A.B. Shepherd's Blog

Criminal by K.B. Hoyle - Blog Tour! #amreading #giveaway

K.B. Hoyle is a fantastic author. I adored her Gateway Chronicles fantasy series geared toward young adults, and I also loved her first foray into the New Adult genre titled Breeder. You can take a look back at my review of Breeder here. 

I was recently blessed with an advanced review copy of Breeder's sequel, Criminal, in exchange for a fair and honest review. Criminal picks up right where Breeder leaves off so if it has been awhile since you've read Breeder you may want to reread to catch up again.

K.B. is also offering YOU a chance to win a print copy of both Breeder and Criminal! Just scroll down and enter the rafflecopter below - and best of luck to you. I hope you win!

My review of Criminal: Pria is still extremely naive due to her isolated upbringing but she's learning. I didn't reread Breeder before I started Criminal, and wish I had because it took me a little while to catch back up. I love the new friendships/loyalties being formed here, the action, the danger, and the character development.

I had an inkling where K.B. was headed with regard to Pax, and my only criticism of this book is that I hate where she ended it. I almost wish she'd added that last little reveal to book three rather than leaving this book hanging where she did.

The story is intriguing and I want to know the rest of the story, so I can't wait for book three, Clone!

K.B. Hoyle was also gracious enough to answer a question to be shared exclusively here on my blog!


Question: K.B.,  Can you talk a little bit about the horrors Pria discovered in the basement of the Sanctuary and how that impacts her emotional wellbeing both immediately and later in her story?
Answer: ***SPOILER ALERT FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVEN’T READ BREEDER***
When Pria finally makes it down into the basement of Sanctuary at the end of BREEDER—and really, she only makes it down to one floor, there’s much she doesn’t discover—she finds that she’s been living for five years on top of, basically, death. For the story, compositionally, it’s the culmination of the hints of horror she’d barely begun to suspect early on, before Pax got her out, but despite that, and despite the fact that people outside—in Asylum—had been telling her that horrible things went on at Breeding facilities like Sanctuary, it is still a shock to her system to see it, and to realize, finally and indelibly, that everything she’d been living for is a lie. In a way, she needed to see it, but moving forward into CRIMINAL, it haunts her. Immediately, Pria suffers from a degree of post-traumatic shock, and as time goes on, her resolve becomes hardened to do whatever it takes to find out the truth. What she saw and experienced lends an urgency and loyalty to the mission and people outside the UWO that she probably never would have had otherwise.

Release Date: August 25th , 2016Published by The Writers Coffee ShopGenre: Fiction: DystopianAvailable from: Amazon, Kobo, Barnes and Noble, and TWCS PH





a Rafflecopter giveaway




 ~~SUMMARY~~
Following the horrors she discovered in the basement of Sanctuary at the end of Breeder, there is no longer any doubt in Pria’s mind that the Unified World Order is wicked. But convincing the rest of the world will be another story. When it’s revealed the files she’d stolen from Sanctuary are worthless, Pria and the other Free Patriots must scramble to come up with another way to convince everyone to rise up in open revolution before the UWO’s monsters destroy them all. But Pria’s tenuous grasp of human nature complicates her role in the rebellion as she finds herself torn between Pax, her ever-present protector, and Henri, her good-natured friend. 
A new scheme to infiltrate the seemingly impregnable UWO machine places Pria once again at the centre of the plan. This time, though, she must be willing to erase her identity, It’s a sacrifice she thinks she’s ready to make, but she has no idea just how difficult it will be.

Goodreads
~~ABOUT THE AUTHOR~~
K. B. Hoyle is an author, public speaker, creative writing instructor, and classical history teacher who uses her knowledge of the ancient and medieval worlds to pen speculative fiction for readers of all ages. She and her husband stay busy at their Alabama home with their four young sons.

She is a Readers' Favorite 5-Star reviewed author, a multiple recipient of the Literary Classics Seal of Approval, the winner of the Gold Book Award for YA Series (2016) for The Gateway Chronicles, her best-selling six-book Fantasy series, and the Silver Book Award winner for YA Science Fiction (2015) for BREEDER, the first book in her Dystopian Trilogy, The Breeder Cycle. She was a featured panel speaker at the 2013 Sydney Writer's Festival in Sydney, Australia, and her books receive high acclaim from readers and reviewers worldwide.

