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Powell's Staff:
Five Book Friday: In Memoriam
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Every year, the booksellers at Powell’s submit their Top Fives: their five favorite books that were released in 2023. It’s a list that, when put together, shows just how varied and interesting the book tastes of Powell’s booksellers are. I highly recommend digging into the recommendations — we would never lead you astray — but today...
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Brontez Purnell:
Powell’s Q&A: Brontez Purnell, author of ‘Ten Bridges I’ve Burnt’
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Rachael P.:
Starter Pack: Where to Begin with Ursula K. Le Guin
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Welcome To Fat Chance, Texas
by
Celia Bonaduce
soireadthisbooktoday
, July 16, 2015
Welcome To Fat Chance, Texas“I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.” ― Mother Teresa “What should young people do with their lives today? Many things, obviously. But the most daring thing is to create stable communities in which the terrible disease of loneliness can be cured.” ― Kurt Vonnegut, Palm Sunday: An Autobiographical Collage Clarence “Cutthroat” Johnson certainly changed huge chunks of the world. And yes, he cast his stones across the waters and created many, many ripples. The thing is, of course, that the huge chunks of the world he changed crashed in on the people who inhabited those chunks, and the stones he cast destroyed lives and crushed families. He always said, “You have to have a tough hide to succeed.” Yep. And succeed he did. He succeeded in making billions, more than he could ever spend in several lifetimes. But that doesn’t do you any good when the Reaper comes your way. The Reaper doesn’t take checks. He doesn’t even take cash. But seeing the creature in the black robes standing over your shoulder can make you look back at what you have done with your life �" and sometimes? It makes you think. Denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and finally acceptance is all natural �" but sending his spoiled rotten daughter, who never worked a day in her life, and lived for her hair and nails and various charity events and social gatherings, to live in a ghost town in the Texas Hill Country with seven other people, and told to “make something” of the town before she can earn her inheritance?! Seven other people from the “lower” classes at that?! “How are we going to shop? Can I get my nails done? Yep. This isn’t starting out well. And telling Daddy’s Little Princess she should be a “good sport”, well, you know that went over well. So, Daddy’s Little Cleo sets out with an eclectic band of misfits to Fat Chance, Texas. Well, not exactly “with” �" Daddy may have taken away the family private plane, along with all access to the family funds, but there is no way she is climbing on a rented RV with Titan, Polly, Dymphna, Elwood, Wally Wasabi, and Old Bertha. So, she packs up more fancy clothes than she can fit in the trunk of her stretch limo (Stilettos? And mink coats? In a ghost town? Really?), stuffs her family retainer behind the wheel, and they leave California for Fat Chance. Fat Chance this is going to work out, right? Especially when the unexpected seventh person in the group turns out to be her ex-husband, Marshall “Let’s call me ‘Powderkeg’ like a Pirate cause everyone else has cool nicknames!” Primb. Cutthroat destroyed these seven people’s lives, or the lives of their families, in one way or another through his long, money-grubbing career, starting with Wally’s grandfather and working his way down to his latest bit of destruction, buying the land Dymphna live quietly upon, raising her sheep, spinning yarn and selling her knitting, right out from under her. A pristine, pastoral life, destroyed in the name of greed and rampant over-development. Now, he is determined to “help” them to “Get up, get out, and achieve the American Dream.” If they can live in Fat Chance for six months and create a functioning, successful town, Cleo gets her millions �" and the rest get three years’ wages. And if three years wages for each doesn’t add up to $100,000, well, they each get that amount. As Dymphna puts it, “I guess he figures if we’re stuck there for six months, we might as well give it a shot.” What happens next, as these eight completely disparate people come together in a dusty, ramshackle town where the buildings seem to be holding together on a wing and a prayer, the only road has been washed out for years, and no one has been near the place since the 1950’s �" well, except for crotchety, gun-wielding old Pappy, the town’s Mayor, Sheriff, Banker, and all around butt-kicker. An old, “old” friend of Cutthroat’s, Pappy is there to make sure they don’t self-combust in the first week. This book really touched a place deep inside for me. People with no shared history, no common interests, thrown together in a place where they are pretty much completely isolated and forced to learn to barter goods and services and to rely on one another for survival, in what amounts to a “post-apocalyptic” landscape. The only store for fresh food and supplies is a four-mile hike, with only Jerry Lee the mule and Thud the Bloodhound for pack animals. Watching these strangers pulling together to make a community is charming. Developing a fellowship, learning to survive with little, as well as learning to be a grocer, a hostler, and myriad other business owners �" well, the story was so creative, and so positive, I couldn’t resist reading it straight through. There is pain and disappointment, but there is also hope and happiness to be had in Fat Chance. And at the end of the six months? Well, read it and see! I received this book in exchange for a realistic review. All thoughts are my own. Oh, and one thing I really liked about it? Everybody learning to live and work closely, without the author falling into the whole “let’s pair everyone off romantically” trope. Refreshing! If you enjoy my reviews, please do me the honor of clicking "This review was helpful" on whatever site you are reading it on (I post my reviews to several!). I would greatly appreciate it! Thank you.
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Blind
by
Shelley Coriell
soireadthisbooktoday
, July 14, 2015
“Scapegrace leaped up. “I am the Killer Supreme! I make murder into an art form!” Skulduggery hit him again and Scapegrace did a little twirl before falling.”― Derek Landy, Playing with Fire “Terrorist bombings, like rampage shootings, are events that maximize the amount of publicity per amount of damage. That’s why people do them, because they know they will set off a media frenzy.” �" Steven Pinker The Apostles. A highly specialized Special Criminal Investigation FBI team, under the aegis of Parker Lord, the best that the FBI has to offer when it comes to those cases that can’t, but must, be solved. Those cases that walk the edge of destruction of everything humans hold dear. Whether serial killer or child molester, terrorist or sociopath, Parker Lord has an agent to handle it. Under direct management of the President of the United States, they go where they need to be, when they need to be there. And they don’t quit. Coriell’s third book in the Apostles series, after The Broken and The Buried, is The Blind. And it is everything that I love about romantic suspense. Evangelina “Evie” Jimenez is a five-foot crackerjack, in more ways than one. Lord’s bomb specialist, Evie is ex-military, tough as nails, and completely focused on her work. She is the best �" even though the President has, in order to cover his own backside, put Evie in ‘time-out’, smearing her name across the news and destroying her reputation. But when a bomb is ready to go off in a high school gym in Bar Harbor, Maine, the home of the Apostles, Evie goes against the President’s orders in order to disarm the bomb, an IED �" a simple blow and go, the type of stuff she could do in her sleep. The blow and go worked, just as expected. But what wasn’t expected is the man who followed her down an alley �" a man with an offer. An offer that comes with a promise. Brady Malloy works for Jack Elliot, CEO of Elliot Enterprises, one of the richest companies in the world. Jack wants Evie in California, now. Because he has something that no one else has �" information on the next Angel Bombing. The Angel Bomber has terrorized Los Angeles for three months. Three women have died horrifically �" blown to pieces by a sadistic bomber. Several more people have been killed or maimed. The next victim is only days from being taken, and Evie can’t turn down the opportunity to save lives, to stop the bomber. And to get her reputation back. What follows is classic Coriell. Her women characters are strong, independent, and totally tough �" but though they hide it well, they also have a soft side, an ability to empathize with victims, see both sides of situations, and do the right thing, no matter the cost. There is terror, suspense, thrills and chills in The Blind, but there is also romance, of course. If I do have one problem with this particular book it is that the romance felt rushed to the point that I found it unrealistic. From meet to love at warp speed �" though people meeting under stressful circumstances often do fall for one another quickly. The thing is, love at warp speed often fizzles out just as fast. Other than that bump in the storyline, I loved this book, just as I loved the other two. Characters from the other books make return appearances �" I was thrilled that Smokey Joe is back. Blind, elderly, and full of spit and vinegar, Smokey’s ‘little accident’ (driving off a cliff �" yes, driving), his constant running-off of his aides, and his refusal to move in with Kate and Hayden (from The Broken) makes his case worker decide that he can no longer live alone on his mountain. While The Apostles race to find the bomber before he kills again, Smokey Joe lends his help, throws a temper, and pretty much lends that bit of gravel to the character list. Awesome. It is going to break my heart when he passes away one day. I hope Shelley keeps him around as long as possible! This book was received from the publisher in exchange for a realistic review. All thoughts are my own. Shelley has solid “shelf” space in my reader any time she publishes a new book! Pub Date: Jul 28 2015 Forever (Grand Central Publishing)
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Measure of Danger
by
Jay Klages
soireadthisbooktoday
, June 26, 2015
“Hope dMeasure of Dangeroes not mean that our protests will suddenly awaken the dead consciences, the atrophied souls, of the plutocrats running Halliburton, Goldman Sachs, Exxon Mobil or the government.” �" Chris Hedges Jay Klages knows his stuff when it comes to the military, espionage, rouge military technology and the new and terrifying dangers our world faces today. I wanted to get that out there first, because I think Mr. Klages has a bright writing future. As far as this first book goes, I found a lot to like about it. But I just couldn’t quite ‘lock onto’ the story. It has a lot of the things I like about this sort of thriller. Action at warp speed, a quirky main character. But there were things I believe a good content editor could have really helped with. There were plot angles that simply didn’t work for me �" they were too “coincidental”, too unbelievable, for a work with so much promise. I kept getting jerked out of the story with “Huh?” moments. The bland ‘cud munching’ attitude of the security around AgriteX bothered me, as did the oddball FBI reactions to Kade’s experiences and information he passed out to them. It just didn’t feel right. I look forward to following Mr. Klages work. As a first book, the promise shines through, and I believe that with experience and a bit better management by Thomas & Mercer, his next work can receive a much better review. This book was received from the publisher in exchange for a realistic review. All thoughts are my own.
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Mercy Thompson Hopcross Jilly
by
Patricia Briggs, Rik Hoskin, Tom Garcia
soireadthisbooktoday
, June 25, 2015
"All the ancient classic fairy tales have always been scary and dark." -Helena Bonham Carter I should probably be embarrassed to say this, but here goes. I have never read a graphic novel. I know. Loser, right? But it is something that simply never really interested me. Oh, I read comics when I was a kid. I remember walking to the market when II was able to pull enough pennies together for a comic or two, and I cherished them. But I never really came across a graphic novel whose concept interested me. When I was offered “Hopcross Jilly” for a review, it was a perfect opportunity to check out the genre and see what I thought with an author whose work I know I like. The fact that it also features Jesse, daughter to Adam Hauptman and step-daughter to Mercy Thompson, was a plus. I must say, my personal feelings are mixed. That is the problem with building a picture of an authors characters up in your mind over time. If the picture you see, whether on screen or in print is different from what you expect, it can be disappointing. Adam didn’t look anything like I pictured him, though Jesse was a good fit. Mercy? Not so much. Now the story, I liked that. Jesse has a really hard time in high school. Well, when your father is the Alpha of the local Pack, and the face of werewolves all over, kids can be vicious. Since kids can be more vicious than a school of rabid piranha anyway, add in the fact that your dad is Top Were and your life can be utterly miserable. That only gets worse when the pack finds the bodies of four children - then four more, then four more, and four more - buried ritualistically on an abandoned farm. And when one of the bodies happens to be the aunt of the Queen Mean Girl in school, things get even worse. I can’t say the graphic novel format was my favorite way to read the story �" but that is personal preference, and has nothing to do with whether it was well done or not �" because it really was well done. Anything from Patricia Briggs I can pretty much expect to be exceptional, and the art and storyline are just that. Simply a matter of taste, but if you like graphic novels, I will highly recommend this. I believe she also has other graphic novels out �" give them a look if you are a graphic novel buff. I received Hopcross Jilly from the publisher in exchange for a realistic review. All thoughts are my own.
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Project Nemesis a Kaiju Thriller
by
Jeremy Robinson, Matt Frank
soireadthisbooktoday
, June 25, 2015
“The end is near. I hear a noise at the door, as of some immense slippery body lumbering against it. It shall not find me. God, that hand! The window! The window!” ― H.P. Lovecraft, Dagon Dr. Ichiro Serizawa: The arrogance of men is thinking nature is in our control and not the other way around. Let them fight. Godzilla, 2014 Dr. Niko Tatopoulus: This thing is much too big to be some lost dinosaur. Godzilla, 1998 “Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn. In his house at R’lyeh dead Cthulhu waits dreaming.” Lovecraft would have loved this. Nemesis is Godzilla, Cthulhu, and “Attack of the 50-Foot Woman” all rolled into one �" Destroyer God and sad victim not only of fate but of a rich, obsessive, vicious man. “Nemesis” is a monster, true. A monster created by science, at the behest of a human even more monstrous than Nemesis herself. Of course, back when King Kong and Godzilla came to life, “The Bomb” was our greatest fear. Immense power, horrific death from the skies �" the perfect structure for tales of horror. Now, Nemesis waltzes onto the stage, filled with fear, pain, and a deep need for answers. Even monsters need answers, and Nemesis more than most. For all she is a monster, possibly a God, she is lost, searching. But her search can kill millions. Of course, the military is shooting off all its toys, twelve AMRAAM and four Tomahawks have only succeeded in killing civilians so far �" and Boston is her next stop. Which is worse? A terrified military blasting away, or a giant beast storming across the land? “Hulk SMASH!” I got a huge kick out of this story. Narrated by Jeffrey Kafer, the story is a high octane tribute to all the 50’s monster movies we know and love. But it is also a denunciation of military incompetence, political ineptitude (yes, those are basically the same words �" but military command and the political machine are basically the same thing, so . . .) and the horrific things humans will do given enough money and political and military power. Jeremy Robinson has written a story for everyone from preteens to adults, delving into the human psyche, exploring our fears and bringing the past into the present. Nemesis is, when it comes down to it, an avenging angel, a Goddess of Vengence, and I liked her �" a lot. Jon Hudson, the hero of the piece, is the lead investigator for a special DHS department �" Paranormal Investigations. Following up reports of Sasquatch is embarrassing �" but trying to keep the rest of DHS under control, especially the smart-arse Boston lead investigator, is enough to make Jon bang his head against a wall. There is a lot of blood and gore, a lot of military action and military and political stupidity �" and his ‘sidekick’ Sheriff Ashley Collins, is one kick-arse broad, so I was happy with that! There is fun and snarky humour as well, which is always a huge positive for me.
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Chilling Effect
by
Miller, Melissa F.
soireadthisbooktoday
, June 13, 2015
The more laws, the less justice. -- Marcus Tullius Cicero The law has no compassion. -- Christopher Darden Assistant U.S. Attorney Aroostine Higgins has done something I didn’t think could be done. She made me read a ‘lawyer book’ �" and actually fall in love with a ‘lawyer character’. Awesome. You have to realize, I have no patience with the American (or any other) “Justice System”. Because there is no “justice” to be had. Frederick Douglass had it right, all those years ago: Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe. And it hasn’t gotten any better. Aroostine is Lenape, one of the tribes of Native Americans the white man destroyed. They came in, stole the lands, murdered the people, and the ones they didn’t murder they shoved onto reservations in the poorest lands possible �" barren, useless lands no one else wanted. And then? And then, they stole our children. Aroostine is a Lost Child. Her grandfather took her when her parents died. Then, when her grandfather died, she was taken by a white family and raised white. She has no history, no connection with her peoples. But that is about to change. Aroostine, an attorney with the DA’s office in Pennsylvania, and her husband Joe, are in Oregon, trying to piece their lives, and their marriage back together. This is the second in a series, I really hate that I missed out on the first one �" I will be going back to read it. Apparently, Aroostine was an up-and-comer in DC and her hubby Joe, a master carpenter, was a jerk, unable to handle her success. Things happened, but this volume, while touching on the happenings, doesn’t ruin my reading of the first book. I will catch up when I read “Critical Vulnerability” �" which I will read. Aroostine’s vacation is interrupted when her old boss, Sidney Slater, Director of the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice, - the man who threw her under the bus on their last case - asks her to check in on an embezzlement case on the Chinook Reservation. Well, injuns’ is injuns’, right? (Crossing eyes) Surely she will ‘fit in’ and be able to find out why their whistle blower has clammed up. So much for a vacation. And when Aroostine walks in to her whistle blower’s house to find him dead in his chair with a bullet between his eyes, it begins a tightly paced story of mystery, murder, and ultimately heartbreak that kept me enthralled. What really interested me was Miller’s grasp of life on the reservation. Her characters felt ‘real’ and her of a mindset so very different from the white mans was surprisingly believable. I will be reading the first in the series, and placing the series on my watch list for new installments. I received this book from the publisher in exchange for a realistic review. All thoughts are my own. If you are a mystery lover, you should check it out.
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The Water Knife
by
Bacigalupi, Paolo
soireadthisbooktoday
, May 26, 2015
There is good evidence that Venus once had liquid water and a much thinner atmosphere, similar to Earth billions of years ago. But today the surface of Venus is dry as a bone, hot enough to melt lead, there are clouds of sulfuric acid that reach a hundred miles high and the air is so thick it's like being 900 meters deep in the ocean. �" Bill Nye If we keep working at it, we can certainly become Venusian. All we have to do is continue the path we have begun. Global warming, climate change, worldwide drought. Yes, we are on our way to destruction, up the proverbial creek without water. And water is what this story is all about. Honestly however, in a way it reminds me of those stereotypical 1950’s era monster movies. The Creature From the Black Lagoon, The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms, Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Nuclear weapons were the fear then. And yes, they were worth being terrified of. But as horrifying as they are �" this is a situation that it is hard to see any way out of. Worldwide drought is becoming more and more feasible as a worldwide outcome of our continuing greed and carelessness. And Water Knife has a good premise. However, its problem is that of being written more like a script for a B movie rather than a well-written novel. The stereotypes are a bit overwhelming, and though it is apparently meant to be exciting and breath-taking, it comes across as a simple genre piece rather than a work deserving of the attention it is receiving from the public. I just expected more �" more realism regarding an extremely important ecological issue that can cost us more than we can ever expect to salvage. I received this book from the publisher in exchange for a realistic review. All thoughts are my own.
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Dry Bones A Walt Longmire Mystery
by
Craig Johnson
soireadthisbooktoday
, May 26, 2015
“There are horrible people who, instead of solving a problem, tangle it up and make it harder to solve for anyone who wants to deal with it. Whoever does not know how to hit the nail on the head should be asked not to hit it at all.” -- Friedrich Nietzsche “In the end, there is no absence of irony: the integrity of what is sacred to Native Americans will be determined by the government that has been responsible for doing everything in its power to destroy Native American cultures.” -- Winona LaDuke Even after more than two centuries, the Native Americans still get short shrift. And once again, in this newest installment of the Walt Longmire saga, the Cheyenne suffer again. The Absaroka County tribe has much to celebrate when the bones of probably largest and most intact T. Rex skeleton ever found is discovered on Danny Lone Elk's ranch. Well, until Danny is found murdered, his body being consumed by snapping turtles in a pond on his property. Thus begins a scene as familiar as those known through history, as Danny’s family, the Cheyenne, the High Plains Dinosaur Museum, and of course the all-knowing (Pft…) feds all jump in to claim the skeleton designated as “Jen”. I have to admit �" I am a long-time Longmire fan. Walt is, well, I would call him a broken man. The death of his wife pretty much destroyed his life, turning him to alcohol binges and isolation. He is deeply flawed, but still brilliant. Surrounded by his friends and colleagues, undersheriff Victoria "Vic" Moretti who has her own issues, and his best friend from the way back times of elementary school onward, Henry Standing Bear, Walt and company are once more up to their proverbial necks in bureaucracy and diplomacy, pompous FBI agents, pretentious politicians and other members of the creepier classes of politicized scum. And then, of course, reporters, the lowest possible class of stupidity. Saizarbitoria and Double Tough return, and Walt’s daughter returns as well, with his first grandchild, Lola, whose namesake is Henry's Baltic-blue 1959 Thunderbird convertible. All this is good, very very good �" until tragedy hits. Tragedy that could destroy this most intelligent and fragile lawman I have loved for so very long. Yep. I cried. This whole series is amazingly well done, this one especially. With bits of humour, deep pain, engaging characters and a remarkable storyline, Johnson once more delivers an amazing story. I can’t recommend the series highly enough. Be ready to sit down, strap in, and go for an incredible ride. I received this book from Penguin Publishing in return for a realistic review. All thoughts are my own. The best thing is? George Guidall reads the Audible edition �" and I have it on my purchase list. Mr. Guidall is one of my favorite narrators!
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The Wizard, the Warlord, and the Hidden Woman
by
Michael Angel
soireadthisbooktoday
, May 20, 2015
Lost, yesterday, somewhere between sunrise and sunset, two golden hours, each set with sixty diamond minutes. No reward is offered for they are gone forever. �" Horace Mann There can be no failure to a man who has not lost his courage, his character, his self-respect, or his self-confidence. He is still a King. �" Orison Swett Marden Jason Summer is what many of us want to be. A highly successful fantasy author. In his ‘position’ as “Undersecretary to Leetah, The Mage of the Rose”, Jason and his partner, Sonja Leto, enjoy a wonderful life together. Jason’s great love for Sonja inspires his work, and his life, allowing him to create a world of great beauty and creativity. A land of magic and beauty, life and death, magic and mystery. A land where Leetah, the Mage of the Rose, is right now in deep trouble. “She’s almost out of spells, down to a handful of loyal men, and the bad guys are closing in.” Well, he can certainly write her out of her tight corner. But there is weirdness aplenty in the ‘real’ world. Jason’s brother Corey is acting very strangely. Of course, he has always despised Sonja for some reason beyond Jason’s comprehension. And of course Sonja hates him as well. But there are other things going on �" such as mysterious e-mails addressed to Leetah, Mage of the Rose, from Muriel of the Melusines. Oddly phrased, archaic, her emails speak of magic, of invasions and magical flight. Flight which took her brother Zander, from her. Muriel needs Leetah’s help, desperately. Which is really strange, because magic doesn’t really work in this world, Muriel. How about you lay off the video games, Muriel? Only, maybe Muriel isn’t as whacked as Jason and Sonja initially think. For something strange is certainly going on. And when Jason and Sonja actually end up on Muriel’s world, things go sideways. Saving Zander may get them back to their world �" but there are, once again, deeper layers, larger stories, greater worlds. And what Jason finds out in this new, magical world will change not only his beliefs about reality, but will shake the very foundations of his soul. Michael Angel is, without a doubt, one of my favorite authors. His character development when it comes to his mythical creatures truly pulls you into their lives, thoughts and hearts. His world building carries me into his realities, and his grasp of the human condition is alternately uplifting and heartbreaking. I have written reviews of several of Michael’s other books, and this one is just as good, and in at least one way even better, than the other books I have reviewed. The heartbreak is heavy in this one �" but the joy? The joy simply blew me away. Enjoy! I received this book from Michael as a gift. All thoughts are my own.
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Bite Me
by
Shelly Laurenston
soireadthisbooktoday
, May 09, 2015
“Just cause you got the monkey off your back doesn’t mean the circus has left town.” �" George Carlin Poor Livy. Being a honey badger shifter is really the pits sometimes. Let’s take her father’s funeral. “So how did it go? “Fistfight on the casket. Poisonous snakes in the backyard. My father’s ex-girlfriend head-butted by my mother… The usual really.” Wow. Growing up in a family known for being enemies to … well … everyone, isn’t actually all that easy. Especially when you have no interest in learning the finer skills of pickpocketing at age three or how to best break in to a safe, steal the swag and get away clean by the time you are a preteen. Huh. Livy isn’t interested in the family business of breaking every local, state, federal and international robbery law on the books �" she just wants to be a photographer. And she is a really good one at that. But family business rears its ugly head, no matter how carefully Livy tries to stay away. And her father’s death will lead to a return to the family business, will she or nil she. Thank goodness she has good friends to back her up. And, believe it or not, her family as well. Of course, when her old friend Vic, a bear-tiger hybrid, shows up along with his friend and sometimes business partner Shen, the giant panda, things get even stickier. Livy: “Your feline is showing.” Vic: “Because you’re not being rational and there’s an eight-foot four-hundred-pound whiny baby over there begging me to claw the holy shit out of him.” Polar Bear Hockey Player (and aforementioned whiney baby): “You are Rude!” Livy has no interest in a ‘relationship’ with anyone �" especially when said hybrid makes her insides feel funny. But sometimes what we want and what we need are very different. And having a mammoth sized hybrid on her side turns out to be rather a good thing after all. I read the first two of Shelly Laurenston’s “Pride” series quite some time ago and remember liking them, and finding them rather funny. “Bite Me” is sooo much more! I laughed so hard all through the book I had tears running down my face. The story is great, but the characters make the book. From Tennessee hillbillies (and proud of it) to savants in everything from art to music to science, Shelly takes what could be cliché characters and make them so much more. There is tremendous humor here, but also depth �" the love of family and friends, the sacrifices friends are willing to make, and a lot about love and duty, greed and egotism �" and the best way to break into an unbreakable vault, of course. Yes, the first ones were OK but Book Nine? Priceless! It is now on my “to be read immediately when feeling sad” shelf. And I am going to go back and read the rest as well. The first two were more of the typical ‘paranormal romance’ with some humor thrown in �" lots of sex and not as much story. This one? LOTS of story, lots of laughs, and a tiny bit of very well-done sex �" lagniappe rather than main course! Highly recommended. Have fun! Oh, and please note. Just because Shelly’s wonderful cover artists couldn’t figure out the best way to make Vic look sexy in his hybrid form, (he really is quite terrifying in his shifted form! All. That. FUR!!) and put that gorgeous tiger on the cover instead, doesn’t mean that Shelly doesn’t respect her friends, the hybrid shifters!
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Last Shot
by
Eve Gaddy
soireadthisbooktoday
, April 22, 2015
“My mother detested me. Don’t try to tell me she didn’t. She did. Ask anyone who lived here when she was alive. She wasn’t shy about bad-mouthing me.” �" Della Rose, Last Shot This is what starts it, for the hated child. From this point, no love, no safety, no hope. No loving hugs or kisses for skinned knees. No warm meals or being tucked in at night with a song or a story. This is what starts it. The night terrors, the strange men creeping into your room in the middle of the night when mom is too drunk to notice �" and if she is awake, blames you for her scummy boyfriends advances �" no matter that you are only six, or nine, or twelve . . . This is what starts the pain, the terror, the loneliness. The choices that must be made, in order to survive. And survival sometimes means doing things, suffering things, which are unimaginable to “normals”. This was Della’s life. Hated, abused, and made to suffer unimaginable things �" things that led to even more unimaginable things. Life has been brutally hard for Della from the time she was born. But now, life is finally stabilized. Oh, she and her daughter Allie aren’t rich, not by any means, but Della’s job as a waitress at the Last Shot Bar and Grill, working for Charlie, her good friend and supporter, cranky old good-hearted man that he is, keeps Allie in clothes and food and a roof over their heads, and her friendship with Mary Lou means that there is always someone home when Allie gets home from school. Life is calm, stable, and more than Della has ever had. Then, in one night, and a blaze of gunfire and death, everything changes �" and Della, Allie and Mary Lou’s life will never be the same. With Charlie dead, and one terrible thing after the other happening, they are all in danger from unseen forces who are apparently searching for something valuable �" something they think Charlie had �" and that they think Della now has access to. And they are willing to kill to get it. I have ranted lately about how the perception of women in romantic suspense novels has been canting towards the “Oh, save me, Big Handsome Man! Save poor pitiful me!” mentality. Ugh. Women are no longer the swooning Victorian era victims they once were, and contemporary literature should reflect that. “Last Shot” restores some of my hope for the possibilities of strong women characters. Della is NOT a victim. Far from it. Instead, after all that has happened to her, all the horrors, all the pain, she comes across as strong and self-sufficient �" almost to a fault. She takes nothing from anyone, making her own way, taking care of her daughter. And she certainly HATES cops… for very, very good reasons. So imagine her surprise when she finds herself attracted to Nick, the visitor to their small town of Freedom, Texas. Someone she pegged as a cop the minute he walked in the door. Della hates men, is terrified of them �" but cops are on the very top of her list of “kill them all and sort it out never”. But Nick? Well, Della feels things she has never felt before. And that oddity has her off-balance, frightened, and terribly confused. Why can’t she take her eyes off of him? And why, when she despises the touch of a man, is she so fascinated with this one? A hated cop? Nick has his own issues. Issues which leave him screaming up out of sleep, reliving the horrors of his last case �" a case that may have broken him for good as a detective. Can these two discover what the murderers were looking for, find out why Charlie was murdered before their eyes? It doesn’t help that Police Chief Brumford Hayes is everything that Della expects him to be �" dirty. And Officer Kingston Knight is definitely “off”. Are they involved in what is going on, or are they just despicable? Eve Gaddy has done spectacular research for this novel. I honestly wondered if she had been subjected to the things that Della was in her childhood, in her life. Apparently not �" she is simply that good at doing the research and writing realistically about what a person who has suffered what Della has goes through �" how she handles herself and others. Having been through a lot of what Della has, I found Eve’s portrayal of the mindset to be spot-on. I completely identified with Della. Even the part that apparently irritated a one-star reviewer. The first time I was actually attracted to a man as an adult, I was, literally, fascinated. How could this happen? Why? I had never felt attracted to “any” man! It was as if I had lost my mind… all I could think about was what his skin would feel like. I wanted to touch. How did THAT happen? I was, in a word, obsessed. This obsession is shown here as well, so I guess I wasn’t as perverted as I thought I was at the time. All I can think is that ‘one-star reviewer’ has had no experience with, or friends who, have gone through anything like what Della has. The vituperation rained on Ms. Gaddy’s head is unwarranted �" but lack of knowledge in this case is based upon valid arguments, even if they don’t apply in this particular scenario. I never carried out my own “lust” for that fascinating guy �" which makes Della a great deal braver than I am. Removing oneself from the wasteland of pain, fear and asexuality isn’t something that everyone can do. I wish I had been as brave. Overall? I loved this book. It is well researched, well written, and touches on issues that, even today, are not addressed nearly enough. Issues of poverty, drug and alcohol abuse, child abuse, dirty cops, and a system that betrays the most fragile and helpless amongst us. It is going on my “Keeper” shelf, and I will be adding Eve Gaddy to my “Must Read” shelf. WARNING: There are remembrances of rape and child abuse in this book. If you can’t read these sorts of things, please take note. I received this book from the publisher in return for a realistic review. All thoughts are my own. Highly recommended.
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Dark Prayer
by
Natasha Mostert
soireadthisbooktoday
, April 16, 2015
Non omnis moriar: I shall not altogether die. �" Horace, Odes 3:30 What if we’re all like that? Like ghosts … in someone’s mind … gradually fading … fading … until finally … one day … we just disappear … drift into nothingness. Wouldn’t that be sad? �" Walter Wykes, Fading Joy “Nobel Prize-winning neuroscientist Eric Kandel says we are who we are because of what we learn and what we remember. Who am I, then, if my memory is impaired?” ― Mira Bartok, The Memory Palace She calls herself Eloise Blake. Though not the first line of the book, it is the first line of the story. The story of a girl, a girl named Eloise Blake. But Eloise has only been Eloise for the past two years. For before that, Eloise was Jenilee Gray. Lovely, sweet Jenilee who loved the colour peach and liked pansies and sweet peas. Who was soft and gentle, and the ward of a very rich man, Daniel Barone. “The man is a genius�"of the Stephen Hawking kind. But two decades ago he dropped out of academic research almost overnight.” How odd. A neuroscientist, trying to identify the memory molecule, his work was decades ahead of the Sackler Lab and their work on the identification of PKMzeta. A huge breakthrough �" but he simply walked away. Why? And is what happened then somehow related to what is happening now to Jenilee/Eloise, who one day walked out of a restaurant and completely disappeared from London? “The last he saw of her, she was talking on the restaurant’s public telephone, looking agitated and holding a sheet of paper in her hand. . . Mr. Barone thinks this may be when she lost contact with her identity.” John Boyne said, “There’s things that happen in a person’s life that are so scorched in the memory and burned into the heart that there’s no forgetting them.” But that is not actually true. For Jenilee/Eloise is in a fugue state �" she remembers nothing of her previous life of privilege, living in what amounts to a squat, living for parkour, or in her case, “free running”. And because of Eloise’s obsession with free running, Jack Simonetti, bon vivant, spoiled little rich boy, is ordered to London to use his free running skills to track her movements, assure her safety, and, hopefully, return her to the persona of Jenilee Gray. Of course, if Jenilee returns, Eloise will be gone forever. And the longer Jack knows Eloise, the more he realizes that she may actually be the ‘true’ persona. . . On the day she disappeared she drove into London to visit a solicitor who had contacted her about an envelope that was left her by her mother and date-stamped for release that day. What is so horrific as to cause Jenilee to become Eloise �" for her fugue state to last so long? What was in the envelope? And what is really going on �" because there is more, much more. Something happened, all those years ago, when five people began a quest, a quest which left one of the group in a wheelchair and another �" Jenilee’s mother�" murdered, while two others came to know success beyond the wildest dreams of avarice. One of them Jack’s father, Leon Simonetti. A man without compassion, a man with secrets of his own. Secrets which may have left one young woman completely (irretrievably?) lost. “There is a goddess of Memory, Mnemosyne; but none of Forgetting. Yet there should be, as they are twin sisters, twin powers, and walk on either side of us, disputing for sovereignty over us and who we are, all the way until death.” ― Richard Holmes Once upon a time there was a group of five, The Order of Mnemosyne, all brilliant, all experts on memory. . . Once students sat at the feet of their teachers �" Anaxamander and Parmenides, Anaxagoras and Xenophanes. I sit at the feet of Natasha Mostert �" not so much as a ‘teacher’ but as an author. I said, in my review of Season of the Witch: I was again pulled into the deep waters of the mind, the dark corners of the soul. And once more, I was enthralled by Ms. Mostert’s grasp of language, her ability to paint a picture with words upon the page. Now, she reaches deeper, wider, further. Are we, and our memories, becoming shallow, increasingly incapable of internalizing knowledge? Natasha has once more done meticulous research, delved into the world of medieval memory palaces, and expanding them into the modern world, complicated renditions of our memory palaces, “replete with galleries, endless staircases, passages turning in on themselves, Escher-esque tessellations and infinite loops; rooms within rooms and inside them grinning gargoyles, oblique symbols and images of dark beauty.” As always, Natasha has created these very oblique symbols, images of dark beauty and pain, and a heartrending tale of the palaces of science �" and the darkest depths of the search for the memories of god. “We thought . . . we might even be able to look upon the face of God. Mnemosyne was a prayer.” “A dark prayer. Worth any sacrifice”? “Would you say it is worth the sacrifice of a child?” I received Dark Prayer from the publisher in return for a realistic review. Natasha Mostert writes beautifully, with a depth of knowledge and empathy that makes her work beautiful and compassionate, painful and horrifying in equal measure. She is a great storyteller of depth and knowledge, and I completely adore her works. Highly recommended, as always.
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Omega: An Urban Fantasy Novel
by
S. M. Reine
soireadthisbooktoday
, April 03, 2015
We pledge ourselves to liberate all our people from the continuing bondage of poverty, deprivation, suffering, gender and other discrimination. �" Nelson Mandela I stood up as best I could to their disgusting stupidity and brutality, but I did not, of course, manage to beat them at their own game. It was a fight to the bitter end, one in which I was not defending ideals or beliefs but simply my own self. �" George Grosz Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfills the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things. �" Winston Churchill Twenty years ago, everyone died. Everyone. Man, woman and child, none were spared. And yet, once the Genesis Void passed, people returned �" though not all. And those who did rise from their deaths returned to a world where myth and legend live, and you could very well awaken to find that you are a fairytale character. Sidhe and vampire, demon and were, all walk an Earth where humans are no longer the dominant species. But massive change leads to mass confusion, and housing, feeding and providing care for the newly mythical brings about a razor sharp divide between the ‘Haves’ and the ‘Have Nots’ �" and as Winston Churchill pointed out, “Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.” And Deirdre Tombs is miserable since she returned. For though she is purportedly a were �" she heals swiftly and moves quickly �" she cannot change. And since she cannot change, she isn’t trusted to live in ‘Sanctuary’ �" the safe, exclusive world created for and by ‘true’ shapeshifters. Shuffled from decrepit foster home to skid row group house, she is beaten and abused, hated and feared. Now, she lives in a condemned building with her friend, an Asanbosam Vampire, and works for a Nightmare. Literally. But when ‘moon-sickness’ begins to flow through the were population, Dierdre is recruited by the very people who turned her away, who left her to the cruelties of the socialized foster system �" a very broken, very vicious foster system. Of course, the system wasn’t only cruel to Dierdre �" and Everton Stark is determined to make Rylie Gresham, werewolf Alpha, pay for the pain and deprivation of the many when Rylie made sure that ‘her’ wolves lived in peace and plenty. When Rylie offers Dierdre a chance to learn what she is, which she has longed for all of her life, in return for infiltrating Stark’s group, she accepts the challenge. With Gage Cicerone, one of Rylie’s ‘children’ at her side, she takes the assignment. But now is when things get fuzzy. For the lines between good and bad, truth and lies, begin to blur . . . Set in the world of Preternatural Affairs, the OPA holds minimal place within the story, yet looms over the scene, sure to be felt in later books in the series. PA is still my favorite of all Sara’s work, and this new series, War of the Alphas, expands the idea in a wildly creative manner. One warning �" when you open this book, be sure that you do so early in the day, and have nothing else to do. The ‘smart’ side of my brain kept saying, “Go to bed, nutcase!” The obsessive part? Well, she won �" I finished it at four this morning! I received this book from Sara in exchange for a realistic review. Goooo ME!!! Sara is one of my favorite authors (and a wonderful person, btw) and she has reached another level of WOW in this new series!
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Art Quilts the Midwest
by
Linzee Kull McCray
soireadthisbooktoday
, March 29, 2015
I remember when it happened. In 1971 The Whitney Museum of American Art did something that sat the “Art World” on its ear. They displayed quilts in a museum setting: Abstract Design in American Quilts “bestowed institutional recognition of the artistry inherent in these humble textiles.” Quilts have existed, literally, throughout history. While they are made from fabric, and therefore examples are hard to find before Roman times, scraps from that period have been found in digs. The Middle Ages hold many examples of quilted fabrics being used under the metal armor used by knights to shield their bodies from sharp edges and protect them from blows against the metal. As a child, I remember quilts in wedding chests and on beds in country homes. They were often cherished and handed down by families. I also remember seeing exquisitely hand stitched quilts thrown in the trunks of cars by uncaring family members, and used under cars for changing oil. Quilts often, literally, “got no respect.” I remember my first quilt show, at the local county fair. I worked for hours on end to stitch a Bargello quilt in all shades of reds. I very carefully chose all my fabrics, carefully matching thread colours to blend, not only to my top but to the floral background I oh-so-very-carefully chose to go with the top. I was soooo proud of that quilt! Imagine my dismay when the judge, an elderly woman with a tight, lemon-pucker face, said, “You know, you could have won, if you hand just used the proper thread. Quilts are always quilted with WHITE thread!” As I looked at my much loved quilt, I gave up in tears. White thread?!?! All you would see would be the thread!! It would totally take away from my quilt! I gave my quilt away, and didn’t quilt again for years. Things have changed since then. Quilts ARE Art! And isn’t it wonderful? What used to be three layers of fabric (COTTON ONLY!!) batting (COTTON ONLY) and fabric (COTTON ONLY) bound together by thread (WHITE cotton only) to be shown only at the county fair, if you showed them at all, have now become magnificent art forms. And Art Quilts of the Midwest Linzee Kull McCray showcases the works of many of the premiere quilt artists of today. As a writer covering textiles, art, and craft, Linzee Kull McCray wondered just how deeply fiber artists were influenced by their surroundings. Focusing on midwestern art quilters in particular, she put out a call for entries and nearly 100 artists responded; they were free to define those aspects of midwesterness that most affected their work. Just as with any other art form, these artists are influenced by their surroundings, their time period, and their materials, much like the quilters of Gees Bend, Alabama were influenced by theirs. From the functional to the fantastic these 100 The stunning asymmetry and colour use of one of the Gee’s Bend Quilts. All the quilts are made of ‘found’ or cast off fabrics, worn clothing, feed sacks and sometimes, just sometimes, purchased fabrics. These 100 artists work in fiber, certainly, but how they handle their materials is wide-ranging and exciting. All sorts of fibers are used �" but how it is handled is deeply based in the idea of quilt as art. From new ways to utilize symmetry and repetition to new forms of dying, painting, uses of three dimensional forms and uses of non-fiber materials such as metals and jewels, the old has become new again, while still hearkening back to its historical roots, philosophy and culture. If you are interested in art as a whole, or in quilts in particular, this is a beautiful book to add to your collection, whether as a coffee table book to browse at your leisure over a cup of tea, a fount of ideas for your own quilt, or a paean to beauty, this is a gorgeous book to add to your library. I received this book from the publisher in exchange for a realistic review. All thoughts are my own. See my website for my full review with photos. About the Author: Linzee Kull McCray grew up in California and resides in Iowa. After nearly thirteen years as a writer and editor for the University of Iowa, she is a fulltime freelance writer with a focus on textiles, art, and craft. She is a contributing editor at Stitch magazine and her work appears in Etsy’s blog, UPPERCASE, American Patchwork and Quilting, Quilt Country, Quilt Sampler, Modern Patchwork, O magazine, and numerous other print and online publications. The Artists Marilyn Ampe, St. Paul, Minnesota Gail Baar, Buffalo Grove, Illinois Sally Bowker, Cornucopia, Wisconsin Peggy Brown, Nashville, Indiana Shelly Burge, Lincoln, Nebraska Shin-hee Chin, McPherson, Kansas Sandra Palmer Ciolino, Cincinnati, Ohio Jacquelyn Gering, Chicago, Illinois Kate Gorman, Westerville, Ohio Donna Katz, Chicago, Illinois Beth Markel, Rochester Hills, Michigan Diane Núñez, Southfield, Michigan Pat Owoc, St. Louis, Missouri BJ Parady, Batavia, Illinois Bonnie Peterson, Houghton, Michigan Luanne Rimel, St. Louis, Missouri Barbara Schneider, Woodstock, Illinois Susan Shie, Wooster, Ohio Martha Warshaw, Cincinnati, Ohio Erick Wolfmeyer, Iowa City, Iowa
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Marked
by
Sarah Fine
soireadthisbooktoday
, March 12, 2015
Stand close around, ye Stygian set, With Dirce in one boat convey'd, Or Charon, seeing, may forget That he is old, and she a shade. - Walter Savage Landor - Pericles and Aspasia (l. 5�"8) If we do not change our negative habits toward climate change, we can count on worldwide disruptions in food production, resulting in mass migration, refugee crises and increased conflict over scarce natural resources like water and farm land. This is a recipe for major security problems. - Michael Franti We cannot permit the extreme in the environmental movement to shut down the United States. We cannot shut down the lives of many Americans by going to the extreme on the environment. - George Bush (b. 1924), U.S. Republican politician, president. Speech, May 30, 1992, at campaign rally, California on the Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit. Yeah. How’s that workin’ out for everybody but you? �" Me "Lachesis measures out the thread, while Clotho weaves upon the loom, but Moros walks amongst us still, personification of impending doom, drives mortals to their deadly fate, while Atropos cuts the thread. . ." OK. I wrote that part, but Sarah Fine’s "Marked" made me feel poetic. I literally got lost in her words, in her story of Cacy Ferry and her family. The Ferry’s have a secret - their father, Patrick, is the physical manifestation of Charon, the ferryman of the dead. And Cacy and her siblings all carry the weight of the souls they guide to the afterlife. One gold coin for a lifetime of lost happiness. The fee paid to the Ferrymen, and women, to carry out their duties. Ah, but the fee must be shared �" shared with the Kere, scions of Moros, bringer of death through violence and disease. Is it that simple, that these gold coins are the cause in the disruption of the warp and weave measured and spun out by the Moirai? For something is badly wrong in the world, and Cacy and her family are right in the center of the widening gyre. But they stand not alone. For when Cacy meets Eli and Galena Margolis, what she understood as right takes a sudden turn into shocking �" and her life, and her jobs, will never be the same. And the Margolis' will become more to the Ferry family than they could ever have imagined. Jobs? Well, yes. For while Cacy could hold a white glove position in her family company, Psychopomps Incorporated, she chooses instead to become an EMT in Boston. Which doesn’t sound all that bad �" except for the fact that The Great Flood of 2049 has placed Boston mostly underwater now, massive canals and dams the only thing between the populace and total inundation. Being underwater is bad. Really bad, as disease organisms make the water deadly, and canal pirates make life for most a living hell. Poor to no police or fire protection, minimal power, and the aforementioned pirates make Boston a dangerous place to be. But the fact that it is actually one of the safest cities still extant proves just how bad the rest of the world must be. Running water? He’d never actually seen such a thing. Clean water was like gold in Pittsburgh, and carefully rationed. Eli and Galena are from “The West” �" better known as Pittsburg. Pittsburg �" desert lands. Is Pittsburg truly the farthest reaches of the US? Is it all a barren desert past Pittsburg? Or is the country past that desert wasteland, a land of cactus and sand, simply gone �" subsumed by rising waters? So. Two tales here, in this wonderful, wonderful book. On the one hand, a tale as old as life, and death, itself �" Eli, Galena, Cacy and her family will find their lives woven together, in a race against time and murder �" and possibly to save the tapestry upon the loom �" the divine machine that churned out the endless fabric of life. The Fates themselves cannot hold the centre - the warp and weave is failing. Are Eli and Galena the answer? Or will Atropos rule over all? The second story is just as poignant in its own way �" and more terrifying. It is simple to see the story, wrapped within the story, as flooding and desertification take over the world, climate change wiping a brutal hand over what humans have built. Voltaire had it right when he said, “Men argue. Nature acts”. We laugh at the dragon, as Tolkien pointed out. While he was talking of real dragons, we laugh at the dragon of the changes we have wrought upon the world, and in our blindness, we determine our own fate. This MARVELOUS book is the first in the Servants of Fate series. Book two, Claimed, is waiting for me on my reader and I can hardly wait to get started. I received Marked from the publisher in exchange for a realistic review, but no matter what, I cannot speak highly enough of this book. Life, death, betrayal, horror, romance �" it’s all here, and all marvelously written. I highly recommend the series. I also intend to pick up Ms. Fine’s previous series, Guards of the Shadowlands. Sarah is already on my auto purchase list. If you like my reviews, please mark “yes” at Amazon under “is this review helpful?” It helps my Authors garner more attention!
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Finding Sheba
by
H. B. Moore
soireadthisbooktoday
, February 06, 2015
The world we see that seems so insane is the result of a belief system that is not working. To perceive the world differently, we must be willing to change our belief system, let the past slip away, expand our sense of now, and dissolve the fear in our minds. �" William James The history of the Jews has been written overwhelmingly by scholars of texts �" understandably given the formative nature of the Bible and the Talmud. Seeing Jewish history through artifacts, architecture and images is still a young but spectacularly flourishing discipline that’s changing the whole story. �" Simon Schama Undercover special agent for the Israeli Preservation of Cultural Heritage and Ancient Artifacts Omar Zagouri may not agree with all of the decisions of his government regarding their treatment of his Arab neighbors. But protecting his people, and their culture, from jihadists and weapons smugglers means setting aside his misgivings �" even when his neighbor dies from internal bleeding when she delivered a baby and couldn’t be taken to a hospital because breaking curfew meant death for her family. No, life in Israel and Palestine can be hell �" but this particular undercover operation will be something more than even Omar expected. It is hard to believe, today, that these lands of bombs and guns, oppression and violence, was once a jewel of the world. A land of beauty and learning, knowledge, wealth and beauty, even amidst the sands and dunes of barren lands. Now buried civilization, forgotten until discoveries, some chance, some planned, reveal the lost beauty and culture of an amazing world. Recent archaeological discoveries in the Mahram Bilqis (Mahram Bilkees, “Temple of the Moon Deity”) in Mareb, Yeman support the view that the Queen Sheba ruled over southern Arabia, with evidence suggesting the area to be the capital of the Kingdom of Sheba. But who was she, really? Records are thin, stories sometimes wildly exaggerated. Or are they? For Omar, while working undercover in a tunnel between Israel and Jerusalem, has broken through a wall and into a tomb �" a tomb which may very well change the history of the world, and of the underpinnings of Christian, Jewish and Muslim beliefs. The discovery, if authenticated, could throw into question the governmental claim to the Holy Land�"and prove the Bible false. Different countries claim to be the motherland of Sheba �" all with their own names for the queen �" Bilqis in Yemen, Makeda in Ethiopia, or possibly an Egyptian queen. But these aren’t the real questions, though all these countries are willing to commit the most horrendous crimes in order to prove their claim. But what is even more at risk, and is a political bomb that could explode not only across the Middle East �" but across the world. For not only is Sheba brought into question �" but also the very existence of King Solomon. And should King Solomon be proven to have not existed, the whole underpinning of Biblical history will be brought into question. For while there are no actual, physical records of the existence of Solomon, a crypt accidentally located by Omar and a group of workers clearing a tunnel may prove that, rather than Solomon, his supposed reign was actually during the time of King Melech Tambariah �" son and grandson of Kings Melech Turug and Melech Amariel. And a statue found in Aksum, Ethiopia entwines the names of Tambariah and Azhara �" the Queen of Sheba and her King? If so, a chain of political events will destroy everything from the ownership of Israel to the veracity of Christianity itself �" Solomon, the Ark of the Covenant �" everything. History’s written from what can be found; what isn’t saved is lost, sunken and rotted, eaten by earth. �" Jill Lepore The Bible holds David and Solomon to be the founding kings of ancient Israel and to be ancestors of Jesus Christ. The Quran portrays all three men as prophets. Yet, though current archaeological efforts are underway, there is no archaeological evidence that King David or his son, King Solomon, ever lived or ruled over Israel. If it could ever be proved that these kings never existed, then Israel’s claim to the Holy Land is mistaken. Quotes, statements and Biblical history pertaining to Solomon is, not surprisingly, a collection of ideas designed to forward the original beliefs of Christianity. Wisdom, kindness, justice. Whether Solomon does or does not exist, belief is everything �" and proving that beliefs are wrong . . . Finding Sheba is that best possible of all world in the thriller realm. A thoughtful ‘what-if’ story based on meticulous research by an expert in her field. It is very well written, literate, and offers that most rare and beautiful of writing skills �" both knowledge and creativity. From ancient history to modern desert tribes still living as they did centuries ago; to the lost city of Ubar, the Atlantis of the Desert, the fabled lost city, celebrated in both the Koran and “A Thousand and One Arabian Nights” as the center of the lucrative frankincense trade for 3,000 years before the birth of Christ, (and recently found by satellite imagery �" how cool is that?) reality and supposition blends and turns, highlighting the darkest of history, the cruelties of the modern day, and religions and beliefs based in self mutilation and torture, mahogany and brutality, cannibals and kings. The so-called lessons of history are for the most part the rationalizations of the victors. History is written by the survivors. �" Max Lerner And when whole religions, belief systems, political systems �" hell, as Douglas Adams would have it, Life, The Universe, and Everything �" relies upon unsubstantiated and tales written by the victor, well the rationalizations and politics may very well end up standing on their heads. “Just believe everything I tell you, and it will all be very, very simple.’ “Ah, well, I’m not sure I believe that.” ― Douglas Adams, Life, the Universe and Everything I received Finding Sheba from the publisher in return for a realistic review. If you are at all interested in Middle Eastern history and the questions of whether or not Biblical history truly is “history” I can’t recommend this book highly enough for an unusual, beautifully creative thriller.
