Remote Viewing & The CIA – Vicki’s Key by P M Terrell @pmterrell

Posted on September 25, 2017 by fundinmental

Vicki’s Key by P M Terrell has been sitting, ever so patiently, on my Kindle…waiting for me to find it again. It’s like that one sock that your washing machine eats, only I don’t think ya ever find that one, but I did find Vicki’s Key. And I am glad that I did.

This was a fabulous read and I would love to visit Vicki again, and again, and again….

Goodreads / Amazon US / Amazon UK / Amazon CA

MY REVIEW

I found the true aspects of the government use and involvement in the psychic truly amazing.

I love everything about the book, the swamp for burying bodies, secrets to be revealed and remote viewing to exotic locations…and into danger. But, sometimes, danger is closer than you think.

The CIA wanted her to stay, but after her last mission, she knew it was time to move on. Does she really believe they would let her walk away?

She was an orphan, with siblings she knew nothing about. She didn’t know how the CIA found her. She grew up in an institutional setting under their guidance and control, treated like nothing more than a lab rat, taught to perform. They wanted her psychic ability, not her, the person. It’s a wonder she didn’t go mad or turn to the dark side.

She wanted a life…a normal life and she was going to Lumberton, North Carolina to find it. She would serve an apprenticeship, of sorts, with an old lady and her tropical fish. Easy peasy, right?

She immediately runs into Dylan Maguire, the fish lady’s nephew. Woo hoo to the hottie, but Vicki’s spidey senses are tingling, just a little for her, but a lot for me. I think there is much more to him than meets the eye, but I like him nonetheless. He has an air of danger, yet a sweetness and desire to please her.

It’s a good thing Dylan can cook, because Vicki can’t even brew a cup of coffee. Who is this man Dylan, loving, caring, thoughtful, romantic and sweet, yet fiery, passionate, protective and beware those who wish Vicki harm

Vicki can psychically project herself to a specific place and time, able to tell everything about the place, the people, and the events taking place. Better than GPS.

So…I wonder how long Vicki will contain her curiosity about the elusive Auntie and open the door to the forbidden room.

I love that the mystery and problems popped up early. Gets me involved, invested in the story and the characters. I really do think thing’s are ‘fishy’, but who is the guilty party and what it’s all about I can’t say for sure…yet. Will she be in danger? And from whom?

The mystery is slow building. It is no surprise they both have secrets, baggage that has followed them to Lumberton. P M Terrell has created mysteries within mysteries and I am unable to figure them out. She weaves intrigue and danger into a suspenseful romance with characters I love to hate and love to love. I am a sucker for happy ever after endings and I am waiting for Vicki’s knight in tarnished armor to come to her rescue. Now…that’s a surprise!

P M Terrell keeps the romance light and sweet.

Vicki’s Key by P M Terrell had everything I could want and more. Some truth, some fiction, woven into a rich and complicated tale that left me wanting more.

I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of Vicki’s Key by P M Terrell.

4 Stars

GOODREADS BLURB

After a botched CIA mission, Vicki Boyd leaves the CIA, moves to a new town and tries to start over in a new job working for an elderly woman. But when she arrives, she learns Laurel Maguire has suffered a stroke and her nephew Dylan has arrived from Ireland to care for her. Vicki quickly falls in love with Dylan but all is not what it seems to be at Aunt Laurel’s house. And when the CIA recruit her for one more mission, her past and her new future are about to collide… in murder.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

p.m.terrell is the pen name for Patricia McClelland Terrell, the award-winning, internationally acclaimed author of more than 21 books in four genres: contemporary suspense, historical adventure/suspense, computer how-to and non-fiction.

Prior to writing full-time, she founded two computer companies in the Washington, DC Metropolitan Area. Among her clients were the Central Intelligence Agency, United States Secret Service, U.S. Information Agency, and Department of Defense. Her specialties were in white collar computer crimes and computer intelligence, themes that have carried forward to her contemporary suspense.

She has been a full-time author since 2002. Vicki’s Key was a top five finalist in the 2012 International Book Awards and 2012 USA Book Awards nominee, and The Pendulum Files was a national finalist for the Best Cover of the Year in 2014. The Tempest Murders was one of four finalists in the 2013 International Book Awards, cross-genre category.

Her historical suspense, River Passage, was a 2010 Best Fiction and Drama Winner. It was determined to be so historically accurate that a copy of the book resides at the Nashville Government Metropolitan Archives in Nashville, Tennessee.

She is also the co-founder of The Book ‘Em Foundation, an organization committed to raising public awareness of the correlation between high crime rates and high illiteracy rates. She is the organizer and chairperson of Book ‘Em North Carolina, an annual event held in Lumberton, North Carolina, to raise funds to increase literacy and reduce crime. For more information on this event and the literacy campaigns funded by it, visit www.bookemnc.org. She is also the founder of The Novel Business, mentoring authors in the business end and selling of books.

She sits on the board of the Friends of the Robeson County Public Library. She has also served on the boards of Robeson County Arts Council, Crime Stoppers and Crime Solvers and became the first female president of the Chesterfield County-Colonial Heights Crime Solvers in Virginia.

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Egypt Adventure – Review for The Calling by Kathryn Meyer Griffith @KathrynG64

Posted on August 24, 2017 by fundinmental

Kathryn Meyer Griffith is a prolific author that is on my must read list.

I hope you enjoy your trip to Egypt, but watch out for sandstorms and haunts.

Cover by Dawn Dominque

Amazon US / Amazon UK / Amazon CA / Goodreads

MY REVIEW

Egypt, time travel, ghosts, and mystery…sounds like a winner to me. And I love Kathryn Meyer Griffith’s ability to tell a story that draws me in, keeping me lost in the story she tells. She infuses her stories with the music she loves so much and I think it adds a special touch of realism.

Nefertiti watched as everything she loved fell.

Faye, her hubby, Nick, the bar, her band and her friends…she is happy.

As Faye cleans the bar, bathed in sweat, SHE came to her…again.

Faye knew she shared her body with a ghost, she felt the Egyptian link. She has even seen a glimpse of her in the mirror. Who is she? Why is she haunting her? What does she want?

Everything changed when the thug walked into the bar.

She is Ankhesenaton, a queen of Egypt. She wants justice. She came to Faye, when Faye died…and Faye came back…different.

“It’s going to be quite an adventure isn’t it?” Nick states the obvious. Gotta love the guy and I know I’m ready to be whisked away to Egypt and the mystery they must solve. They talk about the information and history discovered in the Egyptian’s garbage and it makes me wonder what ours will tell in the future.

Good magic and bad magic both want her.

In Egypt, in the desert, they are open to danger from bedouins, hallucinations, and bad magic. The danger and suspense mount.

Kathryn Meyer Griffith’s writing brings to life the sandstorm, the haunts. I can picture blowing sands, almost feel the stinging grit, getting in every exposed nook and cranny, can almost feel the dead reaching out trying to halt their progress.

I love myths and legends of Nefertiti and Egyptian lore. I can almost see the palace falling, and the senseless slaughter of the people. Echoes of the past filter into the present and it’s shock and awe for Nick. I love that he gets a taste of his wife’s visions.

Kathryn’s writing makes for easy reading and stepping into the characters shoes, whether they are being ravaged in an Egyptian sandstorm or chilling on a snowy Montana night. The danger makes for suspenseful reading and, even though I know everything will be all right, at least I think it will, I am still worried, fretting, trying to get Faye’s attention so I can help her

Can’t get much more involved than that. LOL

I voluntarily reviewed a free copy of The Calling by Kathryn Meyer Griffith.

4 Stars

GOODREADS BLURB

Faye Summer has been haunted by a three-thousand-year-old-murdered Egyptian princess, one of the five daughters of Nefertiti and the doomed pharaoh Akhenaton, since she was a young girl…glimpsed her ghostly and desperate face in darkened mirrors and heard her whispers in her dreams. Whispers begging for Faye’s help in uncovering the true story of her and her family’s long ago disappearances and deaths, their terrible fate, so she would no longer be damned to eternal wandering. On that grave quest, Faye and her husband, Nick, reluctantly travel to Egypt and among the ancient pyramids, sparkling hot sands and the ghosts of the past they discover a truth far worse than they could have imagined…and then end up fighting for their own survival.

About Kathryn Meyer Griffith…

Since childhood I’ve been an artist and worked as a graphic designer in the corporate world and for newspapers for twenty-three years before I quit to write full time. But I’d already begun writing novels at 21, over forty-four years ago now, and have had twenty-five (six romantic horror, four thrillers, two horror novels, two romantic SF horror, one romantic suspense, one romantic time travel, one historical romance and eight murder mysteries) previous novels, two novellas and twelve short stories published from Zebra Books, Leisure Books, Avalon Books, The Wild Rose Press, Damnation Books/Eternal Press. But I’ve gone into self-publishing in a big way since 2012; and upon getting some of my 24 books’ full rights back for the first time in 33 years, have self-published all of them along with my newer novels. My four Dinosaur Lake novels and four Spookie Town Mysteries (Scraps of Paper, All Things Slip Away, Ghosts Beneath Us and Witches Among Us) are my best-sellers.

I’ve been married to Russell for thirty-eight years; have a son and two grandchildren and I live in a small quaint town in Illinois. We have a quirky cat, Sasha, and the three of us live happily in an old house in the heart of town. Though I’ve been an artist, and a folk/classic rock singer in my youth with my brother Jim, writing has always been my greatest passion, my butterfly stage, and I’ll probably write stories until the day I die…or until my memory goes.

2012 EPIC EBOOK AWARDS *Finalist* for her horror novel The Last Vampire ~ 2014 EPIC EBOOK AWARDS * Finalist * for her thriller novel Dinosaur Lake.

*All Kathryn Meyer Griffith’s books can be found HERE.

*All her Audible.com audio books HERE.

Novels and short stories from Kathryn Meyer Griffith:

Evil Stalks the Night, The Heart of the Rose, Blood Forged, Vampire Blood, The Last Vampire (2012 EPIC EBOOK AWARDS*Finalist* in their Horror category), Witches, The Nameless One erotic horror short story, The Calling, Scraps of Paper (The First Spookie Town Murder Mystery), All Things Slip Away (The Second Spookie Town Murder Mystery), Ghosts Beneath Us (The Third Spookie Town Murder Mystery), Witches Among Us (The Fourth Spookie Town Murder Mystery),Egyptian Heart, Winter’s Journey, The Ice Bridge, Don’t Look Back, Agnes, A Time of Demons and Angels, The Woman in Crimson, Human No Longer, Four Spooky Short Stories Collection, Forever and Always Romantic Novella, Night Carnival Short Story, Dinosaur Lake (2014 EPIC EBOOK AWARDS*Finalist* in their Thriller/Adventure category), Dinosaur Lake II: Dinosaurs Arising and Dinosaur Lake III: Infestation, Dinosaur Lake IV: Dinosaur Wars, Memories of My Childhood (short story collection) and Christmas Magic 1959 short story.

Twitter / Blog / Facebook / Authorsden / Goodreads / Gravatar / Pinterest

*All Kathryn Meyer Griffith’s books are now also available in paperbacks and audio books.

MY REVIEWS FOR KATHRYN MEYER GRIFFITH’S BOOKS

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Friday 56 #136 – A Game of Lies by Rebecca Cantrell @rebeccacantrell

Posted on June 23, 2017 by fundinmental

.
The Friday 56 is hosted by Freda’s Voice.The only rules are to grab a book (any book), turn to page 56 or 56% in your ereader and find any sentence or a few ( no spoilers) that grabs you and post it.

Please join Rose City Reader every Friday to share the first sentence or so of the book you are reading along with you initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires.

Please include the title of the book and the author’s name.

A Game of Lies by Rebecca Cantrell

Amazon / Goodreads

My 56

I had made a mistake.

I pivoted back toward the door, but he slammed it shut and stood in front, arms crossed.

( page 56, in hardcover,1st edition, published in 2011)

Book Beginnings

The crowd pushed the three of us between the Marathon Towers toward the Berlin Olympics Stadium. The left tower displayed a simple clock On the right, both politically and geographically, hung a twisted iron cross – the swastika. I understood the message: It was 1936, and the time of the Nazis had come.

GOODREADS BLURB: Journalist Hannah Vogel returns in A Game of Lies by award-winning author Rebecca Cantrell.

In preparation for the 1936 Berlin Olympics, the Nazis have rid the streets of anti-Semitic material and other propaganda, and present a peace-seeking face to the world. Journalist and part-time spy for the British, Hannah Vogel, shudders to think of what lies under the temporary coat of gloss.

Posing as travel reporter Adelheid Zinsli and lover of SS officer Lars Lang, Hannah has been collecting Nazi secrets from Lang and smuggling them back to Switzerland. Wanted by the SS, her travel in and out of Germany has always been fraught with danger, but this trip is especially treacherous.

Surrounded by former colleagues who could identify her, Hannah tries to keep a low profile while reporting on the Games as Adelheid. Her relationship with Lang gets more complicated as he sinks into alcoholism; the whispers she hears about his work in the SS give her chills. Whose side is he on?

Hannah agrees to meet her mentor, Peter Weill, at the Stadium, but before he can reveal information that will expose the Nazis, he dies in front of her. Hannah suspects poison.

Hannah must discover who killed Weill and get his secret package out of the country before the Olympics end and the Nazis tighten their noose and before her true identity is revealed. And her partner may be the very one about to expose her.

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A Corner in Glory Land by Janie DeVos

Posted on May 11, 2017 by fundinmental

A CORNER IN GLORY LAND

by Janie DeVos

Genre: Fiction, Historical Fiction

Pub Date: 12/19/17

In turn-of-the-century Florida, a
family comes of age, and a daughter finds her destiny entwined with a
land as full of promise as it is danger.

The steamy, sweltering banks of
Florida’s Ocklawaha River don’t look much like Glory Land to
young Eve Stewart, despite her father’s proclamation. But it’s
here that Eve, her three siblings, and their parents will settle in
July, 1875. Within a few years, Eve’s father, Hap, has made good on
his assurances. They have a large, weathered clapboard house and a
comfortable life, thanks to Hap’s job on a steamboat.

Eve and her twin sister, Ivy, are
blossoming into young women. Yet as Ivy grows more involved in
medicine making under the tutelage of a neighboring black woman, her
path leads away from the family.

Eve, an aspiring writer, loves her
home though she longs to see the wider world beyond its swamps and
shores. But when she discovers a secret Ivy’s been keeping, Eve
must decide between protecting the family name or saving her sister.
With the help of a half-Creek Indian tracker, Max Harjo, Eve sets out
to find Ivy, beginning a journey that will dare her to follow her
ambitions and her passion wherever they lead.

Amazon * B&N * GooglePlay * Kobo

Janie DeVos is a native of Coral
Gables, Florida. She attended Florida State University, then worked
in the advertising industry for over a decade, including radio, cable
television, public relations and advertising firms. Though her career
changed over the years, one thing didn’t—her love of writing. She
is an award-winning children’s author. Beneath a Thousand Apple Trees
is her adult debut. Learn more at janiedevos.com.

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Friday 56 #131 – A Wildcatter’s Trek by Gene Ames Jr #GeneAmesJr

