P.D. Workman's Blog, page 138
February 24, 2015
Excerpt from Personal #books #teasertuesday #jackreacher
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, read the rules at Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along!
This week I am reading… yes, another Jack Reacher book by Lee Child: Personal. And so far I have not been disappointed!
Sometimes people die and you’re happy about it. Or not. Either way you need to know. But I never found out. Because on the way to the obituaries I found the personal ads. Which as always were mostly veterans looking for other veterans. Dozens of ads, all the same.
Including one with my name in it.
Lee Child, Personal
You can leave the army, but the army doesn’t leave you. Not always. Not completely, notes Jack Reacher—and sure enough, the retired military cop is soon pulled back into service. This time, for the State Department and the CIA.
Someone has taken a shot at the president of France in the City of Light. The bullet was American. The distance between the gunman and the target was exceptional. How many snipers can shoot from three-quarters of a mile with total confidence? Very few, but John Kott—an American marksman gone bad—is one of them. And after fifteen years in prison, he’s out, unaccounted for, and likely drawing a bead on a G8 summit packed with enough world leaders to tempt any assassin.
If anyone can stop Kott, it’s the man who beat him before: Reacher. And though he’d rather work alone, Reacher is teamed with Casey Nice, a rookie analyst who keeps her cool with Zoloft. But they’re facing a rough road, full of ruthless mobsters, Serbian thugs, close calls, double-crosses—and no backup if they’re caught. All the while Reacher can’t stop thinking about the woman he once failed to save. But he won’t let that that happen again. Not this time. Not Nice.
Reacher never gets too close. But now a killer is making it personal.
February 21, 2015
Books for your shelf #books #amreading
If you are looking for more books for your TBR pile, here are books that grabbed my attention this week. These are not generally books that I have already read, though a few of them might be. They are books that I have seen and added to my TBR list, looked up on Amazon, loved the cover of, etc. Just a quick run-through of what caught my eye, so you can have a look too.
Click on a cover to jump to it on Amazon.
Added to my TBR
Looked at on Amazon
February 17, 2015
Excerpt from Blood Line #books #tuesdayteaser
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, read the rules at Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along!
Are you a Wattpad reader? Or are you wondering what the heck it is? Wattpad is a social network for readers and writers. The books are free, there is an iOS app. Ruby, Between the Cracks, which recently won a book award, has been put on the featured page on Wattpad, and I am very pleased with the ways that it is doing. Hop on over for a no-risk free read.
This week I am reading Blood Line by John J. Davis. It is a spy thriller with plenty of action.
Julia and Zachary were both unconscious in their seats, probably knocked out by one of the invisible gases I knew the CIA used to incapacitate their enemies without killing them, or maybe tazered. The odor of burnt plastic also filled the air, and I noticed the computers were smoking. Agent Moore was nowhere to be found.
John J. Davis, Blood Line
If your family is a target, you have to be a weapon.
When a simple home invasion turns out to be not so simple, Ron Granger must put aside his quiet rural life and return to the Central Intelligence Agency to take on international arms dealers.
Aided by his beautiful wife, Valerie, and resourceful teen daughter, Leecy, Ron must quickly decide who to believe among the calculating opportunists, shrewd criminals, and power-hungry rival agencies racing to possess the technological breakthrough that will change the face of modern warfare forever. But when Leecy is kidnapped, Ron and Val must choose between the mission and a rescue.
Facing an impossible decision, with time quickly running out, Ron only knows one thing:
When you can’t trust anyone else, trust your family.
February 14, 2015
Love of Books #books #amreading
Happy Valentine’s Day! Do you have a love of books?
If you are looking for more books for your TBR pile, here are books that grabbed my attention this week. These are not generally books that I have already read, though a few of them might be. They are books that I have seen and added to my TBR list, looked up on Amazon, loved the cover of, etc. Just a quick run-through of what caught my eye, so you can have a look too.
Click on a cover to jump to it on Amazon.
Added to TBR
Yes, another cupcake book this week!
The cover for Soulkeepers really grabbed me, and the description on Amazon sounded great!
Looked at on Amazon
Animated corpses, anyone? Intriguing storyline in Riser.
Great title, and the description for Shiftless sounds hilarious!
Loved the Cover
Isn’t this Death by a Honey Bee cover gorgeous?
February 10, 2015
Excerpt from Lamp of Darkness #books #teasertuesday
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, read the rules at Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along!
Did you miss my exciting announcement? Take a quick click over to see my news. I’m very excited about it!
This week’s teaser comes from The Lamp of Darkness by Dave Mason. It is a young adult book set in Biblical times, and my only complaint is that it ended too soon, before the story was fully told. It is the beginning of a series, and no other books are yet available. So be warned before you start it! It is a freebie right now.
I winced at the word devotion. Uriel used the same word to describe the Way of the prophets. I pictured Yambalya drawing his knife across his own chest. Is that what devotion looks like to you, Zim?
David Mason, The Lamp of Darkness
Unlock Your Past, Unleash Your Future!
The Age of Prophecy series transports you back 3000 years, to the epic battle between the Israelite Kings and Prophets. Lev, an orphaned shepherd boy, begins a journey of discovery when he’s hired to play as a musician before the prophets. He soon learns that his father’s knife holds a deadly secret about his hidden past. As he is drawn deeper into the world of prophecy, Lev fights to unearth his true self while the clouds of war gather around him.
Rooted in the Ancient Oral and Mystical Traditions
Authors Dave Mason and Mike Feuer spent years researching the Oral and Kabbalistic traditions detailing the inner workings of prophecy and the world of Ancient Israel.
The Epic Story Brought to Life
The backdrop for The Age of Prophecy is the epic conflict between King Ahav and the Prophet Eliyahu (more commonly known as Ahab and Elijah in English). Learn the inner story of the battle, in a way that will reframe all you’ve ever heard about the Israelite Kings and Prophets.
February 7, 2015
Distracted by books #amreading #books
If you missed my big announcement this week, hop over and have a look!
If you are looking for more books for your TBR pile, here are books that grabbed my attention this week. These are not generally books that I have already read, though a few of them might be. They are books that I have seen and added to my TBR list, looked up on Amazon, loved the cover of, etc. Just a quick run-through of what caught my eye, so you can have a look too.
Click on a cover to jump to it on Amazon.
Added to TBR
You may notice a cupcake theme this week. I don’t know why.
After all of the cupcakes, a humorous diet book seemed just the thing.
Looked at on Amazon
Liked the description on Running Wide Open, but it looked like the language was pretty crude, so I didn’t pick it up.
I looked at Sudden Death, looks very good, but a serial, not a full book.
More cupcakes…
Liked the Cover
February 4, 2015
Ruby Between the Cracks Wins In the Margins Book Award #books #yalit #awardwinning
Way back in May, I received a request for copies of Ruby, Between the Cracks for consideration by the In the Margins Committee for their Best Books for Teens award. Then in August, I was excited to tell you that Ruby had been nominated for award. A week ago, I was over the moon to find out that Ruby won the award, landing a place in the top ten! I have had to wait to announce it, but the list was released today and I am free to spread it to the world.
In the Margins Book Award and Selection Committee, (ITM) a committee under the umbrella of Library Services for Youth in Custody (LYSC) announced their top ten book titles for 2015. ITM strives to find the best books for teens living in poverty, on the streets, in custody – or a cycle of all three. They identify quality, age-appropriate resources for librarians and library workers to share with the teens in urban, lockdown, homeless shelters and other non-traditional venues for teens living in the margins.
“We are thrilled with the second year of this important work finding relevant books for our communities that validate, illuminate and humanize those living in the margins. We have a great list, bringing to national attention books that add to diversity in our collections and world,” said Amy Cheney, Chair of ITM. “The committee members and I are excited to share these books with you for those living and interested in the margins of society.”
If you have contacts in your local library or junior high/high school, please make sure they see this list!
You can download my full press release here or read it on my media page.
Here are the books that made the top ten. They all look fantastic! Click on covers to jump to Amazon.
February 3, 2015
Excerpt from Island of Fog #teasertuesday #books
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, read the rules at Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along!
Keep an eye out for an exciting announcement tomorrow! I can’t wait to share it with you!
This is a quick, fun read for middle school ages. Island of Fog by Keith Robinson is, as is obvious from the cover, fantasy, which I don’t read a lot of, but I was looking for something light and entertaining.
“You look so stupid as a dragon” Abigail said suddenly, her voice mocking. “Look at you, standing behind a bush with your stupid long tail poking out one end. And your horrible wings sticking up in the air. How ugly!”
Keith Robinson, Island of Fog
A lonely, foggy island is home to eight families. Twelve-year-old Hal and his friends have always wondered what happened all those years ago on the mainland, that unseen place Out There beyond the fog, and after an astonishing discovery in the woods the children are more determined than ever to find out what their parents are hiding. But their lives are turned upside down when Abigail reveals her closely guarded secret. According to her, the children are slowly changing into monsters! Are they freaks of nature, or subjects of a sinister experiment?
