Scorcher - Review

Title: Scorcher

Author:  Kelly Edwards

Series:  Forces of Nature

Synopsis:   “Supervillains are people too.  They’re not always megalomaniacs with dreams of world domination.  Sometimes they’re just people doing whatever they must to get by.

     “Aidan Grey is a college student with goals for the future, a drive to succeed, and a little time for romance.  She’s also a woman with a secret.  At eleven, she was orphaned due to the accidental use of her pyrokinetic abilities.  She was taken in by the secret criminal organization known as Iris and trained to use her abilities for the organization’s profit.

     “Marty Knox is a police detective who loves his family, tried to genuinely make a difference in the world and falls hard for Aidan.  He shows up just as Aidan is starting to question her loyalties to Iris and she’s surprised to find that she can’t resist him, even if it would be dangerous to get involved with someone on the right side of the law.  What Aidan doesn’t realize is that Marty has a secret of his own, one that would endanger both their lives if discovered by Iris.”

Review:  Let’s start with the bad so we can get to the good.  I read another review that mentioned “superfluous language”, that the first few pages are overly descriptive, and that “Finally, there was no flow to it, no rhythm. I'm not looking for poetry, but some serious editing needs to occur” (see this review here on Amazon).  I’m going to tell you that all of this is true, to an extent.  When I first started reading Scorcher, 2 years ago, I stopped before reaching the end of the first chapter.  Those first few pages are, to be very frank, horrible.  It’s all telling, no showing.  Page after page of stilted exposition that needs an editor in a bad way.  Today I picked up the novel again, determined to get through it and either write my review or contact the author to explain why I had not posted the review.  I ended up reading the whole thing in one sitting and craving more.  Seriously, my butt hurts now. 

     When I began comparing the bad to the good when starting this review I began thinking about some other author’s first novels.  Exposition, telling versus showing, is something that many authors struggle with (myself included).  And the “superfluous language” that the previously mentioned reviewer commented upon is a common byproduct of exposition, trying to get the reader more involved Edwards throws in too many exciting adverbs and adjectives.  Keep reading however, after those first few pages Scorcher gets much, much better.  I love anything superhero or supervillian related!  The telling stops and the showing begins (there are a few lapses here and there, but they are few).  The main characters are developed well, as are many of the secondary characters.  I would like to learn more about many of the agents that work with Scorcher and Chill.  Maybe there could even be more novels about their individual stories?  The relationship between Marty and his “normal” family is heartwarming.  Yes, it could have used a little more editing, but the plot is strong, and the relationship between Aiden and Marty is intense and believable.  It’s like a comic book in novel form, without all the distracting pictures!  At the time of this review the Kindle copy of Scorcher is only $2.99, buy it here, you’re definitely getting your money’s worth.

      

     BAM!  POW!  Scorcher dragged me in kicking and screaming.  When can I get my hands on the sequel?

**I received a free copy of this novel from the author in exchange for my honest review**

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

ISBN: 978-1480214484

If you like this book you may want to read:

The Sign of the Zodiac Series by Vicki Pettersson

Those Who Walk in Darkness by John Ridley

Feature & Follow 5.18.14

This week's Feature & Follow asks the question: Have you met a favorite author and have a picture? Share. I have not met any of my favorite authors. I honestly am not sure that I would ever want to. I feel that meeting my favorite authors may disappoint me. You see, I have what I admit are idealized fantasies of what my favorite authors are like. Were I to actually meet any of them I am sure that I would be disappointed when they were not what I had imagined them to be. I do however love to have autographed copies of my favorite novels from my favorite authors. Here's a picture of one:

Please take a minute to say HI! And follow my blog.  I will be having a giveaway when BookGirl's BookNook reaches 100 followers!

The Feature & Follow is hosted by TWO hosts, Parajunkee of Parajunkee’s View and Alison of Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it’ll allow us to show off more new blogs!