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Tibetan Cross
by
Mike Bond
soireadthisbooktoday
, February 06, 2015
"Big business, war. The biggest. You know, one of the poorest kept secrets about Nam was we got into it to protect the CIA�"their drug smuggling rings out of the Golden Triangle.” “No, I don't believe that.” "You ask any guy who worked in Air America, the CIA freight line, in the sixties, and he'll tell you about the tons of heroin they shipped out every month, out of Laos and Cambodia and South Vietnam�"Hell, on river patrols we'd sometimes bring a boatful (spl) of the shit right down the Mekong. The CIA put it on planes and sent it Stateside, kept the locals high and mellow and made the CIA billions of bucks they spent on actions Congress or the generals wouldn't go for.” Alex kicked a stone from the trail. "When we split Nam, the CIA lost its major source of funding, baby.” �" Conversation between Alex and Cohen, Tibetan Cross �" Mike Bond "For me that was the final turnoff, about the States ...” "What?” "That we're a society based on war, that we can't exist economically or psychologically without someone to hate.” "That's why we invented the good old Commies. Those folks I was fighting in Nam had never even heard of Communism. They were defending their homeland from aggression, same as any American would.” �" Alex, Tibetan Cross �" Mike Bond It seems like I would learn. I really don’t like Mike Bond’s writing style. It is too choppy, too terse, for my tastes. And then there is the “comic book” brutality �" the hero takes damage that is, literally, too much to be survived �" and then jumps up and runs away like nothing has happened. Clive Cussler, James Rollins and others write ‘kick-ass’ heroes �" but even they wouldn’t find this amount of brutality against their heroes survivable. Bond is one of the most testosterone driven thriller writers out there, which is fine in and of itself, but come on, Mike. Can we have a little realism at some point? This is the third Mike Bond book I have reviewed and, again, it seems like I would learn. I am never happy with them, but I get sucked in, because his overall story concepts are exceptional, and his research on the actual political and military history and up-to-date happenings is beyond reproach. It is terribly frustrating! I want to enjoy the intrigue, but the bad case of testosterone poisoning means that I wind up skimming the story instead of enjoying it. Beginning in Nepal, this book resurrects the war between China and Tibet just after the Vietnam War. Our heroes are leading a photographer/journalist and several Sherpa to Mustang - the former Kingdom of Lo, hidden in the rain shadow of the Himalaya in one of the most remote corners of Nepal. Only, things are not really what they seem, of course, in this shattered land, where starvation, murder, and incredible brutality is carried out by the Chinese against the poor and defenseless lands of Nepal and Tibet. And the Tibetans and Nepalese fight back in any way they can - with a little help from the "friendly" CIA. . . "It is difficult to fight tanks and planes with stones.” When Cohen escapes from the slaughter of his friends and traveling companions, including his best friend Alex, he treks alone cross-country in a desperate attempt to reach Katmandu (also Kathmandu) before he is captured and killed by the same weapons runners who killed his friends. The trip is brutal and harsh, but his arrival brings yet more death to those he knows and loves. I am become death, the destroyer of worlds. - J. Robert Oppenheimer Drugs, guns, human trafficking, and rivers of blood all wend their way through Bond’s work. As I stated previously, l am always left disappointed in Bond’s books, and still I come back for more, skimming for the realities of the story and trying to dismiss the ridiculous “heroes”. Be that as it may, it calls for a strong stomach as well as an ability to retain an open mind about just how twisted and sick the US, and their CIA lapdogs, really are �" the misery they have wrought across the world. Would that Bond could see his way to dropping the testosterone levels �" it would certainly make his books more approachable by a larger reading audience. I received this book from the publisher in return for a realistic review. Five stars for the military and political research. Minus a star for bad writing. Minus another star for sheer testosterone poisoning and unrealistic character development.
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Huntress Moon
by
Alexandra Sokoloff
soireadthisbooktoday
, February 04, 2015
“People speak sometimes about the "bestial" cruelty of man, but that is terribly unjust and offensive to beasts, no animal could ever be so cruel as a man, so artfully, so artistically cruel.” - Fyodor Dostoyevsky “Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.” ― Friedrich Nietzsche “Beware the dark pool at the bottom of our hearts. In its icy, black depths dwell strange and twisted creatures it is best not to disturb.” ― Sue Grafton, I is for Innocent “There are no heroes...in life, the monsters win.” George R.R. Martin had it right. In life, especially in these days and times, the monsters win. And in Thriller Award nominee for Best eBook Original Novel Huntress Moon, Alexandra Sokoloff draws the monsters in all their disturbing reality. The monsters are out there �" living amongst us, drawing upon us, eating their victims, body and soul. “Put just one of these monsters out of commission �" the child sellers, the serial rapists, the mutilators, the torturers �" lock just one of the breathing, crawling scum away for the rest of their miserable lives, and the entire balance of the world shifts. Who wouldn’t want a license to do it?" Well, that is what Matt Roarke thought from the time he was nine years old. From the time he learned of the horrors that really exist in the world. For that is the day he learned of what happened to five-year-old Cara Lindstrom and her family. Miraculously, Cara survived the slaughter of her family �" a slaughter carried out by “It”, by a “Monster”, not a man. But of course, who is going to listen to a brutally traumatized five-year-old? Years later, when one of Roarke’s agents is killed in front of him in what appears to be an accident but Roarke knows is not, his attention is caught by what at first seems to be simply a witness. But in that moment, he knows she is something else, something ‘more’. And as his investigation grows, the story becomes something more than he expects. Something that will change his very soul. While some found the story ‘slow’, and of course everyone is entitled to their opinion, I found the book had an almost dreamlike quality to portions of the story �" a development of characters and locations which I found ‘rich’ rather than slow. The book is very well researched and written, and beautifully paced. I don’t need to be spoon-fed story development �" in fact, I am disappointed when my hand is held and I find myself with bib at throat in mystery and thriller stories. This was perfect. "From the world of darkness I did loose demons and devils in the power of scorpions to torment." -- Charles Manson In a twisted turn of fate, Cara is back in Matt’s life �" and the monsters, ah the monsters �" human traffickers, drug lords, the darkness abounds. But hope and possibilities intermingle with the dark. And I can hardly wait to read more. The next is Blood Moon �" and I am so excited to start it right away! I received this book from the publisher in exchange for a realistic review. More than a five star read �" if you are interested in FBI based thrillers, I highly recommend the series. If you enjoy my reviews, please leave a “Yes” at Amazon.com �" it helps me help authors! Thank you.
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Flash Blood
by
Joseph Hirsch
soireadthisbooktoday
, February 04, 2015
23501227I don't do drugs. I am drugs. - Salvador Dali It is easier to find men who will volunteer to die, than to find those who are willing to endure pain with patience. - Julius Caesar I was really torn over my read of Hirsch's "Flash Blood". It starts out so well. James Arklow is a former cop turned detective/criminology professor/PI potboiler author of a ‘certain age’ who is approached by an ex-junkie �" an ex-junkie with tons of money, and an offer of hundreds of thousands of dollars if Arklow will locate a single person. Thaddeus Smith is an ex-soldier who Dan Maple is desperate to find. And he will do anything �" anything �" to find Thad. For Thad is very special, in a very terrible way. The story is very noir �" the older detective, the sidekick, the gritty story line. The descriptive narrative is extremely well done, the character development is wonderful. That all works well, right up until the last few chapters. Then, in my opinion, it runs off the rails. There is no answer to some important questions �" especially the question of how Thad’s blood wound up being so incredibly addictive. There is also a rather oddball twist to the ending that, to me, turned this from exceptional noir to something more akin to a 70’s model Batman cartoon. I found it disappointing. It almost felt like the author was on a roll �" and then suddenly he ran out of steam, lost his concentration, and just gave up. What could have been a 4-star dropped a full star for me, which is a shame. I read his Kentucky Bestiary and truly enjoyed it (Oddly attractive, oddly odd. . ., October 11, 2014). Possibly, at another time, I will give it another read and feel differently about the ending. Until then, I will stick by my 3-star rating as compared to my 4-star KB review. I received the book from the author in return for a realistic review. All thoughts are my own. If you enjoy my reviews, please leave a “Yes” response on Amazon. Thank you!
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Mind Sweeper
by
Ae Jones
soireadthisbooktoday
, November 19, 2014
An angel, a demon and a vampire walk into a bar. OK, now tell me. Who wouldn’t want to read a story that starts with that line? You see, an angel, a demon and a vampire did walk into the Erie Bar. And wreaked havoc and destruction, totally ignoring the ‘don’t let normals know you exist’ rules. So, Kyle McKinley and her partners, a Vampire and a Shamat demon, have to come in and clean up the mess. And if that wasn’t enough, poor Kyle has now been saddled with a human partner of all things. And her cop partner is not only handsome as all get-out, he is also a pushy, overbearing MAN to top it all off! As if she didn’t have enough on her plate … This is a really wonderful first entry in the Mind Sweeper Series. The story is one of those I am always looking for �" it is out of the typical for the genre. Though there are vamps, shifters and demons, they are put together in a much more interesting method than the usual found in urban fantasy. The main character, Kyle McKinley - (yes, at first I thought it was “Ky-lee” but no, it is really Ki-al” the male pronunciation �" which is interesting in and of itself) but anyway, where was I? Oh, yes! Kyle is human, but not your common and garden sort. Kyle can change memories. Which is a good talent to have when the supernatural world is trying to hide in a world where cell phone cameras and security cameras are the norm rather than the exception. With her partners, Jean Luc the vampire and Misha the Russian demon, she works to keep supernatural secrets. She has worked for ten years with her best friends, and is not really happy at all when yet another human is assigned to the team. Well, you can’t blame her when the last one tried to stake Jean Luc. Idiot. (Insert big sigh here) Soooo. . . it isn’t just the way-too-handsome Dalton being added to the group that is the problem. It seems that the vampire mixed into the vampire/angel/demon fight in the Erie lost his head �" literally. And the darn head is just gone. Poof! And now there are more dead bodies lying around. And why in the world are angels going around cutting off heads with swords? Hum? The vampire leader Sebastian is up to no good �" but what exactly is it he is up to? And what is the Pavel demon leader hiding? Then of course, as much as the angels claim to be holding themselves outside of the fray, well, chopping off a vampire’s head with a big ol’ sword in a bar in front of humans is not exactly standing on the sidelines! I had spoken to AE Jones about possibly reviewing her third novel in the series, Shifter Wars. Instead, I wheedled a copy of Mind Sweeper out of her, and I am so glad I did. Starting a good series at the first volume is always for the best (to my mind) and I was in no way disappointed. Put this on your list of series that will remain on your “keeper shelf”! I received Mind Sweeper from the author in exchange for a realistic review. I can hardly wait to start the next in the series, The Fledgling: A Novella. Recommended!
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The Santa Society
by
Kristine McCord
soireadthisbooktoday
, November 14, 2014
I did it. I read my first Santa book before Thanksgiving. Well, seeing as how I have been known to watch The Santa Claus in the summer if I am feeling particularly down, I suppose it isn’t that surprising. And I have to say, as a huge fan of the whole Santa thing, this was a great start to my Christmas Santa Book Season! “It is my duty to carry the Gift to the world, whatever the price.” Erin Sinclair lives in the lap of depression, even if she does live in a town called ‘Christmasville.’ She left her home at eighteen, as many teenagers do, a victim of teenage angst and the guilt of her father’s death when she was ten. It wasn’t her fault that he was driving to pick her up from school in a snowstorm when he died in a car crash. But children never understand that they aren’t to blame when horrific things happen, do they? Now, her mother is gone as well, and Erin missed the last decade she could have spent with her, living in New York and working as a court stenographer while her mother stayed in Christmasville. I turned 30 years old the day I killed my mother. Alone, depressed, drenched in guilt for allowing her mother to die from breast cancer at home as she wished instead of forcing her into treatment, and feeling as if her life has faded away in front of her eyes, Erin is irritated when the cowboy propped up in front of the coffee shop early one morning walks away from her, apparently leaving his overgrown ‘maybe mastiff(?)’ tied to a tree in front of the shop. Klaus is huge, looks like a cross between a mastiff and a chocolate lab and watches her sadly from the coffee shop window. Well, she can’t just leave him out in the cold, right? Claiming the dog isn’t his, at least the cowboy leaves her his business card with the number for his real estate office. She is more than ready to get on with her life, whatever it will be, just as soon as she sells her mother’s house and all the memories it contains. Cue high, tittering elven laughter… (screech! Sound of tires coming to a sudden halt…) Make that cowboy laughter! Well, what do you expect when Santa lives in the mountains of Idaho?! (Insert big grin here) The Santa Society is a wonderful Christmas story, full to the brim with hope, faith and love. But it is different than the ‘so sweet it makes your teeth rot on contact’ stories you may have read before. Similar to It’s A Wonderful Life there is human evil here �" pride, vanity, hatred, and a Society developed to protect the meaning of Christmas �" which may just be the downfall of everything Christmas stands for. Erin’s mother’s last wish was that she not lose her faith in Christmas, in love, or in the reason for the season. And Reason McCloud may just help her find those things again. He’s the Reason for the Season. Reason, or Santa Claus to those in the know, stands for everything that is good, right and truthful in humanity. But will the corruption of those around him destroy Santa, Erin, and the true meaning of Christmas? This book is a total and complete joy to read, filled with hope and joy, but also suspense and terror, making it more than just another Santa story �" in a Very Good Way!
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Project Lachesis
by
Nita Deborde
soireadthisbooktoday
, November 07, 2014
23000904And he smote the men of Bethshemesh, because they had looked into the ark of the LORD, even he smote of the people fifty thousand and threescore and ten men: and the people lamented, because the LORD had smitten [many] of the people with a great slaughter. - Samuel 6:19 (Those Christians really know all about smiting, don't they?) It began as a dark, fast moving fog bank moving in from the south and pouring over the Galveston Island seawall. Relentlessly working its way across the world, by the time it dissipates a week later, over 90% of the world’s population is dead. Is it the wrath of god, wiping its disappointment from its eyes? The Mother, cleansing the plague of all-destroying humans from her skin? Maybe it is aliens, clearing the fields before a new crop can be planted, a crop which won’t rape and pillage the land and its creatures. Or maybe… I am become death, the destroyer of worlds. - J. Robert Oppenheimer Nah, that’s all right, Dr. Oppenheimer. You can rest quietly in your grave. Because you’ve got nothing on this shiny new toy. For you see, it is really quite odd, isn’t it, that only the politicians and military survived in the US. Well, and the medical personnel. Because you really do need a nurse sometimes. “... while madness in individuals is relatively rare, it is virtually a prerequisite for a certain sort of political leader.” ― Joyce Carol Oates, The Accursed There are of course shadows of Stephen King’s The Stand here (I own the 'Complete and Uncut edition'). As well as The Demon in The Freezer and The Hot Zone. Richard Preston did a great job with those. But while King relies on a supernatural basis for his story, and Preston uses a light hand in his works, Nita DeBorde rips off the bandages, tears off the scabs, and runs full bore into the glaring, painful light of reality. Hitler, Pol Pot, and the American government that chose to drop the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and to conducting biological, chemical and radiological experiments on American citizens, is no more than dabbling a toe into the demonic waters of biological and chemical warfare compared to this small group of politicians and military personnel. From Tuskegee to Project F, the Guatemalan Experiment, MKULTRA and Dr. Robert MacMahan’s 1969 request for funds for synthetic biological agent to which no natural immunity exists, to the 1995 confession by Dr. Garth Nicolson that biological weapons used during the Gulf War were not only manufactured in Houston and Boca Raton, but were tested on Texas Department of Corrections Prisoners (Ha! Take THAT Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan! You can’t do it, but WE CAN! Goooo America!!!) the American government has shown all the moral and ethical solidity of a three-year-old handed an Uzi and set amongst his fellow babes. But this time? The safety is off, the gun is locked and loaded, and the whole world goes down. And you know what? They aren’t done yet. I received Project Lachesis from the publisher in exchange for a realistic review. All thoughts are my own, including the thought that I am going to be stalking Nita’s Nook, the author’s website, hoping to be there when she needs a beta reader for her next book. This woman is AMAZING!!!! About the Author Nita DeBorde is a published author and professional copyeditor and translator from Houston, TX. Nita taught high school French for fifteen years before leaving education in 2014 to focus on a freelance writing career.
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Buried
by
Shelley Coriell
soireadthisbooktoday
, November 02, 2014
Alone!�"that worn-out word, So idly spoken, and so coldly heard; Yet all that poets sing and grief hath known Of hopes laid waste, knells in that word - Alone! - Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer-Lytton (1846) - The New Timon Part ii. The knell, the shroud, the mattock, and the grave, The deep damp vault, the darkness and the worm. Edward Young �" Night Thoughts. Night iv. Line 10. All Grace Courtemanche really wants (well, besides her stellar career as a Florida State Prosecutor - Grace: 345 Bad Guys: 0) is a home. A family. A place to put down roots and feel secure. Daddy always told her, winners do, Gracie, and doers win. And so she has, over and over again. In her most recent win, the mafia don she put away has tried bribery, threats, and now putting money into an offshore account in her name, getting her placed on administrative leave. Sigh. It can sometimes suck to be perfect. After multiple threatening calls, Grace simply sends all the restricted number calls to her voice mail, for later retrieval by the sheriff’s office. But today, after eight calls, she picks up the phone on the ninth. And drops straight into a horror story. It's cold. And dark. I can't breathe." Desperate to save the young girl trapped in a coffin below ground, Grace throws her must win personality into trying to find and rescue the victim whose terrified voice and heartrending tears call out to her for help. But, why is the girl calling her? What follows is a race against time, and against a psychopath who apparently has a person grudge against Grace, and no compunction about murdering innocents to make a point. Luckily, her ex-husband has literally sailed back into town, docking his sailboat, No Regrets, in the harbor. He has his own problems, in the form of a thirteen-year-old son he didn’t even know he had. All the care in the world can’t help when your lover sabotages the condoms. Now, Hatch must help the grandmother trying to raise Alex to save him from himself. A member of a specialized FBI team, The Apostles, under the leadership of the infamous Parker Lloyd, Hatch is more than happy to assist his ex in her search for the Gravedigger, desperately working along with his crack team to help find the victims, and the soulless killer who is terrorizing Cypress Bend. As with The Broken, Shelley Coriell’s first Apostle novel, there are many and varied layers to the tale. Grace is a driven woman, driven to the point where, as much as she wants a ‘life’ she has none outside of her work, and the house on the hill she dreams of building. Well, there IS Allegheny Blue, the ancient blue tick hound who refuses to leave his previous home, literally hiking back home from his new home twice, from his owner’s new home over 100 miles away. Now that is dedication to the land he was born and raised on. But Allegheny Blue isn’t her dog �" is he? Agent “Hatch” Hatcher is also well written, a sailor with no ties, and a loose-and-easy way of life that destroyed his connection with his wife ten years ago. You expected me to give up everything �" my job, my family, my dreams and sail with you into the sunset. Or, did he? Be that as it may, now he seems the same, but different, as Grace watches Hatch and his team work together in a race against time. The other characters are as well developed, and the tension and suspense keeps you turning pages well into the night, breathless for the next big reveal. Who is committing these atrocities, and how is the murder of an elderly couple, being investigated by Greenup, Kentucky State Police Detective Tucker Holt, tied into these brutal crimes? All shall be revealed, and the answers to all of your questions? Well, let’s just say I was shocked and horrified at the answers �" answers that will rock the small town of Cypress Bend, Grace and even the vaunted Apostles. Overall, I was truly happy to be asked by Shelley to review her second book, and I can’t recommend it highly enough for lovers of suspense. I received this book from the author in return for a realistic review. All my comments are my own. Please see my website for my review of The Broken.
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Irradiance: The Dream Guild Chronicles - Book One
by
David Bruns
soireadthisbooktoday
, October 31, 2014
The Community is your first responsibility as a Citizen. The Community is your mate. When you are alone, we are together. All are welcome in the Community. White is the color of all colors. The resources of the Community belong to the Community. The mind is the true voice of a Citizen. The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people. �" Martin Luther King, Jr. Sindra. A world where minds are joined, vocalization is punishable by ‘recycling’ and dystopia is more than just a word. Irradiance begins with murder, and leads the reader through levels of mental and psychological programming, space-jump technology and time-space continuum’s, as is to be expected from any dystopian fantasy. But then, it grows, deepens to a story of life under totalitarian governments, secrets and lies, and the bonds of family, bonds that must be hidden away from a regime that sees no value in kindness or love, no strength in free thought. Which is rather oxymoronic considering the presence of two statues in “The Hall” �" the statues of Freedom and Knowledge. A world of euphemisms, where “processing” is just another word for euthanize, and cruelty is oh-so-cold. Honestly, I am not a big fan of dystopian novels. They are just too ‘real’ in their cold, bitter vision of a world with no color, no joy, no true happiness. There was much to send chills over my skin in Irradiance. But to tell you true, the very bleakness of the world of Sindra gives warms and promise, hope, to a book that ends by being a story of possibilities, sacrifice, and new beginnings. Overall? This first of The Dream Guild Chronicles shows stunning promise for lovers of dystopian novels and gives a calculated warning about the direction our own world faces in the new future. This book was provided to me by the author in return for a realistic review. All thoughts are my own.
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Eternal Hunt
by
Lucas McWilliams
soireadthisbooktoday
, October 15, 2014
The Windigo stories, it is surmised, came out of the fear of dwindling supplies and starvation. Underlying fear that glimmers in Windigo stories is the constantly desperate struggle to survive �" food ran out, the weather was prohibitive, cannibalism was an inevitable result. There is nothing worse than being alone, cold and hungry �" the mind begins to play tricks. As a result, Windigo became this huge creature, 20-30′ feet high, with a block of ice surrounding it, particularly its heart, he was lipless, great bloody fangs, and bloody feet, hissing breath you could hear for miles, great speed and supernatural strength. �" Shannon Thunderbird, M.A., Gispudwada Tribe �" An Interview with Thunderbird About Windigo Life in the wilds of Alaska can be not only hard, but deadly. Bitter cold and starvation are very real, and loneliness in this bitter landscape can drive even the most stable beyond madness. When Caleb’s plane goes down in the backcountry, his cousin Logan knows that he must reach him as quickly as possible if he is to have any chance of surviving. However, what he finds when he finally locates Caleb at an old trapper’s cabin proves that sometimes, survival isn’t for the best. Lucas McWilliams has written an action/thriller with researched elements of Windigo legend. Of course, the Windigo is not just a Native American legend, but rather an archetype settled within the collective unconscious of humanity, harkening back to a time when humans huddled together in fear of the dark. The dark is inherent in this particular tale, on many levels �" from the Windigo to the modern day military political machine. The research on the Seneca and the Windigo myth is good, and the overall storyline showed promise. Personally, as a Native Quapaw, I was uncomfortable with the “prototypical Native American Mythos/Character” developed by the author. It is easy for a non-native author to gather up legends and weave them into their books. It is harder to not fall into the trap of creating such a clichéd stereotype as to insult the very people you are writing about. This is, in my opinion of course, a book geared towards teenaged male ideology. The women in the book are weak and hypersexual, falling into bed with the lead character without a whimper, no matter how badly he treats them. Though there is a supposed relationship between the lead and one of the female characters, he has no problem with having sex with other women on a whim, encouraging the idea that “real men” don’t do honesty. The action is well enough written, but again, the stereotypes in the book were uncomfortable for me. There are highly unrealistic happenings in what should be the “realistic” parts of the book, but the horror portions make up for it. Overall, though I am a huge fan of Joe Hill, Matthew Reilly, James Rollins, Richard Matheson and other action adventure and horror writers, I couldn’t really compare this book with any of my favorites. Maybe because I had issues with the Windigo portion of the tale, but also because of the misogynistic bent. Be that as it may, for a certain audience this book will definitely appeal. I received this book from Audiobooks Monthly in return for a realistic review. All thoughts are my own.
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The Detective & The Unicorn
by
Michael Angel
soireadthisbooktoday
, October 04, 2014
“To die, to sleep �" To sleep, perchance to dream �" ay, there’s the rub, For in this sleep of death what dreams may come…” ― William Shakespeare, Hamlet I’ve learned that no matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow. �" Maya Angelou ____________ unicornThe photo of a snow-white Pegasus in the company of the President of the United States had made the front page of the Los Angeles Times twice now. Both times this happened, someone close to me has been killed. Derek Ridder knows about death. About loss, and pain, true. But most of all, he knows about Death. A Los Angeles cop, he sees humanity at it’s very worst; it’s darkest, cruelest moments. Three years ago, he saw that front page photo only moments before his beloved wife, Beth, died �" the victim of a suicide who decided to take many with him when he parked in the path of an oncoming train. And the second time. The second time nearly drove him mad. Now, Derek Ridder’s life has been turned upside down, his niece and sister-in-law threatened, and the very fate of our world, The Other World as it is called by those who populate the dimension which has paralleled and overlapped our own, may come down to whether or not Derek, and those who help him, can find the key to destroying a man �" a man who is also a Monster. It is called The Morning Land. A land of pegasi and unicorn, of dryads and wizards and all manner of things that go bump in the night. And in this land, a wizard has gone mad, threatening our world, and his, with total annihilation at the teeth and claws of a demon horde. He had dead, doll’s eyes, like a sharks. Stuck in the middle of a war, Derek must do all he can to save the worlds, to take out the wizard who will use both technology and magic to become the mighty foot on the throat of our world. There are so many ways to be brave in this world. Sometimes bravery involves laying down your life for something bigger than yourself, or for someone else. Sometimes it involves giving up everything you have ever known, or everyone you have ever loved, for the sake of something greater. �" Veronica Roth, Allegiant Much like Hamlet, Derek’s life had lost all meaning. But will he reach beyond, into what and who he was before, and use his pain to save his world? And possibly, his own soul? Much like others of his work, such as Centaur of the Crime or The Deer Prince’s Murder, there is a strong fantasy theme throughout, which harkens back to the original Grimm, were fairies weren’t cute little winged creatures, and Red Riding Hood’s story was filled with blood. Angel’s works cross the boundaries of reality and magic, of this world and the next, and for all of their vast readability and notes of humour, there is lying underneath a dark pool of pain �" and an immeasurable depth of hope. ____ If you follow my reviews you will know that Mr. Angel and I have a working relationship, and yes, the author gave the book to me. What must be taken into account is that we have that relationship because I truly enjoy his work. If he were to blow it, well, I would let you know. However, as always, Michael charmed me with his wit and wisdom, his humor and understanding. This book is highly recommended for lovers of Urban Fantasy and Fairy Tales. And anyone else who simply loves a well-crafted tale. Enjoy!
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Abduction: An Angel over Rimini
by
Patrick Loftus Brigham
soireadthisbooktoday
, September 25, 2014
I need to find a reason to go on with my life; to like what I do, to like who I am and to quietly pass the days until I can finally accept that I am doing the right thing; both for myself and �" he supposed �" my immortal soul. �" DCI Michael Lambert �" Abduction: Angel Over Rimini I truly enjoy European and British novels, especially police procedurals. The turns of phrase, characterizations and procedures are just enough different from American stories that I normally find myself dropping into the story and losing myself. While that is the norm, there are certain books that I simply can’t make myself like, not because the story isn’t good, but because it simply isn’t well written. In this case, though Mr. Brigham may have been a journalist, he is in great need of an editor. Though there are those who seem to admire his writing style, I find that Mr. Brigham’s over-descriptive, ad nauseum style had me wanting to pound my head against a wall. A good third of the book could have been tossed out and tightened down in order to make the book more readable. For example, I really didn’t need to know which rail lines Lambert took from St Lazar to Gare du Nord, then to Charles de Gaulle, and how he bought socks and ties at the airport. Why not just bring them from home, anyway? And knowing that he bought ten eggs, a jar of honey, a packet of spaghetti, etc. �" ugh. Instead of giving us your marketing list, as the book does focus on food in places, I would much rather know what he cooked for himself and let it go at that. It would be much more interesting than a market list! The whole book is weighed down with these types of descriptions �" filler material at best �" which slows the story and allows the mind to wander until you suddenly realize that you have totally lost track of the narrative. That is not to say that the book is totally boring or uninteresting. There are sections of the book, focusing on the countries Lambert visits, which are jewels of writing. And yes, there are some “foodie” scenes that are well done. For example, sitting outside a café in Alexandroupolis, Greece, eating baklava and drinking a little sweet Greek coffee reminds me of my own experiences with the same. Moreover, the descriptions of the countryside Lambert visits are often well done. As for the actual cold case, that Lambert is working for Europol? The story itself is heartrending, pointing out just how “inhuman” humans can actually be. The treatment of migrants, lives lived in squalor, child trafficking, guns, murder and death �" all come sharply into focus. As for the secondary story, of Lambert’s father’s extramarital relationship during the war in Europe and the outcome so many years later when Lambert meets the Duchess of Malfi, well, it rather strains credulity �" not in the history, but rather in the extreme level of coincidence inherent in the plotline. Overall, this isn’t a bad book in-and-of itself, just not one that makes me want to go back and read the first two in the series. I received this book from Rosie Amber!
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Among the Unseen
by
Jodi McIsaac
soireadthisbooktoday
, September 12, 2014
…the Tuatha De Danann or Sidhe, the ‘Gentry’, the ‘Good People’, and the ‘People of Peace’ are described as a race of invisible divine beings eternally young and unfading. They inhabit fairy palaces, enjoy rare feasts and love-making, and have their own music and minstrelsy. They are essentially majestic in their nature…Mythologically they are gods of light and good, able to control natural phenomena so as to make harvests come forth abundantly or not at all. -" W. Y. Evans-Wentz; The Faerie Faith in Celtic Countries, 1911 (quoted by Michael Tsarion) Faeries, come take me out of this dull world, For I would ride with you upon the wind, Run on the top of the dishevelled tide, And dance upon the mountains like a flame. ― W.B. Yeats, The Land of Heart's Desire Tír na nog. Ancestral home to the Sidhe, a land of tremendous beauty, bounty and growth. At least, until one monstrous member of the Gentry goes mad for power, destroying the lands and it’s people, annihilating the very thing he means to possess. In the words of R.A. Salvatore, “A king is a man strong of character and conviction who leads by example and truly cares for the suffering of his people, not a brute who rules simply because he is the strongest.” Among the Unseen is the third and final volume in Jodi McIsaac's "The Thin Veil" Series. The series is billed as ‘contemporary fantasy’ and McIsaac does a marvelous job of blending not only fantasy, but also concepts and ideals that are reflected in today’s modern world. War and the destruction of beauty. Whole countries laid to waste, ravished, and left destitute and uncultivated, unable to support life. Through the first two books in the series, Cedar McLeod, her daughter Eden, and a small group of Sidhe have fought to regain the lands of Tír na nog. The lands are finally regained, with all in their proper place. But things are far from safe, as Cedar is betrayed by one she considered family. Now in her proper place as queen, Cedar must help restore her new country, while still missing her family, friends and life back on Earth. And the problems don’t stop coming, as disease spreads, and Eden is less safe than Cedar had thought. Among the Unseen is a beautifully crafted book, as were the others in the series. Filled with well-crafted and well-researched fantasy lore, McIsaac weaves modern life through a story filled with light and darkness, pain and love in equal measure. This series is highly recommended for any lover of contemporary fantasy, especially if you are a purist who is educated in mythology. I loved the whole series. I received this book from the publisher in return for a realistic review. All thoughts are my own.
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Hotter Than Helltown: An Urban Fantasy Mystery
by
S. M. Reine
soireadthisbooktoday
, September 12, 2014
Ah! César and friends are back again �" and this time, his murder case may just kill him. That is, if his boss doesn’t kill him first. After the action in the second in the Preternatural Affairs series, Silver Bullet, César is in big trouble. He used a cell phone he shouldn’t have, and the VP of the Office of Preternatural Affairs is out for César’s guts �" literally. And if César doesn’t pass his Aspis exam, to become Shield to Director Fritz Friederling, she just might have said guts for garters. Could things get worse? Well, sure they can! For there is a vicious demon on the loose, a demon strong enough to kill a Kopis by simply being in the area. With more bodies dropping, all brutally savaged, the race is on as César, his partner Suzy, Isobel the necrocognitive, and Fritz all scramble to find the demon. A demon who may be unkillable. As always, Reine does a wonderful job of writing a tight narrative that keeps you on the edge of your seat, using a level of creativity that I truly admire. There is terror and blood, but also a great deal of subtle humor in Reine’s works. I enjoyed the first two in the series, and can hardly wait for Sara’s next César book! Highly recommended. If you haven’t read the first two, I would suggest reading them first. They are really good books, but if you haven’t read them, you can catch up easily enough in this volume. However, it won’t be nearly as much fun! I received Hotter Than Helltown from the publisher in return for a realistic review. All thoughts are my own.
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The Deer Prince's Murder: Book Two of 'Fantasy & Forensics'
by
Michael Angel
soireadthisbooktoday
, August 18, 2014
‘Hello, nice to meet you, you certainly look delicious this morning. I wonder if you are chewy or crunchy’.” You have us four. And sometimes, you need to find a sense of family with people who are good, rather than to try and find good in one’s own family. Dayna Chrissie is at it again. Our intrepid Los Angeles CSI’s whole life changed in Centaur of the Crime. Pulled into an alternate world to solve the murder of Good King Benedict, Dayna finds herself in a world of hurt as she tries to find the guilty parties in a conspiracy to start a war. As she uses her scientific knowledge in a world locked into a medieval mindset, she finds herself magically bouncing between the world of Andeluvia and Earth as she uses her forensic skills, and the LAPD labs, to solve the murder and locate the guilty parties. Of course, she finds herself in trouble not only in Andeluvia as she puts herself in danger searching for the killer, but on Earth as well as her whacked-out Deputy Chief, Robert McClatchy, does everything in his power to destroy her career. Sheesh! Can a girl not get a break? Well, actually she can get a bit of one, as she makes some wonderful new friends who help her solve the crime, at risk of their own lives. The Deer Prince’s Murder is book two of the Fantasy and Forensics series, and Dayna’s life isn’t getting any easier. Not. One. Little. Bit. Still on probation after going missing from her job as a consultant for the Los Angeles Crime Lab during Centaur (when people are snatching you back and forth across dimensions, it is a bit hard to keep up), she slips off to Andeluvia to spend time with her friends. Liam is a Fayleene, a magical white-tail deer, Grimshaw, better known as Shaw, a Griffin, and Galen, a Centaur Master Wizard are the wonderful friends Dayna made in Centaur. All rejected in one way or the other by their families, Liam for his lack of magical luck, Shaw for standing up for Dayna and offering to help against his rider’s wishes, and Galen, rejected by his war-obsessed father for being intelligent instead of brutal. Now, their little family faces an even more dangerous situation when the Fayleene Protector of the Forest, Quinval, is murdered, pulling Dayna into the most dangerous investigation of her life �" and her friends right along with her. For here there be dragons . . . well, one dragon, Sirrahon the Stone Dragon, ancient, cruel and released from his three-thousand year prison. Who set him free? Why? And how will this all end? When Captain Vazura of the Kings Air Cavalry, Shaw’s former Rider, is murdered by a shadowy figure, things become even more tense, and much more dangerous. With the help of a surprising new member of their little group, Dayna and her friends must work harder, smarter and faster than ever before to save this beautiful world. Oh, and to save Dayna’s job as a consultant to the LAPD Crime Lab as well. That McClatchy? Whew! He’s got some real issues in his tissues! As always, Michael Angel has his criminal procedure down pat, which is always a joy. His wicked sense of humour is still as strong as ever, and his character and world building are exceptional as well. Not surprising, of course �" he is always exceptional. If you like Urban Fantasy, mythology, and criminal procedure with a large dose of comedy, you can’t miss out on Michael Angel’s work. I am dancing on my toes as I wait for Grand Theft Griffin, scheduled for 2015! Until then, The Detective and the Unicorn is next on my Michael Angel list! I received my copy from Michael Angel in return for a realistic review, and in thanks for my previous reviews. However, all thoughts are my own. I just really like his writing!
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The Sword and Its Servant
by
Victor Salinas
soireadthisbooktoday
, August 15, 2014
What first must be said about The Sword and Its Servant is that this is very much “High Fantasy Sword and Sorcery.” Good and evil is a large part of what the book stands for, though the whole concept of “gray areas” is a strong underlying theme. To be honest, I had thought that, being a “YA” book, that the violence would be minimal. And I would have been very wrong. This first in a six-part series is, in a word, nightmarish, with nightmarish scenes that would discourage me from recommending the book to the under-18 crowd. With that said, this is indeed a very good book. There is an undercurrent of the horror genre that drew me in right away, as we first meet Johannes, whose nightmares we enter upon our first introduction to the story: He groaned as the terrible vision of a giant wolf chased him through his dreams. Dreams are an inherent theme throughout the book �" though one would more easily say nightmares. Glowing eyes, shining in the dark . . . The Sword and Its Servant is something more than a book. There is a whole world set up around the book series, the world of Grauwelt. Online, the Grauwelt follower is immersed into an experience well outside of the novel, as readers can immerse themselves into a whole world, including a role-playing game, Grauplay, on the publisher’s website. Apparently based upon a “Dungeons and Dragons” style platform, the site takes the storyline of the book series and pulls the reader even further into the storyline, and the world, of Grauwelt. If you are a High Fantasy aficionado, with a penchant for horror, this is absolutely something you should check out. While the author and publisher say that the reading audience is “15 and up” I would, however, not recommend the book to those under 18. But then, maybe I am just behind the times. I know that bloody shoot-em-up, whack-of-body-parts violence is available to the younger set, but there is quite a bit of disturbing imagery in the book. I received a copy of The Sword and Its Servant from the publisher in return for a realistic review. Personally, I will not continue the series, but for the proper audience, this is an exceptional read.
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Demons Not Included Night Tracker 01
by
Cheyenne Mccray
soireadthisbooktoday
, August 10, 2014
Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you. �" Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) Over the centuries, mankind has tried many ways of combating the forces of evil… prayer, fasting, good works and so on. Up until Doom, no one seemed to have thought about the double-barrel shotgun. Eat leaden death, demon. �" Terry Pratchett Monsters are real. You just can’t see them. And if you do? Well, a Soothsayer will make sure you forget all about it. So, it’s all good, right? Olivia’s T-Shirt says it all: People like you are the reason People like me need medication. And there is heavy need for medication going around. Because the Ruhin Demon Gate has been breached, the Gatekeeper murdered, and demons are at, and past, the gate. Nyx is a Tracker, protector of the people of Earth from the things that go bump in the night. Of course, Nyx is one of those things that go bump in the night �" a Drow Princess, half Dark Elf, half human, crazily strong, crazily brave, and more fragile than most would understand. She lives between worlds, not only as a Tracker but also in her very makeup. By day, she works as a PI beside her friend Olivia, a human. But by night, Nyx is Drow, or as close as she can get. Her half-blood heritage means she her skin is amethyst rather than blue, her hair cobalt rather than sapphire, but she is still Drow in her heart, and her Drow powers of manipulation of the elements, strength and speed mean that she is very, very good at her job. But the sudden presence of demons in Manhattan changes everything. As Trackers die, and their human liaisons disappear, Nyx’s strength will be tested beyond anything she ever imagined �" and the whole world will be at risk. This first in the series had the potential to be “just another UF.” There is the expected cast of characters �" vampires, werewolves and elves (Oh, my) as well as characters that aren’t often seen, such as shadow stalkers and metamorphs. But Cheyenne McCray has done a wonderful job of taking this book to a new level, writing a much more character-driven novel than one normally sees. There are twists and turns, some seriously messed-up stuff, and the truth of never knowing if those who you believe to be your friends truly are. This is a great start to the series, and I look forward to reading more. I was given this book as a gift from a friend. All thoughts are my own.
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Thin Places
by
Diane Owens Prettyman
soireadthisbooktoday
, August 06, 2014
Heaven and earth are only three feet apart, but in the think places the distance is even smaller. �" Celtic Saying In prison, if you know how to get there, you can travel to those thin places. �" Calvery, Death Row Inmate, Thin Places thinplacesChloe Thomas lives a quiet life, fishing off the coast of Washington and Oregon, only unusual in that she is the only woman charter fishing captain in the area. A cash strapped charter fishing captain, at that. But she has a poorly kept secret in her small town of Clam Harbor. For the Clam Harbor Gazette says it all on the front page: Clam Harbor Resident Slated for Execution. Of course, Chloe didn’t always know that her father was a convicted murderer, Her mother didn’t want her growing up knowing that her father was sitting on death row, so she picked the name “Gallagher” out of a book of Irish names, gave it to Chloe, and until her grandmother was on her deathbed three years ago, Chloe had never known that her father was dead. Finn Tully is a loser, an addict and a liar, doing time in the Polunsky Unit in Huntsville, Texas. Working in the prison as a porter, Finn mops the floors of the halls of Death Row, and comes to know the man he calls “Calvery,” a death row inmate. Muling sugar for Calvery, for the production of “toilet bowl wine” Finn and Calvery become close. This ended up a little risky for me, but in his situation, I figured he deserved a little hooch to wash down his bread and beans. As Finn and Calvery become close, Calvery makes a final request of Calvery. Find his daughter, Chloe: You promised you’d talk to Chloe, Finn,” he said. “Tell her I’m innocent.” When Finn’s wife files divorce papers just before Finn’s release, one of many releases over his loser life, taking his daughter Lacy away from him, Finn decides to keep his promise and find Chloe. And possibly a treasure? But what kind of treasure? The plot of Thin Places twist and turn, as redemption and betrayal, love and loss all pay a part, as do ghosts �" both of those lost and memories of the past. Overall, it took me a while to get into the book. Maybe because I really didn’t care for Finn at first. I mean, really didn’t care for Finn. And other than Chloe, I couldn’t engage with the other characters, so I sat it down for too long. But once I went back to it and started reading again (yes, because I promised I would) the story gradually began to flow, and ending up being a tale of loss and tragedy, mystery, romance and mystical insight. Read past the first few chapters, and I think the book will hold your attention as well. This book was provided to me in return for a realistic review. The review is late, but I enjoyed it after all. I would rate it more 3.5 stars overall.
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Skinny Dipping
by
Alicia M. Kaye
soireadthisbooktoday
, August 06, 2014
I read this book in the tub quite some time ago, and laughed the whole time. Well, when I wasn't feeling sorry for Sophie. As you can tell from the blurb, Sophie has a couple of problems. It is very hard for her to trust men, due to her broken heart. And Matthew Silver won't give her the contract for his new advertising campaign unless she learns to swim. Well, that is to be expected I suppose if she is going to be advertising swim centers, right? What I really liked about the book is how Sophie handles her fears. She is scared, literally to death, of the water, and for good reason. But with Matthew's help, can she learn to overcome her fears? I know what Sophie feels like, and I felt for her the whole books. Growing up in "the old days" the accepted method for a child to learn to swim was to just throw them off the dock into the deep end. Hey, sink or swim, right? Of course, my problem was that not only didn't I know how to swim, I had 600 vision (Yep. Blind as a bat) and I couldn't see the shoreline! Needless to say, I didn't get into the water for a long, long time after that! This is a sweet little novel about facing your fears and how it changes your life. If you are up for a cozy little novel with a heroine who finds her center and proves herself, this is a book for you. And besides, it is Free Today! at Amazon!
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Dirty Blood
by
Heather Hildenbrand
soireadthisbooktoday
, August 05, 2014
It is funny to consider an urban fantasy to be “charming” but that is just what Dirty Blood is �" blood, guts, gore, murder and all. Without looking up how it is placed on the genre ladder, I would say that this qualifies as young adult, or new adult, but I found it extremely readable as an adult urban fantasy novel as well. Tara is 17-years-old, but she seems more mature, while still throwing the occasional temper tantrum. Of course, if I were her, I would have thrown a fit and fallen down in it at the way she is treated by those around her. You see, Tara thinks that she is just a normal girl, with a normal boyfriend she has been friends with most of her life. Well, until he turned into the football obsessed moron who ditches their dates for recruiters, agents and interviews. But nevertheless, normal school, normal activities, normal life. That is, until a girl turns into a wolf right in front of her and proceeds to try her best to rip Tara’s throat out. From that point on, you can toss ‘normal’ straight out the window and go for spectacularly weird all the way around. For Tara is a Hunter, from a long line of Hunters. Genetic killers, born to kill werewolves. As Tara’s life becomes more and more surreal, she begins to realize that her whole life has been a lie, and that she has been left open to the perils of her blooming talents and the scent of Hunter that the wolves can sense, with no training to help her survive. While her mother may have been ‘protecting’ her, she has also left her open to attack with no defense. This is a very fast paced read. Tara is thrown into the metaphorical deep end of the pool, left to struggle to learn to fight and kill with the help of member of “The Cause” a group of Hunters and Werewolves who are trying to stop the fighting between the breeds - to create peace from the ashes of war. It is a lot for a 17-year-old to take in �" especially when her mother is determined to bury her head in the sand and pretend that Tara can simply spend her life on the run, hiding from those who would kill her. Or would use her for their own ends. For Tara is something more than a Hunter, and what she is puts her at odds with both sides. There is a love interest in the story, and it is incredibly well done. Her new boyfriend, Wes, is very special himself, a “Dirty Blood,” a hybrid of Wolf and Hunter, an abomination to those who would keep the war going to appease their own hatreds and superstitions. With a small group of friends around them, Wes and Tara have a hard job ahead of them, Tara’s harder than anyone’s as she tries to overcome the ‘protection’ of those around her which actually does more harm than good. Overall, I would recommend this for any UF fan, male or female. I don't normally care for YA and all the attendant 'sturm und drang' but this is not your typical YA. Tara is a great hero �" she is strong and brave while still showing her lack of training and the shock and fear that such a tremendous change to her life, along with her fear for the safety of those she loves engenders. Of course, my favorite part of the book is during “the” big battle scene (there are several in the book) when her grandmother walks into a building full of warring Wolves and Hunters and commences to staking Wolves as if she is picking daisies. Awesome. I received this book from the publisher in return for a realistic review. All thoughts are my own. The next book in the series is Cold Blood. Tara has been shipped off to Hunter Boarding School, where she will be safe and cozy and well-trained. Well, the well-trained thing might happen. The rest of it? Well, that is highly doubtful….
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Generation 18
by
Keri Arthur
soireadthisbooktoday
, August 04, 2014
I spent my birthday with a new series (for me) that I was really enjoying. The Spook Squad by Keri Arthur. The premise and story are fascinating, involving a close-to-us parallel world where nonhumans live alongside normal in an uneasy balance. They are policed by the SIU, a shadowy group set up to police nonhumans. The main character in the book is Sam Ryan, a State Police Officer. As far as Sam is concerned, she is fully human �" but is she truly? With no memory of the first 14-years of her life, Sam is an exemplary officer, but she is also a haunted woman, searching for her life before she awakened in a foster home at 14. zero In Memory Zero we first meet Sam as she is set to meet with her partner, Jack, in a dark and stinking back alley of Melbourne. Jack �" who has been missing for over two weeks, supposedly the victim of an unknown cop killer. Called to the alley by the missing Jack, having promised to tell no one, Sam finds much more than she expects as the Jack she meets is no longer human, but instead is a vampire. And something else �" something much, much worse. Killing the man who is her partner, and yet not, Sam is pulled into a whirlwind of terror which begins to pull her history from her own mind, opening doors that should have stayed closed. 18Generation 18 is the second in the series, and continues Sam’s story. Now a member of the SIU, she is partnered with Assistant Director of the SIU, Gabriel, the two are neck deep in the investigation of a serial killer who is targeting a seemingly unrelated group of victims, whose only link is that they are all adopted, and all have red-gold hair. We learn a lot more about Samantha in this volume, and I really came to admire and like her, though not Gabriel, a cold and isolated man, determined to shake Sam off as his partner. He is determined to never have a partner again after the death of his former two partners, one of whom was his mate, Andrea. That loss, when he was 18, has set in his mind that he will never allow anyone close to him again, not even his twin brother. Struggling to catch the killer, the invisible Sethanon, Sam has to fight not only her growing memories, and her jackass of a partner, but also a growing threat against herself and who she may, or may not, be. pen Penumbra is the third book in the trilogy, and builds up the series to a massive head, as Sam finally realizes who, and what she is. And who Gabriel is supposed to be to her �" though he desperately fights it. Tracking a mix of clones, shapeshifters and shapechangers, the murders come fast and furious as the military comes closer and closer to achieving their goals of an unstoppable army, and Sam comes to realize that her dreams of her twin are not only real �" but that they are much more dangerous than she ever could have imagined. I was really liking this series. I mean, really liking it �" enough that I sat other things aside and continued reading through all three books without stopping, other than to do what I absolutely had to. EDIT TO REVIEW: It appears that the whole "won't be publishing any longer" wasn't actually Keri's fault. Here is a note from here. I really loved the books, Keri, and will be updating all my reviews. I also just finished Full Moon Rising and will be writing a review on that one too. Loved it. Sorry I’ve upset you by not finishing the series…but the reason is not as simple as I didn’t feel like finishing it. I had planned a 4th book, but the Riley Jenson series came along and given it was my first major book contract (along the publisher’s decision to release the first 4 books in one year), I had to give priority to that series rather than the Spook Squad novel. And I’m afraid that several years away from the Spook Squad world meant I was no longer immersed in it. I’d rather leave a series unfinished than make a total and utter mess of it. However, with Bantam re-releasing the series in paperback in the US, I did write a brief (5 page) epilogue that gave some closure on the relationship aspects. The rest of the plot (and the war) does remain unfinished. Again, sorry to upset and disappoint you. I wish I could finish the series, too, believe me, but there’s just too many other books I have to write. So, now we know why Spook Squad was never finished �" the demands of Publishers! I am updating and reposting my reviews everywhere to take her note into account. So, my apologies to Keri for losing my temper and being a snot!
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Memory Zero
by
Keri Arthur
soireadthisbooktoday
, August 04, 2014
I spent my birthday with a new series (for me) that I was really enjoying. The Spook Squad by Keri Arthur. The premise and story are fascinating, involving a close-to-us parallel world where nonhumans live alongside normal in an uneasy balance. They are policed by the SIU, a shadowy group set up to police nonhumans. The main character in the book is Sam Ryan, a State Police Officer. As far as Sam is concerned, she is fully human �" but is she truly? With no memory of the first 14-years of her life, Sam is an exemplary officer, but she is also a haunted woman, searching for her life before she awakened in a foster home at 14. zero In Memory Zero we first meet Sam as she is set to meet with her partner, Jack, in a dark and stinking back alley of Melbourne. Jack �" who has been missing for over two weeks, supposedly the victim of an unknown cop killer. Called to the alley by the missing Jack, having promised to tell no one, Sam finds much more than she expects as the Jack she meets is no longer human, but instead is a vampire. And something else �" something much, much worse. Killing the man who is her partner, and yet not, Sam is pulled into a whirlwind of terror which begins to pull her history from her own mind, opening doors that should have stayed closed. 18Generation 18 is the second in the series, and continues Sam’s story. Now a member of the SIU, she is partnered with Assistant Director of the SIU, Gabriel, the two are neck deep in the investigation of a serial killer who is targeting a seemingly unrelated group of victims, whose only link is that they are all adopted, and all have red-gold hair. We learn a lot more about Samantha in this volume, and I really came to admire and like her, though not Gabriel, a cold and isolated man, determined to shake Sam off as his partner. He is determined to never have a partner again after the death of his former two partners, one of whom was his mate, Andrea. That loss, when he was 18, has set in his mind that he will never allow anyone close to him again, not even his twin brother. Struggling to catch the killer, the invisible Sethanon, Sam has to fight not only her growing memories, and her jackass of a partner, but also a growing threat against herself and who she may, or may not, be. pen Penumbra is the third book in the trilogy, and builds up the series to a massive head, as Sam finally realizes who, and what she is. And who Gabriel is supposed to be to her �" though he desperately fights it. Tracking a mix of clones, shapeshifters and shapechangers, the murders come fast and furious as the military comes closer and closer to achieving their goals of an unstoppable army, and Sam comes to realize that her dreams of her twin are not only real �" but that they are much more dangerous than she ever could have imagined. I was really liking this series. I mean, really liking it �" enough that I sat other things aside and continued reading through all three books without stopping, other than to do what I absolutely had to. EDIT TO REVIEW: It appears that the whole "won't be publishing any longer" wasn't actually Keri's fault. Here is a note from here. I really loved the books, Keri, and will be updating all my reviews. I also just finished Full Moon Rising and will be writing a review on that one too. Loved it. Sorry I’ve upset you by not finishing the series…but the reason is not as simple as I didn’t feel like finishing it. I had planned a 4th book, but the Riley Jenson series came along and given it was my first major book contract (along the publisher’s decision to release the first 4 books in one year), I had to give priority to that series rather than the Spook Squad novel. And I’m afraid that several years away from the Spook Squad world meant I was no longer immersed in it. I’d rather leave a series unfinished than make a total and utter mess of it. However, with Bantam re-releasing the series in paperback in the US, I did write a brief (5 page) epilogue that gave some closure on the relationship aspects. The rest of the plot (and the war) does remain unfinished. Again, sorry to upset and disappoint you. I wish I could finish the series, too, believe me, but there’s just too many other books I have to write. So, now we know why Spook Squad was never finished �" the demands of Publishers! I am updating and reposting my reviews everywhere to take her note into account. So, my apologies to Keri for losing my temper and being a snot!
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Captain Chemo: Out Cancer, Out!
by
Renee Robinson
soireadthisbooktoday
, August 01, 2014
I don't actually remember how I first met Renee Robinson. I think it all started when some unmitigated 'Ho wrote a cruel review about her writing, and I jumped to her defense. That sounds about like me. Anyone who could write cruelly about someone who does what Renee does with her life deserves a smack-down. Of course, I have never met her in person, but I have been corresponding with her for a while. Renee is a Terminal Cancer victim, who just received the dreaded "There is nothing else we can do" message, a message I never received myself, but feared nevertheless. You see, Renee is the author of Captain Chemo: Out Cancer, Out! (Captain Chemo and Team Book 1). It is a poem, a poem designed to help children who are going through chemo to build courage and remain positive through the horrors of chemo. And believe me - chemo is horrendous. The pain, the vomiting, the weakness - it is all more than even adults can sometimes handle. Now, think about a small child going through the same thing - the horror of it all beyond their understanding. Renee's book helps. Maybe not in any "this is going to make it all go away" sort of way - but it provides hope for the little ones. Tracy Townsend with Healthsource 10 interviewed Renee on July 23. You can watch the video here (you may need the http : slash slash) //bit.ly/1rMpLB7 Renee and her family have donated several of her books to Nationwide Children's, The James and the Fairfield Medical Center. This book is a perfect donation for the cancer centers in your area. Why not be a peach and purchase several? The children will thank you - and your heart will too. How courageous is it, for someone like Renee who is Terminal, to care so much about children suffering from cancer and try to help them? Renee is someone I am proud to call my friend.
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Into the Fire
by
Jodi McIsaac
soireadthisbooktoday
, July 27, 2014
Cedar McLeod had a quiet life before the action in Through the Door, the first book in The Thin Veil series. A tired, overworked single mother, Cedar and her daughter Eden still manage to have a happy life. But one day, things change drastically. For Eden is more than she seems. So very, very much more. A single open door sends Eden and Cedar on a terrifying slide into horror and despair, as the teachings of Cedar’s mother, to not ever tell Eden of her father, pushes a child to make a devastating error �" an error which cost lives, and lead to the kidnapping and terrorizing of Eden, and a trip across space and time to the land of Tír na n�"g, and a battle to save two worlds. As Into the Fire, the second in The Thin Veil series, begins Eden and Cedar, and their newly found family, including Eden’s father Finn, have returned to Tír na n�"g. Destined for the throne, Cedar finds instead that Nuala, Eden’s kidnapper and the partner of the destroyer of Tír na n�"g, has entranced the Council, and is making a strong bid for the throne herself. Though Cedar’s parents were the King and Queen before their deaths and baby Cedar’s banishment to Earth, she finds that she must fight for her position, and for the protection of her family �" and to save Tír na n�"g from the evil Nuala. It won’t be easy, and she will have to fight against the very people who should be working to help her, but in order to save her world, it must be done. Filled with Celtic myth, mystery, suspense and adventure, this second installment of The Thin Veil series is as good, if not better than, the first �" and I great look forward to the third! I received this book from the publisher in return for a realistic review. All thoughts are my own.
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I Married the Third Horseman
by
Michael Angel
soireadthisbooktoday
, July 25, 2014
Cassandra "Cassie" Van Deene is a smart, artistic filmmaker who takes the Sundance Film Festival by storm. Ka-ching!! Her career is bright and shining and the world is her oyster. Well, for about five minutes. Then she meets Mitchel Thantos. Yep, he is gorgeous, rich, and rides a real white stallion. What is to dislike?ir Weelllllll . . . how about if your brand new hubby is Plague? Yep, that Plague. Oh, man! Of course, she doesn't know she is married to Plague. Not at first. But when her security cameras pick up Mitchel turning to a deaths head figure on that same white stallion - on the apartment balcony at that - it is time to run, run quickly Padawan!! For when all the divorce court judges come down with horrific diseases, it takes a bit of cosmic ingenuity to keep away from the homicidal brothers of the Apocalypse long enough to exorcize her preternatural hubby. Michael Angel is hysterical. He mixes mythology, modernity and comedy in an immensely enjoyable tale of whacked out, obsessively possessive immortals, other immortals who have actual day jobs (Circe works the Las Vegas strip) and a strong, funny heroine with tons of attitude and guts. When you are being chased around the West by War, Famine, Plague and Death, well, you really have to be rather gutsy, wouldn't you think? And Gin Hammond does a kickin' job as the narrator! I will listen to this many more times than once . . . how cool is that? Highly, highly recommended for fantastical humor!
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Windwalker
by
Natasha Mostert
soireadthisbooktoday
, July 13, 2014
Through me you pass into the city of woe: Through me you pass into eternal pain: Through me among the people lost for aye. Justice the founder of my fabric moved: To rear me was the task of power divine, Supremest wisdom, and primeval love. Before me things create were none, save things Eternal, and eternal I shall endure. All hope abandon, ye who enter here. -Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy This life’s dim windows of the soul Distorts the heavens from pole to pole And leads you to believe a lie When you see with, not through, the eye. William Blake �" The Everlasting Gospel Haunting and elegant. I have head Ms. Mostert’s works described this way before, by other reviewers. This, and so very much more, is the work of Natasha Mostert. For she has a voice that is deeply evocative, an exceptional, mystical writing style. Natasha’s turn of prose is both otherworldly and sensual, a voice that sends chills down my spine and reaches into my soul, making a home for itself in the sweet, dark recesses of my existence. Her writing comes to mind over and over, in the dark of night or the bright light of day, a paean to her brilliant style, as her ability to paint rich, intriguing portraits with words which steal into my awareness in the most common of moments. Words which bring me to my knees, to weep and sigh, to long deeply and without respite. Kepler’s Bay. A remote and forbidding town in a remote and forbidding land, bitter and forlorn. Perched on the razor edge between the Namib and the sea, Kepler’s Bay clings to the edge of the world with barely restrained ferocity, much as do the creatures of the great desert upon which it backs. Kepler’s Bay. The melancholy call of the soo-oop-wa, the never-ending wind, maddens, takes piecemeal grains of the soul, eventually leaving behind naught but a dry, desiccated husk �" a body walking with no spark within. The Namib, oldest desert in the world, ‘The land God made in anger,’ say the San people. But he had always thought that only a god in pain could have imagined a place like this. And from this land of soaring dunes and brutal winds one day appears a wild man, filled with pain, with fever and madness. Madness and passion. Violence and death. Samuel Becket said: “All men are born mad. Some remain so.” And is madness not pain, turned in upon oneself? Across the desert, in the lush green of the English countryside, a woman arrives. Lost and maddened in her own right, she arrive upon the doorstep of a sad and haunted estate. As she sinks into the stories of this place of madness, fratricide and pain, broken shadows and haunted rooms, one soon cannot truly discern where the house leaves off and the woman begins. Quiet desperation. Ghosts and haunting images through a camera’s lens. They are so close, and yet so far apart. So very, very far apart. Has it been this way, lives upon lives, sinking into the past? And what of unintended consequences, the vagaries of fate and karma? Yet ah! why should they know their fate? Since sorrow never comes too late, And happiness too swiftly flies. Thought would destroy their paradise. No more; where ignorance is bliss, ‘Tis folly to be wise. Thomas Gray - Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College Through our lives, do our souls search? Do they seek desperately, yearning for that which was, which could have been, or which shall never be? And is evil merely the absence of good, demons playing bones with our lives? Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars. �" Khalil Gibran How many paths must we walk, how many lives to be lived? How long must we suffer before paths may cross, before we might know peace? Do our souls wander alone, searching beyond ourselves for knowledge, deep in the rending silence of the night? A photography of insanity may be a shard of light. Questions and blood and dreams of deaths long past, pain and ancient desire. All are spread before us between these pages. Allow her words to reel you in, to touch and tease, sooth and savage by turns. To think. To dream. To sorrow. To hope. This book was provided to me by the author in return for a realistic review. It touched me more deeply than any of her works yet have �" and those have been absolutely brilliant. I hate reviews that begin with “If you like the works of” to be honest, but if the interspersed quotes touch your soul, I strongly, very strongly, encourage you to read Windwalker. And then her other works as well. I don’t believe, once you have read this one, that you will be able to resist.
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Lost in New Falls
by
Cherie Marks
soireadthisbooktoday
, July 10, 2014
Sometimes, one needs a happily-ever-after, and from the beginning of Lost in New Falls you know you are going to get one. But the path to the end in this particular book is funny, charming and also deeply sad, but with a thread of hope and caring through it all. Kate Delaney is the character many of us can identify with great ease from our own childhood experiences. The ‘friendly fat girl’ all through school in New Falls, Tennessee she and her brother Reese find themselves in the care of their beloved grandfather when their parents are killed in an accident. Tagging along after Reese and his best friend, Quentin Taylor, Kate spends her childhood and teen years being just one of the boys. When her growing attraction to Quentin leads to heartbreak, her path takes her to Hollywood, where she ghostwrites, writes for the occasional television show, and is now climbing her way to success. With a famous producer now wanting her newest script, this should be the happiest time of her life. However, her beloved grandfather is close to death, and she must return to Tennessee to be with him in his final days. Of course, with email, she can still finish her script in the cabin her grandfather once called home. Oops. Returning to the cabin after a visit to her grandfather in the hospital, Kate discovers that her cabin has been robbed, her laptop, flash drive backup gone, and even her underwear drawer cleaned out. What happens next is funny in a mildly slapstick way as Kate attempts to ship off the rough paper copy of her work to her agent, only to wind up in a game of pass-the-football with her treasured screenplay. Everyone in town seems to be reading her work, but whether it gets to her agent is another question. Cherie Marks characters are funny and charming, thought the whole “Hillbilly Red Neck” situation comes into play, but not in a grating way. The chase for the burglar is well done, and quite realistic overall, and the thief was a shocker �" funny as all get out in the end, though the acts weren’t themselves funny at all. This is a great summer read. I accepted the book as I admire Cherie Marks, a breast cancer survivor like myself. Now, I am glad I did simply because I enjoyed the book and want to read more of her work. I receive this book in return for a realistic review. All thoughts are my own.
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Season Of The Witch
by
Natasha Mostert
soireadthisbooktoday
, July 09, 2014
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary, Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore, While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping, As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.” ―Edgar Allan Poe [I am] the pen merely of [God] Whose Spirit, quickly writing these things through me, I wish and I hope to be. �" John Dee, Monas Hieroglyphica (‘The Hieroglyphic Monad’) Who will live in this place between door and window? A mummer with a heavy heart and blind eyes turning, turning. I must meditate upon my name. �" Season of the Witch, by Natasha Mostert Doors. Doors upon Doors upon Doors. Doors into memory. Doors into dream. Doors into magic and mystery and heartbreak. Doors into eroticism �" Doors into death. I first found Ms. Mostert when I was offered The Midnight Side by the publisher back in February. As I said in that review, The Midnight Side is . . . a brooding, atmospheric tale of suspense and psychological thrill, full of the kinds of fear and gloomy atmosphere sure to lure in even the most jaded of readers. Mostert speaks to deep waters of the mind, dark corners of the soul, the ruin brought on by wounded and damaged souls. With my reading of Season of the Witch, winner of the 2009 Book To Talk About: World Book Day Award, I was again pulled into the deep waters of the mind, the dark corners of the soul. And once more, I was enthralled by Ms. Mostert’s grasp of language, her ability to paint a picture with words upon the page. The book actually starts rather oddly for what I had expected from Mostert, as we meet Gabriel Blackstone, an accomplished cyber thief, as he practices his craft. Gabriel knows what he is �" nothing more, or less, than a thief �" but a masterful one; a savant of ones and zeroes, algorithms and cyphers, pulling cyber magic from the very air. But that is not all Gabriel is. Gabriel is a Remote Viewer. And now, his former girlfriend needs his help. For though she too is a RV, she has nowhere near the strength or skill of her once-beloved. For her new beloved, her dying husband, wishes to know the fate of his son, who has disappeared without a trace. Though reluctant to return to this skill he has left behind, a happenstance pulls him back into this world of dreams and visions, of minds touching across space and time and realities one upon the other like the petals of a rose. And here, Mostert shows her amazing skill in crafting worlds of wonder and terror, of loss and mystery. And as he slowly spiraled downwards, he wondered with a strange sense of detachment if he might not still be on a journey, still searching for the path that does not wander . . . Many have spoken of the theme of the story, the happenings and characters. What I wish to address is her stunning vision of the occult, of witchcraft and psychology, seduction and passion, mysticism and the mind, all richly crafted into a world both heartrending and sublime. A white horse neighed madly and tossed its blood-soaked mane. None of Mostert’s characters are purely evil, none are purely good. Instead, she revels in creating characters of depth, both moral and immoral, sinner and chaste. Through talismanic images and mysterious sigils, fantastic signs and the infinite patterns of code, she drives Gabriel through the palaces of memory and the mind, wrapping the story into an atmospheric, poetic whole. Natasha Mostert has permanent residence on my “Keepers” shelf, a place few Authors gain within my own Palace of the Mind. I received my copy of Season of the Witch from the publisher. All thoughts are my own. Don’t fail to add all of Ms. Mostert’s books to your “Must Read” shelf if you love atmospheric, poetic writing.
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Julias Chocolates
by
Cathy Lamb
soireadthisbooktoday
, June 29, 2014
I left my wedding dress hanging in a tree somewhere in North Dakota. I don’t know why that particular tree appealed to me. Perhaps it was because it looked as if it had given up and died years ago and was still standing because it didn’t know what else to do. That is, by far, one of my favorite opening lines to a Contemporary Women’s Literature book ever. And then I read the book. And it touched me, ripped my heart, soothed my mind and eased my soul in so many ways that one moment I was laughing hysterically at the antics of the four main female characters, the next sobbing uncontrollably over the pain and fear that women and children face - the innocent and the damned. Growing up unloved and neglected is horrific. Not only because your parent doesn’t love you, but because you know your parent doesn’t want your love. You learn that your love is inferior. Unneeded. Worthless. You’re inferior, you’re unneeded, you’re worthless. I grew up as the child of a sociopath. I know from growing up unloved, unneeded, being told every day I was worthless. How awful is it that Julia’s life make my own look like a walk in the park with ice cream and flowers? The daughter of an alcoholic meth head, Julia spent her early life beaten, neglected, starved and repeatedly raped and abused by her mother’s “boyfriends,” a collection of alcoholic, meth head pedophiles and violent criminals. But Julia perseveres, gaining her degree in art and working in a gallery in Boston, pulling her life together and trying desperately to forget from whence she came. Desperate to feel ‘worthy’ she accepts the advances of the wealthy, entitled Robert Stanfield, the latest scion of a wealthy Boston family. At first thrilled to gain the attention of such a man, she soon learns the truth. Robert is a true psychopath - a vicious and abusive rapist who slowly comes to swallow up Julia’s life, pushing her into a cycle of fear and abuse that soon drains the very soul from her body. Blaming herself for what he does to her, as victims do, she takes his abuse, hoping that he will change, that things will get better, that she really can look forward to a good life with this monster. But finally, on her wedding day, with her face broken and eye swollen completely shut, she flees the monster that is her fiancé and takes off across country to her aunt in Golden, Oregon. Like Julia, the town itself is broken by the closing of the mills and factories, leaving the citizens who stay impoverished but still proud. Still rallying around one another. None so much as four very special friends. Gaining the safety of her Aunt Lydia and her friends in Golden, Julia soon settles in. Though she still has violent, terrifying nightmares, and fears she suffers a “Dread Disease” that causes her to have attacks which leave her breathless and exhausted, she slowly begins to feel safe in the company of Lydia and Caroline, Lara and Katie, a diverse group of women with their own issues and agonies, laughter and pain. Caroline, tiny and poor, living off vegetable sales and psychic readings. Lara, wife of the town minister whom she adores, but who is over stressed and under appreciated, the daughter of a cruel and arrogant minister who preaches hellfire and damnation to all who don’t bow down before his wrath - including his own tormented children. And Katie, who runs her own cleaning business and raises her four children while her useless, abusive drunk of a husband steals her money, terrorizes her children and steps out with other women to her face. Together, they make up a band of some of the strongest, most eccentric, most lovable characters I have ever “met.” As others have said, you can certainly compare the book in many ways to The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood. However, in my mind this book is much more. These women have come together from diverse backgrounds, meeting at stages of their life where they are each fighting their own personal battles of the soul. But don’t let me lead you to believe that this is a “Debbie Downer” of a book - not at all. As I mentioned earlier, I literally laughed till tears ran down my cheeks at the antics of these women and their friends. Who can’t get a kick out of “Breast Power Psychic Night?” And while as a whole they may not have any reason to hold any affection for men (well, except for Lydia, who has been courted by the same man for the last twenty years) there are some wonderful male characters to offset the true monsters of the tale. Yes, there is horror to be had by the boatloads. Sanctimonious ‘church ladies’ with spiteful, viperous tongues, filled with gossip and sanctimony. Cruel drunks. Child abusers, alcoholics, drug addicts and pedophiles. All make their appearances, and affect the lives of our beloved ladies. But Lamb uses a deft hand in her development of the friendships of this little band of women into something that brings not only joy and laughter, but also a bright light of hope into some very dark places. There are dark moments, but the bright soon overcomes the dark, pulling these wonderful characters together into a book that no one, even the testosterone powered, should miss. I. Loved. This. Book. I really did. It hurt sometimes - I have a lot in common with these women, and truly felt their pain, down deep where I have packed away my own. I pulled these people into my heart, and though it did hurt in spots, it also made me feel wonderful to meet this rowdy, broken bunch of women. I was interesting to me that other reviewers “didn’t connect” with the characters. I suppose they should be happy that they didn’t - anyone who has no experience with how truly horrific life can be at times should thank their lucky stars that this is so I suppose. As I watched Julia, with her huge boobs, wild hair, and horrific background grow into her personal power I urged her on, watching with great happiness as she opened herself up to not only her own faults, but to her power as well. As for me, I can’t recommend this book highly enough. There is great love and joy to be found - the love of self, of friends, of children and of life itself. I came to Ms. Lamb’s work late (this book was originally published in 2007) but now that I have found her work, I will be looking forward to reading more!
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Through the Door
by
Jodi McIsaac
soireadthisbooktoday
, June 24, 2014
“A room without books is like a body without a soul.” ― Cicero "In Flanders fields the poppies grow Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place, and in the sky, The larks, still bravely singing, fly, Scarce heard amid the guns below." ~John McCrae "What connects two thousand years of genocide? Too much power in too few hands." Simon Wiesenthal " . . . the Tuatha De Danann or Sidhe, the ‘Gentry’, the ‘Good People’, and the ‘People of Peace’ are described as a race of invisible divine beings eternally young and unfading. They inhabit fairy palaces, enjoy rare feasts and love-making, and have their own music and minstrelsy. They are essentially majestic in their nature . . . Mythologically they are gods of light and good, able to control natural phenomena so as to make harvests come forth abundantly or not at all." W. Y. Evans-Wentz; The Faerie Faith in Celtic Countries, 1911 (quoted by Michael Tsarion) Millennia. Millennia beyond counting, the Tuatha De Danann graced the lands of Tír na nOg. Tír na nOg, where fields of flowers . . . caress those who walked past, waterfalls of crystal nectar, trees that sang and danced and hung heavy with fruit. . . And yet, though they despise the humans that drove them from Ériu and back to the lands of Tuatha De Danann, the lands of plenty and peace. And yet, even the Tuatha De Danann are not immune to war. And war there is, a war of hatred and greed, a war led by a psychopath. For sometimes, living forever is dangerous in the extreme. Long years of thought, of jealousy and avarice, and bitter blackness of the heart. Those who are undying can be killed, and the slaughter is beyond comprehension. Many years later, we meet Cedar McLeod as she enjoys a busker fair with her beloved Finn, her boyfriend of two years, and the love of her life. Having a wonderful time with Finn, she is also excited for another reason - for she has a secret, of the baby sort, and she is trying to find the right moment to tell him during this wonderful day. Just as she begins to impart her news, however, Finn suddenly tenses up, then rushes Cedar to her apartment and leaves. The next morning, Cedar walks into Finn’s apartment only to discover it empty and he is gone without a trace . . . Forward seven years, and though Cedar is an exhausted, overworked single mother, she has her own mother for support and a deep and abiding love for her daughter, Eden. Oh, yes, it is hard to look upon her sweet face at times, for Eden is the spitting image of her father. But her great love for her child lays all those pains aside, to be pulled out only in the dark of the night, alone in her bed. Life isn’t wonderful, but with Eden’s presence, life is good. But things are about to change. For Eden is more than she seems. So very, very much more. A single open door will send Eden and Cedar on a terrifying slide into horror and despair, as the teachings of Cedar’s mother, to not ever tell Eden of her father, push a child to make a devastating error - an error which will cost lives, and lead Cedar and Eden on a trip across seas, and across time and space, in a desperate bid to return Eden home. Through the Door is a modern day urban fantasy of the very best kind. Filled with fantasy creatures, of course, this isn’t just a fantasy. It has deeply embedded strands of thriller and suspense, mystery and terror that step this up from just fantasy to something so much more. War and death, psychopathy and greed, power and politics play a strong role, for even the gods themselves are not perfect. Add to that the fact that Jodi McIsaac has done a stunning job of research into the world of Tír na nOg and the Tuatha De Danann, and the writing itself is beautifully done, and this is a highly recommended read. And don’t forget, the final book of the trilogy is out! That means that you can sit down and read all three straight through - how awesome is THAT? Into The Fire (The Thin Veil Book 2) Beyond the Pale: A Thin Veil Novella (The Thin Veil 2.5) Among The Unseen (The Thin Veil Book 3) About Jodi: I grew up in New Brunswick, Canada. After stints as a short-track speed skater, a speechwriter, and fundraising and marketing executive in the nonprofit sector, I started a boutique copywriting agency and began writing novels in the wee hours of the morning. I currently live with my husband and two feisty daughters in Calgary, Alberta. I love to connect with readers, so come say hello on Facebook, Twitter, or Goodreads! *** I received this book from the publisher, 47North, in return for a realistic review. All thoughts are my own and are not influenced by this fact. If you enjoyed my review, please click “This review was helpful” at Amazon's "So, I Read This Book Today" reviewer site. Thank you!
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The Burning
by
Jane Casey
soireadthisbooktoday
, June 09, 2014
First, to get this out there, I love British police procedurals. They are normally crisp, compelling and well written. The Burning is a premier example of the best the genre has to offer. Written from the viewpoint of Detective Constable (DC) Maeve Kerrigan, the story focuses on the hunt for “The Burning Man” a serial killer terrorizing London. His crimes are horrific, and no young woman is safe. There have been four murders committed which can obviously be credited to the killer �" but now a fifth murder has been committed. And Maeve questions whether this particular killing shouldn’t be attributed to a copy-cat killer. Maeve is an extremely likable heroine. She takes serious verbal abuse from her so-called colleagues as they make sexual and misogynist comments about her work style. Abuse that she handles with dignity �" even when it comes from her own partner. As the story evolves Maeve becomes more and more involved with the fifth killing, following a trail of murder, drugs, deceit and violence that goes back several years to the victim’s college days. Maeve is smart without being omniscient, funny and serious by turns, and is willing to put herself on the line for what she knows is right and true. Filled by turns with violence and heartbreak, deceit and deep sociopathy, The Burning is a must read for anyone interested in police procedurals, thrillers and suspense novels, with a very light dose of romance to round things out. I received this book from the publisher in return for an honest review. All comments and thoughts are my own.
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Doctor Who Touched by an Angel The Monster Collection Edition
by
Jonathan Morris
soireadthisbooktoday
, June 06, 2014
"Whatever you do . . . DON'T BLINK!" - Doctor Who, Blink One of the scariest things I have ever watched on telly? Blink. In this Doctor Who tenth episode from the third season, the Doctor and Martha meet Sally Sparrow. Well, they don’t really meet Sally �" you see, there are DVD Easter Eggs, on sixteen DVD’s, where a mysterious man has a conversation, apparently with someone sitting on “our” side of the screen . . . and it all goes extremely terrifying from there . . . for the Weeping Angels are on the move. And they are very, very hungry. In Touched By An Angel the Weeping Angels are back, and this time it is Amy and Rory who are The Doctors companions, as they desperately try to stop time, space and everything from imploding. Our intrepid trio are back in England, and this time things are dire indeed. For Mark Whitaker, though a rather unassuming, sad and lonely widower has just received a letter �" and that letter could destroy the universe. For if Mark follows the letter’s instructions, he will go back in time. He means to save his wife, no matter the cost. But the cost is more than he could ever dream. This is a fantastic addition to your Doctor Library. Tense and exciting, but also heart breaking in the extreme, the story moves back and forth in time as the Doctor, Rory and Amy watch over Mark as he is sent back to 1994, his college days, and begins to live his life alongside his younger self. Ticking off the list of things the letter tells him he must do, he works closer and closer to the day of his beloved wife’s death. Highly recommended for Doctor Who fans. NOTE: I received this book from the publisher in return for a realistic review. All opinions are my own.
