Fantasy Without Blasphemy Reviewed

Title: Voices of the Sea

Author: Bethany Harar

Website: http://www.bethanymasoneharar.com/

Genre: Young Adult/Fantasy

ISBN: 1937178544

Purchase Link

Reviewed by Beth Tropp

Never a fan of a certain vampire book (I know, blasphemy!) I began reading Voices of the Sea with some misgivings. Would this just be another vampire book -- with swimming instead of biting?

Happily I was all wrong. Voices of the Sea was a fresh new book that has a little something for everyone: a little romance, a little fantasy, a little adventure. The characters ran true as teenagers. In turn they were lovesick, moody, reckless, defiant, scared and childish.

The first part of the book, where readers get a feel for life as a Siren, is fascinating but when the murders start things really speed up. You'll find you won't be able to stop reading as you try to figure out if there is a traitor among the Sirens or an outsider spying on them. There were also several surprise twists that will keep you from guessing exactly what's happening until the very end.

Yes, it is YA but it's a story I think fantasy readers of all ages will enjoy.

----- The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.

Wow Review of Wow Crime Novel!

Book title: A Model Murder (Alicia Allen Investigates 1)

Author: Celia Conrad
Website: www.alicialleninvestigates.com
Where to buy the book: Amazon USA http://tinyurl.com/pjtyn54
Genre: Crime fiction
ISBN 9780954623326 (Paperback) & available in all Ebook formats
Publisher: Barcham Books

 Reviewed by Marlan Warren originally for "Dancing in the Experience Lane" Open Salon Blog

 

In law firms, nobody can hear you scream...

 

 

He told me he was used to getting what he wanted...

--A Model Murder, Celia Conrad

 

What do law firms and men’s “hostess” clubs have in common? If your first thought is “alpha males,” you’re already on board with A Model Murder. Conrad draws disturbing, often painfully entertaining, parallels between these two worlds where Neanderthals still roam the Earth, and a resistant female might get a bop on the head or worse.

A Model Murder is a fast-paced suspense mystery, full of twists and turns, following in the tradition of Nicci French and Sue Grafton.

Alicia Allen is a London-based Anglo-Italian lawyer on the verge of her 30^th birthday whose experience of Death has been limited to sorting estate issues...until her beautiful Australian neighbor and wannabe model, Tammy, turns up raped and murdered before she can collect her first paycheck from the job she wants to quit in a sleazy men’s club.

British author Conrad has painted a loving portrait of the multi-cultural melting pot that is London and her down-to-earth heroine who has no superpowers of intuition and deduction, but is quite simply a good neighbor who will stop at nothing until a wrong is made right.

Lack of police progress propels Alicia towards finding Tammy’s murderer herself. The Shakespearean character of Portia (Merchant of Venice) is mentioned, and indeed Alicia does resemble that legendary defense attorney. Her “quality of mercy is not strained” as she single-mindedly focuses on solving this horrible murder. Using her honed skills of observation and detail-awareness, she finds clues even in opera. Breaking and entering to gather evidence? No problem.

When Alicia coincidentally finds herself in a life-threatening work situation from a mad-dog senior partner, the link between sociopaths who legally run law firms and take unfair advantage of women “underlings” and the sociopaths who run illegal prostitution rackets solidifies.

Of course the crazier and nastier the law firm environment, the more fun. Conrad also makes the fair point that women in both arenas can also harass their female coworkers. All the better to keep readers guessing whodunit!

Red herrings swim among Alicia’s true friends who are the mainstay of her life. Will that Robert Redford-type lawyer who wows the ladies at her office be The One or is he somehow responsible for Tammy’s untimely demise?

Will Alicia pick the true-blue “best friend” who shares her Italian heritage or the office lover-boy who makes her knees weak while he quotes Shakespeare? That Conrad keeps all these balls in the air until the story’s breathtaking and very scary conclusion is a testament to her marvelous instincts as a storyteller extraordinaire.

