Jan 26 2017

AudioBook Review – Roak

AudioBook Boom was exciting this week, as there were 3 SciFi which I was alotted 🙂

If anyone wishes to sign up, in exchange for some honest reviews this is the best way ever to discover new talent both in authors and narrators.

https://audiobookboom.com/

So, the last couple of days I’ve been listening to Roak.

Here’s my review.

— — — — — —

“Dark, moody and brilliant.”

I have to admit I was a little nervous coming into this one right from the start. It promised a lot of action and tension!

There were some great descriptions of the setting and of Roak. His character was blatant. Pay me or you’ll suffer. But, when he was the one left suffering I was unsure as to what he was physically capable of.

Roak, is one of those characters you love to hate. He lives by simple rules and he does everything he can to keep on, keeping on. It takes a while to realise that he’s not actually a bad man, he’s just set in his ways, and does his job. Along his journey to get ‘paid’ Roak comes across some really cool characters. Some that you’ll feel so sorry for and others you’ll love to get their comeuppance.

Andrew, has just the right tone for this novel, deep, gritty and he totally has the right voices to pull off the different aliens along the way too. In his performance there was such humour, and I really enjoyed both the writing and acting. Great job.

I think my only quibble was I just wanted more, haha so I went to look for more work by Jake, 🙂 and I do hope that Andrew gets to narrate some more.

I was given this book by the author/narrator without obligation for review via audiobook boom.

Jan 24 2017

New Release – Continue Online – Together – book 5

I had the great pleasure of meeting Stephan Morse through RRL, an online community of writers who post chapters daily/weekly. And I picked up the first in this series before Xmas, – Review to follow although I have to say I’m enjoying it –

So today he’s released book 5! I can’t wait to get to the latter books in chatting to him I really admire his determination and commitment to his craft.

From Stephan’s website – https://frustratedego.com/ – On the whole series

The primary story with Continue Online’s universe follows Grant Legate.

The future is filled with self-driving cars, virtual realities, chore completing machines, and super fast internet connections. Yet all these technological innovations cannot prevent tragedy. Three years ago Grant Legate lost that which he loved most. His carefully built life fell apart in the wake of depression.

Now Grant spends most days working endless hours as a companion to an AI. Their mission is simple, to repair broken machines that humanity uses to visit virtual realities. Unintended hard work pays off as his boss forces Grant to take a vacation and try the latest game craze Continue Online, a fantasy world with the freedom to play any role one might choose.

Upon entry into the game, he meets the AIs who rule over this digital world and they make an offer. They’re nothing like what he expected from a video game world. Grant starts his journey into the virtual world from a very different perspective, and he is only one part of an AI agenda that will end up impacting all of humanity.

Continue online - book.jpg

Blurb –

Since stepping through the gateway to Continue, Grant has been many things: a dying hero, a malevolent imp, a robotic space explorer, and felon seeking redemption. Now he’s added a new role to the list—married man to a virtual woman. In his mind, nothing could be more perfect, but his newlywedded bliss is in jeopardy.

Trillium pulled the trigger on a digital Armageddon and the games have changed. Virtual people are being hunted down then deleted forever. Players’ characters are removed if they die three times. The AIs have a plan to fight back and protect their citizens by storing as much data as possible into a haven, including Xin’s.

To help secure the survival of his friends and wife, Grant will seek the secrets to salvation left behind from the game’s first heroes and programming team. Along the way, Grant reunites with old companions, sets aside past grudges, and pulls out every trick he’s ever been taught to help him in the race against digital death.

Failure means Grant will lose Xin a second time, but success may cost him even more.

I’d highly recommend checking this series out 🙂

You can pick book 1 up here –

And follow Stephan’s facebook and twitter –

https://www.facebook.com/FrustratedEgo

Tweets by FrustratedEgo

Jan 22 2017

Character Interview – Lucus Smith

Meet Big Brother Lucas Smith of The Hunters.

Young Chris Hemsworth.jpg

Who is Lucas Smith? He is the leader of the vampire hunter group trying to rescue their town that has been infested with vampires in The Hunted. Lucas is the one everyone looks to, but he looks to his kid brother Chris.

See, before their world went sideways, Lucas was a jock, football star, and was focusing on the day to day of being a 23 year old taking care of his 17 year old brother after their parents died in a car accident. He was worried about college applications, and life moving forward.

Than a strange illness plagued their town, and his girlfriend died. A few days later she was back. Lucas had lost enough in his short life, and he was happy to have her back. Her promises of never losing one another were quite the temptation. If she had just stuck to Lucas, she might have pulled off her scheme.

But she made the mistake of going after his kid brother. Lucas was willing to risk his own soul for her, but he wasn’t willing to risk Chris’.

As I wrote Lucas, I imagined a good looking guy who could fit into the football hero world, but who was also down to earth and very centered. It wasn’t until I was almost finished with the book that I was able to figure out who would be the perfect muse for Lucas, a young Chris Hemsworth, of course. He has the charisma and good looks, while also being very grounded and practical.

Lucas, and his brother Chris are the two main narrators of The Hunters, first book in The Hunters Saga. This series is a great urban fantasy/ horror series for those who believe vampires should be killed, not kissed.

The Hunters was re-released the beginning of January as part of the release of the highly anticipated sequel, The Hunted, which will launch February 18th. Come join the exciting book tour with awesome stops (like this one!) interviews, readings, radio spots, and more! See the tour Master List here

Jan 20 2017

Author – New Release – Border Lines

Introducing Border Lines by L E Fitzpatrick …. 🙂

Genre: Dystopian paranormal thriller

Book Description  BORDER LINES.
When the perfect job comes up, Charlie doesn’t think twice about taking it. This is the break he’s been looking for and nobody, not even the rest of his team, can persuade him otherwise.

The job means working for an old enemy and crossing the border into London. Both are risky, but Charlie has no idea how high the stakes really are. The team will have to confront their past, each other and a killer who is closer than they realize. But can they all make it out of the city alive?

“We all remember that kid in Piccadilly. That determined look he had on his face as he willed all those people to him. Just using his mind, he pulled them close then blew them all to pieces. It could be anyone. Your neighbour, your friend, your lover. Remain vigilant. Reachers are everywhere.”

Border Lines is the second book in L.E. Fitzpatrick’s Reachers series.

Excerpt

He switched off the engine anyway and an uncertain lull settled in the car. If John wasn’t going in it meant that Rachel didn’t have to go either. She couldn’t help being tempted, it would be a lot easier than confronting Darcy.

“You can stay if you want Rach,” Charlie offered.

She shook her head, being part of the family meant taking the good and the bad. For everything good she would have to overcome something bad. She had her new shoes, it was time now to confront Darcy.

“What are we waiting for?”

Charlie’s mobility was improving by the day. The damage from the stab wounds in his back was never going to completely heal, but he was coping with the residual pain now and learning how to use his body again. Using his crutch, he made every move look effortless. He pivoted himself out of the car and swung around to open the door for Rachel.

The rain fell in heavy sheets. They were soaked before they even reached the porch. There was a makeshift door left ajar and, inside, the remains of the old chapel battled against the elements leaking through the holes in the roof. Decaying pews were haphazardly scattered as though someone had tried to shield them from the water, but the roof was in such a state now it poured just as heavily inside as it did out.

The windows on the left side of the building had survived. Their modest stained glass darkened by the absence of the sun. The right side were long gone, unable to stand the decades of storms battering the country.

It was a chapel once belonging to the Church of England and now occupied by Catholics. The effect was a strange one. The statue of the virgin and a few indistinguishable saints were perched on nearby pews, as out of place as an atheist in the house of God. Rachel inspected them with a slight fondness. She wasn’t particularly religious, but these were symbols from her childhood.

Charlie walked passed the statues. He headed into the vestry calling Darcy’s name while Rachel walked around the dark nave trying to make out the stone saints. A large, crucified Christ hung over the altar. It was too big for the size of the church, looming over the nave and scrutinising parishioners. Rachel remembered a similar icon from her childhood, and how the nuns had got so angry with her when she happened to query Jesus’ apparent Aryan ethnicity. A smile touched her lips at the memory. She glanced up at this Jesus and was surprised to see his bare black feet. Then frowned when she noticed the cuffs of his jeans. Her eyes widened as she saw a face she hadn’t seen since she was a little girl.

“Charlie!” she screamed.

Darcy was stripped at the waist. His ribs poked out of his leathery skin, an omen of malnutrition. His arms had been tied with bloody ropes to a crude cross constructed from a broken pew. There had been no rope left for his feet so instead a belt held the eighty-year-old’s legs in place. There were other marks too – burns on his chest and face, dried blood on his bruised body. How long had he been up there?

“Get John!” Charlie said.

About the Author

L E Fitzpatrick is a writer of dark adventure stories and thrillers. Under the watchful eye of her beloved rescue Staffordshire Bull Terrier, she leaps from trains and climbs down buildings, all from the front room of a tiny cottage in the middle of the Welsh countryside.

Inspired by cult film and TV, L E Fitzpatrick’s fiction is a collection of twisted worlds and realities, broken characters, and high action. She enjoys pushing the boundaries of her imagination and creating hugely entertaining stories.

THE RUNNING GAME, is the first in her paranormal thriller series, set in dystopia London under the Creativia label and now BORDER LINES is the second instalment of the Reachers series.

Books by L.E.Fritzpatrick

Running Game
Dark Waters
Anthology Dark

Safe Haven

Family

The lost Sheppard

Traitors Day

Harvest

Flames and Blood

How to find L.E.FritzPatrick
Author page at publisher – http://www.creativia.org/scifi-thrillers-dark-adventures-le-fitzpatrick.html
Face book fan page – https://www.facebook.com/lefitzpatrickbooks/

Amazon – https://www.amazon.com/L-E-Fitzpatrick/e/B005DD5CE8
Twitter – https://twitter.com/L_E_Fitzpatrick

Website – www.lefitzpatrick.com

Jan 20 2017

Joanna’s Journey – Review

After reading ‘The Secret Will Out’ by Karen J Mossman in print. I looked up and found she had several other books out, and this was the latest release.

Here’s my review of this lovely heartfelt book –

Amazon review –
There are a couple of things I really enjoyed with Karen’s writing, from the detail of the worlds she’s created, (and the facts that around that, the story was built into a local city that I visited quite often) to the depth of the characters. Each novel, has had it’s own unique and outstandingly natural storyline. They’re almost so believable that you’d mistake her for your flawed best friend, who can be both amazing and yet stupid and frustrating all at the same time. I found her just so relatable, that of course I wanted the best for her in her love life, falling for two guys has to be the hardest thing to go through, not knowing if you’ll ever make the right decision or not.

A heartfelt journey that will make you laugh, cringe and cry with all it’s intricate character traits and plot turns. Karen is an excellent writer to follow. I’m so glad she’s almost a local lass 🙂

Blurb –

Escaping a broken romance, Joanna runs headlong into another, and then another.

Managing two long distance relationships at the same time is complicated and made even more so when her best friend is a good looking guy who knows her better than most.

Set in the 1980s, Joanna and her sister, Sandie are two very beautiful women. After a cruel upbringing, both girls have their scars, but deal with things differently and as with most sisters, they clash.

When the unthinkable happens and Joanna’s world implodes, she finds herself alone to face what she can’t and won’t accept.

It is times like these you find out who your friends are and who you can trust, or more importantly, who you can’t.

Karen’s Bio

Karen J Mossman married the boy next door in 1980 and they had two children, both born on the same day, two years apart. She and her husband live on the Isle of Anglesey, a small island off the North Wales coast. Joanna’s Journey was her first published novel.