Month: August 2015

Featured Author: Lynn Thompson

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This week’s Featured Author on the Goodreads Paranormal, Fantasy, Dystopia and Romance Readers, Writers and Reviewers Group is Lynn Thompson.

About Lynn Thompson
Lynn Thompson’s place is in the Land of Enchantment, where the sky is turquoise blue, the fires rage, and there is rain and/or snow without a cloud in the sky.

Lynn wades through the craziness of life in order to write fiction, her true passion. In her spare time-which isn’t much-she loves to hike, camp, read, and sit for hours in hot springs.

Lynn doesn’t have a specific genre that she writes her books in. characters have a tendency to lead her next story. She follows.

She has two novels out: Blake-A Montana Dayton Novel and Sterling-A Montana Dayton Novel. She also has two short stories books out: Dark Fates and News Worthy.

Lynn Thompson Online

Website: www.lynnthompsonbooks.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BlakeAMontanaDaytonNovel
Twitter: https://twitter.com/lynnthompson8
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5625793.Lynn_Thompson

Novels

BlakeBlake – a Montana Dayton Novel
If Montana had known what she would be confronting that night,
she never would have sedated Max.

Lottery winner and venture capitalist Montana Dayton is on vacation, sorely needing a break from her business. She purposely had a house built deep in the mountains, away from civilization in hopes to spend the winter alone with her dog, Killer. Unfortunately the universe is conspiring against her. Montana’s getting creepy feelings from something or someone on her property and Rose, her neighbor, is bringing new “friends” into her life.

If that wasn’t enough to ruin Montana’s vacation, the dangerously attractive Max surely would! Max has the uncanny ability to show up when he’s not wanted. What Montana doesn’t realize is Max knows what’s out in the woods and it’s his job to find it.

Max knows Montana can sense it, even though she cannot see it and has decided that she needs to be protected from the unseen danger, but who will protect Montana from Max?

Goodreads Link

SterlingSterling – a Montana Dayton Novel
When Montana wakes up every morning wearing gorgeous jewels, and surrounded by priceless gems she doesn’t know where to turn. She doesn’t remember where, or who she’s getting the glittery baubles from.

To make matters worse, Max has found her and insists they continue their relationship where they left off.

Montana has bigger concerns than dating Max, besides she’s not sure whether or not she can trust him.

Where are the jewels coming from? And who is this guy threatening her family?

Goodreads Link

Also by Lynn Thompson:

Dark Fates, Dark Fates – Madness and News Worthy

Review: The Cautionary Tale of Butch Black

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The Cautionary Tale of Butch Black

The Cautionary Tale of Butch Black by J.B Maynard

Enter the Black Diary: A cursed book so evil that it writes itself. The Cautionary Tale Of Butch Black chronicles the last two hundred and thirty six days of a madman, through the pages of this tome. Butch is a retail slave, trapped in his own life. His flights of fancy send him into the heart of the evil corporation known as World-Mart, on a daily basis. Faced with termination, he must expose, and try to take down, the company that has imprisoned him for the last ten years! Are the demons surrounding Butch mere delusion or terrible truth? Join Butch Black as he faces an army of reticulated, rampaging robots; ravenous, talking rats; and devious demons by the dozen.

Purchase Link: Amazon.com

The Cautionary Tale of Butch Black on Goodreads

*I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review*

Rating: 4 Stars

The Cautionary Tale of Butch Black is a diary-style novel telling of World Mart employee Butch Black’s descent into madness after ten years of loyal service in a job that isn’t really going anywhere fast.

I really enjoyed this story and J.B Maynard’s style of writing. Butch’s documented descent is an intriguing read as you try to decide whether he has uncovered the terrifying truth about the company he works for or if the repetitive and monotonous years have finally taken their toll.

This is a quick read filled with amusing one liners and observations about life and I look forward to the next instalment, Black Wonderland.

Review: The Voivod

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The Voivod: A Ghost Story by Dominic Selwood

London, 1897. An elderly bibliophile receives a letter from the recently retired head of the Bodleian Library in Oxford. But the tale it relates of a book buying journey to Cracow soon turns into a hellish nightmare. A homage to M R James. A short story.

Purchase Link: Amazon.com

The Voivod on Goodreads

*I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review*

Rating: 4 Stars

The Voivod is a really creepy tale that leaves you with goosebumps after the final page. It’s a short story written in a Victorian style that Selwood captures perfectly. It’s subtle, but darkly atmospheric and the final twist at the end is unexpected. Cleverly built up this is a great read and I look forward to reading more like this from Dominic Selwood.

Review: Mercy’s Prisoner (Life Prison Volume 1)

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Mercy's Prisoner

Mercy’s Prisoner (Life Prison Volume 1) by Dusk Peterson

“‘You have committed a vile and savage act, one that any other nation would punish with death. Our punishment, on the other hand, will only be to give you what you want. You have sought to live in a world without boundaries of civilization, and such a world shall henceforth be your dwelling place.'”

A cold-hearted murderer. A vicious abuser. A young man hiding a shameful secret. A bewildered immigrant. A pure-minded spy.

All of these men have found their appointed places at Mercy Life Prison, where it is easy to tell who your enemies are. But a new visitor to Mercy is about to challenge decades-old customs. Now these men’s worst enemies may be hiding behind masks . . . and so may their closest allies.

A runner-up in the Rainbow Awards 2014, the book bundle “Mercy’s Prisoner” can be read on its own or as the first volume in the Life Prison series. Friendship, desire between men, and the costs of corruption and integrity are examined in this multicultural speculative fiction series, which is inspired by prison life at the end of the nineteenth century.

Purchase Link: Amazon.com

Mercy’s Prisoner on Goodreads

*I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review*

Rating: 3 Stars

Mercy’s Prisoner (Life Prison Volume 1) is set inside a 1800s prison called Mercy. It is a life prison and those who are sent there have committed the worst crimes imaginable. They will die in prison; escape is impossible and they will never be freed.

Mercy’s Prisoner is a dark read. The prisoners have committed horrific crimes (such as child murder) and due to this the guards feel it gives them the right to treat them appallingly (they beat and rape them on a regular basis).  This raises some interesting questions in terms of morals; yes the prisoners have done truly terrible things, but does this give their guards the right to treat them terribly in turn?

It’s clear that the author has done their research and has cleverly woven this into an atmospheric and gritty read.

The novel consists of several interlinking stories. The first of which I really enjoyed, but after that I found myself getting lost. By the end I was struggling to understand how the stories all fitted together. However, this is Volume 1 so the ambiguous ending is most likely intentional and will be further explained in later novels.

Overall I did enjoy reading Mercy’s Prisoner. It’s a dark novel with plenty of atmosphere and I would very much like to read later volumes in the series.

Featured Author: Elle Jacklee

~ sharisakurai ~ 3 Comments

This week’s Featured Author on the Goodreads Paranormal, Fantasy, Dystopia and Romance Readers, Writers and Reviewers Group is Elle Jacklee.

Elle JackleeAbout Elle Jacklee

My professional titles have included software programmer, bilingual sales rep, and proposal specialist. But my favorite title, besides wife and mother, is author. It’s the only one that lets me call daydreaming “research.” My love for the outdoors is my greatest inspiration. I lives in Wisconsin with my husband and two young sons, none of whom are in a hurry to grow up, and that’s just fine with me.

Elle Jacklee online

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elle.jacklee
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ellejacklee
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6547901.Elle_Jacklee

Novels

The Tree of MindalaThe Tree of Mindala

Miranda Moon’s vivid imagination has gotten her into trouble more times than she can count. This time, she’s been suspended from school. So her straight-laced younger brother, Marcus, blames her when they’re relegated to their late grandparents’ old cabin over Halloween weekend. But when Miranda finds a curious trinket, they’re mysteriously whisked away to Wunderwood, where magic flows through the trees and everyone already knows their family name. A place even Miranda never imagined.

Just as they arrive, a sinister warlock, Thornton Crow, is freed from a long banishment. He resumes his deadly agenda to find The Tree of Mindala, the source of all the realm’s magic. As Miranda and Marcus discover branches of their own family tree that they hadn’t even known existed, they learn that Thornton has a score to settle with anyone in their bloodline. Especially them… Though justice has always had a way of being naturally restored in Wunderwood, Thornton’s latest evil deed just may be the tipping point.

When Miranda discovers her own role in Thornton’s release, she knows it’s up to her to stop him from stealing not just magic, but also hope. With travel companions that could as easily be foes as friends, and only the cryptic words of a prophecy to guide her, Miranda must decide if she can carry out the task that will either save Wunderwood… or doom it forever.

Goodreads Link

MuirwoodMuirwood: Etchings and Embers (Kindle Worlds)

Mairryn knows she will never be a learner at an Abbey. The sheltered daughter of a humble farmer, she dreams only of traveling the realms and learning from experiences, if not from tomes. But now she’s married to Earl Magnus Adair, and people are calling her Countess. After her father’s recent death and a season of storms that ravaged her family’s crops, the Earl’s proposal had seemed like the solution to their problems. But from the beginning, he’s far from a loving husband, and the nagging mystery of why he’d pursued her so relentlessly is never far from her mind.

Theobald Cirun, a young steward from Forshee, is given the unlikely task of teaching Mairryn to ride horseback. His lessons are one of the few highlights in her mostly-desolate days. Theobald opens her eyes to a whole new world, and soon Mairryn discovers her own connection to the Medium and the shocking answers to the mystery that’s plagued her.

But when Earl Magnus’s own horrifying secret is revealed, Mairryn must decide if she can make an impossible sacrifice for someone she loves. Someone only she can save. Someone she hasn’t met yet…

Goodreads Link

Review: The Pushers

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The_Pushers

The Pushers (Afterlives #1) by Adam E. Morrison

Choices. We make them every day. But what if one last choice determined your fate? And you didn’t know it?

All it might take is a push in the right direction. Or the wrong one.

The Pushers’ premise involves troubled characters whose existences are altered so that they may fulfil a role never before carried out by humans. The differences between them may determine the fates of many, including themselves.

Purchase Link: Kobo

The Pushers on Goodreads

*I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review*

Rating: 2 Stars

When I first read the summary for this novel it had me intrigued, however it wasn’t what I thought it would be at all. I struggled from the beginning to be honest. The novel jumped back and forth between several main characters which resulted in me being unable to form an attachment or liking for any of them. The continuously shifting scenes and viewpoints made it difficult to follow and I nearly gave up at several points as I just struggled to understand what was going on.

Adam E. Morrison is a good writer, but in my opinion the novel needed to be better paced and that more time should have been taken on the storyline as it just felt as though the original direction had been lost. The main characters should have been better developed; they need to have some kind of impact on the reader. As it was I felt indifferent towards them.

By the end of the novel I was left feeling somewhat frustrated and disappointed that I hadn’t been able connect to it and the characters.