Visit her website at kbhoyle.com

 ~~CONNECT WITH THE AUTHOR~~
Facebook * Website * Newsletter * Twitter


Praise for Breeder Book 1 in The Breeder Cycle Series
"Breeder was anything but a let down. The characters were extremely well written, making me able to empathize with Pria and Pax and the situation they find themselves in. I kept turning the pages because I just had to find out what happened to these people and, to my shock, finished the book in a day! "  - Angela  Goodreads Review

What if you could record your dreams? The Experiment of Dreams by Brandon Zenner #amreading #dreams

As all of you probably have figured out by now, I am fascinated by how the mind works. This book caught my attention because it is about a machine that can record your dreams. On a fairly regular basis I remember at least part of my last dream on waking, but who wouldn't want to be able to record their dreams? I know I would. I've written songs, written stories, had dreams that could make a great movie and all kinds of great things in my dreams - that I can only remember a sliver of upon waking. Just think of all the creativity locked inside your dreams!

This book starts out pretty slow and I wasn't a huge fan in the beginning. I swear if the author had typed the name Ben one more time in the first few pages I was about to throw my Kindle across the room! Ben did this. Ben did that. Ben, Ben, Ben, Ben, Ben! We KNOW it's Ben. He's the only one in the damn room. To be fair that really only happened in the beginning and one more time near the end. It wasn't carried on throughout the whole book so it is a minor annoyance.
One other minor annoyance is that the author makes some strange similies. I realize an author's job is to engage all of our senses to give us a full experience, but I have to question something. A few times this author alluded to the "odor of sleep". He's referencing a man who has been sleeping alone in his own apartment with no indication of any hanky panky having gone on, so can someone please tell me - what the heck does sleep smell like? I have absolutely no clue.

Now, minor annoyances aside, I found the book a it slow up until about the halfway point. Once I got there it took off and got a lot more interesting. We really got a chance to know more about the characters at that point, and the plot heated up. Ben's a widower still deep in grieving the loss of his wife, and he's a drunk. He's been working on sleep studies for years and is capable of lucid dreaming which is why he's offered the job of working on this experiment - for cash. He knows his dreams are being recorded - he's getting paid for it - but he's really not quite sure why or what the purpose of the experiment is.  I had a theory - but I was wrong!

There's also a pretty cool plot twist near the end that I really enjoyed.

If you'd like to check out The Experiment of Dreams for yourself click here to find it on Amazon.

Would you like to record your dreams? Why or why not? Please tell me in the comments.

Book Blurb:
Benjamin Walker's lifelong career of testing experimental drugs and medicines, as well as participating in fascinating sleep-related studies, has come to an end. A new and lucrative job opportunity is offered to Ben, working on a project named Lucy, a machine capable of reading and recording a person's dreams in intimate detail. All is finally going well for Ben . . . until strange dreams of a town named Drapery Falls begin to plague him, and memories once hidden begin to reveal themselves. The doctors and staff onboard team Lucy are not who Ben thinks they are, and Mr. Kalispell will stop at nothing to keep Ben's emerging memories buried for good. Ben is put on a collision course that will bring him to the brink of total insanity, and perhaps even death. At the heart of it all, Ben's worst enemy is his own mind, and he must confront his past in order to save his future. The twist and turns in The Experiment of Dreams will keep you guessing, down to the very last line.

About the author:
Brandon Zenner was born and raised in Red Bank New Jersey, only a short distance from the shore. His short fiction has been published in both print and online publications, the first being PLAZM 28, submitted when Brandon was just 19 years old. In 2014 Brandon published his first full-length novel, "The Experiment of Dreams," as a Kindle ebook. The paperback novel followed a year later. His second full-length novel is well on its way.

Throughout his early years writing, Brandon's favorite practice was to open a dictionary to any random page and aimlessly select the first word that this finger touched. He would then feverishly write a short story using his Smith-Corona typewriter. Using a mechanical typewriter, without the aid of auto correct, taught the importance of grammar and spelling (as well as patience and aggravation).

What She Knew by Gilly Macmillan #bookreview #amreading

I've always had kind of a morbid fascination with child abduction. I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy, but I just really wonder about what has happened to those children that are never found. I think I've said on here before that the case of the Beaumont children which happened in Adelaide in the 60s is of particular interest to me, probably because it was multiple childen (three) and remains unsolved to this day.

So with that in mind, occasionally I like to see how an author perceives an abduction case might go - the who, why, and what happens. This is what drew me to What She Knew.

I felt this book started a little slow, and maybe that is because it took me a little while to get used to the format. The book is basically written from three points of view which are interspersed with emails, news reports and info on abduction. The points of view include the mother of the victim, the officer who was in charge of the search for the victim, and the therapist of that officer. It's a bit odd, but overall it does work.

What She Knew is set in England, but is written in such a way it could have occurred anywhere.

Once I got used to the format, I couldn't put it down. There were so many possible perps just like in any real case, and you could feel the frustration of all involved in trying to find this missing child. I felt it was mostly very realistic, and the part that wasn't was still a pretty cool twist. As the search goes on secrets are divulged leaving you to wonder who to trust. This is a well done debut novel from this author. 

If you are interested in checking it out for yourself, click here to find it on Amazon.

Book Blurb:  
Gilly MacmillanIn her enthralling debut, Gilly Macmillan explores a mother’s search for her missing son, weaving a taut psychological thriller as gripping and skillful as The Girl on the Train and The Guilty One.

In a heartbeat, everything changes…

Rachel Jenner is walking in a Bristol park with her eight-year-old son, Ben, when he asks if he can run ahead. It’s an ordinary request on an ordinary Sunday afternoon, and Rachel has no reason to worry—until Ben vanishes. 

Police are called, search parties go out, and Rachel, already insecure after her recent divorce, feels herself coming undone. As hours and then days pass without a sign of Ben, everyone who knew him is called into question, from Rachel’s newly married ex-husband to her mother-of-the-year sister. Inevitably, media attention focuses on Rachel too, and the public’s attitude toward her begins to shift from sympathy to suspicion.

As she desperately pieces together the threadbare clues, Rachel realizes that nothing is quite as she imagined it to be, not even her own judgment. And the greatest dangers may lie not in the anonymous strangers of every parent’s nightmares, but behind the familiar smiles of those she trusts the most.
Where is Ben? The clock is ticking...

About the Author: Gilly Macmillan grew up in Swindon, Wiltshire and also lived in Northern California in her late teens. She studied History of Art at Bristol University and then at the Courtauld Institute of Art in London.

She worked at The Burlington Magazine and the Hayward Gallery before starting a family, and since then has done some lecturing in ‘A’ Level photography.

Gilly lives in Bristol, UK with her husband and three children and now writes full time. She’s currently working on her third novel. 

A frozen future? Iced (Chronicles of White World Book 1) by M. Terry Green #amreading #mondayblogs

I don't generally judge a book by it's cover, which is a good thing because I hate this one.

Iced is a dystopian novel - the first in a triology - about a woman named Thirteen. It's not her real name - but she can't remember her real name. In Green's version of the future, the oceans are frozen over and the world is covered in ice. Slavery is real again, and only the elite are free. 

Thirteeen has somehow escaped from slavery (her past is not explained in this book) and spends her life sailing the ice searching for her sister, who has not. But Thirteen isn't just any ordinary woman. She's different. She has two sets of eyelids, and her hair has no color. It is completely clear, but reflects light giviing it the illusion of the color of her surroundings. She also doesn't feel the cold the way everyone else does.

While searching for her sister she comes across a man who has survived his ice ship being wrecked, but his young daughter has been captured by slavers and he's desperate to rescue her. Thirteen has only two goals. Stay alive and find her sister. Their goals conflict, this the plot of the story begins.

Green hints at many intriguing things in this book and perhaps she intends to explore them further in the next two books in the series. Thirteen's past and what she really is are the main things you really want to know, and they aren't divulged in this first book. 

I really enjoyed it and it was a quick read for me. So much so that when it ended I was shocked, and okay, I'll admit a bit disappointed. At first I thought to myself that this was another case of an author not doing a series right, but when I reflected on it I decided I was wrong.

Green actually does have a minor plot for this book which is resolved within the book, while leaving the major plot to cross into the other books in the series. She did do it right. I'm not sure why I initially felt the ending of this one wasn't quite satisfying enough for me. It just felt like an odd place to end it for some reason, but really that might be some fault of my own somehow. I can't quite tell you how though.

Anyway, if you're feeling the heat of summer where you are, curling up with this icy cold book on the beach should cool you off. And if it's cold where you are, well grab a hot drink and a blanket and don't deny yourself just because of the cold setting.

If you'd like to check out Iced for yourself, you can find it on Amazon by clicking here.

What is your favorite dystopian setting to date? Please tell me about it in the comments.

Book Blurb:
Though she doesn’t know her real name, Thirteen is sure of two things: survival and finding her sister. Nothing stands in her way—not the great Pacifica Ice Sheet nor the slavers she escaped—until her deadly hunt takes a maddening turn.

The first and only clue in her search is held by the survivor of a wrecked ice ship. But he’s not sharing. He has a daughter to rescue, and he needs Thirteen’s help.

