Wesley Britton's Blog, page 27
November 3, 2017
Book Review: The Criminal Mastermind of Baker Street by Rob Nunn
The Criminal Mastermind of Baker Street
Rob Nunn
Print Length: 235 pages
Publisher: MX Publishing; 1 edition (September 18, 2017)
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC
ASIN: B075RDHN2Z
ISBN 978-1787051744
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075RDHN2Z/...
Reviewed by Dr. Wesley Britton
What haven’t they done to Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson? Over the years, print authors and scriptwriters have tinkered with the pair by having them living in current times, have them use contemporary technology and investigative techniques, or change the gender mostly of Watson but sometimes Sherlock as well. Occasionally such creators have Sherlock turned into a criminal including becoming Jack the Ripper or even Professor James Moriarty.
The latter device is what Rob Nunn explores in The Criminal Mastermind of Baker Street where Holmes builds a criminal empire in London by being a “crime consoltant” where he advises criminals on how they can get away with their dirty deeds and avoid violence and capture, so long as they run their schemes through him first. As Holmes explains to Dr. Watson when they meet, Holmes wants crime to be “gentlemanly” and leave London streets safe from the unsavory aspects of bloody crime and street toughs as he becomes involved with counterfeiting, gambling, burglary, and occasionally extortion.
At least, that’s what Nunn tells us Holmes, with Watson’s willing assistance, is doing. For the first hundred pages or so, we rarely witness criminal activities as Nunn dramatizes very few of the stories, with notable short exceptions like a breezy description of Holmes pulling the strings of the lucrative Red-Headed League. Other than recaps of Conan Doyle’s own flashes of Holmes’s mental gymnastics, we see little of Holmes deductive reasoning but rather see his organizational flair and his pugilist skills in a boxing match with McMurdo, a character taken from Conan Doyle’s Valley of Fear. In fact, Nunn is very clever creating an alternate history of Holmes and Watson by revamping many of the original Holmes mysteries, developing some Doyle stories the creator gave scant mention in the original Holmes canon. In others its Nunn who gives the old yarns a hit-and-run treatment as he seems to want to touch every base in the Holmes biography including good use of the Baker Street Irregulars, Mycroft Holmes, and a unique take on Irene Adler.
The pace quickens considerably in the second hundred pages of the book where Holmes and Professor Moriarty engage in their on-again, off-again tug of war for supremacy in London’s criminal underworld. This occurs along with no shortage of digressive tales where Holmes is often far more detective than criminal overlord, as in Nunn’s short retelling of Conan Doyle’s The Sign of Four. While Holmes is a comparatively moral criminal, he doesn’t have quite the moral compass of characters like Leslie Charteris’s Simon Templar (The Saint.) Holmes’s hands aren’t clean, but he often does contribute to both private and public good, so much so that Mycroft overlooks much of what his younger brother is up to.
While Nunn hopes readers unfamiliar with previous Holmes stories will enjoy his take on the Victorian-set mythos, I rather suspect his primary audience will be established Sherlockians who might enjoy diving into his novel to compare their own perceptions of the realm created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle with the new interpretation spun out by Rob Nunn. After all, Nunn prides himself on how he researched and reworked the canon to shape his fresh takes on the adventures. The fast pace is often a good thing as the reader is swept along from incident to incident, but it can also be a problem as many quick story bites aren’t developed enough to make them memorable. A clever book to be sure, something for Holmes and Watson fans to add to their shelves of Sherlockiana, to coin a term.
This review first appeared at BookPleasures.com on Nov. 3, 2017 at:
http://dpli.ir/lJf09d
Rob Nunn
Print Length: 235 pages
Publisher: MX Publishing; 1 edition (September 18, 2017)
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC
ASIN: B075RDHN2Z
ISBN 978-1787051744
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075RDHN2Z/...
Reviewed by Dr. Wesley Britton
What haven’t they done to Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson? Over the years, print authors and scriptwriters have tinkered with the pair by having them living in current times, have them use contemporary technology and investigative techniques, or change the gender mostly of Watson but sometimes Sherlock as well. Occasionally such creators have Sherlock turned into a criminal including becoming Jack the Ripper or even Professor James Moriarty.
