Archive for October, 2012

Review: The Shadow Man – Mark Murphy

Tuesday, October 30th, 2012
Paperback: 348 pages
Langdon Street Press (a division of Hillcrest Publishing Group, Inc.) (July 20, 2012)
English
ISBN-10: 1938296036
ISBN-13: 978-1938296031
Order book here:

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Order E-book here:
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Characters:

Malcolm King – Surgeon

Synopsis:

A string of mysterious deaths is plaguing Malcolm King. Each death is someone tied to him, and appears to be someone, such as himself, who is very skilled at surgery. Not only does he have to contend with this, but there are two mysterious strangers out there that he keeps seeing. Who are they, and what is their connections to the murders?

Review

This was a fast paced thriller, with a very interesting antagonist, and a ton of twists along the way. The writing style kept me involved, the characters were well developed, and the situations, for what they are are realistic.

One possible drawback is that due to forshadowing, it’s possible as a reader to figure out the killer’s connection before Malcolm does. That however doesn’t ruin the fun of the story, because you are still provided with seeing Malcolm’s reactions to the events.

I’d say this is geared toward thriller and mystery fans, and if given a rating I’d give it a PG-13 due to the language and content. Pick it up for a fun weekend read, or with the Halloween season, it’d be a good story to replace all of those “see that before” horror movies being shown on TV.

About the Author

 A physician currently living in Savannah, Georgia, Mark Murphy is also a lifelong award-winning writer. In the midst of a busy medical career which included several academic publications, Dr. Murphy’s decision to attend the Iowa Summer Writing Festival led to the inclusion of a short story, “The Funeral,” in a 2004 collection of works entitled O! Georgia! A well-received regular newspaper column in the Savannah Morning News followed. The Shadow Man is his first novel.

Tour Schedule

October 1 – Dad of Divas and Every Free Chance Book Reviews

October 2 – Live to Read

October 3 – BlogCritics and Colorimetry

October 4 – Crazed Mind

October 5 – Murder by 4

October 8 – OmnimysteryNews.com

October 9 – Kritters Ramblings

October 10 – Celtic Lady’s Reviews and Lissette E. Manning

October 11 – The Busy Mom’s Daily

October 12 – The Bibliophilic Book Blog

October 15 – Tic Toc

October 16 – Mom in Love with Fiction

October 17 – Sharon’s Garden of Book Reviews and Simple Wyrdings

October 18 – Books-n-Kisses

October 19 – Reading Challenged

October 20 – Gina’s Library

October 22 – The Top Shelf and Novel d’Tales

October 23 – The Wormhole

October 24 – Mama Knows Books

October 29 – My Life in Not So Many Words and Literary R&R

October 30 – Rhodes Review

October 31 – Silver’s Reviews and The Bookworm

*Disclaimer* A special thanks goes out to Nicole at Tribute Books for a review copy of this book. It in no way influenced my review. You can discuss it here or join my facebook page and discuss it there.

Classic Corner Review: The Hobbit – J.R.R. Tolkien

Thursday, October 18th, 2012
Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Mariner Books; Mti edition (September 18, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0547844972
ISBN-13: 978-0547844978
Order book here:

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Order E-book here:
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Characters:

Bilbo Baggins – A Hobbit.
Gandalf – A Wizard.

Synopsis:

A hobbit is surprised one day by the visit of the Wizard Gandalf. Unbeknownst to the Hobbit, when the wizard leaves, he marks the door with a symbol. This symbol brings not 1, not 5, but 13 Dwarves to Bilbo’s door. Their purpose, travel to the west to a mountain, destroy the dragon Smaug and retrieve the dwarven treasure he has horded. Sounds simple enough, unless you’re a hobbit.

Review

This along with The Lord of the Rings is the grandfather of modern Fantasy. The characters, or at least the character of Bilbo, are well developed. I can’t say the characters of the 13 dwarves are as developed, their main distinguishing feature is either their weight, or the color of their hoods. As for Bilbo and the other supporting characters, they are well designed, and the reader tends to care what happens to them. You can feel Bilbo’s nervousness and cheer him on during his acts of bravery.

The story is broken into two main parts. One adventure is the discovery of the magic ring, what will turn out to be a catalyst for The Lord of the Rings series to follow. The other adventure is to actually infiltrate the dragon’s lair and discover the treaure.

For fans of Fantasy, this novel is required reading. If you haven’t read fantasy novels though, you might not want to start with this one. Tolkien has a tendency for the average reader to be hard to understand, and this sometimes leads people to give up rather than attempt to finish his novels. His style is probably close to Shakespeare in the use of language, and poetic prose. For this reason, it seems to be an acquired taste.

