C.J. Whitley's Blog

Rapid Fire Book Tag

I thought I’d answer the questions from the ‘Rapid Fire Book Tag’ [I think it was created by Kate at GirlReading BookTube channel]. So here goes….

 

E-book or Physical book?

E-book. I resisted the e-reader at first, thinking I’d always prefer hard-copy. However, I’m a total convert. I still have a lot of paperbacks, but nearly all new purchases are electronic copy.

Paperback or Hardback?

Paperback, no question. Always disliked hardbacks. Hardbacks are more awkward to hold while reading, come in all different sizes, which makes my bookshelf look haphazard, heavier to lug around and they’re expensive.

Online or In-Store Book Shopping?

I like browsing in bookstores still, but generally that’s to buy books as gifts. If I’m buying for myself, it’s online (usually for an e-copy).

Trilogies or Series?

That depends on how amazing it is. If it’s mind-blowingly brilliant (like the Wheel of Time) then the more the better. If it’s just okay, then three books is enough. So ideally I want long, mind-blowingly brilliant series.

Heroes or Villains?

?? Can’t have one without the other.

A Book You Want Everyone To Read?

Mine! Cruel Reality, obviously. But other than that, maybe ‘Wolf of the Plains’ by Conn Iggulden. The dramatized story of Genghis Khan’s Childhood and adolescence, it’s a great read.

Recommend an Underrated Author?

Patrick Tilley. He was a bit of a one-hit wonder, with his Amtrak Wars books, about 30 years ago, but they are really good.

The Last Book You Finished?

I read the first book of the Grisha by Leigh Bardugo.

Weirdest Thing You’ve Used as a Bookmark?

A rock. Needs must.

Used Books: Yes or No?

Sure – can pick up some bargains and support a charity at the same time (e.g. an Oxfam used book store)

Top Three Favourite Genres?

Fantasy, Sci-fi and historical fiction.

Borrow or Buy?

Buy.

Character or Plot?

Plot.

Long or Short Books?

Long! If it’s less than 500 pages, I’m probably gonna skip it.

Name The First Three Books You Think Of

Matilda.

Magician (Raymond Feist)

Tooth Goblins.

Books That Make You Laugh or Cry?

Cry I think. There are probably only 2 books that have made me cry. This would be the result of a character that I really felt connected to, probably making some hugely selfless sacrifice.

Our World or Fictional Worlds?

Fictional worlds. But alternative or historical versions of our world are also interesting.

Audiobooks: Yes or No?

I went through a spell of loving them, but then I was listening to one (The Road by Cormac McCarthy, and I’m sure there will be some who love it, but…) and I thought it was taking really long to get into the plot. It was beginning to think that it must be the longest intro of any book ever. When something interesting finally happened and I thought the book was finally going to get going, that event turned out to be the big finale. I thought it was the worst book ever. But, I think if I’d actually been reading it and had realised how far the book I was, I think I might have felt quite differently about it. I haven’t listened to an audiobook since (about 6 years ago).

Do You Ever Judge a Book by it’s Cover?

Of course. And then by it’s blurb. If the cover has a photo of a person looking at me, I am not going to buy that book. I like people to either be unrecognisable, or drawn.

Book to Movie or Book to TV Adaptations?

Now that depends on the nationality of the production company. If it’s American, then Book to movie. If it’s British, then Book to TV. Americans make good movies, but their TV shows inevitably get dragged out far too long.

A Movie or TV-Show You Preferred to its Book?

Lord of the Rings. I am a huge fan of LOTR. I read it over twenty years ago, and several times since. But I thought the films took out some of the rubbish (Tom Bombadil) and added some good stuff.

Series or Standalone’s?

Series. I rarely read standalones (yes, I know ‘Cruel Reality’ is a standalone).

English – The Chaos

So, I have two kids, age 5 and 3. Having spent the last few years teaching them to read and write (well, my wife can probably take more credit for that), I am constantly frustrated by the ‘rules’ of English and the endless list of words that are exceptions to those ‘rules’. There are no rules – there are barely even any recognisable patterns in many cases.

I came across this poem that summarises it wonderfully and wanted to share it with you.

(It’s quite long, but worth sticking with it)

(Also, if preferred, you can find a reading of it on Youtube)

 

 

 ‘The Chaos’, by Gerard Nolst Trenité

 

Dearest creature in creation

Studying English pronunciation,

I will teach you in my verse

Sounds like corpse, corps, horse and worse.

 

I will keep you, Susy, busy,

Make your head with heat grow dizzy;

Tear in eye, your dress you’ll tear;

Queer, fair seer, hear my prayer.

 

Pray, console your loving poet,

Make my coat look new, dear, sew it!

Just compare heart, hear and heard,

Dies and diet, lord and word.

 

Sword and sward, retain and Britain

(Mind the latter how it’s written).

Made has not the sound of bade,

Say–said, pay–paid, laid but plaid.

 

Now I surely will not plague you

With such words as vague and ague,

But be careful how you speak,

Say: gush, bush, steak, streak, break, bleak ,

 

Previous, precious, fuchsia, via

Recipe, pipe, studding-sail, choir;

Woven, oven, how and low,

Script, receipt, shoe, poem, toe.

 

Say, expecting fraud and trickery:

Daughter, laughter and Terpsichore,

Branch, ranch, measles, topsails, aisles,

Missiles, similes, reviles.

 

Wholly, holly, signal, signing,

Same, examining, but mining,

Scholar, vicar, and cigar,

Solar, mica, war and far.

 

From “desire”: desirable–admirable from “admire”,

Lumber, plumber, bier, but brier,

Topsham, brougham, renown, but known,

Knowledge, done, lone, gone, none, tone,

 

One, anemone, Balmoral,

Kitchen, lichen, laundry, laurel.

Gertrude, German, wind and wind,

Beau, kind, kindred, queue, mankind,

 

Tortoise, turquoise, chamois-leather,

Reading, Reading, heathen, heather.

This phonetic labyrinth

Gives moss, gross, brook, brooch, ninth, plinth.

 

Have you ever yet endeavoured

To pronounce revered and severed,

Demon, lemon, ghoul, foul, soul,

Peter, petrol and patrol?

 

Billet does not end like ballet;

Bouquet, wallet, mallet, chalet.

Blood and flood are not like food,

Nor is mould like should and would.

 

Banquet is not nearly parquet,

Which exactly rhymes with khaki.

Discount, viscount, load and broad,

Toward, to forward, to reward,

 

Ricocheted and crocheting, croquet?

Right! Your pronunciation’s OK.

Rounded, wounded, grieve and sieve,

Friend and fiend, alive and live.

 

Is your r correct in higher?

Keats asserts it rhymes Thalia.

Hugh, but hug, and hood, but hoot,

Buoyant, minute, but minute.

 

Say abscission with precision,

Now: position and transition;

Would it tally with my rhyme

If I mentioned paradigm?

 

Twopence, threepence, tease are easy,

But cease, crease, grease and greasy?

Cornice, nice, valise, revise,

Rabies, but lullabies.

 

Of such puzzling words as nauseous,

Rhyming well with cautious, tortious,

You’ll envelop lists, I hope,

In a linen envelope.

 

Would you like some more? You’ll have it!

Affidavit, David, davit.

To abjure, to perjure. Sheik

Does not sound like Czech but ache.

 

Liberty, library, heave and heaven,

Rachel, loch, moustache, eleven.

We say hallowed, but allowed,

People, leopard, towed but vowed.

 

Mark the difference, moreover,

Between mover, plover, Dover.

Leeches, breeches, wise, precise,

Chalice, but police and lice,

 

Camel, constable, unstable,

Principle, disciple, label.

Petal, penal, and canal,

Wait, surmise, plait, promise, pal,

 

Suit, suite, ruin. Circuit, conduit

Rhyme with “shirk it” and “beyond it”,

But it is not hard to tell

Why it’s pall, mall, but Pall Mall.

 

Muscle, muscular, gaol, iron,

Timber, climber, bullion, lion,

Worm and storm, chaise, chaos, chair,

Senator, spectator, mayor,

 

Ivy, privy, famous; clamour

Has the a of drachm and hammer.

Pussy, hussy and possess,

Desert, but desert, address.

 

Golf, wolf, countenance, lieutenants

Hoist in lieu of flags left pennants.

Courier, courtier, tomb, bomb, comb,

Cow, but Cowper, some and home.

 

“Solder, soldier! Blood is thicker“,

Quoth he, “than liqueur or liquor“,

Making, it is sad but true,

In bravado, much ado.

 

Stranger does not rhyme with anger,

Neither does devour with clangour.

Pilot, pivot, gaunt, but aunt,

Font, front, wont, want, grand and grant.

