The Merciless IV: Last Rites Blog Tour: Author Dream Cast

Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for THE MERCILESS IV: LAST RITES! If you haven't check out this amazing series yet - now is definitely the time to get started! Read on for more information on the latest installment, the book that started it all, and the author. Don't forget to check out the other stops on the tour and check out more awesome content!

The Merciless IV: Last Rites (The Merciless #4)

Author: Danielle Vega

Genre: YA Paranormal/Horror

Release Date: June 12, 2018

Publisher: Razorbill

Description:

The fourth book of the scream-worthy cult series The Merciless combines Stephen King level terror with true crime stories like the Amanda Knox case.

The ropes tighten on Berkley Hubbard's wrists. Blood drips down her fingers and lands with a smack on the cold floor of the church basement. She's trapped, bound, and petrified by fear. A knife punctures her fragile skin as Berkley's captors search for the mark of the devil on her body. They say they want to save her--drive the devil away and cleanse her soul--but will she make it out alive?

When Berkley arrived in Italy a week ago, the last thing she expected was that she'd end up fighting for her life. After spending six months at the Institute, confined to a room with the dangerous-yet-alluring Sofia Flores, Berkley was certain that a vacation in Italy with her two best friends would be the perfect getaway. But Berkley is hiding a terrible secret, one that threatens to undo everything. As she's forced to face her wicked past, she learns that the devil is always watching, and no one is coming to save her. 

THE MERCILESS IV Dreamcast

- Characters -

Sofia Flores:

I probably wouldn’t have picked Camila for the Sofia of the first Merciless. When we meet Sofia, she’s meek and easily manipulated, and the actress who plays Betty on Riverdale is anything but meek! That said, by book IV, Sofia has become a completely different girl. [SPOILER ALERT] By now, she’s living in a mental hospital, and has fully accepted the evil inside of her. With those eyebrows, Camila could do her unhinged and conniving personality justice.

Camila Mendes: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm6161516/

Berkley: 

I’m going to be real here…I truly believe that Millie Bobbie Brown could play any character on this list. She won me over as Eleven on Stranger Things, and since then she’s been rocking the red carpet like she was born there. Likewise, Berkley is girl with a few different faces. We need to see her losing her shit in a mental hospital and then, in the very next scene, walking the streets of Italy in strappy sandals and a cute sundress. Millie definitely has the range to pull this off!

Millie Bobbie Brown: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5611121/?ref_=nmls_hd

Harper: 

We need to see someone casually beautiful, but with an undercurrent of mean girl manipulation to play Harper, one of Berkley’s two best friends. Rowan’s roles in Girl Meets World and A Wrinkle in Time have been mostly innocent, but I think she has the skills to pull off something a bit darker.

Rowan Blanchard: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3688576/

Mara:

I’m dying to seen Kiernan in more roles, and I think that she perfected the stone-faced, “you couldn’t possibly know what I’m thinking” look during her run in Mad Men. Mara is a type-A perfectionist, who’s ruthless enough to do whatever it takes to come out on top. Kiernan is perfect.

Kiernan Shipka: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2215143/

Giovanni: 

Giovanni was the hardest character to cast! He has to be young and Italian and hot, and every hot Italian actor I found was in his thirties (which makes sense, since I am in my thirties and otherwise it would be yuck.) I’m looking for an Italian Timothee Chalamet type, but he doesn’t exist, I tell you! I’m totally stuck, guys. Tell me who you’d cast in the comments?

(someone like) Timothée Chalamet: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3154303/

Francesca:

I discovered Matilda in Rings and immediately knew that she’d be the perfect actress to cast as Giovanni’s unhinged, obsessive ex-girlfriend. Doesn’t this chick look like she wants to punish you for stealing her boyfriend?

