Reborn by J.K. Miller II

When Jason is awakened by a mysterious  woman, he has little to no time to talk about everything he has forgotten - which, by the way, is everything. He doesn't remember his name or what he looks like. Though the woman who frantically woke him up seems to know much about him, he knows nothing about her at all. All he can figure out, as evidenced by the dead bodies on the ground, is that she's much more powerful than she appears. 

He quickly learns that he's fortunate to have her by his side. Things are much more chaotic outside than they were inside the small house. There are armed men everywhere, as well as many dead bodies. 

With the lady's (his mother) help, Jason makes it out of the village alive. Unfortunately, the only thing that Jason learns before his mom gets trapped is that he was 'reborn,' she woke him up too early because of the attack and that messed with his memories and abilities, and he needs to travel to The Hills to meet with his dad. 

Of course, getting to The Hills won't be easy, not with Kyoko and her soldiers hot on his tail. After all, he's the reason why they destroyed the small town. He's one of the Kahnan, a special group of people chosen by the spirits. 

Then, when Jason finally meets up with his dad, he learns that he has a lot more to worry about than his lost memories. Lady Cristilia, also known as the queen Lady Glovya, is against Jason. She's the reason why Kyoko and her men are after him. Cristilia is also after the Prime, a series of items connected to restoring balance to the natural world. To make matters more complicating, Jason also needs to improve his abilities as the Kahnan and locate the other Kahnans. 

The moment I started reading Reborn, I knew that, as long as J.K. Miller's writing style remained the same throughout, Reborn would be a great read. Fortunately, his style remained the same. 

Miller is a descriptive writer. When you take into account that Reborn is a fantasy with its own concepts, languages, settings, and customs, it only makes sense that the book is 400+ pages. His sentences vary in length, which sometimes give the paragraphs a very rhythmic feel. Nothing makes me happier than a story with rhythm. Reborn is action-heavy. Sometimes, Miller's descriptiveness has the effect of slowing battles down, so it is a double edged sword. 

Only two things in particular bothered me. The names seemed random. There are really simple names like Harold and Jason and exotic names like Sariya and Cristilia. Kyoko's name really stands out, since it seems Japanese. I was also never entirely sure about Reborn's time period or overall setting. Does the story take place in an alternate America? Or is it in another world altogether? I'm assuming it's in an another world, but what's the name of said world? 

Overall, I enjoyed Reborn. If you're looking for an adventuristic, action-packed fantasy with touches of romance, this is the book for you.

X0 by Sherrie Cronin

*Giveaway Bonus*

The giveaway is closed. The winner of the eBook copy of X0 is Denise Z. 

Enjoy the review!

***********

Though Lola and Somadina are hundreds of miles away from each other, they are as similar as they're different. Lola is a geophysicist in America. She has a loving family - three kids and a husband - and a younger sister she is concerned about and trying to reach. Though money is sometimes a concern, she and her family are relatively well off. Somadina is a fortune teller in Igbo, a tribe of people in Southeastern Nigeria. She has a son, a husband that really loves her - though she's not entirely sure if her feelings can be requited - and a younger sister she is concerned about and trying to reach. Because she lives in Igbo, she's not as well off as Lola, but she's still able to get by.

Lola and Somadina's connections go deeper than their desire to help their younger sister. They can feel the other's emotions, occasionally hear the other calling for help.

When a representative from X0 - X to the zero power - gives both a business card and tells them about the secret society dedicated to helping telepathics, both Lola and Somadina's telepathic abilities advance. The more they learn from the website, the more powerful they become, until soon they'll finally be powerful enough to help each other.

However, that's only the basic gist of the plot. X0 has many sub-plots that expertly intermingle. When the story switches to Nigeria, the story is also about how Nwanyi (Somadina's sister) copes with being married to a sick, abusive man and Ikenna's lifestyle as a father struggling to make right all the wrongs Somadina and Nwanyi now have to deal with.

Nwanyi's storyline is just as important as Somadina's, considering how many times the point of view switches to all the sick plans Djimon has in store for her. When the story switches to America, the plot is as much about how Lola deals with being a wife, geophysicist, and mother as it is about her telepathic abilities and growing fixation on Nigeria.

