Michelle L. Levigne's Blog, page 72

Off the Bookshelf: FORTUNE AND GLORY, by Janet Evanovich

 

A Stephanie Plum novel.

Tantalizing Twenty-Seven

Aarrgghh! I almost didn't read this one. When I searched for the next upcoming Stephanie Plum novel in the library, they didn't list it by the number -- usually the number is in the title. Fortunately, I saw the book in the store and realized the subtitle had the number. NOT a nice trick to pull on loyal readers.

This is another madcap Plum adventure, swinging rapidly from danger to insanity and back again, and swinging rapidly between Morelli and Ranger. Warning: Stephanie gets her hair cut and tries on a new "look." Could she finally be growing up?

The book picks up where twenty-six left off -- meaning the treasure hunt and trying to dig up the clues left by Grandma Mazur's recently departed ex-mobster new husband. And of course, there are a few crazy guys gunning for Stephanie and Grandma because they think Grandma has the missing clues. Plus the usual assortment of Lula-isms and frustrating run-ins with lunatic criminals who have broken their bond and need to be captured and returned to the authorities. Stephanie delivers what's expected, with a lot of satisfying chuckles along the way. (But honestly, haven't you learned by now that when you let Grandma drive a fancy car ... someone or something won't survive the experience?)

Off the Bookshelf: SOPHIE WASHINGTON: QUEEN OF THE BEE, by Tonya Duncan Ellis

 

Middle Grade fiction

Fun book, which I admit I got from Kindle to learn how to write Middle Grade fiction ... but very enjoyable just in itself!

Sophie is a very real girl, with real attitudes and reactions and problems. Her nosy, interfering, exasperating brother, and a snotty boy in class who has to be better than everyone -- and who, as she learns along the way, doesn't have it very easy at home.

Sophie wants a pet fish, but getting her dream doesn't seem very possible. Her parents have all sorts of objections, and reasons why they think she isn't ready for a pet of any kind.

Then her big-mouth brother lets everyone know about the spelling bee, and her parents want her to participate. Sophie is kind of reluctant, until the snotty boy in class lets her know she might as well give up, because HE is going to win. So she buckles down and studies and works hard and ... not going to tell you the ending, but it's satisfying, and Sophie and her brother both learn something along the way.

There are a lot more books in the Sophie Washington series. Check them out!

New Release Sample: HERE THERE WERE DRAGONS

 From Ye Olde Dragon Books

“What exactly is a nascent Gate alert?” she said, after discarding several responses that would have impugned Jasper's experience and intelligence.

Taggert slowly raised his hand. “It’s experimental. Something we cobbled together after a really long Brain Blast tournament,” he said with a shrug. “We’re getting some spatial anomaly readings up here, Jasper. I've been doing a search backward, and it appears to have started maybe four days ago, but the changes haven't been strong enough to register or trigger any warnings until now. The flux shifted, progressing a dozen degrees in an hour, when it was taking two days for each degree until now. Something is developing out in space, with Draxonis between it and the Chute.”

“How come the teams down on the planet haven’t noticed it or alerted us to it?” Genys said.

 “That’s easy,” Jasper said, after only a few seconds of silence.

Meanwhile, Taggert consulted his station and Genys listened for any emergencies or problems coming from the rest of the ship. She silently thanked Enlo for the efficiency of her crew, so they didn’t need her to deal with trouble right now.

“They’re looking down, focusing on the planet. They’re not watching over their heads, and they aren’t expecting anything. Kind of stupid, if you think about it,” he added, his voice softening.

Taggert grinned and one eyebrow cocked upward so high it would have vanished into his hair, if he had any.

“And we noticed it because?” she prompted.

“We’re constantly looking,” Taggert said.

“Why a nascent Gate?” she had to know. “Nobody knows what a nascent Gate would look or sound like or the energies it would give off. We don’t know what an actual, functioning Gate sounds or looks or feels or tastes like.” She had to fight to keep her voice down at the end of that statement.

“Stories,” Jasper said with a chuckle. “We set up our criteria based on all the legends of Gates and all the theorizing over the years. Even if it isn’t a Gate, and even if the Gatekeepers aren’t about to burst out and tell us it’s about time we showed up … something is happening out there.”