In the unforgiving subzero, a wary alliance is formed. Although she’d do anything to find her sister and finally know her own name, Thirteen never forgets the first rule of the ice. You only get one mistake—your last.

Please Note: ICED is Book 1 in a dystopian and post-apocalyptic science fiction trilogy. Books 2 and 3 will be out in 2015.

About the author:
Personally: My husband and I live in Los Angeles and we’ve both lived in California all our lives. The only way I can summarize my personal life succinctly is to tell you that we stopped being two separate people decades ago. Our natural and usual state is happy, upbeat, and quiet.

Professionally: I write full-time and have for the last several years. My non-fiction, under a different name to dispel confusion, has been published by Simon & Schuster and Penguin and my articles have appeared in the NY Times and Cosmopolitan, among others. I have a Ph.D. in archaeology but a B.S. in physics.

Sardonically: Writing about yourself in the third person would be a great way to create an exemplary bio, but that’s not why I’m here. Although I’m healthy, the number of days that I have left to live is finite (real mortality estimate). With that in mind, I’m considering how best to use those days–and I am writing.

Are the woods really haunted? Escape from Witchwood Hollow by Jordan Elizabeth #amreading #mondayblogs

I was given a copy of this ebook in exchange for a fair and honest review. 

This is a YA paranormal novel. Honoria is a fifteen year old girl who lost her parents in the attack on the World Trade Center and subsequently moves from New York City with her brother, aunt and uncle to a small town in rural New York. This particular small town has a legend that says the surrounding woods are haunted by a witch and once you enter them you cannot leave. Several people have gone missing over the years, especially children. Their disappearances are attributed to the witch in the woods.

Honoria is a good kid, and tries hard to keep her life together despite her incredible grief, but she has trouble making friends in this new place.
Then she meets Leon and they share an interest in the history of the town and the legend, but Leon's girlfriend doesn't like this. In the meantime, Honoria's loss competes with her fixation of the legend of the witch who haunts the woods.

But Honoria's story is not the only one told in this book. The author also chronicles the lives of two other young women who have been ensnared by the legend of the woods in two other centuries. And this is part of what intrigued me by this story. While the present day (well at least in 2001) is the main body of the book, it is intermingled with those who went before to make a more complete tale.

I read other reviews which complained about the frequent references to clothing brands/styles, but that didn't detract for me. I saw them as relevant in two ways. First, as a way to show what a fish out of water Honoria is in a place so different to the life she was used to, and second because Honoria wanted to design a fashion magazine, which means she is very aware of clothing styles/designers.

I thought I knew where the author was going, but she surprised me which is often a good thing and definitely one in this case. The ending came up fast and was unexpected, but after pondering on it for awhile I've decided it makes perfect sense and fits the story well and I can think of no better way to end it. I really enjoyed this book.

Want to check it out for yourself? Click here to find it on Amazon.

This story pulled me in the with different timelines and the missing children. What elements are guaranteed to make you want to read it? Please tell me in the comments.

Book Blurb:
Everyone in Arnn - a small farming town with more legends than residents - knows the story of Witchwood Hollow: if you venture into the whispering forest, the witch will trap your soul among the shadowed trees.

After losing her parents in a horrific terrorist attack on the Twin Towers, fifteen-year-old Honoria and her older brother escape New York City to Arnn. In the lure of that perpetual darkness, Honoria finds hope, when she should be afraid.

Perhaps the witch can reunite her with her lost parents. Awakening the witch, however, brings more than salvation from mourning, for Honoria discovers a past of missing children and broken promises.

To save the citizens of Arnn from becoming the witch’s next victims, she must find the truth behind the woman’s madness.

How deep into Witchwood Hollow does Honoria dare venture?

About the author:
Jordan Elizabeth, formally Jordan Elizabeth Mierek, writes down her nightmares in order to live her dreams. With an eclectic job history of working as a college professor; historic costumed interpreter at Fort Stanwix, Victorian Leisure Fair, and Mayfaire on the Green; office specialist; sales clerk; election inspector; and trainer, she is now diving into the world of author.It happens to be her favorite one.

When she’s not creating art or searching for lost history in the woods, she’s updating her blog, Kissed by Literature. Jordan is the president of the Utica Writers Club and maintains JordanElizabethMierek.com.

She roams Central New York, but she loves to travel. A great deal of time has been spent in a rural town very similar to Arnn, the setting of her novel ESCAPE FROM WITCHWOOD HOLLOW.

End of the world in Ireland? Free Falling by Susan Kiernan-Lewis #amreading #mondayblogs

I honestly don't remember how I came across this book, but it is dystopian and set in Ireland, so I thought it might be a good read. It starts off with a two parents and their ten year old son, all of whom are addicted to technology - like so many other families today -  off on a holiday to rural Ireland. Then KABOOM - somebody drops and bomb - and all of a sudden technology doesn't work. None of it. No cars, no electronics, not even the electrical grid. 

Luckily for them, the house they are holidaying at in BFE Ireland has a wood cook stove and a fireplace and a whole crapload of supplies in the root cellar, and best yet, it has horses, sheep, chickens etc.

Of course these city slickers don't know crud about living off the land, except they have some experience with horses, although Sarah, the wife, is terrified of them for some unexplained reason even though she rode them for years.

Quite frankly, Sarah is the main protagonist and she's a mess. She's whiny, anxiety ridden, over-protective, and a nag. To be fair, she does grow over the course of the book but she's so darn unlikable in the beginning that I nearly gave up on this book. There are also quite a few prayers going on here, which for an agnostic like myself tended to be a little off-putting, but it wasn't so bad that I would consider this specifically Christian fiction.

Now other than Sarah's unlikability my only real complaint about this book - and I admit it is probably extremely nit-picky of me - is that Sarah says in the book that Deirdre (a neighbor) taught her to knit the wool from the sheep. That's all well and good, but first, they never shear the sheep to get the wool, and second, you don't just knit the wool straight from the sheep! It has to be spun into yarn first. Okay, that rant is over.

In the end, it was actually a decent story, and I do see that it is a trilogy. Will I read the remaining books in the series? Probably not.

Have you read a dystopian book that you felt had inaccuracies? Tell me about it in the comments.

Want to check out Free Falling for yourself? You can find it on Amazon here. At the time of this posting it is FREE for your Kindle, but please check price before purchase.

Book Blurb:
When David and Sarah Woodson take a much-needed vacation with their ten-year old son, John, their intention is to find a relaxing, remote spot to take a break from the artificial stimulation of their busy world back in Jacksonville, Florida. What happens within hours of settling in to their rural, rustic little cottage in a far-flung spot on the coast of Ireland is an international incident that leaves the family stranded and dependent on themselves for their survival. Facing starvation, as well as looters and opportunists, they learn the hard way the important things in life. Can a family skilled only in modern day suburbia and corporate workplaces learn to survive when the world is flung back a hundred years? When there is no internet, no telephones, no electricity and no cars? And when every person near them is desperate to survive at any cost?

About the author:
Best-selling author Susan Kiernan-Lewis has been an equestrienne, copywriter, playwright, and video producer. As a writer, she takes her passions--horses, France, cooking, and travel--and puts them in her novels, which usually involve an adventurous female protagonist faced with the challenge of new and dangerous situations. Her popular fiction series include the Maggie Newberry Mysteries set in France, the dystopian Irish End Games, the Atlanta-based Mia Kazmaroff mysteries, and a historical romance time-travel series. Contact Susan at susankiernanlewis@gmail.com and visit her website at susankiernanlewis.com.

Cold-hearted killer on the loose! Cold Heart by Chandler McGrew #amreading #bookreview

I received a free copy of this ebook in exchange for a fair and honest review. 

What intrigued me about Cold Heart? When I was asked to read it the first thing I did was check out the sample on Amazon because I wasn't sure if this was something I was really interested in, but the sample really made me want to keep reading, so I said yes.

It is set primarily in a tiny, remote village in Alaska which is pretty isolated from the outside world. The only way in is via the weekly supply plane. This village is so small that transportation is by foot; only the store owner uses anything else and that is merely a quad bike. There are no phones, except for a public one at the tiny store. This is the perfect isolated setting for a madman's killing spree.

Micky Ascherfeld has endured a lot in her life to date. Her parents were murdered by a madman. She survived only by hiding. Now a police officer, her partner and lover, is also murdered by madmen and she barely survives this too. Broken and needing to find a way to go on, she visits her friend Damon when he invites her to the paradise he's found in Cold Heart, Alaska.

Turning her hobby of making stained glass art into a living, Micky stays and finds the healing she needs amongst new friends in this tiny village. Until the day one of her neighbors decides to go on a killing spree. Can she survive a murderous onslaught for the third time?

This book is a solid thriller. Sometimes when reading a suspenseful novel when the tension builds I actually have to set the book down for a few minutes before I can pick it back up and continue, and with this book that happened to me several times. McGrew excels at building this tension. 

