Review: Cloak of Snow by Christine Rains

Genre: Fantasy/Romance/Mystery/Adventure

Description:

“No one messes with Saskia Dorn’s family and gets away with it.

The same murderous shifters who had hunted her sister have attempted to steal a magical totem pole. Since the pieces are scattered across Alaska, Saskia, a polar bear shifter, takes her search to the tundra for any signs of the lost totems.

Instead she finds Sedge, the latest reincarnation of the old Inuit Bear god, who just happens to be the man who broke her heart.

They come across a small native village tormented by the Jinxioc, evil gnomes with an appetite for human flesh. Sedge declares he will rid the people of the menace, believing a totem token is nearby affecting the devils’ behavior. At his side, Saskia battles to save the tribesmen, but it could mean sacrificing herself.”

Author:

“Christine Rains is a writer, blogger, and geek mom. She has four degrees which help nothing with motherhood but make her a great Jeopardy player. When she's not reading or writing, she's going on adventures with her son or watching cheesy movies on Syfy Channel. She's a member of S.C.I.F.I. and Untethered Realms. She has one novel and several novellas and short stories published.”

Please check out her Amazon author page for all of her books or stalk her on Facebook.

Appraisal:

Cloak of Snow follows Saskia to the northern tundra of Alaska in search for the fox totem token. Time-wise this novella takes place at the same time as book two, Silent Whispers. Saskia is the oldest of the Dorn sisters and the most hard-headed. She almost makes the youngest sister, Ametta, seem meek by comparison.

This story moves at a good pace. The characters are well defined and we get some insight into Saskia and Sedge’s past relationship which started when she was accepted to train as a Black Shaman. It’s been seven years since she walked away from Sedge and fully becoming a Black Shaman. Sedge, being the latest reincarnation of the old Inuit Bear god, is a typical Alpha male but seems to be able to exercise an extreme amount of patience with Saskia. He is definitely biding his time with her. However, she remains steadfast and refuses to give any sway for him to work with, despite the passion she still carries for him.

When they both come across a small remote village and learn of the tribes recent troubles with the Jinxioc, evil flesh-eating gnomes, Sedge pledges to help his people. The problem is they have no idea how horrifically evil and strong these little devils have become. The twists are clever and surprising. Sedge and Saskia are both faced with challenges that affect them both in a personal way.

Totem is turning into an enthralling series, the odds of recovering the totem tokens are beginning to look insurmountable. The stakes are getting higher and more deadly for all concerned. I can’t wait to see what the Dorn sisters have to face next to secure the sacred totem pole for the sake of all shifters.

Buy now from:    Amazon US    Amazon UK

FYI:

Cloak of Snow is book three in the Totem series. I believe this is supposed to be a six book series. Book four, Shattered Spirit, has been released, books five and six are set as pre-orders at the time of writing this review.

Contains adult language with several F-bombs and some graphic violence.

Format/Typo Issues:

I came across no proofing or formatting issues.

Rating: ***** Five Stars

Reviewed by: ?wazithinkin

Approximate word count: 25-30,000 words

Review: You Have Been Murdered and Other Stories by Andrew Kozma

Genre: Short Story Collection/Speculative Fiction

Description:

“You Have Been Murdered and Other Stories is a collection of weird, speculative fiction containing four stories dealing with the end of the world, both in terms of the death of the individual soul and the running down of the universe as a whole.

“The title story presents a woman who’s been murdered and still has a dinner party to prepare for. In Teller of Tales, a young girl must take on the responsibility of being the necessary conscience of her city. Breach of Contract describes the plight of an oil man who just wants to insure production quotas, but is roped into saving the world. Lastly, The Trouble-Men details what happens when a man trying to survive the end of the world meets up with those who are ending it.”

Author:

Andrew Kozma is an award winning author based in Houston, Texas.

Appraisal:

What I was looking for when I decided to read this collection of four short stories was a quick read and a change of pace between two longer novels. It delivered on both.

Speculative fiction is a fairly broad umbrella with science-fiction and fantasy as the big name genres included in the description and horror as another. Then there are those gaps between and areas of overlap of that big Venn diagram where a lot of the more original stuff happens. The kind of things people either love or hate. This collection felt like it was in those areas. I found things to like in all the stories. Not my normal thing, but an interesting change of pace.

Buy now from:    Amazon US    Amazon UK

FYI:

Some adult language.

Format/Typo Issues:

No significant issues.

Rating: **** Four Stars

Reviewed by: BigAl

Approximate word count: 8-9,000 words

Review: The Obvious by J Cassidy

Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Description:

“An alcoholic father, her mother missing since she was a child, all Sammy has are her friends. When their deceit starts to tear into their group Sammy must decide whether doing the right thing is worth losing everything.

Friendships can be fleeting, family can’t be chosen and the choices she makes will stay with her until the day she dies."

Author:

Here’s the only author description I could find, and I like it:

“I'm J. Cassidy and I used to be an oak tree growing in a park in England. I still like to be decorated once a year.

I like pink, sparkly fluffles and rainbows.”

Appraisal:

This novel is chock-full of F-bombs and sex with a constant undercurrent of violence, and I loved every word.

On the pages without a sex act or a reference to one, you’ll find a twenty-year-old girl--Sammy--who is thinking or talking or being asked about sex. Yet this is in no way an erotic novel. Sammy uses sex. Sometimes as a weapon, but more often as a shield to insulate her from the internal damage of an abusive childhood, suffered at the hands of her alcoholic father who raised her alone after her mother walked out on a four-year-old Sammy.

Most of the swearing from Sammy is colloquial, intended not to insult, but to reinforce the tough shell she has built around herself. Only her close friends are ever allowed to peek inside Sammy’s emotional bubble, and even then, it is only a peek.

Sammy is a broken person. She doesn’t smile, she turns up the edges of her mouth. This story is a snapshot taken over a short period of her life. It’s sad, poignant, and wholly believable.

The writing is sharp, and fits the mood of the piece. There is a lot of colloquial spelling in the dialogue, but it works well, without getting tiring. The novel is set in England, in a blue-collar environment, but I believe American readers can soon catch the conversational rhythm.

If you have no problem with sex and swearing and unvarnished real-life drama and you are yearning for something “different” to read. You should check out this unique story.

Buy now from:    Amazon US    Amazon UK

FYI:

Heavy on F-bombs, graphic sex. English spelling and situations.

Format/Typo Issues:

Our review copy had some formatting issues.

Rating: ***** Five Stars

Reviewed by: Pete Barber

Approximate word count: 25-30,000 words

Review: More Hubs that Provoke by Roy T James

Genre: Non-Fiction

Description:

“This is another collection of Hubpages that deals with a wide-ranging variety of subjects. The opening Hub explores author's claim to writing, and further Hubs discuss presence of mind, the meaning of life, future of politics in general, democracy in particular and human life, in its end. How appropriate is our system of governance, and why we have chosen it, and what benefit we stand to gain from our party system, are some of the other ones. What is behind our predilection with the prohibition of alcohol, the popularity of natural things, and a proposition for a government for the future, are few more of these. In each, he offers his own take on the origin, uses, and benefits of each. He also presents his view how these phenomena as something that have more than one side, and from which we can benefit.”

Author:

After retiring from the Indian Navy in 2013, Roy T James has taken up writing, thus far writing and publishing four books in addition to this one, all non-fiction.

Appraisal:

Hubpages is a website that provides a venue where people can write short articles about whatever they want. You could view it as a blog covering an almost infinite number of subjects with an infinite number of authors contributing. Okay, maybe not infinite, but a lot of both. This book is a collection of 17 of the posts the author originally wrote for this site and while they cover multiple subjects, each aims to “provoke” in some way. In this context I've interpreted provoke as meaning to get the reader thinking in different ways, challenge what might be viewed as common sense or consensus opinion.

Given that introduction my thoughts on these 17 articles were mixed.

On the negative side I sometimes had a hard time understanding what the author was trying to say, the words not quite making sense to me. Sometimes the problem, in whole or in part, was due to missing words or grammatical errors. For example, what would you make of this sentence?

“In the early society, where neither there was the need nor the people had the intent, or the opportunities, of gainful occupation, activities of governance were welcome effort for the society.”

