“Daddy, Daddy! Can we keep him?” I could see her tugging at his shorts, begging for me like I was a puppy that she wanted for her birthday.
That put a huge smile on my face. The reason she thought he could be her gift was because he appeared as if by magic. He is a vanisher. He dies over and over and over again, only to appear in another city, in another state, on another continent, naked, with no memory.
At times, the story seemed to drag. He would die, come back, and struggle to remember who he was. Then he would die again and it would start over. After so many times, we need something else to happen…and it does when he meets Lilyanne. As he figures some things out, learns of the dangers that await him, falls in love..for the first and only time in his life. BUT…of course, one night he disappears.
I had wondered how the book would end and it took me by surprise. At times I was fascinated, at times bored, but Moses Yuriyvich Mikheyev would bring me back into the story. I wanted to love it. I found it original, different, and at times intriguing. The ending…well…I was satisfied and hopeful.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Vanishing Bodies by Moses Yuriyvich Mikheyev.
3 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
Many people dream of starting over. For Adam Micah, it is an unending nightmare.
On a February morning, a naked young man grabs the New York Times from a woman eating breakfast at a sidewalk cafe, scans the obituaries, uses her revolver to shoot himself, and vanishes.
He is Aristotle Zurr-McIntyre, also known as Adam Micah. He discovers he’s a vanisher—someone who disappears when he’s killed, only to resurface elsewhere with nothing but hazy memories. An entity known only as The Wisher is hunting him, and he’s involved in a game he doesn’t understand. Sometimes they shoot him outright. Sometimes, he does it to evade them. But each time, he loses a little more of himself.
When he rematerializes in Atlanta, he meets Lilyanne and, for the first time, is shown love. In her presence, he is home, and life finally makes sense. But Lilyanne has ties to a past neither one of them knows about…one that could destroy everything.
Taking on the boundaries of science, physics, and the catastrophic consequences of immortality, Adam takes a dangerous dive into interpreting mortality, conspiracy, desperation, and his own natural need for answers.
A highly original and suspenseful science fiction thriller with a romantic twist.
Genre: Fiction, Science Fiction
407 pages, Kindle Edition
Expected publication September 26, 2023
ABOUT MOSES YURIYVICH MIKHEYEV
Moses Yuriyvich Mikheyev is a Russian American novelist who studied theology and philosophy at Whitworth University before obtaining his graduate degree in theological studies from Emory University. He is the author of numerous novels, including The Hack, Vanishing Bodies, This Time Next Summer, and the fantasy children’s book Olivia & the Gentleman from Outer Space. He is currently working on his sixth novel Of All Things Sacred, a collection of poetry A Fire in the Sunset, and a collection of essays titled The End of Human. He is also an alternative rock musician recording his debut album I Only Have a Hundred Years to Love You (forthcoming 2023). He lives and loves in Los Angeles.
When the lead that could save her law practice is destroyed in a suspicious fire, only her recollection of it remains. Tess can relive memories, but her gift comes at a cost. The last time she used it, she nearly died.
This time, she only takes a peek. A single moment spent in her memory of the defendant’s encoded document gives her a brutal migraine and a phone number.
Luke Broussard answers her call from the wreckage of his downed plane. His charter passenger is dead. And a mutated virus seeps from the man’s broken cargo, making Luke an unknowing carrier. When rescuers take Luke to an Atlanta hospital, the virus comes with him.
Tess follows her lead to Luke’s bedside, where she finds an instant connection. As they try to outrun a psychopath who’ll stop at nothing to retrieve the document, the city falls apart around them. The code hidden in Tess’s mind may be the only thing that can keep the outbreak contained, but using her gift to decipher it could kill her. If the virus — or whoever engineered it — doesn’t get to her first.
Praise for The Carolina Variant:
“Filled with compelling characters fighting not only for their lives, but humanity itself, you won’t be able to put it down.” ~ Jeffrey Jay Levin, author of Watching, Volume 1, The Garden Museum Heist
“The Carolina Variant is a taut thriller that terrifies with a too damned frightenedly plausible story about what happens when a deadly virus escapes. It’s the kind of book that makes you afraid to turn the page, but you will. You definitely will.” ~ Christopher Amato, author of Shadow Investigation and A Letter from Sicily
“What a ride! The Carolina Variant is Blake Crouch’s Upgrade with the pacing of Fox’s 24.” ~ Cam Torrens, author of STABLE
Book Details:
Genre: Thriller, Medical and Conspiracy Published by: Black Rose Writing Publication Date: June 2023 Number of Pages: 347 ISBN: 9781685132187 (ISBN10: 1685132189) Book Links:Amazon | Barnes & Noble | BookShop.org | Goodreads
Read an excerpt:
Prologue:
September 13, 2018
The girl on the video monitor stared up at the ceiling as blood trickled from her eyes and nose. Her only movement an occasional spasm of coughing.
Nothing unexpected, given the progression of the disease.
Dr. Edmund Haley shut off the overhead fluorescent lights and let himself adjust to the dim glow of the screens lining the back wall of the office. Only the girl’s monitor still played a live feed, but it lit the room well enough.
And, either way, darkness suited him fine.