Posted on May 5, 2017 by fundinmental

Please include the title of the book and the author’s name.

~~~

A Wildcatter’s Trek by Gene Ames Jr reads like a true story, told by a real oilman.

Think you know about the oil business, think again.

If you are a fan of the TV series, Dallas, A Wildcatter’s Trek by Gene Ames Jr will fill in some of the blanks and show how much oil people really contribute to technology, education, the arts…

You can see my review HERE.

Amazon / Goodreads

My 56

“And I want a home – a big home. Now. I’m not waiting any longer. I can’t stand this garage apartment. We’ve visited your oil field friends in their new stone mansions with huge lawns and gardens and white board fences that run around their property for miles. If you won’t build me a mansion, I’m going back to Oklahoma.”

( page 56, in paperback,1st edition, published in 2016)

Book Beginnings

THAT’S ONE ANGRY river, Jordan Phillips thought, standing in front of his truck loaded with oil well casing, looking across what seemed like a half a mile of fast moving, rolling brown water to the other side of the Sabine.

GOODREADS BLURB: A Wildcatter’s Trek: Love, Money and Oil tells the harrowing tale of Jordan Phillips, a young pipe salesman who risks everything to drill for oil in East Texas and discovers the largest oil field in the world by accident. The breathtaking core of A Wildcatter’s Trek: Love, Money and Oil is fully exposed as Jordan Phillips is unwittingly thrust into the brutal, never-ending race of the oil wildcatter. Fraud, greed and danger abound. Will Jordan survive?

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It’s A Gusher – A Wildcatter’s Trek by Gene Ames Jr #GeneAmesJr

Posted on March 8, 2017 by fundinmental

A Wildcatter’s Trek by Gene Ames Jr reads like a true story, told by a real oilman.

Think you know about the oil business, think again.

If you are a fan of the TV series, Dallas, A Wildcatter’s Trek by Gene Ames Jr will fill in some of the blanks and show how much oil people really contribute to technology, education, the arts…

Amazon / Goodreads

MY REVIEW

I loved A Wildcatter’s Trek by Gene Ames Jr, that tells a story of one man’s belief that life can be run on a handshake, that the next big one is just around the corner and a home is where the heart is.

The spirits said he would find a river of oil, but disaster and death will follow.

Jordan is driven to drill more and more oil wells.

As I learn about supply and demand, I am thinking he’s heading for trouble. Also, someone very close to him will betray him and I wonder if he will find out in time to divert the disasters that are heading his way.

A Wildcatter’s Trek makes me think of poker players, risk and reward. Rich, poor and rich again. Fortunes made and fortunes lost.

If you are a fan of the TV series, Dallas, like I am, this will sound familiar to you. A Wildcatter’s Trek is a down and dirty education of the oil world. Corruption, betrayal, revenge…Just like any business, personal or professional, everyone has their own agenda. You need to listen to those closest you, proven friends that are trustworthy, but sleep with one eye open.

Are you of the thought that all oil people are greedy, egotistical, selfish people, only out for themselves? My eyes were opened to the contributions they make to medicine, research, education, museums, libraries, technology…

I freaked out when I read…Oh no, it can’t be…But you will have to read it for yourself to find out what made my jaw drop, and kept me rapidly turning the pages to find out what happens next.

So…if you are looking for an eye opening glimpse into the world of oil and the people involved, A Wildcatter’s Trek by Gene Ames Jr is a story you don’t want to miss.

I voluntarily reviewed A Wilcatter’s Trek by Gene Ames Jr.

4 Stars

GOODREADS BLURB

A Wildcatter’s Trek: Love, Money and Oil tells the harrowing tale of Jordan Phillips, a young pipe salesman who risks everything to drill for oil in East Texas and discovers the largest oil field in the world by accident. The breathtaking core of A Wildcatter’s Trek: Love, Money and Oil is fully exposed as Jordan Phillips is unwittingly thrust into the brutal, never-ending race of the oil wildcatter. Fraud, greed and danger abound. Will Jordan survive?

ABOUT GENE AMES JR (from inside the book)

Gene Ames Jr is fourth generation oil field. He is married to Ellen Rhett Young Ames, and they live in San Antonio, Texas. He was born in Gladewater, Texas in the East Texas Oil Boom where his father owned fractional working interests in producing oil wells and an interest in a gasoline plant. He and his family have been in the oil business starting back in Oklahoma, more than a hundred years ago.

Buy on Amazon

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Giveaway – Returned by Kimberly Griffiths Little @KimberleyGLittl

Posted on February 11, 2017 by fundinmental

Returned Trilogy

Returned by Kimberley Griffiths Little

After tragedy strikes on the day they were to wed, Jayden must support Kadesh as he ascends the throne and becomes king of Sariba. But with the dark priestess Aliyah conspiring to control the crown, and the arrival of Horeb, Jayden’s former betrothed, Kadesh’s kingdom, as well as his status as king, is at stake.

Jayden knows that the time to be merciful has come and gone, and that some enemies can only be halted by death. Now she and Kadesh must prepare to fight not only for their love, but also for their kingdom.
This is the final book in the epic trilogy that began with Forbidden and Banished. Jayden and Kadesh’s love will be put to the ultimate test as they fight a war to save their kingdom.

Praise for the Book

Booklist (starred review)

“At its core, this is a romance, with all the push and pull that goes along with impossible love, and Little elevates the story by creating a perilous landscape, both outward and inward, as Jayden must deal with the hardship of desert life as well as her own desires. . . descriptions of the landscape are evocative in both desolation and in beauty. Just as good is the pacing, which gets the blood pumping for both characters and readers. This will heighten anticipation for a no-doubt exciting conclusion.”

Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

“Rich historical details are deftly woven into Jayden’s narration, and the dynamics of Jayden’s tribe are vividly drawn. Jayden’s story becomes as much about finding herself as it is about finding love.”

Reader: “This book took my breath away. I loved the immersive story and the rich setting of ancient Mesopotamia. The customs, traditions, and beliefs of the desert people were captivating and every time I set the book down I couldn’t wait to pick it up again. I’ve never read anything like this before.”

Reader: “Forbidden was so captivating that I awoke early in the morning, while my family was still sleeping, so I could finish the last pages of this beautifully haunting tale.”

SONY DSC Author Kimberley Griffiths Little

Kimberley Griffiths Little is the author of ten award-winning Middle-Grade and Young Adult novels with Knopf, Scholastic and Harpercollins, including the Whitney Award, the Arizona/New Mexico Book Award, the SCBWI Crystal Kite, the Southwest Book Award, and others. ALA BOOKLIST named FORBIDDEN, the first book in her Ancient Mesopotamian historical fantasy a Young Adult Top 10 novel for the Historical category, Romance category, and Religious/Inspirational.

Kimberley adores anything old and musty with a secret story to tell. She once stayed in the haunted tower room at Borthwick Castle in Scotland and didn’t sleep a wink; sailed the Seine in Paris; ridden a camel in Petra, Jordan; shopped the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul; and spent the night in an old Communist hotel in Bulgaria. She was born in San Francisco but now lives on the banks of the Rio Grande with her husband and three sons.

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Blast Giveaway

$50 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash

Ends 2/27/17

Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader and sponsored by the author. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Friday 56 #105 – Caribbean by James A Michener #JamesAMichener

Posted on October 28, 2016 by fundinmental

Please include the title of the book and the author’s name.

