Evolution of Angels

 Rating:

About the Author:

(Taken from Amazon)

Nathan Wall is a husband, father, author and wanna-be part-time superhero (because new legislation limits the benefits and tax deductions he can receive as a full-timer) who lives in Texas. He's been creating stories since before he can remember. He says creating stories, and not writing them, because - as a boy - he had a healthy addiction to superhero action figures, and used to stage his own homemade adventures/movies in his room. His love for story telling morphed when he entered high school, as countless spirals of paper knelt before his pen. In college, that love for story telling morphed into other media. In 2010, he was nominated for an Emmy award. Nathan is the author of "Evolution of Angels," a science-fantasy/ action thriller. The ebook version was launched in June of 2014. The subsequent installments are set to be released soon, including a shared-world novella later this year. Other writing credits to his name is the highly praised "Money Ball for Fantasy Baseball," a non-fiction strategy guide series. The 2014 edition was featured by many independent fantasy baseball sites. When he is not busy writing, Nathan can be found interacting with his numerous fans on Facebook, Twitter and Goodreads.

Blurb:  

After finding angelic DNA characteristics hidden throughout the population, a secret agency decides to recreate angels of their own. The agency's "Double-Helix project" manipulates the DNA of certain humans, creating soldiers who can wield the armor and weapons of Angels, the Aurascales: a sentient armor that forms a symbiotic relationship with its host. In the pursuit of perfection, and the hopes of helping his wife conceive a child, William Sanderson clones an Angel, making a warrior far superior to anything they've seen before. The only problem is the clone's powers can't be controlled, so his memory is erased and a mental wall is erected to keep what lingers inside from breaking out. One day, to battle a force the likes which have never been encountered, this clone is recruited by the agency and his mental wall is broken.

Review:

Fascinating concepts reside in Evolution of Angels.  Nathan Walls blends mythology together to create an interesting story about a man being recruited to save the world from deadly threats.

The characters are interesting, although they all speak in similar manners.  At times, I found it difficult to keep up with who was talking and at what point.  That being said, I really enjoyed getting to know and following Jarrod!  His sense of humor and personality stuck to me.  I also found it interesting how he first came across like the fun loving side-kick, but by the end he is shown to be the hero.

My other favorite character is Oreios!  He's demented in a pretty fun way.

 

The writing is... efficient.  It wasn't bad and I could imagine the scenes fairly easily, but there was something missing.  This is definitely personal aesthetics, since I tend to enjoy more poetic writing.  A few moments, the type of descriptive writing I enjoy did pop up.

For examples:

"Saliva in his mouth strung together from tooth to tooth like spider webs."

Disgusting, but also vivid.

"... launched him thirty yards, causing him to skip across the ground like a smooth stone on a calm lake."

And my personal favorite:

"Jarrod jumped onto the railing, overlooking the bottom floor like a terrifying gargoyle."

 

There was one other issue that I had with the story, and that was the excessive use of backstory.  Most of it could have been discovered through narration and dialogue, but the reader is taken back to months and years in the past to relive certain moments.  The most frustrating part was with Episode 4.  Right after an amazing battle, an entire section (set up like a chapter, but a little longer) was dedicated to back story, and most of the information would have been perfectly acceptable if a character had sat down and explained one or two points to another character.  It wasn't hard to keep up with the time jumps, they just seemed to come at a time where I wanted resolution on something specific.  Essentially, they delayed satisfaction, which at moments can be very frustrating.

 

So, the reason for three stars is a combination of characters not being distinct enough, prose lacking a bit more flare, and backstory interrupting the much more interesting current story.

Other than those three things, however, I still have to recommend this book.  If you enjoy action-packed novels which explore fascinating ideas, you should enjoy this!

 

Also, extra kudos for this line and knowing the difference between the man and the monster!

 

"I feel like Frankenstein's monster," he joked...

If this title interests you, please check this novel out on Amazon.

A Vanishing Glow

 Rating: 

About the Author:
(Taken from Goodreads)

Alexis Radcliff is an author, gamer, unashamed geek, and history junkie who spent the better part of a decade working in tech before dedicating herself to her first love, literature. A VANISHING GLOW, her debut novel, is the opening book in her MYSTECH ARCANUM series, an exciting blend of steampunk and flintlock fantasy with mature themes.

Alexis lives and works in the Portland area with her adorable (if surly) cat and her equally adorable husband. When not writing, she spends her time reading, running, playing way too many videogames, and thinking too much about everything.

Even more of her writing can be found at her blog, Lexirad.com, and if you don't have enough sources of cat pictures and random fun in your life, you can follow her on Twitter (where she also spends too much time).


Blurb:

When the High Sovereign of the five kingdoms of Ghavarim is murdered by a mysterious assassin, the realm is plunged into chaos. Jason Tern, a noble captain with a tragic past, must battle shadowy assailants and untangle an ever-widening web of lies to discover the true identity of the killer before mounting tensions spark a bloody civil war.

Meanwhile, Nilya Valsu, a talented army engineer with a broken heart, finds herself used as an unwitting pawn in a plot that has deadly consequences. Wracked by guilt, her sole chance for redemption lies with a man who would loathe her – but only if he knew her secret.

As the conflict intensifies between the magic-fueled technology of the West and the disaffected rebels of the East, all must fight for what they hold dear. Who will reign victorious and who will lie bloodied on the ground in the light of a vanishing glow? 

Review:

A Vanishing Glow is a pretty compelling read.  The main, main characters (the two that are followed throughout the majority of the novels) are pretty well-crafted and compelling.

Jason is a soldier who is more comfortable with a weapon than in high society, but when his life-long friend, Nole, request that Jason takes a seat on the council, he decides to do just that.  The relationship between the two was set up really well from the beginning.  I could see Jason's level of comfort lower when with Nole is around.  From the beginning, I could tell that characterization was the strong point of the author.  I don't mean to take away from her writing, because that's strong, too, but her ability to craft characters is beyond good.

The next character I consider to be main is Nilya.  She is a sapper, but desperately wants to become a weapons engineer.  Her introduction has her frantically working on a device that could help make her dreams come true.

With both introductions, I found Nilya's more compelling.  She was working towards a goal, and the audience saw it from the very beginning.  Later on in the book, I found myself a little less interesting in what she was doing and way more fascinated by Jason and his search for a killer.  I think this is the first issue I really had with the story.  The balance was just a bit off with the plot, and there were too many lolls with either one character or the other.

Also, there was a missed opportunity in this volume, I think.  A lot of time was spent setting up the social dynamic between people and constructs, but when a character suddenly finds himself/herself as one, this dynamic is not fully realized.  I'm pretty sure this is going to be further explored in the next book, but it would have been nice to start that thread here.

Overall, there were things I loved and things I didn't, which brought me to a four star.  I'll definitely be reading the next book, if for no other reason than to see how our construct handles his/her new form.

Buy your copy on Amazon.

The Spiral Effect

Rating:

About the Author:

(Taken from Amazon)

James Gilmartin is the author of multiple short stories, three screen-plays (they'll eventually be movies, I promise), two novels, and a children's books. He has more in the works, and once he finds the time, will have them complete and posted on every e-book publishing site he can find. James Gilmartin also likes to create book covers, attempts blogging, has aspirations to start a podcast, and plans to film short video-films and a web series by the end of summer, 2015. ADD has it's perks and limitations. James lives in Muskogee, OK (ouch) with his wife, Christina, and their two children, Addison and Colin.

Blurb:

99% of the Earth’s population exhibits signs of telepathy and telekinesis. 

99% of the Earth’s population is dying from a mysterious new disease. 

The Collector, unaffected by the virus, has taken it upon himself to search for answers. Pushed by the single command: Find the Cause, Find the Source, Find the Beginning, he traverses through other minds, collecting memories in the hopes of finding a single clue that might lead to a cure. 

But it isn't so easy. Confused and frightened mobs attack hospitals. Jumpers steal bodies from the healthy. And some telepaths set dubious, mental traps. How will The Collector respond? What measures will he take to keep people from killing each other, all the while staying true to his goal? And what trouble lurks within his own mind? 

This is only the beginning. Follow The Collector in his search for The Cause, The Source, and The Beginning, continued each quarter with a new novella.

Review:

This is a very short read, but wow is it fascinating.  The novella is experimental in writing, but every time it does slip into unusual narration, it does so for a reason and plays well into the story itself.

The main character is a man searching minds for information to help cure the world of an illness.  Because he does traverse minds, the readers get setting, action, and dialogue, but it all takes place in people's minds.

Overall, I would highly recommend this story, and I'll be following the rest of the novels set in this universe.

Purchase your copy at Amazon.

Fossilized Gods

Rating: 

Author's Website:   http://majra.org/

Blurb:

Being a god isn't easy. Oh sure, you can crash the super-exclusive club at that hot new pyramid, but one little drought and your worshippers are suddenly burying you neck-deep in scorpions. Samantha never expected to wake from her long sleep. When she came to, mortals were riding around inside big metal cows, shooting invisible info-rays across the sky, and doing amazing things with cake frosting. They took cell phones for granted and thought nothing of a university where Physics stood between Inhumanities and Necro. Now, deep in the great museum, other gods have begun to wake—old gods, terrible gods, gods that would drown the world in suffering. If Samantha can just wake the dead, outwit a huge disembodied brain, and evade the Great Hunter who's after her head, maybe she can do something about it!

Rating:

"All right, all right, you can stop chanting my name! ... If I got any more gigantic and golden, you'd burst into flames just beholding my divine beauty!  Oh, all right, just a little more chanting - but take precautions, will you?  Something fire-retardant.  Spit on each other, maybe."

I had to start with a quote from this book, and could not, for the life of me, decide on which one.  I think the above gives an adequate idea of the type of humor in the book.  It is absurdist humor at it's best.

Because one quote just doesn't do this story much justice:

"What did orphans taste like, anyway?  I mean, say what you will about witches, but anyone who builds a candy house - and doesn't immediately eat it - must be pretty certain it'll bring them something even tastier."

Sammy is a long dormant... god of sorts.  She had worshippers and was well-known in her time, but after people stopped believing in her, Sammy went dormant for thousands of years.  Fast-forward to present day, and some strange power has brought her back to life, along with three of her friends.

Overall, I loved this story.  Every page was amusing to some degree, whether it brought me a pleasant smile or a hearty belly laugh.  Because of this, deciding on a rating wasn't easy.

Four stars:

There are typos throughout the piece.  Also, being the visual reader that I am, there were way too many times when I didn't know what to imagine.  There were some scenes that were fuzzy or I had to force an image or I just moved on not knowing what was supposed to be there.  Now, these things didn't leave me confused about the overall plot or characters, but it did make the reading just a little less enjoyable.

Five stars:

The fact that I couldn't put it down in the beginning, and the fact that I did just move on when something wasn't clear showed how enjoyable the overall novel was for me.  Who cares if those few things were problematic for a moment if the overall journey was incredibly loved?

I finally went with four stars because, IMHO, the story did go on just a tad too long.  I did find it lolling in the middle.

Once again, just because it's four stars doesn't mean this isn't a highly recommended book in my opinion!  If the quotes fit your humor, please read this!  You won't regret it!

Okay, okay... one more quote.

A character talking about the formula for writing romance.

"It's all arithmetic.  Mister A, a lordly B from time period C, D-ly kisses humble lady E, a mere F, on the G, while firmly swatting her H with a leather I.  You know.  Romance."

Purchase your copy at Amazon.

Spilt Coffee

Rating: 

About the Author:

I was unable to locate a bio for this author.


Blurb:

SPILT COFFEE is about three aging, disillusioned, and lost schizoaffective men who live vicariously for their love of the beautiful, young Filipino female nurse who looks after them. This novella is spiced with humour but hits home like a hard rock with its terrifying despondency. Ultimately, it is a beacon against the dark stigma toward the mentally ill and it should ignite compassion amongst the most calloused person.

Review: 

This was a very compelling story of a man's descent into delusion and his attempts to overcome it.  The characters are unique and well-rounded, and the writing is wonderful!

There were technical issues with commas, and on more than one occasion, the author went into summary rather than fleshing very wonderful scenes out.  Even still, this earned a four-star rating from me.  Last night, I decided to read one chapter, but I couldn't stop.  One night's worth of sleep lost, delving into the mind of a person struggling to understand reality as it is presented to him.  It was utterly fascinating.

I will be reading a lot more from this author.

Purchase Spilt Coffee from Amazon.

Journey Back to Threa

Rating: 

About the Author:
(Taken from Goodreads)

Cindy L. Cowles was born in Louisiana. She has driven trucks over the road, sold tickets for a traveling carnival and even drove a dump truck to gather corn from a corn field before settling in Oklahoma where she drove for a construction company. Now, after 21 years she's back in Louisiana and spoils her grandbaby when she's not writing. (And even when she is ;}) She shares a home with her boyfriend, two grown kids, a grandchild and a bearded dragon. She enjoys writing science fiction, fantasy, erotica and romance.

Blurb:  

For two thousand years, there has been a spaceship hidden on the dark side of the moon. Very few know of its existence, and only one has known its location. That one was High Councilwoman and Captain Estelle Morgan, Lacy’s grandmother and one of the original survivors from the planet Threa. When Lacy’s grandmother chooses not to Rebirth again and passes away, Lacy inherits the house, a tantalizing letter about humanity’s true origins and...a FTL spaceship called Pegasus I. Forced to flee when her home is invaded by a group called the Chosen, and her life and the lives of her three closest friends are threatened, Lacy brings her friends aboard an atmospheric hopper - a small transport meant to shuttle explorers from Pegasus I to a planet’s surface and back - and escapes just in time. Now she’s taking them on the trip of a lifetime, going on a Journey Back To Threa.

Review:

This is a pretty good adventure story.  In the very first chapter, Lacy learns that she inherited more than a butt-load of money and a mansion from her grandmother — she also inherited a spaceship and a high status.  Soon after this discovery, Lacy and her friends are forced to flee Earth and wind up traveling in space.

While I enjoyed this story, it could have easily been three times longer.  There was a lack of details which really would have helped transport me fully into this universe, and on more than one occasion, I was confused by the characters' dialogues and choices.  

There were technical issues with the writing, but I can tell that this author is very talented with words.  Some of my favorite lines:

"Every speck of available light seemed to dance across its dark surface in a hypnotic show of rainbows and shadows, even though the only source of illumination was a flickering yellow safety light at each end of the room."

"After two millennia of staring through the lens of a camera and speaking through speakers, I find that I long for the experiences that can only be found in a body - the taste of fresh berries in cream melting on my tongue, the feel of grass tickling underfoot, the caress of a gentle breeze blowing through my hair on a warm day..."

I am looking forward to the next two books, but I do hope there is more exposition and description to allow me to really fall into the story and visualize the universe as the author sees it.

Purchase Journey Back to Threa at Amazon.

A Slice of Quietude

Rating:

About the Author:
(Taken from Amazon)

In a previous life, Sharon Cho was one of the good guys, a comic-book agent who fought for her clients' rates and royalties. Then she hit her 30's and realized she needed insurance and instead, became a minion of evil empires aka insurance companies. But she never forsook the arts, instead writing by night. Sure, her wife and three dogs cried out for love and attention but the creative gods had to be appeased. And this is the result of that appeasement.

Blurb:

The Quietude, a psychic realm accessible by only a select few, is Kat’s secret for improving her deadly focus. It’s how she became a high level Midnight Slicer, an elite assassin. But when she meets Tristien Waef inside the Quietude, Kat knows she’s outmatched. Tristien, scarred from head to toe both physically and emotionally, displays unheard-of abilities inside the Quietude! In a rare move, Kat throws caution to the wind, and joins Tristien and her two friends: the battle-hardened Cela and the almost-famous bard Kinjara, in their travels. But will the Midnight Slicers allow Kat to shift allegiances? And can a budding relationship with Kat get Tristien to move beyond her traumatic past?

Review:

At it's heart, this is a very fascinating book.  The main characters, Tristien and Kat, are falling head-over-heels in love, but their past demons get in the way of their ability to commit and fully open up to one another.  For Tristien, the past demons are physical; for Kat, they are mental.  I would love to go into depth about their issues, but it may spoil the read.

 

For me, the story is foremost a love story and the battles/fights are secondary.  I have always enjoyed stories where humans were the most important thing, and this novel delivers on that.

 

Alongside Tristien and Kat are two friends, Cela and Kinjara.  Their pasts are not delved into greatly, but seeing as how they are secondary characters, this is not necessary.  What they do have are unique characteristics that really help them leap off of the page and take on a life of their own.

 

While I did enjoy this book, there were some stylistic decisions that affected my read.  For one, each character was referred to in a multitude of ways.  For instance, Kat was referred to by nickname, full name, the olive woman, dark haired woman, the Slicer, the Midnight Slicer etc. (these names may not be exact).  I was pulled from the story every time one of these was used, and this happened for every character.

 

Another issue that I had was the frequent use phrases at the beginning of a sentence.  This would happen to a majority of the sentences in a paragraph, and it would create a rhythm in reading that would pull me from the story.

 

There were a few more issues that brought this to three stars.

 

Aside from all of those things, though, this was an engaging novel with some beautifully written sentences.  I will definitely be reading the next book!

 

 

Purchase A Slice of Quietude at Amazon.

 

 

How I Shed My Skin

Rating:

About the Author:

(Taken from http://www.literati.net/authors/jim-grimsley/)

Jim Grimsley is a playwright and novelist who was born in Rocky Mount, North Carolina in 1955. He attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and currently lives in Atlanta, Georgia. Jim's first novel Winter Birds was published by Algonquin Books in the United States in 1994. The novel won the 1995 Sue Kaufman Prize for First Fiction, given by the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and the Prix Charles Brisset, given by the French Academy of Physicians. The novel also received a special citation from the Ernest Hemingway Foundation as one of three finalists for the PEN/Hemingway Award. Jim's second novel, Dream Boy, was published by Algonquin in September, 1995, and won the 1996 Award for Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Literature from the American Library Association; the novel was also one of five finalists for the Lambda Literary Award. 

For more information, visit his literati listing.

Blurb:

"White people declared that the South would rise again. Black people raised one fist and chanted for black power. Somehow we negotiated a space between those poles and learned to sit in classrooms together . . . Lawyers, judges, adults declared that the days of separate schools were over, but we were the ones who took the next step. History gave us a piece of itself. We made of it what we could." —Jim Grimsley

More than sixty years ago, the Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education that America’s schools could no longer be segregated by race.

Critically acclaimed novelist Jim Grimsley was eleven years old in 1966 when federally mandated integration of schools went into effect in the state and the school in his small eastern North Carolina town was first integrated. Until then, blacks and whites didn’t sit next to one another in a public space or eat in the same restaurants, and they certainly didn’t go to school together.

Going to one of the private schools that almost immediately sprang up was not an option for Jim: his family was too poor to pay tuition, and while they shared the community’s dismay over the mixing of the races, they had no choice but to be on the front lines of his school’s desegregation.

What he did not realize until he began to meet these new students was just how deeply ingrained his own prejudices were and how those prejudices had developed in him despite the fact that prior to starting sixth grade, he had actually never known any black people.

Now, more than forty years later, Grimsley looks back at that school and those times--remembering his own first real encounters with black children and their culture. The result is a narrative both true and deeply moving. Jim takes readers into those classrooms and onto the playing fields as, ever so tentatively, alliances were forged and friendships established. And looking back from today’s perspective, he examines how far we have really come.

Review:

This is another book that I wouldn't typically pick up on my own.  The subject is beyond intriguing and I was interested to learn more about Jim Grimsley.

The novel is a wonderful mixture of memoir and social commentary.  Grimsley recounts his experiences growing up in the South, of how polite white southerners never used certain words but racists thoughts and actions were laced in a majority of social interactions.


Opening up in the south in 1966, Grimsley recounts Freedom of Choice and how it's implementation was the first spark in his conscious decision to alter how he viewed the world.  Since he was so young, a lot of his actions and choices were not fully understood during that time frame, and not until he is much older did he realize how his up-bringing crafted his view of ethnicity.

While sharing classrooms with other ethnicities, he learned how detrimental his initial views had been and he started taking steps to change his perspective.

I don't want to give away too much of what happens on his journey, so I will end in saying that he reveals several personal experiences that helped mold him into a person who can see individuals instead of ethnicities.  He admits that this is something he still has to be conscious of even today... if only all people were so honest.


One of my favorite social musing was:
 

"These symmetries were built into images, in the language, in the background of consciousness, foretold everywhere.  Simply reversing the color scheme produced nonsense.  One could not speak of ignorance sweeping over a people like a tide of brightness.  The phrase merely puzzled.  The antagonism of black and white shaped the world of meaning inside my head, and black bore the negative value in all cases."


If you'd like to know more, there are a few great podcasts with the writer.  One of the best is http://www.podcastchart.com/podcasts/the-mixed-experience/episodes/s2-bonus-4-writer-jim-grimsley-on-unlearning-racism

Hear Me Scream

Rating:

About the Author:
(Taken from her website: http://thedarkreviews.blogspot.com/)

R.M. James wrote plays as a child and forced her sisters to read them. As she got older, her stories evolved into short movies. Her film and literature studies edged her into one of her truest callings: fiction writing. The majority of her time goes into caring for her family, taking nature shots, and imagining new scenes for another novel. She lives in Las Vegas.

Blurb:  

A global economic crash and the release of a deadly virus exterminates most of the world's population. From the ashes of a ruined nation, a new breed of humans arise. 

Raven Carrier, guided by a strange voice inside her head, is on a dangerous mission to find her stolen son—or else die trying. Along the way, she meets Ata, a blue-haired girl with an uncertain mission of her own. Together, the two survivors tackle the evils of a lawless state.

Nico Lowell travels from county to county curing the sick and injured. While his healing and sharp senses have saved many lives, he is unable to heal his own weakening body from self-destruction. He cannot fully exist without another, one he has searched for his entire life, until he catches the scent of her spilled blood from miles away. He puts everything on the line to reach her before it's too late. 

Imprisoned by the rebel soldiers who brutally abused and murdered his family, Camden Sickles struggles to conform to the vicious militia overpowering the southern region. In captivity, he learns of the Sorrows, the next step in human evolution. This northern government have deprived the people of basic liberties, including the right to exist. Camden, a southern slave, is forced to do unspeakable acts of degradation until the day he breaks and discovers what it takes to fight for freedom. 

For Raven, Nico, and Camden, their destinies coincide around Ata. For family, Raven follows the girl to a decaying city. For life, Nico vows to protect her from harm. For freedom, Camden guides her to the uncharted wilderness. For survival, humanity must keep her alive. 

The girl screams and all hear. 

Review:

This story is told with rotating POVs.  Each character has their own desires, and their stories only connect in that they cross one another's path, and in this post-apocalyptic future, it's better to travel with people than alone.

Because the characters are all driven by their own needs and they are not working together towards a single goal, this isn't a mindless read.

The characters are fully fleshed out and have individual personalities.  Raven is a hardened woman with a single goal, and no one can prevent her from finding her son.  Ata is a young girl a little naive about the world, but her journey shows her how cruel some people can be.  Nico is empathetic and wants to save just about everyone he comes across.  And Camden... I started off not liking his character, but by the end, the horrible things he witnesses and what is done against him makes him way more sympathetic.

The plot is very rich, playing on themes of trust and love.  I can't say too much along these lines, but the end of the novel shows that one character is willing to do what ever it takes to be with the one person he/she is closely linked to.

Overall, I highly recommend this book.

A Spark of Magic

Rating:

About the Author:

(This is from her Amazon Author's page)
J. L. Clayton lives in a small town and works at the local post office, delivering mail every day with a smile on her face. She and her husband, Robert, have a 15-year-old daughter, Shyla. J. L. was inspired by the Twilight series to write A Spark of Magic: Chosen Saga Book One, her first novel.

Blurb:

MAGIC IS STIRRING UP LUST, ROMANCE, DANGER—AND REVEALING LONG-HIDDEN TRUTHS. 

Charlize, aka Charlie, is moving yet again, to a new city, a new school…new everything. Her family is always moving, but this time, it doesn’t seem so bad! Charlie is turning sixteen, finally making friends, and crushing on some seriously hot guys. Plus, said hot guys’ feelings seem to be mutual… This is the happiest Charlie has been in a very long time. But she does have a little problem. 

Charlie is having bizarre, dark, eerie dreams, and she knows deep down that the feelings these dreams provoke, which seem to consume her, cannot be normal. There is a sexy male voice invading her dreams, and now it seems it is invading her waking hours too. The voice is compelling, hauntingly mesmerizing, and overwhelmingly beautiful. Charlie doesn’t care if this dream voice is good or bad; she just knows she wants to hear more. 

Now, Charlie is on a journey to discover who and what she really is, and to uncover the reason her family moves so frequently. Charlie knows this is going to be one crazy, fun ride. But something big is about to happen, and it will end up changing what she believed was real and what truly is…

Review:

Both the premise and the cover grabbed my attention.  It sounds really fascinating (even though it gives a nod to the Twilight series).

There are several issues with this book, however.  The first is the voice of the main character.  Her thoughts were all over the place, and she repeated thoughts and ideas frequently.  On one hand, it really made her character distinctive and realistic, in a way.  But on the other hand, it didn't work well for a narrative.  I found myself getting agitated over her thoughts and frequent use of "crap".

And, it's not a good thing when the character realizes this is an issue.  Charlie once thought, "If you could live in my head, trust me, you would pack up and move the heck out.  My mind was not a fun place to be."

