Category Archives: Book Reviews

Book Review: Firstborn

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Christmas is almost upon us, and we only have two weeks until the big day! – or if you work in retail like I do, the misery is almost over. Whether you celebrate the holidays or not, the weather is becoming colder, and it’s a great time to curl up with a good book. Luckily I have one for you.

I am reviewing Ryan Attard’s debut novel, Firstborn, the opening novel of The Legacy Series. It goes on sale Friday, December 13. You may follow Ryan on Facebook.

Firstborn © 2013 Ryan Attard AEC Stellar Publishing, Inc.

Firstborn © 2013 Ryan Attard AEC Stellar Publishing, Inc.

Hidden away from the view of men, a war has been waging between heaven and hell, between angels and demons. Life on Earth depends on striking a balance between the two forces, and for ages it has done so. But now a new terror is emerging, tipping the delicate balance and threatening mankind.

In Ryan Attard’s debut novel, Firstborn, we are introduced to Erik Ashenborn, a hero for hire who specializes in supernatural phenomena. He is a wizard from a magical family, one whose familial bonds have been strained, and one that is pushed to its breaking point when an unknown threat emerges.

We begin as Erik is hired to protect an innocent college student, a young woman who has caught the attention of demons. As he tries to protect her, he finds himself pitted against his twin sister Gil, a warlock who has aligned herself with angelic beings. Confused by the strange partnership, he nonetheless attempts to protect his charge, only to discover that she has a secret, one that she doesn’t even know, one which puts her in mortal peril.

As the danger mounts against him and humanity, it becomes compounded by mysteries that need to be explained, yet he fights against all odds. All the while, he grapples with discovering the truth about himself, and his family, and the curse that both binds them together and that tore them asunder.

Erik will need to choose between pride and doing what is best, for the sake of the innocent he has been hired to protect, and the safety of the earthly plane, Can he make peace with his sister, his past, and his destiny, or will the threat consume him and the world?

Let me first say that I was skeptical when I began to read this book. My chief problem was that the book is a story about wizards and the supernatural. Mix in a few demons and angels, and it easily could have become a joke. The risk in dealing with magic is that it’s all too easy to turn to the magical arts as a method to solve a problematic scene.

Happily, my worries were quickly put to rest. He not only created a universe, populating it with a rich assortment of characters, but he wrote in constraints to the use of magic, rules which helped him create a believable world. I had no trouble in envisioning it.

The push and pull between Erik and his sister is familiar, as is the need for Erik to prove himself to her, his family, and himself. The story was tense and the dialogue was crisp. The jokes could be a little corny at times, but Erik as the narrator seemed to acknowledge it with a wink. Sometimes it became a little to self-referential for my taste.

Other than that minor issue, I only have great things to say. Firstborn truly was an enjoyable read. This book is one of my favorites that I have reviewed so far. Since this is the first of a series, we can look forward to the next installment, one that I hope will not be delayed for too long.

List of Book Reviews
Next Review – The Birth of Vengeance
Previous Review –  Rogue Hunter: Dark Space

Book Review: Rogue Hunter Dark Space

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Thanksgiving is over, and the holiday shopping season is in full swing. Hope the holidays were kind to you, and that you Black Friday shopping didn’t leave you with a black eye. For today’s review, I read Kevis Hendrickson’s novel Rogue Hunter: Dark Space. This is the second book in the Rogue Hunter series. You can follow the author on Facebook and on Twitter.

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Rogue Hunter: Dark Space © 2013 Kevis Henderickson

In Dark Space, the second book of the Rogue Hunter series, we follow Zyra Zanr, a beautiful, though dangerous bounty hunter. She is the most famous and feared hunter in the known universe, and as such made many powerful enemies. One who she crossed, a crime boss to whom she owes a considerable amount of money, a loan that she never repaid, put a price on her head. The hunter becomes the prey.

One group of bounty hunters who heed the call to capture the most dangerous hunter is led by a man named Drake. He and his misfit crew seek to find Zyra in the hopes of earning the huge reward offered for her capture.

Outgunned and outnumbered, Zyra is captured, tortured almost to the point of death, and put into a cage, all the while the stress of the mission begin to wear on the crew, threatening to break their already fractured sanity. Their only chance to deliver their precious cargo and receive their reward.

But of course, things never go as smoothly as they should. What follows is a game, the ultimate fight to death, with Zyra battling to escape and survive, and Drake fighting to get his reward while keeping his crew alive. It boils down to who has more skills and resources. In the end you have to discover who is hunting who, and who lives to see another day.

There are several dynamics at play. The most obvious is between Zyra and her captors, who imprison her and torture her, who are willing to hand her off to a most certain death to collect on a bounty. Then there’s the dynamic play between Drake and his crew. We get to peer into their minds, to read what they think of themselves and each other. This is highly dysfunctional crew, that only comes together when their survival is at stake.

At its heart, it’s the hubris of the ship’s captain, and his actions towards his prisoner, that propels the story forward. Not only does he capture her, he makes it personal by his savage treatment of Zyra, to the extent that he almost alienates his crew, and losing some of their respect.

It is his uncompromising attitude, that he will deliver Zyra to the crime boss, that risks the safety of his entire crew. His flat refuses to heed his crews warnings, and he ignores the very real danger that she poses to himself, and those around him. At what cost?

The story itself is well told. It took me some time to figure out the cast of characters, and their place on the ship. Two in particular, Rawls and Rhodes, I had trouble separating, and it would have helped had one of their names been different.

Another character, a woman named Gomez, frequently swore in Spanish. I think it was stilted, and didn’t flow naturally with the rest of the narrative. As a Spanish speaker myself, I question its inclusion. It didn’t fit, and felt that it was at times an unnecessary device to prove she was of a Hispanic heritage. It came across as though it was poorly translated and belabored.

In spite of those few things, I liked the book. I followed along, wanting to know how Zyra would escape, or if she would. I had to know who would survive, if anyone. I was engaged, and thankfully the story was not filled with a bunch of technobabble, whose use sometimes gets in the way of the story. Yes, they are on a space ship in deep space, but it’s only the setting of the novel. The drama comes from the interplay between characters, although the ship does serve the story beautifully.

My opinion is that this book is definitely worth reading, especially if you are into sci/fi and action. There’s enough action to satisfy the casual reader, with blood and gore in the right mix. It’s not over the top, but enough to highlight the danger they are all in. Kevis certainly wrote an entertaining story.

List of Book Reviews
Next Review – Firstborn
Previous Review –  Marsh Island

Book Review: Marsh Island

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November is halfway over, and Thanksgiving is next week. Black Friday is next, which officially kicks off the holiday shopping season. Are you ready? If between the festivities, and the shopping, you begin aching for a moment of peace, please check out this week’s selection. I’ll be reviewing Marsh Island by Oliver F. Chase. You can find him on Twitter.

51XFSc1hJzL._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_Phoenix Private Investigator, Phil Pfeifer, a retired Army Ranger, made a career of exposing cheating husbands for spurned wives. It wasn’t especially lucrative, but it paid the bills, and the danger was nothing out of the ordinary, that is until Bernice Trimble came into his life.

Mrs. Trimble, first hired the P.I. to investigate the disappearance of her husband in Mexico, and if he could, to expedite an official death certificate to collect on a million dollar life insurance. Once done, he thought no more about her and the ugly episode south of the border, that is until she found him again 18 months later.

What follows is a series of false leads, intrigues, and mysteries that put Pfeifer’s life on the line. With the dying Trimble sure that her husband is alive, this begins the most treacherous case to date. At risk is his career, his life, and at one point even his sanity. For what? To chase the ghost of a man he believes to be dead?

Even after many warnings from his friends and who he believes to be men with mob ties, he continues relentlessly, unsure himself why he refuses to quit. The job puts him in the crossfires, and the biggest mystery is why. Why should his attempt to find a dead man for a grieving wife jeopardize his life? More importantly to him, who is behind the threat?

Marsh Island is a thriller to its core. It’s twists and turns kept me reading, searching for answers. The storyline kept me turning to the next page, only to become more determined to find the answer. Page after page, Mr. Oliver had my heart racing, and my adrenaline coursing though my body, watching and waiting to see what came next.

And I’m still waiting…

This book is the first of the Hirebomber Series, and is bookended by our antagonists, but the book proper is solely the realm of our private eye. We follow him as he fights to find the answers, struggles to survive, and witnesses death.

I found the book as a whole to be well-written, but felt that the prologue seemed a bit unwieldy, only paying off late in the book. It served its purpose to give back story, but I think it could have been better served incorporated into the story. As is, it postpones the beginning of Pfeifer’s narrative, and almost caused me to put down the book.

But after reading the book from cover to cover, I’m glad I persevered. I became engaged with the main character. I felt his frustration at some of the characters who stood in his way, and became enraged by the obvious corruption of many. His was a simple life, only complicated by the desire of a dying woman, and which might end in his ruin.

In spite of its shortcomings, this is a very good book. If you are a fan of exciting thrillers, ones that get your heart pumping, books that are impossible to put down, I wholeheartedly recommend this book. You won’t be sorry.

Marsh Island goes on sale this Friday, November 22, 2013.

List of Book Reviews
Next Review –  Rogue Hunter: Dark Space
Previous Review –  Lucky Sevens

Book Review: Lucky Sevens

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November is here, and with it comes the beginning of the holiday season. Today also kicks-off National Novel Writing Month, and of course, an all-new book review for you to enjoy. Today’s selection is by Cynthia Vespia. You can find her on Facebook and Twitter, as well as her business page Original Cyn Advertising.

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Lucky Sevens © 2013 Cynthia Vespia

What city better epitomizes the struggle between good and evil, sinners and saints, than Las Vegas? Sin City is the American capital of indulgences, of gambling, sex, drugs and alcohol. Vegas is a hedonist’s oasis, where the wealthy congregate, where power resides, where lives and dreams are made and broken. It’s where fortunes are won and lost, and where ultimate price is sometimes paid.

Luck Sevens by Cynthia Vespia follows a motley crew of characters, each with their own journey, their lives intertwined by Saints and Sinners, a casino and main setting for our story.

When casino owner, Charles Vega, is found dead, after appearing to have jumped from his suite at Lucky Sevens casino, the place is sold, rebranded as Saints and Sinners, and life goes on. It’s just another day in the city of sin.

Luca “Lucky” Luchazi, head of security for Lucky Sevens, survives the transition and remains at his position. Lucky’s mentor, friend, and father figure, Vega, built Lucky Sevens from the ground up, and after Vega’s death. Though his job consumes much of his time, he bemoans the changes brought about by the new owners.

The driving force behind the story is the power play between Eddie Zeder and his main headliner, magician Chris King. Zeder, forced to drop out of law school by his father in order to manage the property, is at once out of his league, but has the desire to manage Saints and Sinners to finance his personal addictions to cocaine and later meth.

King, who’s own draw is beginning to wane, had been attempting to hijack control of the casino from the previous owner, only failing due to Vega’s untimely death. After the set back, King attempts to take the reins from Zeder, and a battle of wills ensues, one where not only egos are at stake, but lives are seen simply as collateral damage.

Lucky is caught up in the in-fighting, struggling to maintain order. He is at odds with his boss, who he sees as a petty egotist, and King. As the death count begins to rise, his own life is at risk, as he tries to get to the bottom of the situation. Once Brooklyn, Lucky’s ex, becomes involved, a woman who he still cares for and deeply loves, he knows that he must do what he can to protect her, while trying to protect his tenuous hold on his job.

There’s a lot of elements at play in this book. Like I’ve already mentioned, there’s the war for control between Zeder and King, and their disregard for anyone who stands in their way to power. There’s Lucky’s struggle with accepting his mentor’s death and seeing old Vegas make way for the new. There’s the heartbreak of a failed relationship, and the lingering feelings between the two. Add to it an element of black magic, and you have a recipe for a great book, or the potential for a mess.

Happily, Cynthia delivers, offering a action-packed, sordid tale of sex, drugs, and the pursuit for power. In lesser hands, this would have been a belabored collection of stories that would have clashed, but Cynthia expertly manages to bring to this story to life.

There were, I felt a few missed opportunities. I would have liked to have seen the black magic angle play out a little more, especially during the climax of the story. I felt as though there was no denouement. The action fell away, leaving me wanting more.

Still, this was a very enjoyable read. The best stories invite you in, as if you are experiencing the action yourself. I felt very much as if I were looking at the events unfold through Lucky’s eyes. The few negatives I found were minor, and are outweighed by the positives.

As such, I would recommend this book if you like a compelling story. This is very much a book with adult themes. Sex features prominently a several key scenes. They are written in a tantalizing manner, without becoming obscene. Drugs and alcoholism are on display as well, but again, serve as a function of the story.

The book is now on sale, with a portion of the proceeds going to benefit the Colon Cancer Research Program at Cedars-Sinai in honor of Cynthia’s mother and father.

List of Book Reviews
Next Review – Marsh Island
Previous Review – Golf Made Easy

Book Review: Golf Made Easy

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To celebrate NaNoWriMo, I’m making myself go crazy and bringing you a second book review. This time around I’m reviewing a guide to playing golf, written by Jeffrey W. Kern. With the holidays coming up, this might make a fantastic stocking stuffer for your loved one!

GolfMadeEasy_cover Golf is the sport of choice for many weekend warriors. It is at once simple to play, almost impossible to master, and offers hours of fun and exquisite torture. It’s a common method for male bonding, for work, play, and sometimes just to get out of the house for a few hours.

Which is not to say that golf is only the domain of the male sex. Not at all. With golfers like Annika Sörenstam, Michelle Wie, and Lorena Ochoa becoming household names, it proves that the golf is not the sexist bastion that it sometimes appears to be. It’s not uncommon to see couple playing on the course.

But what of us beginners? How do I get started? Should I buy a best clubs around? What about the methods and theory to golf? While I’m the least qualified to ask, Jeffery W. Kern steps in to help.

Golf Made Easy in a guide for all of us beginners wanting to get started in the game. Jeffery took the unorthodox approach of starting with the short game, putting, before tackling the part of the game we think about when we think of golf, which for me would be driving the ball down the fairway.

He takes care in giving us terms we need to know, and the rules of the game. He instructs via illustrations and photos, as well as explaining the reasons behind the theory. This book is a great primer to playing the actual game itself.

List of Book Reviews
November’s Review – Lucky Sevens
October’s Review – My Not-So-Ordinary Life