Dark Matters

Dark Matters by Michael Dow
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Dark Matters is a brilliant start to a new trilogy. In a book that began as a kickstarter project I had a keen interest in it and had heard good things from others, leaving me with high expectations.

I am happy to say that my expectations were certainly met. Dark matters is a spectacular new science-fiction thriller that captures the future of our world from three distinct and vastly different view points. This book hits the ground running and never lets up!

The three main characters that he reader follows are Rudy, Monique and Jonas. Rudy is a newly promoted CEO or the world's first trillion dollar company and become privy to the nefarious existence of a group known as the Consortium. Monique was left with an extremely large inheritance that causes her to want to give back and be charitable in life, and also to have the means to pursue the urging of her ever present visions. Jonas is a scientist who funds his dark matter research efforts with grants from his companies efforts to locate asteroids worth the effort of mining for resources from Earth bound companies. Three vastly different individuals, who cast three vastly different lights to the events going on in around the world.

It was hard to put this book down and not know what was coming next. I can't wait to continue on with this trilogy and hope that subsequent books bring as much action and intensity. An easy 5 stars for me.

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The Amber Project

The Amber Project by J.N. Chaney
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

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The Amber Project opens us up to a futuristic world, about 200 years after the spread of a toxic gas known as the Variant (which spread in 2157). The gas steadily spread across the globe killing all living things it came into contact with and drastically changing the atmosphere. The sky is now purple, the grass is now blue and there are some predators who managed to adapt and change, but little is known about them.

An underground city was established and cordoned off and sealed from the Variant. The population is controlled by 3 main sections, the military/education, scientific and the matron. The three bodies must act together in order for there to be any order in this new world. The matron is in charge of all of the mothers that birth the population. Children are made through contacts and a mother must have the right genetic coding in order to be eligible to be a mother. Women see mothering as a sign of honor and stability and began having children as early as 14.

Once children reach the age of 7 they are taken from their homes (only run and managed by their mother and any possible siblings) and placed into the education system. Mara is one of the mothers with almost perfect genetic coding which causes her to be chosen for a specific scientific program, allowing her to fuse new experiments with her eggs to produce a possible child that can exist on the surface of the Earth with the Variant. This child is named Terry.

If you want to know more, than you must read the book. Suffice to say that the book is loaded with a devastating new world, political intrigue and power struggles as well as the troubles of growing into one self with the added side effects of being a scientific experiment.

The story is told through multiple points of view to give a brilliant all-around look into the world. In addition, there are answered questions through the release of past and current audio files and text to help the reader understand what has happened and is happening in the futuristic Earth.

Chaney has managed to brilliantly fortify a place within a genre rife with half-hearted attempts of literature and created a gripping new series! I can't wait to read on. This was an easy 5 stars and hard to put down.

** I received a copy of this book for free with the For Love of a Book Advanced Reader Opportunity Program

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Review: IA: Initiate

IA: Initiate by John Darryl Winston
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is the story of Naz, but it is also more than just about one single character. John Winston has created an almost dystopian-type world, that doesn't seem to be so different than a poor neighborhood. If that neighborhood were to be somehow cut off from the rest of society. As I read this book, I couldn't help feeling that there was a vortex around the area that was not escapable.

Naz is an underrated hidden kind of smart, but also has immense dreams that seem to come true in his sleep... without his control. His sister, Meri has soaring intelligence that pushes Naz to live his life for her and push for he to have a better life outside of their neighborhood.

The opening of the book leaves many intriguing questions for the reader, especially in terms of Naz's parentage, and what sort of experimentation may have been going on while he was still in the womb.
Naz faces many challenging issues such as gangs, and foster care and new schools, but he also finds solace in his sister and in chess, and learning how to be a better person and keep himself away from negative peer pressure.

Overall this was a great read, I was left with a lot of questions and would have liked a bit more character development outside of Naz, but perhaps that was intentional. I really wanted to know more about the place they live and why they were there, I hope this will be revealed in later novels. Solid 4 stars for me. A great debut novel!

I received a copy of this book from the author for free in exchange for a fair and honest review.


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Slip

Slip is written by David Estes, and is the first book in the Slip Trilogy.  It is a fast paced dystopian sci-fi thriller geared for a young adult audience and older.

The book opens up to a view of the now Reorganized United States of American.  After natural disasters have changed the landscape of the country and the scare of food shortage has been numerically assessed, the government has determined an exact population number that can be supported by the current country.  Procreation can only occur after a birth authorization has been purchased and following the receipt of a death certificate.  In short, in order for one to be born, one must first die.  Death certificates can be issued for a terminally ill person, but if that person does not die as planned, than a birth cannot occur. 

Pop Con, short for Population Control, is the government agency responsible for ensuring the enforcement and regulation of such laws.  In the event of unauthorized births/beings or UnBees, they are tasked with tracking down and terminating the unlawful child.  Any child that manages to go undetected past their 2nd birthday is henceforth referred to as a “slip” and is deemed a national security threat. 

Pop Con is heralded for their ability to terminate unauthorized births before a slip occurs.  However, one boy finds himself hidden and protected long past his 2nd birthday.  Being raised by a father and a woman who cares for him he finds himself wondering why he cannot be outside with other children as he gets older. 

This child without a name in his youth starts to figure out that things aren’t right in his life when events lead to his father injecting his eyes to change his identity as he becomes instead Benson and is sent to swim in hopes of survival sent off to a futuristic St Louis.  Benson is left alone and outside of society, having no true knowledge of what is going on.  Many questions and theories lead him to suspect that he may in fact be a slip. 

In this book we get to know many exhilarating characters to conclude the head of Pop Con, Michael Kelly: a man who must make ruthless determinations, while in constant battle with his conscious.  Harrison Kelly, his son who finds hatred in his father for missing so much of his life due to work.  Lucy a street savvy friend and romantic interest of Benson’s who fights to protect her little brother.  Janice, the wife of Michael Kelly, who went from eccentric to mental break and now lives in a mental institution; constantly hallucinating about things that may or may not have been.  Domino Destovan is the sadist you love to hate; his evil endeavors grow throughout the book as well as his thirst for death and acknowledgment. 

The first part of the book is told in First Person POV from a young nameless boy and his views in the world.  News headlines and blurbs are interjected to keep the reader alert of the state of affairs in the country.  Then the book moves on to a more third person POV after the nameless boy becomes Benson.  In the initial naming of Benson, I had a little trouble keeping track of the fast paced character change in the story, but once the narratives became more detailed, it was easy to go back to the flow of the book.

Overall I give Slip 5/5 Stars.  David Estes can create a world like no other, and his ability to bring it to life is commendable.  With a slightly rocky character transition, this levels out enough to not detract from the story.  By the time you get over the transition from unnamed boy to Benson, it is practically impossible to step away from as the action is fast paced.  It very readily flows into a desire to want to know MORE about what happens next.  Although this is a young adult novel, it is definitely on the mature end of the spectrum as there are some themes that may be sensitive to include sexual and physical violence.  If you are interested in dystopian, young adult, population control, futuristic, sci-fi, fiction, action, etc., then this book is definitely worth a read. 

*I received a copy of this book for free in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Don't forget to also check out my review of David Estes' Fire Country.

Ice Cap and The Rift

The Ice Cap & The Rift is written by Marshall Chamberlain and is book 2 in the Ancestor Series. This book picks up where the first book (Mountain Place of Knowledge) left off. The main character of Dr. John Henry Morgan is still the main player of the story with a new event revolving around a combo-quake that has made a huge split in Iceland, exposing a huge rift and possible caves.

The pace of this book is a lot faster than the initial book with the Chinese, CIA, and UN all vying to be in charge of anything that may have been exposed. There is of course a return in alien technology to include alien mobile craft.

I thoroughly enjoyed the ancestor part of the story as well as the descriptions of the newly found environment. Unfortunately I wanted more time to be spent in the environment exploring, and to have a better sense of the size of the found area that was entered.
This book has a main focus on the red tape, and political movement fight that is trying to stay one step ahead of the Chinese and trying to negotiate with the CIA and Americans while appeasing the UN and not compromising the upper hand.

There was definitely a LOT of nail biting action and it was great to see Dr. Morgan take a stand. His ignorance at the feelings between Dr. Mary Ellen Rollins and himself is so frustrating at times. I had moments of wanting to reach through the book and slap some sense into him for her.

Chamberlain does a superb job of making identifiable characters. I had many moments of feeling like if this book was a tv show that I would be yelling at the characters to connect the dots and see what was right in front of them. I love the Triad connection, and found it highly interesting and entirely plausible.

If you know your current events in world powers, this book is definitely an intriguing and exciting look at how all of the players in the game for “power” line up and contend with one another, while trying to save face for the press. As a computer/intel geek I loved the set up at the underground work space and the brilliant descriptions.

Overall I give this book 5/5 stars as it is very well written and comes from a brilliant mind. The Ice Cap & The Rift definitely takes a different tone than the original book, but it is still the ongoing cat and mouse game. I hope to see more of the Ancestors and the exploration of the Alien Technology in the next book, and maybe we can FINALLY get a jump on the Chinese before the end is here. If you are into suspense, adventure, sci-fi, fiction, political, action, espionage, etc.