Matilda Lutz: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4436761/?ref_=tt_cl_t1
 

The Merciless (The Merciless #1)

Author: Danielle Vega

Genre: YA Paranormal/Horror

Release Date: June 12, 2014

Publisher: Razorbill

Description:

Forgive us, Father, for we have sinned

Brooklyn Stevens sits in a pool of her own blood, tied up and gagged. No one outside of these dank basement walls knows she’s here. No one can hear her scream.

Sofia Flores knows she shouldn’t have gotten involved. When she befriended Riley, Grace, and Alexis on her first day at school, she admired them, with their perfect hair and their good-girl ways. They said they wanted to save Brooklyn. They wanted to help her. Sofia didn’t realize they believed Brooklyn was possessed.

Now, Riley and the girls are performing an exorcism on Brooklyn—but their idea of an exorcism is closer to torture than salvation. All Sofia wants is to get out of this house. But there is no way out. Sofia can’t go against the other girls...unless she wants to be next...

In this chilling debut, Danielle Vega delivers blood-curdling suspense and terror on every page. By the shockingly twisted end, readers will be faced with the most haunting question of all: Is there evil in all of us? 

Other Books in the Series:

  

 

Danielle Vega spent her childhood hiding under the covers while her mother retold tales from the pages of Stephen King novels. Now an adult, she can count on one hand the number of times in her life she's been afraid. Danielle is the author of the Merciless series and Survive the Night. Follow her @dvegabooks.

Author Links:

http://www.daniellerollins.com/ 

http://www.twitter.com/vegarollins 

https://www.facebook.com/vegarollins 

https://www.instagram.com/vegarollins/ 

SCHEDULE 

WEEK ONE:

June 5 – Lisa’s Lost in Lit – Instagram Giveaway

June 6 – Bookish Lifestyle – 5 Reasons You Need To Read The Series

June 7 – @xenatine – Instagram Giveaway

June 8 – Here’s To Happy Endings – Series Review

WEEK TWO:

June 11 – FearYourEx – Creative Instagram Picture + Playlist

June 12 – Bookie Crumbs – Creative Instagram Picture + Unboxing

June 13 – Lost In a Book – Creative Instagram Picture + Review + Playlist

June 14 – [thehollowcupboards.blogspot.com]The Hollow Cupboards – Book Aesthetic + Creative Instagram Picture

WEEK THREE:

June 18 – [instagram.com/the.book.talk]the.book.talk – Book Aesthetics

June 19 – Under the Book Cover – Moodboard + Creative Instagram Picture + Review

June 20 – [instagram.com/bookhoarderproblems]Book Hoarder Problems – Creative Instagram Picture

June 21 – A Dream Within a Dream – Author Guest Post: Dream Cast

Survive the Night Blog Tour: Author Interview

Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for Survive the Night! I have a great interview with the author to share with you, and be sure to check back soon for my review of the book!

 

 

Survive the Night

Author: Danielle Vega

Genre: YA Thriller/Horror

Release Date: July 7, 2015

Publisher: Razorbill

 

Description:

 

We're all gonna die down here...

Julie lies dead and disemboweled in a dank, black subway tunnel, red-eyed rats nibbling at her fingers. Her friends think she’s just off with some guy—no one could hear her getting torn apart over the sound of pulsing music.

In a tunnel nearby, Casey regrets coming to Survive the Night, the all-night underground rave in the New York City subway. Her best friend Shana talked her into it, even though Casey just got out of rehab. Alone and lost in the dark, creepy tunnels, Casey doesn’t think Survive the Night could get any worse...
              
...until she comes across Julie’s body, and the party turns deadly.

Desperate for help, Casey and her friends find themselves running through the putrid subway system, searching for a way out. But every manhole is sealed shut, and every noise echoes eerily in the dark, reminding them they’re not alone.

They’re being hunted.
              
Trapped underground with someone—or something—out to get them, Casey can’t help but listen to her friend’s terrified refrain: “We’re all gonna die down here...” in this bone-chilling sophmore novel by the acclaimed author of The Merciless.  

