Required Reading

Life is complicated enough without getting into hotwater with federal agencies so: TAKE NOTE Many things I review I got at no charge in exchange for an honest review. Consider this as informing you that ALL things I review may have been gotten at no charge. Realistically about 60% but in order to keep things above board just assume that I got the stuff free. I do not collect information on my readers. If cookies or other tracking stuff is used on my blogs it is due to BLOGGER not ME. Apparently the European Union's new rules state I need to inform you if cookies are being use. If they are it isn't byu me, consider yourself INFORMED.
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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.

Saturday, August 27, 2016

Mirror Image by Michael Scott and Melanie Ruth Rose



Spooky, weird, Tales from the Crypt weird probably best describes this horror story.  A magic mirror and not the good kind is the main focus of this tale of urban horror.  The mirror does a great deal more than telling who is the fairest maiden in the land.

The authors developed a path that led to a spiraling level of increasing violence and paranoia.  However in the infamous words of Frank Burns, "you're not paranoid if they are really out to get you".  Jonathan Frazer brings an abomination into his life and discovers there is more to antiques than he ever realized. 

The level of tension was kept bubbling just below boil.  The book is interesting reading and I am not a horror fan.

I recommend.

web: http://us.macmillan.com/mirrorimage-1/michaelscott

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, August 23, 2016

Spotlight On Mirror Image by Michael Scott and Melanie Ruth Rose


American Horror Story’ fans take note!
Internationally bestselling author Michael Scott and writer Melanie Ruth Rose launch terrifying new novel that will take you into the depths of the underworld


“Gripping historical fantasy.” —Science Fiction Chronicle on The Etruscans

“Gracefully told.”—Library Journal on The Etruscans

"An exciting and impeccably thought-out fantasy."—Booklist on The Magician
  
New York, NY—Tor Books, an imprint of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC, is thrilled to announce the on-sale availability of MIRROR IMAGE (August 23, 2016), a terrifying tale about a mirror that feeds on human souls and wreaks destruction on those around it, by internationally bestselling adult and YA author Michael Scott (The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel) and entertainment writer Melanie Ruth Rose. This heart-pounding novel is sure to haunt readers long after they reach the final page!

In an auction house in London, there is a mirror no one will buy. Standing seven feet tall and reaching four feet across, its size makes it unusual. Its horrific powers make it extraordinary. For centuries, the mirror has fed off of the lives of humans, giving them agonizing deaths and sucking their souls into its hellish world.

When Jonathan Frazer, the wealthy owner of a furniture and antiques shop in Los Angeles, buys the mirror at an auction, he believes he is getting the bargain of a lifetime. With its age and size, it is easily worth eight times what he paid for it. At this point, the mirror has sat dormant for years. But within days of Jonathan's purchase, the deaths begin again. One employee is crushed when the mirror falls on top of him. A few days later, the corpse of another is found in front of the mirror, brutally stabbed. A third is burned beyond all recognition. All the while, an enormous man with a scarred face is following Jonathan, demanding that he give him the mirror and killing any police officer that gets in his way.

The police are becoming desperate. As the death toll rises, Jonathan himself becomes a suspect. He knows there is something wrong with the mirror. He knows it's dangerous. But he cannot bring himself to get rid of it. Every day he becomes more and more captivated by the mirror, for the mirror is awakening and its powers are resurfacing.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS:

MICHAEL SCOTT is the New York Times bestselling author of more than one hundred books for both adults and young adults. He has written both fiction and nonfiction, his fiction being primarily of the fantasy, science fiction, and folklore genres. His work has been published in thirty-seven countries and translated into twenty languages. Visit him online at dillonscott.com
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MELANIE RUTH ROSE has worked extensively in the entertainment industry throughout her career, completing numerous projects for the BBC, LWT and ITV, and appearing on the West End stage. Born and raised in England, Rose now lives in Los Angeles. MIRROR IMAGE is her first collaboration with Michael Scott.

ABOUT TOR BOOKS:

Tor Books, an imprint of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC, was founded in 1980 and committed to quality speculative literature. Between an extensive hardcover, trade softcover and mass market paperback line, a growing middle grade and YA list, and robust backlist program, Tor annually publishes what is arguably the largest and most diverse line of science fiction and fantasy produced by a single English-language publisher. Books from Tor have won every major award in the SF and fantasy fields, including Best Publisher in the Locus Poll for 28 years in a row. Tor became the first of the “Big Six” publishers to allow their eBooks to go DRM-free in 2012.

ABOUT MACMILLAN:

Macmillan Publishers is a global trade book publishing company with prominent imprints around the world. Macmillan publishes a broad range of award-winning books for children and adults in all categories and formats.

