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Deceitful Things #1
Deceitful Things
Boston Massachusetts. When three ordinary people are granted supernatural abilities, they find themselves in a world that is darker than anything they could have possibly imagined.
Carter Dawson, who has spent the majority of his years chasing wealth and power, begins to catch glimpses of horrifying images all around him. Feeling that he is going mad, he seeks medical council and finds that whatever ails him is not due to any known medical condition. All he knows for sure is that he is falling in love with his secretary, Rebekah Branton, a Christian woman who would only serve to distract him from his life objectives.
Rebekah’s brother, Jack “Bear” Branton is a Boston Homicide detective on the trail of the fabled serial killer, the DHK (Devil’s Hand Killer.) As he closes on the satanic madman, Bear begins to feel unique changes in his body chemistry. As the days pass, he recognizes that his speed, strength and endurance surpass that of any professional athlete and are at the very least unnatural.
As their worlds are turned upside down, a host of angels stands between them and a horde of Deceitful Things from the pit of hell poised to steal their destinies and take possession of their fates.
G.A. Zanni resides in Johnston, RI with his wife, Caroline of 10 years, his children, Veronica (9) Gabriel (5) and Olivia (2). He served four years in the United States Marine Corps from 1996-2000 and drew on his experiences abroad to write The Possession of Men series. Currently, he is working on multiple projects and has a deep passion for writing and enjoys sharing his inner most thoughts and stories with others.
Carter Dawson, who has spent the majority of his years chasing wealth and power, begins to catch glimpses of horrifying images all around him. Feeling that he is going mad, he seeks medical council and finds that whatever ails him is not due to any known medical condition. All he knows for sure is that he is falling in love with his secretary, Rebekah Branton, a Christian woman who would only serve to distract him from his life objectives.
Rebekah’s brother, Jack “Bear” Branton is a Boston Homicide detective on the trail of the fabled serial killer, the DHK (Devil’s Hand Killer.) As he closes on the satanic madman, Bear begins to feel unique changes in his body chemistry. As the days pass, he recognizes that his speed, strength and endurance surpass that of any professional athlete and are at the very least unnatural.
As their worlds are turned upside down, a host of angels stands between them and a horde of Deceitful Things from the pit of hell poised to steal their destinies and take possession of their fates.
G.A. Zanni resides in Johnston, RI with his wife, Caroline of 10 years, his children, Veronica (9) Gabriel (5) and Olivia (2). He served four years in the United States Marine Corps from 1996-2000 and drew on his experiences abroad to write The Possession of Men series. Currently, he is working on multiple projects and has a deep passion for writing and enjoys sharing his inner most thoughts and stories with others.
190 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 27, 2012
2 people are currently reading
44 people want to read
About the author
G.A. Zanni
6 books55 followersMy name is Gilbert Anthony Zanni. My father and I share identical names and per Social Security I am not a junior nor am I a second. This gave me trouble when I started school, when I joined the US Marine Corps and in other necessary life evils, including banking, hospital visits and so forth and so on. So, as I prepared to package the Deceitful Things project, I decided to go with the semi pseudonym of G.A. Zanni. It may have had nothing to do with the shared name issue and more to do with the fact that our name is Gilbert. If that was your name wouldn’t you want to find a way to make your name sound cooler?
All of that notwithstanding the past few days have been very surreal for me. I am overwhelmed and grateful for the support that I have received from family, from friends and readers of the novel. This was my first novel and as such like a baby to me. I have to admit though, as much time, energy and sacrifice that I put into the project: I almost allowed the doubt of my skills, over thinking and self condemnation to keep me from accomplishing my lifelong goals and dreams of becoming an author.
As I began to progress deeper into the plot line, side stories and grow deeply attached to the characters, I questioned whether or not I was good enough to continue. My family said it was good, but that’s what they’re supposed to say. Unfortunately we all have heard positive feedback from family members that don’t want to crush your dreams. I’m guilty of doing it myself. And that is exactly what that guy on American Idol says when he bombs his audition.
Right?
He says something like this. “My family said I sounded like Wayne Newton.” When in actuality he sounds like a Tibetan Cowboy riding a baboon underwater. And then he stares confidently back at the three judges who look exasperated and occasionally the sound of crickets splits their silence.
So, in an attempt to not be that guy, I did what any married man without money who wanted a brutally honest critique would do: I asked my mother-in-law to read it. I was surprised to find out that she loved the story and then asked me for the rest. I told her that there was no rest of it. That was all I had. That was when I got the mother-in-law critique that I expected to get in the first place. Anyway, her interest in the novel and consistent yet sincere queries for more samples motivated me to continue writing the story. It has been a long time and a lot of late nights writing since I asked her to give me her “honest” opinion, but I could never express how grateful I am for the support that she has given me throughout the process.
Six years, a great literary agent (Hartline Literary Agency) and an amazing publisher (Trestle Press) later and the book was finally published. Late on February 28th 2012 Trestle Press released “Deceitful Things” onto Amazon and Barnes and Noble. I began reading the reviews of other authors in my genre and thought to myself: Self, I am a dead man. It took forever to go to sleep that night. I tossed and turned, sat up, tried to rest, woke up my wife, talked, stared at the clock and then did it a couple more times before I found sleep. When I woke up the next morning, I walked casually to my computer to check what was going on.