*I received this book for free in exchange for a fair and honest review.

The Doppler Affect

The Doppler Affect is written by Shawn H. Phillips and features several different POVs throughout the story.  There is an original Doppleganger aka Shapeshifter and a banker named Chris Sands. 
Dr. Phillips has created a story unlike any you have ever read.  His combination of scientific explanations of mythology in the fiction arena are astounding.  The characters are creative and original and each has their own agenda and fight.  Depending upon world views, the "bad guy" can shift from time to time.  Overall the changing points of view allow for a well-rounded vision of the playing field in the story.


My biggest complaints are that the timeline does shift forward and back to fill in the story and sometimes I would have to go back and forth to the dates to figure out what time I was reading about.  The POV shifts were easy to follow for me, but the timeline in the first third of the book jumped quite substantially, this was not an issue in the remaining parts of the book unless a large amount of time had passed.  It could have been a bit more seamless, if there was a specification of years passed since the last passage (such as 15 years later, 20 years earlier, etc.)  My only other complaint is that each character is so in depth, that it was almost too many main characters in such a short amount of page coverage in the last half of the book with so many additional characters added.  I LOVED all of the characters and their descriptions, but I had a hard time grasping many personalized identities about many of them.  I would have loved to have a bit more background and time spent getting to know the characters where appropriate. 

All in all, I felt as though this book was a great "pilot" for setting up the reader into a much larger scheme that is to come.  I definitely hope that Dr. Phillips will continue on with the amazing abilities and identities of these characters and the book definitely ended with a huge opening for a possible continuance of the story.  The character I would most like to explore more of would be the cross-breeds and Candice.  I was never able to full determine if the dark and light sides were all here or a mimicking doppleganger.  I also would have liked to see more of DeSean who seemed to disappear.  Ultimately I am left wanting more details, and hope to see these in the likely future installments of the story.

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars for creative and originality.  There is a bit of a rushed feeling in the end, and I would have liked the pace to remain with the detail oriented feeling that was felt in the rest of the book.  The possibilities of all of the introduced characters and abilities are endless.  I highly recommend The Doppler Affect, especially if you are into fiction, paranormal/fantasy, sci-fi, mythology, romance, mystery, suspense, etc.  

*I did receive a copy of this book for free in exchange for a fair an honest review. 

**This is an 18+ novel as there are some graphic adult scenes. 

A Human Element

A Human Element is written by Donna Galenti and is the first book in the Element Trilogy. The book revolves around 3 main characters, Laura Armstrong an adopted girl who exhibits amazing healing abilities, Ben Fieldstone, a boy whose past links to the site of her birth, and X-10 or Charlie who has a darkness within and has been fueled to anger and an obsession with Laura that has turned to black hatred as he is forced to watch her from afar.

A Human Element covers a span of time periods as we watch the characters grow and develop into whom they are, shaped by forces around them. Each of these characters knows loss in a painful way. Donna was not afraid to face painful and REAL issues head on. There are definitely some areas that graphically deal with encounters such as rape, addiction/depression and death that seem to follow each character. If you are overly sensitive to any of these issues you may find some parts are painful to read.

Galenti did an amazing job of bringing each character to life, whether ancillary or main, they will all be as if before your eyes. I also must commend her on adding in the realism and “humanity” aspect so that no character is 100% perfect or 100% evil.

This book is one of many dark twists and turns and leaving you with many questions that cause you to pass through the pages wanting to know more. Galenti is a superb storyteller and is one that we will see more from in the future. She has the gift of bringing her story to live, the visualization and attention to detail in both character and setting make her rise above many other independent authors that do not devote the time to show a true love for their story as it is transformed into the written form.

Overall, I award this book 4/5 stars. This is an amazing story in the stages of development, although it could definitely be cleaned up a bit (at least on the Kindle copy that I read). This would help eliminate any break in flow. Otherwise, the story was really great and definitely worth the read. This is definitely a story unlike any you have read before. If you are into sci-fi, fantasy, mystery, suspense, romance, fiction, young adult, etc you will definitely want to check this one out!

*I received this book for free in exchange for a fair and honest review.

If you are interested in viewing the author spotlight that I wrote on the fabulous Donna Galenti, check it out here: Spotlight on Donna Galenti

The Universe Builders

The Universe Builders: Bernie and the Putty is written by Steve Lebel and stands out amongst a sea of mediocrity. It features a main character named (surprise) Bernie and he is a God in another Universe that has graduated school with a major in Universe building and is hoping to obtain a job with “the company,” to build universes for a living.