Follow Follow Follow as many as you can, as many as you want, or just follow a few. The whole point is to make new friends and find new blogs. Also, don’t just follow, comment and say hi. Another blogger might not know you are a new follower if you don’t say “HI”

Fevre Dream - Review

Title:  Fevre Dream

Author: George R. R. Martin

Synopsis:  “Abner Marsh, a struggling riverboat captain, suspects that something’s amiss when he is approached by a wealthy aristocrat with a lucrative offer.  The hauntingly pale, steely-eyed Joshua York doesn’t care that the icy winter of 1857 has wiped out all but one of Marsh’s dilapidated fleet; nor does he care that he won’t earn back his investment in a decade.  York’s reasons for traversing the powerful Mississippi are to be none of Marsh’s concern – no matter how bizarre, arbitrary, or capricious York’s actions may prove.  Not until the maiden voyage of Fevre Dream does Marsh realize that he has joined a mission both more sinister, and perhaps more noble, than his most fantastic nightmare—and humankind’s most impossible dream.”

Review:  I’m not a huge fan of Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series.  Don’t get me wrong, they are wonderfully written novels.  The story just doesn’t do it for me.  That has always made me sad, because I admire Martin’s gift with words and the way he puts them together into sentences, which then form paragraphs.  You see where I'm going with this right?  I don’t have to be sad anymore, because I have discovered that he has written other novels and these novels are just as well written and catch my fancy better than A Game of Thrones. 

     Fevre Dream is a wonderful historical story of horror and vampires, and steamboats on the Mississippi River.  Since I picked it up I haven’t wanted to put it down.  When I reached the last few pages I was sad because it was almost over.  Even now, an hour later, I’m still grieving.  I feel sorry for whatever I choose to read next because I know it won’t even come close to being as good as Fevre Dream.  The mystery of who, or what, Joshua York really is grabbed me right off.  I knew the truth, and watching Abner Marsh come to the realization so slowly made me want to grab him and shake him until he figured it out.  Martin’s amazing description of the rich history of this time period flowed off of the page and into my brain so vividly that I could see the swirling muddy water of the Mississippi and smell the smoke in the air.  The ending was perfect and could not have met my expectations better even if I had written it myself.  This is not your typical vampire novel, it’s way better.  Do yourself a favor and add it to your summer reading list!

Publisher:  Bantam Books

ISBN:  978-0553577938

Looking for more novels that give a different spin to the classic vampire tale?  Try these fantastic novels:

Sunshine by Robin McKinley (Find out why this is BookGirlR's favorite book here)

Anno Dracula by Kim Newman

A Taint in the Blood by S. M. Stirling

Blood Rights by Kristen Painter

Midnight Riot - Review

Title: Midnight Riot (Rivers of London in the U.K.)

Author:  Ben Aaronovitch

Series:  Rivers of London #1

Synopsis:  “Probationary Constable Peter Grant dreams of being a detective in London’s Metropolitan Police.  Too bad his superior plans to assign him to the Case Progression Unit, where the biggest threat he’ll face is a paper cut.  But Peter’s prospects change in the aftermath of a puzzling murder, when he gains exclusive information from an eyewitness who happens to be a ghost.  Peter’s ability to speak with the lingering dead brings him to the attention of Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Nightingale, who investigates crimes involving magic and other manifestations of the uncanny.  Now, as a wave of brutal and bizarre murders engulfs the city, Peter is plunged into a world where gods and goddesses mingle with mortals and a long-dead evil is making a comeback on a rising tide of magic.”

Review:  Ben Aaronovitch wrote for Dr. Who.  Is it any wonder that this is a brilliant story with engaging characters?  I would like to be able to say that this is why I purchased Midnight Riot.  I am (newly, within the last 6 months or so) a huge Dr. Who fan.  However, I sadly did not realize that Ben Aaronovitch had written for Dr. Who until after I had already started reading this novel. 

          The character of Peter Grant is very human, and easy to like.  He’s just a normal guy, with a normal life, and then suddenly things aren’t so normal anymore when he begins to converse with ghosts, and learn magic.  Oh yeah, and people are dying, loads of people; and Peter has to figure out why so he can stop a killer.  Aaronovitch does a good job bringing the characters to life and helping his readers become invested in the story.  I’m running out tomorrow on my way home from work to buy the next book in the Rivers of London series. 

