Shadow Magic: Review

Shadow Magic (Macabre Academy Book 1) by Sherry J. Soule
Genre: New Adult, Paranormal Mystery & Romance
Publication: May 1st 2020
Publisher: Disenchanted Publishing
PG-13: No F-bombs, sex, or graphic violence.
Heroine: A quirky supernatural Nancy Drew.
Premise: An older university-age paranormal academy series with mystery and light humor.

Ghost summoning? No biggie.
Raising the dead? Bring it on.
Solving my sister’s sudden disappearance? A bit more complicated…

I’m Serena LeStrange, a necromancer who prefers to hide her freakishly fabulous skills from others. Only my sister makes me feel less of a weirdo, so when she mysteriously vanishes from college, I enroll at Macabre Academy to start my own investigation.

Except this is no ordinary school for the magically inclined, it’s home to all monsters—even the most dangerous ones. And after meeting an incredibly gorgeous vampire and a sinfully hot reaper, I find myself entangled in a passionate, yet forbidden, flirtation. To complicate matters, I get stuck with a ghostly genie sidekick and suspect a sinister sorority of misdeeds.

But to solve the mystery, I’ll need all the help I can get. Someone at Macabre knows what happened to my sister, and I won’t stop until I dig up the truth.

Unfortunately, some dark secrets prefer to stay buried.

Do you enjoy not-so-cozy paranormal mysteries, slow-burn romances, and unconventional heroines?

Welcome to Macabre Academy, the first spellbinding book in a paranormal mystery romance trilogy!

View on Amazon and Goodreads.


The story opens with our POV character Serena attending Conjuration University taking part in a Resurrection 101 class. As a Necromancer Serena is looked down upon, with other paranormal entities believing the magic she processes to be dark and unnatural, and even amongst other Necromancers she feels like an outsider. Serena is an animal lover who wants to become a pet and familiar resurrection specialist and use her abilities to help people, and to do that she needs a degree in Necromantic Rites.

Serena has been so focused on her studies that she has lost touch with her sister, Harper, the only person she feels truly accepts her for what and who she is. After a disastrous resurrection practice lesson, Serena gets a phone call from her father telling her that her Sister Harper has gone missing from Macabre Academy. Serena is an emotional reck after hearing this news. But she makes the decision to enroll at Macabre to seek the truth and track down her sister and thus kicks off this new paranormal series.

I liked the paranormal set up and world-building in this story of its schooling system and genetic hand me down powers. In this world that Sherry Soule has created powers and abilities are a roil of the dice. And though different “breeds” (e.g. Bear-Shifter, Siren, Harpy, Vampire, Sorceress etc.) reproduce, their offspring can inherit the supernatural traits of any ancestor within their lineage.

Serena is an easily likable protagonist. She is kind, caring and when she believes in herself she can accomplish amazing magical feats and do some super sleuthing. Throughout this book Serena unearths her sisters and other Macabre Academy students’ secrets, solves mysteries and makes friends, real friends that except her freaky death powers and all.

Serena grew up feeling like she didn’t belong anywhere. When she first starts at Macabre Academy she is afraid of people finding out she is a Necromancer. She is also trying to hide the fact that she is Harper’s sister, which creates all sorts of awkward situations throughout the book. Serena’s self-hate is mainly because of her dad. He has made her feel like trash her whole life, for a card she was dealt at birth via past family genetics. Her Dad is an asshole, straight up no other way to describe him. I really want to see her find the courage to stand up to him in the next book.

We are given a cliffhanger ending regarding her Sister, so that storyline continues into the next book. And there is also the budding forbidden romance with sexy reaper Dante to be explored further. “A necromancer and a reaper. Sounds like the beginning of an incredible love story” – and that’s what I’m hoping for in the next book. Yep, I will be reading the next book. I am curious to see where Sherry Soule takes these storylines.

All in all, this is a light and fun read about friendship, self-acceptance, and the acceptance of others, with a lil bit of forbidden romance thrown in for good measure.


About the Author:

Sherry Soule is a Multi-Genre Author, who lives in Northern California with her family and two spoiled rescue cats. She likes to surround herself with positive people and reads daily.