On the positive side, the ultimate goal of these pieces was to provoke, whether to challenge my current thinking or look at a subject from a different perspective. Most of these pieces did that. Whether I agreed, vehemently disagreed, or my thoughts fell somewhere in the middle, I was provoked.

Buy now from:    Amazon US    Amazon UK

Format/Typo Issues:

A large number of typos, grammar problems, and other copy editing and proofreading misses for a book of this size.

Rating: *** Three Stars

Reviewed by: BigAl

Approximate word count: 14-15,000 words

Review: Ghost Walk by Melissa Bowersock

Genre: Mystery/Ghosts

Description:

“Lacey Fitzpatrick is an ex-LAPD detective with an axe to grind. Tainted by the betrayal of her drug-dealing cop boyfriend, she’s on a quest to prove to herself—and the world—that she’s still a competent crime-fighter. In order to do that, she teams up with Sam Firecloud, a half-Navajo man who communicates with ghosts. With his talent and her research, they tackle troubling unsolved crimes, but their latest case is the toughest. They have to solve a murder—where no record of a murder even exists. Can Sam glean enough information from the victim’s ghost to unravel the mystery, and can Lacey convince the authorities that the murder actually happened?”

Author:

“Melissa Bowersock is an eclectic, award-winning author who writes in a variety of fiction and non-fiction genres: biography, contemporary, western, action, romance, fantasy, paranormal and spiritual. She has been both traditionally and independently published and is a regular contributor to the superblog Indies Unlimited. She lives in a small community in northern Arizona with her husband and an Airedale terrier. She also writes under the pen name Amber Flame.”

Learn more about Ms. Bowersock on her website or follow her on Facebook.

Appraisal:

I don’t normally gravitate toward mysteries but Sam Firecloud, a half-Navajo man who communicates with ghosts, hooked me. He’s very private and soft-spoken, he is going to take some time to get to know though. However, I really like what I have seen of him so far.

Lacey Fitzpatrick, an ex-LAPD detective, could be considered Sam’s opposite. She is all about facts, excels in research, and is good about fitting pieces together in cold case files. She is not quite sure what to make of Sam at first and would rather write him off as a quack. However, she becomes a believer from what he gleaned from a cold case file she had been working on before she left the force. Lacey further tests Sam’s abilities when he asks her if she would like to accompany him on another case he has been contacted about. With her interest piqued she follows along with more preparation for documenting his findings. This is where the story’s meat is.

Lacey is a smart, conscientious, but head-strong heroine. Her character development is more fully rounded than Sam’s, but I am excited to learn more about his introspective character. The twists in the story are captivating and not too farfetched to believe. I think this is going to be an enthralling new series to follow and I am looking forward to more from Lacey and Sam’s new partnership.

Buy now from:    Amazon US    Amazon UK

FYI:

Ghost Walk is the first book in A Lacey Fitzpatrick and Sam Firecloud Mystery series.

Format/Typo Issues:

I found no issues with proofing or formatting.

Rating: ***** Five Stars

Reviewed by: ?wazithinkin

Approximate word count: 40-45,000 words

Review: Gods and Machines by Gary Starta

Genre: Science Fiction

Description:

Ceres, Earth’s first colony and a planet in the Andromeda Galaxy, is a habitable world for human habitation. An influx of civilians from Earth necessitates expansion, so geologist Dean Flavin and botanist Carol Walker volunteer to scout out a second settlement for Ceres colonists.

Once the couple reaches the site, study the plant life, and geological conditions, they nestle into their mobile home for the night. Mysteriously, when Carol is showering, the power is disengaged while an unknown entity viciously slaughters her as if she were a character actor in an Alfred Hitchcock thriller.

Sam Benson is a newly arrived CSI assigned to become the colony’s detective while his fiancé, Sandra Morton, is Ceres’ new Medical Examiner. When Sam investigates Carol’s murder, his focus is erroneously on android James Starkman, who once shared engrams with a psychotic human. Linda Dougherty, the colony’s distinguished leader, shields the android knowing her friend incapable of harming anyone.

