January's Book Reviews and Previews

Happy 2019!  

This month, I had the pleasure of reading and reviewing a teen fantasy (yeah, I know.  I'm a bit outside the target market, but I still enjoyed it), a murder mystery with a metaphysical twist, an outer-space, murder mystery, and a police procedural and occult-themed novel (yes, it was both; that's not a typo).

Use the link at the end of each summary if you want to see the full review or to get more information about any of these books.

Tainted Luck by Cynthia Austin

A Mixture of Humor and Horror in a Fast, Enjoyable Read

Tainted Luck features a seventeen-year-old high school student, Levi, who worries that he’s “… invisible when it came to the female species” and that he’s a distant second in his dad’s life.  Then, we have the cute cheerleader, Stacy, the object of Levi’s dreams if only he had the courage to act on them.  And finally, there’s the enigmatic, gothic, new girl in school, Taylor, who attaches herself to Levi, never taking no for an answer.  Sound a bit like the setup for a typical story about teenage angst?  Tainted Luck is that … and more.  Taylor’s darkness turns black.  Is it witchcraft or just a crush taken too far?  Levi, on the other hand, starts off annoyed with Taylor, describing her as a gawky scarecrow with a shaggy, black mane but later, as “mesmerizing”.  Has Taylor bewitched him?  Or is this just the normal course of male hormones?  And Stacy actually seems interested in Levi … or is this just part of his delusion as well?  It’s an enjoyable undertaking to find out.  See the complete review or get more information from Amazon here:  https://amzn.to/2COZyPL

Hopatcong Vision Quest by Steve Lindahl

A Murder Mystery with Some Unusual Investigative Techniques

Hopatcong Vision Quest is a murder mystery that starts fast with the killing of two women.  Subsequently, the police conclude the deaths were accidental, leaving the families of the victims (Ryan and Diane) to solve the crime.  Believing that Ryan’s daughter may have witnessed her mother’s death, they turn to a hypnotist to help her retrieve this repressed memory.  What they get from the process, however, is much more.  It’s information from their past lives in a Native American village hundreds of years ago.  Those lives differ in many ways from today, but in one important respect – the commission of the crime – they are identical.  Those glimpses of the distant past become the basis for solving the present-day crime.  See the complete review or get more information from Amazon here:  https://amzn.to/2SQS58B

Perax Frontier by Alistair Potter

Likeable Characters in a Taut Mystery Set in a Fascinating Outer-Space World

How do you fight crime without the benefit of electricity and electronics?  No computers.  No phones.  No cars (as we know them).  That’s the quandary facing Sheriff Artur Perax in Perax Frontier.  That, and the fact that he’s sitting on a potentially lethal boundary between two universes and dealing with complex, government bureaucracies on both sides.  And if that wasn’t enough, there’s also a mix of alien races, each with their own characteristics and capabilities.  If you’re thinking author Alistair Potter had his world-building work cut out for him, I’d have to agree.  And for the most part, he does it well, describing technologies like phonographs driven by compressed air and aliens who read human body language like a book, but don’t understand our slang.  See the complete review or get more information from Amazon here:  https://amzn.to/2TTSw1Y

The Coven Murders (The Inspector Sheehan Mysteries Book 3) by Brian O’Hare

Mix of a Police Procedural and the Occult (Seriously – and Seriously Scary)

If you are prone to check a book’s genre, as I do when seeking a new read, you may do a doubletake when you view The Coven Murders.  It’s listed in the occult and the police procedural genres, the latter having a focus on investigative processes.  Are we talking about arresting demons?  Actually, that guess is not far off, as author Brian O’Hare has penned a unique and intriguing mix of detailed detective work in pursuit of some bad guys, not all of whom may be human.  And if you’re thinking that could be amusing, you’re at the wrong end of the spectrum.  It’s bone chilling, truly scary, without resorting to graphic details of ritualistic murders or grotesque beasts.  Not many authors can do that.  See the complete review or get more information from Amazon here:  https://amzn.to/2MxrmLI

Five Takeaways from 2018

As exciting as a new year is, I always find it interesting to look back for a moment as well.  Here are five things about 2018 (writing-wise) that stuck out to me.

