Kristen Callihan's Winterblaze, book 3 in her Darkest London series, is on many readers' must-buy-get-outta-my-way-no-really-move-it shopping lists this week, and to celebrate the release, she and her publisher, Hachette, have put together a really spiffy prize pack.
Here, have a look:
The winner will receive:
- 1 pink fan (this one can NOT be used for beheadings)
- 1 bottle of Sephora by OPI nail polish in “Shiny Dancer” (dark silver)
- 1 leather notebook (such as the one Winston used to tell his story)
- 1 sterling silver necklace and topaz snowflake pendant
- A set of the Darkest London books signed by Kristen Callihan
The items are all related to various characters in the series – and I rather covet that pendant.
Plus five runners-up will receive a complete set of the four books in the Darkest London series in digital format, including the prequel novella, which is digital only:
To enter, leave a comment sharing your favorite or funniest unexpected weapon (and if it's a fan, awesome!). I'll select the winners at random on Friday 1 March.
Standard disclaimers apply: void where prohibited. Open to international residents to the extent permitted be law. Must be over 18 and ready for some kind of battle to win. Measure twice, cut once. The film may have been modified from its original version to fit your screen. Do not write below this line.
Good luck!
When my sister was 9 some creepazoid at the slating rink picked her up and stuck his hand down her pants, forgetting that she would then kick the crap out of his junk with her tiny sharp skates!
I will always love Tangled for her frying pan
In ZigZag Street by Nick Earls, the main character “concussed [a babe] with footwear”. It’s hilarious.
Shoes are always an effective weapon. You can conceivably kill someone with stilettos, and footwear thrown can cause serious damage. 🙂
A letter opener. Never leave home without one. Plus, one might get an actual paper letter. It could happen.
a pencil (all that the Pen is mightier then the sword stuff!!) but a pencil well sharpened can be deadly!
Love this site!
My overly affectionate cat! <3
My dog thinks my hand vac is a mighty sword dripping with blood and gore. At least, that’s what I assume she thinks from her reactions.
Knitting needles are always a class, and as a knitter I have to go with that.
But if I wasn’t a knitter, I’d definitely go with the ballpoint pen from Grosse Pointe Blank.
My brother used his morning breath to drive me away. It was unexpected and totally effective.
Thanks for the lovely giveaway. 🙂
Pinkie Pie’s party cannon: where does she keep that thing?
As a mom to 4, I appreciated the powerful weapons employed by the Superheroine of “Confessions of Super Mom” by Melanie Lynne Hauser including the ability to shoot cleaning fluid (a la Spiderman’s web slinging) and a Merciless Gaze (an all powerful ‘Mom look’ that causes kids to feel guilty and obey her commands).
Also rather partial to parasols as weapons of mass destruction (see “Parasol Protectorate” series by Gail Carriger.
I always loved the cast iron skillet/hot raspberry sauce combo employed by Agnes Crandall against all unsavory dognappers and hitmen. Efficient, resourceful, and potentially deadly.
Where I work we have to use these food thermometers which have three inch long spikes to stab into the food. Every time I grab one I think of what a wonderful shank they’d make…
What does that say about me, I wonder?
I love the high heeled shoe as a weapon. Talk about pretty but deadly.
Definitely the sharpened icicle. Can’t beat something that melts away leaving no evidence…
Oh why can’t I think of something clever? Reading through all the comments, all the good ones have been taken! Can I still enter even if I’ve got a blank mind today?
I love a good stiletto heel as a weapon. The bad guys never see it coming until it gets them in the eye.
I once had the clasp on my bikini top break. It was a bandeau type. It flew off and hit the guy next to me (a total stranger sitting with his wife). Totally horrifying.
In one of the books from the Charlaine Harris Sookie series, Sookie uses a hardback Nora Roberts to fend off an attacker. There’s nothing like a good book to both entertain and protect.
The parasol from The Parasol Protectorate, of course! Although for real life, toenail clippings are a very pointy surprise in the eye.
There was a childhood incident involving a Tonka truck. It was certainly unexpected, and I have the scar to prove it.
I personally would like to consider my sharp tongue an effective weapon, but I’m not as good at wielding it in the moment as I am later, when I think of all the clever things I should have said.
Legos. All over the freakin’ floor.
Also, an overloaded bookshelf when you’re trying to dig out one particular volume and cause an avalanche.
lots of things can be unexpected weapons but i a sharp pair of high heels is pretty dangerous.
Alexia Tarabotti’s parasol from Gail Carriger’s Parasol Protectorate series.
My funniest weapons moment was actually in the movie Zombieland, where the best zombie kill ever was accomplished by dropped piano. 😀
I once had an irate patient hurl his dentures at me. The guy was old and sick but had an arm like a cannon. Left me with a dandy bruise on my upper arm and a whole new level of respect for my elders.
Hm….weapos, weapons… my mind is drawing a blank! I’ll have to go with a stiletto heels. I can’t walk in them, but should someone come after me, I’m sure I can do some damage with them! 🙂
Enjoy!
TBQ
I don’t remember whether it was a movie or on TV but someone once used a salt shaker as a weapon. He unscrewed the top and threw salt in the eyes of his attacker.
I was watching the second episode of Dr. Who last night and all the plastic was turned into killing machines. Those plastic models in stores were pretty badass.
A cast iron pan. Maybe with something still cooking in it?
Growing up, I was terrified that my brother would throw a clam shell like a Frisbee and decapitate me. Wet sand thrown in the eyes was brutal.
As for things that could actually serve as weaponry…. I have a can of bear spray stashed by the front door.
From books, I do love a granny with a nice pointy knitting needle.
Sorry, farting animals are my weapon of choice. Cute, unsuspecting creatures that can let loose the “gas of doom” and clear the room.
This is from an old Pink Panther movie: it was a crowd scene and a woman had a pair of poisoned darts pop out of her bra. (No, it wasn’t cold, nor was she feeling unexpectedly lustful for our hero.) She tried to poison the Inspector by hugging him, but the darts got stuck on the large pretzel he was holding.
That would be the famous Roald Dahl short story. It’s one of the first mystery stories I read, and I adore it. So incredibly clever.
Hmm, well sharpened fingernails can be very deadly, as shown in season three Oz is one of the most unexpected weapons I’ve ever seen.
I see several people mentioning a ball point pen scene in one of the Bourne films, I’ve only ever seen it used as a murder weapon in the excellent Grosse Point Blank (when John Cusack was still good).
Then there’s always an icicle. 🙂
A pencil. I loved it when Willow from Buffy used a pencil to kill a vampire. 🙂
My fave is a frying pan from Agnes and the Hitman by Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer. If I were attacked, I go with a cast iron frying pan any day.
Since we’re talking Darkest London, how about a parasol with a retractable blade for the ladies and for the gents, a badass cane with a blade sheathed inside. But a frying on works too.
I guess the firepoker wielded by Horatia, the Countess of Rule, in Heyer’s The Convenient Marriage or by Miss Olivia Keene in The Silent Governess. I also like bed pan’s including that episode of Bones. Not thinking too original sorry.
Finally a nod to whatever household products/chemicals/cleaning solutions routinely end up in the bombs they make on Burn Notice, who knew cleaning stuff could be so explosive. Although my favorite was when he built a bomb out of a microwave…