Demons from other worlds sneak through magical portals and wreak havoc on earth. In response, the Earth Mother created the Keepers, a group of shapeshifters made from the world’s most vicious predators, to protect her, and us. The fate of North Georgia hangs in the balance when an unknown menace with new magic attacks the Earth Mother and her Keepers. It’s up to Obie to recruit the help of a shifter motorcycle club called the Tortured Occult and the Elvin Nation to find an eliminate the threat before the Earth Mother takes maters into her own hands. An exciting debut novel that is wildly fun to read and builds a familiar yet strange and dangerous world that leaves you looking forward to the next trip. - Mab Morris, Author of Fate of the Red Queen, Jewel of Gazant'e, and The Bone Reader Petrified is a solid urban fantasy with interesting mythology and characters that feel worth knowing. - David Stewart, Fantasy Book Critic I couldn't put it down. What I didn't expect (but absolutely loved) was the "jaded detective" style narration by the protagonist, much in the style of the Maltese Falcon or Bladerunner. It's like fantasy meets Sam Spade. - Kim Megahee, Author of the Marc McKnight Time Travel Adventures. Petrified by Ben Meeks is a consistently entertaining paranormal fiction novel. While it's set on earth, it revolves around the existence of not supernaturals but ultranaturals as they prefer to be called. Obie, the alluring protagonist of the book is an ultranatural that is a were-being, like were werewolves but not exactly that. The book starts with Obie on a mission to get information regarding non-earthly beings that quickly turns into more than he bargained for, both in his personal and professional life. Obie then embarks on a quest to fight the force that is behind the recent turn of events in his life, and a secret world. This is the moment where the plot truly blossoms and the novel takes off at a quick pace. At the start of the story there is a certain mystery to Obie. He was obviously not human, but I could not tell what or who he was. I was intrigued and desperate to know more about his intentions. Author Ben Meeks has mastered the skill of character development. Seeing the character's in the story evolve slowly over time I was able to empathize with them and understand the complexity of their emotions and motivations. I enjoyed the subtle humor thrown into the dialogue, and laughed unexpectedly. Meek's innovative descriptions of scenes in the story keep you engaged even when learning about minor details of the scenery and location. The supernatural world being built was bold and just unique enough to make this paranormal adventure stand out in a genre filled with fodder. I used to read a science fiction series when I was younger called Animorphs by Katherine Applegate, Petrified reminds me of that series, but as a more adult evolution of that idea. Petrified is a stimulating fantasy novel that brings otherworldly creatures into this world and does so with an almost effortless drive towards entertaining the reader at all times. - Literary Titan Becoming an author has been a dream of mine for as long as I can remember. I tried to write my first novel in middle school. It didn't work. I made some assumptions about my writing ability and put the dream away. In 2013 I attended Dragoncon for the first time and checked out some of the writing panels. I had the opportunity to hear authors talk about all aspects of the craft. It was an epiphany moment for me. I realized that I could do it! I spent the next three years learning everything I could before I started writing Petrified. It took me another two years to complete it. There's been a lot of ups and downs on the path to becoming an author but I wouldn't change a second of it. I wanted to take a moment to thank you for checking out my work. Every time someone reads it I am one step closer to achieving my dream. If you enjoyed it please consider signing up for my newsletter on my website at authorbenmeeks.com and follow me on Instagram and Facebook, user authorbenmeeks. It's the best way to stay up to date on new releases. If you would like to help me on this path please consider leaving a review on Amazon and Goodreads, and referring Petrified to a friend. The Earth Mother is under siege. Demons from other worlds sneak through magical portals and wreak havoc on earth. In response, she created the Keepers, a group of shapeshifters made from the world's most skilled predators, to protect her, and us. The fate of North Georgia hangs in the balance when an unknown menace with a new magic threatens to bring the Keepers to their knees. It's up to Obie, the Keeper of North Georgia, and some unlikely allies to put an end to the destruction before it's too late. What will happen when the hunter becomes the hunted