught my eye as I sat on the bed. A cockroach crawled up the drain and onto the floor. Surprising. Usually, Britain kept their prisons pest-free. Then another. Then a dozen more. And then, hundreds.

This was not normal cockroach behavior. They did not come into the light in hordes. I sat cross-legged on the bed and watched the swarm with fascination. They climbed the door, walked its steel perimeter, and went back down the drain as others came up.

Curious, I nabbed one using my lightning reflexes. Examining it, I saw a metal dot under its thorax and a narrow tube attached to its abdomen. A pungent, acidic smell came from the tube. I looked back to the door. The acid ate a narrow trench in the door’s perimeter, right where the cockroaches still marched. Near the ceiling light, I saw mist curl away from the door.

Synthia Smith, Part 3

Meet My Villains from Paranormal Privateers
Paranormal Privateers All About

Modified and controlled cockroaches—like Sid Boffin’s cyborg-controlled animals. I’d read his Ph.D. paper as well as the Midley Beacon‘s declassified reports on his battles with the zombies. Since Sid was dead at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, this could only be one of my siblings or Papa Smith trying to rescue me.

Using my perfect memory of the twists and turns when they’d led me here hooded, counting my steps, and remembering the doors, I was confident I could retrace the route.

The last of the cockroaches marched around the door, leaving its trail of acid. They etched the door perhaps a centimeter deep. Couldn’t be much left.

I knocked on the door. Yes, it felt like a centimeter thick, and it echoed like it was almost cut through. Then someone knocked back, much harder.

“I’m here!” I called. I assumed this was my rescuer.

“Step back,” grated a curious, tinny voice, like it was coming through a small radio.

I stepped away.

CLUMP! CLUMP! Two metallic thunks hit the other side of the door. Then, SKREERK! The door tore off like the lid of a tin of meat.

I didn’t expect what I saw. A male silverback gorilla filled the doorway and the whole hallway beyond. Thick armor covered his body. Casually, he placed the door scrap against the hall.

“Follow me,” he said.


Paranormal Privateers Is Your Wildest Ride – What Readers Say

Action, humor, refreshing zombies; Yes please!

Top 7 Science Stories
Paranormal Privateers cover

5.0 out of 5 stars 

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 1, 2022

This series is the first I have read of Andy Zach’s and I am glad I picked it up! The series continues with lots of action, characters continue to be developed, humor, and the zombies are still not mindless shells ambling around awaiting an axe to the head. Still a refreshing take on zombies as a whole. I look forward to what Andy writes next! Audio Version: Phil Blechman and Raven Perez do a great job with their respective characters and the overall narration.

Nemesis

Click Below to Get Your Copy!

SciFi Fuel Paranormal Privateers
The cover of my third novel Paranormal Privateers. Click to get yours.

Any newsletter subscriber gets free audiobook codes–as long as they last. Click here to get yours. Don’t wait until they’re gone!

Do you want an autographed book? I’ll mail it directly to you with free shipping and I pay the taxes! Click here to get yours. My shipping may not be the same day, but at least it’s free–for you.

Got questions? Comments? Reach me directly by clicking here. I’ll get back to you as quickly as I can.

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Three Free Excerpts from Three Secret Supers Books – Advent 4

Villain's Vacation cover

Three Free Excerpts from three Secret Supers books for the 4th day of Advent. My three books are Secret Supers (.99), Villain’s Vacation (.99), and Secret Supers in Space (2.99). Get your copy by clicking here.

Secret Supers: What happens when disabled teens become superheroes with disabilities?

Secret Supers: What happens when disabled teens become superheroes with disabilities?

Book 1 of 3: Secret Supers  | by Andy Zach , Sean Flanagan, et al. | Sold by: Amazon.com Services LLC

4.6 out of 5 stars 

Ages: 10 years and up

Villain’s Vacation: Disabled teen superheroes have a summer vacation adventure (Secret Supers Book 2)

Villain's Vacation: Disabled teen superheroes have a summer vacation adventure (Secret Supers Book 2)

Book 2 of 3: Secret Supers  | by Andy Zach , Sean Flanagan, et al. | Sold by: Amazon.com Services LLC

4.6 out of 5 stars 

Ages: 9 years and up

Secret Supers in Space: The further adventures of disabled teen superheroes

Sponsored Ad - Secret Supers in Space: The further adventures of disabled teen superheroes

Book 3 of 3: Secret Supers  | by Andy Zach , Sean Flanagan, et al. | Sold by: Amazon.com Services LLC

4.8 out of 5 stars 

Ages: 10 years and up

Book 1 of 3: Secret Supers  | by Andy Zach , Sean Flanagan, et al. | Sold by: Amazon.com Services LLC

4.6 out of 5 stars

Three Free Excepts – Your First is Here

Meet My Heroes
Jeremy using his telekinesis
Meet My Heroes

“Oh no,” Dan yelled.