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House of Jaguar
by
Mike Bond
soireadthisbooktoday
, June 04, 2014
Humankind seems to have an enormous capacity for savagery, for brutality, for lack of empathy, for lack of compassion. �" Annie Lennox Battles are won by slaughter and maneuver. The greater the general, the more he contributes in maneuver, the less he demands in slaughter. �" Winston Churchill I read a lot of thriller and action adventure novels, so I expected this novel to be yet another rollicking read for me. To say that I couldn’t have been more wrong is a gross understatement. I mean no disrespect to Mr. Bond. I know that he lived through a lot of this hell as the story is based on his own horrifying experiences as one of the few journalists to survive this ghastly American funded war. Caught up in bloody, savage battles between Guatemalan people, their oppressive army and the secret machinations of the CIA (why is one not surprised?) Bond pulls you into the horrors of life in Guatemala, forcing you to nearly breathe the oppression and senseless and horrendous slaughter. Ok, that is the “good” stuff. Other reviewers have written of who, and what, Joe Murphy is, and what the story is “about.” Which is good, as I was totally unable to finish it. I know that monstrous things happen, usually to people who do not, under any circumstances, deserve the sort evil they are forced to suffer. Normally, I have a pretty high tolerance for that sort of thing. In this case, that is so far from reality that we aren’t even on the same planet. The descriptions of rape and slaughter were so hideously explicit that I simply had to stop before I totally lost my mind. The descriptions of the rape of young girls �" and especially the scenes where the rape is portrayed from the rapist’s point of view, turned my stomach. We study the injustices of history for the same reason that we study genocide, and for the same reason that psychologists study the minds of murderers and rapists... to understand how those evil things came about. - Jared Diamond Overall, what I did read of the book before I had to strip it off my Kindle was a story of the slaughter of innocents �" men, women and children suffering a depth of brutality that is unimaginable. Bloody carnage beyond all sense of humanity, fed by lies and political agendas, drugs and drug lords, all at the expense of the poor and the innocent. While this book clearly wasn't one that I enjoyed in any way, I am certain that there are those out there who will have the opposite reaction. 75% of readers who posted reviews on goodreads found it acceptable, or even “good.” That simply wasn’t my finding. The unrelenting, mindless brutality is highly disturbing and absolutely not a read for the faint of heart. Or even the hearty of heart, like me. I would think you would need a cast-iron constitution to handle this book. I received this edition from Mandevilla Press in exchange for my honest review.
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Hot Blooded
by
Amanda Carlson
soireadthisbooktoday
, June 04, 2014
In the first book of the series, Full Blooded, we are introduced to Jessica McClain. Jessica is an oddity - born the daughter of her packs Alpha, life should be good. But there is a problem with that - female werewolves aren’t supposed to exist. And no one in the pack is willing to let her forget that she is a freak of nature. Once past puberty and not having shifted, Jessica thought she would live out her life as a human. She left the pack behind, starting a new life with a new name. Everything was going well, until her wolf decided it was time to surface. Hot Blooded, the second book of the series, picks up just after the events of the previous book. Told almost entirely on the road, with brief phone updates connecting Jessica to her father and pack at home, Jessica and her rather ‘unusual’ traveling companions, including two vampires loaned to her by the Vampire queen. It took me a while to read Hot Blooded for the publisher. I started to read the book, but soon realized that I would be much better served to read the first book first. It pulled the story together for me, in a manner which I wasn’t feeling until reading the first. While there are things I didn’t care for all that much. Jessica is a bit of a Mary Sue, overcoming apparently insurmountable odds on her own. What I did enjoy about the story is just how compassionate Jessica is for all creatures, including humans �" a personality quirk that her werewolf brethren definitely are not happy about. Jessica is strong, intelligent and has her own mind, a rarity in the urban fantasy heroine tropes of the day, making her a perfect addition to the genre. I hope that she retains that compassion across the series. A pissed-off goddess, a bright yellow Humvee, a couple of werewolves, a couple of vampires on loan (and of course, vampires being vampires, there is a heavy price to pay should she live long enough to return), issues resolved and new issues opened and unresolved leads to an exciting story line which I expect much from in the future. I received Hot Blooded from the publisher in return for an honest review. I purchased Full Blooded on my own in order to keep the series in order and to gain a better understanding of the story line.
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Source A Witching Savannah Novel
by
J D Horn
soireadthisbooktoday
, June 04, 2014
It's particularly hard to take being stabbed in the back close to home. There's always a feeling of betrayal when people of your own group oppose you. - Catharine MacKinnon You want to believe that there's one relationship in life that's beyond betrayal. A relationship that's beyond that kind of hurt. And there isn't. - Caleb Carr It is said that those whom the gods wish to destroy they first make mad. - John Boyd Orr Back in January of this year I received a copy of The Line by J.D. Horn as part of the Kindle First program. The Line is a story of Mercy Taylor, a magical “dud” born into a family of immense magical power. Shunted to the side and mostly ignored by the powerful witches in her family, Mercy enjoys her life leading “The Liars Tour of Savannah,” getting her customers a little buzzed, telling ‘some black and wicked lies about the people of her hometown,” and basically enjoying her life. It’s simple, and it is all hers. Well, mostly happy, except for the fact that she is loved by an apparently good man, yet loves the man who belongs to her twin sister." The twin sister who is in line to take a place as one of the ten who control The Line, the magical wall between this world and the world of demons. Power and jealousy, mistakes and unforeseen consequences kept me reading The Line all through the night. Now, Mercy and her family are back, in The Source the second in the Witching Savannah series. But things have changed more than Mercy could have ever expected. Once thought a failure, now The Line is Mercy’s responsibility, and no one seems to want that." including the other witches who hold the line between this world and the next. Mercy is struggling to control her new powers, which is bad enough, but she is also pregnant, dealing with the tremendous betrayals first suffered in the first book, and generally having a horrible time of it. And if that isn’t enough, her mother, thought to be dead for years, is back on the scene, and begs Mercy to tell no one. Overall, it’s a lot to swallow for a girl who only a short time ago was a simple tour guide! If there is one thing about Mercy that I really like, it is that she is compassionate and forgiving. If there is one thing I truly don’t like about Mercy, it is that she is TOO compassionate and forgiving. I want to sit her down, give her a glass of wine and chocolates and encourage her to realize that some people, like her evil, cruel and manipulative sister Maisy, absolutely do not deserve so much of her time and trouble as she tries to pull her twisted sister back from wherever she was deposited when The Line refused her, choosing Mercy instead. Things came to a head at the end of the first book when Maisy tried to murder Mercy, knowing that Mercy was supposed to be the line witch all along, but her powers had been purposely dampened so that Maisy could take over. Can we all say, “Dysfunctional Family?” Mercy is powerful, without a doubt. Possibly the strongest line witch to ever have existed. But power doesn’t always bring happiness, and when you have no training, power can get you killed. This is a truly well written, highly complex story replete with a stunning cast of characters all with their own agendas, most of which involve bringing Mercy down. Good and evil, and good old southern backstabbing, all wrapped up in a story that will keep you guessing, and reading well into the night. I received this book from the publisher in return for a realistic review. I very much look forward to the next in this brilliant southern series!
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Dream Student
by
J. J. Dibenedetto
soireadthisbooktoday
, June 04, 2014
Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before. �" Edgar Allan Poe Sometimes I find it harder than at others to begin a book review. Normally, when I am done with a book I can hardly wait to sit down and begin writing. The words are already there in my head, waiting to spill out upon the page. Dream Student was different for some reason. Oh, I don’t mean that in a bad way. Far from it. To tell you the truth, given the capability, I would have this book placed into the hands of every high school girl out there, just to show them what they can achieve with their lives, should they merely try. Ludicrous, I suppose, but I would give a lot to have had Sara as an example growing up. And maybe that is why I had more difficulty starting this review. Is that longing I feel, or sadness at my own limited belief in myself at her age? Sara feels so very real . . . Sara is a premed student, studying hard and spending time with her roommate Beth. Life is going good �" her parents are awesome, though far away, her friends are all working hard right alongside her, and all is well as she begins studying for her MCATs. Only, things are beginning to go wrong. For Sara is dreaming. Sara rarely remembers her dreams. She has no idea that she’s had more or less the same dream two or three nights a week since the beginning of the semester. Sara’s is a dreamscape, at first, of wandering the dreams of others. We all know those dreams �" the ones where you show up for class in your underwear, or you dream of the cute guy in your biology class who doesn’t know you exist. And it is in her dreams where she first meets Brian, a student she doesn’t even know �" but who is dreaming of her. At first, she doesn’t believe that what is happening could possibly be real. Until, that is, she actually meets Brian, a very real Brian who lives in the dorm next door. Meeting Brian is a wonderful thing. But as for the other dreams, well, Is there a word for dreams that are worse than nightmares? But how can Sara believe her dreams are real? Why would she? She is a medical student after all, a logical, realistic woman with logical, realistic beliefs that leave no room for the “woo-woo” stuff. But then, as her dreams are brought to brutal reality, she knows that things are very much as they appear �" dreams of horror, dreams of pain. And Sara, Brian and Beth are the only ones who can stop what is happening. But how? Dream Student, pulled me in, kept my attention and didn’t let go. A blend of the logical and the absurd, the frightening and the hopeful, it kept me listening well into the night. I have to laugh, as I spent one evening, though a raging lightning storm, breathless as I followed Sara and her friends through terror. What better atmosphere? I received Dream Student from the publisher in audio format, and while I would normally be thrilled to receive it in this manner, I do have to admit that I was quite disappointed with the audio quality. The narrator is Heather Jane Hogan, who has at least twenty different audio performances for Audible.com to her record. I can’t say that she is my favorite narrator, but she isn’t my least favorite by any means. This is simply a matter of taste. Her reading style is a bit childlike in style, but she is not a poor narrator. However, I was appalled by the substandard quality of the sound recording. Within the first few sentences I pulled up the other books in the series from the Audible site and listened to the clips. In my admittedly extensive experience with audiobooks, they are just as poorly recorded as this. The only way I could listen to the book was to ramp up the playback to 2x speed, otherwise the recording sounded like Ms. Hogan was either purposely recorded at quarter speed, or she was reading a lullaby to a fractious infant. Frustratingly, since I can’t speed up my tiny Sansa player, this tied me to my Nook for the nearly twelve hours of the recording. So, no gardening, sewing, or anything else while I was listening, as I couldn’t carry my Nook around strapped to my arm as I can with my Sansa. To say this was disappointing is somewhat of an understatement. The ability to listen to books while doing other things is the whole point of my obsession with Audio books �" of which I have over two hundred. While the recording quality is poor, I do highly recommend Dream Student, and I am looking forward to reading the others in the series. Sara is the girl I wish I could have been back when I was in college. She is strong, capable, loving and very much a role model for young women. The story is rather unusual in the writing style, dreamlike while remaining frank and honest �" unusual but appealing. If it weren’t for the poor recording quality I would not hesitate to give it five out of five stars. As it is, if you don’t have an audio book reader which allows you to speed up the recording to at least 1.5, I would recommend that you indulge yourself with the e-book edition. Whichever format you choose, it is a book that is well worth spending your valuable reading time enjoying. This book was provided to me by Audiobook Monthly Magazine. All thoughts and statements are my own.
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Ritual Tea: How the 9 Secrets of Tea Can Transform Your Life
by
Mario Zeleny
soireadthisbooktoday
, May 09, 2014
Tea is wealth itself, Because there is nothing that cannot be lost, No problem that will not disappear, No burden that will not float away, Between the first sip and the last. �" The Minister of Leaves There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea. - Henry James “For me, starting the day without a pot of tea would be a day forever out of kilter.” ― Bill Drummond, $20,000 A cup of tea is a cup of peace. ~Soshitsu Sen XV It is hard for the typical modern tea drinker to believe, but tea has carried a nearly mystic aura throughout history. From the spiritual to the medicinal, the history of tea is one which not only spans cultures, but also has a deeply ritual meaning within those same cultures. Believe me, it isn’t all about that powder that they sweep off the floor to fill those little paper bags! As an obsessive tea drinker, I have always been interested in the history and styles of tea. While some women live for shoes or bags, I am always thrilled when I find a new and interesting tea. Darjeeling is my normal evening tea, soothing and relaxing, while English or Scottish teas are more my style in the mornings. But how fun to find a Lavendar Darjeeling, flowery and perfect for sitting in the garden? A smooth Lapsang Souchong, scented from pine wood or cypress fires used for drying the leaves for when the day has been long and painful and there are still many hours to go. And of course, tall mugs of Gunpowder Green all through the day, cleansing and fortifying mind and body. Tea is layered, seductive and soothing, exciting and mesmerizing, and a joy that more people should enjoy. Mario Zeleny has researched the history of tea from its mysterious beginnings, both the holy and the profane. As he points out at the very first, tea is personal and universal, the start and endings of wars, and is seen as both sacred and ordinary. While modern America places the whole idea of the tea ceremony into the realm of Buddhist monks and the traditional Japanese Cha No Yu, Zeleny breaks through these barriers, widening perceptions and touching on the magic of ritual and how it affects our day-to-day lives. For we all follow ritual, from brushing our teeth in the mornings to tucking ourselves in at night. Life is about ritual �" and adding Zeleny’s ten simple rituals, whether they be those described in the book or ones you develop for yourself, tea can help calm, establish relationships, relax and allow you to reach within yourself for everything from spiritual balance to sensuality. “When tea becomes ritual, it takes its place at the heart of our ability to see greatness in small things. Where is beauty to be found? In great things that, like everything else, are doomed to die, or in small things that aspire to nothing, yet know how to set a jewel of infinity in a single moment?” ― Muriel Barbery, The Elegance of the Hedgehog Zeleny’s book is both quirky and completely useful, in spiritual manners of course, but also medicinally, while even giving wonderful tips on healthy cleaning. From a simple body detoxifier to polishing your furniture and cleaning your mirrors, tea is all about health. Both your own personal health to the health of the environment. Rituals are both intentional and mindful. They give you a focus for your attention, while allowing the brain to relax and center itself. Zeleny is not a “tea expert” but he has written a well researched book that pulls together the history of tea, the consciousness of ritual and a lot of fun facts that allow the reader to connect with the pains and obsessions in our lives and, using the rituals of tea, clean out the physical and emotional trauma of our lives. Come and share a pot of tea, My home is warm and my friendship’s free. �" Emilie Barnes _________________ I received Ritual Tea by Mario Zeleny from the publisher in return for a realistic review. The copy I received is a review copy and contained several editing issues, but I am expecting the book will be absolutely beautiful once the final edition is printed
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Unplugged Woodshop Hand Crafted Projects for the Home & Workshop
by
Tom Fidgen
soireadthisbooktoday
, May 07, 2014
My mission in life is to preserve craftsmanship. - Waris Ahluwalia I will no doubt sound outdated in the extreme when I say this �" but I truly miss craftsmanship. In this day of plastics and throwaways, the feel of a truly well made table, the curve of a hard-carved chair arm or the beautiful lines of a bookcase is something I search for, and don’t often find. So, it was with great pleasure that I accepted when asked to review The Unplugged Woodshop by Tom Fidgen. Mr. Fidgen is a true craftsman, and it shows in all of his work. This volume contains some of the most amazing works I have seen come out of “unplugged” shops �" workshops that use solely hand tools that don’t require the modern day convenience of electricity! His works are amazing. There is a drafting table that looks as if it came straight from a Craftsman Era workshop that would be beautiful for any aspiring architect or artist. A gentleman’s valet would fit beautifully in any dressing room or bedroom, while an old-fashioned doctor’s medicine chest, complete with carry strap, makes a beautiful and highly unusual wine tote for visits to friend’s dinner parties. Handcut dovetails in all of his drawer work is especially prominent in my favorite piece �" an absolutely stunning library style card catalog. For those of you too young to remember, there was a time when we didn’t run to a computer to look up books. Instead, our fingers did the work in a different way, running across sometimes handwritten tags on the fronts of many drawers holding 3x5 cards, each neatly lettered with the titles and information about all the books in the library. I spent many happy hours in the library when I was in school, paging through the cards, enjoying the smells of old paper, and dreaming of the worlds to be found in books. Tom has repurposed the card catalog for use in the kitchen,setting the height to 43 ½ inches in order to be at a good working height. I envision it in another setting, in my quilting workroom where the drawers will hold spools of thread, small tools, and the myriad of other items I am constantly searching for as I work. Tom gives gorgeous examples of how you can utilize cheaper woods and yet still turn out gorgeous pieces by using veneers of highly prized woods to give your project a million dollar look on a budget. His zebrawood veneer on the card catalog is stunning, while blending walnut, quarter-sawn oak and cherry woods, along with veneers of more exotic woods can turn the simple architect’s table into a museum quality piece of art. The photos in the books are absolutely stunning. Great care has been taken to not only show the beauty of the finished pieces, but to give beautifully illustrated photos of the projects as they are built. Any of the photos in the book are works of art in and of themselves. Don’t have the proper tools for working wood? Tom even helps you there, as he gives patterns and instructions for making your own tools! He also gives tips and hints about how to handle your tools properly, how to us a handsaw properly for best results, properly using a plane (which he shows you how to build) and other methods of proper workmanship and hand tool safety. If you are at all interested in the fine art and craft of woodworking, you could not go wrong with this beautiful book and the stunning projects within. Highly recommended!
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Albatross: Birds of Flight - Book One (Revised)
by
J. M. Erickson
soireadthisbooktoday
, May 03, 2014
“Mundus vult decipi, ergo decipiatur” “The world wants to be deceived, so let it be deceived” ~ Attributed to Petronius ~ First Century AD “Inter arma silent leges” In time of war, laws are silent”~ Attributed to Cicero in his published oration Pro Milone, although Cicero’s actual wording was “Silent enim leges inter arma.” Over grown military establishments are under any form of government inauspicious to liberty. ~ George Washington Two women, one child, a blind man, and a former good guy. Not exactly an elite task force. ~ Lieutenant Anderson, Albatross What do you do, who do you turn to, when your government and your military are out of control? When, in the name of anti-terrorism, your country becomes the terrorist itself, slaughtering, imprisoning and torturing the innocent? When your military turns on its own citizens, slaughtering at will, in order to cover up their own atrocities? Alexander Burns is a soldier to his bones. Deployed to the nastiest, most violent locations on the planet, he is handled by his superiors as an attack dog- cold, emotionless, and completely and utterly heartless in his drive to reach his goal, no matter what the collateral damage. Go in. Kill. Get out. Do it again. Now, Burns has been given a goal �" kill Oman Sharif Sudani. The president has given the OK, the Chief of Staff is on-board, and all lights are green for the takeout of one of “the key architects of domestic and foreign terrorist attacks.” However, there is a problem. Burns’ superior, Field Agent Anthony Maxwell, has other plans. Capture Sudani, kill all witnesses, innocent women and children, and bring Sudani back as a trophy. To hide his actions, he arranges for Burns and his pilot to be shot down by friendly fire. The pilot dies on impact. Burns, however, while escapes �" and he knows more than Maxwell would like. The only problem is, Burns has holes in his memory. And with him being found by the Red Cross, and treated in military hospitals across the globe, Maxwell can no longer just kill Burns to cover up what he has done. Too much paper, too many witnesses. Innocent American citizens �" citizens who find their lives ripped away and their families destroyed as Maxwell and his boss utilize black operatives to protect themselves at all costs. Thus begins Albatross, Birds of Flight by J.M. Erickson. And let me tell you �" this is one scary book. Oh, not scary in the Twilight Zone or Halloween vein. No, this is a real, hard hitting look at a government and military out of control. Erickson displays a deft hand at maneuvering through the maze of governmental and police agencies, tearing at the veil of silence that shrouds the manipulations and murders authorized or committed by the upper echelons. Further, he delves deeply into the complete lack of oversight which allows the influencing and control of the American public to the advancement of the careers of a privileged few. Broken, and with severe head trauma causing memory loss, Burns is brought to a prominent expert in psychopathology, David Caulfield, by a covert group, led by Maxwell, who are determined to find out what Burns knows about not only the Sudani situation, but also information critical to Maxwell’s own boss �" information that could destroy not only Maxwell but others in positions of power. Others, with no moral ambiguity regarding the murder of innocent American civilians. When Burns regains his memories, and apparently loses the very sociopathy that made him a peerless covert operative, the deaths begin, as his psychologist’s wife is blown up in a car bomb meant for both David and Jenny. As David and Burns flee, others become victims of the shadow group bent on seeing Burns, and anyone who comes in contact with him, dead. This is definitely a book requiring thought and attention, a true literary hard-hitter of covert operations, governmental cover-ups and senseless slaughter in the name of a shadowy concept of what constitutes national security. I truly enjoyed the fact that Erickson is educated and practices in the field of psychopathology, counseling & ethics and as a critical incident specialist for police and firefighters. The man knows of which he speaks, which was enormously refreshing! His military and police characters are believable, alternating between sympathetic and horrifying. His main characters are immensely likable and understandable. Samantha, a nurse who cared enough to realize that Burns’ medications were being skewed and to try to obtain help for him �" and who also has worked as a prostitute for many years, dealing with the trauma of abuse and torture in multiple foster homes. Becky, her frightened, anxious sister who deals with obsessive eating disorder and anxiety after she is forced to murder her cousin to protect Samantha, and now has rescued her brother’s baby daughter, Emma, from his murderer’s hands and is on the run with the child. And David, of course, blinded in the explosion that killed his beloved Jenny. Not much of a strike team �" but with care, training, and dedication, they will do what they must to protect themselves, and see some small amount of justice. As an aside, I see a lot of Erickson in the portrayal of David. Write what you know, right? I feel that Erickson and David truly know one another, and it adds a whole other layer to my understanding and enjoyment of the character. This is a thrilling, edge-of-your-seat suspense/espionage/thriller that will take your breath away and leave you reeling. If this is your genre, please don’t overlook this fast-paced thrill ride. It makes the whole “Bourne” series look like a pale imitation of reality. Highly recommended! I wanted to finish it last night, but I just couldn’t keep my eyes open �" but darn, I sure wanted to!
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Shield of Winter
by
Nalini Singh
soireadthisbooktoday
, May 03, 2014
In the end, they’d all grown up under a regime that attempted to turn them into tools for the use of others�"tools meant to be discarded once they passed their use-by date. First, I must confess that this is my first Psy-Changeling book. Ms. Singh’s work has been on my “to read” list for quite some time, but I simply haven’t had the opportunity to read any of her works. When Penguin Books gave me the opportunity to read Shield of Winter I literally jumped at the chance. What a great excuse to move it to the top of my reading pile! Going into the story I was well aware of the fact that this is Lucky 13 in the Psy-Changeling series, (actually, there are also quite a few “shorts” and novellas also extant in this world) so I feared that I couldn’t expect to really understand what was going on. However, I must say, I was wrong about that. Looking at the long list of characters in the front of the book, I worried that I would be lost or confused, but Ms. Singh is such a brilliant writer that before the first chapter was over I was completely riveted. This is a deeply layered series, with one of the more unusual premises extant in the UF genre. In the world of the Psy there is no emotion �" no love, no hate, only mercilessly unemotional characters, driven a slavish obsession with perfection in all things. There is only The Silence, controlled by the NetMind and DarkMind, the twin entities that knew every corner of the vast psychic network that connected all Psy on the planet Now, however, that link is broken, the Silence is no more. But all is not well, as the cold, emotionless Psy struggle to live in a new reality, where emotion is not a crime to be punished by devastating psychic brain wipes. Silence was a deeply flawed construct �" but a necessary one, as cruel as it may have been. And now a deadly contagion is whipping through the Psy population with deadly result. In order to save the Psy population, changes must be made, and the Empaths, nearly wiped from existence in the past, may be the only beings who can save the world. The first step is finding and bringing in Ivy, an Empath who, though she was subjected to the brutality of a mind wipe as a child, gives hope that she may actually be a savior. Sent to find her and bring her back is Vasic, a sort of “super soldier assassin” on a par with the Terminator. Now, I understand that Ms. Singh’s works are based more in the “Paranormal Romance” end of the Contemporary Fantasy genre, and I can work with that. However, I will admit to having an overwhelming problem with Ivy. She was an unpleasant character to my way of thinking. Needy and clinging don’t do it for me in a heroine and Ivy has that in spades. Vasic was a much more empathetic character. He has done horrific things in his life, things he understands to be unforgivable, even though he did these things under the control of a sort of “hive mind. His pain and sense of hopelessness, and his attempts to do the right thing even though he doesn’t feel worthy of living touched me on a visceral level and kept me reading just a much as the amazing world that I was learning. Unlike other readers of the series (I have read the reviews) I was not as interested in the “romantic” side of the story, so my problems with Ivy didn’t overwhelm my sheer enjoyment of a well built world, a stunning concept, and great writing. Overall, I am looking forward to starting the series at the first book and learning about how this new situation has come to pass.
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The Janus Effect
by
Jan Coffey
soireadthisbooktoday
, April 26, 2014
"Having endorsed the covert policy of supporting a Kurdish revolt in northern Iraq between 1974 and 1975, with ‘deniable’ assistance also provided by Israel and the Shah of Iran, Kissinger made it plain to his subordinates that the Kurds were not to be allowed to win, but were to be employed for their nuisance value alone. They were not to be told that this was the case, but soon found out when the Shah and Saddam Hussein composed their differences, and American aid to Kurdistan was cut off. Hardened CIA hands went to Kissinger ... for an aid programme for the many thousands of Kurdish refugees who were thus abruptly created.... The apercu of the day was: ‘foreign policy should not he confused with missionary work.’ Saddam Hussein heartily concurred." �" Christopher Hitchens "They’d lived in a country that was run by a butcher. That did not make them butchers. In fact, they were just the opposite." �" Jan Coffey, The Janus Effect "The whole course of human history may depend on a change of heart in one solitary and even humble individual - for it is in the solitary mind and soul of the individual that the battle between good and evil is waged and ultimately won or lost." - M. Scott Peck In 1988, with the full might of the US Government and the force of the Regan White House behind him, Saddam Hussain facilitated what was known as “The Anfal Campaign.” Named for the eighth sura, or chapter, of the Qur’an, Saddam’s Anfal was a mammoth campaign of civic annihilation, displacement and mass killing. Saddam tapped his cousin, Ali Hassan al�"Majid, a man well�"known for his brutality, to take charge of northern Iraq. Al�"Majid quickly deployed military resources to, in his words, “solve the Kurdish problem and slaughter the saboteurs.” He ordered Iraqi aircraft to drop poison gas on PUK and KDP targets and civilian villages, killing thousands indiscriminately. The Iraqi regime had become the first in history to attack its own civilian population with chemical weapons. Al�"Majid came to be known as “Chemical Ali.” There were eight Anfal attacks in all, each following a similar pattern. First, air attacks dropped chemical weapons on both civilian and peshmerga targets. Next, ground troops surrounded the villages, looting and setting fire to homes. Then townspeople were herded into army trucks and taken to holding facilities, the largest being Topzawa, an army camp near Kirkuk. At these camps, men and boys deemed old enough to carry a weapon were separated from women, the elderly and young children. Routinely and uniformly, these men and boys were taken to remote sites, executed in groups, and dumped into pre�"dug mass graves. Many women and children were also executed, especially those from areas that supported the Kurdish resistance. �" Dave Johns, The Crimes of Saddam Hussein, 1988: The Anfal Campaign When the dust, chemicals, and biological weapons had settled, 90 percent of Kurdish villages had essentially been wiped off the map, and the countryside was strewn with mass graves, and with land mines to discourage resettlement. The response from the international community was muted, as many nations, including the United States, had supported Hussein with money and arms during the Iran�"Iraq war. “Half of writing history is hiding the truth.”― Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy One of the worst of these attacks was against the city of Halabja, a peaceful, working class Kurdish city. Al-Majid ordered the destruction of the city with chemical and biological weapons, including mustard gas, nerve gasses such as sarin, VX and hydrogen cyanide, and a new, unidentified gas “that made people crazy (they tore off their clothes, laughed for a while and then dropped dead). Around 8000 died immediately. Overall, hundreds of thousands of innocent people in Kurdistan were slaughtered, without pity. And yet, what do we, the American People, know of the atrocities committed by our government in our insane quest for cheap oil? Out of this wasteland of indiscriminate death and destruction begins "The Janus Effect", one of the strongest novels I have ever read. Utilizing strong research, close ties with the people of Kurdistan, and a depth of personal compassion that is unmatched, Nikoo & Jim McGoldrick, writing as Jan Coffey, have written a novel that deserves to be on every person’s reading list. And yes, you really should read it, not just let it sit there and look pretty on the shelf. This is an amazing and horrifying story that will send chills up your back, and make you think, long and hard, about the meaning and reality of true evil. In the middle of nowhere Maine, something has happened. Something horrific; unbelievable; and frightening beyond words. Two families have arrived on a small coastal island for a summer vacation. Within a matter of hours, they are all dead and rotting with unimaginable speed. Soon, those that find the bodies are also dead. Ten fatalities, within hours rotted beyond recognition. Only one aspect is possibly familiar. A strand of bacteria found in a bombed out lab in Iraq in 1988 shows many of the same constituents of this new, deadly killer. And to learn about that bacteria, what it is, and how it is developed, Austyn Newman is traveling to Afghanistan, to the infamous Brickyard Prison, there to question the one person who may have answers �" the scientist who developed the bacteria in Sadaam’s laboratories. Traded between various “black” prisons for the past five years, Dr. Rahaf Banaz has been lost in a system of total isolation, a ghost, with no record, no rights, and having never been charged with, or convicted of, a crime. Questioned, tortured, and finally left to rot, Newman finds his quarry in a hole in the Brickyard, cramped into a cell so small she cannot even stand. Starved, shaved bald, and with only a filthy blanket, she is, indeed, a ghost of a human being. And she is, he believes upon meeting her, something else as well. She may not even be Dr. Banaz. As the story unfolds, Newman and Dr. Banaz, Dr. Fahimah Banaz, Rahaf’s sister who has taken Rahaf’s place in prison in order to allow her to continue her medical relief work, travel from the Brickyard at Bagram Airbase in Afghanistan through the ruins of cities and the beauty of the stark mountain landscape to the city of Kermanshah, Iran, in search of Rahaf, in search of answers. And during their travels, we learn too of the atrocities of sadistic politicians, both Eastern and Western, the horrors of the victims of war, and the lengths humans will go to in order to destroy one another for power, money and glory. And also? Also, the lengths that humans will go to in order to save and protect those they love. And even those they do not know. This is a powerful story. Thriller, suspense, medical thriller, history, it’s all there, wrapped up in a story to break any thinking person’s heart. Lies and deception; truth and brutal honesty; and above all the agony of a people forgotten, written off by a culture that cares not for those who are crushed under the weight of a brutal, sadistic war machine. With heartbreaking twists at the end, this story written from the outlook of someone who loves the country and its people should be honored for both it’s excellence and heart. “Lies and secrets, Tessa, they are like a cancer in the soul. They eat away what is good and leave only destruction behind.” ― Cassandra Clare, Clockwork Prince I received this book from StoryCartel.com in return for a realistic review. I highly recommend that you read it. The only drawback that I found was that it is very poorly edited. I am hoping that the copy that I received from SC is a proof and that those errors have been corrected.
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The Midnight Side
by
Natasha Mostert
soireadthisbooktoday
, April 16, 2014
How much worse are suitors, who to men’s lust Are made preys? O, worse than dust or worms’ meat, For they do eat you now, whose selves worms shall eat. ��" John Donne, Thou shalt not laugh in this leaf, Muse (British Poet, Satirist, Author, 1572-1631) The sin of pride may be a small or a great thing in someone’s life, and hurt vanity a passing pinprick, or a self-destroying or ever murderous obsession. ��" Iris Murdoch (British Novelist and Philosopher, 1919-1999) We’re going to start a rumour. It’s easy: here’s how. And thus starts a tale of twisted obsession, of ghostly presence and lucid dreaming. A tale of suffering. But whose? And how far will obsession live within the soul? To the grave? Beyond? Too late hee would the paine asswage, And to thick shadowes does retire; About with him hee beares the rage, And in his tainted blood the fire. Edmund Waller -The selfe-banished ��" (English Poet and Politician,1606 ��" 1687) Isabella, or Isa to her friends, lives a life of quiet desperation in South Africa. The mistress of a married man for the past thirteen years, Isa has set aside her own needs for those of her lover, Eric. Eric, who has just died, leaving her with nothing but heartache. In the night, as she lies dreaming, the phone rings, a flat, atonal sound, odd and strangely off-key, and the crackling voice of her cousin, Alette comes through. Alette, the wild and flighty girl with whom Isa was raised. Alette the strong, Alette the vibrant. And, as Isa is soon to learn, Alette who is two days dead. Now back in London to close Allete’s estate, Isa receives a message from Allete along with a copy of her will. A very odd and devastating message, which leads Isa to carry out a twisted scheme against Jason, Allete’s ex-husband ��" an ex-husband whose tortures Allete lays out in a letter, sealed for only Isa. Lucid dreaming, African mysticism. Alchemy and premonitions. Mostert’s The Midnight Side is a brooding, atmospheric tale of suspense and psychological thrill, full of the kinds of fear and gloomy atmosphere sure to lure in even the most jaded of readers. Isa wanders through the halls of her dreams, following orders, reaching out . . . and changing within herself. The Vigyan Bhairava Tantra, the seventh sutra, says, “ . . . reach the heart at the instant of sleep and seek direction over dreams and over death itself.” Is Isabella following her heart? Or are the dreams of death drawing back the soul of her beloved cousin? What cruelty, wasted love ��" love which lies only in recompense? Mostert speaks to deep waters of the mind, dark corners of the soul, the ruin brought on by wounded and damaged souls. And yet, her journey also showcases the beauty and drabery of London itself, with it’s fogs and rains, the Egyptian Sculpture Gallery of the British Museum, the odd libraries and collections, the tea shops and cathedrals. The mass of cultures and foods and beliefs. A brooding city of history and blood and loss and joy, all wrapped up in banks of fog and fire, melancholy, and old, old guilt. What Isa does and doesn’t do, thinks and feels and suffers leads you through murky darkness, fear, and the question, or promise, of forbidden destiny. I received this book from Netgalley in return for an honest review. Highly recommended.
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All for You
by
Jessica Scott
soireadthisbooktoday
, April 16, 2014
Some Army families who recently lost members to suicide criticize the branch for failing to aggressively shake a culture in which soldiers believe they’ll be deemed weak and denied promotion if they seek mental health aid. They also blame Army leaders for focusing more heavily on weeding out emotionally troubled soldiers to artificially suppress the branch’s suicide stats versus embracing and helping members who are exhibiting clear signs of trouble. ��" The Enemy Within: Soldier suicides outpaced combat deaths in 2012 Thursday Jan 3, 2013 5:23 PM Bill Briggs, NBC News contributor A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom. ��" Martin Luther King, Jr. Very Highly Recommended. A romance, yes, but also an extremely well written call for compassion and assistance for those soldiers who are in deep and abiding pain. Write what you know. It is a simple rule, a pillar of “How To Write A Good Book” and probably one of the most misunderstood. As Nathan Englander, the critically acclaimed author of What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank once said, “Write what you know” isn’t about events. It’s about emotions. Have you known love? jealousy? longing? loss? In her new book, All For You, A Coming Home Novel Jessica Scott takes that advice and builds upon it, writing a heart wrenching story which left me sobbing on the floor, my heart broken for all those soldiers who return from war broken and lost, and just how badly they need our help ��" help that the unremitting machine of the military and government would rather deny them. As K. Lang from Las Vegas put it in her Amazon review, no matter the branch, there are raging morons who don’t care and people with flaws trying to fix things in spite of those same raging morons. And the raging morons are thick on the ground at Fort Hood, Texas. (Having done a job there many years ago, I can tell you ��" I met my own fair share. And that was in peacetime.) For all of you romance readers out there, this is indeed a romance, never fear. And an extremely well written one. If you don’t like romance? Just skip through those parts, but you HAVE to read this book. What is says is too important not to. Sergeant First Class Reza Iaconelli is a broken and deeply damaged man, a leader of men with a long-time alcohol problem and a broken soul. He has had to live within a shell of alcohol and brutality for so long, he truly doesn’t know any other way to be. Captain Emily Lindberg is the psychologist who has left behind a life of privilege and familial control, striking out on her own in order to do good for the soldiers who truly need her services, leaving behind the spoiled, rich kids of privilege looking for excuses for their own bad behavior. What Emily walks into is far from what she expects. Fort Hood is a place of systems and procedures that don’t work, that are devastating to the very people they are supposed to protect. Those soldiers, both men and women, who have come back from war, from death and dirt, blood and insanity ��" actions that are beyond the normal person’s comprehension. Scott lays it out in all its brutal simplicity ��" get EM’ in, get EM’ back out into the field. No matter what. And if they are damaged? Get EM’ all the way out, back into society, no matter what the war has done to them, no matter how the blood and gore has broken them. No matter how much they have given and suffered for their country. They are coldly thrown away, like so many broken, irreparable tools. Jessica Scott knows of which she speaks. A career Army officer and wife of a career Army NCO, Scott has written for the New York Times’s At War blog, PBS’s Point of View Regarding War, and Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. She deployed to Iraq in 2009 as part of OIF/New Dawn and has served as a company commander at Fort Hood, Texas twice. So, yes, she does know that of which she speaks. And what she knows is horrifying. Scott is careful to point out in her Note From The Author, “This book is not meant as an indictment of our men and women in uniform or the military that we serve or the thousands of leaders who do the right thing every day and try to take care of their soldiers.” And there are those who do try every single day to do the right thing. Who try their best, despite a broken and uncaring system that rolls right over the top of them in a heartless march to simply fill out the paperwork, follow the rules, and move on to the next thing ��" which, in too many instances, is gaining their next bar or pip or stripe no matter the cost to their own soldiers, those very soldiers whom their very purpose should be to protect and honor. Yes, Jessica Scott has written a brilliant story of romance between two people who, no matter how different they may be, not only learn to love one another, but also need one another in order to do what they need to do, who need one another to do good and to provide the strength that not only they need, but also those around them need in order to stay sane, focused, and safe. But she has also written a story which points out just how badly our soldiers need our help. How the pain, death, and the horrors they face every day can often be more than even the strongest among them can bear, and how more often than we would like to admit, the uncaring military machine simply throws them under the bus, leaving them to lives of drug abuse, alcoholism, homelessness, and ultimately suicide. Buy the book. Read it. And then take a look around you. In Jennifer Scott’s words, if you know someone who is hurting, if you suspect someone is having a hard time, ask them. Don’t be afraid. Speak up. Ask the question. Because you never know what someone else is going through. And you might just make a difference. I would go beyond that. Take the time to check out the heart of her story yourself. Talk to veterans and their families. If you are a family member or friend, be there for them, ask the right questions of your Congressmen and Senators. Write letters and give your support. These men and women give their lives and their souls in order to ascertain that you can stop at Starbucks for your latte. The least we can do is help to make sure that they get the help and support that they richly deserve. VERY Highly Recommended. This book was provided to me by Netgalley in return for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
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Undone
by
Shannon Richard
soireadthisbooktoday
, April 16, 2014
4.5 for romantic comedy Remember the unkindness, dishonesty, and deception you display toward others…don’t be shocked when it comes back to bite you. ��" Sarah Moore Some people must have no other job than to make others miserable and unhappy. But that’s alright…. I’ve heard that Karma pays well. - Unknown All cruelty springs from weakness. ��" Lucius Annaeus Seneca When I first started Undone by Shannon Richard the word that came to mind was “charming.” Come on, the first person you meet is a woman named Bethelda Grimshaw? And of course, when the first thing you learn about Bethelda Grimshaw is that she, “had a malevolent stench radiating off her, kind of like road kill in ninety-degree weather.” Well, you know it is going to be a book worth reading. Well, at least I knew it was a book I would find worth reading. And it didn’t let me down. There is a lot of funny in the book. But there is a lot of plain old nastiness too. The kind of nastiness that makes me deeply and abidingly ashamed of being originally from the South. And for being female, when another of my sex can be “a snot-nosed wench. . . (an) evil, mean-spirited, vindictive, horrible human being.” And believe me, Bethelda Grimshaw is all that and more. But she isn’t the only one, and some of the fellas in the town of Mirabelle, Florida are even worse. And poor Paige Morrison just walked right into the middle of it. Paige’s parents retired and moved from their home in Philadelphia to the ‘burg’ of Mirabelle where they have made themselves a cozy little spot on the Gulf coast. Paige stayed behind with her job, her friends, her apartment and her boyfriend, and was as content with her life as could be. However, the loss of all that, thorough no fault of her own, landed her in Mirabelle with her parents ��" a place where the whole town seems intent on being as nasty and cruel to her as possible. Well, she is beautiful, tall, long-legged, and wears bright clothes, which is sure to bring out the nasty in a bunch of stuck-up, vicious, middle aged women with too much time and little else to do but gossip and name call. And gossip they do, in the most vicious and despicable manner possible. Wow. Jealous much? The whole track of Paige’s life changes when, after being abused by yet another nasty female, she breaks down on the side of the road. Walking to the local bait shop for help, she manages to be insulted yet again, break a bottle of doe urine (can we all say EUU??) and meet the local hot mechanic, where much insulting and yelling occurs. Not bad for a day’s work for a bohemian chick with an attitude and a broken heart. The romance portion of the book is great. It isn’t a “let’s jump into bed in the first five minutes after we meet” like so many of the romance books are today. Instead, the romance takes it’s time to develop, and is lovingly handled by the author. But that isn’t really what I liked about the book in and of itself. Instead, I loved Paige herself, as well as her parents and the small group of friends Paige gathers around her. The story is beautifully done in the relationships that she builds, and the personalities that they display. Hey, middle-aged twins called Pinky and Panky can’t help but be a hoot, right? And the characters you absolutely, positively, without any possibility of redemption hate in the book are the kind you want to force to strip naked and march down the middle of Main Street with signs on their heads saying, “I am a miserable bitch with a twisted, evil, blackened soul and deserve to be alternately humiliated and ignored for the rest of my worthless life.” At least, that is how I felt. (I know, I know, I should feel sorry for the old bitches, but hey, I just don’t!) Believe me, when you meet Bethelda and her cronies, you will have as much fun wanting to poke them with sharp sticks as I did! Overall, there are laughs as well as terrible pain in the book ��" but you can depend upon your HEA, and it is so very much worth the trip getting there. Now, where is my sharp stick? I want to go poke old Mrs. Forns in the eye with it! I received this book from Netgalley in return for an honest review. All opinions are my own. I got a huge kick out of the book, and will be watching for more of Ms. Richard’s work.
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Unshapely Things
by
Mark Del Franco
soireadthisbooktoday
, April 16, 2014
Detail. Some readers don’t really care about it ��" they simply want a book that they can pick up, breeze through, and go on to the next thing. Oh, that has its place, certainly. However, that has never been me. Rich details, complexity, and compelling story lines are what call to me as a reader, and del Franco offers these up in spades. Unshapely Things is an urban fantasy, to be sure, with fairies and elves, gargoyles and monsters, and a damaged Druid hero, Connor Grey. Connor puts me in mind of both Simon R. Green’s John Taylor and Jim Butcher’s Harry Dresden. Like Harry, Connor pretty much lives hand-to-mouth, taking the jobs he can get from the police. With his brain damaged and his Druid powers pretty much non-existent, Connor has been fighting a losing battle against depression and ennui as he slides from a life of power and wealth into the “The Weird,” the fae neighborhood where the dregs of both the fae and human worlds reside. You won’t find vampires in this world, but you will find dirty politicians galore ��" isn't it the same thing? When his human police partner, Leo Murdock calls him to the scene of a brutal murder of a male fairy prostitute, Connor has no idea that this murder could be a signpost to the end of the world ��" with Boston as the center of the maelstrom. What follows is a story that I found to be something quite special. This isn't just an urban fantasy. Instead, it blends alternate history with suspense, mystery wit terror, and ties it all together with a huge dose of political intrigue. In 1900, on this alternative Earth, there was “Convergence” ��" an event which brought the world of Fairy and the Earth into alignment, pulling Fairy creatures onto this planet, effectively blocking them from their own. Battling between themselves, they drug the war between fairy and elf onto this world, battling it out through the World Wars, with some siding with Hitler while some sided with the Allies. The time of the story lands right into modern day, during the Fey Summit, an attempt by both sides to extend an uneasy peace and avoid all-out war. As the bodies pile up, is there a possibility that the deaths are connected to the Fey Summit? Or is there something even darker and more dangerous going on? Mark Del Franco writes exceptional characters. Connor was damaged during his work for “The Guild” the policing agency for the Fey on Earth. Broken, and with limited powers, he is living in poverty on a small disability check, pondering his losses and the wasteland he sees as the rest of his life. His partner, Murdock may be human, but with all of the bad feelings, jealousies, and hatred of most humans toward the Fey, he is curious and open to learning of the Fey and their ways. He cares what happens to them, and relies upon Connor as his instructor. Del Franco’s female characters are both strong and likable, with individual strengths and personalities that I am very much looking forward to learning more about. This isn't by any means a “paranormal romance” but if you are a PR reader who likes strong, adept women characters who still follow their hearts as well as their minds, these women will be right up your alley. The story is rich in detail, both in the world building and the characterizations, and holds the attention until setting the book down and remembering you have to do things like eat and sleep will be impossible to accomplish. Overall, this is a series sure to appeal to a number of different genre readers, and a new-to-me author who goes immediately to the top of my “must” list. I purchased this book on my own. My comments are my own opinion. Reading order for the series is: UNSHAPELY THINGS UNQUIET DREAMS UNFALLEN DEAD UNPERFECT SOULS UNCERTAIN ALLIES UNDONE DEEDS Mark Del Franco is also the author of the books: SKIN DEEP FACE OFF Set in the Connor Gray alternative reality, these books feature the adventures of Laura Blackstone.
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Influential Magic
by
Deanna Chase
soireadthisbooktoday
, April 16, 2014
I first came across Deanna Chase in 2012 with her book Haunted on Bourbon Street. The book, featuring Jade Calhoun, was set in New Orleans and features Jade, an empath, and a creative and interesting group of friends, including a couple of strip club owners, a coven, and couple of ghosts with very different agendas. Since then, I happily enjoyed both Witches of Bourbon Street and Demons of Bourbon Street. There are still two more (that I know of) in the series that I have already purchased and are sitting in my TBR pile waiting for their turn. And I am very much looking forward to them. Influential Magic is also set in New Orleans, and is the first in a series subtitled Crescent City Fae. This new series stars Willow Rhoswen, owner of The Fated Cupcake and part-time vampire hunter for the Void. Oh, and she is also a faery ��" complete with wings and flight capabilities. Well, when she isn’t around vampires, whose walking death drains her earth magic, and thus her life force. A very uncomfortable position to be in when your evil faery auntie, who is also the Director of the Void policing agency partners you with a vampire in order to investigate dastardly deeds by the local vampire corporation. Especially when that vampire happens to be your ‘used-to-be-human’ boyfriend. A boyfriend, who suddenly dumped you with a quick text message (jerk!), then turns up later turned ��" literally. What happens to Willow in this volume of the Crescent City series is a neat bit of creative urban fantasy, but it also carries an undercurrent of politics and xenophobia which reflects what is happening in this world, this reality, even now. I am, admittedly, not a ‘vampire groupie’ as so many are these days. Been there, done that, would really like for that whole ‘cold, dead, walking corpses’ to be over already. I mean, come on ��" have you ever felt a real corpse? Gross. I couldn’t imagine kissing cold, dead lips, much less getting down and dirty with other parts! However, in Chase’s alternate universe, her vampires are, though still cold and walking dead, much more ‘real’ people than others in the genre, with lives and families whom they love ��" even if they are still overwhelmingly entitled, making them both vicious and brutally efficient killers when crossed. Overall, I really liked Willow. She takes a lot of damage, both physically and emotionally in this first book, and overall she handles it well. I did find her rather naïve at times, railing against those who would take care of issues in a vigilante fashion, while openly acknowledging that the governmental agencies are deeply corrupt. At the same time, I honestly admired her for understanding the siren song of power and how it can so easily corrupt. The fantasy story-line is creative, well written, and believable as an alternative reality of a world which evolved under magical conditions, while still aligning closely with our own. There is a bit of a triangle aspect, between Willow and David, the vamp ex boyfriend and Talisen, her childhood friend and mentor who is another faery. The triangle seems to correct itself at the end, and I honestly hope that the concept doesn’t carry on through the other books, as I find those sorts of story lines to be crutches for poor story development. However, the Shih Tzu that turns into a wolf? Awesome! And I hope that Willow will be spending more time in her bakery, creating magically infused cupcakes, and more time with her best friend, Phoebe, a witch. There were a lot of ends left free, leaving room for a great deal of really good story development as we learn more about Willow, her skills, and her family and friends. And having listened to the Audible Edition, narrated by Gabra Zackman, one of my favorite narrators of all time, there was a whole other level of enjoyment that I was able to gain from the book. And right now, Influential Magic is only $1.99 for the Audible Edition! What’s not to like? Especially when it is also text-to-speech enabled for the Kindle edition. I prefer the Audible editions, as I can download them onto my Zune and pop it into my pocket while I am doing other things, but having it in both editions means I can read it any way I wish. Cool…
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Shaman, Healer, Heretic: Olivia Lawson Techno-Shaman
by
M. Terry Green
soireadthisbooktoday
, April 16, 2014
What’s a Shaman have to do to catch a break, anyway? You haul butt around, all over LA, finding lost souls (literally) and nobody gives you a lick of respect. Ugh. As if slipping on the Techno goggles and hoping around the multiverse, looking for wandering souls was an easy thing to carry off! Livvy is a Techno-Shaman, a Shaman who uses 3-D goggles combined with the technology of the “God Helmet”, which uses an electromagnetic field and shamanic symbols created with light and magnets in order to open the way into the multiverse of the middleworld ��" the entryway world where she meets her spirit helper, her guide through the middle and down into the Underworld, the land of the Spirits. The money isn’t all that good, but hey, it’s a living ��" even though you have to dodge the occasional religious fanatic or prejudiced A-hole. Only, suddenly, Techno-shamans are dieing. And Livvy isn’t sure that she won’t be next. As more Shamans die, and the underworld becomes more and more dangerous to enter, Livvy works with S.K., the dwarf who acts as intermediary for the Los Angeles area Shamans, to gather together the Shamans in order to stop the deaths and changes in the middle and under worlds. But pulling together the secretive and isolationist Shamans into a working group is harder than one might think. And it soon appears that, even working together, it might be too late to stop the destruction of the multiverse, and possibly of all time and space. Shaman, Healer, Heretic is a quirky sort of Urban Fantasy, set in the gritty and unhappy back alleys and hovels of Los Angeles. Seeped in multiple world views and superstitions, the author blends differing belief systems into a satisfying whole, making it one of the more creative books of it’s type that I have read recently. I picked up my copy of M. Terry Green’s Shaman, Healer, Heretic (Olivia Lawson Techno-Shaman) as a freebie on Amazon.