Women make this plot twirl on its axis; so there has to be food. I found myself wanting Pringles (Alicia's one addiction), pizza, salad nicoise, pasta primavera, and high tea with succulent scones throughout the adventure. Not necessarily in that order.

Full disclosure: I toiled in law firms for years as a secretary, and I had a friend who worked in a pole-dancing club in Los Angeles. So this harrowing, occasionally satirical, murder mystery hit a nerve and my funny bone at the same time.

PS to American Readers: Keep your English to English Dictionary handy! Alicia eats chips from a tube and then rides on one...but I just have to love a language and a country where women can be "well upholstered."

I am eagerly looking forward to reading the other two books in this Alicia Allen Investigates Trilogy: A Wilful Murder (Book 2) and Murder in Hand (Book 3).

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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.

Author Reviews Dr. Bob Rich's Ascending Spiral

Book Title:  Ascending Spiral: Humanity’s Last Chance.

Author: Dr Bob Rich
Website: http://bobswriting.com
Where to Buy Book: http://bobswriting.com/ascending.html
Genre: Metaphysical fiction
ISBN: 978-1-61599-187-7
Publisher: Marvelous Spirit Press

Reviewed by Megan Williams

Ascending Spiral began, for me, as a boy’s own adventure but quickly morphed into a story about a man fighting a just war against invaders. Then followed human damage, downfall and retribution. I was hooked.

For readers who like action there is plenty, though some rather violent, but all realistically representing human nature. I found it a disturbing but profoundly compelling distillation of the potential for good and evil to exist in all of us. But Bob also introduces hope and the possibility of forgiveness for oneself and others without excusing evil deeds.

From the prologue, and you should read it, Bob sets the style by writing as if everything is happening in the present even though the action zig zags across time and space through history. This gives the story its immediacy and brightness and allowed me to remain engaged when it took on fantastical elements that are not my preferred reading matter.

Bob manages to get under the skin of both the male and female characters and is not afraid to cover many distasteful but all to real aspects of human frailty and cruelty. The vehicle for telling the story through the character’s reincarnation is the greatest strength of the book for me. However, I don’t have to believe in reincarnation to be thoroughly engaged in the existential questions posed. Who am I? What is the meaning of suffering and what can I do to lessen it both  for myself and others?

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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.

Writers Bureau Correspondence Course Recommended

Today's post is a casual review/recommendation of a course, rather than a book. It came to me from a trusted fellow writer from the UK, Mark Logie, and because so many of the subscribers to this blog are writers and publishers, I thought it would be a service to post his letter of recommendation.

Here is the metadata:

General info from:  The Writers Bureau (www.writersbureau.com ), Manchester, UK
Course info:  www.sell-book-course.com
Course type: home study
Price: £274  (about $470)
Here is his note to me, reprinted with Mark's permission:

Dear  Carolyn,
In The Frugal Book Promoter you stress the importance of  authors educating themselves in marketing books. I found the Writers  Bureau correspondence course “How to Market Your Book” very  useful.
When I took this course  (November 2013 – May 2014) there were a small  number of mistakes (such as a few out-of-date Web links, and one or two  features on Amazon it suggested using that had changed or been  discontinued), but it did motivate me to start a blog, which I had been  putting off
because I was finding it very difficult. There was excellent  support
from my tutor too.
With very best wishes,

Mark Logie

More about Mark:
Mark Logie is the award-winning author of On the Road to  Infinity and Deadfall, in which a young tearaway leads the battle to prevent the world's worst terrorist attack. It is written for young people twelve years and over. Find it on Amazon. Thanks to inspiration offered by good books and courses on marketing books, he now blogs at Goodreads.

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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.

