Three ghosts.
One psychic.
Zero patience for corporate greed.
A hilarious, fast-paced romp through the supernatural
underbelly of the Isle of Man!
Three Shades Called
Horace
Witchery, Trickery, Love & Serendipity
by Jinx James
Genre: Humorous Paranormal Thriller
"delightfully
twisted...offbeat supernatural romp" Amazon Review ★★★★★
"A unique and hilarious story with a lot of twists and awesome revenge.
I loved the ending!" Amazon Review ★★★★★
They have the magic, the visions, and
the afterlife on their side. But will it be enough to stop an ROI Reaper of the
airwaves from hostilely taking over their dream?
Their "Super
Moon Show" is the viral hit of the year. Too bad the stars are all dead.
Pansy Peonie is a
psychic with a problem. Actually, three problems, and they’re all called
Horace. As the host of the world’s craziest paranormal livestream, she spends
her nights herding her team of opinionated ghosts and her days trying to keep
her witch mother from accidentally summoning something worse.
But when you’re
the top-rated supernatural show on the internet, you don't just attract
spirits—you attract sharks.
Enter Rollo
Mansell: a ruthless media mogul who doesn't care about the afterlife unless he
can monetise it. He wants the show. He wants the ghosts. And he’s not above
using a little corporate necromancy to get what he wants.
Now, Pansy is
caught in a high-stakes tug-of-war between the living and the dead. To save her
show—and her skin—she’ll have to outmanoeuvre a billionaire, survive a voodoo
conspiracy, and figure out if Rollo’s assistant, Max, is actually on her side.
Featuring a new
cover and a tighter, more suspenseful edit, this revised edition of Three Shades Called Horace will
keep you on the edge of your seat, while laughing uncontrollably.
If you love
fast-paced paranormal suspense with sharp wit, mysterious secrets, and un
forgettable
characters, dive into the newly polished edition of Three Shades Called Horace ]
**Celebrate the relaunch and get it FREE until Oct 3rd!!**
Amazon * Books2Read * Bookbub
* Goodreads
Guest Post with Jinx James:
THE SETTING FOR MY BOOK:
One of my favourite authors, Lawrence Durrell,
wrote a series of novels set in the Greek Islands. In one, he talks about an odd condition
called Islomania. Some people find being on islands irresistible. As he put it,
it “fills them with an indescribable intoxication.”
Confession
time. I’ve always been one of those people.
Yes,
I’ve spent a lot of time on quite a lot of islands too; from Corfu to Lord Howe
Island to Anguilla, San Andrés and Puerto Rico plus a good few in between. And
to round it off, now I even live on an Australian island called Tasmania!
You’ve probably already spotted the hidden “mania” bit - and that brings us
quite neatly to my Jinx James book entitled, THREE SHADES CALLED HORACE:
Witchery, Trickery, Love & Serendipity.
It’s a
paranormal, nutty-comedy crime thriller that mostly takes
place on the Isle of Man, where (sorry) I also spent a bit of time in my
misguided youth. It’s the kind of place where every time you cross the Fairy
Bridge you have to say hello to the fairies. You wouldn’t dare not
to acknowledge them! I met a psychic there too. The IOM is and always has been
one of those fascinating super-witchy places. It’s set in the middle of the
Irish Sea, where lots of weird things still always seem to keep on happening.
In my
story, there’s a white witch, Fenella, and her daughter, Pansy, a medium (our
heroine).
But
first you’ll meet our Hero, Max, our villain, Rollo, and a nutty cast,
including the stars of our show, the THREE SHADES CALLED HORACE.
Here’s
just a taste of the opening scene, set in London:
“Max is
in the chauffeur-driven vintage Bentley car of his autocratic boss, media mogul
Rollo.
‘Shades did you say?’ says Rollo.
‘What the hell are they?’
Max
switches neatly over to his ice-cool “can-do” mode. His boss always likes that.
‘Won’t be
a sec sir, I’ll just verify the exact definition of ‘Shades’ for you.’ he says,
fiddling with his phone.
‘Right.
Here we are, Mr Mansell:
‘Shades -
Dead people who inhabit the afterlife.’
Max reads
this out, followed by the explanatory text, in a flat, colourless GPS-style
voice.
‘These
undead beings can sometimes be contacted and communicated with by
Seers/Psychics/Mediums. Legend has it that under certain circumstances, Shades
can even be brought back to life again - but only for very limited time
periods.’
Rollo
weighs all this up with an air of bored disbelief.
‘Dead
people coming back to life again… and wandering around?’ he says, sounding
and looking bewildered. ‘Has it seriously come to this, Max? You’re telling me
that people genuinely want to watch this rubbish on TV?’
‘Yes, sir
... and according to Julian, sir, tens… perhaps even hundreds of millions of
them!’”
Three Shades Called Horace
has one of my favourite themes, characters taking on corporate crime and greed,
and I do it the way I see life – dark humour is my weapon of choice.
Revised and re-paced for maximum
suspense and a whammer of a finish! This New Edition includes an exclusive
link to claim the story's "vanished chapters" as a free bonus
download.
I really hope
you’ll like it.
All the
best,
Jinx
Over on the
ever-lovely Isle of Man, it’s turned out to be the most sensational evening.
The Three Shades, Horace Flaccus, Horace Walpole and Horace Silver are already
there, hovering in the twilight, when PP and Fenella finally arrive on Pansy’s
motorbike. They’re late as usual, but The Three Shades don’t seem to
mind. After all, they do have all the time in the world, don’t they?