“What’s the matter, Dan?” Jeremy asked.

“My parents’ house is on fire!”

“Did you get a text or something?” asked Darla.

“Uh, yeah.”

“Sorry to leave you in the lurch, Darla, but we’ve got to go and help,” said Aubrey.

“What can you do?”

“More than you think.”

“I’ve already called my car,” said Jeremy.

“Your car? You’re not old enough to drive,” asked Darla.

“I made a flying car. I can summon it here. See, there it is.”

Darla’s, the cheerleaders’, Rich’s, and the football players’ mouths dropped open as Jeremy’s car came flying down the street, as fast as any other car. Jeremy and Dan had modified it so it had a rumble seat in the back for Kayla and two running boards with grips and safety lines like a fire truck, for Dan and Aubrey to stand.

“That is SO COOL,” screamed Darla.

The Secret Supers climbed into the car. Jeremy transferred carefully from his wheelchair to the driver’s seat, not using his telekinesis.

“We’ll come back if we can. Watch my electric wheelchair,” said Jeremy as they zoomed off.

“Wow, Jeremy! You’re really going fast,” said Aubrey over the rushing wind.

“I told you I was getting stronger. I think we’ll have to modify this again for full seats for you and Dan.”

From Secret Supers

Three Free Excerpts – Second Part

“Hurry,” said Dan. “They’re trapped in the basement!”

“Okay, let me open her up.” The car sped up, and they began passing other cars on the road.

“Fifty-five, sixty miles an hour! That seems to be my limit, now. Hey, did someone call the fire department?”

“I did before we started,” said Dan. “Oh hurry!, The smoke is getting thick! They’re lying on the basement floor with wet clothes over their faces!”

A line of cars at a red light blocked them.

“Hold on! Kayla, shields up!”

Shields up, Captain Jeremy!

The car faded into invisibility.

“No one saw that,” said Dan, holding on for dear life as they soared over the cars and traffic lights. “Please hurry! My little sister is coughing on the smoke.”

“I guess we can dispense with the roads. My GPS says if we take a twenty-degree turn—”

“Look out for the high-tension wires,” screamed Aubrey.

Six high-voltage wires blocked their path, less than twenty feet away.

“Hold on,” yelled Jeremy.

The car dropped like an elevator with its cable cut. The Secret Supers ducked, and the wires passed where their heads had been a moment before. They could feel the hairs on their heads lift up from the intense voltage a foot away.

“Look out, a tree,” shouted Aubrey.

The car swerved around and over an oak tree blocking their path.

The Elanga’s house blazed ahead, a pillar of fire and smoke rooted in the disintegrating house.

Swooping down, Jeremy brought the car to a skidding halt in front of the house. A wall of heat burned their faces. Acrid smoke assailed their noses. In the distance, fire engine sirens blared.

Oh no! Dan, are we too late?

From Secret Supers

Three Free Excerpts – Your Second Excerpt follows

Meet Super Villains – Loretta

Meet My Villains
Three Free Excerpts
Loretta disguised as Becky Robinson in Villain’s Vacation

A popup window appeared on my computer screen. “Loretta, do you wish to accept a video call from John Smith?” I read. I quickly clicked Accept.

As soon as a black-and-gray-haired man appeared on my computer screen, I said, “Oh, Papa Smith, I want to give up.”

“Why would you do that, Loretta? You’re one of the most successful children in our family business.”

“Bah! Four crummy kids beat me.”

“Well, yeah, but you didn’t know they were there in Maryville and they would come after your agent.”

“Sure, I knew they were there. They were all over the national news this past year.”

“But everyone just thinks they’re regular disabled kids. Heck, Andy Zach published their story as fiction. No one knew they had superpowers until we caught them on video defeating your agent.”

Three Free Excerpts – Loretta – Part 2

2021 Reviews Villain's Vacation Book
Three Free Excerpts
Click to get your Villain’s Vacation Audiobook

“The telekinesis kid, Jeremy, is really powerful, but the telepathic pair, Kayla and Dan, can’t be stopped or intercepted. That’s before you add a real super girl, Aubrey. Their disabilities gave them the perfect disguises.”

“That’s an idea. What if we publish that video and tell everyone they have superpowers? The fame would disrupt their lives and maybe distract them so we can take over Maryville.”

“Hmmm. Maybe. But that would also point back to us as the source of the video. And people might think it’s just a deep fake.”