~~~

I have a few James A Michener novels, but seeing I am a love of the Caribbean, my favorite area to visit, I chose Caribbean, a historical fiction novel.

James’ death is a huge loss to the writing world.

This is the cover for my 1st edition hardcover published in 1989.

Amazon / Goodreads

My 56

“That afternoon the captain general summoned all hands to the afterdeck, very nervous he was, and he said: “What did I promise yesterday when you were near mutiny?” and a man near me bellows: “That if we don’t see land in three days, back we go safe to our homes in Spain.” And he said: “That’s still the promise,” and we cheered

(Page 56 in hardcover, published in 1989)

If you like Witches and magic, check out the fabulous new Tag Team Event and enter to win an ebook or audiobook for your very own. Multiple chances to win. HERE

Book Beginnings

The first chapter is the Hedge of Croton and if you know these plants, they paint a vivid and colorful picture right off the bat. Too bad they die back in winter here in the Florida Panhandle.

The chief character in this narrative is the Caribbean Sea, one of the world’s most alluring bodies of water, a rare gem among the oceans, defined by the islands that form a chain of lovely jewels to the north and east. Although bounded on the south and west by continental land masses, it is the islands that give the Caribbean its Unique charm. On the north lies the large and important trio: Puerto Rico, Hispaniola (Haiti and the Domincan Republic) and great Cuba. On the east are those heavenly small islands that so artistically dot the blue waves: Antigua, Guadeloupe, Martinique, All Saints,Trinidad and remote Barbados among them. The southern shore is formed by the South American countries of Venezula and Colombia and the Central American nation of Panama The western shore is often overlooked, but it contains both the exciting republics of Central America – Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Honduras – and the wonderful, mysterious peninsula of Yucatan where the ancient Maya flourished

GOODREADS BLURB: In this acclaimed classic novel, James A. Michener sweeps readers off to the Caribbean, bringing to life the eternal allure and tumultuous history of this glittering string of islands. From the 1310 conquest of the Arawaks by cannibals to the decline of the Mayan empire, from Columbus’s arrival to buccaneer Henry Morgan’s notorious reign, from the bloody slave revolt on Haiti to the rise of Cuba’s Fidel Castro, Caribbean packs seven hundred dramatic years into a tale teeming with revolution and romance, authentic characters and thunderous destinies. Through absorbing, magnificent prose, Michener captures the essence of the islands in all of their awe-inspiring scope and wonder.

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WHICH COVER WOULD YOU CHOOSE?

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Friday 56 #101 – Cape Cod by William Martin