I’d suggest you get a copy of it, and give it a shot. Definitely read this before attempting to read Lord of the Rings which is a quite hefty story. I think the age appropriateness is good for teens and adults. There is some violence and scary situations which wouldn’t be good for most young readers.

Give it a shot, and be sure to drop back by and let us know what you thought. If I recall the first part comes out as a movie in December, so you can familiarize yourself with the events before you see it brought live on the big screen.

About the Author

Born on January 3, 1892, in Bloemfontein, South Africa, J.R.R. Tolkien settled in England as a child, going on to study at Exeter College. While teaching at Oxford University, he published the popular fantasy novels The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

The works have had a devoted international fan base and been adapted into award-winning blockbuster films. Tolkien died in 1973 at 81.

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Review: Hellfire & Damnation II – Connie Corcoran Wilson

Tuesday, October 16th, 2012
Paperback: 168 pages
Merry Blacksmith Press (August 1, 2012)
English
ISBN-10: 615677819
ISBN-13: 978-0615677811
Order book here:

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Order E-book here:
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Synopsis:

A journey in short story format through Dante’s 9 circles of hell.

Review

This book wasn’t quite what I expected. When I read about people in the 9 circles of Hell, I was thinking of their punishment at that level. This seemed to be a collection of short stories of people living in the here and now going through one of the circles of hell. That put a bit of a different and interesting twist on the story.

For the bad: Some of these short stories felt incomplete. Some of the stories felt rushed for the ending. Other stories felt like they were more assignments for a writing workshop than polished stories.

For the good: The stories were well written and kept my attention. Some thought, due to content, might trigger unpleasant memories in readers. Some felt familiar such as Resurrection Mary but still came across as entertaining.

For a quick read over the Halloween season, I’d say grab a copy of this if you’re a fan of quick bizarre stories. For age rating, I’d say definitely older teens or adults. If you purchase a copy, be sure and stop by and let us know what you think.

About the Author

Connie graduated from the University of Iowa with a degree in English and Journalism, but she began writing for her hometown (Independence, Iowa) newspaper at the age of 10 and was Editor-in-Chief of her high school newspaper. She continued her education, including a Ferner/Hearst Journalism Scholarship and a Freshman Merit Scholarship at Iowa, and then at Berkeley, WIU, NIU and the University of Chicago. Connie holds a Masters (+30) in English, Journalism and Education. Her career path led to teaching 7th and 8th grade language arts (Silvis, Illinois) and teaching writing at 6 IA/IL colleges or universities, including a class teaching film at Black Hawk Junior College. She then established the second Sylvan Learning Center in the state of Iowa and a Prometric Testing site, in conjunction with ETS of Princeton, NJ. She has taught writing and literature classes at all 6 IA/IL Quad City colleges.

A life-long film buff, Connie began reviewing for the Quad City Times newspaper (Davenport, IA) in the ’70s and continued reviewing into the ’80s. She also reviewed books for the Times and interviewed local celebrities for the (Moline, IL) Daily Dispatch and wrote humor columns for Metro East and the (Rock Island, IL) Reminder.

Connie left the labor of love reviewing film when she founded the first of two businesses in 1987, Sylvan Learning Center #3301, and her second business, a Prometric Testing Center (Bettendorf, IA), in 1995. Both businesses and two children kept her busy during the years 1987 – 2002, but, since selling the two successful businesses she founded and served as CEO, she has produced 10 books in 9 years. An active voting member of HWA (Horror Writers’ Association) Connie’s novel Out of Time was released in December of 2009 by Lachesis, and several other solo projects are in the works (see BOOKS section).

Connie lives in East Moline, Illinois with husband Craig and in Chicago, Illinois, where her son, Scott and daughter-in-law Jessica and their newborn twins Elise and Ava reside. Her daughter, Stacey, a graduate of Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, has been living and working in Australia since February of 2012.

In addition to HWA, she is a member of Delta Kappa Gamma Professional Society for Women Educators, IEA/ NEA, IWPA (Illinois Women’s Press Association), AWP (American Writing Program), MWC (Midwest Writing Center) and MWA (Midwest Writing Association). She maintains her own blog (www.weeklywilson.com) and was named 2008 Content Producer of the Year for the 400,000 member Associated Content blog for her on-the-spot reporting of the 2008 Presidential campaign, fodder for her next nonfiction book. She covers film, television and politics for Yahoo as a featured contributor.

*Disclaimer* A special thanks goes out to Teddy at Virtual Authors Book Tour for a review copy of this book. It in no way influenced my review. You can discuss it here or join my facebook page and discuss it there.