Little does Benson know that Ceres was once inhabited by a race of beings that consider machines to be their gods.

Author:

Gary Starta, a former journalist, loves science fiction and crime stories. His first novel, What Are You Made Of? was published in 2006 and focuses on intelligent artificial life and whether sentient androids should possess the same rights as humans, a similar theme brought up in Gods and Machines. Starta also enjoys writing crime stories like Murder by Association, which blends mystery with forensic investigation. Gods and Machines blends the author’s passions nicely.

Appraisal:

Gary Starta develops very imaginative characters in his plot-driven science fiction thriller, Gods and Machines. However, the author came up short in fleshing out his settings so those threads in the novel’s fabric weakened the book’s impact in this reviewer’s mind.

Buy now from:    Amazon US    Amazon UK

Format/Typo Issues:

No significant issues

Rating: *** Three Stars

Reviewed by: Michael Thal

Approximate word count: 65-70,000 words

Review: Blood Hound by James Osiris Baldwin

Genre: Supernatural thriller

Description:

A high-ranking Sicilian Mafioso is murdered and his body dumped in Russian mafia territory. Occult sigils at the scene point blame to the only mage present – hit man Alexi Sokolsky. Forced to clear his name in order to survive, Alexi discovers the murder was an occult sacrifice that marks the beginning of a hunt threatening the world’s social order. A Gift Horse, a creature rumored to carry the secrets of all creation in her flesh and blood, has turned up in New York. Every underworld mage in the city is eager to gain the limitless power she can bestow. In a deadly battle to prevent misuse of the power, she turns to Alexi.

If Alexi fights on the side of the Gift Horse, he stands to lose his life or at least his position in the mafia. If he doesn't, the world will be held hostage by whoever partakes of her gift. With a demon-summoning, psychopathic mage opposing him, the odds are not in the world's favor.

Author:

James Osiris Baldwin writes LGBT-inclusive, dark fantasy and science fiction. He was the former Contributing Editor for the Australian Journal of Dementia Care and has also worked for Alzheimer's Australia. He currently lives in Seattle with his “lovely wife, a precocious cat, and far too many rats. His obsession with the Occult is matched only by his preoccupation with motorcycles.”

Appraisal:

Blood Hound is a spell-binding blend of crime noir and urban fantasy. The anti-hero mage, Alexi, is an angst-plagued, cold-blooded hit man for the Russian mafia. He killed his father with a hammer and murders a colleague after telling him where to stand for best effect to break a magic barrier that he must cross to execute still another individual for the mob.

Alexi is short, unattractive, and antisocial. He is also loyal, tough and, through the magic of Baldwin’s prose, likeable. In the logic of the narrative and of the mob, the people he kills deserve to die. In his determination to seek personal justice and find the Gift Horse for his boss, he is brutalized by stronger thugs and mages. In a moment of stress, he finds his soul in the form of a wise blackbird, who saves his life.

Through adversity, he discovers his true power. Baldwin brings an abundance of imagination to that well explored theme, along with adept writing style:

“My heart shlupped in my chest. It sounded as squishy as I felt, and I was glad that it, at least, was able to move. The rest of my body refused to respond. My brain was a sheen of white noise. Carmine and friends could drive up beside us right now, step out and put a bullet in my head, and there was nothing I would be able to do. Whoever killed Frank Nacari could take me off the street. At least I had made it back to New York.”

A liberal sprinkling of gutter snipe Russian, Ukranian, Italian and Hebrew (Alexi’s mother was Jewish) adds a layer of grit and authenticity to the story.

“As I watched, Hebrew letters etched themselves across his brow, as if they were being drawn through the pallid flesh with the tip of a knife. אמת. Truth.”

Food references support the atmosphere. “I ate a bowl of kasha, the universal comfort food of Eastern Europe.”

So too do a great many well researched references to arcana, including the occult, ancient texts, myths and a drawing in Carl Jung’s Red Book, which Baldwin calls Die Rote Buch instead of Das Rote Buch. The novel is so intelligently written that one wonders if the feminine “die” was substituted for neuter “das” as a jest. The author is transgender.