He sighed. “You’re right. The government might also enlist them in the NSA or some other secret agency. We don’t want any attention from them. Tell you what. Take a vacation. You haven’t had a break for a long time. Maybe if you do something completely different, you’ll come up with a solution to the Secret Supers.”

“There’s a good idea, Papa. My last one was in Paris? Three years ago?”

“Yes. That was after you successfully rigged that state election and got our candidate elected.”

“What would be a complete change for me? Something outside a city, something fun—I know!”

“What?”

“I’ll go to Coaster World!”

“That’s right. You always loved coasters as a kid.”


(See my book, Villain’s Vacation for more details.)

Three Free Excerpts – Get Your Third Here

Meet Super Villains – Papa Smith,

“Hi, Loretta. Are you all refreshed from your Paris vacation?”

“Hi, Papa Smith. Yes. I had a lot of fun waterskiing on the Riviera. I also cheated the casino in Monaco out of a million bucks.”

“Of course.”

 “But now I’m refreshed and bored. I haven’t had a job since I left for Coaster World.”

“I’m glad to hear you say that. I’ve got a challenging assignment for you—the Secret Supers.”

Meet Super Villains – Papa Smith, Part 2

Produce Your Audiobook Secret Supers in Space
Three Free Excerpts
Secret Supers in Space audiobook cover. Click to listen.

“Ugh! I sure want to get back at them. But they’re backed up by the NSA. I’m not eager to tackle them and the US government.”

Papa stroked his hair. “The best cure for falling off a horse is to get back on. How about if I get a partner for you?”

“They’d better be awfully competent. I can’t really work with anyone who’s incompetent, or average, or merely a genius.”

“How about if you and I work together?”

I gasped. Papa Smith had raised me. He’d been very vague about what happened to my parents, so he was the only parent I’d known. I’d dreamt of working with him in the family crime business, but I hadn’t seen much of him once I went to college and began teaching, over fifty years ago. He was the one person I was pretty sure was smarter than me. Or at least he knew more.

Want More Than Three Free Excerpts? Click to Get Your Own Copy!

Produce Your Audiobook
Meet My Heroes
Three Free Excerpts
Secret Supers in Space audiobook cover. Click to listen.

Any newsletter subscriber gets free audiobook codes–as long as they last. Click here to get yours. Don’t wait until they’re gone!

Do you want an autographed book? I’ll mail it directly to you with free shipping and I pay the taxes! Click here to get yours. My shipping may not be the same day, but at least it’s free–for you.

Got questions? Comments? Reach me directly by clicking here. I’ll get back to you as quickly as I can.

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Meet My 7th Grade Superheroes from Secret Supers

Secret Supers audiobook cover

Meet My 7th Grade Superheroes from Secret Supers.

Each student has different disability and gets a different superpower.

You can learn all about them by clicking here. The book is only .99. I decribe how each gets their superpower–and how they use it to fight crime.

But . . if you wait until Sunday, November 17th . . .

My book is free November 17th to 19th. . Get your copy by clicking here.

For each heroic teen (or pre-teen), I’ll give you a description from my book.

First, you get the first description of Jeremy Gentle in Secret Supers.

Meet My 7th Grade Superheroes – Jeremy Gentle

“Dear diary,” Jeremy dictated into his app on his tablet in his bedroom. “Today, I became a superhero.” Jeremy Gentle stopped, uncertain. Was that the best way to start his journal? Might as well just tell the story. He needed to sleep. He had a big algebra test tomorrow at Maryville Middle School.

Yesterday, school went as usual. Same old seventh grade. There were the same handicapped kids in the same class. Same problems transferring to the toilet from my wheelchair. Nothing new.

Oh, I take that back. I had one new, bad thing happen— I fell during physical therapy. There I was, between the parallel bars, halfway done. I tried with all my might to take another step. I couldn’t. My muscles screamed, at their end. My legs collapsed, and I hung like a marionette from the gait belt, held by my therapist, Fred Bernstein.

For once I was glad I was a skinny, twelve-year-old. I’m not even eighty pounds.

I gave up completely and flopped bonelessly. I might as well be on the floor, I thought. And then I was.


Meet My 7th Grade Superheroes – Dan Elanga.

Hi, Dan!” Jeremy called to his best friend Dan Elanga as he rolled into the bus from the wheelchair lift. He drove to the wheelchair spot where the driver strapped him down.

“Hi, Jeremy! You sound excited. What’s up?” As usual, a big grin split Dan’s round, brown face. He’d come from Cameroon as a child. He’d been born blind, and his parents sacrificed their successful business to emigrate to the US where they felt he’d have better chances.

“Oh, nothing.” Jeremy wasn’t quite ready to share his secret, even with his best friend. Especially not with the bus driver tightening the wheelchair straps.

