Archive for the ‘book reviews’ Category

Book Review – 4 Stars for Luna Sanguis by Simon Okill – Captivating, Suspense Filled, and Not What You Expected…

Posted: July 27, 2013 in book reviews
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Luna Book 3D coverThis is the second book from Simon Okill that I’ve had the pleasure of reading and I was surprised and thrilled. My surprise was to see just how versatile this author is, the genre and the writing style to storyline and setting of the two books, very different and perfectly set to make for an incredibly enjoyable read each time. When I read the synopsis, my first reaction was “another vampire story?” and my second reaction was “the first book blew me away and was not what I expected, I bet he’s done it again.” He has, completely done it again, another great read, nothing that you expect, no guessing what’s going to happen next, NOT another vampire story. I will fuss only that he could have lost some of the adjectives and still pulled this off so brilliantly. I think the amount of description that adjectives allow a writer can either be not enough, too much, or just right and it’s incredibly difficult to have the perfect balance for every reader, every time. Well, I’ll fuss too, that I fell behind schedule in work last week because I couldn’t put the darn thing down! Thanks, Simon, that’s twice now!

Captivating, this book blends paranormal romance and mystery to create a suspenseful read. If you are looking for just another vampire book, this is so much more and will change how you think of the age old story line.

I won’t waste your time with more information about the read, just go read it. The reviews are on Amazon and Goodreads and they tell you a bit more than the synopsis does, no need to repeat that stuff here. This is an author that I am following, picky reader that I am, and you should too. He is an amazing writer, very versatile, creative, talented, and perhaps just a bit nutty…in the best possible, most interesting, entertaining way that just leaves you waiting to see what he will say or do next.

BUY LINKS
ABOUT SIMON OKILL

Simon lives with his wife, Shirlee Anne and their cat, in a pretty coastal town in South Wales, UK. They both love Stephen King and had read many of his books and enjoyed their transition to the screen. Due to their love of books they dabbled in writing for some years as a hobby. They were approached by a film company to write a paranormal TV series. They struggled most nights and all through weekends to come up with 22 episodes only for the company to go bust. After an accident at work Mr. Okill was forced to retire due to a disability

Battling with depression, his newfound skills of writing became his sword and their scripts templates for novels. His writing became more serious as certain A-list actors expressed interest in his scripts and his debut novel Nobody Loves a Bigfoot Like a Bigfoot Babe was accepted by Christopher Matthews Publishing after so many British publishers turned it down.

His new novel Luna Sanguis is due to be released July 15th and the sequel to Nobody Loves a Bigfoot Like a Bigfoot Babe is being penned as you read this.

http://facebook.com/simondokillwriter

http://twitter.com/simonokill/

http://tassyoneill.wix.com/the-phantom-bigfoot

http://goodreads.com/tassyoneill

https://www.amazon.com/author/simondokillwriter

Book Synopsis

Paris 1925

A young woman is nearing her Eternal Vampire state as her birthday approaches. She is held captive by the hybrid vampire she created and slowly drained of her pure blood to keep his addiction in check. She outwits him and escapes to a chateau in the hope of reaching maturity. But he follows her unmistakable scent and massacres all that dare protect his supply of Eternal blood.

She awakens in a tiny room trapped and defenseless with amnesia, but something deep in her subconscious yearns to be set free by the next full moon – the date of her Eternal Birthday.

Her true self, Eternal, emerges in brief flashes of awareness to protect her from the horrors of this terrifying prison. Desperate, she forges an alliance with her true love, a gorgeous young doctor treating her.

But her nemesis is out there somewhere, relishing the hunt for her blood – and nothing will stop him from becoming Eternal.

234 pages
Paranormal Romance

Thanks for visiting this stop on the blog tour!:

Book Review – “Flashes of War” by Katey Schultz – 5 Stars and “Unique and Brilliant!”

Posted: July 8, 2013 in book reviews
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I was a bit hesitant about this book because I don’t usually read war based anything, but it was flash fiction short stories and the media kit that Katey sent with her request for an honest review was incredibly professional. I knew I shouldn’t pass up the opportunity to see what this young writer was up to. I was not disappointed, in fact, this is one of the best books I have read! The many reviewers before me have talked about what the stories are about and how wonderful the writing is and I agree with all of them. My favorite points are how real the character’s perspectives were. The whole thing is crafted without the influence of author intrusion that would have made the stories biased in one way or another. Both traits of an exceptionally talented writer. I also noticed other reviewers talked about how on point everything she wrote was, from reviewers that read a lot of war based fiction and from reviewers with their own experiences where Ms. Schultz had none, but certainly did her due diligence to create this masterpiece. Overall, it’s the perfect balance between creativity and research.

I imagine that most human beings have some type of connection to war at some point in history or another and the lack of a connection is potentially more the exception than the rule, it’s sad to say. Flashes of War is a must read, regardless of genre preferences. Many only really know what the media shares about war, what history tells us, what family or friends talk about, and so on; these stories let the reader into the head of the point of view characters like no camp fire story or news story ever can. This is not a typical read about war, this is unique and brilliant!

My only complaint is that it was all too short, but that’s why I tend to avoid flash fiction in general, holding out for a longer read. I would have made a mistake and robbed myself of this wonderful read though. I have this author on my watch list now, while the stories drew me in but left me wanting, it was the author’s skill that I’m sure will be present in everything she writes, that actually made me feel as I read every word. As you decide if this purchase is right for you, definitely look up the author to see how she has immersed her entire lifestyle into her work and how she researches her writing projects to fully understand how much she invests in every word to ensure the reader’s enjoyment. Her website tagline, “writer @ large” is perfect and a testament of her dedication to the craft!

Stay tuned, I will be tracking this young lady down for an interview very soon!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~>Debra L Hartmann, Author, Host of the Talk Radio with NO Radio show, and Professional Editor at http://www.theprobookeditor.com

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes…

Posted: June 30, 2013 in book reviews
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Monkey Wrench Collective Logo

Ah, the monkey wrenches life throws our way. I started this blog site with the best intentions, wanting it to be only book reviews and author interviews. I love to read and have really enjoyed meeting the authors that worked with me to do the fun, skit style interviews for my Talk Radio with NO Radio show. Alas, changes are needed in order to keep up with the volume of work and still have some kind of a personal life off the internet.  I think that if I change the format to include more things that take less time then I can contribute more to supporting indie authors, continue to post reviews as I can complete them, and still manage my business and family commitments.

 

First, I must apologize to each and every author that has not yet received a review after sending their inquiry. I started out with a great schedule that I believed I could accomplish but things happened and I’ve had to put a family matter ahead of this project. The site also grew in popularity so quickly that I became overwhelmed with so many requests and it would literally take me more than a year at 1-2 books per week to catch up. First change –  I am no longer accepting requests for book reviews. I will continue to work through the pile and eventually get everyone’s books reviewed. Those reviews will be posted here and on up to 3 sales pages of the author’s choice (provided I am a member of the site and they will allow it without having been purchased from them) and I will send out tweets for quite sometime to bring attention to the reviews and help authors with as much publicity work as I can with this site.

 

Next, I do intend to keep the Talk Radio with NO Radio show going. That actually doesn’t take nearly as much time to accomplish as a book read and then review does and the response to those posts were excellent. This is not open to requests just yet though, I will continue to work through the commitments already made and open the studio lines as soon as I catch that up. At some point, I hope to move to a live audio show…who knows?! It could happen!

 

In the meantime, new material will begin to appear here this week and stay tuned for what is being dubbed “The Biggest Blog Tour of All Time” coming soon with special guest star Simon O’Kill for the release of his new book Luna Sanguis.

 

Lastly, I would like to open the site up to different types of posts that are helpful to the author community and just not as time consuming as the reviews. Blog tour hosting, cover reveals, release announcements and general creative and informative postings will begin to appear and I am opening the gates for requests as of July 1st for that. I will be working on a page that will display a calendar on the site and will show open dates for scheduling events like that. You can request a future spot by simply emailing mrsdlhartmann@gmail.com and put the event type in the subject field and plenty of details in the body.

 

Please feel free to comment and make suggestions about posts you would like to see or recommendations for types of events that I could include in the schedule. Making a difference and helping promote the work of our wonderful independent author community is still my goal…it just needs a little rearranging to be manageable. Thank you, followers and readers for your understanding and your support. ~~~~~~Debra L Hartmann

 

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