1. Many of You Share My Curiosity Gene

What was my most popular post of 2018?  It was “Nice, but tell me when it’ll do my laundry” (https://bit.ly/2AqYSyy), a tongue-in-cheek look at some state-of-the-art home automation.  I fully admit a fascination with future technology and how it will affect humanity, and it appears a few of you feel the same.

2. You Like Giveaways

You’re thinking, ‘well duh, doesn’t everyone?’  And they do, but you, the subscribers to this blog, enjoy them more than most.  How do I know that?  When I got the addresses from the last one I participated in, you were a disproportionately large part of the list.  And when I look at page visits on my blog, the giveaway of a signed proof copy Of Half a Mind drew over 2,000 visits in three weeks – I typically get about 1,000 visits a month.  With that information, you can probably guess what you'll see again in 2019!

3. Two New Books 

Independently publishing two books in 2018 has to be a highlight - I am an author, after all.

Of Half a Mind (http://amzn.to/2ozkD9g) came out March 24th.  

Killer in the Retroscape (https://amzn.to/2Cn7xE0) followed on November 5.

Both have been very well received.  Thanks readers (and reviewers)!

4. Book Reviews Yield Blog Visits

After the giveaway page, the most visited one on my blog was ‘Book Reviews’.  To cut down on your inbox clutter, in November, I changed from individual posts on each book to a monthly summary, so I can no longer trace visits to specific books.  However, before the change, Silent Waters by Jan Coffey, Tomb of Aradia (Lost Origins Book 1) by Antony Davies, and Stolen Prey (The Prey Series Book 22) by John Sanford had drawn the most looks.

Since most blogs on blogging talk about the importance of the ‘About the Author’ page and mine was a distant third for visits in 2018, I may have to let slip some details of my secret life helping Einstein with his theories … you know, in a former life.

5. You Searched for What?

And finally, it’s always interesting to see how people find my blog.  I’ll just have to say, however, that whoever is using the search phrase ‘bruce perrin arrested’ is going to be disappointed.  So far, even the grammar police are leaving me alone.

Enough looking backwards.  Happy 2019!

Image by Ramchand Bruce Phagoo [Public domain], from Wikimedia Commons

December's Book Reviews & Previews

Welcome to the December edition of Book Reviews and Previews.  This month, I reviewed some historical fiction, an alternate history novel, and a steampunk novella.  There is also a preview of a book that will be released on February 12.

Happy New Year,
Bruce

Sister Witch: The Life of Moll Dyer (Legends of the Family Dyer Book 1) by David W. Thompson

Excellent Historical Fiction with Some Paranormal Spice

Sister Witch is the story of perhaps Maryland’s most famous witch, Moll Dyer.  The novel portrays her as a courageous and determined woman with opinions and beliefs far ahead of her time.  I found myself cheering when she took an unpopular, progressive stand, but also cringing when she took another step toward what I knew to be her fate.  Certainly, she had some unusual beliefs, such as in her ability to create love potions or protection spells.  But they were harmless … at least until other people discovered she held those views.  And when that happened, the woman became the target of suspicion and then, hatred.  Over the course of the story, she was held accountable for everything from still births to season-long droughts.  See the complete review or get more information on Amazon:  https://amzn.to/2PsdFxn

Boston Metaphysical Society: A Storm of Secrets by Madeleine Holly-Rosing

A Disturbing Alternative History … With a Tension-Filled Story to Match

Boston Metaphysical Society: A Storm of Secrets offers us a stark look at a disturbing, alternative history.  Set in 1890s Boston, the world is run by ‘Great Houses’, families devoted to wealth and power at all costs.  The gap between the haves and the have-nots, a concern in our world, has become enormous, with the poorest – the Irish on the south side of Boston – living in appalling poverty.  A rigid, class system, right down to the ‘uniforms’ people wear, defines life.  Free speech has become “… a quaint notion and rarely applied to anyone except those in power.”  And justice?  When a number of these poor disappear, the police simply look the other way.  After all, it’s only the Irish.  See the complete review or get more information on Amazon:  https://amzn.to/2S2GP8t

The Steampunk-Electric Puppy (for curious adults only) by PanOrpheus

A novella for which the phrase ‘needless to say’ is never appropriate.

“Cady Miller was 10 years old and in the 4th grade! Needless to say, it was the 25th Century and she lived on the Earth.”