“That sounds like you’ve got a secret! C’mon, tell your old friend Dan!”

Jeremy gestured with his head toward the driver and then remembered Dan couldn’t see. As much as he disliked cerebral palsy, he still preferred having that to blindness.

The driver returned to his seat and drove off.

“Okay, but you can’t tell anyone.”

“Sounds like a good one!”

“Everyone will think I’m crazy if this gets out. Or I might be put in a circus.”

“I can’t wait to hear! You know I’ll keep it. Pinky promise.” Dan held out his big fist, pinky extended.

Dan was huge for thirteen, six feet tall and bulky and Jeremy was small for twelve. Jeremy’s small pinky curled around Dan’s big one.


Meet My 7th Grade Superheroes – Kayla Verdera

Kayla
Kayla of the Secret Supers Her superpower complements Dan’s

Kayla Verdera screamed in frustration as she lost her balance and fell from her walker. Not this again! She had been wiping the drool from her face with her handkerchief and as she placed it in her purse at the side of the walker, she overbalanced and fell down. Her helmeted head bounced off the floor next to Dan Elanga.

“Oh, Kayla, are you all right?” asked their special ed homeroom teacher, Bonita Fuller. Worry creased her face.

“Let me help her get back up,” Dan Elanga offered. He gently picked her up from where he heard her fall and placed her back in the walker. Guided by Mrs. Fuller, Kayla sat at her desk. The other students, Jeremy and Aubrey, watched with concern.

“Thanks, Dan,” said Mrs. Fuller. “I can pick her up, but not as easily as you. Kayla, are you all right? Do you need to go to the infirmary?”

Kayla signed “Okay” and then shook her head. She lost her power of speech and her balance when she contracted spinal meningitis last year. That also caused her to drool at times. Her fingers flew over the tablet on her desk. A female voice spoke from the tablet. “Sorry. I lost my balance.”

Kayla carried her tablet everywhere. It hung in easy reach on her walker. She used it to talk to people, picking out words and then sending them to her voice app to speak them. She could pick any voice she wanted, and she used the pop star, Mackenzie Ziegler.


Meet My 7th Grade Superheroes – Aubrey Wilcowsky

Aubrey Wilcowsky
Aubrey Wilcowsky – her power is unique

Aubrey towered over her, big and burly, a kind of tomboy and athlete. Kayla felt small and skinny next to her. Aubrey could talk a knob off a door and was outgoing and friendly to a fault. Kayla only talked when she had to. Now I can’t talk at all. Aubrey just muddled through school. She was a year older but still in our grade. Even though I was quiet, I had been popular with popular kids in school—until I started using a walker. Aubrey just hung around with the sports crowd.

They became friends as Kayla tutored her. Their friendship survived Aubrey’s double amputation. She’d just been fitted for prosthetic legs when Kayla got her spinal meningitis. Aubrey didn’t care. She was a brick.

Readers Speak About Secret Supers

A fun story!

Flying car
Meet My 7th Grade Superheroes
Flying Car from Andy Zach’s book, Secret Supers. Click to follow Andy on Amazon.

4.0 out of 5 stars 

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 16, 2022

Jeremy has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair to get around. He is in a special education class with Dan, who is blind, Kayla, who was mute and used a walker, and Audrey, who lost her legs and uses crutches. One afternoon, when conducting experiments in his laboratory, Jeremy accidentally gives himself superpowers. . . .

This book was a fun story that placed individuals with disabilities front and center in the story. While the superpowers allow them to do things they wouldn’t have been able to do otherwise, it is what they choose to do with their powers that makes all the difference. Also, even with their superpowers, their initial disabilities aren’t erased, which I think is important. I liked to development of the characters and how they interacted and supported each other; I only wish the book had been longer so I could have spent more time with them. I am glad that there’s a sequel already published, and I look forward to reading/listening to it.

Jennifer C.

A fun concept in the super-hero genre

Chapter 12 icon for Secret Supers
Meet My 7th Grade Superheroes

February 25, 2024

This was a fun concept in the super-hero genre, it had everything that I was looking for in this type of book. The characters were interesting and had a great overall feel to this world. I enjoyed what I read and can’t wait for the sequel. Andy Zach has a great writing style and I’m glad I got to read this.

I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

Kat M

Click Below to Get Your Copy!

Secret Supers audiobook cover
Meet My 7th Grade Superheroes
Secret Supers audiobook

Any newsletter subscriber gets free audiobook codes–as long as they last. Click here to get yours. Don’t wait!

Do you want an autographed book? I’ll mail it directly to you with free shipping and I pay the taxes! Click here to get yours.

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