Tag Archives: Amazon

The Fourth Descendant, Allison Maruska

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Allison Maruska The Fourth DescendantI enjoyed reading this book even though it took me a while to keep the four main characters straight through the initial couple of chapters. But Ms. Maruska does a good job of easing that difficulty as the four are very different than each other and each with flaws that keeps them real.

 Each receives a call from a historian who has discovered they are descendants of four men who buried a safe in Richmond, Virginia at the beginning of the twentieth century. Each has a key that’ll unlock the safe and reveal the secrets hidden inside.

 The story moves along after just a brief introduction to the characters until mayhem ensues and the chase is on. One of the four has an agenda of their own which becomes compounded by an interested party.

 For me the middle of the story dragged as the four characters went about their regular lives after opening the safe without much thought to why a secret had been buried and why they were selected to reveal it. Then they are off together to discover that secret. And what a secret it is.

The ending, though sad in one regard, was satisfying and left wide open for a sequel. I look forward to reading more from this author.

You can find this book here, or read about the author here.

 

Give an E-book

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Kindle PaperwhiteWith Christmas coming up, if you’re thinking about gift ideas, books make wonderful gifts that give hours of enjoyment. With traditional books you can write an inscription inside it, wrap it, and put under the tree.

 But if the intended receiver does not live nearby, then you have to deal with mailing. If have a large number of books to give, traditional books can run up your credit card bill quickly. E-books, though, are often less expensive than the traditional books.

Some may think you can’t give an escape-from-reality-gift if it is only available as an e-book, or you want to be frugal and give the less expensive version of a beloved treasure. But you can.

Below are the steps to give a book purchased from Amazon to someone with a Kindle or a Kindle reading app.

  1. Make sure you have the email address of the person you want to give the book to. The recipient’s Kindle or reading app will have to be registered to that email address.
  2.  Find the book in the Kindle store that you want to gift. Free books, books on pre-order, and subscriptions cannot be gifted.
  3. On the product detail page, click the Give as a Gift button.
  4. Enter the email address of your gift recipient.
  5. Enter the delivery date and an option gift message.
  6. Click Place your order to finish your gift purchase using your Amazon 1-Click payment method.

These instructions, as well as how your beneficiary can redeem their gift, can be found on here Amazon’s website.

I can think of three books that would make the airline thriller readers on your gift list happy. Wink. Wink.

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Look for my fourth novel in the spring of 2016.

Eric Chandler’s, Down In It

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Eric Chandler's Down In ItReaders who might wonder what it is like to eject from an F-16 in Afghanistan and try to stay alive will find this book intriguing. The fact that the author is a retired F-16 pilot who has flown several missions in that war torn country makes the details in the story authentic.

The premise of the story is: Doug “Hoser” Mackenzie is shoot down over the mountains and has to evade capture if he wants to live.

I would have given this book a five star rating instead of four except for two issues.

I would have liked a little more emotional connection through the story. While the character was drifting down in his parachute, he didn’t seem all that concerned. Nor did he seem upset that he’d been shot down, something I think would be devastating to any pilot.

Also, the author uses flashback to show the type of character the pilot is. This reviewer is not a fan of this method of storytelling as I feel the story comes to a halt while the author develops the character. Therefore, several times I questioned if dwelling on Hoser’s past was appropriate when I was worrying about him evading the people chasing him. Other readers may not consider this a deterrent though.

At the story’s conclusion I understood why the author chose this method as I was left hoping the experience of being shot down would make Hoser a better person. Although that made for a character arc that was satisfying, it took me several days of thought to understand why the author wrote the book the way he did.

 This was a quick read that gave this reviewer a taste of an author I’ll follow.

Avengers of Blood, by Gae-Lynn Woods

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Gae-Lyn Wood's Avengers of BloodAvengers of Blood is the kind of books in a series I love. It has the same characters from The Devil of Light, the previous novel, who I had gotten to know and love; or hate. This one had a different engaging plot with aspects of the previous book’s unsolved mystery threading its way through the story. It also had a satisfying ending that left some questions unanswered telling me that soon I would be spending more time with my friends. It was written so that a reader who hadn’t read the first one wouldn’t feel lost.

