Albatrose: An Odd Bird Indeed
Posted: March 30, 2018 Filed under: Action/Adventure, Book Review, Books, Thriller | Tags: action/thriller, Albatross, Book Review, Nancy L. Palmer, R.A. Macavoy Leave a comment
When I started Albatrose, by R.A. Macavoy and Nancy L. Palmer, I was reminded of the 1993 film, The Fugitive, starring Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones. Indeed, there are some similarities. Certainly it can be seen why I would associate Dr. Rob MacAuley of Albatross, with Dr. Richard Kimble of The Fugitive. Both men hold the title of doctor although Dr. MacAuley is a physicist, rather than a medical doctor, and both are fugitives from justice, framed for murders they didn’t commit. But that is where the similarities stop. Albatross is such a refreshingly different tale, filled with mystery and intrigue, that I hate to say too much here.
Albatross takes us to a future world where the government is confused, or corrupt, or maybe just crazy, and Dr. Rob MacAuley is on the run for crimes he did not commit. He’s on the run until the government elects to legalize slavery for conficted criminals. Then, Thomas Hiediman, an independently wealthy American, uses the new law against those who made it, when he convinces McAuley to turn himself in and become his slave. To say more here would require a spoiler alert. As I said, a very different type of story, where it’s hard to tell who to trust, for characters as well as readers.
Even with the mild head hopping, (my pet peeve), which occurred, I found myself compelled to learn what happens next. I found myself thinking about the story when I wasn’t reading it, which are all the hallmarks of a truly good tale. I give Albatross four quills.
Kaye Lynne Booth does honest book reviews on Writing to be Read in exchange for ARCs at no charge. Have a book you’d like reviewed? Contact Kaye at kayebooth(at)yahoo(dot)com.
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“Strange Attractors”: a strange attractor in its own right
Posted: March 9, 2018 Filed under: Book Review, Books, Fiction, Science Fiction | Tags: Aliens, Book Review, Mark Todd, Roswell, Science Fiction, Strange Attractors 2 Comments
I’m not sure how to classify Strange Attractors by Mark Todd. It is science fiction, but it doesn’t feel like science fiction. It feels like a story with well-developed characters you want to care about and an intricate plot, filled with irony, which keeps you guessing until the very last pages. Most of all, I think Strange Attractors is simply an interesting and entertaining read, a good, old fashioned, well crafted story that keeps the pages turning.
Conti is Morgan’s boss, but when she learns that the project she’s been working on has the potential to wipe out world populations, and has potential military applications, she wonders if her boss is losing his mind. And perhaps he is. Conti has seen little gray men near Roswell, but they aren’t what he thinks. Morgan is seeing one too, in the form of a little boy who looks strangely like her little brother. Although he shows her many things, including a strange craft, Morgan doesn’t believe in aliens, so she gives these things a different interpretation. When Morgan confronts her boss about her suspicions on the project, he seems to give her the brush off, and before all is through, Morgan doesn’t know who to trust. She’s sure the little boy who appears both in and out of her dreams is trying to tell her something, and it could be something that could change the fate of the world, but can she figure out his message while there is still time to avert disaster?
I enjoyed every page of this story. I was drawn to it as if to a strange attractor, something attractive and compelling. I give Strange Attractors five quills.
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“Blood in the Water”: A Crazy Crime Novel
Posted: March 2, 2018 Filed under: Book Review, Books, Fiction | Tags: Blood in the Water, Book Review, Fiction, Tim Baker 1 Comment
Author Tim Baker has done it again and Flagler Beach is the setting for another crazy crime caper, Blood in the Water. Ike helps a friend with a seach for sunken treasure that leads to a thirty year old cold case, which strangely enough is tied to a murder investigation his girlfriend, Val, has undertaken. Can they bring done the killer and solve the cold case before he learns they are on his trail and puts a stop to their plans? No spoilers here. You’ll have to read the book to find out.
As usual, Tim Baker has turned out a fun and extremely entertaining read. Readers will root for the good guys and boo whenever the villian appears. Hidden identities, missing persons, sunken treasure and lots of danger. This book has it all.
