Welcome to my stop on the Darkhouse Blog Tour! Today I have the wonderful Karina Halle telling us a little about her book and its male protagonist Dex Foray, the not so heroic hero! And guess what? there’s also a giveaway!!!
“Dex Foray – the anti-hero” by Karina Halle
Love him, hate him, he’ll get under your skin.
When you create a character who skirts a fine line between being likeable and being aggravating, you’re bound to draw fire from both sides of the equation. When Dex Foray first sauntered his way into my life, hands in the pockets of his black hoodie, all brooding and scowly-faced with an Errol Flynn moustache, I knew I had a doozey on my hands. I didn’t set out to make him what he is, a walking enigma, he just sort of…evolved that way. With a bizarre (and hidden) backstory under his belt, Dex proudly became the anti-hero to the Experiment in Terror Series and the perfect foil to our main character, Perry Palomino.
What I didn’t expect when I published Darkhouse (and Red Fox, the next book in the series) was how the readers were going to respond to him. I knew how I felt about Dex, but then again, I know where he’s coming from. But I never expected to have such a wide range of responses about a man that my friend Wendy calls “the man you love to hate.” Take a look at these snippets from various reviews as he runs the gamut from being hated to being swooned over:
“I especially didn’t get her attraction to Dex. What, if any, traits did this guy have that could possibly draw her to him? He was rude and distant”
“I also wanted to kick Dex but that’s because I found him conceited”
“I found him arrogant and a little psychotic”
“Dex is a strange, strange character. Dude, this guy is weird! I honestly couldn’t work him out – one minute I was expecting him to do something totally evil or even mean to Perry, the next I was waiting for him to jump her bones.”
“It’s hard to tell if he’s sincere or if he’s just messing with her because he knows she likes him”
“At times in the book, I had to wonder if maybe he wasn’t screwing with Perry just for the sake of the show”
“Dex is a mystery. I don’t know what his intentions are but I’m glad he is around. Really glad. Stop me from humping him kind o glad”
“Dex admits he lies and by doing so disproves he’s a liar because he confesses to the deceit. A true liar would never willingly reveal this deprecating detail”
“The mystery and labyrinth to be unraveled is the character Dex. All at once a rake, creep, gentleman, he is a conundrum, and man after my own heart.”
“I liked his almost crazy attitude, he was walking a razors edge of sanity and crazyville”
“Dex, the hot male character, is precious. He seems to be a gentleman of the old school, although he had some rough edges in the beginning.” This quote came from novelist Carol Piner, who picked up on one aspect of Dex’s personality that not many had. “Lastly, one of my favorite lines in “Darkhouse” jumped out at me. Dex was talking to Perry, who is a little over-weight and not a gorgeous female like Dex’s girlfriend. Used to being ignored or insulted, she told Dex she didn’t eat pies when, in fact, she loved them but didn’t want to seem like a pig and indulge herself. He said to her, “I just want you to enjoy the pies in life.” God, I could have eaten him with a spoon.”
Jenny over at Forever Young Adult’s problem with him didn’t seem to come from his personality, but from his eyebrow ring (which prompted a hilarious eyebrow-ring discussion in the comments): “Dex, how I found you swoony with your 90′s eyebrow ring, I’ll never know. But somehow, those stormy eyes of yours won me over.”
I’m sure if Dex existed (and I’m quite sure he does), he’d probably get a huge kick out of all of this. The more bad things people say about him, the more he’d relish it. He enjoys being the “bad” guy and being the brutally honest smartass, maybe because it’s more fun that way. Or maybe because he’s got an enormous wall up around him that only the occasional good part is able to rappel down. Sometimes I’m not too sure what is going on with him, simply because he often does things I didn’t plan for or says things when he should have kept his wide yap shut, but that’s what I love so much about writing him. He’s unpredictable, seriously flawed and full of pleasant surprises. I hope he keeps you all your toes, like he keeps me on mine.
Buy Darkhouse by Karina Halle: Amazon (Print) / Goodreads (epub) / Kindle
Karina’s sadly neglected personal blog can be found here: www.ontheblogbandwagon.blogspot.com
Darkhouse by Karina Halle
Paperback, 323 pages
Published May 1st 2011 by Metal Blonde Books
ISBN: 9781461079859
There’s always been something a bit off about Perry Palomino.
Though she’s been dealing with a quarter-life crisis and post-college syndrome like any other twenty-something, she’s still not what you would call “ordinary.” For one thing, there’s her past which she likes to pretend never happened, and then there’s the fact that she sees ghosts. Luckily for her, that all comes in handy when she stumbles across Dex Foray, an eccentric producer for an upcoming webcast on ghost hunters. Even though the show’s budget is non-existent and Dex himself is a maddening enigma, Perry is instantly drawn into a world that both threatens her life and seduces her with a sense of importance. Her uncle’s haunted lighthouse provides the perfect catalyst and backdrop for a mystery that unravels the threads of Perry’s fragile sanity and causes her to fall for a man, who, like the most dangerous of ghosts, may not be all that he seems.