He’d spent so much time stuck in this tiny godforsaken place, he could’ve found the desk and computer with his eyes closed. Haley dropped into a chair and adjusted his glasses, trying to ignore the sharp tang of antimicrobial soap that clung to his hands. It smelled like life in the hospital. Like the servitude of medical practice.
He hated it as much now as he had before he’d lost his license. But at least this time, he’d be well paid for his efforts. And soon, it would be over. He refocused on the girl’s image. The only question was when.
Light sliced into the room behind him as Margaret bumbled inside. He made no move to acknowledge the nurse, even as she pulled up a chair beside his. As idiotic as she otherwise seemed to be, she’d know by now not to bother him. He shifted his attention from the video monitor to the computer, where he pulled up the patient’s chart.
He scrolled to the section for his notes and, after a click of the mouse, entered the details of that day’s exam. “9-13-18; Liver and kidney function both continue to decline. Discrete purpuric patches expanding from face and trunk now merging. BSA involvement approximately 80%. Note third spacing.”
The third spacing, a condition where the skin separated from the tissue beneath and filled with blood, was something new. Margaret’s report of it had been the primary reason he’d put himself through the nightmare of protective gear and protocol it’d taken to do a physical exam himself. He wasn’t going to let it be said that he hadn’t been thorough.
Haley glanced back up at the monitor in time to see a bubble of blood form between Octavia’s lips. The thing grew with each shallow breath. When it reached the size of a small orange, it burst, splattering more droplets of blood onto her face and neck.
Octavia made no move to wipe them away. He’d given her enough morphine. She would be long past caring. And, more importantly, the extra dosage meant she’d finally quit staring out at him with that awful, confused look on her face.
He didn’t care. Not really. Except that it had been distracting, and he needed to focus. Needed to understand why was she still alive. What had he missed? Perhaps another round of blood work would—
The blare of an alarm sounded over the video feed and, more faintly, from the hall. Three more followed.
Octavia’s body spasmed, convulsing again and again as she vomited up a grainy black-red mix of blood and tissue. The progression was as repulsive as it was now familiar. The vomit mixed with the brighter red flowing from her eyes and nose as the virus moved into its final stage. Blood, still unable to clot, flowed until it covered her face and chest. Until the bedsheets were saturated and no longer white.
Octavia’s muscles tensed, seizing all at once before releasing. Her body too gruesome to look peaceful, even as she finally came to rest.
Neither he nor Margaret moved from their chairs.
The alarms echoed unanswered down the empty hall. Haley clicked off the monitor and most of the noise with it. “That’s better.”
God knew it had taken long enough. He turned back to the computer, closed Octavia’s chart, and opened another document saved to the desktop as “Subject Outcomes.” He scrolled down, missing Octavia’s name the first time, then tapped the cursor back up until he found it. She’d been number four of twenty-five subjects, and hers was the last empty field in the column marked TPOI for Total Period of Infection. From the time she had been exposed, it had taken four days for the disease to take its course. At least a full day longer than any other subject.
“About fucking time.” He spoke under his breath as he typed the final entry in with one finger. He still didn’t know why the girl had survived so long, but it was no matter. By any measure, his work there had been an overwhelming success. Haley pulled off his glasses and tapped them against Margaret’s shoulder. “Get me a copy of the subject files, including all of the relevant video footage.”
Margaret flinched away from him. “Yes, doctor.” She pulled a thumb drive from a desk drawer and plugged it into the video system. The system — which had been his idea — had not only allowed them to observe the patients from a safe distance but also recorded the progress of the disease in each subject.
Having such an accurate, time-stamped record of their experiments would be invaluable to his employer. As he had been. Haley cleaned the lenses of his glasses with the edge of his lab coat. Knowing what was coming, it didn’t hurt to have insurance. Which was why he had contingency plans stashed in safe deposit boxes across the city. It was a point he would be sure to make when he and his employer spoke.
No matter what, he wouldn’t end up like the others.
He pointed to Margaret as she collected the files. “Once you’re done, wipe the system clean.”
She looked at him, her eyes a question. What happens now?
He didn’t bother responding. Some part of her had to know already.
Stupid.
The kind of people who would hire her to do what she’d done weren’t the type to assume money would be enough to keep her quiet. She was a loose end who — unlike him — had no continuing value. Not that what happened to her mattered. And if she hadn’t been smart enough to see that going in… Well, she’d as much as made her bed, hadn’t she?
He put a layer of steel in his voice. “Do it.”
Margaret’s gaze flicked away. She pressed a few buttons on the keyboard and waited for the computer to comply, removed the thumb drive, and dropped it into his waiting hand.
He turned the small device over in his palm. Amazing that so many lives could be held in such a small device. But then, these lives weren’t the kind anyone cared about. Nobodies and throw-aways. The kind of people who would volunteer for a drug trial for pennies and not be missed when they didn’t come back. He’d done the world a service, really.
Haley slipped the thumb drive into a padded envelope, scrawled the address he had memorized at the outset of the project on the front, checked twice to make sure he’d stuck on enough postage, then slid the envelope into his briefcase.
“Take care of that, won’t you?” He tilted his head toward the hallway leading to the patient rooms, where the girl’s body lay waiting.
Margaret didn’t look up from the computer. “Of course, sir. Same as with the others.”
Haley tucked the briefcase under his arm, whistling as he left the facility for the last time. With his part done, the rest could finally could begin.