So begins the novella, The Steampunk-Electric Puppy, a story for which the phrase ‘needless to say’ is never appropriate.  That’s because if there is one thing to expect from this book, it’s to be ready for the unexpected.  Sure, as steampunk, its futuristic technology is implemented in equipment reminiscent of nineteenth-century, steam-powered machinery.  And its fashion is the mix of top-hats and tails accessorized with goggles and gears that you might anticipate.  But other than those mainstays of the genre, you never know when the science, technology, and politics of the past will be superimposed on the future … or vice versa.  The result is a complex mix of fact and fiction that feels familiar even when its fantasy and strange even when it’s part of our past.  See the complete review or get more information on Amazon:  https://amzn.to/2SnjX3e

The Psychology of Time Travel by Kate Mascarenhas (to be released February 12)

A Locked-Door Murder Mystery in a Poorly Conceived Alternate History

The Psychology of Time Travel provides the reader with an alternate history in which four women scientists develop time-travel technology in 1967.  Fifty years later, a fifth woman discovers an unidentified body inside a locked room and becomes obsessed with solving the case, while a sixth woman worries that the dead woman is her grandmother and launches her own investigation.  While this seems considerable grist for a tense, suspenseful mystery, the book falls somewhat short of that goal.  Part of the reason is suggested in the two-sentence summary above – there are a lot of characters (more than just these six).  Additionally, the chapters are short, moving among these individuals and across time periods in an unpredictable sequence of flash forwards and backs, making the story feel choppy.  And finally, the mystery isn’t maintained.  By the midpoint of the book, the victim is known and at three-fourths, the perpetrator.  The rest is tying up loose ends, which is rather dry.  This book is available for pre-order on Amazon:  https://amzn.to/2RdIWJs.  My complete review can be found on Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2635122489

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Killer in the Retroscape:  A Near-Future Mystery
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When Doug Michaels finds his friend dead in 2068, he builds a mental landscape, a retroscape, to find the killer.  But as the suspects appear, they disappear almost as quickly.  It's not the aftereffects of an illness sensationalized in the media as the “zombie pandemic”.  It's not an evil artificial intelligence intent on taking over the world.  It's not his friend's machine intelligence wife, Julia, even if she can't even remember his final days.  But when his retroscape is complete, Doug finds the killer ... in one of the most unlikely of places.

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Double-Sided Magic (Legacy Series Book 1)
By McKenzie Hunter
Fantasy
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I have to hide in plain sight and pretend to be just human. I’m pretty good at it. I live a simple and somewhat normal life, and I work in antique acquisitions. Everything’s going fine until a dangerous and enchanted dagger that was once in my possession is stolen. I didn’t think things could get any worse until I woke up next to a dead shifter, fae, and mage, without any memory of the past twenty-four hours.  Considered guilty of murder by most of the magical community and humans, I must work with Gareth, the sexy and dangerous leader of the Supernatural Guild. If he’s as good as rumored, it’s only a matter of time until he discovers the truth about me—then being found guilty of murder is the least of my worries.

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By DJ Munro
Historical Fiction (Young Adult)
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Tom Cheke’s world is turned upside-down when he is kidnapped from his home by Barbary corsairs during an audacious night raid. Sold into slavery in seventeenth-century Algiers, Tom carves out a promising, new life only to have it shattered once more. Another twist of fate throws him into the hands of a Scottish knight of the Order of St John and into a turbulent world of ciphers, spies and assassinations. 

This is a remarkable account of how a young man comes of age, grasping life from the setbacks of fortune. It is a tale of friendship and reconciliation, of intrigue and deceit, in which trust is betrayed and deep-rooted beliefs and values are cast into doubt.

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The Bigfoot Blunder (A Charlie Rhodes Cozy Mystery Book 1)
By Amanda M. Lee
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The truth is out there … maybe.
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The Lover's Portrait: An Art Mystery (Adventures of Zelda Richardson Book 2)
By Jennifer S. Alderson
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When a Dutch art dealer hides the stock from his gallery – rather than turn it over to his Nazi blackmailer – he pays with his life, leaving a treasure trove of modern masterpieces buried somewhere in Amsterdam, presumably lost forever. That is, until American art history student Zelda Richardson sticks her nose in.  When two women claim the same portrait of a young girl entitled Irises, Zelda is tasked with investigating the painting’s history and soon finds evidence that one of the two women must be lying about her past. Before she can figure out which one and why, Zelda learns about the Dutch art dealer’s concealed collection. And that Irises is the key to finding it.