Posted on September 30, 2016 by fundinmental

Please include the title of the book and the author’s name.

~~~

Cape Cod by William Martin would have been on my reading list because of the many trips I have taken there. It is a very unique place and that cover pretty much tells it all for me.

Amazon / Goodreads

My 56

Then the woman in front called, “Ten.” And before Geoff could get his hand up, the bid bounced to ten-five, then eleven.

Geoff’s hand relaxed, as though it had gone beyond him.

Janice said, “Thank God for her.”

“Are we out of it?” G” Geoff said to his wife. “I think so,” he whispered to his friend.

(Page 56 in hardcover, published in 1991)

Book Beginnings

Each year the whales went to the great bay. They followed the cold current south from seas where the ice never melted, south along coastlines of rock, past rivers and inlets, to the great bay that forever brimmed with life. Sometimes they stayed through a single tide, sometimes from one full moon to the next, and sometimes, for reasons that only the sea understood, the whales never left the great bay.

My question to you: Have you ever been to Cape Cod or gone whale watching?

GOODREADS BLURB: By the bestselling author of Back Bay, this is a majestic multi-gnerational saga that brings to life the story of Cape Cod, from the landing of the Mayflower to the present. From its highly-charged opening to its shattering conclusion, Cape Cod is a novel as impressive and captivating as the land it portrays.

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Giveaway – Oubliette by Vanta M Black @VantaMBlack

Posted on June 28, 2016 by fundinmental

Oubliette by Vanta M Black has a simple, yet awesome cover for a novel that was inspired by true events. Check it out closely and, if you see what I see, you will be eager to open the pages and learn what’s inside.

Be sure and scroll to the bottom of the post for the giveaway!

Oubliette: A Forgotten Little Place by Vanta M. Black

Genre: Fiction, Thriller, Paranormal, Historical Fiction, Genre-Fiction, New Adult, Horror

Publisher: Black Chateau Publishing

Date of Publication: March 2016

ISBN: 978-0-9964488-2-6 / ISBN: 978-0-9964488-1-9 / ISBN: 978-0-9964488-0-2

Number of pages: 566

Word Count: 247,912

Cover Artist: Black Chateau Enterprises

Book Description:

Veronica knows the monsters aren’t “just in her head”, but no one listens to the headstrong ten-year-old as they tie her to a hospital bed every night.

Years later, after being dumped by her business-partner/boyfriend, Veronica finds herself on the verge of bankruptcy. Then a late-night call promises the perfect solution — a job opportunity decorating a castle in France.

Will Veronica risk what little she has left to chase a fairytale?

When the shadowy things that once terrorized her come back, Veronica must decide how much she’ll sacrifice for them, for her sanity, and for her life.

This epic book consists of interwoven stories with paranormal twists. A horror-filled historical fiction adventure, it spans nearly two millennia.

You’ll be transported to an ancient Pagan ritual, Roman-ruled Gaul, the bloody Inquisition of the Knights Templar, France as it’s ravaged by the Black Death, the duplicitous Reformation, the Paris Catacombs, and the gory French Revolution, while you unravel Oubliette’s cryptic layers.

Amazon BN Author Website

PROLOGUE

LA Early 1900s

Veronica didn’t understand why they looked for the monsters in her head, that’s obviously not where they were. Instead of listening, the doctors stuck pads with wires to her temples and increased the dosage of an IV that dripped into her veins.

They also told the nurses to tie her down with thick, leather belts every night.

The tethers didn’t matter though, because when the monsters came, she wouldn’t be able to move anyway. The only thing Veronica could ever do was scream.

The doctors called them “night terrors”. The pudgy lady who talked funny –– she told Veronica it was her accent –– said they were “spirits”. Mommy used the term “shadow people”. Veronica just called them “monsters”, and wished they’d stop scaring her when she slept.

They wanted her. Deep inside, on a primal level, Veronica knew the monsters –– or whatever they were –– craved her, and if given the chance, they would do something very, very bad to her.

The little girl tried to explain this to the doctors, the nurses, the accent-talking lady, and her mother, but none of the adults really listened. Instead they argued and shouted at each other, and huffed in and out of the room –– but the thing that frightened Veronica the most, is when the adults would simply shrug their shoulders, and admit that they really didn’t have any idea what the monsters were at all.

It was almost ten o’clock –– shift-change time. The night staff would come now. The nurse on duty was a plodding and lazy lady who would only check on Veronica at the beginning of the shift, and then abandon her in favor of the nurses’ station and a VHS tape of the day’s soap operas. Veronica didn’t like her. Sometimes it would take “Nurse Lazy” a full five minutes before she’d respond. She never came fast enough.

Veronica tried to tell the doctors that the nurse was too slow, but the complaints of a ten-year-old weren’t taken seriously against the word of the lazy nurse who smiled sweetly and said, “Poor dear and those dreadful night terrors. I always come running as fast as I can!”

Veronica cringed as the television automatically turned itself off. It always happened at ten o’clock; it was on a timer. She wasn’t sure why, but she felt it protected her and wished more than anything it could stay on. The noise, the pictures, The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, there was something inexplicable about the TV that kept the monsters away.

Veronica’s pleas to leave the television on all night were never honored by the adults. Nurse Lazy actually once told her, “Oh, we can’t leave the TV on, it’ll give you bad dreams.”