I give Blood in the Water five quills.
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Our New World: An enigma filled with paradox
Posted: February 23, 2018 Filed under: Book Review, Books, Dark Fantasy, Fantasy, Fiction, Speculative Fiction | Tags: Book Review, Dark Fantasy, Desiree King, Our New World, Speculative Fiction Leave a comment
Our New World, by Desiree King is the story of a diverse world united at last. Human, Vampire, Magi, Shapeshifters and Fae are all able to dwell in harmony at last, and Sidney and Darien the Dark Prince are both anticipating comeing into their own. But the laws of this new world require they must be wed to assume their rightful places, and they forbid them to marry one another. This is a problem because these two childhood sweethearts are all grown up and hopelessly in love. All the odds are against their ever being together, but Darien has a plan and Sidney is determined, and love conquers all.
The title causes a problem in logic because the characters are calling this “our new world”, but Sidney and Darien share a birthdate, and are both just coming of age, and it seems this new world structure has been in place for much longer than their brief lifespans to date. For me, it seems as if the characters would not be looking at this as their new world, but as the only world they have ever known.
Also my suspension of disbelief could have used more sensory details, to make me smell, hear and feel this world that the author has plunged me into. In spite of the fact that the characters felt stereotyped and lacked depth, I liked them and found myself anticipating when I would be able to learn what happened next.
Also, I didn’t realize until late in the story who the antagonist was. We don’t see how really bad he is until well into the story, so appears as more of an obstacle to be overcome, rather than an adversary, right up until the scene where Henry punishes Sidney because his previous punishments have had no effect and it ticks him off. Only then, are we allowed a glimpse of his cold cruelty, and I have to say, the realization was a shock.
My biggest problem with this story was the fact that although the protagonist is reputed to be a deadly combat fighter and carries the blood lines of not only magi, but a powerful fire fae, it seems someone else is always coming to her rescue, either Darien the Dark Prince, or her bff and P.A., or her Fae grandfather, Eldon. I had difficulty buying into the idea that this spoiled little rich girl with status, was ready to step up and take a council seat or run her city, when she continuously put her own selfish desires ahead of what was best for her city or their new world. Oh, they talked about the possible consequences, but then she presses forward and does as she pleases without a second thought.
Despite this story’s many problems, I found the storyline to be one which held my interest and I found myself wanting to know what happens next. And after all, that’s what is important, isn’t it? I give Our New World three quills.
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Leaving Eva/Losing Eva: A story of loss and seperation
Posted: February 16, 2018 Filed under: Book Review, Books, Fiction, romance | Tags: Book Review, Drama, Fiction, Jenifer Sivec, Leaving Eva, Losing Eva Leave a comment
Leaving Eva and its sequel Losing Eva, by Jennifer Sivec, are a sad and tragic tale that evokes strong emotional response in the telling. This touching story may be true to life, covering the lives of not one, but several dysfunctional generations of women and the men in their lives, over the course of time. It is a tale where one tragic action by one self-centered girl dominoes into many heart-wrenching losses in a saga where nobody wins. While each book easily stands alone, together they tell a story of loss and tragedy that will bring all but those with hearts of stone to their knees. There is so much heartbreak within these two stories that they left me longing for a sequel, one titled Loving Eva, where at least one woman of the Harper family might finally find happiness.
One spoiled rich girl, Ellie, and a series of poor choices, leads to a life of abuse and neglect for her daughter, Eva, whom she abandons at a very young age. Losing Eva is the story of that young girl’s life, spent searching for love that seems to be just beyond her grasp. Losing Eva is the story of how once found, she constantly struggles to keep that love, and how it always seems to slip through her fingers. In addition, these books tell the story of all the others who are effected, both directly and indirectly, by Ellie’s initial decisions and the lessons, both learned and missed, from them.
This is a story you won’t want to put down. Sivec’s characters are well developed and she makes you care about them. You will hope for positive life experiences for them and root for them when they succeed, especially for the main character, Brynn. The plot is full of surprises and rivets you to your seat to find out what will happen next.
My only problem is the head hopping. In places it gets to be so bad that I had to stop and go back to figure out who’s POV I was in. At times the viewpoint changed mid-paragraph, which really made me have to stop and reread. Regardless of the recurring confusions that this caused, and the fact that it is one of my biggest pet peeves, this story was so powerfully told that it brought me to tears on more than one occasion. The Harper generational saga is woven like an intricate narative tapestry through the lifetime of one hauntingly tragic Harper woman.
Grab a box of tissue when you settle in to read Leaving Eva and Losing Eva. I give this story set four quills.
Kaye Lynne Booth does honest book reviews on Writing to be Read in exchange for ARCs at no charge. Have a book you’d like reviewed? Contact Kaye at kayebooth(at)yahoo(dot)com.
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“Pangaea: Eden’s Planet”- A Science Fiction Odyssey
Posted: February 9, 2018 Filed under: Book Review, Books, Fiction, Science Fiction | Tags: Book Review, Books, Pangaea: Eden's Planet, Science Fiction, Tom Johnson Leave a comment
Pangaea: Eden’s Planet, by Tom Johnson is a science fiction story that engaged me through to the last page, offering me food for thought in some of my own writings. It is well crafted with an entertaining plot and characters that I grew to like in the brief time it took me to read it.
On a routine mission to ready Mars for colonization, a space anomoly sends their spaceship back to prehistoric Earth instead. Stuck in a hostile land before the existence of man or dinosaurs, the crew does their best to make the best of things. But faced with poisonous plants and animals, along with huge and vicious carnivores, the crew is dwindling. How can they survive?
The third person omnicient P.O.V. is always a little off-putting for me, but Tom Johnson crafts the story well and really does a nice job of pulling this viewpoint off. While there were a few logic problems, they weren’t so severe that I couldn’t buy in to this excellent plot and story line. The only thing I couldn’t overlook was the use of varied dialog tags, some which were distracting, actually pulling me out of the story.
Pangaea: Eden’s Planet is an engaging tale crafted with thought and skill. I give it four quills.
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“Undercurrents”: More Than Just a Collection of Tales From the Deep
Posted: February 2, 2018 Filed under: Book Review, Books, Horror, Stories | Tags: Book Review, Monsters, Sea Monsters, Short Fiction, Short Stories, The Deep, Undercurrents Leave a comment
The twenty-three stories in Undercurrents are all about the mysteries of the deep, but beyond that they are as varied as it gets. Master story telling weves tales about monsters who dwell in the ocean depths and send chills down your spine. The monsters featured range from those of legendary status to those of the fantasy realm: krackens; sea dragons in Guardian of the Sea, by Kristin Luna; sirens in The Old Man and the Sea Siren, by Steve Pantazis; fairy horses in In the Water, by Jessica Guernsey; mermonsters in All Yours, by Melissa Koons; and the underwater cat in Underwater Cats, by Mary Pletsch – to those that are unidentified, as in Cold, Silent, and Dark, by Kary English; or spring from the recesses of the human mind, to inanimate objects as innocent as a pair of bookends in Bookend, by Chris Mandeville.
The points of view presented are varied, as well. As a reader, I was allowed to glimpse through the eyes of both hunted and hunter, getting the unusual P.O.V.s of things like a kracken in The Kraken’s Story, by Robert J. McCarter, a siren in The Siren’s Song, by Aubrey Pratt, a dragon in The Sea Dragon’s Tale, by Nancy D. DiMauro and a puffer fish in Mandala, by Jody Lynn Nye.
