The Painted Darkness ($2.99 Kindle), a novella by Brian James Freeman, is being given away in PDF form by the publisher and is low-priced at Amazon prior to the hardcover release. In addition, the free version contains some extras not found in the hardcover (no idea if they are in the Kindle version):The free eBook includes some great bonus features that won’t appear in the hardcover:
- An exclusive new interview with Ray Bradbury: “We Have Too Many Inventions!”
- Comments from bestselling authors such as Stephen King, Ray Bradbury, William Peter Blatty, Jodi Picoult, Carolyn Parkhurst, Anne Perry, Jane Green, M.J. Rose, Douglas Clegg, J.A. Konrath, Seth Godin, Michael Marshall Smith, Scott Adams, and many others about eBooks and the future of publishing.
- Author’s Afterword: “Did I Really Commit ‘Career Suicide’ by Giving The Painted Darkness Away for Free?”
- Norman Prentiss interviews Brian James Freeman
- $5.00 discount coupon valid on an order for the trade hardcover edition of The Painted Darkness for a limited time only (presumably direct, not via Amazon).
When Henry was a child, something terrible happened in the woods behind his home, something so shocking he could only express his grief by drawing pictures of what he had witnessed. Eventually Henry's mind blocked out the bad memories, but he continued to draw, often at night by the light of the moon.
Twenty years later, Henry makes his living by painting his disturbing works of art. He loves his wife and his son and life couldn't be better... except there's something not quite right about the old stone farmhouse his family now calls home. There's something strange living in the cramped cellar, in the maze of pipes that feed the ancient steam boiler.
A winter storm is brewing and soon Henry will learn the true nature of the monster waiting for him down in the darkness. He will battle this demon and, in the process, he may discover what really happened when he was a child and why, in times of trouble, he thinks: I paint against the darkness.
But will Henry learn the truth in time to avoid the terrible fate awaiting him... or will the thing in the cellar get him and his family first?
Written as both a meditation on the art of creation and as an examination of the secret fears we all share, The Painted Darkness is a terrifying look at the true cost we pay when we run from our grief—and what happens when we're finally forced to confront the monsters we know all too well.
Click HERE for the free downloads.