A touch of Nietzsche: “The only way you can stop GOD looking at you is by removing yourself from your enslavement to it,” added a third voice from across the room.

“I grimaced and pulled across the first book, De Nigromancia, a late Middle Ages tome dedicated to safety during demonic summoning.” The 96-page book is real and can be purchased on Amazon for $299.99.

“Lakshmi? The Indian goddess of money?” Turns up as a mafia idol.

I must respect a writer who respects his readers enough to educate as well as entertain.

Buy now from:    Amazon US    Amazon UK

FYI:

Lots of R-rated language, which is appropriate to the story.

Format/Typo Issues:

There are enough errors to note but not enough to be bothersome.

“I watched him silently ask for clearance with arched eyebrows and a cock of his head toward towards the table.”

“Yuri’s eyes flicked up slowly.” (Flick can only be a quick motion.)

My biggest complaint is an excessive use of ellipses, which slows the reader’s eye, and which I found annoying.

“You are... still weak.”

“And... to what ‘Master’ do you answer to, Yuri Juriovich?”

It seemed… elementary.

“Where did... you learn to shoot like that?”

Rating: ***** Five Stars

Reviewed by: Sam Waite

Approximate word count: 95-100,000 words

Review: Paladine by Kenneth Eade

Genre: Men’s fiction/Vigilante

Description:

Robert Garcia--ex-special forces--is thrust into the spotlight when he is in the wrong place at the wrong time and kills a terrorist, thereby saving dozens of lives. A vindictive multi-millionaire hires him to kill jihadists whose names he found on a secret government list. Social media gives Garcia the name: "Paladine."

Author:

Kenneth Eade practiced law for 30 years before publishing his first novel, An Involuntary Spy. Eade has authored three fiction series: The "Brent Marks Legal Thriller Series", the "Involuntary Spy Espionage Series" and the "Paladine Anti-Terrorism Series."

For more, visit Eade's Facebook page or follow him on Twitter.

Appraisal:

I’ve gotten pretty skilled at weeding out books that don’t suit my eye. I quit on them pretty early. For some reason I kept expecting this story to improve. By the time I realized it wasn’t going to, I was in too deep, so I finished what I’d started.

Gosh, I disliked this novel. The characters, including the MC, Robert Garcia, all came across as flat and one-dimensional. Garcia’s back-story and his combat skills are painfully stereotypical (think Jason Bourne). I do like a fast-pace in my books, especially in this genre, but this was so rushed I couldn’t get involved. Yes, I was turning pages, but feeling more “so what?” than “so what’s going to happen?” In one “kill” Paladine spots seven heat signatures through his infrared goggles. One bad guy leaves which leaves five. Paladine then goes on to kill all eight bad guys.

Paladine is a brutal killer with a total lack of conscience. He’s more sociopath than hero, and he’s getting paid $50K for every hit, so he’s far from altruistic. It’s pretty hard to root for someone like that. His attacks (he hunts Islamic Terrorists), are always perfectly executed. There’s never a moment of tension because whatever happens to him, he has an immediate way to solve the problem: take a bullet in the shoulder, no problem, there’s a dentist a few blocks away who works on the side stitching up criminals. “How much will that cost, Doc?” “For you Robert, no charge.” “You’re too kind, here’s a thousand for your troubles.” In one early incident, he’s eating a burger in McDonald’s when he hears the click of an automatic weapon (coincidental enough for ya?). He swivels and puts three bullets into a guy standing in the doorway. You guessed it--an Islamic Terrorist. Paladine pulls his handgun and kills the bad guy--one bullet to the head and two in the chest. Then our hero leaves like a ghost.

The authorities are inauthentic and incompetent. They perform their investigations simply to suit the author’s plot. I just couldn’t suspend disbelief. But I did like the dog.

Buy now from:    Amazon US    Amazon UK

FYI:

Format/Typo Issues:

Rating: ** Two Stars

Reviewed by: Pete Barber

Approximate word count: 50-55,000 words

Review: Demon Princess by Kassandra Lynn

Genre: Paranormal/Fantasy

Description:

Adriana is set to become the Demon King, but is transported just moments before the ceremony takes place. She finds herself at the mercy of incompetent mage while she tries to hide her true identity for those who would harm her.