1. What inspired you (or gave you the idea) for Survive the Night?
Just as my first novel, THE MERCILESS, was based on a real life teen exorcist, SURVIVE THE NIGHT was (very, very loosely) based on real events. There was a rave in the NYC subway system not too long ago and, while I wasn’t nearly cool enough to attend myself, I did catch the photos online the next day. The whole thing was creepy and terrifying and wonderful. It was just begging to be the setting for a horror novel.


2. I'm a HUGE fan of YA horror, but there doesn't seem to be many books out there. Why did you choose to write YA horror?

There actually is a lot of scary YA right now, but I’ve found that it tends to be something else, too. It’s scary YA science fiction, or creepy romantic YA or dark YA fantasy. I found myself missing straight horror, like Christopher Pike and Louis Duncan (both authors I loved as a teen.) I wanted to write something that felt like that—fast paced, and adrenaline packed and really, really scary.

3. What's the hardest part of writing a novel, in your opinion?
Finishing it. Once I have a whole book written, the editing is so much easier but actually getting the words on the page can feel impossible. It’s hard not to second guess yourself, and get down on your idea in the beginning stages. Once you’ve written the final lines, it’s a lot easier to see where you need to go in and move things around.


4. Are any of your characters based on people you know or yourself?

It’s hard to write characters who aren’t a little bit you. None of the characters I write are based entirely on real people, but I’ll steal a one-liner or a nickname or a character trait every now and then to make them feel real. For instance, Shana has high school Danielle’s tendency to change her hair color every month, and I actually knew a kid who called himself “Woody” and another kid who had a rap group called “Funky Chicken” and performed in a cow costume—I kind of merged them together to create the Woody in this book. Sam isn’t based on anyone real, but the band name “Feelings Are Enough” is an inside joke between my friends and me.

5. Was there a specific person or event that made you want to become an author?

So many writers inspire me, but I became an author because I could not stop writing stories. I’d do it at work or while waiting in the doctor’s office or when I was stuck in traffic. It was like an addiction. After I finally gave in, I found that other writer’s stories made me feel a whole lot better about this life choice.

6. Favorite book and/or author?

This is impossible so, instead of answering, I’m going to use this space to promote my friends’ books. Anne Heltzel’s CHARLIE PRESUMED DEAD is out now, and it’s glorious. Make sure to pick up Anna Schumacher’s END TIMES books while you’re at it. Also good are the TRUTH OR DARE books by Jackie Green and SECOND STAR by Alyssa Sheinmel.

7. Any tips for aspiring authors?

Write a lot & read a lot. I know this doesn’t sound particularly inspired, but it’s really the best advice out there for writers. Other stuff that’s helped me and may or may not help you, too: make a schedule and stick to it, set deadlines, find a crit partner, STOP COMPARING YOURSELF TO OTHER WRITERS, take a break, accept that success might look different than how you imagined, write something new, write something weird, always have coffee, be careful about who you take criticism from, don’t be precious with your writing, be brave, keep going.


I could go on, but that’s a good place to start.

8. What's up next for you?

I have a novel called BURNING coming out in April 2016 under the name Danielle Rollins—it’s been called Orange is the New Black meets Carrie. But the project I’m working on now is a secret! There’s snow and bunnies and cute boys with dark secrets, and a school play and…Blood. Lots and lots of blood. 

Thanks for stopping by and chatting with us today Danielle! I just have to say that BURNING is actually one of my top releases so far for 2016 - and now that I know it's by you - it's totally at the top of my wishlist!  :)

Danielle Vega spent her childhood hiding under the covers while her mother retold tales from the pages of Stephen King novels. Now an adult, she can count on one hand the number of times in her life she's been truly afraid. Danielle has won numerous awards for her fiction and nonfiction, and earned a 2009 Pushcart Prize nomination for her short story “Drive.” She lives in Brooklyn. 

Author Links:

http://www.twitter.com/dvegabooks

http://www.daniellerollins.com/ 

http://www.daniellerollins.com/blog/ 

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7341041.Danielle_Vega