One tiny thing that I didn't like (there's always something, right?) is that as the characters are running around the village on the fateful afternoon, they keep running through the freezing river/creek, yet there is never any mention of their freezing feet/legs after they leave the river or the possibilities or symptoms of hypothermia from wearing wet clothes in the cold and their failure to find anything dry to change into. Seemed a bit extraordinary to me.

Ignoring that though, this book probably won't knock your socks off or make it to your top ten best books of the year, but if you like thrillers I think you will really like Cold Heart.

If you'd like to check it out for yourself, you can find it on Amazon by clicking here.

What is your favorite book genre? What type of books do you go back to over and over again? Please tell me in the comments.


Book Blurb:
The shooting has started. For the next four hours a killer will stalk the inhabitants of a remote Alaskan village hidden in a wilderness of awesome beauty. And Micky Ascherfeld, a burned-out ex-cop, is the only person who can stop him. Without a gun, cut off from the outside world, Micky plays a deadly game of hide-and-seek with a man on a killing rampage.

Moving from cabin to cabin, she finds her once-familiar world turned into a landscape of sheer horror. To survive, she must confront the demons in her own past even as she becomes the focus of a madman's sick obsession and a terrified girl's only hope. With another life to save besides her own, Micky has found a new reason to endure...if only she can.

About the author:
Chandler McGrew, who began writing after he had turned forty, lives in quiet seclusion in the mountains of Maine. He writes ten to twelve hours a day.

Born in Texas he lived for almost a decade in Alaska where his first novel, Cold Heart, is set. He followed with Night Terror and then The Darkening and In Shadows. 

Is it the end of the world??? The Librarians by Glenn Cooper #amreading #bookreview

Glenn Cooper has a confusing habit of changing the titles of his books after they are released. The first book in this series was called The Seventh Son of the Seventh Son, but was later changed to Library of the Dead. Now this one has two names - The Keepers of the Library and The Librarians. Ok, whatever.

I read the first two books in this series and enjoyed them, but I thought that was it. The series was done. On a fluke I decided to see if there were anymore and found this one. I wasn't sure I wanted to read another Will Piper book, but when I saw that it took place just before the horizon was due I got curious as to what the author would do with the horizon. (If you don't know what I mean by the horizon, you must read books one and two.)

So I picked up this one and found there to be just as much action and intrigue as the others. This is a good thing.

The second is that Will Piper must be some sort of God with charisma coming out his ears. Sure in the previous two books he was in his forties and fit and good looking. He was some stud muffin, right? Always banging the babes.

In this book, he's in his sixties now. Maybe he's still fit and good looking but seriously? Every single AND married woman in sight is throwing themselves at him? Come on! Surely ONE woman on Earth could control herself. Puh-leaze!!!

Look past those two major flaws and you've still got a solid adventure/conspiracy plot to keep you reading. Phillip disappears and it appears to be related to the Library. Chinese-Americans are now getting doomsday postcards which is causing an international incident with China and could lead to World War III. And the horizon is approaching. What more could you ask for?

I loved the ending - which coming from me is saying something.

If you'd like to check out this book for yourself, just click here to find it on Amazon.

Have you ever read a sequel when you weren't sure you wanted to? How did that turn out? Please tell me in the comments.

Book Blurb:
In the latest from international bestselling author Glenn Cooper a new Doomsday Killer strikes, and former FBI agent Will Piper is pulled into a web centuries old conspiracy that could reveal the future of humankind.

The End of Days is near…

Isle of Wight, 1775. On a stormy January night, an American traveller makes an astonishing discovery on the site of a long-abandoned monastery. Locals believe the site is cursed, but Benjamin Franklin is too curious about the apocryphal Library of Vectis to turn away…

Florida, 2026. Will Piper, former FBI agent, is retired and living a life of leisure, his days filled with sun and fishing, his thoughts far from the notorious "Doomsday Killer" case that vaulted him into minor celebrity status fifteen years earlier. But according to what that investigation uncovered at a secret government site in Nevada, the world will change irrevocably on February 9, 2027. Is it the End of Days? No one knows what the Horizon, as it's been called, will bring, and much of the world is suspended between pre-apocalyptic hedonism and despair.

When a new Doomsday Killer emerges-inexplicably targeting only Chinese names--and Will's teenage son, Phillip, disappears after receiving a mysterious email from the other side of the world, Will is instantly drawn back into the case. The breathless, high-stakes adventure that Will is pulled into spans centuries and continents, and may at last reveal what the Library cannot about the future of humankind…if there is to be a future…

About the author:
Glenn was born in New York City and grew up in nearby White Plains. He attended White Plains High School before enrolling at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts where he graduated from Harvard with an honors degree in archaeology. He then attended Tufts University School of Medicine and did his post-doctoral training at the New England Deaconess and the Massachusetts General Hospitals becoming a board-certified specialist in Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases. After practicing medicine, Glenn began a research career in the pharmaceutical industry which culminated in an eighteen-year position as the Chairman and CEO of a biotechnology company in Massachusetts. 

Glenn began writing screenplays over twenty years ago and his interest in movies prompted him to attend the graduate program in film production at Boston University. He is currently the chairman of a media company, Lascaux Media, which has produced three independent feature-length films. In 2006 Glenn turned his hand to novel-writing. His debut novel, THE LIBRARY OF THE DEAD, the first in a trilogy, became an international bestseller and was translated into thirty languages. All of his seven published books have become top-ten international best-sellers.

Glenn currently lives in New Hampshire.

The man behind the zombie! Dying for Her by Kory Shrum @koryshrum #amreading #bookreview

A few days ago I told you that I had received from Kory Shrum, one of my favorite authors, an advanced review copy of her latest Jesse Sullivan novel titled Dying for Her. I had previously read and loved the first two books in this series, Dying for a Living and Dying by the Hour. (Click on the book title to see my review.) I was so excited I couldn't wait to read it and I dove right in.

The first two books in this series centered on Jesse Sullivan, a young woman with a troubled past who makes a living by dying in the place of others in an alternate reality in which some members of society revive on their own after they die. In that reality when your death has been predicted you can pay someone to die for you in your stead. Jesse is that someone and she is assisted by her best friend and former lover Ally. Her boyfriend Lane complicates things, and Brinkley is Jesse's handler - he sets up her jobs and keeps her safe.

We don't see a whole lot of Brinkley in those first two books. Just enough to make us curious about him. This book, however, is Brinkley's story told from his perspective. I have to admit I was slightly disappointed there was very little of Jesse in this book, but Brinkley's story is so compelling that it stands well on its own.

It does not take us beyond Dying by the Hour as far as timeline goes. In fact, it made me desperate to reread Dying by the Hour, because the ending of Dying for Her runs parallel to it. But it does take us back in time and show us how and why Brinkley is who he is and does what he does. And honestly? It really makes me wish he didn't have to make the sacrifice of Dying for Her.

Well done Kory Shrum! You've knocked another one out of the park.

Want to read the Jesse Sullivan novels for yourself? (I highly recommend the entire series.) Click each title to find it on Amazon. As of the time of this post Dying for a Living is currently free for your Kindle or Kindle app, but please verify price before purchase.

Dying for a LivingDying by the HourDying for Her becomes available April 7th, 2015 but can be preordered
Jesse may call herself a zombie but this is NOT your typical zombie story. No one is eating any brains or flesh here. This is a truly unique series and well worth the read.

What have you read lately that you felt was unique?

Book Blurb:
It should be illegal to tell a man when he will die.

James T. Brinkley lives to protect. First as a special forces officer and then as a federal agent asked to find the people no one else will look for. But the most hopeless case is his own. In a world where a man can know the day he will die, Brinkley's fate is sealed. Searching his past for a way to save his future, he bears his darkest secrets and doesn't expect forgiveness for what he has done. His only wish is that he will find a way to protect his loved ones once and for all from the sadistic killer hunting them.

About the author:
Kory M. Shrum lives in Michigan with her partner and a ferocious guard pug. She has dabbled in everything from fortune telling to martial arts and when not reading or writing, she can be found teaching, traveling, and wearing a gi. She is author of the fantasy novels Dying for a Living and Dying by the Hour. She'd love to hear from you on Facebook, Twitter, or her blog: www.korymshrum.com

A Twofer! Library of the Dead AND Book of Souls by Glenn Cooper #bookreview

I know. I've been neglecting you again. Sorry about that. But to make it up to you, this review is a twofer. I'm reviewing both Library of the Dead (originally published as Secret of the Seventh Son) and its sequel Book of Souls by Glenn Cooper. These two were loaned to me by a friend (and I've just purchased the third book in this series).

AND I have something else for you to look forward too! My friend and one of my very favorite authors, Kory Shrum, has just given me an advanced review copy of the latest book in her Jesse Sullivan series titled Dying for Her which I can't wait to read and share with you very soon. I've loved the first two book in that series so I am very eager to read this one. But I digress.

Back to the Libary of the Dead and Book of Souls.
 Library of the Dead follows the deadly adventures of FBI agent Will Piper as he tries to solve the Doomsday Killer case - a serial killer who marks his victims by sending a postcard with the photo of a coffin and the date of the victim's coming death on it. Will is a bit of an anti-hero here. He is an unlikable character. A rogue agent, an alcoholic, and a womanizer who likes to have one night stands with woman as young or younger than his daughter.

In spite of all that you WANT to like him. But you just can't. Even so, the mystery that Cooper outlines and the ancient Library are fascinating and you can't stop reading because you just have to know more. There is lots of action and lots of intrigue along the way and I really enjoyed this one. Which is why I was very happy to jump right into Book of Souls when I finished Library of the Dead.

Now on to Book of Souls. Although the Doomsday Killer case was resolved in the first book the story didn't end there. There are still government coverups going on and Will, now retired, is contacted by some former employees of a secret goverment facility to help them acquire a book from the ancient Library of the Dead which has turned up for auction in London and the government is killing to get their hands on. At first reluctant, Will's boredom and restlessness lead him to jump on the chance, even though it may put his family in danger - again. I told you he wasn't likable, remember. He does other stuff in this book that will piss you off too, but again, the secret government ops and intrigue keep you reading along until the end.

I really enjoyed both books, which is why I will be reading on to the third book in the series in the not too distant future. Think of them as kind of Bourne Identity type of action story with some ancient archeology/mythology thrown in. Lots of fun to read.

Want to check them out for yourself? You can find them on Amazon, just click these links:

Library of the Dead
Book of Souls

Book Blurb for Library of the Dead:
The most shocking secret in the history of mankind is about to be revealed...A murderer is on the loose on the streets of New York City: nicknamed the Doomsday Killer, he's claimed six victims in just two weeks, and the city is terrified. Even worse, the police are mystified: the victims have nothing in common, defying all profiling, and all that connects them is that each received a sick postcard in the mail before they died - a postcard that announced their date of death. In desperation, the FBI assigns the case to maverick agent Will Piper, once the most accomplished serial killing expert in the bureau's history, now on a dissolute spiral to retirement. Battling his own demons, Will is soon drawn back into a world he both loves and hates, determined to catch the killer whatever it takes. But his search takes him in a direction he could never have predicted, uncovering a shocking secret that has been closely guarded for centuries. A secret that once lay buried in an underground library beneath an 8th Century monastery, but which has now been unearthed - with deadly consequences. A select few defend the secret of the library with their lives - and as Will closes in on the truth, they are determined to stop him, at any cost...


Some crimes should never be solved; some secrets are best left buried.

Secret of the Seventh Son is a debut thriller by Glenn Cooper about predestination and fate.

Book Blurb for Book of Souls:
The Library: Only a handful know it exists . . . It holds the world's most astonishing—and terrifying—information . . . But the one book that is the key to the greatest secret of all time . . . is missing.

Former FBI Special Agent Will Piper solved—and survived—the "Doomsday Killer" case . . . and his reward was a forced early retirement. But the shattering truths he learned about the government's most covert operations won't let him rest—and now he's on the trail of a mysterious volume that's been lost for six centuries. This is the book that inspired Shakespeare and the prophecies of Nostradamus, and once Will gets his hands on it, his life will be worth nothing—his death sentence a top priority handed down from the very highest levels of power.

Because there are some truths too dangerous for anyone to know—those that concern the future, world domination . . . and the end of everything.

About the author:
Glenn Cooper is an internationally bestselling thriller writer.

Glenn was born in New York City and grew up in nearby White Plains. He attended White Plains High School before enrolling at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts where he graduated from Harvard with an honors degree in archaeology. He then attended Tufts University School of Medicine and did his post-doctoral training at the New England Deaconess and the Massachusetts General Hospitals becoming a board-certified specialist in Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases. After practicing medicine, Glenn began a research career in the pharmaceutical industry which culminated in an eighteen-year position as the Chairman and CEO of a biotechnology company in Massachusetts. Glenn began writing screenplays over twenty years ago and his interest in movies prompted him to attend the graduate program in film production at Boston University. He is currently the chairman of a media company, Lascaux Media, which has produced three independent feature-length films. In 2006 Glenn turned his hand to novel-writing. His debut novel, THE LIBRARY OF THE DEAD, the first in a trilogy, became an international bestseller and was translated into thirty languages. All of his seven published books have become top-ten international best-sellers.

Glenn currently lives in New Hampshire