Let me just say that this is one of the best books I have read all year, maybe ever. There are so many phenomenal layers to this book; I feel as though I could reread it over and over again and find something new each time. Steve has created an imaginative world based in possible dimensional trains of thoughts and takes a humorous poke at the idea of not being alone in the universe. He even goes one further and explores the idea of God creating our universe, but not just one God, that there are many Gods in another universe that create countless universes encompassing many life forms.

The Universe Builders provides the reader with a normal guy in our main God named Bernie. He is somewhat of a geek and doesn’t have many friends. He lives in a lesser neighborhood with his mother and is constantly fighting against what seems normal for everyone else. I love his sense of “humanity” in wanting to fight for the most humane treatment of his life forms. When other Gods have no qualms about “blinking” out a life force, Bernie will go out of his way to preserve any life that he can and work around it.

The antagonist of the story is found in Billy. Billy’s life mission has been to bully Bernie throughout school. In an attack on a girl named Suzie, Bernie finally fought back leaving Billy with a permanent scar on his face. When Billy finds himself in the same office as him, he will do anything in his power to ensure that Bernie is fired, and some of his heinous acts break your heart.

I found myself feeling intensely connected to the characters and the situations, especially when it came to some of the life forms. I definitely had a few moments of tearing up and others of wanting to slap Billy in the face haha. This was such a wonderful book, I hated when it ended. I hope to read more about this “universe” created by Mr. Lebel.

Overall I give this book 5/5 stars. I recommend it to anyone. It was so great it should be enjoyed by all. It was well written, detail oriented, well thought-out. I hope to explore more of the worlds within Steve’s mind some day in the future.

*I received this book for free in exchange for a fair and honest review.



AUTHOR BIO

Steve LeBel

How best to describe an author who writes humorous fantasy?
Do we tell about bookshelves full of fantasy, science fiction, and paranormal books, his love of mythology, or the years he spent as dungeon master? Or is it more important to know his favorite player-character was a chaotic-good elven fighter / mage? And what about that stack of old comic books he never seems to get rid of?
There’s a serious side too. The other half of his bookshelf bulges with titles on management, marketing, computer programming, and financial analysis. What about his years as a hospital president, the many businesses he created, or all the time he spent in board rooms? What about his early years counseling drug addicts, or his years as a stock trader?
Is there a pattern to his travels around the world? Why choose places like King Arthur’s Camelot, the Temple of Delphi, Buddha’s Tree of Enlightenment, China’s Forbidden City, or the Great Pyramids of Egypt? What is he seeking?
And what does this have to do with writing good fantasy?
Perhaps it’s that dichotomy within Steve that makes The Universe Builders such a delightful story with such serious undertones.
Book Site:  www.TheUniverseBuilders.com
Email:  Steve@TheUniverseBuilders.com
Twitter:  SteveLeBel
Facebook:  SteveLeBel.Author
GooglePlus:  +SteveLeBel

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BOOK INFO

• Genre:  humorous science fiction / fantasy for young adult and adult
• Title:  The Universe Builders
• Author:  Steve LeBel
• Description:  A young god graduates from God School and gets his dream job of building his first universe.  Plagued by a school rival and aided by his friends, he struggles to create a world he can be proud of.
• Length:  120k words, approximately 420 pages
• Book Trailer:  View Book Trailer
• ISBN-13 (ebook edition):  978-0-9910554-1-8
  • Publication date:  June 1, 2014
  • Price:  $3.99
• ISBN-13 (print edition):  978-0-9910554-0-1
  • Publication date:  August 1, 2014
  • Price:  $16.95
• Library of Congress Control Number [LCCN]: 2014900580
• Publisher:  Argon Press  (www.argonpress.com)
• Review Copies (free):  Request from Publisher.

Publisher’s Note:  This book was offered as an Advance Review Copy under the title Bernie and the Putty.  The book will be published under the title The Universe Builders.

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BOOK REVIEWS
These are some places where you can find book reviews for The Universe Builders:

• GoodReads
• Amazon.com
• Short versions of selected reviews

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READ EXCERPTS
You can read excerpts of the book here.

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TO PURCHASE BOOK(S)
The book is currently available at Amazon.com:

Click to add The Universe Builders to your Amazon Shopping Cart.