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Along came a Spider – James Patterson

Thursday, October 11th, 2012
Paperback: 464 pages
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (August 1, 2003)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0446692638
ISBN-13: 978-0446692632
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Characters:

Alex Cross – Detective and Psychologist
Jezzie – Female FBI Agent.

Synopsis:

Two young children are kidnapped. Three people are found murdered in an urban neighborhood. Alex Cross is pulled from the murder case to investigate the kidnapping.

Review

Having seen the movie version of this with Morgan Freeman, I was afraid that the book would hold no surprises. However, that didn’t seem to be the case. Either it’s been a long time since I’ve seen the movie, or much was changed, because other than the kidnapping, nothing seemed familiar.

I really enjoy the Alex Cross books. Some of Patterson’s other books leave me with a take them or leave them view, but the Alex Cross always draws me in. The characters are vivid, and enough of their background is told that the readers can related to them.

This story holds quite a few shocks and surprises, and was definitely enjoyable. If you’ve not read any Alex Cross novels before, no better place to start then the first one. If you have read them, but not this one, pick it up and see how the character may have changed over time.

If you’re just a fan of thrillers/crime stories, then pick this up. I’d recommend it for older teens/adults due to the content. If you read it, be sure and stop by to let us know what you thought.

About the Author

In the past three years, James Patterson has sold more books than any other author (according to Bookscan), and in total, James’s books have sold an estimated 260 million copies worldwide. Since 2006, one out of every seventeen hardcover fiction books sold was a Patterson title. He is the first author to have #1 new titles simultaneously on The New York Times adult and children’s bestsellers lists and is the only author to have five new hardcover novels debut at #1 on the list in one year—a record-breaking feat he’s accomplished every year since 2005. To date, James Patterson has had nineteen consecutive #1 New York Times bestselling novels, and holds the New York Times record for most Hardcover Fiction bestselling titles by a single author (76 total), which is also a Guinness World Record.

Patterson is the creator of the top-selling new detective series of the past dozen years, featuring Alex Cross and including the Hollywood-adapted “Along Came a Spider” and “Kiss the Girls,” starring Academy Award-winning actor Morgan Freeman. He is also the creator of the #1 new detective series of the past five years, featuring Lindsay Boxer and the Women’s Murder Club, from which the ABC television drama series was adapted. He has authored books behind six films on the Hollywood fast-track, including the upcoming Maximum Ride movie forthcoming from Avi Arad, the producer of X-Men and Spiderman.

He is the author of novels — from The Thomas Berryman Number (1976) to Honeymoon (2005) — that have won awards including the Edgar, the BCA Mystery Guild’s Thriller of the Year, the International Thriller of the Year award, and the Reader’s Digest Reader’s Choice Award. And, he has won a Children’s Choice Book Council’s Children’s Choice Awards “Author of the Year” award (2010).

One of Forbes magazine’s Celebrity 100, James made a guest appearance on the popular FOX TV show “The Simpsons” in March, 2007.

You can discuss it here or join my facebook page and discuss it there.

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Review: My Sanctuary – Sarah-Jane Lehoux

Tuesday, October 9th, 2012
E-Book
Publisher: Vagabondage Press LLC (May 14, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10:
ISBN-13: 978-
Order E-book here:

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Characters:

Rebecca Delores Kingsley – 14 Year old Orphan.
Mother McDonald – Nun at Orphanage.
Kenneth Booker – Nine Year Old Orphan.
Billy Richmond – Male Orphan.

Synopsis:

This is a rather short novella, about 29 pages long, but is a very interesting story. Rebecca is 14 and takes on Kenny as a rather surrogate son. She introduces him to a place she discovered that she calls Sanctuary. This is a place where they aren’t bothered by the rest of the world, and can escape the abusive nun at the orphange in which they live.

Review

I was very sympathetic to these characters. I found them to fit well within the time period and within their ages. I found the story to be one that to some might bring up painful memories. If you are interested in a dramatic, quick read, then pick up this book, I think you’ll enjoy it. Beware though that it has themes of rape, child abuse, and sexual abuse. For that I’d rather it for adults or much older teens.

I liked the story, and found the way things were dealt with fairly realistic for the most part, and would like to see more of the characters outside this storyline.

About the Author

Sarah-Jane Lehoux has always had a passion for storytelling. From grade school tales of cannibalistic ghosts, to teenaged conversations with God, to her rebellion against adulthood with fantasy kingdoms and fairy magic, she has attempted to share her love of the quirky and unconventional with her readers.

She currently resides in Southern Ontario with her husband and her horde of Machiavellian cats. In addition to her own writing, Sarah-Jane works as an editor and freelance cover artist.