Sherry writes exciting tales of passionate romance, epic drama, and thrilling suspense. Many of her books have been on the Amazon bestseller lists and nominated as top picks in the “Best Paranormal Romance” categories on numerous review sites.
Subscribe to Sherry’s newsletter to get a free eBook HERE

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Vampire Blood and Iron Bullets: Review

After five long months since we last saw our favorite Undead antihero, Angelica Cross is back!
All 8 Paranormal Detectives novels are back up LIVE with brand new covers, formatting, and edits, and Angelica returns in a BRAND NEW novel!

53351205. sx318 Vampire Blood and Iron Bullets by Lily Luchesi
Genre: Paranormal, Crime, Romance
Publication: May 15th 2020
Source: Review copy from Author – Thank You Lily
Add to Goodreads
Rating: ✵✵✵✵

One vampire. One Fae. Countless assassins. Challenge accepted.

Energy vampires make excellent rock stars. Changelings make excellent actors. It’s been that way since time out of mind, and the best way to discover an actor is a changeling? Look at the awards they haven’t won.

Perry Gold is one of the most brilliant changeling actors out there, and one award has always eluded him. Until now. And now that’s he’s won it, he’s a wanted man on a hunter’s hit list. As a celebrity, he can’t run forever. He needs the type of protection only a vampire can provide.

If the world’s most successful special agent Angelica Cross can’t save him, no one can.


You could call Vampire Blood & Iron Bullets a prequel, being set before the first Paranormal Detective Series book, Stake-Out. And what a bloody good prequel it is! I really enjoyed kicking it with Angelica again (I hadn’t realised how much I missed her, until I was with her again).

Lily has yet again created a fast, fun, action-packed paranormal crime and romance mash-up with this book. Vampire Blood & Iron Bullets is a standalone, you do not need to have knowledge of Lily’s previous works and there are no spoilers for the big reveals that take place in the Paranormal Detective Series.

I think Vampire Blood & Iron Bullets is the perfect way to kick off the Paranormal Detective Series and the ending sets up perfectly for where Stake-Out kicks off.

Lily always has flashbacks and or time jumps in her stories, and they always work really well. As an OG Angelica fan I loved the flashback to the night Vincent killed her mum, and the following events that see the strong and ass-kicking half-vampire scared and vulnerable hiding out in a Convent.

This book is perfect for paranormal romance fans, hardcore and lite paranormal mystery/crime fans and obviously, Lily Luchesi fans. This is an adult book, but I would give it an MA15+ rating – There is passionate kissing, some sex (but not overly graphic) and a whole lot of murder and mayhem.

For someone who has never read the series, this would be a fast and fun read featuring a sexy Fae Changeling who is being hunted because of something out of his control. A crime-fighting hot as hell bisexual Vamplet (half-human, half-vampire). A fast-flowing and an action-packed plot. M/F Romance, but we do get a lil bit of F/F while Angelica is at the Convent. There is blood and guts and bang-bang shoot ’em up action, mixed with some humor and heart for a well-rounded and enjoyable read.


About the Author: Lily Luchesi is the USA Today bestselling and award-winning author of the Paranormal Detectives Series, as well as various short stories in the horror, paranormal, and erotica genres.
Her first young adult novel, The Coven Princess, hit #1 on the Amazon hot new releases chart and remained in the top twenty for two weeks.
Lily is an active and out member of the LGBT+ community, a self-professed nerd, music-lover, and a little obsessed with vampires and comic books. When not writing or reading, she can be found drinking copious amounts of coffee, getting tattooed, going to concerts, or
watching too much of the CW.
She was born and raised in Chicago. You can find her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Goodreads.
You can also keep up with Lily via her newsletter … and receive a free e-book as well!

Join Detective Danny Mancini and Special Agent Angelica Cross as they face down vampires, witches, shifters, demons, and the evil that lurks deep in the heart of Chicago.
The Paranormal Detectives Series returns with all new covers, updated content, and a new companion novel. All featuring the badass vampire we’ve come to know and love.

Buy them all now for less than $8, or read them on Kindle Unlimited HERE!