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The Knight Advocate: A Colt Valentine Arcane Justice Novel
By Jason Rose
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As a San Francisco Public Defender, Colt Valentine thinks he’s seen it all, heard it all, and knows it all. So, when a well-dressed man claiming to be a sixteen-hundred-year-old Vampire suddenly appears, offering Colt a job at a private law firm and claiming things that go bump in the night like Vampires, Witches and Weres, are not only living among us, but live under their own legal system, Colt is skeptical. That is, until he sees a video of a human family being savagely murdered by something Colt never imagined existed, not even in his darkest nightmares.

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Escape into an unforgettable love story from bestselling author Colleen French about a young English lady and the Native American warrior who captures her ... a woman and a man from different worlds who find passion in a divided land ... two bold hearts bound by one thrilling destiny.

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High above the windswept plains of Kazakhstan, three astronauts on board a Russian Soyuz capsule begin their reentry. A strange shimmer in the atmosphere, a blinding flash of light, and the capsule vanishes in a blink as though it never existed.

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November's Book Reviews & Previews

Happy Holidays and welcome to the November edition of Book Reviews & Previews.  This month, we have reviews of a fantasy, a couple of thrillers, and even a how-to book.  Hopefully, something for everyone. 

Red Wrath (Blood of the Masked God Book 1) by Gerhard Gehrke

Superhero Abilities with Supersized Character Flaws Make this Book Fly

Once superheroes were unswervingly virtuous, while supervillains were, without exception, rotten to the core.  It was all so simple – pure good vs. absolute evil.  But that hasn’t been true for a while, with even Superman, the archetype for all superheroes, turning evil multiple times, sometimes from necessity, sometimes from choice.  Author Gerhard Gehrke in Red Wrath focuses on that gray area where a superhero (Chronos) who is adored by the masses also has a dark, alter ego.  And the main character, Lily (aka Jade or Red), is obsessed with getting even with him after he killed her parents in one of his dark fugues.  See the complete review or get more information on Amazon:  https://amzn.to/2RR6EYK


CRISPR by Lincoln Cole

An intricate plot woven around a potential, technological nightmare

In terms of doomsday scenarios, editing human genes with horrifying, heritable results has to be near the top of the list.  That, in a sentence, is the scientific terror featured in Lincoln Cole’s latest technothriller, CRISPR.  And in case you think this is all in the imagination of a creative author, note that if you search for CRISPR in Amazon books, his fiction will appear right alongside the laboratory manuals and academic tomes on this gene-editing methodology.  There’s more truth to Cole’s fiction than we might want to admit.  See the complete review or get more information on Amazon:  https://amzn.to/2ONiVvq

City of Endless Night (Agent Pendergast series) by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

A Familiar Formula that Fails to Yield Drama this Time

City of Endless Night is the seventeenth installment in the Agent Pendergast series by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child.  It follows a formula found in several of their earlier works, as FBI Agent Pendergast faces a previously unknown type of foe, which has been shaped by forces in the gray area between science and the supernatural.  But unlike the monsters he pursues in the museums and caves of earlier books, Pendergast’s adversary in the City of Endless Night seems little more than a man.  An intelligent, cunning, and extremely disturbed one, but a man nonetheless.  There is science run amok in the book and it was apparently intended to provide the ‘disfiguring’ stresses on this individual, but it never achieves Preston and Child’s trademark blend of the bizarre, the natural, and the paranormal that keeps the pages turning.  Basically, the story ends up being a murder mystery.  See the complete review or get more information on Amazon:  https://amzn.to/2Q0jgQJ


Now, something for would-be authors out there:  A Wordy Woman's Guide for Writing a Book by Dawn Husted

A Guide for Succinct Guys, Too!

I admit to being drawn to this book initially by the title – just what kind of guidance does a ‘wordy woman’ need to write a book?  Don’t get lost in subplots?  Of course, I suspected the title was intended to be catchy rather than descriptive of the intended audience.  And after reading it, that’s true – succinct guys could use this guide as well.  The work is, simply put, a solid, beginner’s guide for writing a book.  See the complete review or get more information on Amazon:  https://amzn.to/2RxUW4W