This morning, I have a historical fiction novel in our book spotlight! Check out Hollywood Via Orchard Street, learn about author Wayne Clark--and be sure to enter for a chance to win a $50 Amazon gift card in the book tour giveaway at the end of this post.
Hollywood
via Orchard Street
by
Wayne Clark
Genre:
Historical Fiction
Deciding
that the hopelessness he sees around him on New York’s squalid
Lower East Side during the Great Depression isn’t for him, a young
man invents an alter ego with the chutzpah he hopes will make a name
for himself. In the process he accidentally ignites a war between the
Irish mob and a Chinese tong, learns to drink and finds love for the
first time. Will he and his alter ego ever reunite? They will have to
if he doesn’t want to lose the love of a beautiful Broadway
actress.
Award-winning
author Wayne Clark was born in 1946 in Ottawa, Ont., but has called
Montreal home since 1968. Woven through that time frame in no
particular order have been interludes in Halifax, Toronto, Vancouver,
Germany, Holland and Mexico.
By
far the biggest slice in a pie chart of his career would be labelled
journalism, including newspapers and magazines, as a reporter, editor
and freelance writer. The other, smaller slices of the pie would also
represent words in one form or another, in advertising as a
copywriter and as a freelance translator. However, unquantifiable in
a pie chart would be the slivers and shreds of time stolen over the
years to write fiction.
This morning, I have a romantic suspense novel in our book spotlight! (I will be reviewing this book a little later in the month too!) Check out A Postmodern Love, learn about the author & enter for a chance to win a prize in the book tour giveaway at the end of this post!
A
Postmodern Love
by
Nick Totem
Genre:
Romantic Suspense
Have
you ever fallen in love and then had not just your life but your
conception of life altered forever? Come and find out more in A
POSTMODERN LOVE, a contemporary adult novel--romance, noire,
psychological suspense.
In
the end, a man is shot through the heart. Another man is driven to
the edge of madness. Caught between them is Lana Fauves, a beautiful,
intelligent woman, but one who is haunted by her past and the loss of
her true love, a musical genius. In this fast-paced novel--romance,
thriller, and noire--Thomas Wilde, a doctor and veteran of the Iraq
War, will stop at nothing to win over the woman he has desperately
fallen in love with. But amid the machinations of the modern world,
will he find true love, or only heartache, deception, and murder?
Nick
Totem has been a practicing physician for more than a decade, and he
has been writing all his life. He combined real experience in
medicine with a love for writing to create compelling fiction.
This morning, we have a science fiction novel up for review! What did I think if Finders Keepers: The Definitive Edition by Russ Colchamiro? Check out my thoughts & enter the book tour giveaway at the end of this post!
Book Title: Finders Keepers: The Definitive Edition by Russ Colchamiro
Category: Adult Fiction, 310 pages
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Publisher: Crazy 8 Press
Release date: October 17, 2018
About the Book
In the spirit of The Good Place, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, author Russ Colchamiro has gone back to the future to deliver his wildest, funniest novel yet--the updated Sci-Fi/Fantasy tale Finders Keepers: The Definitive Edition.
When a jar containing the Universe's DNA falls from Eternity, bumbling backpackers Jason and Theo find their loyalties--and sanity!--put to the test. Unaware that a motley crew from another realm is chasing them across the globe to retrieve that radioactive vessel, these intrepid new friends are forced to contend with passion, responsibility, and their own mortality--and the fate of the Solar System, which hangs in the balance.
Traversing Europe, New Zealand, and the backbone of Eternity, Finders Keepers: The Definitive Edition ultimately asks one simple question: Is the life you're living the life you actually want . . . or does the Universe have more to offer than you can possibly imagine?
My Review
Give the Book a Little Time. It took me a few starts and re-starts to get into this book.From the cover, I think I thought it was more of a young adult/teen read--but, it isn't (in some ways). Initially, I thought the book was going to be more science fiction themed--but, really, it is more of an adolescent comedic adventure with a fantasy setting mixing in. I started reading and stopped reading more than a few times before I pushed through the first few chapters and caught interest in the characters and the storyline.
Expect to Like the Main Characters in Finders Keepers. The author throws together a unique blend of characters in this story. While they may seem a little lost (or self centered or bumbling)--they do offer readers a fun mix of personalities that you really can't help but like and root for as the story picks up steam.
Would I recommend Finders Keepers? Readers will not find a lot of heavily involved science fiction--more of a science based fantasy adventure in this book. The author creates his story with a large cast of characters and tells the story from different points of view--in different settings--and this can be a bit confusing until you are able to sort everyone (and every location and time) into its place. The book was entertaining--and I did enjoy the characters and their interactions. I am not a huge fan of Bill and Ted style comedy--so, I didn't love the book as much as a fan of that style of humor may. Having said that, the characters made me smile and I looked forward to following their adventures through to the end of the book.
Russ Colchamiro is the author of the rollicking space opera, Crossline, the zany SF/F backpacking comedy series Finders Keepers, Genius de Milo, and Astropalooza, and is editor of the SF anthology Love, Murder & Mayhem, all with Crazy 8 Press.
Russ lives in New Jersey with his wife, two children, and crazy dog, Simon, who may in fact be an alien himself.
Russ has also contributed to several other anthologies, including Tales of the Crimson Keep, Pangaea, Altered States of the Union, Camelot 13, TV Gods 2, They Keep Killing Glenn, and Brave New Girls. Russ is repped by The Zack Company.
This morning, I have a young adult, science fiction series in our book spotlight! Check out The Prospero Chronicles, learn about the author & enter the book tour giveaway at the end of this post!
Splinters
The
Prospero Chronicles Book 1
by
Fiona J.R. Titchenell & Matt Carter
Genre:
YA Horror, SciFi
Under
normal circumstances, Ben and Mina would never have had reason to
speak to each other. He’s an easy-going people person with a
healthy skepticism about the paranormal; she’s a dangerously
obsessive monster-hunter with a crippling fear of betrayal. But the
small Northern California town of Prospero, with its rich history of
cryptid sightings, miracles, and mysterious disappearances, has no
normal circumstances to offer.
When
Ben’s missing childhood friend, Haley Perkins, stumbles out of
Prospero’s surrounding woods and right into her own funeral, Ben
and Mina are forced to work together to uncover what happened to her.
Different as they are, their unlikely friendship may be the only
thing that can save the town, and possibly the world, from its
insidious invaders.
“A
snapping, crackling, popping homage to classic horror.” —Kirkus
Reviews.
“Whip-smart
dialogue... genuinely terrifying Splinters, the descriptions of which
will have fans of monster films utterly enthralled... A promising
series opener, this will satisfy those readers who like their scary
stories to be as clever as they are chilling." —KQG, the
Bulletin of The Center for Children's Books.
“The
stakes are high. The action is intense." —Washington
Independent Review of Books.
When
autumn descends on Prospero, California, Ben hopes the normality of
the new school year may offer a reprieve from the town’s paranormal
horrors. Mina knows all too well that there are no reprieves and no
normality to be had in Prospero, but even she can’t prepare for
what the coming year holds.
On
top of the vivid hallucinations that have plagued Mina since the
attack on the Warehouse, and the brewing Splinter civil war that
threatens all of humanity, inside the walls of Prospero High, Ben,
Mina, and their expanding Network face a vicious campaign to destroy
their friendship, and a mysterious assassin picking off human rebels
– an assassin with powers like no Splinter they’ve fought
before.
Ben
and Mina’s one hope rests with a mysterious old man hiding in the
woods outside of town; a living legend who may be able to teach them
how to fight this dangerous new breed of Splinter. That is, assuming
he doesn’t kill the pair of them himself.
“Titchenell
and Carter hold nothing back in this solid sequel that thrills and
expands on its predecessor. Aided by swift writing, relatable
characters and unexpected scares, Shards is a chill-inducing
delight.” —David Powers King, co-author of Woven.
“Maintaining
the same level of popcorn-munching fun, Titchenell and Carter are
taking The Prospero Chronicles in a promising direction.” —Joe
Dell'Erb, Washington Independent Review of Books.
Growing
up is hard, and growing up in Prospero is even harder, but I think we
manage. I mean, yeah, my friends and I spend more of our time
fighting a race of shapeshifting aliens than we do hanging out, but
we have our fun. We go to parties, help each other with our classes,
maybe even fall in love…
I’ve
no illusions that we live ordinary lives, but they’re our lives,
and I’m going to make sure we make the most of them whether the
Splinters want us to or not.
Mina
The
truce is temporary. We will not humor the Splinters forever. It's
only until the Slivers can be stopped, until the army of Shards being
planted among our classmates can be disassembled, until we get our
hands on the thing I'd almost given up believing in.
The
humanity test.
For
the chance to know, once and for all, who can be trusted, some
dealings with monsters must be excusable. Inevitable. Just like this
feeling between Ben and me.
This
is Prospero’s darkest hour. The few remaining humans trapped within
the quarantine zone are all but defenseless against the multiplying
forces of the Sliver Queen, Locusta. With Ben missing, Aldo among the
enemy ranks, and more steel plates than bones left in her body,
Mina’s passing the hours drowning in morphine and throwing heavy
objects at her guards.
Stripped
of her weapons, her gadgets, and the Network itself, she has just one
card left, hidden somewhere under her oft-sutured skin. It might be
powerful enough to complete her life’s work once and for all… or
to reach the one person who could make her life into more than a
means to an end. But playing it will cost everything she has, or
everything she believes in.
The
final chronicle of Prospero waits in these pages.
F.J.R.
TITCHENELL
is an author of young adult, sci-fi, and horror fiction, including
Confessions of the Very First Zombie Slayer (That I Know of). She
graduated from Cal State University Los Angeles with a B. A. in
English in 2009 at the age of twenty. She currently lives in San
Gabriel, California, with her husband, coauthor, and amazing partner
in all things, Matt Carter, and their pet king snake, Mica.
This morning, we have a post apocalyptic horror novel in our book spotlight! Check out Game Changers of the Apocalypse, learn about the author & enter for a chance to win a $20 Amazon gift card in the book tour giveaway at the end of this post!
Game
Changers of the Apocalypse
by
Mark Kirkbride
Genre:
Post-Apocalyptic Horror
It’s
always the end of the world when you break up with someone. This time
it really is... Everyone on the planet has mysteriously disappeared,
leaving exes Greg and Polly. They've survived the apocalypse, yet
shouldn't have. Battling each other and a malevolent entity that
teases them with their fate, how long can they remain ahead? Even
more terrifying than everyone else on the planet disappearing is
what’s about to take their place…
Mark
Kirkbride lives in Shepperton, England. He is the author of two
novels, Game Changers of the Apocalypse and Satan's Fan Club, both
published by Omnium Gatherum. His short stories can be found in Under
the Bed, Sci Phi Journal, Disclaimer Magazine and Flash Fiction
Magazine. His poetry has appeared in the Big Issue, the Morning Star,
the Mirror and Horror Writers Association chapbooks.
This morning, we have something a little different in our book spotlight! Check out the comedic adventures detailed in Joe F.N. Schmo's Rideshares, Wrecks and Sex, learn about the author--and be sure to enter for a chance to win a $50 Amazon gift card the book tour giveaway at the end of this post.
Rideshares,
Wrecks, and Sex:
Confessions
of a Convicted Uber Driver
by
Joe F. N. Schmo
Genre:
Comedic Adventure
An
Uber driver is expected to be courteous and attentive, both to their
passengers and to those on the road. They are not expected to accept
an invitation to a swinger party, flee the scene of a fatal accident,
nor are they expected to be a convicted felon on
probation.
Unfortunately,
this Joe Schmo is not your everyday Uber driver.
As
most Uber drivers do, Joe began sharing rides with the audacious hope
to one day escape the legal and financial road blocks stalling his
merger onto the freeway of creative success. But when a typical shift
U-turns into a series of detours involving Android ordered lovers,
herpes ridden riders, sexy sorority sisters, a botched bachelor
party, and blundering bank robbers, he arrives (at gunpoint) miles
from his desired destination.
"Rideshares,
Wrecks, and Sex: Confessions of a Convicted Uber Driver" is a
narrative nonfiction based upon actual events that transpired over
the year Joe covertly drove for Uber while on intensive probation. He
confesses outlandish details in a highlight reel of wrecks (both car
and train) and sex, effectively answering the question every Uber
rider has begged to know from their driver: "What's your
craziest story?"
Joe
F. N. Schmo, a 30-something latent child prodigy, is on a quest to
obtain free Rockstar for life and plans to use it to obtain his Ph.D
in Upsetting the Status Quo. Once earned, he hopes to use his written
works as a vehicle to turn underinformed perceptions on their thick
skulls (among other abhorrently selfish goals).
After
completing over 1,000 rideshares for Uber while on intensive
probation, Joe has encountered it all (save for alien abductions and
spontaneous combustion) and is über qualified to write a
confessional with such a titilating title.
Prior
to his salacious adventures, Joe earned his B.A. in Film and Media
Production where he wrote, produced, directed, and edited several
short films. This experience sculpted him into the kind of asshole
who quotes from random films and includes obscure pop culture
references into his written works.
Joe's
masterpiece, "Rideshares, Wrecks, and Sex: Confessions of a
Convicted Uber Driver" is a culmination of his of film
background, sharing rides with Uber, and myriad adverse experiences.
It was NOT written to please those stiff, literary types, but to
appeal to the haughty neophytes who attest e-books are superior to
the printed page.
Currently,
Joe is working on his encore, "Jackpot," which, much like
"Rideshares, Wrecks, and Sex, was written with the intention to
be adapted into a feature film (as it is his narcissistic goal to
direct his own film adaptations).