You can discuss it here or join my facebook page and discuss it there.

Review: The Princess Bride – William Goldman

Thursday, October 4th, 2012
Hardcover: 456 pages
Publisher: Perfection Learning (October 1, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0756987903
ISBN-13: 978-0756987909
Order book here:

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Order E-book here:
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Characters:

Buttercup – A princess in love, but marrying another man.
Wesley – The young love of Princess Buttercup.
Inigo Montoya – A Young Spanish man set on avenging the murder of his father.
Fezzik – A Large Brutish Man with a love for rhymes.
Prince Humperdinck – Soon to be King, is determined to marry Buttercup at all costs.

Synopsis:

Young Wesley is a farmhand working for Buttercup’s family. They are in love, but she is determined to have better in life. Wesley goes off to make a name for himself and is killed by the Dread Pirate Roberts. Buttercup, heartbroken, agrees to marry Prince Humperdinck. When time draws near for their wedding however, Buttercup is kidnapped by 3 thieves, who in turn are being followed by a mysterious man in black. What is the agenda of the man in black? Will Buttercup ever find the love she seeks? Will Inigo Montoya achieve his revenge? To find out, read The Princess Bride.

Review

Okay, I realize this is an old book, and pretty much everyone and their cousin has seen The Princess Bride. This year however marks the 25th anniversary of the movie, and I figured what could be better than to offer my readers a review of the book. Everything you love about the movie, down to the quotes people like to repeat, are featured here. The story seems changed slightly. In the printed version, it’s based around the idea of an old fairy tale by S. Morgenstern that the author is writing as an abridged version. Scenes are often interrupted by either Mr. Morgenstern or the author Mr. Goldman. I found this to be a bit distracting at times and to pull me out of the story. I think it would have been much tighter without it.

That being said though, I found it, just like the movie version to be a delightful fantasy with humor, vivid characters, and action and adventure. There is little to not like. I’d definitely rate it PG-13 for mild violence and themes, but for lighthearted adventure you can’t go wrong. If you haven’t read the book, or watched the movie, what are you waiting for. Grab a copy of either one, and stop back by to let us know what you thought of The Princess Bride.

About the Author

William Goldman has been writing books and movies for more than forty years. He has won two Academy Awards (for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and All the President’s Men), and three Lifetime Achievement Awards in screenwriting.

You can discuss it here or join my facebook page and discuss it there.

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Review: Primal – D. A. Serra

Tuesday, October 2nd, 2012
Paperback: 222 pages
CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (August 10, 2012)
English
ISBN-10: 1478198036
ISBN-13: 978-1478198031
Order book here:

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Order E-book here:
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Characters:

Alison Kraft – A woman dealing with the fact that she’s killed another human being.
Hank Kraft – Audio Equipment store owner.
Jimmy Kraft – Nine year old son of Alison and Hank.
Ben Burne – One of four psychopathic brothers.

Synopsis:

What measures would you go to protect your family. Would you kill for them? How would it alter your character if you did? That situation is what Alison Kraft must confront when she finds herself having to deal with the Burne Brothers.

Review

I had mixed feelings on this book for various reasons. The characters were well written, and the emotional trauma that Alison is facing is very aptly written and very emotionally fulfilling. The areas where I had problems is that at times Alison’s behavior or what her family perceived as going on, brought back some rough memories from my childhood when my own mother suffered from emotional problems. The characters, some of the ways they handled it, and some of the things said brought me back to those years that I’d tried to put behind me. However, I’ll consider that as a talent of the author, not a drawback.

The situations I found very realistc, I found it raising perplexing philosophical questions and I’d have to stop reading from time to time and reflect. By the end I was very satisfied with the conclusion, and it fit with everything that occurred previously in the book. If you like psychological thrillers, and a look into the human mind, and enjoy really psychopathic bad guys, then pick this up. I think you’ll enjoy it. Be sure and stop back in and let us know what you thought.

About the Author

Deborah has been a writer for twenty years, initially in television and film, and now novels. Her screenplays have been produced by Showtime, CBS, NBC, Lifetime, Sony and others. She has worked on staff, and as a freelancer, for producers, directors, and actors, including: James Cameron, Meg Ryan, Beau Bridges, and Robert Cort. She has written on assignment eleven TV films and numerous episodes.

When time permits Deborah teaches screenwriting at the University of California, and at workshops nationwide. Born and raised on the East Coast, Deborah now lives in Southern California with her husband and three children.

Please check her website for details: www.deborahserra.com

*Disclaimer* A special thanks goes out to Teddy at Virtual Authors Book Tour for a review copy of this book. It in no way influenced my review. You can discuss it here or join my facebook page and discuss it there.