 

Arsenic, specific, scenic,

Relic, rhetoric, hygienic.

Gooseberry, goose, and close, but close,

Paradise, rise, rose, and dose.

 

Say inveigh, neigh, but inveigle,

Make the latter rhyme with eagle.

Mind! Meandering but mean,

Valentine and magazine.

 

And I bet you, dear, a penny,

You say mani-(fold) like many,

Which is wrong. Say rapier, pier,

Tier (one who ties), but tier.

 

Arch, archangel; pray, does erring

Rhyme with herring or with stirring?

Prison, bison, treasure trove,

Treason, hover, cover, cove,

 

Perseverance, severance. Ribald

Rhymes (but piebald doesn’t) with nibbled.

Phaeton, paean, gnat, ghat, gnaw,

Lien, psychic, shone, bone, pshaw.

 

Don’t be down, my own, but rough it,

And distinguish buffet, buffet;

Brood, stood, roof, rook, school, wool, boon,

Worcester, Boleyn, to impugn.

 

Say in sounds correct and sterling

Hearse, hear, hearken, year and yearling.

Evil, devil, mezzotint,

Mind the z! (A gentle hint.)

 

Now you need not pay attention

To such sounds as I don’t mention,

Sounds like pores, pause, pours and paws,

Rhyming with the pronoun yours;

 

Nor are proper names included,

Though I often heard, as you did,

Funny rhymes to unicorn,

Yes, you know them, Vaughan and Strachan.

 

No, my maiden, coy and comely,

I don’t want to speak of Cholmondeley.

No. Yet Froude compared with proud

Is no better than McLeod.

 

But mind trivial and vial,

Tripod, menial, denial,

Troll and trolley, realm and ream,

Schedule, mischief, schism, and scheme.

 

Argil, gill, Argyll, gill. Surely

May be made to rhyme with Raleigh,

But you’re not supposed to say

Piquet rhymes with sobriquet.

 

Had this invalid invalid

Worthless documents? How pallid,

How uncouth he, couchant, looked,

When for Portsmouth I had booked!

 

Zeus, Thebes, Thales, Aphrodite,

Paramour, enamoured, flighty,

Episodes, antipodes,

Acquiesce, and obsequies.

 

Please don’t monkey with the geyser,

Don’t peel ‘taters with my razor,

Rather say in accents pure:

Nature, stature and mature.

 

Pious, impious, limb, climb, glumly,

Worsted, worsted, crumbly, dumbly,

Conquer, conquest, vase, phase, fan,

Wan, sedan and artisan.

 

The th will surely trouble you

More than r, ch or w.

Say then these phonetic gems:

Thomas, thyme, Theresa, Thames.

 

Thompson, Chatham, Waltham, Streatham,

There are more but I forget ’em–

Wait! I’ve got it: Anthony,

Lighten your anxiety.

 

The archaic word albeit

Does not rhyme with eight-you see it;

With and forthwith, one has voice,

One has not, you make your choice.

 

Shoes, goes, does. Now first say: finger;

Then say: singer, ginger, linger.

Real, zeal, mauve, gauze and gauge,

Marriage, foliage, mirage, age,

 

Hero, heron, query, very,

Parry, tarry fury, bury,

Dost, lost, post, and doth, cloth, loth,

Job, Job, blossom, bosom, oath.

 

Faugh, oppugnant, keen oppugners,

Bowing, bowing, banjo-tuners

Holm you know, but noes, canoes,

Puisne, truism, use, to use?

 

Though the difference seems little,

We say actual, but victual,

Seat, sweat, chaste, caste, Leigh, eight, height,

Put, nut, granite, and unite.

 

Reefer does not rhyme with deafer,

Feoffer does, and zephyr, heifer.

Dull, bull, Geoffrey, George, ate, late,

Hint, pint, senate, but sedate.

 

Gaelic, Arabic, pacific,

Science, conscience, scientific;

Tour, but our, dour, succour, four,

Gas, alas, and Arkansas.

 

Say manoeuvre, yacht and vomit,

Next omit, which differs from it

Bona fide, alibi

Gyrate, dowry and awry.

 

Sea, idea, guinea, area,

Psalm, Maria, but malaria.

Youth, south, southern, cleanse and clean,

Doctrine, turpentine, marine.

 

Compare alien with Italian,

Dandelion with battalion,

Rally with ally; yea, ye,

Eye, I, ay, aye, whey, key, quay!