Beth Fowler Reviews Young Adult Novel

White PineSubtitle: My Year as a Lumberjack and River Rat
By Caroline Akervik
Akervik's website: https://www.facebook.com/#!/HorseNamedViking
Published by Melange Books LLC's YA imprint Fire and Ice.
ISBN 9781612358260

Original review by Beth Fowler 

"Be a man that people can count on," 14-year-old Sevy Anderson's father tells him. Because Sevy's father broke his leg in a sawmill accident, the boy must quit school and earn money for the family among rough and tumble lumberjacks and river rats who harvest the white pine forests of Wisconsin.

White Pine begins where every good story starts: On the cusp of an irreversible, life-changing event for the protagonist.

Told in the first person from Sevy's point of view, readers are privy to the teen's inner emotions of fear, pride, remorse, affection and homesickness. With a deft, light hand, author Caroline Akervik, through Sevy, describes aspects of lumbering and lumberjacks that give readers confidence that this is a reliable, accurate depiction of life as a North woodsman in days gone by...which means readers can settle in and enjoy the story.

Roget, a giant of a lumberjack, objects to Sevy's presence in the lumber camp. "He's is a boy. He has no place here." Problems escalate when Sevy's forgetfulness causes what becomes known as "the incident."  Sevy vacillates from carrying the heavy burden of paying for his father's dream to own a farm, to the simple joys of hearing bells jingling on the horses, and eating salt pork and biscuits after a long day of dangerous, hard work in the numbing cold.

The tension, while varying in intensity, never goes slack. The story doesn't veer from Sevy's struggles to live up to the command his father gave him and his own desire to be a true North woodsman, in this coming-of-age novel.

Readers who love Gary Paulsen's young adult coming-of-age stories set in the wilderness will treasure White Pine, as will fans of Laura Ingalls Wilder's books. No warnings about content are needed for this wholesome, credible, engaging story. White Pine is a book that parents and other adults can read to young children and give to pre-teens and teens to read on their own. As with the best of this genre, adults can enjoy the story as well. The book belongs in school libraries and on family bookshelves. And more importantly, in the hands of young readers.

 MORE ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Beth Fowler  is also the author of Ken's War,When culture shock & teen rebellion collide. She writes under the name B.K. Fowler

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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.

Targeted Resources To Get You Invited To Be a Radio Guest!

This is not exactly the usual New Book Review review. I am running it on this blog because I know that many of the authors and publishers who have offered their reviews to The New Book Review will find this series of booklets useful. They offer up-to-date opportunities for radio interviews.  The author, Fran Silverman, is also the author of
Talk Radio Wants You: An Intimate Guide to 700 Shows and How To Get Invited published by McFarland Co. 2009. It was a National "USA Best Books 2009" Awards winner in the Business: Reference category. And her new booklets are especially valuable because they are targeted to specific topics and genres and are frugally priced!


The following ebooks for radio guests are available from Fran:


Animals ($12 for 46 shows) - Covers animal advocacy, health, care, competition, communication, behavior, longevity, dog relationships, pets and the paranormal, pet peeves, wildlife, training, shelter and rescue.

Authors ($12 for 52 shows) - Covers writing, editing, publishing, marketing, literary agents, Christian authors, author spotlights; genres include thrillers, suspense, action/adventures, novels, teen/YA, romance, poetry, science, historical, baseball, screenplays, songwriting.

Business ($25 for 274 Shows) - Covers workplace issues, innovation, entrepreneurship, business strategies, careers, finance, small business, sales, home-based businesses, law, investments, insurance, money management, customer service, and real estate.

Entertainment ($20 for 176 Shows) - Covers art, fashion, movies, music and comedy.

Environment ($12 for 39 shows) - Covers green lifestyles, sustainable communities, conservation, cleaner energy, natural healing and medical remedies, environmental news, non-toxic living, wildlife, and activism.

Food and Travel ($12 for 64 shows) - Covers grilling and barbequing, wines and spirits, tea, chefs and recipes and raw food, parties, special event planning; all kinds of travel: budget, frequent, upscale, good deals, cruises and medical and health tourism.   