Buy Darkhouse by Karina Halle: Amazon (Print) / Goodreads (epub) / Kindle
About Karina Halle
The daughter of a Norwegian Viking and a Finnish Moomin, Karina Halle grew up in Vancouver, Canada with trolls and eternal darkness on the brain. This soon turned into a love of all things that go bump in the night and a rather sadistic appreciation for freaking people out. Like many of the flawed characters she writes, Karina never knew where to find herself and has dabbled in acting, make-up artistry, film production, screenwriting, photography, travel writing and music journalism. She eventually found herself in the pages of the very novels she wrote (if only she had looked there to begin with).
Karina holds a screenwriting degree from Vancouver Film School and a Bachelor of Journalism from TRU. Her travel writing, music reviews/interviews and photography have appeared in publications such as Consequence of Sound, Mxdwn and GoNomad Travel Guides. She currently lives on an island on the coast of British Columbia where she’s preparing for the zombie apocalypse with her fiance and rescue pup.
Actually I do! Maybe not so much as the creepy haunting kind, but more like souls who’re on the brink to move on into the spirit world.
danaan at gmx dot at
DARK HOUSE & RED FOX both look amazing.
I believe in ghosts because my Mother has seen one. My Mother is not given to flights of fancy, so I know it to be true. A child in a long flowing nightgown came to her in the night. My Mother says she was not afraid & in a blink the child was gone.
I BELIEVE!!
marypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com
Yes I believe in ghosts. I think some souls are not at rest and are unable to move on. Please enter me in contest. I would love to read this book. Tore923@aol.com
Hmm… actually I don’t… nevertheless sometimes I like believe in their existence 🙂
e-mail address: @
I DON’T want to believe in ghosts because the whole idea of them, to be honest scares the sh*t out of me… but my mom has some stories about her brother (that died 30+ years ago) that would give even the bravest person you know goosebumps dude! And she wouldn’t lie… she has no reason to! *shivers*
thebookishbrunette@gmail.com
This book sounds so, so good! It is now a must read for me. Thanks so much for the guest post and the excerpt – they just made me want to read the book even more!
jwitt33 at live dot com
I do and have had the strange experiences to back them up.
Great post and the books sound great. Thanks for sharing!!
bacchus76 at myself dot com
I don’t believe in ghosts, but I’m willing to admit there’s weird stuff out there. Seeing is believing as they say.
acm05atjuno.com
I have been stalking this tour and the book sounds fabulous and is certainly on my wishlist. I appreciate all of Karina Halle’s posts so far they have been wonderful to read. Thank you for this awesome giveaway opportunity.
dz59001[at]gmail[dot]com
I’ll quote The All-American Rejects in answer to the ghost question – “I don’t ever wanna believe/that when we die/we all leave.”
I love me a good anti-hero, so crossing my fingers I’ll get lucky here. 🙂
BJ @ Dark Side of the Covers
This book sounds so interesting! Would absolutely love to win! Thank you so much for the giveaway!
OH and to answer the ghost question, of course I believe in ghosts! Or rather spirits I suppose.
dani3222001(at)yahoo(dot)com
I do believe in ghosts. I have some in my house and i have neighbors that have them. And they havent been very nice. Thanks for the great giveaway!
shadow_kohler(at)att(dot)net
Um, I think I’m still undecided on the ghosts thing. I guess I’m open to the idea. 🙂
Anyway, thanks for the giveaway!
twigerina@hotmail.com
These books seems awesome 🙂 I would really love to win them. <3 Thank you both for the chance :) Hmm, do I belive in ghosts.. Well, yes, I think I do. Have never seen or heard anything that could be a ghost, but I still believe it exists :)
– GFC follower as Carina Olsen
Love, Carina ~ carina-olsen@hotmail.com
hmm..i’m not sure if i believe in ghosts but i do believe in things beyond our comprehension and maybe there are ghosts or spirits.i guess i’ll know only when the time comes i suppose.
thanks for the giveaway and for making it international!!
GFC-Janhvi Jagtap
justjanhvi at gmail dot com
Yes, I do believe in ghosts. I think they are the souls of dead people which linger on Earth before passing to the other realm.
aikychien at yahoo dot com
Yes i believe in ghosts. Plz enter me in the giveaway.
dugasvitale@yahoo.com
Atletico keen on Otamendi
Agen Bola indo11.com reported, that Atletico Madrid are considering a summer bid for FC Porto defender Nicolas Otamendi.
Los Colchoneros could easily stay without star defender Diego Godin and they are looking to sign a high-profile centre-back in the summer.
According to Record, Diego Simeone has made FC Porto stopper Nicolas Otamendi his number one target.
The problem is that the player’s release clause was recently increased from €15m to €30m, which means los Colchoneros will have to delve deep into their pockets if they want to sign the Argentine. as reported byIndo Eleven.
For the time being, FC Porto are holding out for full €30m, but Atletico officials are hoping they can lower the asking price and lure the experienced defender to Vicente Calderon.
Nicolas Otamendi, 25, has been a real rock at the back for the Dragons, clocking up 64 Primeira Liga appearances and scoring 6 goals.
Source : http://www.indo11.com