Ha! Little did she know the TV prevented the bad dreams.

The door opened and in walked Nurse Lazy. Her metal nameplate actually read “Lucy”. She handed Veronica a little paper cup with a green pill inside and waited with a thin, forced smile. The longer Veronica took to take her medicine, the longer Nurse Lazy would have to wait until she could watch her soaps.

Veronica plucked the pill out of the cup. “Aren’t they ’sposed to be yellow?”

Lucy flared her nostrils ever so slightly as she replied, “No, your new doctor prescribed the green ones. Hurry up and take it.”

Veronica studied the pill closely, holding it inches from her nose. She looked at it slightly cross-eyed. “I don’t think I like the green ones though. Yellows are better.”

Lucy’s trembling hand clutched a Dixie cup of water. “That’s for the doctors to decide. Now eat it up! Time for sleep.”

Veronica painstakingly laid the pill on her tongue and grunted for the nurse to hand her the water.

Lucy thrust it forward. “Here, drink!”

Veronica pouted, though she knew the cute face wouldn’t work on ol’ Lazy.

“Thanks,” she muttered as the nurse buckled down Veronica’s arms and legs and pulled the covers up to her chest.

“Goodnight,” Lucy grumbled. She snatched the mermaid doll that sat by Veronica’s side, and tossed it on the nightstand before careening out the door.

Random acts of meanness like that weren’t uncommon for Lucy. Veronica sniffed as the silence left in the nurse’s wake permeated the room.

Then familiar, tinny tunes from a transistor radio wafted through the air. It hung from the janitor’s cleaning cart. He always blared it while mopping the halls. There was that song again. Some stupid radio station played it almost every night right around this time. Veronica stared at her doll on the nightstand, just out of reach, as the lyrics began:

Dream the dream that only you can dream

Sing the song that only you can sing

Dance with me, we’ll start slow

Clasp my hand, now lose control

Bite the monster only you can see

And dream the dream you only dream for me

Veronica tried to squish her head into the stiff pillow so her ears were covered, but it didn’t work. The heavy metal song’s pounding chorus kicked in.

Spirits in the maze

Burning brighter

Like a dream within the haze

Dancing fire

Deep inside malaise

Hungry spider

Force your screams to blaze

Spinning spiral

The song frightened her. It seemed to always precede a particularly bad episode. She really wished she had the yellow pills. She felt defenseless as sleep consumed her. The green pills would be no help if one of the bad ones came…the real Bad Ones, that is.

She twisted her head and glared into the large mirror on the wall across the room. People watched her from inside there. Veronica wasn’t sure if they were the doctors, the accent lady, or maybe even her mother, but every now and then someone would move, the light would catch just right, and she would see a figure behind the glass. Dimly, she watched them watch her. They studied her and talked about her and wrote notes about her on clipboards. Knowing they were there gave Veronica little comfort because they weren’t there to help; they were only there to watch.

Her sleepy eyes narrowed at the watchers and she whispered with dopey lips, “What, no popcorn? You gonna stare at me all night and you got no stinking popcorn? You’re all a bunch of stupid heads, ya’ know that? Stooopid heads…”

Sleep quietly took over while Veronica cursed the stupid heads behind the glass. She jerked her droopy neck to force herself awake, but the green pill was powerful. It pushed her into the darkness where the shadow people waited.

Veronica, here we are!

Veronica, time to steal your dreams.

Time to let us steal your dreams and break your bones and slip your soul right out of your slimy sack of skin…Veronica!

She fought to wake up. With all her might she tried to scream, but the green pill seized her motor functions and paralyzed her. She was like a petrified slab of meat laid out on a table –– unable to move, unable to cry out, unable to defend herself.

Do you know the evil that you dream, Veronica?

Do you know the song that only you can sing?

Veronica!

In the limbo between sleep and lucidity Veronica sensed their heinous presence with crystal-clarity. She was hyper-alert and instinctively knew these were the real Bad Ones. Without looking she saw one crouching in the far corner of the room. It glared at her intently and oozed animosity. It waited patiently, almost casually, for Veronica to succumb.

With a sudden surge of intense willpower she cried out — just a little — it was a tiny whimper that was barely audible. It wasn’t loud enough to scare the shadow people away though, and it definitely wasn’t loud enough for anyone living to hear.

Another Bad One pulled itself onto the foot of her bed. This one was small and hairy like an animal. Scrooching under the blanket, it crept slowly along the side of her bare leg. It felt for a nook to burrow — a soft place like her stomach or side so it could squirm and writhe itself into her flesh — where it could rip her apart from the inside out.

“Help,” Veronica whispered one last time before falling into the dark depths of sleep –– deep, down, spinning ‘round, until the darkness took a hold…

About the Author:

Vanta M. Black, author of Oubliette—A Forgotten Little Place, enjoys uncovering the dark mysteries of our Universe. In addition to writing, she enjoys traveling to provocative places and studying all things esoteric.

Black has degrees in English, communication and art. She resides in Southern California with her husband and two pug-mix dogs, and spends her time in support of causes that empower women and advance science and technology.

Website / Author: Facebook / Novel: Facebook / Goodreads / Twitter

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