Health ($20 for 178 Shows) - Covers healthy living and lifestyles, fitness, health as a business advantage, natural healing, alternative medicine, medical travel, issues, education and treatment, and overcoming adversities.

House and Garden ($12 for 26 shows) - Covers gardening, growing vegetables, going green, home improvement, repair, and remodeling, healthy home design trends, buying and selling homes, feng shui, organizing vegetable garden

Men and Women ($12 for 67 shows) - Covers chick lit books, female and Christian entrepreneurs, fun for women over 40, men's comedy, girl's math and science, women empowerment, life makeovers, interesting women, women's health, parenting, women's ministries and spirituality, women in business, medicine, politics, gay, lesbian and transgender issues.

New Age - ($25 for 220 Shows) - Covers astrology, metaphysics, Tarot, Angels, psychic development, paranormal, parapsychology, holistic health, healing, mysticism, occult, and mediums.

Parenting ($15 for 64 shows) - Covers parenting issues and pressures, education, security and safety, family life, parenting parents, health, home-school, child development, schooling, charter schools, mom entrepreneurship, homebirth, adoption, marriage, military moms, single mothers, childhood cancer, and money management.

Politics ($20 for 216 Shows)- Covers current events, conservatism, Christian conservatism, liberalism, Libertarianism, government, pop culture, U.S. Constitution, Tea Party movement, democracy, the military and labor.

Relationships ($15 for 72 shows) - Covers dating, relationship strategies, weddings, marriage, sex and divorce.

Science and Technology ($12 for 50 shows) - Covers hardware, software, wireless communication, clean energy technology, nanotechnology, engineering, film and video production, biology, astronomy, geology, robotics, physics, and outer space.

Self-Help ($20 for 231 Shows) - Covers personal and professional goals, growth and empowerment, emotional freedom techniques, motivation, creativity, living one's calling, making for a better world, transforming your life and self-realization

Sports ($20 for 100 Shows) - Covers wrestling, biking, gaming, fantasy sports, golf, fitness/health, football, baseball, basketball, hockey, tennis, thoroughbred racing, hunting, fishing, camping, birding, hiking, skiing, kayaking, and performance.
 
To order go to her buy page on her Web site: http://www.talkradioadvocate.com/Ebooks.html

Or e-mail her for more information at:
franalive@optonline.net. 

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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.

Gut Reaction Reviews of Psychological (and Literary!) Fiction

TITLE: Saints in the Shadows

AUTHOR:   Alana Cash
ISBNs: 13: 978-1497511170
10: 1497511178
GENRES: Psychological/Paranormal/Literary Fiction

Reviewed by Don Grant originally for  Gut Reaction Reviews and Amazon  

 

 

         Madame Budska or Maud Strand………  ****

Wow. Sometimes one finds a diamond in the rough. Having been asked to review this book I bought it for my kindle as I was drawn to the description which said it “dabbles in provocative subjects such as psychic phenomena, economics, morality, masochism, color, jazz, history, and a bit of romance with an NYPD detective”.   I was not disappointed.

First, let me talk about the negative aspect of the book. The author would have made this even better with just a bit more editing and maybe one more pass with a copy editor. Each scene change has a heading which in the beginning was distracting but I will say as the story developed this was not as bothersome.

The story itself is gripping and I found it hard to put down. The writer draws you in quickly and at times I forgot I was reading a work of fiction. If you have ever seen a film with a famous actor who makes you forget that you are watching them act, then you know what I mean. The transition from past to present was easy to follow and never “pulled” me out of the story.

The character, Maud Strand, is one I would like to read more about. She seemed to me, to be more interesting than Madame Budska. Based on the title the author seems to disagree, hopefully she will change her mind.

The ending was slightly rushed and left me wondering about what was going to happen to Maud. Maybe it all wrapped up too fast. But I will say I look forward to more books by Alana Cash.  This gets a well earned four stars!

 

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  The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.