The Holocaust Engine by David Rike and Stephen Patrick

Category: Our process (Page 1 of 2)

The Holocaust Engine is going back to Half Price Book-Dallas! Sept 29th from 1 to 3.

One of our favorite things is to meet fans and readers and talk about our series, our writing and the creative arts.

On Sept 29th, from 1p-3p, David Rike and I will be back at the Half Price Books flagship store in Dallas!

HPB Flagship

5803 E Northwest HWY
Dallas, TX 75231

This is one of our favorite places to talk about reading and find the inspiration that you can only find among the shelves and stacks. It’s also a great place to meet readers and fans and talk about our favorite fiction, including the Holocaust Engine. We will be selling and signing copies of The Holocaust Engine and Fluid Shock. The Audiobook of The Holocaust Engine is also available, so we’ll have cards to sign for those who prefer to listen to our story!

We’re bringing back “the Board of Destiny” and our fan-favorite participation battle, “Genre Fight”.

We hope to see you there!

The Audiobook of The Holocaust Engine is here!

The Audiobook of The Holocaust Engine is here!

David Rike and I are excited to announce the arrival of the audiobook from Evolved Publishing featuring the incredible vocal talents of Storm P. Browne, who brings our characters and Key West to life, just in time for us to tear it all apart.

It’s available here: https://books2read.com/THE-TheHolocaustEngine and across all your favorite formats, including Spotify, Apple Books Audio, Audiobooks.com, Barnes & Noble Audio, Chirp Audio, Downpour, Everand Audio, Google Audio, Hoopla Audio, Rakuten, and Libro.fm.

Special thanks to Lane Diamond for all his support, editing, and for bringing Storm into the world of The Holocaust Engine.

Looking for a summertime horror read?

Today’s newsletter from Evolved Publishing highlights a special 99cent promo for three first-in-series horror titles including book one of The Holocaust Engine.

That’s perfect timing for anyone wanting to grab a story set at the beach (although the Key West of The Holocaust Engine might not be too relaxing) and get caught up on our series before book three comes out this Fall.

The other 99 cent series-starting titles include “The Green-eyed Monster” by Mike Robinson (Book 1 of Enigma of Twilight Falls) and “Whispers of the Dead” by C. L. Roberts Huth (Book 1 of the Zoe Delante Thrillers).

The link is below!

https://preview.mailerlite.com/n0k4u4f2c3?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR2JUwjWQqzSffxRrPG-5f8VEfhzI4NDAWhiT2QrmaB248Hx4a87g8yLrbc_aem_ATZtKRRoS6UcqRqcafa0DkH-7VS88mMN_8dStF_8FrKWXI_0408qaLtRlFL0VtRQN0NnKZYNirPNcyBoR7LK1a8g

The Reading Lists – 2024 – David’s List

One of our mutual traditions is the reading list. Some are to inspire, others to critique. Some are for fun, some just jumped off the rack at us and others, well, just seem to deserve a read. Here’s David’s list. The covers are below and any comments are welcome!

1) 3 Alexander Kent Age-of Sail books.

2) Lord of the Dead by Tom Holland.

3) The Three Body Problem by Cixin Liu.

4) The Great Wizards of Antiquity by Guy Ogilvy.

5) Gravity’s Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon

6) The Prepper’s Guide to Grid Down Survival by Ron Johnson

7) 100 Deadly Skills by Clint Emerson

8) Perpetua, a Novel by Amy Peterson

9) Ghengis Khan and the Making of the Modern World by Jack Weatherford

10) The Japanese by Edwin Reischauer

11) War at the Age of Sail by Andrew Lambert 

Writing Wednesday #4

Who sits in your co-pilot’s chair?

When you set down to create at a desk, laptop, easel or workbench, do you have a partner? We’ll share ours below, but we’d love to see yours in the comments section, including any suggestions for keeping that co-pilot happy.

***

David Rike and I write as a team; brainstorming, plotting and scheming across a variety of mediums. However, when it’s time to set down the story in ink, our writing practices diverge quite a bit. See below for a bit of insight on who sits beside us when we create.

STEPHEN PATRICK:

“There’s always a furry friend beside me. Curled up in my lap, on my feet, on the couch beside me, somewhere close by. My current muse, Ash, a silver/smoke Maine Coon, always keeps a close watch. I’m pretty sure he’s hunting for any words that try to escape.”

DAVID RIKE:

“no partners. minimal distractions.”

What’s that sound?

One of the scariest elements of a good horror story is the anticipation, the furious flight of an imagination trying to explain what is to come. Fireside ghost stories are full of these experiences as the storyteller builds to a reveal.

Today’s question. What horror story (novel, TV, movie or campfire tale) built the best suspense for you? Was it satisfying to discover what was causing the “tap, tap, tap” sound coming from the roof of the car? Or did it fall flat, far from the terror of your own imagination.

Drop your comments below and and feel free to tell your own scary story.

Writer Wednesday #3

“How” do you write?

For my writer friends, what is your preferred method for putting it all down for your reader? Ours are at the bottom, but please drop yours in the comments. We want to see inside your process.

  • Pencil + paper?
  • Ink + notebook?
  • Chisel + stone
  • Fire + blanket
  • In the Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
  • Not at all (writing words down robs them of the freedom to be what they want to be)

DAVID RIKE: I only write in a notebook these days if I’m somewhere interesting enough (beach or mountainside) to justify the extra step of typing it up later. Otherwise it’s on a laptop, in an empty room, with mood music.

STEPHEN PATRICK: Pen + paper. I carry a notebook with me almost everywhere, specifically this one. I’ll burn through 2-3 each year (typically one in the Spring and one in the Summer), filling them with story seeds, character ideas, plot threads, lists, and all sorts of things. Sometimes they come to live in a work-in-progress. Other times they survive on the bookshelf until I hit a wall and skim through them, mining them for new ideas. I regularly find a solution to a problem that hasn’t arrived yet. Most recently, I’m using MS OneNote for the formal storytelling, using it to build up to a final draft in MS Word.

Reviews are in

The first reviews for The Holocaust Engine are in:

“…a chilling community horror adventure like no other, and one which leaves you with a lump in your throat throughout.

Author team David Rike and Stephen Patrick have crafted one of the most interesting and original virus-style thriller novels I’ve read in a long while. As a horror fan, I felt that the violence, threat, and suspense were in excellent balance throughout the novel, with different aspects of fear coming through in a sophisticated way that elevates itself above shock value. The psychological aspect of how the area becomes divided really fascinated me, taking a small-town horror vibe and placing it in a wild section of waterways and tropical islands to enhance the danger. The more I got to know the characters and the progression of their skills, the more I wanted another book in this excellent series to devour right away. Overall, I would highly recommend The Holocaust Engine for fans of horror, thriller, and virus-style adventure novels.”– Readers’ Favorite Book Reviews, K.C. Finn (5 STARS)

The Holocaust Engine is the first entry in a series that will certainly be an engrossing one, and I was pulled in right from the beginning. The authors start the story in an intriguing manner and as the reader follows the narrative, they become quickly enamored with the characters. The writing is polished and it flows with an unusual fluidity and crispness. I noticed the descriptive power of the prose and how strongly the imagery pops up in the pages. The setting is wonderfully written, and it reflects a society in chaos. The descriptions offer details that add depth to the story and allow readers to feel for the characters. The theme of survival is central in this narrative and while it features scenes that are crafted for fans of horror, I was so taken by the keen exploration of human nature. The characters are real, the pacing is fast, and the plot is a twisty one.”– Readers’ Favorite Book Reviews, Romuald Dzemo (5 STARS)


“I loved the story from the beginning. It starts with the death of Wesley Bontrager, which is not truly reported by the press—and this isn’t far from contemporary reality. What everyone thinks is that the professional quarterback committed suicide in the infirmary at the Metro West Detention Center while awaiting arraignment for the murder of his friend and teammate, George Cole. But before his death, he did things that are gruesome, like killing the guard and the nurse. When new characters come into the story it quickly becomes even more interesting. I particularly loved how the authors capture the general climate of a community under quarantine, the lies that authorities tell the population to hide the facts, and the natural human instinct for survival and the way it is written. This is a well-crafted horror story with memorable characters and an unusual plot. David Rike and Stephen Patrick keep the writing elegant and fill it with strong descriptions, creating an apocalyptic world where inhabitants struggle to survive through scarcity. There are gory, nerve-racking scenes. The Holocaust Engine is a fun and quick read, thanks to the beauty of language and the authors’ gift for storytelling and plot. I enjoyed the short chapters and suspenseful writing.”– Readers’ Favorite Book Reviews, Jose Cornelio (5 STARS)

A Long-Expected Party

Today is Hobbit Day, the annual day to celebrate the marvel and majesty of Middle-Earth. Whether you came to his work through print, screen, games, film or just meme’s, today’s the perfect day to turn our thoughts back to the Shire and the journey that J. R. R. Tolkien set out for us.

Today’s question: What do you think of J. R. R. Tolkien and what he built for us?

After you read ours, drop your thoughts and reflections in the comments. and yes, meme’s count.

STEPHEN PATRICK- Like Bilbo and Frodo, we all took that first leap of faith to leave our comforts to follow a powerful magician on an incredible adventure that dramatically changed our lives. JRRT works on so many levels, he created complete stories within a larger universe ripe for deeper exploration. It’s worth the trip, but so much fun to stop and look around along the way.

DAVID RIKE – We’re not supposed to covet, but my gosh wouldn’t it be nice to define an entire genre all by yourself?  But then, what did he do?  He mined European folklore (basically the greatest hits in storytelling over the centuries) and then fashioned an earth that a lot of us would rather live in than the modern, real thing.

When pen hits the page

Today’s “Writer’s Life” post explores the “when” of our writing:

When do you write and why?

DAVID RIKE: I like morning best.  I’ve found I only have a certain amount of creativity each day and if I don’t use it writing I wind up exhausting it just in the other details of my day.

STEPHEN PATRICK: Morning before the family is awake and late at night when they are asleep are my most productive times. I’m a big fan of speech-to-text, so I’ve crafted scenes and ideas while driving to work and while on the treadmill. To be fair, I’ve also sketched a few scenes in waiting rooms and on a train ride downtown.

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