Unfortunately, the readers do live in her head for the length of the book.  Her spastic way of thinking did make reading difficult.

Tense slips and spelling also provided bumps in reading.

Organization-wise, I really didn't understand why there were chapters in Crispus' POV when the main story was first person for Charlie.  Chapters in another character's POV really only works with 3rd person.


There are also good things about this book.  Every now and again, I would come across fantastic sentences, such as:

"His hair was a messy silky blond color.  His eyes were shaped like crescent moons in a pool of dark blue."

I have trouble imagining a hair color being messy silky, but that aside, the image is great and the sentences are comparatively better than others.

The plot was interesting enough to hold my attention.  A majority of the story stayed with the mundane.  For instance, there was a single chapter dedicated to Charlie being driven to school for her first day.  Banter and character building is excellent to do, but it should be balanced with plot.  Their conversations weren't interesting enough to have a chapter all their own.

Overall, if you enjoy fiction with sparse fantasy elements, this is for you.  The story really doesn't pick up until the end.  Due to the cliff-hanger ending, I may read the second book of the series.  If you are interested, the second book can be found on Amazon.  It was free, so I've already snatched it up.

Silicone Dynasty

Rating:

About the Author:

(This was taken from the author's website)

Diamond lives life only in primary colors. She likes bold images, bold premises and bold people who dare greatly. She strives to live an extraordinary life and she is attracted by the laws beyond the universe. She loves Jesus, Buddha and Athena. She's a free thinker, free-spirit and always open to a new perspective. She loves to read books with strong textual evidence on the counter-arguments to popular beliefs. She enjoys to live in the primary purpose of life, and that primary purpose is LOVE and the audacity to be totally free.

More can be discovered about Diamond at http://www.diamondsolamente.org/about.html

Blurb:

When freelance assassin, ex-Navy SEAL, Lars Hunter Krummen is assigned his next undercover mission, he learns that he has been hired to kill an outlaw whose wife has seduced him into a mendacious maze of deception, but before he shoots the fatal bullet, he discovers the abduction of a particular individual is being staged, and he unwarily gets involved uniting with the people he's supposed to kill, even at the risk of being sent to prison again.

The alluring and darkly seductive thriller Silicone Dynasty reveals the unforeseen relationship between the wife of a Colombian drug lord, Alessandra Maria DeSanto, the sophisticated entrepreneur of an infamous intimate apparel boutique, and the assassin who has been hired by the CIA to bring them down.

In Miami Beach Florida, 37 year old, ex Navy SEAL freelance assassin Lars Hunter Krummen is assigned another mission and is cocked and ready for the kill until he becomes enthralled with the mysterious temptress as he spies in on the DeSanto’s daily life through their glass mansion. And as he becomes bewitched by the undetectable ominous spell, he’s paralyzed in pulling the trigger when he learns that there is something amiss in the drug lord’s household. Intrigued at the proximity of discovering more of the secrets buried behind the glass walls of the DeSanto's home, Lars Hunter Krummen becomes mesmerized by the visual imagery in which he bears witness. This draws him out from the cross hairs of his assault rifle, out from the safe confounds of his long-range-easy-shot trajectory, luring him onto the premises of the DeSanto bay front estate where he finds himself up close and personal unknowingly in the midst of a very intricate web of deceit. 
Chronicling one man’s grim past against the backdrop of one of America’s most sensual cities, Lars Hunter Krummen struggles to untangle himself from the infatuation and go against his nature to resist the only woman he cannot have. 

Review:

First, I would like to say that the cover is very haunting and really grabbed my interest.

Typically, this is not a genre that would pull me in, but this story had an interesting premise and the plot pushed me along.  There is a lot to discover about each and every character.

Great care is given to provide a full understanding of Lars.  His daily regimen is presented so that when his world is turned upside down, the audience understands exactly how much Alessandra means to him.

Lars is typically eager to complete his missions, wasting no time to waste the bad guy.  In this situation, a buxom beauty causes him to halt, and, over the course of the story, pasts are revealed for not only Lars and Alessandra, but for many of the characters around them.  The audience discovers that the Alessandra's and the Colombian Drug Lord does not have a typical marriage.

While this is a VERY adult book, at the heart of the story is a hard-hitting, compelling tale about the perils of drug and human trafficking.

Read more reviews for this book on Amazon.