The stories in this collection explore more than just the waters of the deep. Sea Wind, by Kevin J. Anderson explores the idea of losing a brother to the sea. Four Billion Years of Solitude, by Alex P. Berg explores the oceans of distant planets. Eat Me, by Lauren Lang explores a revelutionary weight loss system involving antipods harvested from the sea. Songs to Sing and Stories to Tell, by L.D. Colter explores saying good-bye, and Lure, by Joy Dawn Johnson explores the connection between twins, and Sea Dreams, by Rebecca Moesta and Kevin J. Anderson explores the ties between friends. To Become, by C.J. Erick explores facing the unknown, while In the Garden of the Coral King, by C.H. Hung explores facing one’s own fears, and A Marsh Called Solitude, by Gregory D. Little explores self-sacrifice and altruism.
My personal favorites include Teens Teach Tech, by Terry Madden, where a teen tries to help an old woman face her fears of the past; Heroes of the Russian Federation, by Chris Barili, where an experimental bio-weapon escapes and goes out of control; and High Seas Burning, by Lee French, where the real monsters are of the human variety.
Best of all, all proceeds from this anthology go to the Don Hodge Memorial Scholarship to help students without the financial means to attend the Superstar Writing Seminar, a seminaar that addresses the business end of writing. The Superstars have been putting together anthologies, along with seminar attendees since 2015. Undercurrents is the fourth anthology to result from the Superstar Writing Seminar. In more ways than one, the Superstar Writing Seminar is quite special and the recipient of a scholarship is fortunate indeed.
News of this seminar was exciting to me because so many writing courses or workshops focus on the craft of writing and ignore the fact that there are some business skills required in order to be a successful writer. I’ve heard many authors gripe about not realizing they had to have marketing skills as well as writing skills, or complaining about the time they must put into marketing that could be used to write instead. The line-up of Superstars who offer their expertise include Kevin J. Anderson, David Farland, Eric Flint, Rebecca Moesta, James A. Owen and Brandon Sanderson. Each year they have additional guest instructors, chosen from the creme de la creme of the publishing industry. They all share their knowledge and expertise during the annual seminar, which is held in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Well-crafted stories fill this anthology exploring the ocean depths and the depths of the human mind in Undercurrents, an anthology created by master story tellers. I give it four quills.
Kaye Lynne Booth does honest book reviews on Writing to be Read in exchange for ARCs at no charge. Have a book you’d like reviewed? Contact Kaye at kayebooth(at)yahoo(dot)com.
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“Doctrine of Indecency”: A Good Variety of Stories
Posted: January 26, 2018 Filed under: Book Review, Books, Dark Fantasy, Erotica, Fiction, Paranormal, romance, Science Fiction, Speculative Fiction, Stories | Tags: Anthology, Book Review, Doctrine of Indecency, Erotica, Short Stories Leave a comment
The trick to writing erotica is being able to write a fully developed story line and add just the right amount of erotic imagry to create a story which both entertains and arouses readers at same time. There is an almost poetic art to it, a delicate balance. A balance few of the stories found in Doctrine of Indecency: 18 Coveted Tales of Lust, edited by Virginia Lee Johnson and Kat Mizera, manage to achieve. Most of the stories, while not of the exceptional variety, were not bad stories and some were quite entertaining.
I must give kudos for the variety of the stories contained within this erotic anthology. There seems to be something for everyone. Some stories stretch genre boundaries, including tales of erotic horror, such as A Cabin… Somewhere, by Kyle Perkins; the paranormal erotica of Wings of Change, by Cee Cee Houston; the anti-hero erotica of Revenge, by Virginia Lee Johnson; the speculative erotica of The Succubus’s Sin, by Taylor Rose; and the science-fiction erotica of Suicide Mission, by Lila Vale; or Lunar Gets Some Loving: A Purian Empire Short, by Crystal Dawn. There are also those that are geared more toward the traditional erotic story lines which explore various sexual preferences such as the three-way fun of Apple Bite, by A.R. Von; or Welcome to the Dark Side, by Erin Trejo; the military erotica of Deployment – Dalliance, by E.J. Christopher; the grocery store erotica of Fruit, Veg. & Starfish, by T.L. Wainwright; the swingers erotica of 3, by Eden Rose; the S & M erotica of House of the Rising Sun, by L.J. SeXton; the stranger erotica Delayed Ecstacy, by Tiffani Lynn; and there’s even a tale of social media erotica in Yearning for Desire, by Amanda O’lone.