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COMPLETE CONTACT INFORMATION
This is the contact info for Steve LeBel:
Book Site:  www.TheUniverseBuilders.com
Book Trailer:  www.TheUniverseBuilders.com/trailer
Email:  Steve@TheUniverseBuilders.com
Twitter:  www.twitter.com/SteveLeBel
Facebook:  www.facebook.com/SteveLeBel.author
Goodreads:  www.Goodreads.com/SteveLeBel
GooglePlus:  www.Google.com/+SteveLeBel
Pinterest:  www.Pinterest.com/SteveLeBelAutho
Personal:  www.SteveLeBel.com
Publisher:  www.ArgonPress.com
Snail mail:

c/o Argon Press
3442 Pigeon Hill
Muskegon, MI 49441

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BLOG TOURS AND GIVEAWAYS
Steve LeBel enjoys participating in blog tours and giveaways.
Author Interviews:

• Interview with Daily Mayo
• Interview with Linda Watkins
• Radio Interview with Dark Mantis Talk
• Interview with H. William Ruback
• Vision and Verse Blog – Interview with Steve LeBel

Please contact him for information, including giveaways.

Spotlight on Donna Galenti

Blurb:


A HIDDEN ELEMENT:


Evil lurks within…

When Caleb Madroc is used against his will as part of his father’s plan to breed a secret alien community and infiltrate society with their unique powers, he vows to save his oppressed people and the two children kept from him. Seven years later, Laura and Ben Fieldstone’s son is abducted, and they are forced to trust a madman’s son who puts his life on the line to save them all. The enemy’s desire to own them—ordestroy them—leads to a survival showdown. Laura and Ben must risk
everything to defeat a new nemesis that wants to rule the world with their son, and Caleb may be their only hope—if he survives. But must he sacrifice what he most desires to do so?



Excerpt:


She trembled beneath him. Color rushed back into her. Her bruises faded. She arched her back and gasped.

He held her to him. Her breath infused his neck with warmth.

“I just wanted to set you free,” he whispered.

“Caleb,” she whispered. “How did you save me?”

He pulled her up and put his robe on her. He would pay for losing it later. He had stowed his extra one nearby. “It doesn’t matter. You must go. Head to the road and away from town. You must reach another town andask for help. Before night comes. Tell no one about this. Pretend you have no memory. Find a church. Someone will help you.”

She looked at him with watery eyes. “My children.”

He grasped her arms. “I will watch over them. You need to go. Now.”

She just stared at him. He shook her. “We’ll both die if you don’t.”

She nodded and hung her head. Caleb lifted her hair away from her face. It shone dark gold in the sun flickering through the trees.

She pushed her hands in his robe pockets and then drew out a piece of paper. He watched her unfold it and read it. He knew it by heart, this last poem he could give her like he’d once given her his love.

She read the last two lines aloud. “Wrapped up in my heart with no place to go. Come, unwrap my heart and set me free in you.” She looked up, a solitary tear rolled down her cheek. “You unwrapped my heart too, Caleb Madroc.”

He pulled her close. Pine cones plunked around them. The wind blew a sweet, mournful song through bare branches. Yellow swirled down. The last dying leaves of autumn. In that moment he believed they were together, out for a walk in the woods before heading home to mate by the fire. A normal life. Somewhere else. Not here. He bent down and kissed her. At first, she didn’t move and then she pressed herself into him. He stroked her hair and took her mouth as a token then he let go and
pushed her off him.

“Go. Now. Be free!”

She stared at him with wild eyes and stumbled away, his poem clutched in her hand. Then she turned and ran. His cloak flowed behind her,  protecting her. He watched her go. He unraveled his full heart and sent  it with her. It did him no good in this place.

He wanted to leave with her, but he had to think of their sons. If he left, his father would kill them. The sun faded behind clouds. He still had work to do. He headed for the tree line to dig a fake grave. He  pushed the image of the hand in the bog away. He didn’t want to know why it was there—or who put it there. There was just one person who would, but he couldn’t face that now.

It was time for his punishment for saving Thomas from humiliation.

His father would add to Caleb’s scars. Those scars Caleb could suffer with.


The scars of Rachel and his sons seared his heart forever.

Buy Links: Purchase Book 2 in the Element Trilogy, A Hidden Element
Purchase Book 1 in the Element Trilogy, A Human Element

About Donna:

Donna Galanti writes murder and mystery with a dash of steam as well as middle grade adventure fiction. She is the author of books 1 and 2 in the paranormal suspense Element Trilogy, A Human Element and A Hidden Element, the short story collection The Dark Inside, and Joshua and The
Lightning Road (Books 1 and 2, 2015). She’s lived from England as a child, to Hawaii as a U.S. Navy photographer. She now lives in Pennsylvania with her family in an old farmhouse. It has lots of writing nooks, fireplaces, and stink bugs, but she’s still wishing for a castle again—preferably with ghosts.


Connect With The Author: Website
Blog
Twitter
Facebook
Goodreads


Giveaway:

Giveaway through end of 9/30. U.S. only.

• 1 (#) winner(s) will receive [(1) Grand Thriller Prize: Bundle of 10 e-Books donated from these bestselling thriller authors David Morrell, Allison Brennan, M.J. Rose, Steve Berry, Eric Van Lustbader, Hank Phillippi Ryan, Doug Preston, Alan Jacobson, Allan Leverone, Jenny
  Milchman] (approximate retail value or “ARV”: $100)

• 1 (#) winner(s) will receive [(1) Super Get Mind Blown Prize: 2 signed paperbacks by NY Times best selling author Heather Graham, The Following Season 1 on DVD, Book on Conspiracies & Secret Societies, Inception on DVD] (approximate retail value or “ARV”: $100)

• 1 (#) winner(s) will receive [(1) $100 Amazon Gift Card] (approximate retail value or “ARV”: $100)

• 1 (#) winner(s) will receive [(1) Bundle of 5 Thriller e-Books from Imajin Books authors] (approximate retail value or “ARV”: $100)

• 1 (#) winner(s) will receive [(1) Paperback of Donna Galanti's A Human Element, Book 1 in Element Trilogy] (approximate retail value or “ARV”: $100)

• 1 (#) winner(s) will receive [(5) e-Book copies of Donna Galanti's short story collection The Dark Inside] (approximate retail value or “ARV”: $100) 
  
  a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Historian's Tale

The Historian's Tale is written by K.B. Shaw and is the 1st Book in the NeWorld Paper Series.  This is a sci-fi/fantasy book filed with intrigue and highly imaginative story telling.  The book is based around a man on the brink of 18 named Fallon.

The Historian's Tale paints a world that operates with little to no emotion and a plethora or rules and order.  Children come about based upon contracts which decide which parent will get to keep the child.  Once a contract of coupling is complete, people will go their separate ways and the parent with the contract will raise the child.  If a man is not born with a contract he will be "stemmed", and therefore unable to provide any offspring.  This is a way to retain order and to prevent over population.  (Kind of sounds like something the Chinese would come up with). 

Shaw did an impeccable job with descriptions of the world and the development of the story and the characters.  Whilst reading this book I found myself vested in the main characters and wanting to know them more and was rooting for them.  The concepts that have been created and the slight reference to Marx are brilliant.  I don't want to give any of the details that unfold away so I will leave it at that.

As a ward of his school institute, Fallon will be left out on his own in the near future when he turns 18 and has no idea what will become of him.  After witnessing a heinous crime occur, he finds himself constantly looking over his shoulder.  The many rules of NeWorld do not provide for my ingenuity or imagination, which leaves Fallon's ability to draw anything in detail from memory an ability that must be hidden.  Without warning he is then purchased by a wealthy woman to be indentured help.  Nothing that has happened to him in life thus far is going to prepare him for what is to come. 

I give this book 5/5 stars, as I was engrossed in it and was finding any small amount of time that I could spare to read more into the story.  I was hooked from the beginning and I love all of the thought provoking aspects that Shaw has added into this tale.  I cannot wait to read Book 2 and get more involved with the story.  It was a pleasure "watching" the story develop before my very eyes.  This would make for an excellent movie or mini series.  If you are into sci-fi, fantasy, romance, new adult, young adult, mystery, suspense, and fiction this book is definitely for you. 

*I received this book for free in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Lantamyra

I received this book for free in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Lantamyra is written by Susan Waterwyk and is a fantasy novel. From the beginning of the book we are introduced to Lenora who is from the world of Lantamyra but has been residing on Earth for the past 40 years. She is in search of a crystal scepter so that she may return home. Her granddaughter

Susan did a brilliant job of initially setting the story up. I was excited to read this story from the description, fantasy is my favorite of all genres the initial characters are definitely described and personified well. I loved her use of women as rulers, and of course the dragons and many other world creatures to supplement the story. The concept of the crystals and their power was also very intriguing.

As the story progresses, it feels like you are running down a slope and then you start a long trek up to the top of a mountain. Lantamyra is heavy on the details and it does well to give you a feel for where you are in her vision. However, as the book goes on there is a lot of meaningless dialogue that seems to stretch on and retract from the story. The flow of the story gets off track and seems to take forever to take the reader to where it is trying to go. The pace gets so slow at some points, that I hate to say that I started to grow kind of bored with the story.

Overall I give this book 3 out of 5 stars. There is a wonderful story to tell within this book, but some editing out of the fluff in the novel would do wonders to speed up the pace. Background on events and characters other than the 3 main ones would also give more depth to the book. I love the concept and idea of the story, and the unique ideas that Susan has. An edit for content would do wonders in making this story even better. If you enjoy fantasy, romance, and fiction, this novel is definitely for you.
Tylya is privy to the knowledge of the scepter and has planned to go with her grandmother when she returns home. Josh is in love with Tylya and ends up stowing away to be with Tylya assuming he can easily return home to Earth.

The Mountain Place of Knowledge

I received this book for free in exchange for a fair and honest review.

The Mountain Place of Knowledge is written by Marshall Chamberlain and is the first in the Ancestor Series. The book revolves around a location in Caracol Ruins of Belize. An ancient Mayan priestess penned a journal that has been found and is being translated, but the words found on the pages describe things that cannot be in the real world.

The Mountain Place of Knowledge is unlike any book that I have ever read before. I am not sure what depths of Marshall’s soul that this book was written from, but it is almost as if he was channeling another entity. This book spoke to me on so many levels. I am not even sure how to fully describe this book. I think it was put out there for the depth of a certain kind of reader. Even if that is not you, this book will not disappoint.

The actual mountain foretold in the title is one that is supposed to possess healing powers if the Mayan journal is to be believed. However it may also hold the key to great powers of destruction. Once the UN representatives get inside, what they find is beyond anything that they could have imagined.

Marshall has written this story to give the fully encompassed view of all that is going on. The beginning of the book does take a short while to get used to the change in view points, but it hooks you in from the beginning. Once the ball really gets rolling, it doesn’t stop until the very last page that left me wanting more. There are quite a few players in this book, but let’s suffice it to say that there are representatives from the UN, and Belize museum, Chinese intelligence and everything in between.

As the main view point tends to me from the UN representatives I definitely felt more connected to them and was rooting for them. Of course the crazy Chinese capabilities always get so frustrating in the race against time. There is definitely a lot of suspense throughout the story and the ending is extremely action packed with updates by the minute. This book does a good job of both providing closure and leaving the door open for the next book. I was definitely hoping there would be another visit to the mountain to see what else was in there.

Overall I give this book 5/5 stars. It was written very well and definitely came from unique ideas and a unique perspective on history and the world around us. If you are into sci-fi, techno thrillers, military, fiction, historical fiction, action, suspense, thriller, etc., then his book is definitely for you.

Rogue Hunter: Inquest

I received this book for free in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Rogue Hunter: Inquest is a book written by Kevis Hendrickson. It is the first in the Rogue Hunter series and centers around a galactic bounty hunter named Zyra Zanr.

Rogue Hunter is a Sci-Fi novel that starts out with a news bulletin that states that the wanted killer Boris Skringler has been captured in New Venus. The bounty hunter Zyra Zanr went to retrieve him and was also captured, who is now believed to be dead.

It took me about 4% of the book to figure out what was going on… and then I couldn’t put the book down. I lost sleep I got so into the story. It is not just any book that can possess a reader in the way that Rogue Hunter:Inquest had with me. I loved about 85=90% of the story. But when the galactic battle began, I felt like the visualization and character connection was all of a sudden missing. There were all these names of ships, but not a good idea of the size or capability of them. Also the new players on the scene in the battle had little descriptors that stood out, except for their eyes.

Overall, the flow of this book was exquisite. I loved that Kevis was not afraid to push the envelope and that Zanr was not choosy in the sex of her heart’s desire. There was not a lot of background in the beginning, but flashbacks filled the reader in on what brought Zanr to the present predicament. It was easy to connect with Zanr and root for her. The ending was one of those “please don’t let it be true…” sort of endings that left me wanting more from this series.

I give this book a 4.5/5 stars. If it wasn’t for the jumble of the battle I would give it a 5/5 either way for site review purposes, it deserves to be rounded up to a 5. For a book that I cannot put down in my busy lifestyle that is saying a lot about the story telling ability of the author. I highly recommend this book as an entertaining read. It is most suitable for people who enjoy sci-fi, romance, intrigue, betrayal, suspense, unsavory characters, fiction, woman-empowering, etc.

Becoming Human

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. 

Becoming Human (the 1st book in the Exilon 5 Trilogy) is written by Eliza Green.  Admittedly I was surprised that this was written by a woman, from the first 1/3 of the book, I had the feeling that it was written by a man.  Considering that the story is told predominantly through the eyes of men, I must commend Eliza on capturing the essence of man in storytelling views. 

Becoming Human is based in the year 2163 when Earth is overpopulated and polluted to the point that the sun is no longer visible in the sky and the temperatures have dropped.  A planet named Exilon 5 has been terraformed and has replicated 5 major cities that people have started being transported to.  However, the race that was on Exilon 5 before the terraforming process were not completely annihilated and have continued to thrive under the surface. 

Eliza does a great job of combining many fears and speculations into her futuristic novel.  Everyone has an ID chip embedded in their thumb that is used for everything from signatures to building entry.  Overcrowding has reached the point that bodies of water have been filled in to create more housing.  Medical advances allow people to live well into their 100s, reaching 175 as a ripe old age.  Optional suicide booths that inject a substance to painlessly kill people due to the mass overcrowding.  Workers are required for weeks at a time with drugs that allow them to stay awake and only getting hours or a single day off after a week or longer shift.  With no space for additional housing and the lack of sunlight from the layer of pollution, food can no longer be grown on Earth and people eat and drink substances from food replication machines to get the appropriate nutrients.  Vitamin D shots are readily available for mood enhancement due to the lack of sunlight.

The Prologue to the book had useful information but was very dry and overly technical.  It kind of set a negative tone for the book, and I was a little worried about whether or not I would be reading an enjoyable story or a science fiction technical novel; luckily the rest of book is much more inviting and easy to become immersed in.  Eliza has written a lot of characters that are cold and detached in many ways, and yet still have the ability for you to get to know them and want to know more about their stories.  The main negative thing that I have to say about this book would be the dry prologue and the fact that it needs a cleaner edit.  There were times within the novel that some sentences would be incomplete or missing a word on the end of them. 

Becoming Human is written from many different perspectives to give a "whole picture" kind of feel.  In the beginning it took a little bit of getting used to with a bit of jumping around in locations, but once I got into the story line and used to the different locations of main characters I had no problems seamlessly switching between people and locations for more pieces of the puzzle that was uncovering the big secret of Exilon 5. 

Overall I think that Eliza has a winning story with Becoming Human.  The build up is done well with hints at possibilities but nothing to amount to the actual ending of the story.  The book closes well, with lead up into the next book in the Trilogy, but not with a complete drop off.  I enjoyed the characters and was definitely feeling anger and disgust at what the leading organizations have been up to, and I am definitely interested in reading the second book: Altered Reality.  I give this book 4/5 stars, and could easily bump it up to 5 with some cleaner edit and a prologue that was easily to connect with.  If you are into Sci-Fi, Futuristic novels, Mysteries, Suspense, Space travel and Terraforming, this book is definitely right up your alley. 

Dark Luminance

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.

Dark Luminance is written by E. M. McDowell and is a Sci-Fi, Horror, Action novel.  McDowell writes with the knowledge of technology and science.   The book revolves around the main character Mack and his friends/coworkers as they are thrust from Earth into a parallel dimension of a similar world, that is like our own on the surface.  Unfortunately, that is where similarities end, as they actually end up meeting someone who has the same name and face as someone they knew on Earth, and yet is a completely different person. 

Mack is plagued by guilt and ghosts of his past and is craving a release, but in his search for a greater energy source, he ends up dragging his friends and another person working at his lab along for the ride.  It is not long before they are encountered and attacked by untold horrors.  I must commend McDowell on this book because he has taken a lot of traditional science fiction ideas and given them an original twist that claims them as his own inventions.

Dark Luminance is fast paced from the beginning and doesn't let up until the end.  It is written in a way that it could easily be recreated as a horror movie.  The possibilities of where this story could go are endless.  The ending is very open-ended in that the reader can be left wondering if this is the end or if there is more to come.  Personally I am hoping to see several more books with these characters to explore what they may encounter next.

McDowell has introduced characters that are realistic and have doubts and emotional issues.  He has also introduced characters that make you cringe and keep hoping they will die and that you will figure out what their ulterior motives may be.  It is easy to follow along on this journey with the characters that are brought to life on the pages.

Admittedly I was hoping that with the concept of parallel universes and that possible parallel selves may have been pulled back to Earth in our lifetime that we would have been able to get to know those characters and what they will be.  I kept wondering if they are dead in one world will they transport?  What if they are some of the horrors encountered in the new world, what would that do to Earth as we know it?   This was on thing that I really felt was missing in the story, but perhaps it could be a second part so as not to confuse the reader.  The only other negative aspect that really stood out for me was in the last 10% of the story, it seemed that the counting of the characters was sometimes off.  Sometimes referring to the group as three and sometimes as four, wasn't always adding up for me. 



Overall I give Dark Luminance 4/5 stars.  It was an enjoyable read and had a lot of innovative ideas.  I hope to see more books about these characters and concepts and hope that the ending will be a start to a new "chapter" in this story.  If you are into Sci-Fi, Horror, Action, or Thrillers, you would enjoy this book!