Publisher:   Del Rey

ISBN:  978-0345524256

If you like this book you may want to read:

Moon Over Soho (Rivers of London #2) by Ben Aaronovitch

The Damned Busters (To Hell and Back #1) by Matthew Hughes

Hounded (The Iron Druid Chronicles #1) by Kevin Hearne

Feature & Follow 4.27.14

This weeks Feature & Follow asks the question: Do you have any pets?  Show and/or tell.  

I have 2 cats.  Both of my cats were rescues, kittens that people abandoned on the road that leads to the farm where I grew up.  These people must have been ignorant of the dangers that farm equipment and large farm animals represent to cats that are not familiar with the territory.  But they are both safe now, and forever.  Tempest Wicked Meow-Meow is 5 years old and weighs 9 lbs.  She is the household queen and oversees everything that happens within the apartment.  Heaven help the person that closes the door when using the bathroom; she will whine, scratch and leap at the door until it opens.  Seriously, just let her go in with you.  She is shy with strangers though, so if you come to visit she will probably hide under the covers on the bed until you leave.

Tempest Wicked Meow-Meow

Spooky Boo Meow-Meow is 1 and 1/2 years old and weighs close to 20 lbs.  It's okay though.  He is not obese and his health is fine, he is just a very large cat.  He is the most laid-back and chill cat I have ever met.  He loves to sit in the apartment windows and watch everything that happens outside.  Just lately he has also become very fond of laps.  He loves everybody and has the softest fur you will ever pet.

Spooky Boo Meow-Meow

I also have a Society Finch named Trekkie.  As you can imagine he's kind of hard to get a picture of because finches are very small birds and quicker than you would think.  He makes happy noises all day from his cage atop one of the many bookcases in the living room and loves lettuce.

Please take a minute to say HI! And follow my blog.  I will be having a giveaway when BookGirl's BookNook reaches 100 followers!

The Feature & Follow is hosted by TWO hosts, Parajunkee of Parajunkee’s View and Alison of Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it’ll allow us to show off more new blogs!

Follow Follow Follow as many as you can, as many as you want, or just follow a few. The whole point is to make new friends and find new blogs. Also, don’t just follow, comment and say hi. Another blogger might not know you are a new follower if you don’t say “HI”

Coldbrook - Review

Title:  Coldbrook

Author:  Tim Lebbon

Synopsis:  “The facility lay deep in Appalachian Mountains, a secret laboratory called Coldbrook.  Its scientists had achieved the impossible: a gateway to a new world.  Theirs was to be the greatest discovery in the history of mankind, but they had no idea what they were unleashing.  With their breakthrough comes disease.  Billions are dead yet still walking.  The only hope is a cure, and the only cure is genetic immunity.  In the chaos of destruction there is one person that can save the human race.  But will they find her in time?”

Review:  I needed a new book to read.  My to-be-read pile still has about 20 books in it; but none of them were what I wanted at the time.  Plus I was stressed, and when I’m stressed I go book shopping*.  I found Coldbrook.  At first I failed to notice the red eyes on the shadowy figure on the cover.  I purchased this book because it’s by Tim Lebbon and the blurb on the front cover caught my interest.  The blurb reads “Will a door to another earth mean the end for this one?” and my first thought was, “It wouldn’t be much fun if it didn’t”.  So that, combined with the fact that this is a big book (509 pages) and therefore guaranteed to keep me busy for a few days, prompted me to pick up Coldbrook.  I did not realize until page 43 that this was, in part, a zombie novel.  At that point I was thrilled, because I love a good zombie novel.  I also felt very silly, because now when I look at the dark, shadowy cover the red eyes are the first thing that I notice.

          This book was wonderful.  It was just the novel I needed to snap myself out of a stress filled haze in which barely any reading was getting done.  About halfway through I realized that Lebbon was taking the story into a completely different place than that which I had expected and that was thrilling.  I was afraid for a while that it wasn’t going to end in a satisfactory manner (for me), but at the end of the novel I was pleased with how it all wrapped up.            Coldbrook was exciting, horrifying and thrilling.  I was reading every chance I got (although, when am I not?) and reached the critical climax one day while reading on my break at work.  I had to stop in the middle and go back to work!  It was horrible!  I actually had a moment where I was sitting in the breakroom debating just not going back to work until I was finished with the novel.  At that point it would have been 20 more minutes tops!  I think there should be some sort of special allowances for this sort of thing.  Perhaps I’ll speak to management about instituting an extended break for special circumstances such as these. 