***
Excerpt from The Carolina Variant by Brooke L. French. Copyright 2023 by Brooke L. French. Reproduced with permission from Brooke L. French. All rights reserved.
Author Bio:
Brooke L. French is a recovering lawyer turned author. Her debut novel, Inhuman Acts, came out in 2022, and her second thriller, The Carolina Variant, came out on June, 22 2023. Brooke lives between Atlanta and Carmel, California with her husband and sons.
Book Title: Copper Waters – A New Zealand Mystery (Annalisse Series Book 4) by Marlene M. Bell Category: Adult Fiction (18 +), 340 pages Genre: Mystery-Suspense Publisher: Ewephoric Publishing Release date: October, 2022 Format available for review: print – softback, e-book (mobi file (for Kindle), ePub, PDF ) Will send print books out: USA Content Rating: G. Book is for general audiences. No profanity. No graphic scenes. Crimes described briefly after-the-fact. Mild and limited romance https://www.youtube.com/embed/PjDimoA2yQc
Book Description:
Annalisse Drury and Alec Zavos find themselves on opposing sides when an ex-lover from Alec’s past introduces him to his alleged son. With Alec distracted and their future engagement in limbo, Annalisse accepts a key to her dream cottage—situated on a picturesque sheep station on South Island, New Zealand—only this time, she travels alone.
But not long after her arrival she’s confronted by two peculiar deaths—either accidental, or the deliberate acts of a psychopath.
Local investigators are closing the cases too quickly and want Annalisse to exit the country before she reveals the town’s darkest secrets.
Will she return to Alec, or sacrifice their future together to expose it all?
Book Title: Stolen Obsession (Annalisse Series Book 1) by Marlene M. Bell Category: Adult Fiction (18 +), 296 pages Genre: Mystery-Suspense Publisher: Ewephoric Publishing Release date: March 2018 Format available for review: print – softback, e-book (mobi file (for Kindle), ePub, PDF), audiobook (audible download) Will send print books out: USA Content Rating: PG. Subtle romantic interludes. No profanity. https://www.youtube.com/embed/EfPsyRPdIwI
New York antiquities appraiser Annalisse Drury’s best friend was murdered. The killer’s identity may be linked to her friend’s expensive missing bracelet—a 500-year-old artifact that carries an ancient curse, one that unleashes evil upon any who dare wear the jewelry created for the Persian royal family.
Weeks later, Annalisse sees a matching necklace at a Manhattan gallery opening. She begs the owner to destroy the cursed piece, but her pleas fall on deaf ears—despite the unnatural death that occurs during the opening. With two victims linked to the jewelry, Annalisse is certain she must act. Desperate, Annalisse enlists the gallery owner’s son to help—even though she’s afraid he’ll break her heart. Wealthy and devastatingly handsome, with a string of bereft women in his wake, Greek playboy Alec Zavos dismisses Annalisse’s concerns—until his parents are ripped from the Zavos family yacht during their ocean voyage near Crete.
Annalisse and Alec race across two oceans to save his parents, feared kidnapped or even dead. When the killer changes tactics and goes after Alec behind Annalisse’s back, can her plan to rescue Alec’s mother save them all?
Book Title: Spent Identity (Annalisse Series Book 2) by Marlene M. Bell Category: Adult Fiction (18 +), 378 pages Genre: Mystery-Suspense Publisher: Ewephoric Publishing Release date: Nov 2019 Format available for review: print – softback, e-book (mobi file (for Kindle), ePub, PDF), audiobook (audible download) Will send print books out: USA Content Rating: PG-13+M. Main Character is accosted and fights an assailant in one chapter. Mild profanity. https://www.youtube.com/embed/bqwn2d2qBQU
Antiquities appraiser Annalisse Drury drives to her family farm in upstate New York to consult with Aunt Kate about her troubled relationship with Greek tycoon, Alec Zavos. When Annalisse arrives, she learns the beloved farm she expects to inherit is for sale.
That same morning, they find a stranger’s body decaying in the barn. Then her aunt vanishes.
In Spent Identity, Annalisse and Alec join forces for the second time. They must find the mastermind behind her aunt’s abduction before Kate’s health issues worsen. Was the corpse in the barn a coincidence or a warning? The clock ticks for Annalisse to find her aunt and repair what she has left with the man she loves.
Book Title: Scattered Legacy (Annalisse Series Book 3) by Marlene M. Bell Category: Adult Fiction (18 +), 352 pages Genre: Mystery-Suspense Publisher: Ewephoric Publishing Release date: Oct 2021 Format available for review: print – softback, e-book (mobi file (for Kindle), ePub, PDF) Will send print books out: USA Content Rating: PG+M. Brief kissing/romance. mild use of profanity like “damn.” No F Bombs. Some violence and talk of an attack by villain that doesn’t materialize.
MY REVIEW
It’s wonderful to be back with Annalise, on another adventure. I went right from Spent Identity, Book II, to Scattered Legacy, Book III, in the Annalise series, eager to go to Italy and face a new danger, since Trouble seems to follow her wherever she goes.
I love the cover. Those slashes, and those eyes, what the heck?
Annalise has the ability to visualize who may have held a jewel or sat for a portrait. She sometimes sees others and their motives for acquiring or stealing oils and jewels. She is a partner with Generosa Zavos, her lovers mother, in the Sazos Gallery, specializing in antiquities.
Annalise receives an envelope and hesitates to open it. I think it may take us on our next murder mystery adventure…and I say…open it Annalise.
Before Alex and Annalise head to Bari, Italy, his mother’s birthplace, Generosa gives her a rosary, a very special rosary. The visit will be a working vacation. They reach a bump in the road in the sale of his sports car company. Since mystery and murder follow them wherever they go, I am waiting for a dead body to make an appearance.
Zavos’ father had went to prison for his part in dealing with the Mafia, but there is so much more to the story that will be revealed.
In Spent Identity, we learned Annalise’s family history. In Scattered Legacy, it is Alec’s turn, with the help of his chauffeur and bodyguard Brad, and his friend and private investigator, Bill. What’s so important about Stella the cat? I sure didn’t see that coming.
Marlene M Bell’s vivid descriptions make me taste the salt air and feel the sand between my toes. I can smell the aroma of garlic and broccoli rabo, tasting the deliciousness of the pasta.
She reacts as a sleek thoroughbred would react, ready to belt at the starting gate, unsure when to run how far the finish line is.
Delicious trouble (with a capital T) seems to follow her…
Now, on to Copper Waters and a trip to New Zealand. Grab a book and follow along. You won’t regret it.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Scattered Legacy by Marlene M Bell.
4 Stars
Book Description:
To outsiders, the relationship between Manhattan antiquities assessor Annalisse Drury and sports car magnate Alec Zavos must look carefree and glamorous. In reality, it’s a love affair regularly punctuated by treasure hunting, action-packed adventure, and the occasional dead body.
When Alec schedules an overseas trip to show Annalisse his mother’s birthplace in Bari, Italy, he squeezes in the high-stakes business of divesting his family’s international corporation. But things go terribly wrong as murder makes its familiar reappearance in their lives – and this time it’s Alec’s disgraced former CFO who’s the main suspect.
Accompanied by friend and detective Bill Drake, Annalisse and Alec find themselves embroiled in a behind-closed-doors conspiracy that threatens the reputation and legacy of Alec’s late father – linking him to embezzlement, extortion, and the dirty business of the Sicilian Mafia. The search for the truth sends the trio straight into riddles, secrets, and an historic set of rosary beads. Annalisse leads Alec toward a discovery that is unthinkable, and events that will change their futures forever.
Scattered Legacy is the third in Marlene M. Bell’s thrilling Annalisse series, which weaves romance, crime, and historical mystery into addictive tales to instantly captivate fans of TV show Bones or Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code.
Marlene M. Bell is an eclectic mystery writer, artist, photographer, and she raises sheep in beautiful East Texas with her husband, Gregg, three cats and a flock of horned Dorset sheep.
The Annalisse series has received numerous honors including the Independent Press Award for Best Mystery (Spent Identity,) and FAPA— Florida Author’s President’s Gold Award for two other installments, (Stolen Obsession and Scattered Legacy.) Her mysteries with a touch of romance are found at marlenembell.com. She also offers the first of her children’s picture books, Mia and Nattie: One Great Team! Based on true events from the Bell’s ranch. The simple text and illustrations are a touching tribute of compassion and love between a little girl and her lamb.
Join Us for This Tour from November 26 to December 17!
Book Details:
Book Title: Blind the Eyes: A Dystopian-Gothic YA Urban FantasybyK.A. Wiggins Category: YA Fiction (Ages 13-17), 300 pages Genre: Urban fantasy, crossover to dystopian, paranormal, contemporary fantasy, gothic and post-apocalyptic. Publisher: K.A. Wiggins (Imprint: Snowmelt & Stumps) Release Date: June, 2018 Tour dates: November 26 to December 17 Content Rating: PG-13 + M. No
on-page sex, low romance, minimal bad language, underage drinking,
significant fantasy violence, scenes containing emotional manipulation,
depression, and (light/brief) physical abuse.
Book Description:
A haunted teen outcast and her snarky ghostly best-frenemy outwit enforcers, monsters, and the scars of the past in a race to take expose a deadly conspiracy and escape a bloody end. A lush, award-winning debut to a captivatingly eerie YA Urban Fantasy trilogy. Discover a labyrinthine, post-climate-collapse dystopian Vancouver overrun by monsters and magic in this intricate and startlingly original journey of discovery, restoration, and revenge.
It’s hard not to be a little obsessed with survival when your only “friend” is an unruly ghost and the wrong thought could get your soul devoured by eldritch horrors. Haunted 17-year-old outcast Cole wants nothing more than to hide her forbidden fascination with the monster-taken and blend in with the (dreary) scenery. Her plans for a peaceful life take a turn for the deadly when a mesmerizing stranger and his dangerously tempting offer drive her into the middle of a grisly
conspiracy.
But Cole hasn’t yet uncovered the biggest secret of all, and it might just have something to do with the mysterious threads tugging her into horrifying visions—not to mention the shimmering boy at their dark heart. Uncovering the truth will cost her dearly as she fends off scheming enforcers, dreamjacking ghosts & soul-sucking nightmares in a desperate quest for survival and retribution. Can she escape the scars of her past and expose the lies before she’s the next to die?
Blind the Eyes is the first book in a lush and labyrinthine trilogy of paranormal-meets-gothic-dystopian YA Urban Fantasy filled with glittering underworlds, delicious-and-deceptive strangers, and facing down the voices in your head. This slow-burn fantasy with an edge leads readers on a captivatingly unexpected journey of self-discovery, reclaimed identity, and conflicted sisterhood for those who like a little sparkle with their monsters (it glistens so nicely on all the blood.) Fans of post-climate-collapse dystopias, monsters-and-magic, and genre-bending dark fantasy will love this award-winning series starter in a complete and 100% binge-ready trilogy.
K.A. Wiggins (Kaie) writes award-winning speculative fiction for young people and adults that explores the tangled webs of society, environment, and identity through intricate, dreamlike tales of monsters and magic.
Her debut novel was a Page Turner Awards 2020 Book Spotlight Prize winner and a Barnes & Noble Press “20 Favorite Indie Books of 2018,” kicking off a celebrated and recently completed YA Urban Fantasy trilogy set in a gothic-dystopian post-climate-collapse Vancouver. Her short fiction has appeared in small press anthologies, genre magazines, and in translation for international audiences.
She’s also the President of the Children’s Writers and Illustrators of British Columbia society, co-founder of marketing and business services consultancy The Creative Collective, and a creative writing coach with the Creative Writing for Children society, and was recognized in the 2021 Arty Awards, taking first place in Literary Arts category.
I love when a character is also an author…and writing the same genre I will be reading is even better. Then, we find everything she was writing about was true…aliens, conspiracy and danger.
WOW…I was quickly grabbed by the fabulous writing and P R Garcia never let me go.
As far as the government and how they handle aliens, there are no surprises.
Due to technology, the world is getting smaller and smaller and the borders are becoming blurred. The world in Guardians of Extinction, like in reality, needs to overcome their differences and mistrust and work together.
The Major General…so adversarial and narrow minded. Ignorant, greedy men who will put the world on the edge of extinction, caring only for themselves, letting their egos and desire to control everything lead the way. Does it sound familiar to you? It does to me. Shows how the actions of a few can have devastating consequences…but there are those who sill try to do the right thing. Will it be enough?
P R Garcia’s creative and highly imaginative writing fits me so well.
This review is kind of hard to write. Like her blurb, I do not want to give anything away, though I do hope to tease you enough to want to find out for yourself.
Exciting, riveting, science fiction, alien adventure, with hints of ecology and global warming. I like some reality in my fiction and if you read P R Garcia’s biography, you will know why she adds these realistic elements to her stories.
I voluntarily reviewed a copy of Guardians of Earth by P R Garcia.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
Inspired by her dreams, science fiction author Sarina Spallings writes a book of fiction filled with aliens, a secret government agency, a moon base, and Earth’s destruction. What she doesn’t know is:
It’s all real!
As she prepares to leave on her book’s tour, the secret government agency in her book kidnaps her, and takes her to the underground bunker she so accurately describes. Accused of treason, she refuses to believe her book is factual. But when a message is received from the moon asking her to call her childhood home and her dead mother answers, she must re-evaluate what is real and what is fictio
Her only chance of survival is a father she’s never known, a father living inside the moon. Can he save her, her family, and Earth, before it’s too late?
ABOUT P R GARCIA
P.R. Garcia grew up in rural Michigan and is the youngest of three.
She became a lover of Science Fiction at an early age when her parents
took her to the movies. She was hooked the moment she heard Patricia
Neal tell the robot Gort in The Day the Earth Stood Still “Klaatu
barada nikto”. Inspired by what was possible, she and her dog spent
many days in the fields behind her home fighting aliens and
investigating unexplored planets. Her love continued to grow, and while
in high school, the series Star Trek hit television, boosting her
fascination with what might be out there. Her friends still comment on
how she skipped the football games to stay home and watch each episode.
When in her thirties, she became an award-winning basket weaver and
continued in this craft for three decades. Upon retiring from her job
of thirty years, she moved to San Diego, California. She volunteered
for five years as a guide on the Whale Watching Boats, teaching people
from around the world about the Pacific Ocean’s aquatic life.
At
sixty-two, Ms. Garcia began to write her Europa Saga, a tantalizing,
ten-part sci-fi series of intrigue, suspense, and mystery. Her saga is a
fresh retelling of the story of Atlantis and its inhabitants. The
books span six thousand years and four generations. Her story launched
her into the world of a best-selling author.
Global warming,
deforestation, pollution of our air and water, species loss, and the
devastation of Earth itself are all subjects dear to Ms. Garcia’s
heart. She has incorporated those themes into her later books,
including books seven through nine of the Europa Saga and Extinction
2038. Her upcoming book Guardians of Earth and the sequel Guardians of
Earth II, which should be released in early 2021, also deals with these
subjects. If you’d like information on ways you can help stop global
warming and other green topics, sign up for her newsletter.
Ms.
Garcia also writes children’s books. A Cat for William is based on an
authentic story about how a stray cat helps a man cope with a disabling
disease. She is working on two more children’s books: The Story of
Sudan: The Last Northern White Male Rhino and The Christmas Crayons, a
story about a homeless boy who finds happiness in a box of crayons on
Christmas Day. For more information, go to her web page: http://www.prgarcia1.com.
Operation Navajo by Anita Dickason is not my first book by the author and it will not be my last. She has the ability to hook me from the beginning and keep me going until the final page has been read.
Anita Dickason is just as interesting as her novels, so be sure and check out her bio.
Anita Dickason gets right to the heart of the matter…a death threat against the life of the Federal Reserve Chairman, Frank Littleton. He seeks the help of the FBI’s elite Tracker Unit. The team makes me think of the Criminal MInds team and the BAU. This is a series, but each book can stand alone.
The Navajo Code was used during WWII. The Lakota, the Comanche, the Hopi, the Crow and other Native Americans served as code talkers. The Navajo Code was the only code never to have been broken.
Blake, one of Scott’s agents, received a package containing a Navajo Code, among other things. He received it because of a blast from the past and I do wonder how it will fit in with what I know. Intriguing. What is so important that it has to be secretly passed in Code? And seeing the Code has never been broken, how will he ever figure it out?
We have plenty of arrogance from the corrupt people who are greedy and conspire to have more. I am a huge fan of conspiracies. I feel I have an open mind, a cynical attitude, and enough doubt to keep from falling off the sane world.
I love authors that do their research and we get an inside glimpse and history of the Federal Reserve.
Books like Operation Navajo scare me, because they sound all too true. In this wacky world we are living in right now, it does make me wonder….could this happen? Is it happening now? Wouldn’t surprise me and that is definitely something to fear.
Anita Dickason’s biography reads like a suspense thriller character and I can imagine where her inspiration for her wonderful stories comes from. Keep up the great work!
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Operation Navajo by Anita Dickason
4 Stars
AMAZON TEASE
“Whoever controls the flow of the money supply, irrespective of whether it is fiat or gold currency, is the one to fear.”
ABOUT ANITA DICKASON
Code Name: Trackers: The elite of the elite. FBI agents, each with a secret, an extra edge, that defies reason and logic.
Characters
with unexpected skills—that extra edge for overcoming danger and
adversity—have always intrigued Anita. Adding an infatuation with
ancient myths and legends of Native American Indians, and Scottish and
Irish folklore creates the backdrop for her characters.
Anita is a
retired Dallas Police Officer. During—what she refers to as an
extraordinary career—Anita served as a patrol officer, undercover
narcotics officer, advanced accident investigator, and SWAT
entry/sniper.
Upon retirement, she became involved in a research
project that dealt with the death of a witness to the Kennedy
assassination. The research led to her first book, JFK Assassination
Eyewitness: Rush to Conspiracy, that details the results of her
reconstruction of a 1966 motor vehicle accident that killed Lee Bowers,
Jr., a key witness to the assassination.
Once the Bowers book
was written, Anita reached the same point many authors ultimately face:
I’ve written it, now what do I do? Answering that question has become
another career, one she has wholeheartedly embraced. The publishing
field is in a constant state of flux, offering unlimited possibilities
for an author, but also endless landmines.
Anita started a new
company, Mystic Circle Books & Designs LLC, offering cover design
and manuscript services. In addition to her works as an author, she
enjoys helping other authors see their dream become a reality.
Books from the Backlog is a fun way to feature some of those
neglected books sitting on your bookshelf unread. If you are anything
like me, you might be surprised by some of the unread books hiding in
your stacks.
A mysterious letter hidden in an old manuscript… Merciless assassins determined to recover it… An ordinary family fighting to survive…
When history professor Ian O’Brien purchases an old collection of letters and books, he unknowingly steps into the world of a shadowy organization. His family is soon caught up in a web of intrigue and deceit spun out of a 16th century Muslim conspiracy that somebody still wants to keep secret. This powerful and ruthless group will stop at nothing to recover the document. Events spin out of control, tragedy strikes and the quest for answers begins. Facing impossible odds, they race against time to discover the truth and save their loved ones. In the process, they learn just how powerful and enduring a lie can be.
Meticulously researched and drawing on historical facts, Luke Montgomery’s fast-paced, thought-provoking thriller exposes the dark history behind the cultural and religious challenges we face today. This explosive and courageous debut novel forces us to grapple with issues of identity and faith. In the words of one reviewer, “Never again will you utter the words ‘gospel truth’ without thinking of this book.”
“Luke Montgomery’s fast-paced novel is a political and religious tour de force. This book puts a face on the clash of civilizations unfolding in our day. Too true to call fiction, too gripping to put down. Well-researched, brilliantly executed!” –Joel Richardson, New York Times Bestselling author
“It was about time someone created a skillful and intelligent page turner using Turkey and its politics as the base.” -Yesim Erez, Cumhuriyet
“An EXPLOSIVE novel.” -B.Johnson, High Tide Journal and Washington Times communities.
I added A Deceit To Die For by Luke Montgomery to my TBR on 9.28.12. Sounds great to me. This past year I have been reading more historical fiction and though religious stories aren’t at the top of my list, a manuscript and assassins have me curious. It is Luke’s debut novel and I love to discover new to me authors.
I first found Sibel Hodge by participating in a tour by Partners In Crime and never looked back. Whenever I see her name, I immediately check further. This will be my third book by Sibel Hodge and I have loved every one of them.
Their Last Breath has a powerful cover that definitely fits the storyline. Done by BlackSheep.
I love the simple but powerful cover and it definitely pertains to the story inside. Does it make you curious? Good! I love Sibel Hodge’s work and was so excited when she gave me a copy for review.
Detective Warren Carter retired…with a haunting secret, so when the call came from the Chief Superintendent of the Professional Standards Department, he was on full alert. She wanted his help and gave him free rein to investigate. He felt the justice system failed many, all politics, all the time, so he didn’t always follow the rules, going rogue and I like that. I feel his frustration. This time, it was with approval.
Nice touch, with the old neighbor. I felt his feebleness, oldness, loneliness.
I wondered how Warren and Becky’s cases would intersect.
Their Last Breath by Sibel Hodge is one of those books that takes off early, ticking me off, getting my emotion in an uproar. Human trafficking and enslavement. The reason for the women’s abductions was a new one for me and that just added to my disgust. I loved trying to understand what could possibly make someone think that is okay. Delving into the minds of twisted characters fascinates me.
Becky…she eats often…she’s a grazer. I almost snorted out loud. LOL Sibel Hodge’s writing. She creates complex characters and she knows how to ‘show’ their personalities.
Early on, I find HER very fishy. My spidey senses are tingling and instinct is a valuable tool when reading, writing, and investigating.
I love flawed characters and Warren is one for sure. I would want him and Becky in my corner if I am ever in trouble. Their tenacity and instinct lead them to success.
Well done, Sibel. You hooked me from beginning to end. The characters are filled with depth and personality and that made me me love and hate them. The storyline is one I am familiar with, kidnapping and trafficking, but you added that little bit extra that I am always looking for, getting my emotion in an uproar, filling me with disgust at the villains and empathy with those that can find no way out of the position they find themselves in, just because they wanted a better life. Their Last Breath has the feeling of reality, of events that go on today.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Their Last Breath by Sibel Hodge.
4 Stars
GOODREADS BLURB
Detective Carter knows all about torture – but he’s never known a case as dark as this one.
The Six…
An
abandoned building goes up in flames. Six women are chained inside and
left to die – the truth is left to burn with them. Only one piece of
evidence remains, but will it be enough to find their killer?
The Detective…
Retired
detective Warren Carter has been suffocated by grief for his wife and
is looking for a new start. But when he gets a call that cuts to the
heart of the force, investigating a corrupt police officer, he has to
accept. This time, though, he’s going to have to face his demons and
work out who to trust when the truth is guarded by his own colleagues.
The Bad Cop…
It
was supposed to be the perfect crime: they knew the system well enough
to beat it and get away with murder. But they didn’t know Detective
Carter, and how far a man will go when he has nothing left to lose…
Their Last Breath is the gripping new thriller perfect for fans of Line of Duty, from the bestselling author of Duplicity and Into The Darkness
ABOUT SIBEL HODGE
Sibel Hodge is the author of
the #1 Bestsellers Look Behind You, Untouchable, and Duplicity. Her
books have sold over one million copies and are international
bestsellers in the UK, USA, Australia, France, Canada and Germany. She
writes in an eclectic mix of genres, and is a passionate human and
animal rights advocate.
Her work has been nominated and
shortlisted for numerous prizes, including the Harry Bowling Prize, the
Yeovil Literary Prize, the Chapter One Promotions Novel Competition, The
Romance Reviews’ prize for Best Novel with Romantic Elements and Indie
Book Bargains’ Best Indie Book of 2012 in two categories. She was the
winner of Best Children’s Book in the 2013 eFestival of Words; nominated
for the 2015 BigAl’s Books and Pals Young Adult Readers’ Choice Award;
winner of the Crime, Thrillers & Mystery Book from a Series Award in
the SpaSpa Book Awards 2013; winner of the Readers’ Favorite Young
Adult (Coming of Age) Honorable award in 2015; a New Adult finalist in
the Oklahoma Romance Writers of America’s International Digital Awards
2015, and 2017 International Thriller Writers Award finalist for Best
E-book Original Novel. Her novella Trafficked: The Diary of a Sex Slave
has been listed as one of the top forty books about human rights by
Accredited Online Colleges.
Well, we are coming to the end of the Rememdium series with Tainted World by Ashley Fontainne. It has been one hell of a ride and I can only wish the best to the gang I have come to know so well.
Well, we are at the end of the adventure with this group of people I have come to know and love in the final story of the Rememdium series, Tainted World by Ashley Fontainne. It has been a long, torturous, bloody road to El Salvador and we have lost many friends and family. How many people are alive and where they are will remain unknown and that may make their survival more likely.
Those around you died brutal, savage deaths, literally being ripped limb from limb and eaten alive. Would you rather go out in the initial slaughter or be one of the last ones standing? Which is worse? Well, I will not go quietly into that good night. How about you?
So much more to worry about than the zombies that dog their every step. Sometimes humans can be more deadly. Conspiracy is the ultimate betrayal when the country is going through an apocalypse. If you can’t count on those in charge, who can you count on? Do you believe in an ultimate power source, like the Illuminati? I sure do.
When Mike and Trent came across Chris, that about summed up everything for me. I can’t tell you what happened but it affected me profoundly.
I was surprised to see a character that carried my name, Sherry, whether it’s intended or not., It’s always so much fun to see it happen. I thought she was the best. LOL
I love Jesse. She is a character that has turned everything in her life around and stands tall in a crisis. I loved it when she said, “…even a pawn can capture the king if in the right position on the board.”