US publishers include Farrar, Straus and Giroux, Flatiron Books, Henry Holt and Company, Macmillan Audio, Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group, Picador, St. Martin’s Press and Tor/Forge. In the UK, Australia, India and South Africa, Macmillan publishes under the Pan Macmillan name. The German company, Holtzbrinck Deutsche Buchverlage, includes among its imprints, S. Fischer, Kiepenheuer and Witsch, Rowohlt and Droemer Knaur.

Macmillan Publishers is a division of the Holtzbrinck Publishing Group, a large family-owned media company headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany. For more info, please visit www.macmillan.com
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PUBLICATION INFO:
MIRROR IMAGE | Michael Scott and Melanie Ruth Rose
Tor Hardcover | 978-0-7653-8522-2 | $25.99 | 352 pages
EBook | 978-1-4668-8561-1 | $12.99
On sale August 23, 2016



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, August 19, 2016

Storm Wolf by Stephen Morris Cover Reveal!



 I often post covers that I find are compelling.  I would be posting this cover in that category.  It is compelling!


 
About the Author:
Stephen has degrees in medieval history and theology from Yale and St. Vladmir’s Orthodox Theological Academy. A former priest, he served as the Eastern Orthodox chaplain at Columbia University. His previous academic writing has dealt primarily with Late Antiquity and Byzantine church life.
He is also the Chair of the CORE Executive of Inter-disciplinary.net and organizes annual conferences on aspects of the supernatural, evil and wickedness, and related subjects. The magical and fantastic elements in his books are all based on authentic medieval and Renaissance occult beliefs and practices, as well as local folklore, legends, and history.
Stephen, a Seattle native, is now a long-time New York resident and currently lives in Manhattan with his partner, Elliot.


  

Title: Storm Wolf
Author:  Stephen Morris
To Be Published:   September 1st, 2016
Genre:   Fantasy

Synopsis:
He was given the wolf-magic to save his neighbors; now it drives him to kill them.
“LIBAHUNT!” Alexei breaks the terms of the wolf-magic he inherited from his grandfather and loses the ability to control the shapeshifting. His grandfather’s magical wolf-pelt was meant to protect their rural village in 1880s Estonia by fighting the terrible storms in the sky but instead, it drives Alexei to kill, slaughtering his neighbors, his friends —even his family.

Heartbroken, Alexei flees his home in search of an enchanter to free him from this hideous curse. Wandering through Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Bohemia, he encounters the Master of Wolves, who forces Alexei to terrorize and murder the local farmers, and the infamous Frau Bertha who traps all those who anger her by turning them into wolves. Will Alexei find a sorceror who can free him?
Now that is an eye catching cover!



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

Sunday, August 14, 2016

A Death In Vienna by Daniel Silva


Another extraordinarily detailed action adventure this book takes place not long after  The Confessor.  It is a more detailed delving into the Holocaust. 

This review is sadly repetitious of the previous review of The Confessor.   The Kill Artist and The Heist and finally The Mark of the Assassin read way back in 2009  all illustrate the style of Silva as well as the character Gabriel Allon, an Israeli assassin.  This book holds true to the style and as the others keeps you on the knife edge of frustration in your inability to turn the pages fast enough to determine what the heck is going to happen next.  

Silva states in his afterward that Bishop Alois Hudal's action in helping many Nazis escape Europe was not sanctioned or encouraged by the Pope.  Apparently his involvement and the culpability of Argentina in accepting so many Nazis is accurately portrayed.   There is considerable similarity between this book and The Confessor.   The major difference is this is much more personal to Gabriel Allon.

The excitement and action are non-stop and as always just when you think you have it figured out, Silva tosses in a game changer.

I highly recommend.

Web: http://danielsilvabooks.com/content/index.asp

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

Wednesday, August 10, 2016

The Confessor by Daniel Silva


Extraordinarily detailed action adventure might best describe this book.  It isn’t a spy novel as much as a tale of two assassins and an exploration of the Holocaust. 

The Kill Artist and The Heist and finally The Mark of the Assassin read way back in 2009  all illustrate the style of Silva as well as the character Gabriel Allon, an Israeli assassin.  This book holds true to the style and as the others keeps you on the knife edge of frustration in your inability to turn the pages fast enough to determine what the heck is going to happen next. 

The Vatican and Catholic Church are not shown in a flatteringly light in this book.  History seems to indicate that the premise of the book is accurate. 

The excitement and action are non-stop and as always just when you think you have it figured out, Silva tosses in a game changer.

I highly recommend.

Web: http://danielsilvabooks.com/content/index.asp

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, August 6, 2016

Purrball Meets Burrball in Brazil from author and illustrator Anne Zoe



This is a picture book for children.  It is the story of a lost cat and it's reunion with its family.

A lost cat meets a sloth in the jungles of Brazil.   The plot is how the cat and the sloth find the cat's owner.   Technology is included by the use of a cellular phone and how the cat and the sloth use it. 

The story is simplistic and appropriate for young kids.   It shows animals getting along and how technology can even help animals. 


web: http://www.annezoet.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.