Seizure

Seizure
by Nigel Mitchell
(5/5 stars)

We all know the Internet is a great place to waste time and it can even be addictive, but can it kill you? A computer giant, who's like if Steve Jobs had become a Bond movie villain, designs a computer virus that can actually kill people. When it kills his old friend, Kent Reynolds springs into action to find the culprit.

While this isn't a direct sequel to "Dead Links" it's another Internet-themed technothriller that will please those who have been missing Michael Chrichton. The story is taut and well-written with characters who are likable--and some who are pure evil.

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Tripler

Tripler
By Neil Vogler
(5/5 stars)

This book features a unique premise:  what if you could split yourself into three--basically creating two clones of yourself?  Would you just use it to get all your chores done?  Would you use it to fulfill all your kinky desires?  Or would you use it to take over the world?  In Tripler we see pretty much all the possibilities in what is a pretty taut thriller.

The basic setup reminded me of Blade Runner a little.  Harry is a "Tracker" who hunts down rogue Triplers, like the Harrison Ford character hunted down rogue androids.  The similarities pretty much end there.  In large part because Harry himself becomes a Tripler, though probably in Ridley Scott's fifteen versions of Blade Runner is one where Deckard is an android.  Harry is kept alive and given some medication to keep him from going rogue by the British government.  If you want to compare it to another movie/book it's like Harry is James Bond and the rogue Triplers are SMERSH/SPECTRE; he even has his own numerical designation of 00.

Except the assignment soon gets a lot tougher once he encounters the enemy agent Osprey, who vows to destroy everyone and everything Harry loves.  As Osprey wreaks havoc, Harry is forced to question pretty much everything.  And there's a nice twist at the end that promises a lot of mayhem for Book 2.

Overall this is a taut, well-written thriller that will keep you guessing.  Even if you're not a fan of science fiction, the sci-fi elements are not so overwhelming that readers of Ian Fleming or Robert Ludlum couldn't enjoy it.  Other than the idea of Tripling, it's a pretty ordinary setting; there are no flying cars or robots or aliens or anything like that.  So if you want a thriller with a twist, give this a try.

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Shadow Warrior (Mechanica Wars #2)

Shadow Warrior (Mechanica Wars #2)
by Jay Noel
(5/5 stars)

This was a good continuation of the series.  I really enjoyed the first book, so I was glad when I was able to buy the second.  This steampunk series follows a budding world war between the Iberian Empire and Nuhan of the Orient.  In the first book, Nuhan prince Zen went on a quest to find the "Sky Sword" to help his people, but that proved to be a fool's errand.  Now yearning to get retribution on his father, Zen teams up with a group of Shadow Warriors, who help teach him the ways of the Force, or whatever the mystical psychic force is called.  But in the end Zen ends up in a lot worse shape than Luke Skywalker after The Empire Strikes Back, more like his father at the end of Revenge of the Sith.  Since I don't read steampunk I do like to compare the story to Star Wars; I mean there's an evil empire and a band of heroes standing against them, so come on.

Anyway, the narration is taut and well-written and the characters from the first book continue to evolve while some interesting new characters are added.  As I said with the first one, even if you don't read steampunk, this is still a good read.

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Breaking News

Breaking News
by Nigel G. Mitchell
(5/5) stars

The concept for this story reminded me of "Early Edition" a TV series on CBS in the 90s.  That involved a guy (Kyle Chandler who went on to "Friday Night Lights" fame) who got a newspaper a day early and used it to help people.  Only in this case it's a teleprompter that displays news in advance to a jaded anchorman.  Along with his naive new co-anchor they set out to avert disaster.

It's a fantastic short story for sci-fi fans and mainstream fiction fans.

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Operation Masquerade

Operation Masquerade
by Nigel Mitchell
(5/5 stars)

Unlike the author's previous sci-fi stories like "Flying Saucers" or "Call Center of Doom" this is not a humorous story. It's more of a combination of "Starship Troopers" and "Blade Runner."