“Oh, joy…” Genys whispered.

New Release Sample: HERE THERE WERE DRAGONS

 

"Captain to the bridge." Gate Team Head Taggert broke into Genys' morning workout in the simulator. “Ma'am, I'd like to report a spatial anomaly.”

She barely refrained from asking, "How can there be another spatial anomaly with a Chute so close?" What she understood of Gates and Chutes, it was impossible for any other anomalies to form close enough to the Draxonis Chute for the Defender's sensors to catch it. Simply put, Chutes sucked up all the energies for several light years around and in a sense yanked all the tangled energy lines straight, preventing other anomalies.

"What kind? Where?" she said, after pausing a few seconds to consider different questions that wouldn't imply Taggert had just suffered a lapse of some kind. She mentally shrugged and chose to head for the bridge in her workout clothes.

"Haven't exactly located it yet. I'm just getting readings."

"On my way."

The bridge was quiet, everyone focused on their stations, when Genys hurried through the lift doors ten minutes later.

"Update?" she said, crossing over to Taggert's station.

“Can’t exactly pinpoint it.” Taggert’s nose gave the characteristic rabbit-like twitch that indicated excitement, not fear. One good point Genys was glad to note. “Readings put it almost equally distant from Draxonis, on the other side of the planet, nearly on a straight line …” He shook his shaved, ebony head three times before looking up from his station. “It’s something out of legend.”

“Legend.” Genys fought a dropping-twisting-nauseated sensation. She always associated the word “legend” with Captain Shryne of the Inquest. Granted, the woman was a hero to a large portion of the Fleet and the Alliance, but "legend" now also implied darker, dangerous tendencies that quite frankly verged on insane and suicidal, thanks to Captain Shryne and her adventures.

“Does somebody up there want to tell me why we’re getting a nascent Gate alert down here?” Jasper called from Engineering. 

Genys shook her head, never breaking eye contact with Taggert. She swallowed hard and sorted through several dozen responses. Just the fact Jasper was calling up to her was startling. Jasper never called her with a question or problem. He dealt with it, and she never knew there was a problem until after the fact. After he lectured whoever of his engineering geniuses hadn’t been genius enough to deal with it before he had to deal with it.

Off the Book Shelf: THE DRAGON SQUISHER, by Scott McCormick

 

Audible, Audible Original

Warning: this is a Tolkein parody like no parody I've ever heard before. Not that I've actually listened to or read all that many, but ... *snort* *giggle* *groan*

Poor Nigel, the guy who wants so much to be popular and successful with the girls and impress people, with a smart mouth and a talent for making all the wrong choices. He finally messes up so badly he gets sent off to military school. One bright spot: he's finally getting away from too-perfect Lance .... but Lance who was there and participated in the prank that went so terribly wrong, so everybody in their village hates Nigel ... he turns himself in, essentially volunteering to spend the rest of his life in the military. With Nigel. They're surrounded by drill sergeants who hate them and idiots and clueless commanders. Then war with the Gorks is declared. Nigel has been working so hard to get himself thrown out of military school, so he doesn't have to go to war ... and just when he isn't trying, he messes up so bad he and Lance get banished. And sent on a quest that makes no sense.

Why do I say it's a parody of Tolkein? Well, there are the magical panties (9 rings of power), the Cufflinks of Doom (one ring to rule them all), Lord Smoron (Sauron), and the enormous sniffing nose in the void that keeps getting closer every time Nigel uses the amulet of power (the Eye of Sauron). Oh yeah, and a Halfling named Elbow, who went on an epic quest 2,000 years ago ... but if Nigel and Lance and their Gork ally, Eldrack, have anything to do with it, the quest will never have happened ... maybe.

Not bad for a trio of fourteen-year-olds. What kind of trouble will they get into next?

New Release Sample: HERE THERE WERE DRAGONS

From Ye Olde Dragon Books

Captain's Log

Draxonis Survey Mission: Day 45

Chief Engineer Lore has discovered nanites at the core of the probe malfunctions. As theorized, once he located the proper frequency, he sent the shut-down command. The probes can now carry out their functions.

Addendums Drax-31-101, -102, -104, -106, and -111 contain all the scientific analyses and sociological theorizing resulting from the cascade of discoveries once our teams were able to cross the strait and set foot on Continent Drax-02.

This required half a day of negotiations between Chief of Talents Lt. M'kar and the local drac population. It appears several tribes of dracs have the task of keeping all life forms from crossing the strait to the next continent. After condensing the impressions received, the continent is now called Forbidden Island. Special commendation to Lt. M'kar for the physical strain from being overwhelmed by forty-some-odd infuriated, panicking dracs.

Base theory: there was once an advanced civilization on Draxonis. Whether they were limited to Forbidden Island, or they retreated there as their civilization decayed, we have yet to determine. The nanites appear to have just one function: to kill all technology. Destroy programming, then take apart any synthesized or processed materials. This explains why preliminary scans of the planet's surface revealed no signs of civilization. No manufactured compounds. No machines of any kind. No signs Humans ever lived here, other than caches of ceramic plates, unofficially labeled libraries by the sociologists.

We are fortunate, protected by Enlo, that it appears no nanites migrated off of Forbidden Island. Otherwise the Corona might have been infected and brought the nanites back to the Alliance on their first trip, and spread who knows where or how long, until someone came up with a solution.

Lt. Cmdr. Sociologist Maora theorizes the civilization knew what was happening to them, and they recorded what they could in a material not targeted by the nanites. Whether this was in the hope they could rebuild their civilization someday, or as a warning for their descendants, we can only theorize.

New Book! HERE THERE WERE DRAGONS, AFV Defender, Book 2

 Releasing TODAY in print and ebook:

From Ye Olde Dragon Books

Dracs: the gift that keeps giving. And making life very interesting for the crew of the AFV Defender.

 

A spatial anomaly near the drac homeworld, a forbidden island, and signs of a civilization that self-destructed are just the tip of the iceberg. When spoiled brat Ambassador Vitiarre's plot to get his hands on dracs is foiled, he sets out to make trouble for the Defender, and especially Chief of Talents M'kar. His long-standing feud with her father, Ashrock, just makes everything worse.

Then a new Chute opens up near the drac homeworld, leading to a planet with dragons in its legends. Despite no dragons present on the planet now, Vitiarre breaks regulations to invade and claim his own dragon. His schemes lead to the Defenderbeing sent to mend the trouble he made with the matriarchal society of Castitarus.

 

The misfit luck of the Defender is hard at work. Male crew are kidnapped. The dracs develop allergies. Female officers are offered diplomatic gifts of men. And the crew race to find a cure for a disease that turns grown men into children -- starting with Security Chief Decker, and Ashrock.

 

A typical mission for the crew of the AFV Defender.

 

Off the Bookshelf: THE SODA POP WARS, Iggy & Oz, by J.J. Johnson

 

Middle Grade

Fun, silly, tongue-in-cheek adventures with two brothers in a slightly strange neighborhood -- complicated by their efforts to save the world without their parents finding out and grounding them.

At least, that's my interpretation of the fast-moving adventure. I've read J.J. Johnson before, more adult, still tongue-in-cheek -- with a hero (Mercury) who is mentioned by the brothers in the course of the story. 

The brothers are still recovering from their previous adventure dealing with toy dinosaurs that came to life. This time, the same strange old house that delivered the first problem has dumped something new on the neighborhood -- a soda pop machine that dispenses bottles with bizarre flavors and temporary superpowers. Some are kinda gross, and some unfortunately let the neighborhood bully be even meaner to the smaller kids at school. Well, what are our heroes going to do, when they find out their arch nemesis has access to his own soda pop superpowers? They have to get the bottles away from him. Easier said than done, when the girl of Iggy's dreams seems to be about to have a date with the bully, and they have to keep their parents from finding out that the world is in danger once again.

Lots of fun and a fast read. Take a break from the current nastiness, stupidity and angst in the so-called real world, and visit with Iggy and Oz and their friends.

New Release Sample: LIVING PROOF (that no good deed goes unpunished)

 "It's not like you can't handle something like that with your sports reporting and copy editing," Harry offered.