 

Say aver, but ever, fever,

Neither, leisure, skein, receiver.

Never guess-it is not safe,

We say calves, valves, half, but Ralf.

 

Starry, granary, canary,

Crevice, but device, and eyrie,

Face, but preface, then grimace,

Phlegm, phlegmatic, ass, glass, bass.

 

Bass, large, target, gin, give, verging,

Ought, oust, joust, and scour, but scourging;

Ear, but earn; and ere and tear

Do not rhyme with here but heir.

 

Mind the o of off and often

Which may be pronounced as orphan,

With the sound of saw and sauce;

Also soft, lost, cloth and cross.

 

Pudding, puddle, putting. Putting?

Yes: at golf it rhymes with shutting.

Respite, spite, consent, resent.

Liable, but Parliament.

 

Seven is right, but so is even,

Hyphen, roughen, nephew, Stephen,

Monkey, donkey, clerk and jerk,

Asp, grasp, wasp, demesne, cork, work.

 

A of valour, vapid vapour,

S of news (compare newspaper),

G of gibbet, gibbon, gist,

I of antichrist and grist,

 

Differ like diverse and divers,

Rivers, strivers, shivers, fivers.

Once, but nonce, toll, doll, but roll,

Polish, Polish, poll and poll.

 

Pronunciation-think of Psyche!

Is a paling, stout and spiky.

Won’t it make you lose your wits

Writing groats and saying “grits”?

 

It’s a dark abyss or tunnel

Strewn with stones like rowlock, gunwale,

Islington, and Isle of Wight,

Housewife, verdict and indict.

 

Don’t you think so, reader, rather,

Saying lather, bather, father?

Finally, which rhymes with enough,

Though, through, bough, cough, hough, sough, tough??

 

Hiccough has the sound of sup…

My advice is: GIVE IT UP!

 

What makes a GREAT book?

What makes a GREAT book?

I was asked this recently.

My answer: When the world and characters of that book invade my dreams.

I know that there are a lot of answers to this question, like…

Great characters that I can relate to.

Or

One that makes me cry.

Or

A plot that surprises or shocks.

All good answers, and a great book would probably need all of these things, but when I’m reading a book, and those characters come to life in my dreams, I know I’m reading a great book.

The book (books, rather, all 15 of them) that this is most true for me is The Wheel of Time (Robert Jordan [& Brandon Sanderson]). I love these books. I first read ‘The Eye of the World’ when I was about 14, and quickly went on to read the remaining books available, which at the time only took me to book 8, I think. As each subsequent books was released, I’d re-read all the proceeding books in preparation. That wasn’t just because I love the books – it was something of a necessity, as these are very complex books with more plot threads than I would have thought it possible to keep a track of. I love the plot, I love the range of characters, the rich and complex world they exist in. But most of all, I love that when I read these books, these very long books that consume the mind, my dreams also take place in the world that Robert Jordan created. While I sleep, I become the characters and face the same terrible challenges and choices that these characters have to deal with. I love it, and these are the first books that come to mind when I am questioned about truly GREAT books.

 

So, to you, ‘What makes a GREAT book?’

I’d love to hear your answers.

Gemma’s Book Review – Cruel Reality – ✶✶✶✶✶

I know I say this a lot but this really is a one of a kind story which I’ve never read anything similar to before. It’s brilliant… I don’t know what else to say than it is a must read!! … (read more)

Source: Cruel Reality – C.J. Whitley ✶✶✶✶✶

Things to do before I’m 30

I should probably lead with the admission that I’m 32 – this is something of a retrospective post.

So, a little over 12 years ago, on my 20th birthday, I wrote a list. That list got carried around in my wallet for the next 10 years (Okay , another admission, it’s been 12 years and I have no intention of throwing it away – it’s like a little part of me).

Here it is – looking a little tattered and held together with selotape:

So, what does it say?

Get a degree.
Become fluent in a foreign language.
Write a novel
Learn archery
Learn to use a quarterstaff
Learn to use a sword
Learn to ride a horse
Get married
Have kids.
Go skydiving
Run a marathon
Learn a Dutch song
Learn scuba diving
Learn skiing
Learn to surf

 

So, more admissions. The list originally only consisted of items 1 to 10. Items 11 to 15 may have been added while a bit tipsy in a bar somewhere in Egypt….

So, let’s discuss them.

Item 1 – Degree. Done. Got a Masters at age 22. Yay.

Item 2 – Language. Hmm, not so much. When I visit a country, I like to learn enough to get by, so I’ve learnt bits of German, French, Italian and Spanish, but only a bit. I have never really even been competent in them, let alone fluent. One day though…. maybe?

Item 3 – Writing. Done. I started writing Cruel reality (see earlier bog posts) a few days after finishing my degree. I completed the first draft a mere 3 years later, age 25. I was writing my 2nd book before I was 30. Yay.

Items 4 – 6. Learn to use medieval weapons. These were sub-points for item 3. I knew the book I wanted to write (it had been in my head since my teens) and I wanted to research it. So I had lessons in archery and using a hand-and-a-half bastard-sword. Archery was fun. Sword lessons were painful (blunt swords) but educational. Never got around to quarterstaff.

Item 7 – Horse. I’ll come back to this.

Items 8 and 9. Marriage and kids. Done and done (wonderful wife, 2 beautiful daughters).

Item 10 – Skydiving. This (and item 7 – horse) is where item 8 (wife) really paid off. For my 30th birthday (by this time distracted from this list by item 9 – daughters), my wife realized I had a few things without ticks on that tatty list I carried everywhere. So she booked me a (tandem) skydive and horse-riding lessons. So they got ticks too.

 

The additions to my list.

Item 11 – marathon. What was I thinking? Don’t know why I wrote that. I was running a lot at the time. I probably could have run a marathon. Never felt the need to. Feel the need to even less now.

Item 12. Dutch song?? While a bit drunk in that bar in Egypt, I may have been learning a song from a couple of Dutch girls. I have a vague memory of the song being about a crocodile, but that makes very little sense…

Item 13 – Scuba diving. Done. Enjoyed 2 great weeks of scuba diving in the Red Sea.

Item 14 – Skiing. I learnt to ski (and snow-board) across several trips to the French and Italian alps.

Item 15 – Surfing. Did a bit. It’s not for me. That juice isn’t worth the squeeze. Lots of paddling out and waiting around for not a lot of time riding a wave. It has been explained to me that I’m missing the point of surfing. I agree. I’d rather be on the beach reading a book.

 

In case your wondering, on my 30th birthday, I wrote a list of things to do before I’m 40.

Write less lists.

 

 

 

Writing about writing

I recently answered my first ‘author interview’ (not published yet). One of the questions asked what my writing process was. I hadn’t really thought about before, but when I did, I realized that I did have a writing process and I dutifully answered the question. I may repeat some of that here – hopefully it won’t take away from the  interview, which asked other questions too.

Having never thought about it before, it got me questioning what other writers’ processes were.

First piece of advice I found was to write a single sentence, summarizing your book. Sounds simple. But it is not simple, and I couldn’t say it was a challenge that I wanted to complete. To me, a book that can be summarized in a single sentence doesn’t sound like one I’d want to read. A one-page summary is more like it – and that is what I do. A one-page summary of the basic plot. No names, no specific details, just a description of whatever vision it was that made me think ‘That would make a good book’.

The next bit of advice was, umm, oh I don’t care – never really was one for taking advice.

Next is Post-Its!

Post-Its everywhere!

They represent plot events. They represent character descriptions. If it is a fantasy novel, then they represent, unique things – creatures, foods, places, cultures.

What I like about post-its is that they are very quick to move around, and it takes me a few attempts to get the order of events correct. I inevitably end up adding in more events and characters as I go, and that is easy too.

Then I dive into the writing – and half of my planning becomes forgotten as I get carried away with the world I’m creating. With one novel, I started off planning a single main character, but ended up with not just more than one p.o.v. character, I created parallel story lines that worked towards each other. The post-its remain on the wall, but they grow in number and get moved around.

When there is an event that is very clear in my mind, I write it, even if it is the end of the book. Sometimes writing it down makes it clearer what I need to write to get there, clarifying the earlier events yet to be written.

There is a lot of talk of goals, targets etc. I can see that it is a good idea, and to some extent I try – if I write at least 500 words in an evening, it feels good. But this is a hobby for me, not a job. I have written over 10,000 words in a day. I have struggled to write 100 words other days. What’s my average? Don’t know. Don’t care.

When the first draft is done, it is onto the nervous waiting while a few friends and family read it. It will be rife with errors, but they provide feedback on the plot. This sometimes results in a major re-write. Then it is onto editing, trying to find all those errors – they’re like Pokémon, gotta get ’em all.

A bit of cover design and it’s good to go. Amazon makes it very easy.

 

 

Book Review – Cloud Warrior (AMTRAK WARS) by Patrick Tilley

My first book review (of another’s work). Not wanting it to be wasted on whatever book I happen to be reading at the moment, I have decided to review Cloud Warrior, book 1 of the AMTRAK Wars. I read this (quickly followed by the rest of the series) when I was about 12 years old. I was already an avid reader and had a great and growing appreciation for fiction. I’d read fantasy (such as the original Shannara trilogy  by T. Brooks), I’d read Sci-Fi, (such as the dorsai books by Gordon Dickson, and several Asimov books).

This book (or these books, as a series) changed my idea of what fiction was, or could be. Fiction could be anything. It isn’t restricted to any genre, it is limited only by imagination, and therefore unlimited.

Cloud Warrior is the first book (written before I was born) in a six-book-epic describing a sci-fi, post-apocalyptic, dystopian, magical, fantasy world. It sees a technologically advanced (modern technology level) oppressive regime that is the remnant of western society that survived a nuclear war (in underground bunkers) attempting to wipe out or subjugate the surface dwelling mutants (Mutes), who live like native American lifestyle (of 400 years ago), but are supplied weapons (cross-bows) by a third civilization, the Iron masters (a samurai based civilization on the cusp of an industrial revolution). But to add into the mix, a minority of the mutes have the power of magic, which may just even the odds against the bullets and bombs of the AMTRAK federation.

There are 5 main characters in this book. Steve and Roz are siblings raised in the federation, raised with the sole aim of helping wipe out the mutes. Cadillac and Clearwater are two mutes, gifted with magic, being taught by their mentor (and the fifth major character) Mr. Snow.

With lives shaped and bound together by the Talisman prophesy, they struggle to survive through the genocide that they are supposed to be waging against each other, with loyalties constantly questioned and tested. Never before or since have I felt so personally invested in a set of characters. Perhaps some of that is nostalgia, but this is easily the series of books that I have read and re-read the most. With the mutes names referring to popular culture (of the eighties), some references might be a bit dated, but this story feels very fresh.

5 STARS

 *  *  *  *  *

If you liked the story in the film Avatar, I think you should give this cult classic a try.

Book bloggers — They’re AMAZING!

Book bloggers – what an awesome resource they are, to both readers and writers. While they generally do it for their own enjoyment, to keep a record of their reading history and to connect with other readers, I really respect and appreciate the service that they are providing.

As a reader (and I’ve been enjoying reading books for far longer than I’ve been writing), they offer great feedback and reviews on the ever-increasing choice of literature on offer. If you’re lucky enough to find a few bloggers with similar taste to your own, their recommendations are so useful in vetting books (particularly the longer ones) before investing hours of your life.

More recently, I’m seeing their platinum-like value from the p.o.v. of an author.

From this perspective, they are helping spread the work about the work of authors, offering very valuable reviews and ratings, for almost no personal gain (all they get in exchange is a copy of the book) For those bloggers that accept eBooks as review copies, they are offering me a completely free service. Even for those that prefer paperbacks, it is a very small price to pay for such great feedback.

In addition to their book reviews, many of these bloggers offer interesting (and occasionally random) features that make great reading.

 

My book was released a week ago today.

 

Here are a few of the blogs that I’m appreciative to:

The Reader’s Hollow

Zebinoco Booklove

The Blonde Bookworm

 

 

Find Cruel Reality on

Amazon.com

Amazon.co.uk

 

An initial review!

My first review has been posted! A few weeks ago I sent out a few ARCs and eARCs and I’ve had my first response, from The Readers Hollow.

The review can be seen here.

It was very exciting to read this and, because it is very complimentary of the book, a huge relief. Waiting for a response from any of the reviewers, to hear their conclusion on my effort has been nerve-wracking, so a five-star review was very welcome.

Cruel Reality: Games of Life and Death

The debut novel from C.J. Whitley, Cruel Reality is a New Adult Thriller due for release on Amazon on 27th May 2016.

“Taken by masked men in the night, a host of British people find themselves at the mercy of unknown abductors. They cannot guess where they are going, or why they are going there. When they find an arsenal of medieval weapons in their new prison, horrific possibilities are imagined. When the cruel reality of their fate is revealed to them, they must learn a new way of life.

Fight or die. There is nowhere to run.”