I wondered how Ashley Fontainne would wrap up the Rememdium series and I thought she did a bang up job. I am completely satisfied. After all the running, fighting, killing, munching, hiding, crying, dying and loving, I breathed a sigh of relief at a job well done. Not everyone made it, but those that did left me with a feeling of hope for humanity.
I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Tainted World by Ashley Fontainne.
4 stars
GOODREADS BLURB
The final installment of what happens when a miraculous cure ends up destroying the entire world.
When
Dr. Everett Berning’s discovery of a permanent cure for drug addiction
fell into the hands of Benito San Nicholas, head of the Alvarado cartel
in El Salvador – the end result was the dead took over the world.
In
less than 48 hours, narcotics tainted with fungal spores are deployed
around the globe and mankind’s existence hangs in the balance. Nowhere
is safe as the death toll mounts and the reanimated corpses aren’t the
only threat.
The remaining members of Project Rememdium and the
small contingent of survivors from Arkansas band together. The decision
is made to flee to a safer location, yet Teresa Alvarado had other
intentions. Once in the air, hell-bent on finding Benito San Nicholas
and killing him for what he’s done, Teresa Alvarado forced the pilot to
take them to her native El Salvador.
Will Teresa’s own personal vendetta actually offer hope to Dr. Berning and the rest of the world?
Or will the dangerous jungles of El Salvador be the place where all hope is lost and they take their final breaths?
ABOUT ASHLEY FONTAINNE (from her website)
Award-winning and
International bestselling author Ashley Fontainne is an avid reader of
mostly the classics. Ashley became a fan of the written word in her
youth, starting with the Nancy Drew mystery series. Stories that immerse
the reader deep into the human psyche and the monsters that lurk within
us are her favorite reads.
Her muse for penning the
Eviscerating the Snake series was The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre
Dumas. Ashley’s love for this book is what sparked her desire to write
her debut novel, Accountable to None, the first book in the trilogy.
With a modern setting to the tale, Ashley delves into just what lengths a
person is willing to go when they seek personal justice for heinous
acts perpetrated upon them. The second novel in the series, Zero
Balance. focuses on the cost and reciprocal cycle that obtaining revenge
has on the seeker. For once the cycle starts, where does it end? How
far will the tendrils of revenge expand? Adjusting Journal Entries
answered that question: far and wide.
Her short thriller
entitled Number Seventy-Five, touches upon the sometimes dangerous world
of online dating. Number Seventy-Five took home the BRONZE medal in
fiction/suspense at the 2013 Readers’ Favorite International Book Awards
contest and is currently in production for a feature film.
Her paranormal thriller
entitled The Lie, won the GOLD medal in the 2013 Illumination Book
Awards for fiction/suspense and is also in production for a feature film
entitled Foreseen.
Ashley’s decided to delve
into the paranormal with a Southern Gothic horror/suspense novel,
Growl, which released in January of 2015. The suspenseful mystery Empty
Shell, released in September of 2014. Ashley will be teaming up with
Lillian Hansen (Ashley calls her mom!) to pen a three-part murder
mystery/suspense series entitled The Magnolia Series. The first book,
Blood Ties, is due out the Summer of 2015.
Ashley also hosts The WriteStuff, a popular BlogTalk Radio show, each Friday night at 10 p.m. CST.
Books from the Backlog is a fun way to feature some of those
neglected books sitting on your bookshelf unread. If you are anything
like me, you might be surprised by some of the unread books hiding in
your stacks.
Gerald Hammond is the
exception to the rule; an honorable spy, whose lofty principles have
brought him nothing but loneliness and isolation. With the war in
Europe at an end, Hammond returns to Washington only to find his unit
disbanded and his wife moved out of the marital home. Ostracized by
the Washington elite, publicly humiliated by an unfaithful wife, and
scorned by former friends and colleagues, he is forced to take a mundane
job with an insurance company. . . But then comes the call. The
State Department wants him to rescue a young woman, trapped in Soviet
East Germany. Should he succeed a plum job at The State Department
awaits. Desperate for deliverance from his humdrum existence, Hammond accepts the assignment. He
heads into enemy territory, unaware of the sinister force that
sponsored his mission or of the unseen dangers that lie in wait. He only
knows that he must somehow save the girl to save himself, but as his
enemies close in, and ever-more disturbing revelations come to light,
Gerald Hammond begins to wonder which poses the greatest threat. . . The
enemy he runs from, the friend he runs to, or the girl he was sent to
save?
“Fast paced thriller with lots of action – I couldn’t put it down!!” – Amazon Reviewer
“Delicious spy novel, bold and graphic.” – Amazon Reviewer
“A tremendous book – a definite page turner”- Amazon Reviewer
“This is the best spy novel I have read in quite some time” – Amazon Reviewer
“I purchased this based on the reviews, and it exceeded expectations” – Amazon Reviewer
“And
be warned, there’s bad language, sex, sadistic murders, regular
murders, etc. in this book. It’s a spy novel…stay out of the kitchen
if you don’t like this kind of heat.” – Amazon Reviewer
I love a good conspiracy now and then and The Folks at Fifty Eight sounded like it might foot the bill. Pretty good cover too. I added this to my TBR on 5.13.12. It averages 3.45 on Goodreads.
