Suzanne Johnson's Blog, page 88

Winner-time Love

Fingers crossed for all my pals in New Orleans and along the Gulf Coast as Tropical Storm Lee blows in. We're badly in need of rain here, so send him this way!
Since it's a holiday weekend, I won't be posting updates on Sunday or Monday. Our regular Reader's Choice list (another monster!) will run on Tuesday, followed by the book club on Wednesday (join us in reading Jeaniene Frost's Halfway to the Grave) and some more cool giveaways on Thursday and Friday.
Now....our weekly winners.
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Urban Fantasy Review & Contest: WHITE TIGER, by Kylie Chan

Everybody's looking for a new urban fantasy spin these days, so I was excited to see this new trilogy start up (well, new to the U.S., although I think it's been out in Australia for a while)—full of dragons and demons and martial arts, set in Hong Kong. The first book in the Dark Heavens series by Kylie Chan is White Tiger, which comes out this week. Next month will come Red Phoenix, and then in October will be the final book, Blue Dragon. Kind of cool not to have to wait six months or a y...

Review & Contest: THE SOOKIE STACKHOUSE COMPANION by Charlaine Harris

Okay, let's all say it together: "Soooookaaaaay." Whew. Had to get that bad Stephen Moyer impression out of my system. I've had a love-hate relationship with Sookie Stackhouse over the years. I started the first book in the series twice before I finally read it through, got hooked on the second, and never looked back. I had mixed feelings when author Charlaine Harris announced recently that the series would be coming to an end after two more books, the first to be released next spring. Eric s...

Preternatura Book Club: HALFWAY TO THE GRAVE, Chapters 1-2

Welcome to this week's "meeting" of the Preternatura Book Club! Today, by reader vote, we're beginning a new read, with the first book in Jeaniene Frost's Night Huntress series, Halfway to the Grave.
This is a new series for me, although you guys have been singing the praises of Cat and Bones on this blog forever. So if you're new to the series, or an old pro, hope you'll join in and share your thoughts as we read. (And OMG. I totally love Bones already!)
Here's how it works. Each...

Sci-Fi Review & Contest: THE MOON MAZE GAME by Larry Niven and Steven Barnes

Any RPGers out there? What if your RPG wasn't online... but was on the moon? What if, thanks to some terrorists, it turned real? Pretty good novel premise, at least, huh? Today, we're looking at The Moon Maze Game, by science fiction veterans Larry Niven and Steven Barnes, published by Tor Books. Want a copy? Read on!
THE OFFICIAL BLURB: The Year: 2085. Humanity has spread throughout the solar system. A stable lunar colony is agitating for independence. Lunar tourism is on the...

New Releases Aug. 29-Sept. 2 & Reader's Choice Contest

So, remember those quiet, peaceful release weeks we've had the last two weeks? No more! We have a monster-pile of new releases this week and next in all genres, so strap on your helmets and wade on in. What do YOU want to read? As always, a Reader's Choice giveaway—and it's international. Get to reading!

Aftermath, by Ann Aguirre (Ace)During the war against murderous, flesh-eating aliens, grimspace "jumper" Sirantha Jax decided to go it alone. The cost of her actions: the destruction of...

Happy Sunday

No blog today--if you're really desperate, head on over to the Castles & Guns blog today, where I'm talking about a couple of milestones I reached this week in the road toward publication.

Come by tomorrow for a MONSTROUS list of new releases!

Whence Go the Winners

Thoughts are with all my friends on the U.S. East Coast this weekend. May Irene fizzle out and all the fuss be for nothing!
I do feel some winners blowing in, though, and here they are!
Congrats to KRISTA for winning Felix Palma's The Map of  Time.
Congrats to CAIT for winning the week's Reader's Choice contest. She chose Possess.
Congrats to BHAND35 for winning David Chandler's Den of Thieves.
Congrats to MARIEE for winning the five-book prize pack. She picked Chance of a Lifetime; Blood...

First Sentences Friday (and a Five-Book Giveaway)

I haven't done a First-Sentences Friday in a while, and I have a backlog of books, so...you know what that means!

I'm a big fan of first sentences. I don't judge a book by its first sentence--that's too much pressure to put on a dozen or less words, after all. But I appreciate a grabber of a first sentence when I see it.

These books aren't all first-sentence grabbers...but they're good reads, and a big variety of reads. And I'm giving a commenter his or her choice of any five of these. Comments...

Review & Contest: DEN OF THIEVES by David Chandler

Thursday seems a good day for...fantasy. Yeah, I know I teased you with The Sookie Stackhouse Companion, and I will have it next week for sure. Today, I'm looking at a new book (and the first in a new trilogy) called Den of Thieves. As always, read on for a chance to win a copy!

ABOUT THE BOOK:  Born and raised in the squalid depths of the Free City of Ness, Malden became a thief by necessity. Now he must pay a fortune to join the criminal operation of Cutbill, lord of the underworld—and one...