Okay, I may have understated the sense of urgency I had that morning. Still, when my blurred vision went away and I noticed that I was not seeing things, my wife and I were pleased to know that the novel had climbed to number two in the Christian, Science Fiction & fantasy, Hot New Release Category. I spent the rest of the day clicking the same link Trestle Press had sent me, checking my status on Amazon and watching the novel dance up and down between number one and number two.
I’d like to say that I checked up on it every three or four hours, but the truth is, I checked up on it about every four to seven minutes or so. My only concern was that moving forward the joy I fe
All of that notwithstanding the past few days have been very surreal for me. I am overwhelmed and grateful for the support that I have received from family, from friends and readers of the novel. This was my first novel and as such like a baby to me. I have to admit though, as much time, energy and sacrifice that I put into the project: I almost allowed the doubt of my skills, over thinking and self condemnation to keep me from accomplishing my lifelong goals and dreams of becoming an author.
As I began to progress deeper into the plot line, side stories and grow deeply attached to the characters, I questioned whether or not I was good enough to continue. My family said it was good, but that’s what they’re supposed to say. Unfortunately we all have heard positive feedback from family members that don’t want to crush your dreams. I’m guilty of doing it myself. And that is exactly what that guy on American Idol says when he bombs his audition.
Right?
He says something like this. “My family said I sounded like Wayne Newton.” When in actuality he sounds like a Tibetan Cowboy riding a baboon underwater. And then he stares confidently back at the three judges who look exasperated and occasionally the sound of crickets splits their silence.
So, in an attempt to not be that guy, I did what any married man without money who wanted a brutally honest critique would do: I asked my mother-in-law to read it. I was surprised to find out that she loved the story and then asked me for the rest. I told her that there was no rest of it. That was all I had. That was when I got the mother-in-law critique that I expected to get in the first place. Anyway, her interest in the novel and consistent yet sincere queries for more samples motivated me to continue writing the story. It has been a long time and a lot of late nights writing since I asked her to give me her “honest” opinion, but I could never express how grateful I am for the support that she has given me throughout the process.
Six years, a great literary agent (Hartline Literary Agency) and an amazing publisher (Trestle Press) later and the book was finally published. Late on February 28th 2012 Trestle Press released “Deceitful Things” onto Amazon and Barnes and Noble. I began reading the reviews of other authors in my genre and thought to myself: Self, I am a dead man. It took forever to go to sleep that night. I tossed and turned, sat up, tried to rest, woke up my wife, talked, stared at the clock and then did it a couple more times before I found sleep. When I woke up the next morning, I walked casually to my computer to check what was going on.
Okay, I may have understated the sense of urgency I had that morning. Still, when my blurred vision went away and I noticed that I was not seeing things, my wife and I were pleased to know that the novel had climbed to number two in the Christian, Science Fiction & fantasy, Hot New Release Category. I spent the rest of the day clicking the same link Trestle Press had sent me, checking my status on Amazon and watching the novel dance up and down between number one and number two.
I’d like to say that I checked up on it every three or four hours, but the truth is, I checked up on it about every four to seven minutes or so. My only concern was that moving forward the joy I fe
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 21, 2025
I'm writing this review out of fear that some may disregard this book due to it's categorization in "religious fiction" or "christian fantasy." While it is a classic tale of good vs. evil using angels and demons as influencing characters, This book will appeal to christians and non-christians alike.
I'll refrain from outlining the plot, as you can read that for yourself under the book's description, and skip straight to my opinion: I loved this book!
Sci-fi, murder mystery, and esoterical forces are all packaged together using ordinary and relatable characters, witty dialogue, vivid imagery, and pure suspense. I could picture myself amongst the scenery, and found myself actually laughing out loud at the interactions between characters.
For 5 bucks on amazon, I got much more than I bargained for (pun intended). Deceitful Things was a page turner from the very start, and I've been left in agony waiting for the sequel.
I'll refrain from outlining the plot, as you can read that for yourself under the book's description, and skip straight to my opinion: I loved this book!
Sci-fi, murder mystery, and esoterical forces are all packaged together using ordinary and relatable characters, witty dialogue, vivid imagery, and pure suspense. I could picture myself amongst the scenery, and found myself actually laughing out loud at the interactions between characters.
For 5 bucks on amazon, I got much more than I bargained for (pun intended). Deceitful Things was a page turner from the very start, and I've been left in agony waiting for the sequel.
April 12, 2012
Deceitful Things is a fast-paced murder mystery. The conflict is not just between the police and the serial killer they so desperately are seeking. The spiritual battle between the messengers of God and the deceitful things that come from hell adds further depth and tension to the plot. Uneven quality in the writing took away from an otherwise entertaining story, but the final chapter was so well-written it had me turning the pages as fast as I could.
April 12, 2012
Not what I was expecting ,but in a great way. I enjoy this very much and hope that there is going to be another story sometime soon by this author.
Very compelling read, hard to put down, yet I wanted to hold to it as long as could.My Kindle was on fire reading this, the pages flew by.
My suggestion, get it now, have fun, awesome read.
Very compelling read, hard to put down, yet I wanted to hold to it as long as could.My Kindle was on fire reading this, the pages flew by.
My suggestion, get it now, have fun, awesome read.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews