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.

View all my reviews

Review: The Girl on the Train

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Girl on the Train starts out in a painful rendition of the mind of a blackout alcoholic. I can't say that this first section of the book is easy or enjoyable to read, but I must commend Paula Hawkins or her chilling rendition of the realities of the disease known as Alcoholism.

Once Rachel is established, you travel through the minds of 2 other women to get a more complete telling of the story. This psychological thriller is chilling in it's regard to human emotion and mentality.

It will keep you guessing and hoping for and against certain information to be exposed or outcomes to be revealed. This is a book the exposes aspects of sociopathic and psychopathic tendencies. It does such a good job that I was personally affected due to experiences with both in my own life. It was very chilling to say the least to see how something can so easily spin out of control in life.

Amazing job creating this environment to make the reader feel such, and makes me highly suspicious that she has experienced many of these personalities in person. 5 Stars for a brilliant creation.

This book is currently being made into a major motion picture as well!

View all my reviews

The Last Lover

The Last Lover is written by Can Xue (pen name for Deng Xiaohua), and translated from Chinese into English by Annelise Finegan Wasmoen.

If Quentin Tarentino was living in a Vanilla Sky-esque world in the middle of a Twilight Zone episode and writing in traditional Chinese metaphors, this book would be the result. This has to be the strangest book I have ever read. Having a little bit of background in Chinese culture, I was able to understand some of the writing stance of the author. Many Chinese stories are told through metaphors (much like reading Aesop’s fables).

In the Last Lover, we follow along the journeys of the characters Joe: a worker at a clothing factory and separately his wife Maria. Vincent: the owner of the clothing factor and separately his wife Lisa from the gambling city. Reagan: the owner of a Rubber Tree plantation who buys his uniforms from the clothing factory and briefly his sometimes mistress, Ida.

Each of these characters is on their own journey through their thoughts and every single one of them has trouble telling reality from the created worlds within their minds. There is a blending of realities between characters as they each feature at some point or another within the “reality” of the other characters. Can Xue has also created many other interesting characters along the way.

I can’t really say that this is a “good” book, but I can’t very well rate it below 3 stars. If nothing else, the creativity and originality of the Last Lover is beyond comparison. Can Xue paints beautiful descriptions of the people (when relevant) and their locations. She does an amazing job of making you constantly question reality, just as each character does themselves.

The beginning is a little hard to get into the flow with her unique style of writing. However, once you grasp the way that Can Xue has chosen to tell her story, you are more easily to follow along with the journeys. The characters themselves are definitely interesting to get to know, and I think that Maria and Joyner were definitely my favorite characters. Can Xue depicts the fears and desires from the depths of each character’s psyche.

Overall I still stand by my 3/5 star review due to the actual story as a whole. I had many grand illusions of what the point of the book itself would be. I should have known, given the Chinese desire to leave a story with a messed up ending, but I even anticipated this and still felt extreme disappointment in the final closing scene. I wanted there to be a better wrap up of all that had transpired. In its way there is a closure, but I wanted something more from the intense journeys that were traveled with the characters than the ending that fell flat from such expectations. If you are interested in taking a journey unlike any other, this book is still worth the read, and it is definitely a unique story of its own. I could easily see it being made into a Vanilla Sky type of movie and again, I must commend Can Xue on her beautiful originality, even if the journey was a bit messed up along the way.

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

Deadly Practice

Deadly Practice is written by Bill Yancey and is a loose sequel many years later to Reluctant Intern. The main character continues to be Dr. Addison “Addy” Wolf.

Addison finds himself returning to Florida (the place of his internship) after failure with his own medical clinic. He takes on a position with a private clinic with people he had worked with in the past. Everything is going great until he meets Sarafea Seville, the office manager who is out for money, no matter whose job she must squeeze it from.

Although constantly complaining that people are overpaid for their positions, she still manages to constantly create more positions with less qualified people making higher ranges for any employees that she fires. The partners that created the new Care facilities seem content to let her run it into the ground as long as the profits continue to soar and they can reap the benefits.

The book has a slightly rocky start, moving at a rather slow pace and lacking flow between chapters, but luckily as Addy settles into his new position the suspense builds and the pace picks up. I once again enjoyed the witty humor smattered throughout the book.

I love that Addy is more interested in being a good doctor, but also has the balls to stand up for himself. Sarafea is an attractive, power-hungry, ballsy dictator as she swiftly takes over every aspect of the clinics. When death attempts begin on Sarafea’s life, it’s hard to know for sure who may be the culprit with the amount of people who wish for her death.

Addy desperately wants to leave the job that he hates that begins putting a strain on his marriage and even his health. Unfortunately, he staked everything he had on this being a lucrative opportunity and does not have the freedom due to debt to just relocate again so quickly. His sanity is partially maintained due to his friendship with ex-Navy Seal, Jake Harer and their frequent handball appointments. Harer’s hatred of Sarafea leads Addy to wonder if the death attempts are coming from his friend and place him in a precarious position.

Yancey again does a splendid job of creating real people and circumstances that always make the reader question if he is writing partially from self-experience. The narration is well done and the descriptions help you get to know the characters and the way that they are feeling to drive their actions.

Overall I give this book 4/5 stars. It was great to revisit Addy and the medical word with Yancey. I did hope to see more conspiracy against Sarafea, but the book took a realistic standpoint. If you are interested in Medical Suspense, Mystery, fiction, etc., this book is for you.

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

The Tears of Nero

The Tears of Nero is written by Jason Brannon and features a story reminiscent of SAW and featuring Christianity and beliefs in angels and the apocalypse.

When describing this book, I most commonly refer to it as “The Dark Religious Saw” book. It features religious zealotry for personal gain at its finest. There are a plethora of Old Testament religious names and ideas that occur within this novel. However, do not let the religious aspect cause you to shy away from this book. As someone who will usually pass up overly religious fiction, this was a thrilling read. It was definitely worth the read and the religion was the driving force for sides both “good” and “evil.”

I had many conspiracy theories about characters throughout the book and can admit slight disappointment at none of them coming to pass as huge twists in the story, but it was still a very good suspense read.

The book opens in a man having a possible psychotic break when he is visited by a dark angel after having lost his mother to cancer which makes him question his faith and belief in God. The question that pervades his mind and remains a theme throughout the story is “Why do bad things happen to good people?” At this time he is reminded of and envisions the historical Roman emperor Nero who massacred Christians during his reign.

Five people awaken after having been drugged at a party on what they think is a deserted island. Quickly, they realize that they are instead about to play a game that may cost them their lives. They are faced with experiences that will make them question their faith, and everything they know about people and life in order to entertain the curiosity of a madman. Each of them has something in common in one way or another, but can they figure it out in time?

Brannon did an excellent job of creating realistic characters and breathing into them life. The surroundings were described well and you could feel the ominous tones of the book. My main complaints are there were a few typos peppered here and there throughout the story and that I wanted it to have more twists to totally blow away any notions of solving the mystery.

Overall this was an entertaining read that is well deserving of 4/5 stars. I would definitely be interested in reading more of Brannon’s work and I highly recommend this novel. If you are into anything from suspense to religion to fiction in general, you will enjoy this book.

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

The Witch's Revenge

The Witch’s Revenge is written by Danny Odato and is his debut novel.  It features around an Indian village that becomes plagued by unexplainable accidents and deaths.

Let’s talk about the good parts first.  The base story of a girl out for revenge who learns dark craft is intriguing, and the village has likeable enough characters.  There is great potential in this story and it was different enough from other common topics that it was enjoyable.  It was apparent that Danny Odato took the time to understand certain close-knit aspects of a small Indian community.

This was easily identifiable as a debut novel by one main feature: editing, or lack thereof.  My first problem with this book arose from the cover photo.  There is a young woman in black that is very obviously not of Indian descent.  This struck me as unfitting, when so much of the book is featured around the importance of a traditional Indian village.  With so much focus on tradition, it seemed weird that there were a couple of Christian references to God from a traditional sense that would be focused more on a specific God and not just “God” in general, in Hindu belief. 

Danny Odato uses a multitude of Indian words, but offers no glossary and a lack of any explanation within the book for many of the words.  As a reader you are forced to try to take the context around the word to try to translate what he was meaning, and in some cases, you are left with a guess that is never confirmed, even after completion of the book. 

My number one complaint about this book; apart from the editing in general, would be a complete lack of descriptions.  I have no idea what anyone or anything in this book actually looks like.  I find it ignorant to just assume that “everyone looks like a traditional Indian”.  That could mean so many different things depending on the section of India that they are in.  The most description we get is about minute details, such as eyes gouged out or the beads of the witch.  Also the description of a persona was missing.  Instead of describing a character in a way that the reader can feel their emotions, the emotions are given repeatedly with no real descriptions, such as might saying someone walked depressingly and spoke depressingly.  I wanted to yell: “Quit telling me and show me”. 

Overall I give this book 2/5 stars.  I give Danny Odato props for putting himself out there and getting a book onto paper which is more than a lot of people have accomplished.  However, with that being said, you would think that he would have had some people look it over and edit it for me.  There was a complete 3 page section at the end of a chapter that was exactly repeated a few chapters later.  With some editing and possibly a descriptive writing workshop, I think that this story could blossom into something that would make a more enjoyable read.  It caters to a lover of witchcraft, India, fiction, mystery, 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

Spotlight on God on Trial by Sabri Bebawi

Blurb:

Convinced that God is a negative force, tormenting the helpless human race, an ailing English professor becomes determined to put the deity on trial.  But when he’s diagnosed with schizophrenia, he soon succumbs to the damning madness and brutally stabs and kills his wife. And in the deadly manhunt that ensues, he is ultimately shot dead by the police.   This prompts his grieving sister to follow through his life’s mission to bring God to justice.

See the Book Trailer on Youtube!

Excerpt:

He’s now back home in California. It is another night. That
tantalizing sensation overtakes his natural senses again. Growing up, he always felt a sense of discomfort that was unrelated to his illnesses, and he still feels it now. He never has been able to identify the source of his severe and unusual discomfort. He wonders whether it was his family, religion in general, or society, with its unscrupulous culture.

He thinks of his parents. “Sadly, They were at odds,” he hears himself utter. “And rightfully so.”

His mother was at home, taking care of five kids, and his father was
either working or endlessly playing. His mother had a tender soul. She was simple, affectionate, and caring, and loved her children dearly. The child in him sees her before him as a pretty young woman with fair skin, brown hair, and large brown eyes. She stands by his bed; she is neither too tall nor too short and neither too slim nor too heavy, but she is mysterious. Though his mother probably never knew it, she has had an immense impact on his life that continues with him until this moment of certain hallucination.
 
He becomes fully awake. It is 2:25 a.m. He gets up and decides to make a cup of espresso forte. After breaking a couple of coffee cups, spilling coffee all over his kitchen counter and floor, and mumbling a few expletives, he cleans up. Now he is calm; now he will taste the fruit of his coffee-making adventure; he places the cup on his desk and starts to write.  
I’m not sure my parents’ odd relationship had any effect on me. I was a happy child tormented by religion and religious people’s
hallucinations. I was tormented by Egyptian hypocrisy. I’ve seen a great deal of hypocrisy, child abuse, infidelity, abuse of women, and abuse by the government, churches, and mosques.  
He hears the voice of his mother; during his childhood she always
read to him in bed before he went to sleep. Now she reads from the
Bible. In both her wisdom and lack of awareness, she reads from the Book of Genesis and the Book of Revelations. This exposure to apocalyptic writing at a very young age has had a profound effect on him.
 
Being imaginative, and in this phantasmagoric state, he now experiences the same fright he experienced as a child. He returns to bed and suddenly falls asleep but is soon awoken by one of his many epileptic seizures. His body shakes uncontrollably, and his tremors seem to have a mind of their own.

As his attack gradually dissipates, he thinks of the savagery of God and questions why a peaceful God would be so cruel and nasty. These thoughts make him feel even more terrified. Since childhood he has been petrified of that entity referred to as “God.”

At age seven or eight, he developed an obsessive-compulsive disorder.  He’d repeat the phrase “God forgive me” to himself all day until he went to bed. He kept this a secret because he had no idea how his mother, siblings, or Zakia would react. He remembers that he often went to Zakia, who was a Muslim, and asked her to hold him. She would oblige, and he would feel protected, even from that savage God.

He gets out of bed. It is 3:42 a.m. He makes another cup of espresso forte and sits at his desk, thinking. Again he writes.

This phase simply shaped my feelings about whether God does indeed exist. I often thought I’d be better than him or her or it, for I would not be as cruel, brutal, or malicious. Today I am an agnostic, and I can’t get myself to understand why anyone would believe in such a God as depicted in the holy books, including the Bible.

In addition to the Bible, there were other sources of great damage.  Egypt is an Islamic country. I was exposed to and forced to learn about Islam and its holy book, the Quran, which is like the Bible in its
catastrophic content. I was forced to learn about the Islamic laws, Sharia, even though I was a Coptic. I did so in schools, and I did so in everyday affairs. I was even forced to memorize and recite verses from the Quran, which also had a negative impact on me.

The daily prayers announced over loudspeakers, and coming from all directions, were a frightening experience for me. Everywhere in Egypt, between each mosque there is a mosque, and even that wasn’t enough. The radio broadcasted Quran readings repeatedly. Even today the memory of these sounds brings a deep downheartedness to my soul.

I remember Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman, the blind cleric who’s in a North Carolina prison now for conspiring to commit terrorism. His mosque was right behind our house. I remember Abdel-Rahman’s Friday sermons. He’d curse the Christians, Jews, and Americans (I don’t know why he cursed Americans) publically over a loudspeaker that echoed miles away. The sheikh would scream in a screeching, deafening voice, “May God burn them and displace their children, and may God burn their houses.” The congregation would repeat, “Amen.” And the pattern would continue.

This persisted for a long time. We were so used to it, however, that it didn’t bother us much. The amazing thing is that Sheikh Abdel-Rahman was a friend of my father’s. He often visited my father at his law firm and spent hours talking with him. My father considered him a harmless, kind man.

Well, for once my father was wrong. The sheikh always has been a terrorist, and he put his evil spirit into action. Fortunately he’s in prison now. I hope he never gets out.

He stops writing for a minute and wonders how the United States allowed that savage man to enter this country. Where was American intelligence?  Didn’t they know how radical Abdel-Rahman was? This was simply bizarre.  But the United States government overlooks such things so often that he
wonders whether the word intelligence is fitting at all.

His mind is racing, and he grows exhausted with the burden of thoughts.  Hoping for a few minutes of sleep, he goes back to bed. His hope materializes, or perhaps he thinks so; at the very least, he is
semi-asleep.

Buy Link:

Amazon

About the Author:

The middle of five children, Sabri Bebawi was born in 1956 in the town of Fayoum, Egypt, where he attended law school at Cairo University. He then left Egypt for the United Kingdom. He was invited by Oxford University, where he spent some time, and never returned to Egypt. A few years later, after living and working in England, Italy, France, and Cyprus, he took refuge in the country he loved most, the United States.

In California he studied communications at California State University, Fullerton, then obtained a master’s degree there in English education. Later he worked at many colleges and universities
teaching English as a second language, freshman English, journalism, and educational technology. He did further graduate work at UCLA and obtained a PhD in education and distance learning from Capella University.

Although English is his third language, he has published many works in English on eclectic topics. It has always been his ambition to write novels, and this is his first attempt. As English is a foreign language to him, the task of writing a novel has been challenging.

As a child, Bebawi struggled to make sense of religions and their contradictions; in fact he grew up terrified of the word God. As he grew older and studied law, as well as all the holy books, he developed a more pragmatic and sensible stance; the word became just that—a word.

Connect With The Author:

Website
Blog  
Facebook
Twitter

Giveaway:
Enter to win one of three e-book copies of God on Trial. To enter, simply leave a comment with
your email address on the tour post. The giveaway will be open 9/22/14 –10/20/14. To increase your chances of winning, simply follow the tour and comment at each stop! Winners will be randomly selected and contacted by the author after the tour is over.

Graeme Ing: Interview

I was given the opportunity to interview author Graeme Ing after reading his enjoyable book Necromancer.
You can see my review here: Necromancer Review

Please take this time to get to know Graeme a bit more and then also check out Necromancer as well as his other books:

How did you get into writing?

I began scribbling stories as a teen (a long time ago!) and even typing screenplays on a manual typewriter. I think it stemmed from my immersion into fantasy and sci-fi as a kid. I blame...er thank... my mother for that. As my career and life took over (like it does), I found little time to write, but returned to my lifelong dream of becoming an author about 8 or 9 years ago. With so many ideas, worlds and characters whizzing around my head, I'm not going to stop now.

What made you choose the topic of necromancy for your book?

Magic and creatures from beyond the grave are a solid staple of fantasy. To me, necromancy is a sinister subject that conjures images of decrepit sorcerers in dark cellars poring over ancient spellbooks to summon nasty creatures. I wanted to turn that trope on its head. I wanted necromancers to be protecting people from undead and spirits. I wanted a young hero, and I wanted to thrust a female into a male-dominated profession. That was the premise that drew me to writing this book. Necromancers can be heroes, right?

What was the religious background that you incorporated into the lives of your characters?

Like most books in the fantasy genre, I drew upon a "pagan" pantheon of Gods, but chose to leave it open as to whether such Gods had real power in the physical world. Like ancient times on Earth, each God or Goddess represented a sphere of life such as justice, nature, storms, or in the case of Lak (referred to many times in the book), God of the underworld and demons. In the city in the book, the temples to all the Gods are clustered in the mighty Temple Plaza, and I envisioned it likely that the populace would worship multiple Gods rather than a single one, or perhaps only Belaya, who is the mother of the Gods. I chose not to make religion a significant factor in the book, but more a backdrop. I was trying not to make any religious statements.

Is there an author that stands out to you as inspiration?  If so, what was it about this author that gave you inspiration?

Anne McCaffrey has inspired me more than any single author. I'm still incredibly impressed with the depth of her characters, her incredible imagination and how she wove in romance and tension without the need for indulgent sex or excessive violence. I found myself deeply engrossed in every character she wrote. If you've read The Harper hall trilogy and had your emotions ripped apart by the struggle of Menolly, then you know exactly what I mean. She's one of the rare authors that could make me actually cry because she wrote emotional drama so well.

Will there be another book to carry out the adventures of the characters remaining from Necromancer?

For sure! Not immediately. I have 3 or 4 other books that need writing first, but I definitely want to tell more about Maldren and Ayla's adventures together. I already have an outline for another book set in the city of Malkandrah, involving a daring swordswoman forced into a series of deadly actions to save her young daughter. Phyxia will make an appearance in that too.

What is your favorite target audience to write for?

That's a great question. Women I think. Traditionally, females in fantasy and sci-fi have had a bad rap, serving as victims or eye candy. Ayla (and Lissa from my first book "Ocean of Dust", and Majara from my upcoming romantic adventure) are free-spirited and adventurous female characters that I love to write about.

Do you have any advice that you would give to any aspiring authors out there?

Doubts and fears are a fact of life for an author, so don't let them deter you. Keep writing what you enjoy. Be bold, be creative, and keep pushing yourself to strengthen your writing craft. Despite recent successes in the Indie field, this isn't a get rich quick scheme. Writing involves long hours grappling with plot and character, building a reputation with readers one book at a time. Keep writing, even when you feel like you are writing junk. Keep writing. Keep editing. The satisfaction that comes when a reader enjoys your story is worth every hour at the keyboard. Chase your dream. Never give up.

Excerpt from Necromancer (Sinister):

She glanced at me then the ground below, but only clung tighter. A man appeared at the window, his teeth bared. Four scratches on his cheek oozed red. White drool speckled his trimmed beard. He clawed at her. She scrunched her eyes shut and wailed.

With a crack, the casement tore free, and she plummeted into my arms. We tumbled to the ground and the smoke surrounded us like a pack of wild animals.

I rolled to my feet, helped her up, and dragged her down the street, holding my breath as long as I could. She coughed and choked, resisting my pull. Murder flared in her eyes. I slapped her.

“Trust me. Hold your breath and stay with me.” I yanked her forward.

I shouldn’t have spoken. Smoke surged down my throat and I gagged.

Rage ignited inside me. I wanted to tear out her rabid eyes. My arm squeezed hers until she cried out, and I knew that I could break it with a twist, could snap her entire frail body. My gaze fixed on her pale, sweat-soaked throat. It invited me to choke the life from her, watch her struggle and finally go limp. My pulse quickened. Anger flooded my veins. Then my hands were around her throat, squeezing, crushing. She coughed and drooled thick, white saliva. Her blue eyes locked with mine but she put up no resistance. A smile twitched on her lips as my thumbs dug deeper. Ah, the sweet moment of superiority. How would it feel to kill? Delicious. It washed the tight pain from my head.

Something flickered deep within me. This was wrong.

Buy Links:

Amazon Kindle

Amazon Paperback

Barnes and Noble

iTunes

Kobo

About the Author:

Graeme Ing engineers original fantasy worlds, both YA and adult, but hang around, and you’ll likely read tales of romance, sci-fi, paranormal, cyberpunk, steampunk or any blend of the above.

Born in England in 1965, Graeme moved to San Diego, California in 1996 and lives there still. His career as a software engineer and development manager spans 30 years, mostly in the computer games industry. He is also an armchair mountaineer, astronomer, mapmaker, pilot and general geek. He and his wife, Tamara, share their house with more cats than he can count.

Connect With The Author:

Website

Blog

Facebook

Twitter

Google+

Goodreads

Amazon Author Page

Enter to win a $25 Amazon gift card! This giveaway will run the length of the tour. Open internationally. Enter through Rafflecopter.

Necromancer

The Necromancer is written by Graeme Ing and features a man by the name of Maldren that is from the detested guild of necromancers.  He proudly wears his robes of office and valiantly works to save the people from things they don’t even know exist.  In his attempt to obtain a title of Master from his guild he is given an apprentice to train.  This apprentice happens to be a girl, which is rare in a mainly male field of work. 

Necromancer hits the ground running and although it is action packed, Graeme introducing many new elements in a world of his creation.  He has a different religious structure and throws around different names in curses (such as Kristach) that have no bearing on a new reader.  A prologue would be a welcome addition to give the reader a frame of reference and some background information.

When an unknown terror is threatening the lives of people in his city, Maldren must go deep into the underground below the city to try to the source.  It seems left up to him to fight this darkness with a young apprentice by his side. 

Graeme did a superb job of creating monstrous terrors of the dark.  These creatures were very imaginative and worked as great extensions of the villainous elements of the book.  The created world of Necromancer is a pleasure to visit and the suspense and secrets make for an enjoyable read.

I enjoyed getting to know Maldren and his apprentice Ayla.  Ayla was spunky and brave and a great woman-empowering character.  Out of everyone in the book, I would have to say that I was most intrigued by the character of Phyxia and wished there was more of her in the novel. 

Overall I give this book 4/5 stars.  It was definitely an entertaining story and I loved getting to know each character and element of the story.  My main complaint is the lack of explanation for basic elements that make up the story that could provide the reader with a better background of the information.  I feel that the religious makeup could be more in depth.  Usually a slight explanation of the religion behind the story and where someone stands is an additional way to understand a character’s motives and way of thinking as they go about their journey from both the hero and the villain aspects.  If you enjoy fantasy, paranormal, dark fantasy, fiction, woman-empowering, mystery, suspense, horror, or thrillers you will definitely enjoy this book.

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

EXCERPT  - (Underworld creature)

“This is dangerous,” I whispered. “I know what I’m doing.”

Did I? I handed her the lightstick and crept forward, nudging loose stones with my boot to clear the way, never taking my eyes from the archway. The room was filled with heaps of rubble. The spectral rope snaked behind a huge fragment of a fallen buttress lodged against one wall.

Come out, come out, wherever you are.
I drew a sizable ball of magic from my core and blasted a massive Dispel into the room, bathing the entire area in a purple flash.
The grak leaped onto the ceiling, sending rubble clattering in all directions. It scuttled toward me, upside down, hundreds of barbs along its ten legs clinging to the bare stone ceiling. A razor-ridged carapace protected an abdomen the size of a barrel, yet the thing stretched eight feet in length, counting its forked, bony tail and oversize head. Two spheres of flylike eyes reflected a distorted version of my look of horror. Saw-toothed pincers clacked repeatedly and its antennae quivered, probing the air in front of it.

I stumbled backward, my heart thumping in my ears.

Kristach. I’d hoped it’d be smaller.

Please take the time to also check out my interview with the talented author of this novel: Graeme Ing.

Graeme Ing Interview

Buy Links:

Amazon Kindle

Amazon Paperback

Barnes and Noble

iTunes

Kobo

About the Author:

Graeme Ing engineers original fantasy worlds, both YA and adult, but hang around, and you’ll likely read tales of romance, sci-fi, paranormal, cyberpunk, steampunk or any blend of the above.

Born in England in 1965, Graeme moved to San Diego, California in 1996 and lives there still. His career as a software engineer and development manager spans 30 years, mostly in the computer games industry. He is also an armchair mountaineer, astronomer, mapmaker, pilot and general geek. He and his wife, Tamara, share their house with more cats than he can count.

Connect With The Author:

Website

Blog

Facebook

Twitter

Google+

Goodreads

Amazon Author Page

Enter to win a $25 Amazon gift card! This giveaway will run the length of the tour. Open internationally. Enter through Rafflecopter.

Mirian

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

Mirian is written by D.S. England.  It is book about the port city of Mirian and the people that reside there; mostly The Watch, the mercenary Talon, and other various riff-raff characters here and there. 

England did a wonderful job of setting up the story, there is a lot of action going on and the the story definitely has a dark, almost desperate tone.  The reader can connect with the characters and truly feel their struggle.  All main characters are well defined and described and I loved how there was a great all-around view of events from many different points of view.  This was written with a great fluidity so that you did not feel lost with the change in view point. 

Mirian definitely hits the ground running with instant intrigue and betrayal.  There are definitely many desperate moments, and also moments of singular character development and personal perseverance.  I definitely did not see the way the "plague" aspect was going to play out and thought that it was well-imagined by the author. 

I liked Seline the most, although she wasn't one of the main characters, and I liked to be in the mind of Theal, even though it came with many unexpected surprises.  The book does a great job of capturing the frantic situation that each character finds themselves in.  Captain Nathan Tam, definitely is a great example of an honorable man faced with a desperate time. 

The main detracting forces for this story are the same as most books I have read of late...  Typos and grammar issues.  In addition there were also several formatting issues in the Kindle format where a sentence would stop in the middle and big up tabbed down in the beginning of a new paragraph. 

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed this book despite the distractions.  I give the story a 4/5 stars, and would love to see a cleaned up version to earn the 5 stars this book can easily obtain.  Mirian ends with the intent on another installment into the series and left me with curiosity and yearning to know what is in the next story.  I will definitely be reading book two.  If you are into intrigue, betrayal, mystery suspense, action, character development, darker themed books, paranormal/fantasy than this book is definitely for you! 

Life Lived Twice

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

Life lived twice started out with an interesting Prologue of a dream state.  It was written by Sherri Wouters.  It is about a 20-year-old girl named Tess. 

Tess has lived a sheltered life, feeling fairly dependent upon her parents.  At the age of 5 her family uprooted and moved and Tess can remember that it had something to do with her, yet she has no idea why and no one will tell her.  After spending some time with relatives, Tess is flying home feeling very anxious about finally moving out on her own.  In her anxiety she goes into a book store and bumps into a stranger trying to grab for the same book.  The touch is electric and by the time she looks into his eyes she feels a connection deep within herself; out of nowhere she calls him “Addison.”

Tess finds herself wondering on the flight home where she would come up with a name that she has never heard and say it to a man that she had never met.  Being assured that the stranger’s name was not Addison she drifts off to sleep… that is when the dreams/visions begin.

This book had excellent flow; I had a hard time putting it down for day to day obligations such as sleep.  It was so enlightening to read this open-minded spiritual experience that Sherri has brilliantly transformed into a book.  I could feel myself within the story with the characters and in the landscape.  The characters were “real” people, and easy to connect with. 

Life Lived Twice was very good at easing a more hesitant reader into a new realm of spiritual beliefs for one that might not be quite as familiar with the amazing universe we are all a part of.  Sherry wrote this in such a manner that I find myself wondering if she is relatable to Tess or at the very least to Tess’s aunt. 

This is a romance that is written in a way that can be compared to traditional historical romance stories, and yet stands out on completely on its own at the same time.  My only complaint of the book was the ending.  I felt as though the ending was not much closure, and was hoping for at the very least an Epilogue.

Sherri personally wrote to me about my comments to inform me that due to fan curiosity and request that she has a sequel in the works that will be released in 2015.  As I excitedly await more to this story I can confidently give this book 5 out of 5 stars.  Sherri obviously has the gift of storytelling and I hope that we will see more of her in the future with more than just Tess’s story.  If you are into historical fiction, romance, spirituality, mystery, fiction, coming into one’s own, you will love this book. 

Locks

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

Locks:Rapunzel Unhinged is written by Sarah J. Pepper and is a modern retelling of Rapunzel.  In Locks, Rapunzel (or Zel) is determined to escape her tower prison but is brought back and put under watch by a Mercenary that she finds herself insanely attracted to, despite her better judgment.  

I was REALLY excited about reading this book.  I absolutely LOVE the cover art work.  I had to settle for The Death of the Mad Hatter while I was waiting for this one (which I ended up really enjoying).  Needless to say I came to this story without much time in between the two books written by Sarah.  While Death of the Mad Hatter is a young adult book, Locks is written for a vastly different audience.  

Locks starts out as Rapunzel has escaped and is cornered about to be caught.  The sexism of the book is really right in your face right away.  I have no problem with this, but I was caught completely unaware after the darker, yet much more innocent Mad Hatter.  Although the only actual “sex scene” in the book is more PG-13 than rated R, just a lot of sexual tension throughout the story.

Sarah has written a lot of creative characters that I was able to connect with on the level that I could know them through Zel’s feelings.  Unfortunately I feel that the description of the majority of the characters fell a little short.  I could talk a lot about how everyone made Zel feel, but if I had to draw a picture of most of them I would be left wanting.  The environment does lend itself to better descriptors though.  Flynn, is described in magnificent detail, as he is the object of much sexual tension throughout the story.  

Locks reads like a mystery novel, trying to constantly assess and reassess the allegiance of many of the characters and figure out how it will end.  With that being said, I feel like there was a lot of lead up to a slightly fizzle of an ending.  The wow factors of things missing from Zel’s memory were written superbly, but the battle was short and not overly detailed.  The biggest disappointment for me was the Epilogue…  I wanted to know what happened to the ancillary characters as well. 

My biggest negative points were the weird technology references that seemed thrown in.  If Zel has been locked into a tower and no one speaks as she does, I wonder where she learned some of her “potty mouth” language from.  It didn’t bother me, but may deter a more prudent reader.  My issues was with talk of things such as cell phones, and then have nobody use them, while the kingdom doesn’t really deal in technology, it seemed rather out of place, and like Zel wouldn’t know much about it since she spends most of her life in a tower locked away from people.  

Overall I give this book 4/5 stars.  Sarah has a lot of ingenious ideas; she created some really great ideas for characters and some crazy twists and turns to the story.  I love the spunk and fire in Zel’s personality, I love her development as a strong woman throughout the story.  I love many of the ancillary characters and the possibilities that could come about with them.  I love the twists and turns that the story takes.  I have to hold back a star for the seemingly out of place tech talk, the weak ending and epilogue.  Otherwise, it is definitely a story worth reading, there is a lot to love in it.  If you are into fairy-tales, especially Rapunzel, mystery, fantasy, mythology, Romance, etc., you will like this book.  

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.