The latter device is what Rob Nunn explores in The Criminal Mastermind of Baker Street where Holmes builds a criminal empire in London by being a “crime consoltant” where he advises criminals on how they can get away with their dirty deeds and avoid violence and capture, so long as they run their schemes through him first. As Holmes explains to Dr. Watson when they meet, Holmes wants crime to be “gentlemanly” and leave London streets safe from the unsavory aspects of bloody crime and street toughs as he becomes involved with counterfeiting, gambling, burglary, and occasionally extortion.
At least, that’s what Nunn tells us Holmes, with Watson’s willing assistance, is doing. For the first hundred pages or so, we rarely witness criminal activities as Nunn dramatizes very few of the stories, with notable short exceptions like a breezy description of Holmes pulling the strings of the lucrative Red-Headed League. Other than recaps of Conan Doyle’s own flashes of Holmes’s mental gymnastics, we see little of Holmes deductive reasoning but rather see his organizational flair and his pugilist skills in a boxing match with McMurdo, a character taken from Conan Doyle’s Valley of Fear. In fact, Nunn is very clever creating an alternate history of Holmes and Watson by revamping many of the original Holmes mysteries, developing some Doyle stories the creator gave scant mention in the original Holmes canon. In others its Nunn who gives the old yarns a hit-and-run treatment as he seems to want to touch every base in the Holmes biography including good use of the Baker Street Irregulars, Mycroft Holmes, and a unique take on Irene Adler.
The pace quickens considerably in the second hundred pages of the book where Holmes and Professor Moriarty engage in their on-again, off-again tug of war for supremacy in London’s criminal underworld. This occurs along with no shortage of digressive tales where Holmes is often far more detective than criminal overlord, as in Nunn’s short retelling of Conan Doyle’s The Sign of Four. While Holmes is a comparatively moral criminal, he doesn’t have quite the moral compass of characters like Leslie Charteris’s Simon Templar (The Saint.) Holmes’s hands aren’t clean, but he often does contribute to both private and public good, so much so that Mycroft overlooks much of what his younger brother is up to.
While Nunn hopes readers unfamiliar with previous Holmes stories will enjoy his take on the Victorian-set mythos, I rather suspect his primary audience will be established Sherlockians who might enjoy diving into his novel to compare their own perceptions of the realm created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle with the new interpretation spun out by Rob Nunn. After all, Nunn prides himself on how he researched and reworked the canon to shape his fresh takes on the adventures. The fast pace is often a good thing as the reader is swept along from incident to incident, but it can also be a problem as many quick story bites aren’t developed enough to make them memorable. A clever book to be sure, something for Holmes and Watson fans to add to their shelves of Sherlockiana, to coin a term.
This review first appeared at BookPleasures.com on Nov. 3, 2017 at:
http://dpli.ir/lJf09d
November 1, 2017
Fresh Take on Time Travel
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Katie Schnack
856-489-8654 ext. 330
Katie.schnack@smithpublicity.com
Found in Time
by J.K. Kelly
RIVETING ACTION-PACKED THRILLER TAKES READERS ACROSS CONTINENTS AND CENTURIES
What would you do if you could go back in time and change history, for the better? Where you would you even start? That is the very issue the U.S. military is faced with in the new thriller novel by J.K. Kelly, Found in Time (Oct. 2017).
In today’s complex world, the military can use all the help they can get fighting against the enemy. When a new top-secret weapon is revealed – the ability to travel back in time – the options for fighting against the forces of evil from any time period now comes into play.
Major J.J. Jackson, a highly decorated U.S. Marine whose focus in life is to seek and destroy terrorists, is tasked by the Joint Chiefs of Staff to test this revolutionary technology that promises the U.S. military a political edge over foreign and domestic threats. But when Jackson goes rogue and travels back in time to ask a higher power to save the woman he loves, everyone’s lives are changed forever.
General Dick Stewart oversees the program they are hiding from a contentious White House and the CIA. As a supporter of Jackson’s career –ever since the death of the younger man’s parents – Stewart must watch his own back as he tries to look after the Jackson and his eclectic group of patriots.
For Jackson’s team of six men and women, time travel becomes their magic bullet. But when a new American president comes under siege, those who were “found in time” must lock and load. The team will need to ratchet up their aggression to defeat the most dangerous enemies the country has ever seen and this time, on American soil.
“Found in Time not only takes readers to fascinating places all over the world during some of the most critical events history, but it also ties in the fast-paced excitement of the U.S. military fighting against the evils of the world in a way unlike every before – across centuries and continents,” says Kelly.
J.K. KELLY knows what fast-paced action is all about. Before his career as an author, he worked in the high-speed world of professional motorsports. He was a public relations director for Darrell Waltrip and the Gatorade 88 NASCAR Team. He went on to work with VP Racing Fuels for nearly three decades as the regional manager for Europe and much of North America. His job took him all around the world, which became an inspiration behind his action-packed writing that takes readers across continents and keeps them on the edge of their seats.
Kelly has since opted out of the corporate world to enjoy quality time with his family and to pursue his writing. Found In Time is his debut novel and he is currently working on the sequel. Kelly is also putting the finishing touches on a funny, adventurous work of non-fiction set in the fast-paced world of international motorsports.
Connect with J.K. Kelly on Twitter, @JKKellyBooks and on his website, www.jkkelly.com=
Found in Time is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.
REVIEW COPIES AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST
Contact: Katie Schnack
856-489-8654 ext. 330
Katie.schnack@smithpublicity.com
Found in Time
by J.K. Kelly
RIVETING ACTION-PACKED THRILLER TAKES READERS ACROSS CONTINENTS AND CENTURIES
What would you do if you could go back in time and change history, for the better? Where you would you even start? That is the very issue the U.S. military is faced with in the new thriller novel by J.K. Kelly, Found in Time (Oct. 2017).
In today’s complex world, the military can use all the help they can get fighting against the enemy. When a new top-secret weapon is revealed – the ability to travel back in time – the options for fighting against the forces of evil from any time period now comes into play.
Major J.J. Jackson, a highly decorated U.S. Marine whose focus in life is to seek and destroy terrorists, is tasked by the Joint Chiefs of Staff to test this revolutionary technology that promises the U.S. military a political edge over foreign and domestic threats. But when Jackson goes rogue and travels back in time to ask a higher power to save the woman he loves, everyone’s lives are changed forever.
General Dick Stewart oversees the program they are hiding from a contentious White House and the CIA. As a supporter of Jackson’s career –ever since the death of the younger man’s parents – Stewart must watch his own back as he tries to look after the Jackson and his eclectic group of patriots.
For Jackson’s team of six men and women, time travel becomes their magic bullet. But when a new American president comes under siege, those who were “found in time” must lock and load. The team will need to ratchet up their aggression to defeat the most dangerous enemies the country has ever seen and this time, on American soil.
“Found in Time not only takes readers to fascinating places all over the world during some of the most critical events history, but it also ties in the fast-paced excitement of the U.S. military fighting against the evils of the world in a way unlike every before – across centuries and continents,” says Kelly.
J.K. KELLY knows what fast-paced action is all about. Before his career as an author, he worked in the high-speed world of professional motorsports. He was a public relations director for Darrell Waltrip and the Gatorade 88 NASCAR Team. He went on to work with VP Racing Fuels for nearly three decades as the regional manager for Europe and much of North America. His job took him all around the world, which became an inspiration behind his action-packed writing that takes readers across continents and keeps them on the edge of their seats.
Kelly has since opted out of the corporate world to enjoy quality time with his family and to pursue his writing. Found In Time is his debut novel and he is currently working on the sequel. Kelly is also putting the finishing touches on a funny, adventurous work of non-fiction set in the fast-paced world of international motorsports.
Connect with J.K. Kelly on Twitter, @JKKellyBooks and on his website, www.jkkelly.com=
Found in Time is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.
REVIEW COPIES AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST
Andrea Churchill seeks reviewers for new Dark Fantasy
The Lerewood
By Andrea Churchill
Publisher: Kellan Publishing
ISBN: 978-1514645901
ASIN: B0104XBP1K
Genre: Dark fantasy, fantasy, horror, thriller, paranormal
Formats Available For Review: pdf, mobi, epub
Legends speak of a place called Lerewood, an isolated little village set in the middle of an immeasurable, ghostly wood. The townspeople suffer from severe poverty and filth, living more like savage animals than a cultured civilization. However, despite the town’s inhuman conditions, the townspeople never seem to die from disease or starvation, and their numbers only seem to grow with each generation. No one knows the truth of how Lerewood came to be, but many secrets seem to revolve around an ancient, legendary creature that lives in the surrounding forest. They say she’ll hunt anyone who dares trespass onto her land; those who enter the forest never come back.
One middle aged man, Uallas, depressed and tired of abuse from his monstrous wife, decides to commit suicide by entering the wood. But when he steps foot into the mythical dark forest, Uallas finds that everything he ever knew about the town, and himself, were lies. These new discoveries only lead to more questions, where the truth can only be found in the mysterious, undiscovered world.
The Lerewood introduces the topics of natural evil, identity, and judgment, all while moving the reader with detailed personification. It is a tale of darkness, and will appeal to many readers with its rich, moody deions of the eerie, mythological forest.
For review copies contact:
Andrea Churchill
Email: andreachurchillbooks@yahoo.com
Website: http://www.andreachurchillbooks.com/c...
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/andreachurch...
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/achurchillbooks
By Andrea Churchill
Publisher: Kellan Publishing
ISBN: 978-1514645901
ASIN: B0104XBP1K
Genre: Dark fantasy, fantasy, horror, thriller, paranormal
Formats Available For Review: pdf, mobi, epub
Legends speak of a place called Lerewood, an isolated little village set in the middle of an immeasurable, ghostly wood. The townspeople suffer from severe poverty and filth, living more like savage animals than a cultured civilization. However, despite the town’s inhuman conditions, the townspeople never seem to die from disease or starvation, and their numbers only seem to grow with each generation. No one knows the truth of how Lerewood came to be, but many secrets seem to revolve around an ancient, legendary creature that lives in the surrounding forest. They say she’ll hunt anyone who dares trespass onto her land; those who enter the forest never come back.
One middle aged man, Uallas, depressed and tired of abuse from his monstrous wife, decides to commit suicide by entering the wood. But when he steps foot into the mythical dark forest, Uallas finds that everything he ever knew about the town, and himself, were lies. These new discoveries only lead to more questions, where the truth can only be found in the mysterious, undiscovered world.
The Lerewood introduces the topics of natural evil, identity, and judgment, all while moving the reader with detailed personification. It is a tale of darkness, and will appeal to many readers with its rich, moody deions of the eerie, mythological forest.
For review copies contact:
Andrea Churchill
Email: andreachurchillbooks@yahoo.com
Website: http://www.andreachurchillbooks.com/c...
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/andreachurch...
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/achurchillbooks
Jason F Boggs seeks reviewers for his The Devil's Dragon
Jason F Boggs seeks reviewers for his The Devil's Dragon
The Devil's Dragon
Jason F Boggs
Publisher: Mill City Press, Inc.
Published: January 2017
ISBN: 978-1635054811
ASIN: B01N34P7D6
Genre: Sci-fi Space Opera
When the battle for Earth begins, whose side will you be on?
An epic Sci Fi/fantasy drama set eighty years in the future, told surrounding the development and ultimately the outcome of the Aesini war as seen intimately through the eyes of Nelson Jones, a young and gifted military cadet whose rise through the ranks in the fascist new world order known as the "New Era" reveals to him through his experiences the true nature of humanity, both good and evil. Nelson is on a journey of self discovery and is forced to confront his values and his world view to make difficult choices. The story is also intimately told from the perspective of multiple players on both sides of the conflict. This is the first book of a story driven trilogy in a universe that's as rich and compelling as other major franchises.
For review copies contact:Jason F Boggs
Email: jason@thedragontrilogy.com
Website: https://www.thedragontrilogy.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thedragontri...
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JasonFBoggs
The Devil's Dragon
Jason F Boggs
Publisher: Mill City Press, Inc.
Published: January 2017
ISBN: 978-1635054811
ASIN: B01N34P7D6
Genre: Sci-fi Space Opera
When the battle for Earth begins, whose side will you be on?
An epic Sci Fi/fantasy drama set eighty years in the future, told surrounding the development and ultimately the outcome of the Aesini war as seen intimately through the eyes of Nelson Jones, a young and gifted military cadet whose rise through the ranks in the fascist new world order known as the "New Era" reveals to him through his experiences the true nature of humanity, both good and evil. Nelson is on a journey of self discovery and is forced to confront his values and his world view to make difficult choices. The story is also intimately told from the perspective of multiple players on both sides of the conflict. This is the first book of a story driven trilogy in a universe that's as rich and compelling as other major franchises.
For review copies contact:Jason F Boggs
Email: jason@thedragontrilogy.com
Website: https://www.thedragontrilogy.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thedragontri...
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JasonFBoggs
Meet the Indies--"New Adventures are just Words Away"
The tenth blog in the Beta-Earth Chronicles blog tour is Meet the Indies (“New Adventures are just Words Away.”) The owner describes the site as:
For all booklovers. Meet the Indies started out as Meet a Writer on Lone Horse Spirit, a way for one indie author to help her fellow indies with promotional blog posts. With over 150 books in 29 genres and 250 authors, the site is now taking on a life of its own.
http://meettheindies.com/authors/wesl...
For all booklovers. Meet the Indies started out as Meet a Writer on Lone Horse Spirit, a way for one indie author to help her fellow indies with promotional blog posts. With over 150 books in 29 genres and 250 authors, the site is now taking on a life of its own.
http://meettheindies.com/authors/wesl...
October 31, 2017
Pre-order new book on The X-Men on TV!
Previously on XMen by Eric Lewald
Pre-Sale begins Oct. 31st
Jacobs Brown Media Group/Jacobs Brown Press is pleased to announce Previously on XMen, The Making of an Animated Series by Eric Lewald is available for pre-sale beginning October 31, 2017.
Previously on X-Men is Eric Lewald’s personal, inside account of how the series got on the air, the many challenges that were overcome, and how the show prevailed. The head writer interviewed 36 of the artists, writers, voice cast, and executives who helped make this game-changing series a worldwide success. This book is an authoritative look into the creation of the animated series that nobody expected to succeed. Lewald offers a unique behind-the-scenes look at the beloved Saturday-morning cartoon series.
The hard cover book, over 460 pages and 300 images, is estimated to begin shipping November 10, 2017. And, when you purchase through the Jacobs Brown store, will be autographed by the author, Eric Lewald.
http://www.jacobsbrownmediagroup.com
To interview the author, or for additional information,
contact jacobsbrownpress@gmail.com
Pre-Sale begins Oct. 31st
Jacobs Brown Media Group/Jacobs Brown Press is pleased to announce Previously on XMen, The Making of an Animated Series by Eric Lewald is available for pre-sale beginning October 31, 2017.
Previously on X-Men is Eric Lewald’s personal, inside account of how the series got on the air, the many challenges that were overcome, and how the show prevailed. The head writer interviewed 36 of the artists, writers, voice cast, and executives who helped make this game-changing series a worldwide success. This book is an authoritative look into the creation of the animated series that nobody expected to succeed. Lewald offers a unique behind-the-scenes look at the beloved Saturday-morning cartoon series.
The hard cover book, over 460 pages and 300 images, is estimated to begin shipping November 10, 2017. And, when you purchase through the Jacobs Brown store, will be autographed by the author, Eric Lewald.
http://www.jacobsbrownmediagroup.com
To interview the author, or for additional information,
contact jacobsbrownpress@gmail.com
October 30, 2017
Scotland, pubs, and Beta-Earth at A Muse's Retreat
If headings like “Scotland photos” or “pub crawl” sound down your alley, you might like A Muse’s Retreat, the latest blog in the Beta-Earth blog tour:
http://victoria-saccenti.blogspot.gr/...
http://victoria-saccenti.blogspot.gr/...
Book Review: Blood Run (Emma Caldridge Series Book 5) by Jamie Freveletti
Book Review: Blood Run (Emma Caldridge Series Book 5) by Jamie Freveletti
Blood Run (Emma Caldridge Series Book 5)
Jamie Freveletti
Print Length: 297 pages
Publisher: Calexia Press (November 14, 2017)
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC
ASIN: B076NLBB5F
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B076NLBB5F/...
Reviewed by Dr. Wesley Britton
Emma Caldridge, a bio-chemist and international ultramarathon runner, debuted in Jamie Freveletti’s 2009 Running from the Devil. Thereafter, the character has starred in the thrillers Running Dark, The Ninth Day, Dead Asleep, and the three-part novella, Risk (4.1), Gone (4.2), and Run (4.3). Along the way, Freveletti was commissioned by the Robert Ludlum estate to contribute two outings in the Covert-One franchise, The Janus Reprisal (2012) and The Geneva Strategy (2015).
Now, Caldridge returns in Blood Run where she’s invited by billionaire CEO Jackson Rand on a humanitarian mission to deliver vaccines to refugees in Africa. But two weeks into the mission Emma, Rand, and his secretary are ambushed on the road to Dakar by a band of assassins. In short order, Emma learns about vials of live smallpox virus a ruthless African government wants to buy as biological weapons. Another group of insurgents kidnaps an expedition of U.S. diplomats. Yes, all this is a rather complicated set-up—and this is just the beginning of the story.
For help, Emma calls Edward Banner, a defense contractor, even as her party learns they are surrounded on four sides by deadly insurgent armies wanting to kidnap any Westerners and make it impossible for them to break through to Dakar. Aiding camps of refugees, Emma enrages the insurgents who want to maintain the illegal practice of slavery. So trapped in the West African Sahara Desert, Emma and her allies must look for some means of escape, protect the vials of smallpox germs, rescue the kidnapped diplomats, help what refugees they can, and simply survive with minimal supplies and limited weaponry.
Aficionados of such international thrillers should expect a certain number of familiar tropes in these stories. For one, settings should be exotic and vividly painted, and Freveletti is excellent in providing her readers detailed descriptions of locales and the natural enviorenment. Often, there’s a deadly virus or disease involved in these novels, and smallpox is but one element in this story. The action must be fast and furious, and that’s certainly the case in Blood Run. Some “techno-thrillers” revolve around cutting-edge weaponry or surveillance devices, but Blood Run is exactly the opposite of all that. What matters here is how quick thinking and resourceful Caldridge is, not to mention the talents of the rest of her compatriots. For example, her restrained, sort of love interest, sharpshooter and drug agent Cameron Sumner, is an ideal partner as the pair take out a small fleet of heavily armed insurgents using, of all things, explosives built into cars and trucks that set off airbags.
Emma’s trademark ability is running, and run she does for long distances in the arid desert despite little water or food for sustenance. This is the one aspect of our heroine that pumps in a thread of originality into the proceedings. Of course, originality isn’t the point but rather how engrossed a reader can get in the story line as it opens up from beginning to end. If you’re a fan of this genre, you may find Jamie Freveletti is a surprisingly pleasant scribe of hot adventures that don’t require fantasticaly armed ships or mind-bobbling computers.
This review first appeared at BookPleasures.com on Oct. 30, 2017 at:
http://dpli.ir/FDqFjj
Blood Run (Emma Caldridge Series Book 5)
Jamie Freveletti
Print Length: 297 pages
Publisher: Calexia Press (November 14, 2017)
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC
ASIN: B076NLBB5F
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B076NLBB5F/...