"Someone else is doing the sports reporting. Big-shot new owner has a whole staff to cover four counties, so he doesn't want to inconvenience poor little me. Make me go to sporting events where I might be so depressed, seeing all those athletes in action while confined to my wheelchair. Can we say Tiny Tim syndrome?"

"So… Are we going to get any new material about the boss from h-e-double-hockey-sticks?" he murmured, and very carefully didn't look at me.

"You might. If I don't invest in voodoo dolls or a Mafia contract, first." I caught sight of the Golden Arches too late to get into the curb lane to pull in. The guys didn't seem to notice.

"So the bozo took away your sports column. Not a smart move. Having you write romantic advice is like—" Pete snickered and slid over in his seat, to protect his knees.

"Like having me for a track coach? I've been a track coach. And even though I haven't had a date since… Okay, longer than I want to remember. I can still give advice to idiots who think a stranger can help them when they can't seem to find their common sense with both hands!" I narrowly missed pounding the horn, sparing the guy in the rustbucket Ford in front of us a heart attack.

"So tell us what you really think." Harry dug in his pocket for his phone. "Mancuso's for pickup?"

"You got it. The usual, please."

Now that I had gotten the bad news out in the open, and the guys gave me their usual teasing sympathy, my appetite was coming back. Extra-thick pizza, onions, olives, marinara sauce and garlic, with cheesecake on the side. It might not give me a good night's sleep, but it would go a long way toward soothing the ache in my soul.

I had a good record on the track and on the basketball court in high school and college, and had proven myself as a part-time sports stringer for the Tattler. It hadn't been pity that prompted Conrad Severidge to give me the sports beat. Or let me keep it after I turned my back into modern art. I had proven myself. (Okay, it also helped that I introduced him to his wife. And let him marry her. Hey, she was my college roommate.) So why did it look like pity in Daniel Sheridan's eyes, when he gave me my unwanted new assignment?

I wanted to strangle someone. I wanted to leave tire tracks up the back of his designer suit and skid marks across his too-handsome face. I entertained myself with thoughts of what Felicity and Kurt could do to make Sheridan's life miserable, once they found out about this afternoon's development. A certain rich boy might soon find himself in some pretty unhappy, peculiar, embarrassing situations. It was good to have friends who knew what would make me happy, even though I didn't have the guts to defy how my parents raised me and do it for myself.

Amazing what having friends and a good pizza could do to make the world a friendlier place.

New Release Sample: LIVING PROOF (that no good deed goes unpunished)

 

The problem with living in a small town like Neighborlee (besides the rotten name for the high school sports teams, because who really wants to win when you're named after a fish?) is that chances were good you worked with relatives. Harry's contract to pick up papers from the big printing plant over in Valleyview meant he was in and out of the office a dozen times a week. He was there when Conrad raved about my story on the Neighborlee Pikes and announced it had already been picked up on the wire by a few national magazines.

He wasn't there when Mrs. Sloane and Sheridan invaded the office and rearranged our lives.

"You're looking at the new writer of the Talk to Terry column." I concentrated on pulling out of the parking lot into the dwindling traffic around the club. "You guys want to stop at Mac's on the way home?"

"Uh oh. It's the junk food defense," Pete sing-songed. He ducked before I could consider reaching back between the seats to slap him, so I didn't try. Besides, I was driving.

"So that's not a good thing? Never heard of it, but it sounds like a gossip column or something. Conrad's adding it to the paper?" Harry said.

"The column runs in four papers and is being added to eight, including ours. We have a new owner." No way was I going to say the name of the Evil Overlord and pollute the interior of my beloved Jeep. "We're getting lumped together with all the other papers he just bought, and a bunch of the columns are getting picked up in all the papers."

"So, Terry, what do you write about?" Harry leaned into the door on his side of the Jeep and turned sideways to grin at me as we reached a red light.

"It's mostly an advice column." I swallowed hard and wished I had a big can of ginger ale to wash the bad taste out of my mouth and settle my stomach. "Mostly lovelorn junk."

"Ick. Gross. Mental deterioration of the—" Pete ended on a yelp as my fist connected with his knee. My radar worked as faithfully as always, letting me swing back between the seats without looking. His leg jerked, hitting the back of Harry's seat. Two birds with one wallop.