Required Reading

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Books I have authored.

Many times I receive books for FREE to give them an honest review. I do not get paid to give a good or bad review. Spotlights are promotional and should be regarded as advertising for the book spotlighted. Regardless of where or how I got a book, my review will be as honest as I can make it.

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Less Than Hero by S.G. Browne


This is black humor at it's peak.  The main protagonist is an aimless young man who panhandles and sells his body for drug trials.  The travesty of his life is illustrated by his lack of ambition and his less than stellar personality.  How  he and a band of not so merry misfits impact New York City is the basis of the story.

Lloyd is an unlikeable protagonist with a sub-teen level of ambition and maturity.  The author has a distinctly different look at life. In the last book of his I read,  I Saw Zombies Eating Santa Claus, I was struck by how his unique sense of humor can arouse intellectual humor.   The contrast of the loser squad and their attempts to be more than they could be are poignantly painful.   Lloyd and his pals are so pathetic that you bleed for them as you stifle your laughter.  Stifling due the fact that is just seems wrong to find their lives and actions funny.

Don't despair, the ending will be better than you think. 

This is a book for thoughtful reading as it casts light on a segment of society that for most of us is totally foreign.

Site:  http://sgbrowne.com/novels/less-than-hero/This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations.

Saturday, January 24, 2015

The Lonely Little Bumbershoot by Jeff and Brenda Edwards


This is a delightful book.  It was authored by husband and wife team, Jeff and Brenda Edwards.  Jeff is also the author of several Navy thrillers, action and adventure stories.  This story is quite a surprise. First it is excellent!  The story is about the life of a little bumbershoot. Quite different from the action and adventure in Jeff's previous works.  I guess marriage has brought out his softer side. LOL!

The illustrations are very well done. The story is gentle and poignant.  It is a stunning first effort!

I highly recommend it.

Site:  http://navythriller.com/blog/the-bumbershoot-conspiracy

This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations.

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Tell No One By Harlan Coben




A lone soul facing overwhelming odds and implacable foes sounds like a typical plot but Coben has the expertise to make it anything but typical.   Dr. David Beck faced tragedy  early in his life and has moved on or has he?

David Beck is a hopeless romantic who grasps at straws.  Coben makes him believable and you are sympathetic to his plight.   The foes are sadly entirely too realistic.  Money talks and no more than in this book.

The twists and turns will keep you occupied and force you to read long after your normal bedtime.

I recommend.




This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations.

Friday, January 16, 2015

Legacies by F. Paul Wilson


I just read the prequels to the Repairman Jack series in December.  I am now trying acquire them and read the ensuing series in order.   This Jack is more mature and more decisive than the Jack in the prequels.  This story encompasses world economics and the onset of Aids.

Jack violates a couple of his earlier rules in this book.  He gets attached to both a client and a single mom in this book.  Jack's normal reaction to bad folks is aptly illustrated in this book.  It seemed dated until I read the copywrite of 1998.   Some themes are timeless and sadly in this book, their are a couple of disturbing themes than continue to plague us.

There is plenty of action and if you have an Old Testament attitude toward retribution you are going to devour this series.    

I recommend the book and I plan on reading more of the series.

Site:  http://repairmanjack.com/


This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations.

Monday, January 12, 2015

Ringland by Dan Pollock


The fact that the story takes place in a amusement park would make one think of a light hearted, amusing adventure and one would be wrong!  Ringland, an amusement park influenced by Wagner, is under siege by environmentalists and terrorist which may possibly be one and the same.

Pollock stocks his pond with a wide variety of fish.   Not only do you have the corporate capitalist, you have the American Military, the German police, the FBI, Harley riding thugs and blonde, blue eyed Amazons!

The story has a nicely complicated plot.  You may deduce the villain early on but you as well as the book's characters have no proof.  The emotional aspects of the story are focused on loss, by Quinn and by Karolina. 

Although fiction, the author points out the almost inevitable collision between the diverse thoughts of progress, profit and environment.

I recommend it.   BTW there is some kinky sex that my offend sensitive readers, this is NOT a YA book. 



Web site: http://www.danpollockthrillers.com/

This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations.

Thursday, January 8, 2015

Fear City by F. Paul Wilson


When I read Dark City a few weeks ago I stated that I may be one of the few action adventure readers who has just discovered Repairman Jack.   This is a series that documents one man's quest to right wrongs in a unique vigilante/godfather manner.   This is the final book in the trilogy that documents the early years of Repairman Jack.  This book wraps up the early years and documents the origin of the Repairman Jack moniker.

Jack becomes more jaded in this volume.  He discovers that he learned a very painful lesson from the Mikulskis in the very first book.   A mistake that he vows will never happen again. 

This three book series provides you with the reason why Jack becomes a loner and documents the events that lead to his Quixotic behavior.  Jack is somewhat naive in this trilogy but you can see where he is going.   There is plenty of action and if you have an Old Testament attitude toward retribution you are going to devour this series.    

I recommend the book and I plan on reading more of the series.  It appears that this series is the last of the Repairman Jack stories for awhile.  The author states that in the forward of Fear City which I am currently reading.  There are at least 18 books besides these in the series and I plan on reading them all.   


Site:  http://www.siue.edu/~kcole/f.paul/index.html
This may or may not come up, I got some errors trying to access it. 

This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations.

Saturday, January 3, 2015

Have I Told You Today How Much I Love You? by Cheryl Sturm


This is a book for young children designed to reinforce how much they are loved.  It is cute. 

The premise is very similar to the famous book Guess How Much I Love You - To The Moon And Back ....   The artwork is pretty simplistic and appears to be computer generated graphics from a Microsoft Publisher type of program.  

The premise and the goal are both laudable.  The relating of common objects to the depth of love should be comprehended by most young kids.  

Site:  nhttp://www.knowinggoingkids.com/home.html

This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations.