BLOG TOUR: Conspiracy of Blood and Smoke

Conspiracy of Blood and Smoke 
by Anne Blankman

416 pages

Publisher: Balzer + Bray

Release Date: April 21st 2015

The girl known as Gretchen Whitestone has a secret: She used to be part of Adolf Hitler’s inner circle. More than a year after she made an enemy of her old family friend and fled Munich, she lives with a kindly English family, posing as an ordinary German immigrant, and is preparing to graduate from high school. Her love, Daniel Cohen, is a reporter in town. For the first time in her life, Gretchen is content. 

But then, Daniel gets a telegram that sends him back to Germany, and Gretchen’s world turns upside-down. And when she receives word that Daniel is wanted for murder, she has to face the danger she thought she’d escaped-and return to her homeland.

Gretchen must do everything she can to avoid capture and recognition, even though saving Daniel will mean consorting with her former friends, the Nazi elite. And as they work to clear Daniel’s name, Gretchen and Daniel discover a deadly conspiracy stretching from the slums of Berlin to the Reichstag itself. Can they dig up the explosive truth and get out in time-or will Hitler discover them first?

Chloe Grace Moretz as Gretchen Müller, an eighteen-year-old student who used to be part of Adolf Hitler’s inner circle. After living in England for over a year, she’s certain that she’s left her old life in Munich behind her forever. But when her love, Daniel, has to return to Germany and then vanishes without a trace, she decides to go after him—even if it means plunging into the nightmares of her past…

Luke Grimes as Daniel Cohen, Gretchen’s nineteen-year-old Jewish beau. When a family tragedy forces him to go to Germany, Daniel is convinced that he can keep himself safe. He’s about to discover that the dangers confronting him are far worse than he had dreamed—and that his past has ensnared him in a deadly conspiracy.

Scarlett Johansson as Monika Junge, a young Berlin prostitute who is shot dead in the street. After Daniel is publicly accused of her murder, he realizes that her death is no random crime. What secrets have been hidden by her assassination? 

 

Liam Neeson as Iron Fist Friedrich, Monika’s former boss and the head of a Ringverein, a gang in Berlin’s organized criminal underworld. Friedrich may be tough and brutal, but he’s also an avowed anti-Nazi and is willing to help Gretchen and Daniel. But what terrible price might they have to pay for his protection? 

Val Kilmer as Hermann Göring, the Minister of the Prussian Interior and a member of Hitler’s Cabinet. Now that all of Berlin’s police forces fall under his jurisdiction, Göring has become one of the most powerful Nazis in the capital. Not even he, though, can eradicate the rumors swirling about him and Monika Junge.

Kevin Spacey as Adolf Hitler, the newly installed Chancellor of Germany. He’s only been in office for a few weeks, and his grip on power is tenuous—at any point, President Hindenburg can have him fired from his post. Ever since their relationship imploded over a year ago, Gretchen has lived in constant fear of him. Now she must decide how far she’s willing to go in order to clear Daniel’s name—and if she can solve the secrets behind the conspiracy that is slowly gathering all of Berlin in a stranglehold.

"We must get out of here immediately," Daniel interrupted, seizing Gretchen's hand. He pulled her out of the office. Somewhere she heard the creaking sound again, but close enough this time that she recognized it--a floorboard whining under someone's weight. They raced into the parlor just as the unmistakable pop and fizzle of gas lights flaring into life sounded from the front hall. As a yellow glow flickered and grew, a black shape dashed through the entryway straight toward them. Gretchen stumbled backward, her heart surging into her hart. Nearby, she heard Daniel cursing and wrenching the pick free from the lock. The shape flew at them, sharpening into the bone-thin, black-dressed figure of Frau Fleischer. She carried an ancient-looking shotgun. Gretchen let out a harsh cry as the landlady swung the weapon up and jammed it against her forehead. "Don't move," Frau Fleischer snapped. "The men will deal with you as soon as they arrive. Now if you so much as breathe, I'll blast your head off."

Then he kissed her. His lips on hers were as light as a breath. And she couldn't stop the horrible thought that his touch felt like a farewell.

And I got permission for an official excerpt, too! It starts in the middle of a scene, so bloggers might want to include the following lead-in/explanation instead of just including the excerpt, okay? Here's the lead-in:

After Daniel finds out he's been framed for a murder in Berlin, he and Gretchen journey to the capital to clear his name. Once they find the boarding house where the victim used to live, they decide to snoop around the office of Frau Fleischer, the landlady. But they're about to discover that the victim was mixed up in something far more dangerous than anything they could have imagined...

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Anne Blankman may have been meant to be a writer because her parents named her for Anne of Green Gables. She grew up in an old house with gables (gray, unfortunately) in upstate New York. When she wasn't writing or reading, she was rowing on the crew team, taking ballet lessons, fencing and swimming. She graduated from Union College with degrees in English and history, which comes in handy when she writes historical fiction.

After earning a master's degree in information science, Anne began working as a youth services librarian. Currently, she lives in southeastern Virginia with her family. When she's not writing young adult fiction, she's playing with her daughter, training for races with her husband, working at her amazing library branch, learning to knit (badly), and reading.

Anne Blankman is the author of PRISONER OF NIGHT AND FOG, the first in a three-book deal slated for publication in spring 2014 from Balzer + Bray | HarperCollins. She is represented by Tracey Adams of Adams Literary.

US Only | Giveaway ends: April 22nd, 2015

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Tour Post: It’s The End Of The World As We Know It

IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT

by Saci Lloyd

Pages: 288 (paperback)

Publisher: Hodder Children's Books

Publication Date: 1st January 2015

ISBN: 1444916688
Received From:  Hodder Children's Books

Summary 

Welcome to a world controlled by a megalomaniac Lolcat. A world where data pirates, zombies and infobots on surfboards roam free. A world at war over cheese ... When teenager Mikey Malone gets sucked through a wormhole into this parallel world, he discovers a power-crazed corporation is planning to use Earth as a dumping ground for an uncontrollable poisonous algae. It's a race against time for Mikey and his rebel friends to stop the ruthless tyrants from getting their way.

Review

"You must trust the mystery. No snowflake ever falls in the wrong place."

Where. To. Start... It took me a little time to figure out if this book was the creation of a loon or a complete genius, for the record I settled on the latter. It’s The End Of The World As We Know It is by far the most brilliantly bonkers book I’ve ever read. It’s unique, funny and mind-blowingly complex with something in there for literally everyone. From zombies to pirates, surfboard-riding robots to clones, and that’s not even mentioning the war over a massive ball of cheese. It sounds insane, it know! But trust me when I say this, it’s the best kind of madness and I couldn’t put it down.

It’s The End Of The World As We Know It is about a boy named Mikey and what happens when a wack-a-doodle scientist rips a whole in the fabric of time and space creating a parallel universe. The book follows Mikey and a whole host of other characters as they try to get him back to Earth after falling through the wormhole. However, it’s not going to be easy as the parallel universe, DEVA, is being destroyed by a sex-crazed algae called UltraRed. Hearing about the wormhole the Korporation thinks Earth will be the perfect dumping ground for the UltraRed… oh and did I mention the head of the Korporation is a cat named Önska.

The whole book is barmy but I think that the reason it works so well is because of its rag-tag group of heroes. We have Kix, a Kickass Pansexual Being. Blitzer the BlitZerbot. Professor Mori the… well I think he was a robot of some kind. Oh and DØØ & Σëë, who are in my opinion, the best part of this book… these surfboard flying infobots never failed to make me laugh. Although if you have an issue with spelling in books then they may not be your favourite characters as they have a habit of swapping the first letters of words around as they find the human tongue a little on the dull side.  It’s this misfit group that brings the story to life; each one is unique and well thought through. Sometimes when reading a book that’s as complex as this one characters can fade and the begin to feel like nothing more than an after thought. However, Saci Lloyd has seamlessly put together a cast that feels relevant and exciting.

I think the only part I can fault is a personal thing, and that’s the dialogue. I struggled a little with the way Saci choose to voice the population of DEVA, I mean I’m not a stickler for grammar, not even close, however, there were moments where I had to reread a sentence or two which did feel a little tedious at times.

Overall, It’s The End Of The World As We Know It is a great read. It’s funny and new and unputdownable. The story flows and there isn’t a single chapter that isn’t filled with something out of the ordinary. I would recommend this book to anyone that is in need of something a little different and anyone in need of an adventure.

"Maybe I don't want to survive no more... maybe I wantz to live." 

**I received this book as an ARC from Hodder Children's Books to read & review. This is a 100% honest review.**

Q&A with Saci Llody

author of It's The End of The World As We Know It

What was the inspiration behind It’s The End Of The World As We Know It?

Oh, it’s full of things I’m super passionate about – mostly the future, and what do we want it to look like. I feel we are sleepwalking towards some very scary stuff and I want us to stop and think about it. I also wanted to write something funny and play about with the world… I’m a bit over the apocalypse.

The residents of Deva have a rather strange way of speaking, why did you choose to write it that way?

Umm, let me peer into my subconscious. There’s a variety of dialects going on… ONSKA, of course, speaks like a LOLcat. The synthetics often have little tics like zeds for s’s (not sure how to spell that) I don’t know why… maybe feelz a bit like the futur? Captain Duchamp has a little French thing going on, to make him feel like he hasn’t completely sold out to the machines – probably in the same way that people who pirate load of music occasionally buy vinyl to prove to themselves they’re still good people…

Think quick! You’ve been sucked through a wormhole into a parallel universe, what is the first thing you do?

Get myself a robot buddy

Who was your favorite character to write and why? For the record, mine are DØØ & Σëë. They are irilliantly bnsane.

Oh mine is probably Kix. She’s so angry all the time. And so curvy.

Where did your love for writing come from?

I don’t love it. It kills me every day sitting in front of this screen, but I am HORRIBLY COMPELLED.

If you could pick anyone, whom would you cast as Kix & Mikey in a film adaptation?       

Nikki Minaj and Seth Rogan’s younger brother/clone

What three books would you recommend to readers of It’s The End Of The World As We Know It?

Hitchiker’s Guide To The Galaxy

The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole

SuperSadTrueLoveStory (for more adult readers. Very cool)

Here’s a random one for you. If you could live in a fictional universe that’s ALREADY been written, which one would you choose and why?

Lord of the Rings. Totally be Tom Bombadil.

What’s the most challenging part of the writing process for you?

The writing part. I love the thinking it up and the final touch ups.

In one sentence tell us why we should read It’s The End Of The World As We Know It?

It’s so much funnier than a cup of warm sick.

Lastly, is there going to be a sequel?

Dangle mah donglez! Of course. I’m on it right now.

GIVEAWAY

 The lovely people at Hodder Children's Books have sent me a signed, yes I said signed, copy of It's The End Of The World As We Know It to giveaway to one of you lovelies. 

UK ONLY

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