Each child reacts differently to his or her unique monstrous transformation; after all, one may feel proud to be a dragon, faerie, or centaur, but who in their right mind wants to be a sadistic manticore or cowardly harpy?
ISLAND OF FOG is a story of intrigue and conspiracy. The reader follows Hal Franklin as he struggles to accept that he and his friends are something more than ordinary children, and that their parents have been covering up the truth the whole time. With their trust shaken and the unexpected arrival of a strange woman from Out There, the children hide their frightening shapeshifting abilities and pretend nothing is wrong.
January 31, 2015
So little time! #books #amreading
Looking for more books for your TBR pile? Here are books that grabbed my attention this week. These are not generally books that I have already read, though a few of them might be. They are books that I have seen and added to my TBR list, looked up on Amazon, loved the cover of, etc. Just a quick run-through of what caught my eye, so you can have a look too.
Click on a cover to jump to it on Amazon.
Added to my TBR
Gorgeous cover for Murder on the Page. Couldn’t resist this cozy.
Looked at on Amazon
Liked the look of the cover of Deady Bonds. Looks like a good book.
What can I say? It’s Steven King. Not one I am familiar with.
Who doesn’t love Michael Landon? Had to take a look.
We’ll just chalk A Boy & His Corpse up to weird!
Who’s up for an Amish romance?
Liked the Cover
January 27, 2015
Double-Header for Teaser Tuesday #books #teasertuesday
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, read the rules at Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along!
January has been a bad month for me! With an office move sandwiched between two illnesses, I feel like I have not accomplished anything. But my bout with the flu is to your benefit, because between naps, about all I have been able to do is to read. I blasted through a couple of excellent books this weekend, and had to share both with you!
One of the reasons that I picked up The Gauguin Connection by Estelle Ryan is that like This Plague of Days, it involves a protagonist on the autism spectrum at the center of an intriguing plot. And unlike This Plague of Days, The Gauguin Connection gives us a capable, believable, well-rounded autistic character (and a great plot!):
Then he lifted his eyes and gave me a smile. The first genuine smile I had seen on his face. “I could kiss you right now.”
My eyes stretched in shock and I pushed with my feet to roll my chair away from him. “Please don’t.”
Estelle Ryan, The Gauguin Connection
Sometimes when I take a book out of my pile, I don’t remember what made me add it to my TBR list to begin with (a good reason for tracking them in my new So many books posts). So when I started on The Only Alien on the Planet this weekend, I only remembered that it had an intriguing description. I devoured it, thoroughly enjoying the characterization, quickly moving plot, and great insight into friendship, communication, and being the masters of our own happiness. When I hit the last usual Amazon “Before you go” pop-up at the end with “more books by…” I realized why I had bought The Only Alien on the Planet in the first place: It is by Kristen D. Randle, who is my newest favorite author. I don’t know another author who succeeds in entering into the mind and heart of a damaged individual like Randle does. I can only strive for my books to reach that same place.
And if that was so, what I had in my hand was an open window into somebody else’s house.
I put the poem down on the table in front of me.
I was trespassing.
Kristen D. Randle, Only Alien on the Planet
Covers and summaries for both books are below:
Murdered artists. Masterful forgeries. Art crime at its worst.
As an insurance investigator and world renowned expert in nonverbal communication, Dr Genevieve Lenard faces the daily challenge of living a successful, independent life. Particularly because she has to deal with her high functioning Autism. Nothing – not her studies, her high IQ or her astounding analytical skills – prepared her for the changes about to take place in her life.
It started as a favour to help her boss’ acerbic friend look into the murder of a young artist, but soon it proves to be far more complex. Forced out of her predictable routines, safe environment and limited social interaction, Genevieve is thrown into exploring the meaning of friendship, expanding her social definitions, and for the first time in her life be part of a team in a race to stop more artists from being murdered.
New student Ginny is intrigued by the handsome alien in her homeroom?no, this is not a science fiction novel. Smitty-real name Michael-is known to his schoolmates as “The Alien” because of his affectless appearance and complete silence. Soon, Ginny and Smitty’s longtime protector, Caulder, team up to try and crack his shell. They get much more than they bargain for when they drag him along on old-movie outings; as a none-too-subtle plot device, the first turns out to be The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, the second, East of Eden. Smitty walks out of both, for it turns out that he was almost fatally abused by his older brother, who also convinced him that he would die if he spoke to anyone. With the help of Ginny, Caulder and a wise and sympathetic therapist, Smitty emerges from this psychological curse, and he and Ginny even begin a tentative romantic relationship.