Humanity has for years been fighting against a race of insectoid aliens called the Chitt'k, but not much is known about these bugs. Jason Locke, a trained commando and actor, is tasked with using a mechanical bug suit to infiltrate an alien ship to find out their secrets.

Meanwhile on Earth, Jason's wife who is also a commando unearths a government conspiracy and winds up dumped in the wilds of old New York, which is pretty much a ghetto overseen by drug lords. She has to escape to try to warn her husband of the threat.

This is a tense, entertaining sci-fi thriller. It has enough twists and turns that you can never be sure what's going to happen next. Highly recommended.

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Dragonfly Warrior

Dragonfly Warrior
by Jay Noel
(5/5 stars)

A caveat here:  this is the first steampunk book I've read.  I'm not a fan of the genre by any stretch.  I guess my main problem is it relies so much on hindsight, people taking stuff we have now and reverse engineering it to 19th Century technology.  I tend to think if they could have made a giant walking spider back then someone probably would have.

My point then is I was prepared not to like this book, but I did.  Since I haven't read any steampunk before what it actually reminded me of is Star Wars.  Zen is like a Jedi in that he has a sword and a mystical ability that helps him fight.  When he goes in search of the "Sky Sword" he meets a scoundrel who also happens to own a very fast ship--sound familiar?  And then they meet a a woman who's very tough and capable--but does not turn out to be Zen's sister.

Thinking of it that way probably helped and also I don't think it took the steampunk to ridiculous extremes.  Not like for instance "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow" where they had a fleet of SHIELD helicarriers in the mid-30s.  Say whaaaat?  Although there was (briefly) a mechanical spider thing most of the technology like airships and cars were plausible in the late 19th Century as there were already hot air balloons, rudimentary cars, and even at least one crude submarine in the Civil War.

Besides Star Wars I suppose it plays out like one of those fantasy books where there's a party on a quest.  It just so happens instead of fighting dragons and wizards they're after the "Machine Boy" who to use another Star Wars reference reminded me of young Anakin Skywalker, though less annoying because he didn't go around asking teenage girls if they were angels.

Anyway, it's a fast-paced, action-packed read that's written very well.  There's nothing to dislike, even for someone who doesn't like steampunk.  I'm looking forward to the next book.

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Hunting Elvis Presley for Fun & Profit

Hunting Elvis Presley for Fun & Profit
by Nigel Mitchell
(5/5 stars)

This isn't very long as it's intended to be a pamphlet not a novel or anything like that. As the title suggests it provides a lot of wacky tips on how to find and kill Elvis Presley in all his various incarnations. The author does a great job of writing it to make it really seem like something someone in the tinfoil hat brigade would write.

Recommended for fans of Weekly World News or "Bubba Ho-tep." I promise you'll never look at the world the same way after you read this.

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Temporary Anne

Temporary Anne
by Briane Pagel
(5/5 stars)

Another chilling tale from the author of The Scariest Thing You Can't Imagine. This novella is about a formerly beautiful woman who becomes a ghoul in order to avoid going to Hell. The lengths she goes to in order to avoid her fate defy the imagination. Since I've read a lot of Vonnegut this year, I kept thinking Pagel's style reminds me a lot of Vonnegut's work in that while the narration seems jaunty with its humorous asides and such, there's a lot of hidden depth to that narration.

Besides the novella, there are also short stories from Andrew Leon, Rusty Carl, Nigel Mitchell, and some guy named PT Dilloway.

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Powered

Powered
by Cheyanne Young
(5/5 stars)

As someone who wrote a series of superhero novels and another standalone superhero novel, I'm always interested in reading the competition. So I eagerly volunteered to read an advanced copy of this book. On the whole I really enjoyed it.

The biggest strength I think is that the author creates a unique world for the characters. In this world there are a bunch of "supers" (ie superhumans) most of whom live in "Central" in the Grand Canyon. The supers have a sort of caste system. There are the Heroes who do all the superheroic stuff like fighting villains and then there are the Retrievers. I didn't fully understand the Retrievers but I take it they pretty much clean up the mess afterwards.

