Month: December 2015

Cicada Spring: A Novel by Christian Galacar

Review - Submitted

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.  Cicada Spring: A Novel is a B.R.A.G. Medallion Honoree.

Cicada Spring: A Novel is a moving book about a small town in which the lives of a serial killer, a corrupt mayor, a devastated family and a young girl all intersect.

As with most evil people, Mayor Harry Gaines has two faces – a loving respected community man and a vile evil selfish man.  Bill Sexton is a man with several identities.  He keeps them all secret but as with most serial killers who think highly of himself, he does not give credit to the local law enforcement.  Then again, neither does Harry Gaines!

Kara Price is a young teenager who falls onto the radar of both Gaines and Sexton but for different reasons.  Gaines violates her violently after hearing her dish on his community festival.  Kara is determined to keep it a secret but like most when faced with a mother’s loving smile and open arms secrets burst forth.  Dad is devastated more so because his princess is hurting and he wasn’t there to protect her nor does she want him around.

The sheriff is ill prepared to handle a case of this magnitude and his dilemma of what to do keeps him second guessing himself.  Does he protect his own or pursue a case without evidence? It seems Gaines might just get away ….

“He watched the body language of everyone he walked near, met the eyes of every person he spoke with, reading faces, looking for tells like a poker player who’d just bluffed and wanted to know if he was going to be called.  But it was quickly becoming clear that he was home free, and it was all thanks to his wife’s well-placed seeds of gossip.”

Through a series of well thought out twists and turns, justice is delivered in more ways than one.  A thriller that takes a real life situation and turns it inside out for all to see.

Christian Galacar does an excellent job of weaving emotions and actions into a carefully constructed plot.  The vivid imagery used by Galacar keeps the pain of Kara and her father alive and the smugness of Gaines leaves the reader feeling his oily persona.  Glacier forces the reader to experience every aspect of this book – the reader feels the pain of the serial killers victims, Kara’s and her family’s pain, the anticipated pain of Gaines’ wife when the truth bursts forth and more. This book is very moving and one that should not be missed.

it is not gratuitous in it’s descriptions of violence, rather it is done tastefully and with such impact that the reader is haunted by the book for days after reading it.  Without actually asking, Galacar leaves his readers with a haunting question “how far would you go to protect someone you love?”  The characters were well developed and vivid.  The plot was executed perfectly and clearly with very realistic dialog and action.

WordsAPlenty gives this book a 5 star rating.

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The Zee Brothers: Zombie Exterminators: The Curse of the Zombie Omelet by Givante

Review - Submitted

WordsAPlenty received a free copy of this book from the author for an honest review.  This in no way affects the review.

 

There are ghost hunters, Sasquatch hunters, crypt-zoologists and then there are the Zee Brothers, zombie hunters!  The brothers are Jonah and Judas.  Their first client calls them to report he may have zombies in the crawl space under his house.  Fortunately for the Zee Brothers, their first client lives in the small gated community of Winter Oaks, Arizona.

Winter Oaks is the home and burial ground of the now deceased Pakatini Tribe. Buried among their people is an old sacred amulet which the loathsome President of the Home Owners Association accidently disturbed.  The Zee Brothers arrive to find their first client dead; and they hook up with JJ (a busty beautiful woman) and her dog Xanadu who are visiting the family there.

The Zee brothers and JJ have to solve the mystery as to what has caused the Indians to rise (and why would a zombie want an omelet?) … and they know it is somewhere in the nearby landfill.

Well written zombie fun.  Nothing is as it seems – Xanadu does some pretty amazing things for a dog, the magic 8 ball gear shift seems to be on target with everything the brothers are going through and if all else fails there’s chocolate!  Grivante takes the zombie genre and gives it a fresh look and goes where no other has gone with the zombies and his heroes!

Only 1 hour and 55 minutes long, Givante does an excellent job of packing a ton of fun and danger into this short audio.   You will laugh!

Ian McEuen did an excellent job of narration adding personality to the brothers and JJ.  His voices and interjecting of music in this audio was spot on.

There were no issues with the production of this audio.

WordsAPlenty gives this a 4.5 star rating.

 

click here to purchase from Audible.com or click here to purchase from Amazon.

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Dads Versus Zombies by Benjamin Wallace

Review - Submitted

WordsAPlenty received a free copy of this book from Amazon and chose to review it.  This in no way affects the review.

  

A subdivision with a horrific Home Owner’s Association and a President “bully” and three men who despise the rules – the result?  Bowling in order to work out their differences; however, the problem is the president is as obnoxious on the lanes as he is off.

The neighbors who really don’t like one another but are friends by default come together.  John, Chris and Erik find themselves staying at John’s house surrounded by loud moaning zombies intent upon eating them.  Reminiscent of the three stooges, John, Chris and Erik strike out to eliminate the zombie HOA President, Austin.  Much to their surprise he’s alive!  Now they are stuck with him as well as zombies and searching for their families.

“Years spent watching movies filled with sword fights gave them both a reference for what a bat fight should look like – intercepted swings, parried blows, spins, twirls, lunges, feints and deft moves as both men fought for an advantage.  What followed looked nothing like that.  As they both tried to intercept each other’s swings, they missed.  A lot.”

John, Chris and Erik meet up with Captain Tim and find themselves at the mercy of the Duke (and no it’s not John Wayne!).  John’s issues with the zombies being called walkers is a continuous thread throughout the book and never gets old.

This book is mostly hilarious but still poignant in how the men try to hide their fears and worries for their families.  The ending was excellent!

You will laugh, you will cry, you will laugh some more!

 

WordsAPlenty gives this a 4 star rating.

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Things Unsaid: A Novel by Diana Paul

Review - Submitted

WordsAPlenty received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.  

Things Unsaid: A Novel is an eye opening book that makes one look not only at one’s self but at one’s family with an intensity that is staggering.  Three children – Jules, Joanne and Andrew are faced with caring for their aged parents who are now in an expensive retirement home and accumulating debts at the speed of light.  Neither of their parents appear to be as sharp as they once were mentally but their tongues are sharper than ever.

Jules, the oldest feels a sense of duty and responsibility to help her parents and siblings.  Caught between caring for her aged parents or her daughter and husband, Jules has to make hard choices – they are not always the right ones but in the end, she does the best she can.

“Jules is the one who has to support us.”

“His mother didn’t understand any of them.  Only her own needs.  It had always been like that.” 

Things Unsaid is a well written book that takes one family and follows them through their struggle to come to terms with their aging parents and where their duties lie.  Diana Paul uses her story to highlight a growing situation with parenting – parents give up everything as the children grow but at what point does the parent become the responsibility of the children?  And who takes the responsibility?  The oldest, middle, youngest …?  How much responsibility and to what extent do you jeopardize your own family and life?

Parents grow older and lose their strength of body and mind far too often forcing their children to make difficult choices – choices their children must live with in the end. Perhaps with loving parents the choices would be much easier to make, but with Aida and Bob … well, the choices were much harder to reconcile.

“My troubles began when I got married.  She paused and looked at Andrew.  “I didn’t mean for your father and me to be such party poopers.  We can talk about this later.  No need to ruin our visit.  And Abigail, you needn’t get involved with our petty personal problems.  That’s just for family to deal with you know.” She smiled at her daughter-in-law – a fake smile, Andrew thought. 

Paul develops each character and situation to its fullest.  Her plot development is perfectly executed and engages each reader in their own way based on their experiences.  For me, I kept seeing my mother and aunt dealing with the difficulties of their aged and ill mother with Alzheimer’s.  Knowing where their responsibilities lay with their parent and their own families.     Paul skillfully draws the reader in and provides them with thought provoking questions … what will I do when … can I do that when the time comes … why do I need to let anyone go?

Paul is a talented storyteller that has a keen insight into family and emotions.

WordsAPlenty gives this book a 5 star rating.

Click here to purchase your copy.

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The Reclaiming (The Kalatheptoris Cycle Book 1) by S. Matthew McNally

Review - Submitted

WordsAPlenty received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.  A B.R.A.G. Medallion Honoree.

Everyone is protective of their home and for those of the Turish port City of Tamendad, it is no exception.  A roaming young man who lives by his wits and by tree bark when necessary, stumbles across Tamendad and after a short while claims it as his home; a group of highlanders explore the land and soon find themselves in Tamendad enjoying the fruits and friendship of the townspeople building strong bonds; a Coquina with secrets; a blacksmith who is not all that he seems; and, a young nobleman born to lead.   United together by their bonds of friendship, they move to fight a common enemy.

“People of Tamendad,” he proclaimed, “we are at war. An enemy has arisen out of our past to confront us once again.  As it was before, this is not a war that we declared, but it is one that we will fight with steadfast resolve, and we will win.”

This is not just a war story with Goruks of the underworld seeking to reclaim their home before the “paleskins” took it from them.   It is a romance, a bonding between men, acceptance, being true to one’s self, trust, love, kinship, power taken carefully and nurtured for the good of all and not one, and so much more.

Kor, the leader of the Goruks demands respect and seeks to make changes leaving faith in the Ancient Ones (gods) to die. Too sure of himself, Kor moves to overthrow the ancient ways and take his spot in the leading of his people.

What had the ancient Ones done to reclaim all that had been stolen?  What had they done at all besides demand the blood of good warriors, blood that might have been shed recovering what had been lost?

It’s not all about war; of course, there are several instances of humor and passion.   As one shakes their head, one can only laugh as well.

“Ye called m’ brother a bastard, and I know for a fact his mother was a married woman.  Think twice before ye speak ill o’ her again.”

The characters are so well developed that when something happens to one, you cannot help but feel saddened.  Whether they have been in the book from the beginning or even just briefly, McNally has a talent for building strong connections between the reader and each character.

The plot was very well developed and exciting.  McNally has a gift for words.  Vividly painting the story out with descriptive words, turns of phrases and characters hooks the reader from the beginning. The story flows smoothly.    A mind that can create a world such as this with strong characters and a strong plot is amazing.  I cannot wait to see what he writes next!

WordsAPlenty gives this book a well deserved 5 star review!

Click here to purchase your copy.

 

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Little Miss History Travels to Ford Theatre by Barbara Ann Mojica

Review - Submitted

WordsAPlenty received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Little Miss History Travels to Ford’s Theatre is a very well done children’s book on the historic Ford’s Theatre.  The main character, Little Miss History briefly provides information about the theatre and Lincoln’s death.  While this is interesting, Little Miss History provides more information that many are not aware.

One of several examples:  “The U.S. government paid John Ford $100,000 and forbade it ever using the building as a place of amusement.”

This is a children’s picture book that is very well done.  The black and white of the drawings mixed with photos are all excellently done. The timeline of the story itself is perfectly done.  Little Miss History is placed into the story via the pictures and although she stands out, it is done in a creative and vivid manner.  One knows who she is and what her purpose is in the story.  Her presence in the pictures is important and provides the children with a connection.  Furthermore, the writing is done in an engaging manner and holds the child’s attention.

I shared this book with my 13 year old grandson who is an aficionado for all things Lincoln and he discovered things he was not aware of either.

An excellent children’s book that parents will enjoy reading with their children!  This is book 4 in a series.

Victor Ramon Mojica is the excellent illustrator.

WordsAPlenty.com recommends this book to anyone with children or grandchild with a five star review!

To purchase this book, click here.

 

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We Can Do It!: A Problem Solving Graphic Novel Guide for General Physics by Scott Calvin (Author), Kirin Emlet Furst (Author), Blaine Alleluia (Editor), Kelsey Monson (Editor), Kimmie Nguyen (Contributor)

Review - Submitted

What a wonderful tool!  We Can Do It is a book that helps those with a desire or a required course to learn the basics of Physics.  Problem solving and learning concepts is made easier and more enjoyable when combined in a graphic novel featuring dinosaurs and aliens.  A weird mix you say?  Not really, they (the characters) make the learning fun and there is a plot as well!  This book is one that high school students and those in college who need to learn about Physics can do so easily as well as anyone who wishes to learn or brush up on their Physics outside of class.

This is a must read for high school students, parents and college students.  There is nothing else out there as entertaining or informative.

Back in the day, when I was in school we had the text books that presented the work in a boring, unclear way.  Grasping at the concepts or even problem solving were made difficult because of the manner in which it was placed in the textbook – it was intimidating!   Studies have shown that learning is made easier based on the approach – nothing guarantees NOT learning faster than a textbook full of concepts and problems like a standard textbook.

These folks  Scott Calvin  (Author), Kirin Emlet Furst (Author), Blaine Alleluia (Editor), Kelsey Monson (Editor), Kimmie Nguyen (Contributor) have excelled in putting together a tool that creatively and  innovatively  put together much needed instruction into such a wonderful,  fun and non-threatening manner.  The way in which they explain Circular Motion, how to conserve energy by using a roller coaster, and the concepts of momentum were my favorite chapters.

WordsAPlenty recommends this book with a five star rating. Its creative and innovative educational content is unique and superior.

Click here to purchase.

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