The team is
getting together at dusk, at an ancient place where they like to meet when the
weather’s nice. It’s in the middle of the most beautiful circle of prehistoric
standing stones on the island’s southwest. This mystical place is situated on a
remote hillside, one side of which looks across to the mountains and the other
down towards the sea.
Hearing the
vroom of a hot, racing motorbike heading up the hill towards them, the three
ghosts turn their heads expectantly. Pansy, aka PP, parks behind the largest of
the enormous stones.
She appears
first, walking briskly towards the Three Shades, unbuckling, lifting her helmet
off and shaking out her hair. Behind her, Fenella, her older, White witch
partner, picks her way over the rough ground.
‘We just have
to tell all you Horaces straight away!’ says Pansy, getting excited now.
‘Barrett says the ratings for the last show were amazing!’ she gushes, adding,
‘he even told us they were “Earth-shattering!” she grins.
‘Er, would it
be possible for you to explain to us what exactly that means, Ma’am?’ asks the
ever-polite Walpole.
‘What it means, gentlemen,’ says PP, grinning, ‘is that not only are we already getting a huge worldwide audience, but it’s growing bigger and bigger with every show!’
‘And after the
last one,’ Fenella butts in excitedly, ‘we’ve had so many people trying to sign
up that Barrett has been overwhelmed. His computers and the social media
department can’t cope. He’s having to put on more people every day to handle
it!’
‘Yes, but, um,
what precisely does all of this mean, Ms Pansy?’ asks Flaccus.
‘Look, I’m
sure we explained it to you before, Horace. Don’t you remember? The
viewers of our Supermoon show all over the world are also a part of the
show, right? They’re active participants with their “Cozmics”, says
Pansy.
‘Well, yes, my
dear, you certainly did,’ said Flaccus, with that lovely smile of his. ‘But I’m
afraid that was the part I could never quite understand,’ confesses the Roman
Horace. ‘I’m so sorry,’ he adds, looking seriously embarrassed now.
‘Not to worry
at all, Horace,’ says Pansy gently. Flaccus has always been her favourite, even
though she always enjoys teasing him.
‘Did you know
that on the next show,’ she says, ‘the Supermoon is going to be the
closest it’s been to the Earth for sixty-nine years! Yes! And that
means that if we can add the viewers’ Cozmics together with all of that extra
Moon energy,’ she tells them excitedly, making a fingers-crossed sign.
At that point,
Pansy pauses, grins, and says, ‘Well, just try to imagine the power
involved!’
‘The technical
guys even think we might have enough energy,’ says Fenella, ‘to maybe bring you
back in full colour… and all of you at the same time!’
‘All of us in
colour… and at the same time?’
says Horace Walpole, getting really excited himself now.
‘Are you sure?’
says Horace Silver, ‘In full colour?’
‘Absolutely!’
says the by-now almost gushing Fenella! ‘Bye-bye to all that fuzzy black and
white stuff, eh?’
They can all
feel the excitement rippling the air between them. The psychic, the witch, and
the three Horaces gathered in the magic circle of prehistoric standing stones.
‘It’s called “collective
mental focus”,’ says PP. ‘And that means that if it all works out, you
three guys will materialise as psychic energy through me!’
‘And that’d be
sooo cool, baby! Right?’ smiles jazzman Horace Silver.
Fenella grins
again and nods; ‘But, how about this? If we can get enough Cozmics from the global
audience, all three of you Shades may even seem to fully come back to life for
a while!’
This time, all
three of them just stand there, totally gobsmacked!
‘Now, nobody
is certain exactly what will happen,’ says Fel, ‘but whaddya reckon,
gentlemen? Let’s give it a go, eh?’ she gushes.
By now, they’re
all totally in love with the idea… and it shows.
‘I’m afraid I
still don’t quite understand it,’ Flaccus says to her, almost flapping his toga
with excitement, ‘but wouldn’t it be wonderful if it did actually happen?
Especially for me after two thousand years in the shade!’
‘Hey, you
could even really “Seize the day!” says Pansy!
* * *
“It is
charming to totter into vogue.”
Horace Walpole
1717-1797
⚛︎ ⚛︎ ⚛
**FREEBIE ALERT!!**
To celebrate the relaunch of Three Shades Called Horace, the author is having an exclusive giveaway of the supernatural short story The House on Via Magliocco!
The House on Via
Magliocco
by Jinx James
Genre: Supernatural Dark Fantasy
To be beautiful
forever. Would you turn down that offer?
A mesmerizing one-hour dark fantasy short read.
Silvia is a top fashion model who lives for the spotlight,
but the camera's love is fleeting. When she’s offered a mysterious assignment
at the secluded House on Via Magliocco, it feels like the ultimate canvas for
her creativity and passion for dance.
But inspiration quickly twists into a feverish obsession.
As the mansion's haunting music bleeds from her dreams into
her waking life, Silvia realizes she hasn't just accepted a job—she has stepped
into a beautiful trap. The house demands a performance, the wealthy owner
demands perfection, and the price of eternal beauty might just be her soul.
Get this exclusive
supernatural short story delivered directly to your inbox.
Bestselling dark humor fiction author Jinx James was born in
the UK and lives in Australia. He has worked in music and advertising, and has
always been fascinated by charisma, satire, and what makes people laugh He used
to write comedy sketches for a well-known Australian TV and film star, but that
was after he was in the music game, as a performer. Later came writing and
producing music for advertising, and for big events like the Sydney Olympics.
All that time he was trying his hand at writing fiction, mostly humorous.
Eventually it became his new way of living while having fun. He writes under
two author names. As Jinx James his dark humor draws on his life in show
business. As dog lover Kit James, his Mutt to Megastar series features Elliott,
a rescue dog who becomes a TV star.
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