X0 is fiction, yes, but much of it is nonfiction. By that, I mean that there are a lot of chapters/sections, some of which feel like tangents, that go into details about history or statistics. You need to be interested in Nigeria to enjoy this book.

My problem with books that are fiction with a lot of nonfiction sections is that what the author is trying to get across with the nonfiction often overshadows the plot. Should I focus on the plot, which I enjoy very much? Or should I focus on the statistics about American death rates or the question and answers about telepathy or the mini history lessons about Nigera and oil rates? After awhile, I found it hard to anticipate both. For instance, whenever a nonfiction section happened, like the question and answers about telepathy, I skimmed because I wanted more of the plot.

The fact that this book is interactive is a double edged sword. It's made clear from the get-go that there are 1-5 links in each chapter. These links go to photos, music, news reports, opinion pieces, and charities. 10% of the proceeds from the book go to Doctor's Without Borders, which is really nice.

You can read the whole novel without clicking a link, since the links are there just as supplemental material. On the one hand, it's really cool to be able to click a link in the middle of a story and learn more. On the other hand, especially if you're reading a fiction book and the links are there just to give more info, it's distracting. 

I'm the type of reader who gets fully immersed in the story I'm reading. I convince myself the story is not only real, but that's it's happening while I read it. However, seeing a blue link and knowing I can stop reading to click it always makes me realize I'm holding a kindle. I think the links are an awesome idea, but that it would perhaps work better with a nonfiction book.

X0 is a book with a great cause. I may have had issues with its execution, but execution issues are definitely a subjective matter. I recommend this book for anyone interested in Nigeria, Doctors without Borders, interactive novels, telepathy, and a story that makes it clear that people are people no matter where they are from. It's a message we all need to keep in mind.

 y1 available September 2012: Son Zane finds that his odd ability to alter his appearance is useful when his new job with a pharmaceutical company puts him in danger in the South Pacific.

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Zombie Candy - Interview

Please enjoy this interview with Frederick Lee Brooke, author of the genre-bending mystery Zombie Candy. Then read on to learn how you can win huge prizes as part of this blog tour, including $550 in Amazon gift cards, a Kindle Fire, and 5 autographed copies of the book.




1. What was the inspiration behind your novel, Zombie Candy?

There was a famous golfer whose wife chased him out of the house with a golf club in the middle of the night a couple of years ago. It was funny that she attacked her husband with his own weapon of choice. I got to thinking what must be going through a woman’s mind in that situation? I thought it would be interesting to explore the thought processes of a woman who discovers that her husband is a serial cheater. After the denial comes anger, but there is also a phase of grief. There’s guilt. Maybe she blames herself, rightly or wrongly. Candace oscillates between wanting revenge and wanting her husband back, and as the novel winds up she makes discoveries about herself that I thought a woman in her situation would be likely to make.


2. Do you think Zombie Candy will appeal to true zombie fans?

What’s a true zombie fan? I don’t want to give anything away, but any active zombie fan who participates in zombie walks, goes to festivals, etc. will love Zombie Candy. That being said, this is a book that has elements of mystery, horror and romance all in one. It had quite a few early readers, fans of all different genres, and the consensus is that it really works.


3. The book contains some of Candace’s favorite recipes. Why?

I confess, I love to cook, and it’s such an important part of my life, it just felt natural to have Candace want to share her recipes. We are all vulnerable to being attacked through our taste buds. I like reading about cooking, and I love watching cooking shows on TV. I feel like I’m learning something and tasting it at the same time. It felt right for this to be really important for Candace. At the same time, her husband Larry is so incredibly lacking in appreciation of her talents, not just the cooking itself, but organizing complex meals and directing the preparation of them by her class of twelve people. These are amazing skills, and Larry is blind to them. I thought marriages are sometimes like that, where people get to a point where they are totally ignorant of what their partner is great at.


4. There is a no-cilantro label on the back cover of the book. What is the significance of it?

Candace is a gourmet cook, and her cheating husband Larry insists on covering all his food with cilantro. This is one of those minor points of contention in a marriage that flares up and becomes important, like a trigger. I thought it was funny. And it seems a lot of people really do have strong feelings about cilantro, either for or against. When I was searching for a good graphic I came across pages on the internet like ihatecilantro.com and facebook.com/i-hate-cilantro.

5. After starting out in Chicago, why did you decide to set the story in Tuscany?

I’ve been fortunate enough to travel to Italy forty or fifty times in my life, sometimes for a two-week vacation, sometimes just for a very short trip. I absolutely love it there, from the food to the language to the beauty of the countryside and the architecture. In Zombie Candy, Candace realizes at a certain point that she has to get Larry out of his comfort zone. This is a guy who travelled all over the country every week for his work, and cheated on Candace with waitresses, flight attendants, whoever. He can adapt just about anywhere. But in Tuscany Larry discovers two things: 1) it’s not so easy to find a willing waitress or flight attendant to spend the night with him; and 2) there are zombies here.


6. How would you describe the way you work as a writer?

I guess I’m a bit of a chameleon, able to adapt pretty well to circumstances around me. My wife and I have three boys and they are not quiet. I can do most revision with significant background noise and interruptions. Only when I’m writing a first draft or doing some serious planning work do I need peace and quiet. Then I’ll often take a walk in the forest anyway. It helps a lot to be adaptable. If I had to put off writing every time someone asked me to cook dinner or help them with their homework, my book would never have been finished. For me, being able to jump right back in has been the key to being able to finish big projects.


7. Did you always want to be a writer?

I was an early reader and this led to curiosity about writing stories. My sister and I wrote stories during long car trips. In high school and then in college I dreamed of writing novels, but I only started writing short stories after graduating from college. That writing phase lasted about five years, and I learned a lot about writing, but life got in the way, with marriage and job and career and kids. Only when my kids were halfway grown and my career reached a certain level of success did I find a way to return to writing. Now I’m fulfilling a lifelong dream.


8. What process do you go through to define your characters?

I start with an image of them as basically good or basically evil, and put them into a context or a situation, and then just basically make sure there is plenty of conflict. My characters are never perfectly white or black. I think we’re drawn to weaknesses. We want to watch them mess up, and see how they’ll extricate themselves. Of course, sometimes all my planning goes out the window. It’s a cliche to say that characters surprise you with their actions, but they do. They’re defined by what they do and what they say. I did some acting in high school and have always loved the theater, and knowing what it means to be in character helps me be in character when I’m writing dialogue. My books are fairly dialogue-driven. What the characters say reveals what they are thinking and feeling.

9. What writing advice did you receive that was most beneficial to you?

I had to learn to love conflict. The conflict is the story. The conflict shows the true colors of your characters. I grew up in the suburbs in a family where we avoided conflict at all costs. We talked like diplomats. So embracing conflict has been something I had to learn.

10. You’re an indie author. Any thoughts on the divide between independent publishing and traditional publishing?

I think the market will sort itself out, but it’s going to take time. Good books will find their way into readers’ hands somehow, whether in printed or electronic form. We need our stories every day. We can’t live without stories. For me personally, independent publishing has been the perfect solution. I found an excellent editor who professionally edited my manuscript. I like the idea that I can control the timing of the publication of my books. If my first book, Doing Max Vinyl, had been traditionally published in April 2011 instead of the way I did it, it probably would have hit the remainder tables by Thanksgiving, and it would be out of print now. I think Zombie Candy might spark some interest in Doing Max Vinyl, so it’s a benefit to readers as well as to me that it continues to be available, rather than going out of print and being forgotten. E-books are clearly here to stay, because the consumers (readers) and providers (authors) are the big winners. The only losers are the bookstores, publishing companies, agents and others who refuse to adapt.



As part of this special promotional extravaganza sponsored by Novel Publicity, the price of the Zombie Candy eBook edition is just 99 cents this week. What’s more, by purchasing this fantastic book at an incredibly low price, you can enter to win many awesome prizes. The prizes include $550 in Amazon gift cards, a Kindle Fire, and 5 autographed copies of the book.

All the info you need to win one of these amazing prizes is RIGHT HERE. Remember, winning is as easy as clicking a button or leaving a blog comment–easy to enter; easy to win!

To win the prizes:

    1.) Purchase your copy of Zombie Candy for just 99 cents
    2.) Enter the Rafflecopter contest on Novel Publicity
    3.) Visit today’s featured social media event

About the book: Weaving elements of mystery, horror and romance in a hilarious romp that starts in Chicago and ends in a quaint medieval town in sun-drenched Tuscany, Zombie Candy is a genre-hopping knee-slapper of a novel. Get it on Amazon.

About the author: Frederick Lee Brooke has worked as an English teacher, language school manager and small business owner and has travelled extensively in Tuscany, the setting of part of Zombie Candy. Visit Fred on his website, Twitter, Facebook, or GoodReads.

River Bottom Blues by Ricky Bush

*Giveaway Bonus*

The giveaway is closed. The winner of the print, signed copy of River Bottom Blues and a bookmark is Matthew Rees. 

Enjoy the review! 
 

*********

 J.P. Dillon. Top Cat. Jimmy Miller. These three guys have exactly three things in common: They were relatively well-known, successful blues musicians; they played the harmonica; they were murdered by serial killers who intelligently made their deaths seem natural, self-induced, or caused by someone else.
Unfortunately, the harmonica serial killers have stolen more than three lives.

Bobby T., one of Mitty and Pete's close friends, joins the list of murdered blues musicians. Though officials have written Bobby's death off as a heroin overdose, Mitty (and later Pete) are convinced that there's no way Bobby died from that. Sure, he was once a junkie, but Mitty is convinced that Bobby's constution was much too strong to suddenly overdose years after quitting. 

Even if Bobby's wife hadn't asked him to look into Bobby's death, Mitty would have done it anyway. His skills and connections gained from being an investigative reporter and blues musician really helps.
His journey for answers is definitely not an easy one. Bodies are piling up left and right. The deeper Mitty digs, the crazier things become. 

Mitty, Pete, and everyone willing to help are determined to find the murderers, but the murderers are always one step ahead. Can Mitty win or will he die trying? 

River Bottom Blues is well-written and interesting enough to appeal to both blues fans and people who know little to nothing about blues. Author Ricky Bush does a great job capturing the blues culture and reflecting it in this novel. Bush's skill as a blues musician and journalist himself really shines. Though I didn't like all the name dropping (after awhile, I had a hard time keeping up with all the names and deciding who mattered most), it's excusable since the names do a marvelous job illustrating how vast the Blues world is. 

Apart from the occasional awkwardly phrased sentence, no errors really jumped out at me. Not only were the stakes high, but the characters were interesting and memorable. The climax, just like with any great murder mystery, was hectic and nervewrecking. All in all, I found River Bottom Blues an enjoyable read. 

Author Ricky Bush playing his harmonica

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Sleepless Nights by Norwood Holland

*Giveaway Bonus*

The giveaway is closed. The winners of the print copy are ewhatley, Anonymous, and Itlbitone. The winners of the eBook copy are Ciprian and Vesper.

Enjoy the review!

*******

Drew Smith has it all. By day, he's a well-known Washington D.C. lawyer with a big house, a nice car, and an action-packed lifestyle. By night, his interest in 'exotic dancers' often leads to many club visits and passionate bedroom experiences.

Unfortunately, danger - internal or external - especially seeks out those who have it all.

Everything officially hits the fan when Farragut, a popular club, is robbed and three workers are mercilessly killed. First Drew's main concern is representing Theo, the owner, in an effort to prove that Theo was not behind the robbery and murders. Then, as more about the robbery is revealed, he finds himself forced to represent Gee - a studious college student terrified to share his involvement in the Farragut case. Not only that, but Gee is Nina's son, and Nina happens to be the one woman that broke Drew's heart many years ago. Though Drew gets along perfectly well with Gee and respects the successful man Gee is growing into, representing him still leaves a bad taste.

Speaking of women and broken hearts, Drew's problems go way beyond professional matters. His obsession with exotic dancers leads him to Angel. At first, he's captivated by her beauty and sexual skills. When he breaks up with her after realizing that he could never truly love Angel and he's better off not messing around with women like her, she doesn't take the news well at all. Getting rid of Angel is almost as complicating as finding answers for the Farragut case. To make matters worse, he's having a hard time getting over Nina and he's developing feelings for his psychiatrist.

Initially, I wasn't certain how I felt about Sleepless Nights. The story started in Gee's POV, so I wasn't sure if the book was about Drew or Gee. The whole highschool-nerd-becomes-sexy-and-finally-gets-the-popular-cheerleader made me roll my eyes. I read a lot of books and watch a lot of movies. This is a romance scenario that happens very often. However, author Norwood Holland handles their romance very well by making Gee and Marie's growing love strong and realistic. The story is well-written and well-researched.

If you love murder mysteries, detective stories, and hardboiled fiction with a touch of romance, Sleepless Nights is definitely for you.

Author Norwood Holland

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Titanic Deception by John and Toni Rakestraw

*Giveaway Bonus*

The giveaway is closed. The winners of an eBook copy of Titanic Deception are Melanie and Jeffrey.

Enjoy the review!

***********

Most people associate the Titanic with the hit movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. Of course, there is a lot more to the Titanic than what was featured in the movie. Titanic Deception shows a snippet of what happened behind the scenes. There are essentially three acts that all carefully interconnect and complement each other.

Act One focuses on the rash decisions president J.P. Morgan, figurehead and ex-president J. Bruce Ismay, and Titanic architect Thomas Andrews made. From the very beginning, Morgan makes it clear that he's more concerned about money and image than safety. Titanic was doomed from the get-go. Olympic, another ship created by Thomas Andrews that met with disaster soon after it set out, is also introduced.

Act Two introduces Michael Kearney, a man whose job consists of being as invisible as possible while setting up board rooms for a firm's lunch meetings. However, this act's main focus is on Alice, Michael's great-grandmother. She was one of the few to survive the Titanic, and she kept a journal where she recorded her experiences as a nurse for a rich Canadian family. It's not until Michael becomes immersed in her journal that his life, once very routine and mundane, takes off.

So begins Act Three. Michael's interest in his great-grandmother's journal causes him to start a blog dedicated to the Titanic, a blog that very quickly gains a large following and adds meaning to his life. Then he takes an interest in the Occupy Movement happening near his house. Though he never fully participates for long, he does at least feel as though the Occupy protesters are doing the right thing, and that's enough to make him proud. Most importantly, the Occupy Movement is how he meets Sylvia.

The discoveries he notes in his blog leads to internet popularity, but it also leads to many dangers far beyond what Michael could have ever imagined. The dangers are so intense that ex-CIA member 'Soft Kitty' feels the need to investigate. Much to his and Michael's surprise, they become quite an effective team. Act three is the part where the story's genre officially jumps from historical to action.

When I say action, I mean action. There are explosions, a kidnapping, a driveby shooting, a gun chase, a rush against time to an airport, and a bomb diffusion.

 The only part of the story that bothered me was the Occupy Movement.  I have nothing whatsoever against Occupy, but I don't understand its role in Titanic Deception. Sure, the movement is what introduced Michael to Sylvia, but in a story mainly about the mysteries and deceptions surrounding the Titanic, the Movement just didn't seem to belong. Plus, it sometimes felt like the message was that all wealthy people with power are cruel and all of those in the Occupy Movement are doing the right thing for America. Not that it hinders the story, but I did sometimes feel like that was the only purpose for including the Movement.

All in all, I liked Titanic Deception. It is well-written. No details are particularly deep or extensive, which makes sense when you consider - at least as a .PDF - that the book is only about 138 pages. The Rakestraws excelled at making sure the different POVs perfectly intermingled. In Act One, I felt goosebumps the more I thought about how the Titanic was doomed from the very start, and the big reveal at the end concerning the villain and the ship amused me.

John and Toni Rakestraw

  

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