Maci Might is 16 years old, which means her powers have finally reached their full potential. She then undergoes the test to determine if she'll be a Hero or a Retriever. This doesn't go quite as well as she hoped. From there Maci's life continues to unravel as she alienates her friends and family and has to take refuge in South Africa with a cute researcher named Evan. Probably too much time was spent on Maci and Evan hanging out before we get to the final showdown with the villain.

My main criticism is that I think the villain could have been stronger. Almost half the book goes by before we even find out who the villain is and then another quarter of the book goes by before the villain really becomes any kind of threat. Superhero stories are defined as much by the villain as the hero, like Batman vs. the Joker or Superman vs. Lex Luthor or the Scarlet Knight vs. the Black Dragoon.

The only other criticism would be that for what I presume is a YA book there's some gore in there that even made me cringe. The part where Maci suffers a severe head injury had me literally yelling, "Ewwwww, Gross!!!!" So it's probably not best suited for the younger end of the YA spectrum.

(One other technical note is people don't ride donkeys in the Grand Canyon. They ride mules, which are only half-donkey and half-horse. The stuffed mule I bought from the Grand Canyon gift shop wanted me to note that.)

Still, on the whole it's a brisk, fun read. And of course there's plenty of room for Maci's adventures to continue.

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Chet Finley vs. The Machines of Fate

Chet Finley vs. The Machines of Fate
by Eric Filler
(5/5 stars)

Fans of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" or especially fans of "Futurama" should enjoy this smart-alec sci-fi adventure.  The eponymous Chet Finley is an ordinary schlub in Newark until the day he uncovers a galactic conspiracy to control--and profit from--humanity.  From there Chet enlists the aid of a surly robot named Ziggy and a shapeshifting assassin named Sadie to find the root of the conspiracy and free humanity.  The journey takes Chet from Newark to a freighter loaded with bootleg DVDs to Monaco and then into the stars.  From there Chet and company visit a library operated by giant birds, a casino in the Horsehead Nebula, to a planet where time itself has stopped.

As with any book of this type you might not get all of the jokes or think they're all very funny, but there are far more hits than misses.  The book is loaded with geek culture references and a good dose of locker room humor to make it fun for grown-up sci-fi fans.  It won't make you forget Douglas Adams, but it's still a fun read.

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Sale Day at C-Mart

Sale Day at C-Mart
by Joe Basara
(5/5 stars)

The best way to describe this book might be to say it's the absurdist class struggle of "Catch-22" fused with the retail comedy of the movie "Clerks."  I found this combination to be very entertaining and a step up from his debut "Cypress Lake."

This story takes place in Cypress Lake, though it's set a few years later in the mid-80s.  C-Mart is a big box chain store not unlike KMart and like KMart it has a hated rival known as T-Mart.  The management of both stores have the brilliant idea of a Christmas in July sale.  The book takes place during this sale day (hence the title) through the points of view of the store's employees.

The employees spend much of their time hopping around working (or trying to avoid working)to meet management's impossible demands.  The Powers That Be in Atlanta decree to "spread 'em thin" to avoid paying too many salaries, which often leaves stock piled up and displays a shambles and frustrated customers going across the street.  Three new employees are inserted into the chaos of C-Mart and things get off to a great start when their training person calls in sick because of a night of partying.  Thus they're left to fend for themselves.

The customers become increasingly nutty, sometimes to an exceedingly surrealistic extent.  There are a few times when the author problem should have toned it down, but for the most part it makes for an entertaining story as the employees struggle to meet management's crazy demands and the craziness of the customers.  But it never manages to get as dark as a "Catch-22."  In fact there's even a happy ending.  Well, it is Christmas after all...or Christmas in July.