Author:

Kassandra Lynn has written several books in the paranormal fantasy world. She enjoys fantasy and romance, and you can find a bit of that in her books as well. Learn more about her at her website.

Appraisal:

There’s more to someone than just a label. Adriana, who is about to become the Demon King, lives in a world where she thinks she has everything figured out. The Savior Blood, the Wiseman and Warrior will one day fight the demons as they have for centuries. Until then, she will rule the demon kingdom until her father and brother return from their disappearance.

However, Adriana’s world is thrown upside-down when she accidentally becomes a summon beast to a human mage. Adriana learns more about the humans during her ordeal — probably more than most other demons. Turns out that just because she’s been told these people are her sworn enemies doesn’t actually make them so. In fact, Adriana finds herself helping those she’s supposed to despise.

Demon Princess was a great book about perception and biases. When Adriana and those around her opened their eyes to see the truth, it was far different than anything anyone expected. There’s a great complex world here that Kassandra Lynn has created, which is layered in mythology, magic and history.

The one drawback was that it seemed that Lynn took a while to find her voice. The early part of the book seemed very clinical in its writing, but it was engrossing when it finally loosened up.

I did see some other reviews that mentioned a lack of world building, but I just didn’t get that feeling at all. I got a pretty good idea about the world that surrounded the characters while little hints and clues. There could have been more, but it might have drawn away from the action of Demon Princess.

If you like magic and fantasy, with a love story thrown in, this is a good book to pick up.

Buy now from:    Amazon US Amazon UK

Format/Typo Issues:

There were no errors.

Approximate word count:

Rating: ****Four Stars

Reviewed by: Sooz

Approximate word count: 45-50,000 words

Review: Fireworks by Mardeene

Genre: Erotic Romance/Short Story

Description:

“On the 4th of July, former basketball star Brandy Sue Barnes declares her own personal ‘Independence Day’ from her unreliable boyfriend she realizes will never show up for her when it matters. The blonde statuesque fifty-one-year old, disappointed for the last time, asks for a real man she can depend upon. He shows up in the most unexpected of places—a burning building. Not just any building—her burning building: the Barnes Pyrotechnic warehouse. In this explosive sizzler of a romance in an unexpected twist, it is the beautiful lady who ends up rescuing the fire captain from the fire.”

Author:

“Mardeene has worked in the publishing and film industries for over 32 years as a photojournalist, scriptwriter, nonfiction book author, literary manager and producer of events for writers in Northern California’s Silicon Valley, Hollywood, Atlanta, and Brazil.

She's launching her debut fiction with her collection of short erotic romances as a celebration of life after a near death experience and an affirmation of living and loving full out at any age! Read a free story on her website.”

Appraisal:

Brandy Sue Barnes may be fifty-one-years old, but she is smart, spunky, capable, and knows what she wants. She also knows that she is tired of her thoughtless boyfriend who was supposed to pick her up early to escort her to the Independence Day Fundraiser for her children’s cancer center. Claiming her own independence she decides to drive herself. On the way to the gala she notices a glow in the sky in the direction of her family’s warehouses for Barnes Pyrotechnics.

Taking a small detour to the offices and warehouses she finds one building totally demolished. As the firefighters are putting out the last of the fire on one of the five story structures a firefighter needs rescuing. During his rescue the fire chief falls through the roof. Since Brandy knows the building and is sure she knows a better way to get to the hunky injured chief. As soon as she is able to get past the line of distracted firefighters, and taking proper safety precautions, she heads off to rescue the sexy fire chief who has caught her eye.

The plot is well written and suspenseful. I found the characters well defined for a novelette. Mardeene uses a lot of sexy humor in this story that involves sparks and heat that will keep you reading. I would recommend this for a little afternoon delight any time of the year.

Buy now from:    Amazon US    Amazon UK

FYI:

While this is an erotic romance there are no overly graphic sex scenes and only two small F-bombs.

Format/Typo Issues:

No significant issues with proofing.

Rating: ***** Five Stars

Reviewed by: ?wazithinkin

Approximate word count: 10-11,000 words