          If you like horror and suspense read Coldbrook.  Zombies come through a portal from an alternate Earth and begin laying waste to our world.  There is death, destruction, plane crashes and even a Speed-like bus chase.  Tim Lebbon is an awesome storyteller and I look forward to reading more from him.

* Please note: I basically go book shopping when I’m feeling any emotion whatsoever. 

Publisher:   Titan Books

ISBN:  978-1781168783

Because I loved this book I have added these to my Review Wish List:

 The Toxic City Series by Tim Lebbon

The Beautiful Land by Alan Averill

If you liked this book you may want to read:

The Newsflesh Trilogy by Mira Grant (see BookGirl’s review of Feed here)

Alien: Out of the Shadows by Tim Lebbon (see BookGirl’s review here)

Generation V - Review

Title:   Generation V   

Author:  M. L. Brennan

Series: American Vampire #1

Synopsis: “Fortitude Scott’s life is a mess.  A degree in film theory has left him with zero marketable skills, his job revolves around pouring coffee, his roommate hasn’t paid rent in four months, and he’s also a vampire.  Well, sort of.  He’s still mostly human.

          “But when a new vampire comes into his family’s territory and young girls start going missing, Fort can’t ignore his heritage anymore.  His mother and his older, stronger siblings think he’s crazy for wanting to get involved.  So it’s up to Fort to take action, with the assistance of Suzume Hollis, a dangerous and sexy shape-shifter.  Fort is determined to find a way to out-smart the deadly vamp, even if he isn’t quite sure how.

          “But without having matured into full vampirehood and with Suzume ready to split if things get too risky, Fort’s rescue mission might just kill him…”

Review:  My love of reading comes from both of my parents.  My choice of genres comes from my Dad.  My brother and I shared a bedroom when we were young; and one of my earliest memories is of Dad sitting between our beds, and reading to us aloud from The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe.  Recently I have gotten Dad hooked on the urban fantasy genre.  He reads Laurell K. Hamilton, Patricia Briggs, Charlaine Harris (he loves True Blood), and Kim Harrison.  One of his biggest complaints however, is that the best urban fantasy is about women.  He says that too many of the urban fantasy novels have female main characters, where are the urban fantasy novels with male main characters.  Well, I’ve got one for you Dad.  And you should read the books I’ve listed below as well. 

          This novel was great.  I picked up Generation V on a whim.  I hadn’t heard anything about it.  I just happened to see the second book in the series on the shelf at Barnes and Noble, and after realizing it was the second in a series I decided to buy Generation V first.  I read it in a little bit more than two days, but in my defense I had to work.  I get 30 minutes for lunch at work every day and I always read while eating my lunch.  Today I was almost done with Generation V when I realized it was time to go back to work.  I seriously did not want to go and had to force myself; promising that I would finish it as soon as I got home from work today.

Fort is an awesome character and Brennan has fleshed him out well.  In fact Brennan has fleshed out his secondary characters, and the world within the novel, so well that I want to know more about them too.  Fort’s struggle with his job and his boss is something that many people can relate to, as are his struggles with his family and personal relationships.  Your family does not have to be a family of blood drinking vampires for you to understand how forced the conversation at dinner can be, or how hard it is to say no to a request to show up for dinner with the family; and your girlfriend doesn’t have to be a cheating whore for you to understand what it’s like to be confused and hurt by the opposite sex.  The kitsune are a fun and interesting race that don’t show up in very many other urban fantasy novels.  I enjoyed Suzume’s interactions with Fort and learning about her family.  I was sucked into the world that Brennan has built in Generation V immediately when I started reading and was on the edge of my seat during Fort’s final showdown with Luca. 

As soon as my fiancé and I have had dinner (homemade gluten free deep dish pizza tonight) I’m going to Barnes and Noble to buy the next book in this series, Iron Night. 

Generation V.  Read it.  It’s awesome! 

Publisher:  ROC

ISBN: 978-0451418401

For more urban fantasy featuring a male hero:

Iron Night (American Vampire #2) by M.L. Brennan

The Iron Druid Chronicles by Kevin Hearne

The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher