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Traveling Left of Center by Nancy Christie

17 Oct 2014 2 Comments

by Amy in 4 Stars, General, Short Stories Tags: ebook, four stars, nancy christie, short story

Published: 9th September 2014
Publisher: Pixel Hall Press
Pages: 232
Format: ebook
Genre: Short Stories
★ ★ ★ ★ – 4 Stars

“”Girl,” my mama had said to me the minute she entered my hospital room, “on the highway of life, you’re always traveling left of center.” (from “Traveling Left of Center)” What happens when people face life situations for which they are emotionally or mentally unprepared? They may choose to allow fate to dictate the path they take-a decision that can lead to disastrous results. The characters in “Traveling Left of Center and Other Stories” are unable or unwilling to seize control over their lives, relying instead on coping methods that range from the passive (“The Healer”) and the aggressive (“The Clock”) to the humorous (“Traveling Left of Center”) and hopeful (“Skating on Thin Ice”). But the outcomes may not be what they anticipated or desired. Will they have time to correct their course or will they crash?

Note: I was provided a copy of this book for review

I think the thing I love most about short stories is the fact that they can have the power to move you, and that you can get so caught up in a character and their lives in such a short amount of time. There is a skill in creating a story that is capable of this and Christie does just that.

With her collection of stories, Christie demonstrates the consequences and reactions of people who are faced with situations and circumstances for which they are not mentally or emotionally prepared for. Through 18 captivating and unique short stories, Christie explores the way in which each of these characters responds to the pressure placed upon them and she does so with variety, style, creativity, and poignancy.

What makes these stories great to read is the diversity Christie includes; not only in how each character responds to these pressures, but the circumstances and types of scenarios in which they appear. There is also an air of dark humour, despair, and hopelessness for Christie’s characters. They express feelings of human experience and emotion well and show that there are numerous ways one can be trapped in their own life, bound by forces conscious, physical, or otherwise.

Each one of Christie’s stories has a character with a voice and a story that is unique and fascinating. She uses her characters nicely and makes them shown us their stories and with just a few lines, words, and actions, demonstrating who they are extremely well and capturing the despair, the loss, and the frustration in their situations. The use of voice is so well done and with the style and tone varying from story to story each one manages to pull you into their world immediately and understand who they are.

What I liked about some of these characters is that they give the impression that are in control, or that they know what they are doing, but it is clear that this isn’t the case. The stories are full of people who seem to be lost, insecure, and lacking confidence and conviction, looking for something they can’t find or are unaware they’ve even lost. They seem trapped by circumstance and the lies they tell themselves, convincing themselves and others they are in control when in fact they are simple consciously or unconsciously ignoring the problems with themselves or their situation.

This is a collection you definitely cannot stop reading. The pace is fast but engaging, and you never know what a story will bring nor how it will end up. Christie captivates you with characters and stories from the very first page and you get drawn in the lives of each character so completely and so quickly it is wonderful.

You can purchase Traveling Left of Center
and Other Stories via the following

eBook
Amazon Apple iBookstore
Barnes & Noble Books-A-Million Kobo

Paperback
Amazon Barnes & Noble Books-A-Million Powell’s Books and select independent bookstores

Maggie’s Five (#1) by Sandra Fitzgerald

08 Oct 2014 Leave a comment

by Amy in 4 Stars, General, Romance Tags: ebook, five series, four stars, romance, sandra fitzgerald

Published: 5th July 2014
Publisher: Self Published
Pages: 266
Format: ebook
Genre: Romance
★ ★ ★ ★ – 4 Stars

I had a great life. Not perfect, but really good. I was happy.
I had a husband and two children. But now I’ve got Red.
He’s using me but, that’s okay, because I’m using him too, only for a different reason.
He wants sex and leverage. I want numb.
But then Luke came back.
Don’t be stupid. Luke’s not my husband. My husband is dead, like my children.
Luke came back and things have started changing. And I think, maybe, that I’m okay with change, but I’m worried it’s too late, that I might be too far down the Rabbit Hole.
I’m Maggie Cartwright, and this is my story. But be warned, it may not be the happy ever after you dream of.

Note: I was provided a copy of this book for review

It took me a couple of days to read this book and each time I had to stop or was interrupted I found myself continually thinking about it. The first book in the Five series, the story is about Maggie, a woman who tragically loses her family in a freak accident and tries her best at dealing with the aftermath The story drags you in to Maggie’s world almost right away, a world that starts off as being about family, love, and great memories and is replaced by one that is filled with pain and loss.

The way Fitzgerald has constructed Maggie is wonderful. She isn’t anything too special, she is a mum and a wife, and she is a regular person who has a tragedy in her life and must find a way of dealing with it. This makes her real and someone who was never expecting to have to deal with something like this.

I really liked how Fitzgerald depicted Maggie’s grief and how she was coping. She makes it clear that there is no overnight downfall, nor is there an overnight recovery. People do not succumb to temptations and bad situations in one week and we see this slow decline in Maggie and in how she acts and how she feels as the days pass on.

By telling the story through Maggie it allows you to see the reasons and justifications for her actions and really get a deep sense of the emotions and the hollowness she is feeling. I loved that Fitzgerald doesn’t even make it terribly complex, but the emptiness is evident and it is clearly portrayed that Maggie is at a loss of what to do and shuts herself down and becomes a shell of herself.

Fitzgerald demonstrates her grief and her decent gradually; from the initial shock and pain you can see where things start to slip away from her and it takes over her life. One of the heartbreaking things to read is when you see how each knock adds another blow to her torment and watch as she tries to convince the world she is fine, covering her pain with a smile and a laugh before retreating to the safety of solitude once more.

There is a wonderful use of subtle references to show how Maggie is not coping with her loss, how she is eating less and wasting her days doing nothing. With Maggie’s perspective we see how these things sneak up on her, she doesn’t realise she is losing weight, and doesn’t realise that she is being consumed by grief. Fitzgerald never takes the reader’s sympathy away from Maggie, even when she gets worse, because we understand it so well from her point of view and we know what she is feeling and why she does what she does. There is no third party judgement, and even other characters like Luke do not judge, he lets her go through what she needs to go through without making her recover too quickly.

As Maggie begins to lose control of her pain she turns to drinking and bad company to numb it but it still isn’t something that you judge. You pity her and hope she won’t go too far but it isn’t stereotypical behaviour either. While it may seem that way, the way Fitzgerald has written it doesn’t come across as a cliché reaction. Instead, we see the pain and torment Maggie goes through and the reasons why she goes down this path and it is entirely justified, and as it continues it’s clear how it gets out of control which, in a way, is through no fault of her own. Influenced and controlled by the company she has sought comfort in rather than her own destructive forces.

Maggie pushes away her family and convinces them she is fine, but she is also in part, abandoned by her friends as well because they believe her when she says she is fine, and Luke is the only person who really cements himself in her life to make sure she is as fine as she says she is. Luke is an interesting character, he seems like he is imposing and it seems odd he is staying with Maggie but his reasons are soon made clear and he is someone that is there for Maggie even when she believes she doesn’t need him.

What Maggie does and feels remains real in my opinion, is never becomes too extreme or unbelievable. It is clear she doesn’t know how to handle what has happened and her toxic relationship with Red is more about his actions than hers which highlights her emotional state and vulnerability, not to mention her intense need to escape from everything.

By the end of the book it feels like you have been through as much of a journey as Maggie, one that is never certain there will be a light at the end of the tunnel. Fitzgerald offers a chance of hope and redemption but she makes sure that it is worked for and not freely given which is something that makes this book that much better and unforgettable.

Purchase Maggie’s Five via the following

Amazon

Adrian Lessons by L. A. Rose

20 Sep 2014 Leave a comment

by Amy in 4 Stars, General, Romance Tags: contemporary, ebook, four stars, l.a. rose, new adult, romance

Published: 24th August 2014
Publisher: Self Published
Pages: 237
Format: ebook
Genre: New Adult Contemporary Romance
★ ★ ★ ★ – 4 Stars

If there’s one thing Cleo Reynolds knows, it’s that she’s not into Adrian King.

The son of a model with the looks to prove it, the experienced author of her school newspaper’s sex advice column, the cocky playboy with a hint of darkness. That Adrian King.

Nope. Nuh-uh. No way.

The problem is, he’s very into her.

After accidentally flashing him, and slightly-less-accidentally-but-still-totally-unintentionally making out with him in front of the whole class, she expects to be called crazy. Instead, he asks her out.

Cleo’s determined not to end up as another notch on his bedpost. Except she hasn’t done…you know…it in a while. (Read: ever.) And as a girl who pays her tuition by writing all the sex scenes in her roommate’s bestselling romance series, the lack of inspiration has served up a fat slice of writer’s block.

Until her roommate proposes that Cleo and Adrian act out all the steamy scenes in her book.

It’s just research. No feelings involved.

Nope. Nuh-uh.

No way.

Note: I was given a copy for review

Adrian Lessons is a new adult contemporary romance and after finishing this book I can certainly say it is certainly more adult than not. The story revolves around Cleo, writer of erotic fanfiction and ghost writer for the sex scenes in her friend’s romance novels, soon finds herself infatuated by a guy in her class, Adonis-like Adrian King. Conflicted and lustful she tries to fight her feelings but is soon drawn into those green eyes.

Adrian is a character that knows that he is hot and isn’t too shy to admit it, but in a strange way it doesn’t make him come across as vain, or arrogant. He knows what he wants and surprisingly it isn’t what you expect. His affection and admiration for Cleo makes him charming, something that works well having getting to know him and seeing his perspective. I think if Rose had chosen to have Adrian as a character we see only from Cleo’s perspective there would not be the same connection and feeling he brings to the story, especially where dialogue is concerned, and his character would not be as likeable. His affection for Cleo and the fact he does so many things just for her warms your heart and puts you on his side almost immediately, you really can’t ignore how sweet and thoughtful he is with her. You soon realise he isn’t what you expect and there is more to him than meets the eye. To quote Cleo: He’s not just a gorgeous playboy with a cocky smile and an empty head.

She does have her reasons for her initial reluctant approach. She is working from reputation rather than acknowledging her true feelings or trusting him. The fact that he is hiding a secret and an advantage doesn’t help but it makes it an interesting read watching the two of them interact, picking up the references and information Rose drops along the way.

Cleo thinks Adrian is only there for the sex, but he proves her wrong and it is quite sweet and thoughtful, though he does have desires of his own they aren’t the sole focus of his courtship. Being inside his mind and knowing this from that start gives us an advantage and only helps our opinion of him, we are on his side from early on, hoping he’ll succeed.

I liked Cleo; she is self conscious, always doubting herself and her looks, but is also a little wild and crazy at the same time. She talks to her organs, gives herself pep talks, and she has a relationship and conversations with inanimate objects. This I understand. She also has enough sense to be cautious and wary, but not so much that she won’t take chances and have fun.

Adrian is also not the jovial character he seems with his dark side being uncovered and with secrets he’s reluctant to share. Even though we are given a deeper, darker side to Adrian that only added to his character, I wanted more. I could sense there was more hiding behind that smile and charm, something Cleo picks up on and I knew there was more to be revealed, but nothing else came. I know it wouldn’t have added to the story any more than it had already, but it would have been nice to explore it more deeply, not to make him dark and broody, but to show another depth to him, but this was already done well so I may just be greedy.

The story Rose has written is real and feels natural to a point. Yes it is mostly about a college girl helping to write sex scenes for her roommate’s novels, sometimes by acting them out to a point for inspiration, but there is greater reality in the narrative as well with character emotions and the relationships feel natural and suit the characters well.

With a story like this you can’t ignore the romance and the desire but it isn’t the flowery romance, at least not initially and what comes later is less flowery, more passion, lust, and desire. With things like that Cleo has the advantage given that she writes erotic fanfiction and the scenes for her roommate but it doesn’t take over her life and she doesn’t speak or think like that. The focus on desire and sex may be ongoing to varying degrees but it fits well with the story and if you don’t mind a few sex scenes that are detailed but not too crass then it is easy to get caught up in the romance side and the connection and affection between Cleo and Adrian.

The sexual nature and details increase as the novel progresses, I liked that Rose established the non sexual connection first though, this gave you something to build from and it gives it a lot more meaning. I don’t read romance or stories with a lot of sex in them often so I’m not sure what the rules are regarding this or adequate amounts included and detailed, but Rose works it into the story well and with believability. While I think I enjoyed the romancing side rather than the sex side I understand its importance. It isn’t there for the sake of it and it is pertinent really to the relationship between Cleo and Adrian, it shows their developing relationship as well as the intensity of their emotions. I will say it is often told in great detail and is clearly of an adult nature, nothing is implied it is all there, but while it does get quite detailed, it also never feels out of place. Cleo’s and Adrian’s relationship isn’t based on sex, but in a strange way it also is and it really does work well.

In terms of style, the writing and voice is good. It is engaging and the switch between Cleo and Adrian gives you more of the story and adds to the character’s relationships by offering both sides. What I found interesting was that they both are written with the knowledge that a reader is reading it, something I was surprised by, especially considering some of the content. It doesn’t take away from anything but it was interesting. There are narratives written like they are being told to someone, but it is another thing to break the wall and acknowledge it.

Overall I enjoyed the book. It was what I was expecting while not at the same time. With an interesting narrative concept it focuses on the characters with Rose using the plot well to highlight each of them, even if only momentarily. The characters have depth and are unique, bringing something of themselves into many moments making it light and humorous, while also grounding it and showing the complexities of relationships and the people involved. Adrian’s Lessons is a novel for those who want a touching story filled with adoration and the joys and complications of young love, but one that is also filled with the passion and desires that go with it.

Reho (#1) by D. L. Denham

10 Sep 2014 Leave a comment

by Amy in 4 Stars, General, Science Fiction Tags: d. l. denham, ebook, four stars, science fiction

Published: 30th July 2014
Publisher: BlackHats Publishing
Pages: 334
Format: ebook
Genre: Science Fiction
★ ★ ★ ★ – 4 Stars

Nuclear war destroyed the OldWorld. But that was just the beginning. During humanity’s darkest hour, an ancient alien race struck, waging a two-year war with Earth’s survivors. Having lost, humankind scattered, waiting for the day to reclaim their planet.

Reho, a young, survival-hardened man wandering the Blastlands of Usona, searches for redemption as he teams up with a motley merchant crew on their way to deliver OldWorld GPS devices to New Afrika. Haunted by his past, Reho must discover the truth about his own origins while thrown headfirst into a war that will not only alter his future, but the future of all humankind.

Note: I was provided a copy of this book for review

Having not read the prelude Red Denver, I knew nothing about Reho or about this world. It did not matter though, the story is intriguing and as you read you slowly understand what this world is like and the history of its people and past events. Denham writes in a way that gradually pulls you into the story, slowly bringing you into the world that has been created and the characters that fill it. I found it hard to stop reading once I started; wanting to know what was going to happen and wanting to find answers to the numerous mysteries that had been raised.

Information is given out as needed, mixing it together fluidly within the narrative and character thoughts freeing us from long information paragraphs making it seem very natural. The added bonus of this is also you get information and explanation at appropriate times and relevant to current scenes. You pick up on hints and clues, using references and descriptions to piece things together, but you are also given intentional history as well. This makes the narrative even better because while the story grabs you early on and sparks your interest, having a seamless story as well while still giving readers all the information they need is wonderful.

As a character Reho is quite likeable. He is young but tough, having survived on his own for years and often having to fight his way out of situations. In a post invasion, war-like world it is every man for himself, especially in the Blastlands. Reho has become hard and tired, but when he tries to return to his home it isn’t like it was before he left. With no real idea about where he is going, he teams up with a merchant crew, helping them deliver goods to New Afrika.

Through the book Reho’s nature softens a little, not a lot, but enough, no doubt from his engagement with other people that isn’t fighting, working with others, and finding pretty women to talk to. Reho is highlighted early on for being different, but for reasons neither he nor the reader fully understands yet. But through his travels and the experiences Reho has, along with the numerous people he meets and joins forces with, it soon becomes clear just who Reho is and what his role is in the ongoing war to take back what the alien invasion has taken from humankind.

There are great, unexpected things in this story, not even huge twists exactly, but you never know what is going to happen and it makes the story exciting because anything could be in the next chapter and characters can say and do anything. Plans change, things are revealed, and what you thought you knew you no longer are sure of. The post invasion world Denham has created is fascinating with each settlement so different from one another and it shows how adaptable humans can be, but also how different people react to things and how they cope.

Along with helping the others, Reho has a mystery of his own to solve, and new ones come up the more he is exposed to other places. Denham always seems to give you something to look forward to, whether it is a new city, or finding out whether someone survives an attack, but also in the long run you look forward to finding out about the big picture, and what answers it will bring. There is a great feeling of suspense and anticipation as well that drives you towards the ending, with no way of knowing what is to come and it leaves you wanting more after the last page. This is a story that offers hope to its characters and the reader, but not without consequence, and it shows you that war is war and there are going to be casualties and costs.

If you don’t read the prelude, Reho is still a great introduction to the Hegemon Wars series. There is a fulfilling understanding and establishment of the history and the world, with character that are all unique, complicated, and mysterious as well as a conclusion that leaves you satisfied but eager for more. From what Denham has given us so far this series could go anywhere and I look forward to finding out where that is.

Find Virgil: A Novel of Revenge by Frank Freudberg

21 Aug 2014 2 Comments

by Amy in 4 Stars, General, Thriller Tags: ebook, four stars, frank freudberg, thriller

Published: 15th October 2013
Publisher: Inside Job Media
Pages: 358
Format: ebook
Genre: Thriller
★ ★ ★ ★ – 4 Stars

Get inside the mind of a serial killer as you never have before.

Is Martin Muntor a villain or a victim? Can you picture yourself rooting for a madman to succeed in an ingenious plot to kill hundreds of people?
It’s 1995, and the tobacco industry thinks it’s invincible. But is it? Second-hand smoke gave Muntor lung cancer, and he’s mad. Very mad…and he’s not going to go quietly.

Muntor devises a lethal plan to put the cigarette companies out of business, and he doesn’t care how many people have to die in order to make that happen.
Hapless private investigator Tommy Rhoads has to find Muntor, and fast. But that’s not going to be so easy. Muntor’s smart and has nothing to lose, and the FBI doesn’t want Rhoads’s help.
Rhoads has a lot at stake – personally and professionally – and he’s desperate to stop the killer.
Who will prevail? Big Tobacco or the dying madman?
Read Find Virgil now, and go along for the wild ride.
You’ll never forget it.

Note: I was provided a copy of this book for review

I have to admit I wavered between three and four stars with this one; I thought about it and decided four was the way to go. For the parts I really liked made it more five than four, and easily outweighed the few parts that made it a three.

Find Virgil follows Martin Muntor, a victim of second hand smoke that has resulted in lung cancer who now wants justice and revenge against the tobacco companies he believes to be at fault. We follow Muntor as he plans and executes his moment of triumph in his dying days; we also follow the FBI agents who hunt him, and the tobacco giant who is the focus of Muntor’s attention. Acting under the name Virgil, Muntor starts his plan to educate the world about the harm cigarettes will do, hoping to bring down the tobacco companies in the process.

I liked the concept of Find Virgil. I liked the idea of this guy, who had done everything right in his life to suddenly be struck down with cancer and wanting to take it out on those he feel wronged him. While I’ll admit it probably wasn’t the best way to go about it, and Muntor isn’t the greatest person personality-wise even before the cancer, it was extremely clever and well planned revenge. You can’t help but admire “Virgil” as he taunts the FBI. He is smart and his jovial nature and committed attitude make you like him even more, and watching as he manages to stay a step ahead and seeing the care and thought Muntor has put into his scheme is excellent.

While ‘Virgil’ takes the FBI’s attention, we get to see Martin Muntor behind the scenes, we see inside his head and how he is gradually moving towards his next stage in his scheme. There are a few secrets hidden from the reader, but not many, we stay a step behind Muntor, just as the FBI but we also have the benefit of Muntor’s point of view, providing us with partial plans and hints at what his next move will be.

There are moments where the story has the ability to pull you along quickly and you want to find out what will happen next. This is balanced by other times where you are quite content with the slower pace, intrigued by the FBI investigation and Muntor’s plans and simply watching it unfold; there always seems to be something happening to keep you reading.

The narrative covers a short period of time really well. The events in the novel occur in a period of about a month, with a lot happening in that time and Freudberg manages to capture a real time feel for the events that happen. This grounds the novel well, highlighting the realistic nature of Muntor’s acts and the FBI investigation and an overall natural feel to the entire storyline.

Set in the mid 1990s it is a great reminder of all the joys the 90s technology brought us like car phones, video tapes, and fax machines in cars. There is also the benefit of being less technologically advanced, meaning there is a greater focus on investigative and theoretic police work without a lot of reliability of technology, there is also greater room for Muntor to do his work with less restrictions and high tech security. That is not to say there isn’t some technology, being the FBI they have a few tools at their disposal, but there are also a lot of expert consultations with people who are leaders in their field that are a nice change from simply forensically analysing everything and relying on video footage at every possible chance. Trying to get inside the mind of ‘Virgil’ is the goal, and figuring out what he is going to do next.

Everyone has an agenda through this book; each character is looking for something, working towards something, and trying to get something from someone else. We not only follow Muntor and the FBI, but also Rhoads, the retired cop turned PI who has been mysteriously connected to the case, as well as Nicholas Pratt, the CEO of a tobacco company that is the focus of Muntor’s revenge. There are a range of additional characters and points of view that Freudberg uses in the story, all connected and intertwined with one another making a complicated array of characters. Because of this there are many things happening at once that overlap and interact with one another; highlighting each character’s personal motives and intentions.

I found that I really enjoyed Muntor’s story as well as the FBI’s search for him, but what I was not that fussed about was Pratt’s. I understand that they were all connected and one couldn’t happen without the other, but I felt that Muntor’s story was more engaging, while I never got into Pratt’s side as much. Granted they had very different storylines but I found myself not really caring about the people mixed up in Pratt’s line, whereas with Muntor’s and even Rhoads’ story I became easily caught up in what was happening. Because of this there was a steady rise and fall in my engagement as we switched focus. Not that Pratt’s side wasn’t interesting or clever, it just didn’t seem to hold my attention like Muntor’s did.

I’m sure it’s a bit wrong to enjoy the pleasure and total disregard ‘Virgil’ has, but I had to admire him. Muntor doesn’t care about the people he is hurting, as the FBI profilers determine, he thinks he is better than everyone else and he believes what he is doing is the right thing. As it says in the synopsis, you do actually find yourself rooting for the madman, which sounds terrible when you realise he plans to kill hundreds of innocent people but in a clever way Muntor doesn’t come across as a madman either. This is Freudberg ‘s great skill, we get inside Muntor’s head, his reasoning and justifications and you actually understand what he is doing. Freudberg also focuses the plot around the characters a lot so you also don’t have time to contemplate just how evil Muntor’s plan is which manages to continually keep you on Muntor’s side. I did find myself rooting for both Muntor and the FBI. It’s like watching a nature documentary, you love the little baby impala and want it to be ok, but then you suddenly switch and start cheering on the lion that wants to eat it.

Freudberg’s story is driven with unique and curious characters and a well developed and complex narrative, that provides you with a good case of intrigue and wondering if, how, and when ‘Virgil’ will be caught, and who and how many will suffer in the meantime.