More Book Reviews as I struggle to catch up

I'm not quite sure how we got halfway through April while I'm still feeling like February. I can't even blame the weather. It may be cold still in England, but here we've had spring sun as well as rain and the weeds are abundantly happy. So I cut them down, dig them out, rake them in, and wonder if typos might grow in my stories as liberally as they. There was that one where Joel changed his name to Joseph halfway down the page, and auntie became mother in the middle of a line... but I'm fixing them almost as fast as I write them, and Bethlehem Tales should soon be ready for its first beta-readers to pull it apart. Not ready for publication yet though--that takes longer and requires more editing and more confidence.

Anyway, I've been reading too and now have another list of book reviews for you. So put the coffee on, put your feet up and enjoy:

Afterlife, by S. P. Cloward, blends vampire and zombie lore in a pleasingly different sci-fi fantasy where the mortuis need to graze on the living but feel morally bound to give back. Intriguing, wise and fun, this is one to enjoy with a 4-star elegant complex cup of coffee.

In a similarly unconventional manner, Trilogy, by Prudence MacGregor brings three oddly unsettling stories together set in a very convincing real world that sudden reveals mysteries behind the curtain. Think Twilight Zone, these stories are really intriguing. And enjoy them with another elegant 4-star cup of coffee.

Continuing the paranormal theme, The Time Weaver, by Thomas A. Knight weaves action, adventure, science and magic as a 30-year-old young man relearns the mystery of his father's disappearance and grows into his destiny. Enjoy a well-balanced full-flavored 3-star cup of coffee with this nicely balanced tale.

Back in the real world, there are mysteries to solve. In Dead Wrong: A Josie Corsino Mystery, by Connie Dial, Captain Corsino of the LAPD strives to keep her marriage intact, send her married son out to work, protect a cop accused of killing another cop, and solve the mystery of why the death occurred on her friend's watch. It's a heady mix and the presence of an imperfect female protagonist with a steely determination to do the right thing even if it doesn't mean going by the book makes for a thoroughly enjoyable and convincing police procedural. Enjoy with elegant complex 4-star coffee.

Meanwhile The Conduct of Saints, by Christopher Davis, set in Rome just after the Second World War, deals with mysteries of a different nature as a falling priest seeks to redeem his own conduct while supervising the making of a new saint. Dark, harsh, yet oddly redemptive despite the political, sexual, personal and military corruption, this is one to enjoy with a 5-star bold dark intense cup of coffee.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How to Connect those Connections

Taken from a talk I gave on Sunday at the Writers' Mill. This is a very low-level approach to getting connected, from one beginner to another... Internet Writing, Marketing and Networking If you’ve got an email address you’re on the internet. If you’ve got a book out or an article in a magazine, you’re into marketing. If you’ve got friends, you’re networking. And if you use Google, you can do almost anything. Google Google is your friend. Google “how to join facebook” “How to join goodreads” “How to join Twitter” etc… Google “facebook badges” “blogger widgets” etc… to spice up your pages. Anything you want to know, a nice simple question to google will almost certainly tell you. But keep safe . Don’t just click on the first link you see. Make sure it looks vaguely genuine. “F*@!book.com/badges” might take you somewhere you don’t want your computer to go. “Facebook.com/badges” tells you all about badges. Why would you want to join all these interne...
Read more

Eternal curse might hide a blessing too.

Image
Today is the official launch day for Toi Thomas's paranormal romance, Eternal Curse, and I was lucky enough to be offered a free preview copy some while ago. The novel creates an intriguing mythology of angelic beings and the Fall, binding it nicely to modern day characters in search of meaning for their lives. There's an interesting blend of the paranormal, faith and science, and the story has a nicely old-fashioned feel with separate underlying tales taking center stage on the way to resolution. So... here's the cover, the blurb, and my review: ABOUT THE BOOK 'You have plenty of time to change your mind. You have not yet seen the monster I can be.' Giovanni has been waiting his whole life to meet someone like Mira, someone from the outside world who might be able to help him. He wonders if there really is help for him as he continues to hold tightly onto dark secrets and even darker memories. Giovanni wants to be hopeful and he wants to accept Mira...
Read more

Author or transcriber, reader or visitor, greatest or least? Meet Kathryn Elizabeth Jones

Image
 Today I'm delighted to welcome Kathryn Elizabeth Jones, author of " I walked with Jesus ," to my blog. I very much enjoyed her short stories retelling miracles from the life of Christ - we clearly have faith and short fiction in common with each other.  I loved how historical, real, and relevant Kathryn's stories felt. You can find my review here:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4904771188 . I'd love to meet the author and chat in person, but inviting her to my blog is the next best thing, so I asked her to let me and you how she finds her audience. Here's what she told me. Why I think my audience is beginning to find me by  Kathryn Elizabeth Jones One of the hardest things to do as an author, other than writing or marketing a book, is to find that often illusive audience. It’s easier with mysteries or children’s picture books, probably because you know who reads them; adults and teens who love sleuthing and children and their parents who love reading....
Read more