Basara's writing is as good or better than novels you would pay many times more for, which makes this a really good bargain for anyone who wants a well-written tale of absurdist humor.  Or maybe if you work at a C-Mart type place and want a little catharsis.

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The Carnival Papers

The Carnival Papers
by Patrick Dilloway
(5/5 Stars)

In every life there are those critical moments that leave their mark on us forever and shape the course of our lives. These are the moments that are contemplated in "The Carnival Papers," a collection of short stories focusing on a variety of characters facing life-altering situations.

The first story is "Learning to Fly," where a young girl fed up with small town life decides to set out on adventure. This adventure doesn't go quite as she plans when her car breaks down.

"Antiques" follows a similar pattern to "Learning to Fly," only in this a young girl in a small town uncovers her mother's dark secret.

"Far As You Can Go" focuses on a woman leaving her abusive husband who has to decide just what she's willing to do in order to escape.

In "Flight," a suburban man is trapped in the urban jungle and finds the most dangerous foe might just be himself.

"Walking Away" features a young man making the decision to leave home for the first time.

"Your Missed" (the title is a deliberate typo) deals with a young man in his first real job and first real relationship.

"Carnal Knowledge" focuses on an Internet loudmouth who leaves the virtual world to confront an author who tormented him in high school.

In "Tartarus" a man's idyllic XMas with his family is shattered by a dangerous foe.

"Coming Home" deals with a washed-up baseball player returning home and starting a new life.

Baseball is also at the center of "The Kryptonite Heart," in which a minor league baseball team, its mascot, and the mascot's son are all changed forever by a game to decide the championship.

In "Safe Harbor" a dying author seeks solace in the works he created.

"Spring in the Land of Broken Dreams" is another literary-themed adventure where a young man goes in search of his favorite author.

"The Carnival Papers" focuses on a young man and his brief affair with the "mermaid" of the visiting carnival.

In "Sunset Limited" nature photographer Frank Hemsky's life takes a dramatic turn on a train bound for home.

Frank Hemsky returns in "The Ridgemont Marathon," where a stop in rural Michigan prompts Frank to consider a change of life.

"Swimming Lessons" focuses on a deformed man's first meeting with the equally deformed father who abandoned him long ago.

In "Here I Am," folksinger Josh confronts writer's block and a new love.

Josh returns in "Folksinger's Blues," where he and his band meet the end of the road.

Finally, in "Meet Cute," a man's business trip to Toronto takes an unexpected turn and demonstrates that life isn't like the movies.

These stories are of varying length. Some feature sexual situations and bad language, though nothing too explicit.

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Whores

Whores
by Nicolas Wilson
(5/5 stars)

Obviously it's a lot less subtle than The Handmaid's Tale. At one point one of the main characters is compared to Robin Hood and that seems an apt comparison. Only if Robin were a girl and all the Merry Men were Merry Women.

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Eclipse

Eclipse
by Briane Pagel
(5/5 stars)

Don't confuse this "Eclipse" with that other one. There are no vampires or werewolves in this. Instead, this Eclipse is a psychological sci-fi mystery in the tradition of the old Twilight Zone, 2001, or Solaris.

It's hard to describe the plot, because it's such a mystery that you never know if what's happening is real or if it's imagined. All we know is that it involves a man named Claudius. Did he go into space? Did he pilot a ship too close to the sun and have to bail out? Or is he lying in a prison, imagining everything?

Even at the end it's hard to be sure and that's what keeps you guessing and will have you looking at it more than once.

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The Beginnings of Forever

The Beginnings of Forever
by AL Sirois
(5/5 stars)

"The Beginnings of Forever" is a collection of stories in the old tradition of science fiction like Asimov or Bradbury. It's about the next best thing to watching a marathon of "The Outer Limits" or "Twilight Zone" except that a couple of the stories (especially the one taking place in an adult bookstore) are probably a bit more risque than either of those shows. Anyway, the stories are all enjoyable enough, touching on a wide range of topics from a look at the beginning of America's space program to a man who captures a baby thunderstorm. So if you're looking for some good old-fashioned sci-fi, give this a look.

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The Scariest Things You Can't Imagine

The Scariest Things You Can't Imagine
by Briane Pagel
(5/5 stars)

I don't read a lot of horror books, but I have watched a number of horror movies and I'm a big fan of the original "Twilight Zone." I found "The Scariest Things You Can't Imagine" to be a riveting collection of horror/suspense stories, each one compelling me to keep reading.

Like the best "Twilight Zone" episodes, I kept reading, wondering, "What's the hook here?" In "The Deal", an 11-year-old boy is tormented by nightmares. But are really nightmares or something more? In "Astrid Forever" a man is haunted by his dead wife. Why? What does she want from him? People gather outside an old man's house in "fer de Lance." What do they want? And is the old man a monster or a victim? In "Rage" a woman comes face-to-face with the son who was abducted many years earlier. What is he going to do with her? And finally in "The Grave-Robbers" a boy discovers his fundamentalist parents are hiding some dark secrets. But what is "the Engine" and what are his parents up to?

Like any great storyteller, Mr. Pagel keeps the reader engaged from start to finish, adding one layer after another to each mystery to keep the reader guessing.

But be warned, there's some intense action especially in "Rage". These stories are not for the faint of heart!

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New Pride

New Pride
by Laura Diamond
(5/5 Stars)

If you're a fan of "Twilight" and similar books then "Shifting Pride" is up your alley. Instead of a vampire or werewolf, Richard is more of a werecat--he turns into a panther. After his father sends him packing, Richard hooks up with a pack of other werecats who turn into lions, lynxes, bobcats, etc., but he's far more interested in Molly. She's an artist he finds in the woods and is far less annoying than Bella Swan. But his new pack isn't happy about him spending time with a normal person. You can see where that's heading.

As I said, if you like "Twilight" then you'll enjoy this. It's a fast-paced, exciting read. And the idea of turning into a panther is pretty cool.

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Letters to Psyche

Letters to Psyche
by Sandra Ulbrich Almazan
(5/5 stars)

A delightful short story that puts a fresh spin on Romeo and Juliet. It's also a good yarn about the nature of love and letting go of hate. The entire thing is written as a series of letters from Cupid to Psyche over the course of a few centuries as he tries to settle a blood feud between the Montagues and Capulets.

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Visionary of Peace (Vallar #2)

Visionary of Peace (Vallar #2)
by Cindy Borgne
(5/5 stars)

A riveting sequel that expands upon the great world introduced in "Seer of Mars." When last we'd seen Ian, he'd broken away from the evil MarsCorp and defected to GenTech, in large part to woo the gorgeous Kayla. Ian used his psychic abilities to help GenTech defeat MarsCorp and merge with another faction to form Vallar. A couple of years later all of that is threatened as MarsCorp gets a new ally of their own. But MarsCorp gets more than it bargained for in their new ally, which leads to a massive showdown between the Martian factions.

This is a quick-paced read that has a lot of twists and turns to keep the reader engaged. The alternating first-person chapters between Kayla and Ian is a little confusing, but after a couple of chapters it becomes easy to figure out who's narrating which chapter.

There is still plenty of room for more exciting Vallar action, which I'll look forward to.

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Twinned Universes

Twinned Universes
by Sandra Ulbrich Almazan
(5/5 stars)

A worthy follow-up to "Lyon's Legacy" this continues the story about 18 years later. When his mother is murdered, Paul Harrison travels to a parallel universe that's over a hundred years in the past--or 1980 to be exact. Paul needs to track down his ancestor Sean Lyon, who is like an American version of John Lennon, to find out who killed his mother and to try and prevent Sean's death. But there are forces at work who want to prevent both of those events.

This was a taut and fast-paced sci-fi yarn that gripped me from beginning to end. Since Paul and his friends are teens, it works for YA audiences and older readers.

Recommended.

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