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Chase
by
Janet Evanovich, Goldberg Lee
soireadthisbooktoday
, April 16, 2014
2.5 stars “Money and corruption are ruining the land, crooked politicians betray the working man, pocketing the profits and treating us like sheep, and we’re tired of hearing promises that we know they’ll never keep.” ��" Ray Davies “The beast for me is greed. Whether you read Dante, Swift, or any of these guys, it always boils down to the same thing: the corruption of the soul.” ��" Ben Nicholson Nick and Kate are a mismatched pair. A world famous thief and con artist, paired with a solid, principled FBI Agent. Wow. I immediately went to Neal Caffrey on “White Collar“, a television show where a world famous thief and con artist played by Matt Bomer (who can’t love those blue eyes?) is paired with a solid, principled FBI agent after the thief is caught by said agent. The FBI Agent in White Collar, Peter Burke, played by Tim DeKay is male, a married man with a gorgeous wife, Elizabeth (Tiffani Thiessen) and a yellow lab ��" the perfect FBI family. But with Kate, of course, you have the possibility of a “romance” unlike with Nick and Neal. Having captured Nick, Kate’s job now is to partner up with Nick and solve highly complex white collar crimes. In this case, the job is to steal back the famous Bronze Rooster originally stolen from the century-old Zodiac fountain in the Imperial Gardens of the Old Summer Palace in Beijing ��" and later stolen from the Smithsonian. Oh, the government knows it was stolen ��" they replaced it with a nearly exact replica to hide the theft and hide any embarrassment and political strife caused by the theft. Problem is, now the Chinese government wants it back. And the man who had it stolen, and hidden away in his underground bunker filled with items from the most infamous art thefts in history? None other than Carter Grove, ex-chief of staff to the previous President of the United States. A man who is now head of the infamous “BlackRhino” paramilitary organization. “While he was chief of staff he threw lucrative defense contracts their (BlackRhino) way and encouraged the president to wage wars.” Jake O’Hare ��" The Chase Traveling from Scotland to Shanghai and back to the US, Nick and Kate battle “BlackRhino” (sound familiar?) to retrieve the Bronze Rooster. When a clueless Smithsonian employee hands over the fake rooster to the Chinese government via Chinese multibillionaire Stanley Fu, whose A380 superjumbo jet is better tricked out than Air Force One, Nick and Kate find themselves hiding in the trunk of a 1969 bright red Dodge Charger Daytona (moan) and safecracking, killing, fighting and running through the streets of Shanghai in order to retrieve the fake and replace it with the original ��" and then get away. “The value of art to me is who owns it, how hard it is to steal, and how looking at it makes me feel.” Nick Fox ��" The Chase Wow. That sounds SO much like Nick Caffrey… Anyway! This was a quick read, and not having read the Stephanie Plum series in quite some time, I was reminded how Evanovich likes to use comedy to brighten up her stories, and this one did not disappoint in that aspect. It was also a hoot to recognize “Carter Grove” and his erstwhile companion who did eight years in the White House with a devastatingly poor record and a pattern of corruption which vies with that of any Mafia family, as well as the exploits of the men and women associated with “BlackRhino.” “Because it’s not enough for BlackRhino that you know how to kill. It’s important that you like to do it.” ��" Jake O’Hare ��" The Chase The theme of corruption, greed, and viciousness was well described and sickeningly accurate, which made me like the book possibly more than I would have otherwise. Its derivative nature was disappointing, but the funny parts and the sheer improbability of the story, along with the sharp pokes at previous US governmental officials, bumped it up another star for me. I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in return for a realistic review. All opinions stated within are my own.
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Broken
by
Shelley Coriell
soireadthisbooktoday
, April 16, 2014
I’ve killed no one. I’ve ordered no one to be killed. These children who come to you with their knives, they’re your children. I didn’t teach them, you did. ��" Charles Manson Meet No Sympathy. He’s cold, blunt, uncaring, unfeeling. You aren’t going to like him. A man without a conscience, he appears to be totally emotionless. He’s the person for whom most of our explicit swear words were coined ��" Ruth Minshull In The Silence of the Lambs, Thomas Harris describes it concisely. He lives down in a ribcage in the dry leaves of a heart. For within the serial killer, there is no true heart. Or is it that there is no “soul” ��" that part of us that discerns right from wrong, love from hate, compassion from brutality? What causes a person to become a serial killer, really? While my work at UC during my Masters training balanced the ‘nature’ and ‘nurture’ controversy, Coriell has done brilliant job writing about the ‘nurture’ philosophy of psychopathy and serial killers. Her research is beautifully done, concise, and realistic as is her character development. The Broken draws you in and leaves you breathless, turning page after page, engrossed in the story, drawing you along into a world of pain and brutality ��" and yet doing so with such a deft hand that, rather than being stomach churning, it is instead deeply affecting, reaching into your heart and soul and raising questions which will stay with you long after the last page is turned. Referencing one of my favorite short articles on child abuse and psychopathy, Lylah M. Alphonse1, states: The groundbreaking HBO documentary “Child of Rage” years ago showed how horrific abuse and neglect could leave a child unable to bond with other people, turning them into children “without conscience, who can hurt or even kill without remorse.” In other words: the child becomes a psychopath. Extreme physical and sexual abuse and neglect can certainly cause the detached, calculating demeanor and lack of a sense of conscience shared by the serial killer. For the layman, this is one of the easiest articles on the syndrome to read and understand, and it points out quite elegantly how simple it is to take that small step to becoming a monster. And yet, the conversion of a brutalized child to a serial killer isn’t a given, and in Shelly Coriell’s brilliant The Broken, the brutality suffered by three very different children results in three very different outcomes. Outcomes that are horrifying, sad, and deeply, deeply disturbing. Katrina Erikson had a rough start. Abandoned by her father, she and her younger brother, Jason are raised by a mentally ill mother. Jason is the child whom the mother obsessively dotes upon while alternately neglecting and torturing Katrina. Jason, who slept in his mother’s bed for much too long, and to unknown consequence, while Katrina is locked away in the attic, to be neither heard nor seen. At a young age Katrina runs away from home, working herself to exhaustion, attending college, then becoming a well-known broadcast journalist. Her life is running smoothly, she is even able to set aside for long periods the memories of her youth. Until, that is, she is attacked, stabbed twenty-four times, and left for dead on her bedroom floor. And the thing is ��" she knows who did it. She knows ��" and yet no one will believe her. When we first meet Katrina, she is “Kate” a loner who has traveled the back roads on her motorcycle for the last three years, rarely speaking to anyone, running from the butcher who searches for her in order to finish what he has begun. But there is someone else looking for her too . . . Hayden Reed is looking for Katrina ��" because Hayden Reed believes. And he believes for a horrific reason. You see, Hayden Reed is an FBI agent ��" an FBI agent who is on the trail of the Broadcast Butcher, a serial killer who slaughters beautiful broadcast journalists by stabbing them many, many times. And Hayden knows that Katrina was his first victim. He knows, even though the police didn’t believe her, didn’t believe she knew who attacked her, didn’t believe that the attacker would return. When Hayden finally tracks Kate down, he attempts to bring her in as a material witness, to drag her into witness protection ��" to force her to relive her own personal hell on earth. One of my favorite scenes in the book is when Hayden first tells Kate he is “sorry” for what he is going to put her through. She responds, “You’re sorry? . . . For what? For the scars that disfigure my face and body? For the ineptitude of your law enforcement brothers? For believing in a system that doesn’t work?” When his only response is, “It works.” Her reply was a gut wrenching, and oh so true statement. “Like hell it does! It’s a broken system, a broken world, Agent Reed, shattered and ugly and full of evil.” It is so easy for a man like Hayden, a true believer in the perfection of the system of “justice” to overlook all of the failures of society and the legal system ��" and so easy for a broken Kate to have no belief in the system that failed her so brutally. What happens in The Broken is a breathtaking race against time, as the body count rises and the Butcher gets closer and closer to his goal of finding Katrina. Finding her, and killing her ��" “the one who got away.” The writing is tight, leading you from one moment to the next, never giving away too much, never going overboard with the violence, which is mostly ‘off screen’ and yet holds your attention and drags you further into the story. You become a part of the darkness, of the heinous acts of a true “Butcher” ��" and of the huge disconnect between what one would wish justice to be ��" and what it truly is. “Why didn’t you report the second attack?” “What would the police say? ‘Ooops! Sorry we screwed up. We’ll do better next time’? I didn’t report the attack, Agent Reed, because it wouldn’t make a difference.” This is a Very Highly Recommended Read for the lover of suspense, mystery, thrills and chills. I received this book from Netgalley in return for an honest review. And, honestly? It is going on my “Keepers” shelf! 1 http://tinyurl.com/nasakt4 Lylah M. Alphonse ��" Senior Editor, Yahoo! Shine | Parenting ��" Mon, May 14, 2012 6:14 PM EDT
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The Mane Event: Pride 1
by
Shelly Laurenston
soireadthisbooktoday
, April 16, 2014
It is sort of silly on my part, reviewing The Mane Event. I mean, let’s face it, Shelly Laurenston is a well-known Paranormal Fantasy author (read, more shifter sex than shifter adventure, but there ya go). I really do try to review mostly unknown and Indie authors. This book has, as of this moment, 135 reviews on Amazon, and mine is just one more. But I have to tell you, the reason I am reviewing? Well, because I laughed my ass off!!! And I mean that in a good way, not a “I laughed because the book was so bad I couldn’t help myself.” Instead, I laughed because Shelly Laurenston is just darn FUNNY! I laughed long, and loud, and with tears running down my cheeks and the occasional “OMG I am going to have to change my underwear soon” sort of laughter I haven’t been able to enjoy in a very long time. There is, of course, a lot of sex in the book, as is to be expected from the genre, so one must keep that in mind. However, the dry wit, subtle humour, and occasional outright outlandishness of the book more than make up for the sex scenes, if you aren’t a person that likes that sort of thing. And if you do like that sort of thing? Well, those parts are well written and hot as heck ��" so what’s to lose by immersing yourself? This book is really a ‘two-fer’ in that there are two complete, and yet tied together stories included. In Christmas Pride you first meet Mace Llewellyn, former Navy SEAL, now retired, and the only Pride Breeding Male of the Llewellyn line. Well, at least he would be a Pride Breeding Male if he would stand for that sort of bull. Instead, he is determined to track down and capture Desiree “Dez” McDemot, his true ladylove since the age of fourteen. Even if capturing requires ‘taking care of’ any other male who happens to have the misfortune of being in the path of his goal. Imagine his surprise, therefore, when Dez is on site as the lead detective on the murder case currently being investigated at the Pride home. Now, the chase is on, and Mace has no intention of letting Dez escape ��" Bronx accented, tough, Puerto Rican, full-human that she is. A chase that infuriates Mace’s sister, Missy, “f’king queen of the Serengeti” and leader of the Llewellyn pride. The very rich, very entitled and elitist, and very purist leader of the Llewellyn pride. Allowing Mace to claim Dez is absolutely NOT on Missy’s agenda ��" especially as Petrov, the only other Pride Breeding Male in residence has just been murdered. While the mating chase of Mace and Dez is funny, interesting, and hot as a cast iron skillet just out of the oven, what is really interesting is the murder mystery. What happened to Petrov? How did someone get to him, and who-dun-it and why? There is something going on here, something that could put the whole Llewellyn pride in danger. And the fact that Dez is the person in charge of finding out what drives Missy right out of her ‘tree’ and leads to a plot that is much more serious than anyone could have expected. Add then there is Mace’s friend and fellow soldier Smitty and his pack. “Pack and Pride, dog and cat’. . . the military created strange bedfellows.” Especially when Mace is rich and entitled, and Smitty is a no-holds-barred Tennessee redneck. With Smitty and his pack now firmly ensconced along with Mace in New York while they set up their security business, the opportunities for hysteria are numerous. The second story in the book is Shaw’s Tail. We meet Brendon Shaw at the climax of the previous novel, as he is located in the tunnels beneath the city by Dez and the wolf pack. Severely wounded by a vicious hyena pack and barely able to stand, Brendon is rescued and taken to hospital ��" but not before getting a whiff of something wonderful, powerful, and delicious ��" and catches a glimpse of a pair of beautiful hazel eyes. Oops. Cats and dogs, anyone? For Brendon Shaw is a proven Lion Breeding Male, and his new obsession is in no way, shape, form, or fashion going to be acceptable to Missy! Because Ronnie Lee Reed is a redneck Tennessee Hillbilly Beta wolf, with attitude to spare. Stuck with babysitting duty in the hospital with Shaw by her Alpha female, Sissy Mae Smith, Ronnie is in for a lot more than just babysitting duty. When Shaw takes down two strange humans with jackal scent all over them in his hospital room, Ronnie whisks Shaw away to her aunt’s house in Long Island, only to have Shaw’s ‘healing fever’ cause a world of trouble for her, and a world of hysterical laughter for me. Can we all say “full grown lion doing the Mamba in the neighbor’s front yard?” And then there is always the doggy “play bow,” front down, ass in the air (and do you think he is EVER going to live that one down . . .?) There is action and adventure in this story line, hot nookie and laughter, and a good dose of mystery and suspense. All in all? I am now deeply addicted to Shelly Laurenston and her Pride Series. If you like paranormal romance with a good dose of mystery, action, and laughter, you can’t go wrong!
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Broken Sky
by
Dutt, MR Saurav and Dutt, Saurav
soireadthisbooktoday
, April 16, 2014
“It has been said, ‘time heals all wounds.’ I do not agree. The wounds remain. In time, the mind, protecting its sanity, covers them with scar tissue and the pain lessens. But it is never gone.” ― Rose Kennedy “One thing you can’t hide ��" is when you’re crippled inside.” ― John Lennon Convolutions. Stories within stories, hiding, running, and the sweet surrender of forgetfulness. Broken Sky is a story of layers, of heartbreak and surrender. Saurav Dutt has created a beautiful and heartbreaking tale of a lost and homeless woman’s journey to reunite with her daughter, whom she abandoned long ago. But did she really abandon her? Or did she save her life? The woman known only as Lauren doesn't know doesn't remember, and what happens next is the basis of a story of desperation and pain, a literary tour de force. For who is Lauren, really? Homeless, living on the streets, filthy and alone. And yet dressed in a mink coat, pearls, Gucci shoes, and a thousand dollar bowler hat. Who could she be? What could have brought her to this extreme of loss and destitution? The narrative of Broken Sky is complex to the point of convolution, though never losing the reader, rushing the story, or losing its sense of truth and compassion. A 2014 London and Frankfurt Book Fairs selection, this is an emotional story of loss that reaches deep, pulling together a wide range of divergent characters into a suspenseful tale of love, longing, and loss. And ultimately, the possibilities engendered by hope. I received this book from Netgalley in return for an honest review. All comments are my own.
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Gateway to Faerie
by
Bowden
soireadthisbooktoday
, April 16, 2014
Gateway to Faerie was provided to me by the good folks at storycartel.com for an honest review. Of course, that in no way adjusts my review of the book, but it does give me access to some books that I wouldn’t have normally picked up to read. Whether I like those books on a personal level sometimes varies. faerie At least the cover is well done. Gateway is a book that I would recommend to the Young Adult and Teen audience looking for a dystopian novel that qualifies as an ‘easy, clean’ read. Bowden has written a nice story with sharp edges and an unusual world build. Fayth Blackman lives in a dystopian world, set two hundred years or so after a global apocalypse blamed on religious fanaticism and growing to nuclear war. In reality, the destruction is the outcome of a gateway between worlds, allowing the faerie world to intersect with our own through a gateway opened by evil fae. I have read and enjoyed many YA books, some of which as exceptionally written. Sadly, this isn’t one of them. Though not offensively incompetently written, there is still a great deal that could be better about the book. The story line when dealing with the three main characters is pretty much ‘rinse and repeat’ ��" the whole walk, fight, walk, fight, teenager finds love in a time of terror situation. The editing of the book is poor, the sentence structure is choppy, and overall I wish that the author would find a really good editor and work to outgrow the “See Fayth Run, Run Fayth Run” flow of the books narrative. The concept pulls the book back from a lower star rating, simply because the government line of what happened to the world two hundred years ago vs. the reality is interesting. Even now, the books and schooling which Fayth receives are “humancentric” rather than realistic. The book also ends rather abruptly. I note that there is a second volume, but I won’t be reading it, as I understand from reviews that it is not written any better than the first, is novella length and basically would have been better served to be added into this volume. Overall, this is a “tell it” not a “show it” and it simply didn’t enthrall me, even with the understanding that it is designed for a YA audience. Just because that is your audience doesn’t mean that your audience should be talked down to. A great number of the YA readers out there are smarter, better educated, and more literate than their Adult counterparts. I would rate this book a 2.5 on a 5 point scale based on back story only.
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Seven Kinds of Hell
by
Dana Cameron
soireadthisbooktoday
, April 16, 2014
This is a gift, it comes with a price Who is the lamb, and who is the knife? ��" Florence & The Machine, Rabbit Heart “This belonged to my sister-in-law,” Prometheus explained. “Pandora.” A lump formed in my throat. “As in Pandora’s box?” Prometheus shook his head. “I don’t know how this box business got started. It was never a box. It was a pithos, a storage jar. I suppose Pandora’s pithos doesn’t have the same ring to it.” ― Rick Riordan, The Last Olympian You see what we do to each other over the slightest differences in religion or politics? We beat each other up over baseball games. We’ll kill over the wrong-colored bandanna. What would we do faced with the Fangborn? ��" Adam Nichols, Seven Kinds of Hell One thing you must know about this book before walking into the story is this ��" you hold in your hand not some simple, See Jane Run, Run Jane Run novel. If you are looking for minimal world building, simplistic answers, and only two or three characters with clear-cut goals, this book isn’t for you. It is so far out of the “let’s just do mindless entertainment” wheelhouse you can’t even see it from the top of the Pharos Lighthouse. Instead, this is a book of complexities. Of unknown alliances, political convolutions, archaeological mysteries, and xenophobic hatreds worthy of any Shakespearean play. Families destroy one another, blood is spilled, and there is avarice, sociopathy, vigilantism, viciousness, and political infighting enough to fulfill any Roman Senate chamber. No, if your idea of a good book is simplicity, walk away now. Ah, but if you are like me ��" if you long for convolutions, for amazing world-building, a plethora of characters with both known and unknown agendas, a modern story-line with tentacles reaching back to the beginnings of time, a deep understanding of the history, archaeology and stories of the cradles of civilization, rejoice, my friend! For Dana Cameron’s words will reach out to you, grab your mind and inject it with adrenaline, force you to pay attention, to learn, and to madly mark up whole paragraphs in order that you might research the lands and stories she portrays. It. Was. AWESOME!!! Of course, the idea that there are creatures in this world, those who call themselves the Fangborn, calls to my love of all things fantasy. And Ms. Cameron’s concepts of fantastical creatures are not simplistic either. “Vampires” harken back to the snake goddesses of Knossos and Minoa rather than being the more Germanic wall crawlers popular in modern literature. There is no disturbing of the laws of physics as werewolves retain their mass when changed, and, gratefully, their clothes! Rather than burning in the sun, these vampires crave the sunshine, as do their snake cousins, and use their fangs to heal, and their powers of mind control to protect. Very different than what one normally would expect ��" but then, Ms. Cameron also makes grand use of various animal entities from history, from the Egyptian Anubis to the Greek Medusa. A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history. ��" Mahatma Gandhi History is about to change, worlds are set to collide, and humans are, of course, acting like humans ��" and not exactly in a good way. No, you will not learn who all the characters are and what their alliances are in this volume of the story. Who exactly are the Fangborn who first approach Zoe? Who, or what, is Download and from where do his powers spring? Is Adam really to be trusted, or merely a mercenary, willing to change sides on a whim? More importantly, exactly who and what was Zoe’s father ��" and apparently more importantly, her mother? The book ends with the answers in Zoe’s hands, in a thin, coffee stained folder. Is it the truth? Is it a lie? Only time will tell. Well, and the next volume, should help of course! Pack of Strays comes out on April 15, 2014 (only a few days away, Hooray!) and my finger was hot on the preorder button. Shh, don’t tell anyone, but no matter what book is next on my spreadsheet, that one gets moved to the top! I received this book from Justin Golenbock at 47North and Netgalley in return for a realistic review. All comments are my own and reflect my own interests. I want to thank Justin for this marvelous opportunity and look forward to reading the next book in the series!
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Rise of the Retics: Rosehaven: The Hidden City
by
T. J. Lantz
soireadthisbooktoday
, April 16, 2014
Intolerance is the most socially acceptable form of egotism, for it permits us to assume superiority without personal boasting. ��" Sydney J. Harris So when you spot violence, or bigotry, or intolerance or fear or just garden-variety misogyny, hatred or ignorance, just look it in the eye and think, ‘The good outnumber you, and we always will. ��" Patton Oswalt The right to survival. Throughout history, there have been those who have seen that right stripped, demeaned, destroyed. Native Americans decimated by the white invaders, the Jews (and everyone else) by the Nazis, and everyone not of their religion by the Church. And the depredations of the Church weigh heavily upon the world and the lives of those who are “different” in Rise of the Retics. In this new and fascinating world, based loosely upon the Spanish Inquisition, the church and government attempt to decimate all of the retics, creatures of myth and legend. Driven into refugee camps and denied the most basic of rights, this is their tale, a tale of imagination and great humor, yet also of viciousness and discrimination, pain and angst. And as much as I would like to say that it is only the humans who bring pain, it is also the retics who bring about pain and intolerance amongst their own. Lantz is brilliant in his character development and perspective, his humor and world building. There are levels and degrees of creativity that are rare in many more ‘idolized’ modern books. While Lantz’s writing is perfect for the preteen audience, it is extremely pleasant for a more adult audience as well. Honestly, I would like to see this wonderful novel rise to the level of the Harry Potter series in popularity. It is more creative, the characters both more and less likable, the world fascinating and beautifully written. And let us not forget the footnotes ��" they are absolutely hysterical, and lend an extra level of brightness to the story. All in all, if you are open to a new and creative world, filled with layers and dimensions, I would highly recommend Lantz’s story. It was, in a word, fantastic. I received this book from Storycartel in return for a realistic review. All thoughts on the book are my own. It is beautifully written, though it could use a bit of an edit. I would recommend it to the adventurous reader!
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Shiftless: Werewolf Paranormal Fantasy
by
Aimee Easterling
soireadthisbooktoday
, April 16, 2014
Sometimes, being a female werewolf can be a flat out nightmare. Especially when your father, the pack alpha, is a brutal, psychotic mess whose only interaction with you is to issue orders on your birthday every year, then walk away. And things are made even more difficult when you can’t seem to manage your shifts, making the thought of saving yourself from the situation even more impossible. A new author with a fresh perspective on the werewolf world. Worth spending a bit of your precious reading time with. Hated by her own father and marginalized by her father’s repressive, misogynist pack, Terra struggles with her change and, when her father demands on her sixteenth birthday that she be mated and bred, Terra finally gathers her strength and flees her fathers hateful pack. Now on her own, life as the equivalent of a teenaged runaway is hard, cold, and more often hungry than not. Then, when the unthinkable happens, Terra knows that it is time to step up and bring her wolf under control ��" to lock her away and live solely in the human world. Flash forward ten years, and we find Terra curled up in a chair in a bookstore, intent on a Patricia Briggs novel. If she can’t have a pack, she can at least read about them, right? But again, fate deals her a blow as a pair of werewolves, an alpha ��" on leash of all things ��" and his beta walk into the bookstore, and straight into Terra’s life. Oh, shit. Not another alpha! And the world continues to crash around her when her father reappears in her live with ultimatums and torments, threatening to force her back into the life of servitude she has worked so hard to escape. Will the alpha known as Wolfie and his highly unusual pack be able to protect Terra and her nephew from the torments of her father? Or will she be forced to give up her life, to bend to the will of her brutal former pack in order to save her nephew and the members of Wolfie’s pack? This is a first novel for Aimee Easterling, and for a first, it is very well written. Even more pleasant, it is well edited, which in and of itself is a positive. The book has many of the same tropes as the ubiquitous werewolf and paranormal romance novel, which in itself is not a bad thing. Ms. Easterling has put her own unique twist onto the culture, especially in regards to Wolfie and his oddball, loveable pack. They were my favorite characters, from the yahoos (you will get the reference when you read the book) to the lesbian couple, something one doesn’t often show up in the werewolf/paranormal genre, and is a pairing that I found quite refreshing. Overall, this is a pleasant, quirky read, recommended for a lazy afternoon with tea and a quilt, curled in your favorite chair. The book does end on a tiny bit of a cliffhanger, but not unpleasantly so. I look forward to reading the next book and watching to see if wildly disparate groups can learn to function as a community. This book was reviewed at the request of Readergiveaways.com. All remarks and thoughts are my own.
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Swimming With The Dead
by
Kathy Brandt
soireadthisbooktoday
, April 16, 2014
As I sit here in the freezing weather, just outside Denver, I can’t help but envy Hannah Sampson. Heck, Hannah should envy herself! Stuck knee-deep and zero degrees into a bitter winter in Denver, Hannah, a Homicide Detective for the DPD is called to the scene of what first seems to be a senseless crime. The secretary of the Police Commissioner, Greta, has been murdered in the file room of the Commissioner’s offices. While the room is torn to pieces, the contents are so innocuous, there is really no reason for the death, or the break-in. When Hannah received a call from the Commissioner’s assistant the next day, she is pulled into a situation she never would have believed. A month before, the Commissioner’s son died while diving a shipwreck off of Great Camanoe, an island in the BVI (British Virgin Islands). The investigation, slapdash at best, was dropped with minimal investigation, and an outcome of “Death by Drowning.” Commissioner Duvall and his wife Caroline cannot, and will not, accept that their son, Michael, a professional diver and Marine Biologist, would have died so carelessly. They want the situation investigation, and answers found. And who better to do that than Hannah, who is not only Homicide Detective, but also head of Denver Homicide’s Dive & Recovery Team? When Hannah arrives upon the breathtaking shores of the BVI, things immediately turn interesting as her investigation leads further and further into darkness. Did Michael truly drown due to his own carelessness? Or is there something much more evil occurring, something that could endanger Hannah’s life? Swimming With The Dead was an absolute pleasure to read. It is always fun when a book is set in your own home area, and with the author, Kathy Brandt, being a “local” as well, it was great fun to follow Hannah through Denver before she left for the BVI. Then, when she arrives in the BVI, the surroundings become even more interesting, as Hannah becomes more and more involved in her investigation. I loved how Ms. Brandt described the islands and the people, the colour and vibrancy of that gorgeous world. Her descriptions of the underwater world were stunning, as well as being informative as Hannah follows through on Michael’s quest to protect the ocean and her creatures. The book is well researched, and draws you into the beauty and the warmth of her story. At first, honestly, I didn’t really care for Hannah herself. She comes across as hard and emotionally distant, and her seeming lack of care for the environment and the fragility of the ecosystem seems quite odd for a resident of this beautiful state. However, as you come to know Hannah and what her life is, you begin to understand. And as Hannah begins to bloom, you get a true feel for a woman who is damaged, but begins to live once again, and appreciate the beauty around her. I will be checking out Ms. Brandt’s other works in the Hannah Swenson world, and very much look forward to the pleasure. This book was provided to me by netgalley in return for a realistic review. All opinions are my own. Check out Ms. Brandt's website for information not only on her books, but also about the National Alliance on Mental Health (NAMI) and her role with the organization.
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