Ms. Wood’s gift is creating small town characters that ring true. It’s apparent she’s spent some time observing people and storing their interactions for fodder for her stories. All of the characters in the story are flawed, some more than others, just like the people in our lives. Even the characters you root for you’ll wish could get over their insecurities and move on. But they would not seem realistic if they shrugged off what’s been a part of their life.

This story’s premise could have come straight from almost any southern newspapers headlines. There’s a gruesome murder in the first chapter discovered by a murderer denied the revenge they’ve been waiting all their life to seek. That engaged this reader as I knew the denied murderer would seek their revenge on those that stole it from them.

Maxine, a new character, was introduced in this story and made for smile evoking reading with her interactions with Cassie, the protagonist.

The only issue I had with the writing was the author occasionally spent too much time showing character actions to avoid dialog tags. Sometimes a simple said, or asked would have let the conversation flow better than showing a character doing something that didn’t add to the scene as a way to identify who spoke.

That was a minuscule issue that won’t stop me from looking forward to reading more from this author.

I recommend this novel to anyone who loves crime/mystery novels.

Here’s a link to learn more about this author and her books: Gae-Lynn Woods

The Privileged Ones, by C.R. Hiatt

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The Privileged Ones CR HiattWhen you finish this novella, you’re not going to not be satisfied until you download and read Gone at Zero Hundred 00:00, the sequel to this story.

In The Privileged Ones Ms. Hiatt abruptly puts you into the lives of two very ruthless individuals who feel it is their right to do as they wish, regardless of who they kill along the way. The story moves forward at a fast clip with occasional pauses to get to know the main characters.

Its apparent Ms. Hiatt has devoured novels in this genre as she doesn’t waste time with flowery scene setting or character description. She gives the briefest of descriptions to allow the reader the opportunity to picture the scene before diving into the action or interaction between characters. I found myself smiling while reading the exchanges between the two protagonists, Sidney and Cody.

I look forward to reading more from this author.

New Edition of airline thriller, The Cover-Up

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PrintBook - The CoverUp - SmallIf you’re a paperback reader of airline thrillers, the new version of The Cover-Up is available. Like the EBook, it has been re-edited, an author’s note is included that explains how the story was conceived, as well as the first chapter of Coerced, the novel that follows it.

You can read the author’s note here.

If you’re interested in buying the paperback, it’s available here.

David C. Cassidy created this inspiring cover and formatted the book.

Perfect, by Douglas Wickard

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Perfect, Douglas WickardWith each book, Douglas Wickard grows as a writer. This one is his best to date, which should not be a deterrent from reading his other novels. I devoured them in just a few settings.

The plot of Perfect moves along at a pace that allows the reader to enjoy the scenery, which Wickard is a master at showing. The characters story savor their surroundings which are given to the reader in satisfying glimpses, or are repulsed by them. There were a few times I thought the story came to a halt while a scene was described, but those times were rare.

The interactions of the characters are realistic and you get to know the point of view characters thoughts and feeling intimately. This being the third book in the Sami Saxton series, she carries baggage from the two previous novels that Wickard wisely doesn’t dwell on. Hints are given so readers of the previous novels are reminded and understand Sami’s emotional well-being. New readers to the series won’t be left questioning why she thinks and acts the way she does.

Sami’s bestie from the previous novels, Drewe, is given more story time in this novel, which gave this reviewer more insight into why she and Sami are so compatible to each other.

But poor Sami. Wickard does not give this woman a break. Just when you think things might be looking up for her, emotionally and romantically, Wickard drops her into hell, yet again. This book comes to a satisfying conclusion, but is left wide open for a continuation of Sami’s torturous life to go on. I can’t wait to read it.