Reviewed by Dr. Wesley Britton
Emma Caldridge, a bio-chemist and international ultramarathon runner, debuted in Jamie Freveletti’s 2009 Running from the Devil. Thereafter, the character has starred in the thrillers Running Dark, The Ninth Day, Dead Asleep, and the three-part novella, Risk (4.1), Gone (4.2), and Run (4.3). Along the way, Freveletti was commissioned by the Robert Ludlum estate to contribute two outings in the Covert-One franchise, The Janus Reprisal (2012) and The Geneva Strategy (2015).
Now, Caldridge returns in Blood Run where she’s invited by billionaire CEO Jackson Rand on a humanitarian mission to deliver vaccines to refugees in Africa. But two weeks into the mission Emma, Rand, and his secretary are ambushed on the road to Dakar by a band of assassins. In short order, Emma learns about vials of live smallpox virus a ruthless African government wants to buy as biological weapons. Another group of insurgents kidnaps an expedition of U.S. diplomats. Yes, all this is a rather complicated set-up—and this is just the beginning of the story.
For help, Emma calls Edward Banner, a defense contractor, even as her party learns they are surrounded on four sides by deadly insurgent armies wanting to kidnap any Westerners and make it impossible for them to break through to Dakar. Aiding camps of refugees, Emma enrages the insurgents who want to maintain the illegal practice of slavery. So trapped in the West African Sahara Desert, Emma and her allies must look for some means of escape, protect the vials of smallpox germs, rescue the kidnapped diplomats, help what refugees they can, and simply survive with minimal supplies and limited weaponry.
Aficionados of such international thrillers should expect a certain number of familiar tropes in these stories. For one, settings should be exotic and vividly painted, and Freveletti is excellent in providing her readers detailed descriptions of locales and the natural enviorenment. Often, there’s a deadly virus or disease involved in these novels, and smallpox is but one element in this story. The action must be fast and furious, and that’s certainly the case in Blood Run. Some “techno-thrillers” revolve around cutting-edge weaponry or surveillance devices, but Blood Run is exactly the opposite of all that. What matters here is how quick thinking and resourceful Caldridge is, not to mention the talents of the rest of her compatriots. For example, her restrained, sort of love interest, sharpshooter and drug agent Cameron Sumner, is an ideal partner as the pair take out a small fleet of heavily armed insurgents using, of all things, explosives built into cars and trucks that set off airbags.
Emma’s trademark ability is running, and run she does for long distances in the arid desert despite little water or food for sustenance. This is the one aspect of our heroine that pumps in a thread of originality into the proceedings. Of course, originality isn’t the point but rather how engrossed a reader can get in the story line as it opens up from beginning to end. If you’re a fan of this genre, you may find Jamie Freveletti is a surprisingly pleasant scribe of hot adventures that don’t require fantasticaly armed ships or mind-bobbling computers.
This review first appeared at BookPleasures.com on Oct. 30, 2017 at:
http://dpli.ir/FDqFjj
Start the week with the Beta-Earth blog tour
The Beta-Earth Chronicles blog tour continues with Marnie Cate (“Unlock the magic”) at:
http://www.marniecate.com/unlock-the-...
How about AUTHORS AND IDEAS – Judith Rook (with Alison Dere):
http://www.judithrook.com/authors-and...
http://www.marniecate.com/unlock-the-...
How about AUTHORS AND IDEAS – Judith Rook (with Alison Dere):
http://www.judithrook.com/authors-and...
October 29, 2017
Sunday's Blog Tour adds!
TOO NEW FRIENDS IN THE BETA-EARTH CHRONICLES BLOG TOUR INCLUDE READCOMMENDATIONS (“SO MANY BOOKS, SO LITTLE TIME”):
https://readcommendations.com/2017/10...
and Karen’s Book Buzz Blog:
https://karensbookbuzz.wordpress.com/...
https://readcommendations.com/2017/10...
and Karen’s Book Buzz Blog:
https://karensbookbuzz.wordpress.com/...
Wesley Britton's Blog
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“The Blind Alien is a story with a highly original concept, fascinating characters, and not-too-subtle but truthful allegories. Don’t let the ...more
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