Read Vampire Blood and Iron Bullets today! It’s also available on Kindle Unlimited HERE!

Thanks for visiting sarahfairbairn.com 🙂
Until next time, enjoy your shelves 🙂

Day of Execution: Review

43193127Day of Execution (Paranormal Detectives #7) by  Lily Luchesi
Genre: Paranormal Crime
Publication: January 1st 2019
Publisher: Vamptasy Publishing
Source: Review copy from Author – Thank you.
Add to Goodreads
Rating: ✵✵✵✵

Blood is not thicker than water.
The Undead are restless, and the Empress feels powerless to heal the rift within the vampiric empire. As tensions rise, Angelica and Danny must hold a crumbling paranormal world together. But a knocking from the portal into Hell makes for a dark distraction. What horrors will the new Lieutenant of the Underworld heap upon them?


Battle scenes, gore and vampire lore, OH MY. And here was I thinking book six was fast and furious, book seven was even more so!

The book starts with a big bang and rips through at a startling pace. Battle scenes galore, revenge seeking, deception, decaying corpses and the genocide of a certain paranormal species.

I am SHOOKETH. Why you say, because:

  1. “the genocide of a certain paranormal species” – Yeah, that.

AND

  1. I was keen after Danny’s descendant turning up in book 6 to see how that character panned out – It didn’t end up going the way I was hoping.
  2. There is the reappearance of a character from the very first book.
  3. We get to meet the new Lieutenant of hell – Yeah, super fun times bro.
  4. *spoiler* Danny gets his psychic powers back – I LOVED this twist actually!
  5. THE EPILOGUE! Those last couple of sentences! – Bring on book 8 and what I’m sure will be a killer conclusion to this action packed, heart and heat filled paranormal crime fighting series supreme.

Lily’s Links: Website | Amazon | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads

Thanks for visiting The Adventures of SacaKat.
Until next time, enjoy your shelves :-).

Bad Reputation: Review

She’s a mercenary on a mission.

Bree Carson is an Undead assassin who makes her living using her supernatural abilities to kill criminals of all kinds, protecting humanity. But Chicago’s new mayor wants her and all other paranormals either jailed or killed, and Bree’s bad reputation has her at the top of the list.

When she’s arrested one night, she’s confronted by the mayor…but not for an execution. Ilona wants to hire Bree for a very specific mission that will prove to be personal and potentially harmful to them both.

Can they put their differences aside in order to save a life?

Bad Reputation by Lily Luchesi, Published the 6th of April 2018 by Vamptasy Publishing – I received a copy from the Author in exchange for an honest review – Thank You.


My Thoughts:  A Mayor looking to eradicate Paranormals. A Vamp with old scores to settle. And 50 Pages for the story to playout on.

I really enjoyed the short and sweet high action adventure that was Bad Reputation.

Even though this is a paranormal crime short story, in true Lily Luchesi style there is plenty of humour and heart as well. Lily manages to tell a well-rounded story with a depth to the charters and world building that you do not normally get in so few pages. Lily really has a way with short stories.

Being that it is a short story I can’t say much without giving it all away. I will say that;

I love a good twist and this story has a one. I love a kick ass main character and that’s what Bree Carson is. A strong female lead is always a positive for me regardless of the genre. I was entertained right from the start and did not stop reading until I’d devoured every last word.

We meet Bree while she’s skulking around up to her usual tricks – taking out bad guys and making bank while doing it. Even undead Bree is full of fire, a natural born fighter. She is only in her Fifties, a baby in vampire terms. And through flashbacks we learn of how she came to be a vampire and why she lives the life she does now.

Bad Reputation is a great bite size taste of Lily’s writing, it’s got all her humor, heart and sass hidden behind it’s words. If you have never read anything be Lily Luchesi you should pick this bad girl up and give her a go. You will not be sorry.

Thanks for visiting The Adventures of SacaKat.
Until next time, enjoy your shelves 🙂 .

Demonic Pact: YA Review

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Demonic Pact
by Majanka Verstraete
Genre: YA Urban Fantasy
Publication: March 2016
Publisher: Booktrope Publishing
Source: Review copy from Author
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Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Sixteen-year-old Halfling Angel of Death Riley Scott is on a dangerous mission. To save her friend’s life, she must make a pact with the man who just tried to kill them both and break him out of the Celestial Prison, guarded by Angels of War—fearsome warriors who can squash her like a fly. If caught, she’ll be sentenced to eternity in that impenetrable prison. Riley will have to make deals with demons and her number one enemy, turn her back on her most loyal friends, and risk losing her family forever. Worst of all, her very existence is in the hands of her devious new allies.


Prison breaks, murderous prophecies and catastrophic curses.

Angels, Witches and Demons, OH MY.

The Demonic Pact is the second book in The Angel of Death series, a YA urban fantasy/paranormal series following the life of Halfling Angel of Death, Riley Scott.

The 1st chapter gives a good sum up/refresher of the key points from the first book. The information is delivered quite well and doesn’t feel like an info dump, more like you’re having a conversation with Riley. It created a strong start to the book and got me amped up to continue on. I read the first book back in 2015, so I really appreciated the refresher. I actually think it might have been detailed enough that you could enjoy this book without reading the first one.

Riley Scott is an easily likeable character. She’s still only relatively new to the whole angels and demons are real thing. And she is still pissed off no one let on about her Angel of Death daddy (whose identity has yet to be revealed, maybe in book three?)

The supporting characters from the first book are back along with some intriguing new ones. The cursed Damien being a favourite for me. Here’s to seeing more of him in the next book *raises coffee cup in salute*.

The Council of Angels still seem to be out to get Riley, one member in particular. I disliked most of the Angels in the first book and this book has done nothing much to change that. The parts of this book I enjoyed the most didn’t involve the other angels, but rather Riley’s dealings with witches and demons.

Throughout the two books Riley is unreasonably hated on for being a halfling – Because you know it’s her fault and she can totally control the way she was born – I’m not sure if it was the author’s intention, but it totally feels like a representation of mixed race hate-ism and I love it for that. I think I just made up the word Hate-ism but I’m sticking to it.

The book finishes on a major cliffhanger. Ah Majanka why. Damn good ending though.

My Review of The Soul Thief

Majanka Links: Twitter | Website | Amazon | Goodreads

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The Coven Princess: Cover Reveal

 Coming March 7th, 2018 from USA Today bestselling author Lily Luchesi and Vamptasy Publishing: THE COVEN PRINCESS.
Your blood does not define you.
Harley Torrance’s parents were killed in a home invasion when she was three. Adopted by a nice couple, Harley begins to develop strange powers. At fourteen she brews a potion so strong it gains the attention of the Coven King, and changes her world forever.
She’s not human, she’s a witch.
Now a part of the magical community, Harley must learn to control her powers lest the Darkness already in her blood overcomes her. Can she dampen her lust for power in order to stop the Dark from taking over the Coven and killing everyone in their way?
 
 
 
 
About the author:
 
Lily Luchesi is the USA Today bestselling and award-winning author of the Paranormal Detectives Series, published by Vamptasy Publishing. She also has short stories included in multiple bestselling anthologies, and a successful dark erotica retelling of Dracula. She is also the editor, curator and contributing author of Vamptasy Publishing’s Damsels of Distress anthology, which celebrates strong female characters in horror and paranormal fiction. 
She was born in Chicago, Illinois, and now resides in Los Angeles, California. Ever since she was a toddler her mother noticed her tendency for being interested in all things “dark”. At two she became infatuated with vampires and ghosts, and that infatuation turned into a lifestyle. She is also an out member of the LGBT+ community. When she’s not writing, she’s going to rock concerts, getting tattooed, watching the CW, or reading manga. And drinking copious amounts of coffee.

Rising Silver Mist: Cover Reveal

Rising Silver Mist (The Lost Clan #3)
Genre: Urban Fantasy/Paranormal (Faeries)
Summary:
THERE WERE THREE THINGS I WAS CERTAIN ABOUT.
First, I would never kill another person. But when a family friend murdered my father, I destroyed her with a power I didn’t even know I possessed.
Second, I would never strike another bargain. But faeries could bring the dead back, so when Cruz offered to revive my father, I accepted.
Third, I would never marry an enemy, but every bargain comes at a price. The price of mine: I had to marry Cruz and move to the faerie isle.
For the first time in my life, I wondered if death wouldn’t be a kinder end.
Fans of THE VAMPIRE DIARIES will adore Wildenstein’s LOST CLAN series.
  
 

PREORDER LINK –> https://www.books2read.com/u/ml5kq7

Previous books in the series (click on image for Goodreads link):
 
About the Author
Olivia Wildenstein grew up in New York City, the daughter of a French father with a great sense of humor, and a Swedish mother whom she speaks to at least three times a day. She chose Brown University to complete her undergraduate studies and earned a bachelor’s in comparative literature. After designing jewelry for a few years, Wildenstein traded in her tools for a laptop computer and a very comfortable chair. This line of work made more sense, considering her college degree.
When she’s not writing, she’s psychoanalyzing everyone she meets (Yes. Everyone), eavesdropping on conversations to gather material for her next book, baking up a storm (that she actually eats), going to the gym (because she eats), and attempting not to be late at her children’s school (like she is 4 out of 5 mornings, on good weeks).
Wildenstein lives with her husband and three children in Geneva, Switzerland, where she’s an active member of the writing community.
 
Author Links:
   
Cover Reveal Organized by:

Ballad for a Mad Girl: #LoveOzYA Review

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Ballad for a Mad Girl by Vikki Wakefield
Genre: YA, Mystery, Contemp/Paranormal
Publication: May 29th, 2017
Publisher: Text Publishing
Source: Review Copy
Thank you TEXT
Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Everyone knows seventeen-year-old Grace Foley is a bit mad. She’s a prankster and a risk-taker, and she’s not afraid of anything—except losing. As part of the long-running feud between two local schools in Swanston, Grace accepts a challenge to walk the pipe.

That night she experiences something she can’t explain. The funny girl isn’t laughing anymore. She’s haunted by voices and visions—but nobody believes a girl who cries wolf.

As she’s drawn deeper into a twenty-year-old mystery surrounding missing girl Hannah Holt, the thin veil between this world and the next begins to slip. She can no longer tell what’s real or imagined—all she knows is the ghosts of Swanston, including that of her own mother, are restless. It seems one of them has granted her an extraordinary gift at a terrible price.

Everything about her is changing—her body, her thoughts, even her actions seem to belong to a stranger. Grace is losing herself, and her friends don’t understand. Is she moving closer to the truth? Or is she heading for madness?


Damn, what can I say to get you to read this book without giving it all way. – The only thing that disappoints me about this book is that I’ll never be able to read it again for the first time!

I felt a connection to the protagonist, Grace almost immediately. You only make it to the third page before she tells you of her mother’s death. Grace’s hides her grief and dark inner thoughts from everyone around her, behind the shield of being her school’s resident joker and daredevil.

An incident late one night, during one of her daredevil stunts, leaves Grace questioning her sanity. Grace struggles keep a grip on her normal day to day life resulting in her relationships with her friends and family becoming strained, this then pushes her to keep dangerous secrets and go off on her own. Grace is compelled, seemly to her by an outside force, to Investigate a twenty-year-old mystery. The disappearance of a local girl named Hannah. Investigating Hannah’s disappearance leads her to discover secrets about two other local’s deaths, one being her own mothers.

This is a brilliant bloody book. The tale Grace has to tell is deliciously dark and spine tingling. The story’s pace and flow are fantastic. A thrilling murder mystery with some seriously creepy scenes. The story explores grief, belief in the paranormal, family, friendship, mental illness and criminal redemption. 5/5 a #LoveOzYA must read.


Links: Vikki’s Website | Twitter | Instagram | Mad girl on Goodreads | Booktopia | Bookdepository | Amazon | Text Publishing

Thanks for visiting The Adventures of SacaKat.
Until next time, enjoy your shelves :-).

Never Again: Paranormal Review

36543599Never Again by Lily Luchesi
Genre: blended fiction; paranormal-historical-horror (MA15+)
Publication: December 2nd 2017
Publisher: Vamptasy Publishing
Source: Review copy from Author
Thank You Lily
Add to Goodreads
My Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

In this standalone spin-off of the Paranormal Detectives Series, we discover the true horrors during Hitler’s reign.

In World War Two, not all monsters were human.

Male siren Sean Wireman was ostracized from his small village in Israel in the sixteenth century, forced to wander the world until he settled in America in the 1920’s. Since he doesn’t age like a normal person, he was fit to fight in World War Two, to defend the heritage he spent his whole life running from.

Seventy years later, after he has lived a whole other life since Hitler was defeated, from attending law school to becoming a bona fide rock star, the monsters the Nazis released upon the Jews in concentration camps have returned, and he is the only one who can destroy them.

But can he save his people once again, or will this fight take a deadly toll?


I finished reading Never Again and pondered the book producing powerhouse that is Lily Luchesi. I think Never Again is my favourite book of hers to date and i’ve read quite a few since coming across her looking for reviewers for Stake-Out (PDS#1) in a goodreads request group. It feels like forever but when I looked it up it was actually early 2015. Damn Girl, you have bled out a phenomenal amount of words in the last three years. I’ve enjoyed Lily’s writing from the beginning, but it feels as if she’s found her rhythm, her knack and she’s grown confident and is owning her style now.

Lily has really outdone herself this time with Never Again. The writing is strong and confident, the story compelling, a blend of paranormal and real world historical events.

There is swearing. There are some extremely deplorable and violent bad guys (obviously as a large chunk of the book features war). As well as post-traumatic stress disorder being explored in detail. But there is also love and hope to balance out the hate and despair.

The story’s sole protagonist is Sean, a 526-year-old male siren who originated in Israel. Thanks to his slowed siren aging process for the most part of the story he only looks like he’s aged between 20 to 40.

526 years – does he have a story to tell? You bet he does. His life story. 526 years, experiencing ancient Israel, the Ottoman Empire, the Tudors, the Nazis and modern rock and roll. Sean is, despite his species and the fact he regularly refers to himself as an asshole, a good guy and a war hero.

So yes this is a Paranormal Detectives Series Spin-off and if you’ve read any of the PSD books you’ll recognise a fair few characters and locations. But if you haven’t that’s okay, this this is a stand alone and a great way to get a feel for Lily’s writing style.

Lily’s Links: Website | Amazon | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads

The Girl Who Saved Ghosts: COVER REVEAL

The Girl Who Saved Ghosts
K.C. Tansley
(The Unbelievables, #2)
Publication date: October 17th 2017
Genres: Fantasy, Mystery, Young Adult

She tried to ignore them. Now she might risk everything to save them.

After a summer spent in a haunted castle—a summer in which she traveled through time to solve a murder mystery—Kat is looking forward to a totally normal senior year at McTernan Academy. Then the ghost of a little girl appears and begs Kat for help, and more unquiet apparitions follow. All of them are terrified by the Dark One, and it soon becomes clear that that this evil force wants Kat dead.

Searching for help, Kat leaves school for the ancestral home she’s only just discovered. Her friend Evan, whose family is joined to her own by an arcane history, accompanies her. With the assistance of her eccentric great aunts and a loyal family ghost, Kat soon learns that she and Evan can only fix the present by traveling into the past.

As Kat and Evan make their way through nineteenth-century Vienna, the Dark One stalks them, and Kat must decide what she’s willing to sacrifice to save a ghost.

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Sequel to:

Book One: Purchase | Goodreads

Author Bio:

K.C Tansley lives with her warrior lapdog, Emerson, and three quirky golden retrievers on a hill somewhere in Connecticut. She tends to believe in the unbelievables–spells, ghosts, time travel–and writes about them.

Never one to say no to a road trip, she’s climbed the Great Wall twice, hopped on the Sound of Music tour in Salzburg, and danced the night away in the dunes of Cape Hatteras. She loves the ocean and hates the sun, which makes for interesting beach days.

The Girl Who Ignored Ghosts is her debut YA time-travel murder mystery novel. As Kourtney Heintz, she also writes award winning cross-genre fiction for adults.

If you’d like to receive exclusive bonus content on my books, subscribe to my author updates: http://kourtneyheintz.com/contact/

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter

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