My three favorites: Pleasure Bite, by Brianna West is well written vampire erotica and Dangerous Desire, by Samantha Harrington is hot and steamy, yet has a decent plot. I’ve been doing a lot of playing with POV, so I was especially drawn to the stories which used mutliple character POVs. While Inferno, by Kat Mizera uses multiple POVs with some skill, Pepper’s Play Pen, by Mia Sparks uses multiple POVs and is crafted with expertise.
The variety of stories included is commendable, but since none are exceptional, nor are any terrible, but of more average quality, I give Doctrine of Indecency three quills.
Kaye Lynne Booth does honest book reviews on Writing to be Read in exchange for ARCs at no charge. Have a book you’d like reviewed? Contact Kaye at kayebooth(at)yahoo(dot)com.
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“Holy Denver”: A True Literary Treat
Posted: January 19, 2018 Filed under: Book Review, Books, Fiction, Literary | Tags: Book Review, Florence Wetzel, Literary Leave a comment
I’ll tell you a secret. For me, the problem with most literary works is that they move so slow it seems like nothing ever happens and eventually, I am so bored that I don’t care enough about the characters to finish the story. I guess that’s why I read mostly genre fiction. It’s more fast paced and has real conflict to keep the story moving and the reader interested. Not so, with Holy Denver, by Florence Wetzel.
While Holy Denver does have true literary qualities such as moving at a lacksidaisical pace, the characters are colorful enough to keep me coming back for more. Wetzel makes her settings come alive, allowing the unique atmosphere of Boulder and the old town ambience of down town Denver to become characters in their own right, carrying the story from place to place with graceful, relaxed transitions.
Holy Denver is a tale of self-discovery and yet is the tale of the fall of the publishing industry and some of its more recent rises. I was fortunate to acquire a print copy for review, so for me it was a feel good read, allowing me to slip quietly into a world I’m only too familiar with, having grown up in Golden, right between Denver and Boulder, and forget about the reality of the here and now for a while. (I can remember when what is now the 16th Street Mall that Wentzell writes about was a paved street where all the kids went to cruz their daddies’ cars on Friday and Saturday nights, and I attended the later part of my ninth grade year at school located in the Capital Hill area.) I think I smiled almost the whole way through it. It is introspective and entertaining, and I give Holy Denver four quills.
Kaye Lynne Booth does honest book reviews on Writing to be Read in exchange for ARCs at no charge. Have a book you’d like reviewed? Contact Kaye at kayebooth(at)yahoo(dot)com.
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“Blood Dawn”: A Mystery Unraveled
Posted: January 12, 2018 Filed under: Action/Adventure, Book Review, Books, Fiction | Tags: Action/Adeventure, Blood Dawn, Book Review, Chris Dibella Leave a comment
Blood Dawn by Chris Dibella has a clever storyline. A mystery leftover from the cold war lands in the laps of NESA agents, Sean Mercer and Pat Vigil. The investigation leads to Flaggler Beach, Florida, where they team up with author Tim Baker’s loveable protagonist, Ike to solve the mystery, but they recover way more than they bargained for, and they must race against the clock to reveal a threat to head off a diabolical plot against the U.S. and thwart an unsuspected nuclear attack.
An underground tunnel system beneath Rocky Flats nuclear facility holds the remains of Russian soldiers, long dead presents a mystery from the past, and Sean and Pat are determined to solve it. The trail they pick up leads to Flaggler Beach, Florida, where Ike joins the party, and together they uncover a plot that could take the U.S. by surprise if they don’t do something to stop them.
Although the characters could have more depth, they are likeable and engaging. While the story does more telling than showing, the plot is fun and entertaining. I give Blood Dawn three quills.
Kaye Lynne Booth does honest book reviews on Writing to be Read in exchange for ARCs at no charge. Have a book you’d like reviewed? Contact Kaye at kayebooth(at)yahoo(dot)com.
