GIVEAWAY! Enter to win your own digital copy of "Scent of Jade" by Dee DeTarsio!

 The Scent of Jade is creative and unique with surprising twists--in turn suspenseful and heartbreaking, combining humor and romance to reach the payoff ending.  (Available at Amazon)

Official blurb:

“Romancing The Stone” meets “Survivor” in this delightfully quirky novel from television producer and writer, Dee DeTarsio! 

Julie Fraser is the least adventurous person she knows…until she hops on a plane to surprise her husband who's on a business trip in Costa Rica. Reeling from the discovery that her husband isn’t who she thought he was, she embarks on an unexpected rainforest adventure that leaves her not knowing where to turn, literally, or whom to trust. She knew she should have stayed home! Will a monkey, a Latin hunk, and a mysterious ‘love potion’ help Julie on her mission to find and forgive her husband?

About the Author:

Dee DeTarsio is a television writer living in San Diego, California, with her husband, John, a Director of Photography. She is the indentured servant of their two children, Tyler and Gianna. She is writing a screenplay for The Scent of Jade, and is working on her next novel, Ros.


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I honestly can't wait to read and review this book. Action and adventure, a woman on a journey in a foreign land, a Latin hunk, and a love potion thrown in? How could you resist? Luckily, you won't have to! Enter here to win one of TWO copies being given away by the author. The ebook will come in the form of a Kindle gift. Don't have a Kindle? No problem! Download a FREE Kindle app for your smartphone (I use one on my Droid X), your ipad/ipod touch, or even your computer. 


Entering is super easy because, well, I like easy! Just leave a comment on this post with your email address (so we can email you your prize if you're one of the winners). That's it! You are more than welcome to say wonderful things about me or the author, follow this blog, tweet or otherwise share this giveaway with all your friends....  doing those things won't up your chances, but they'll make us all feel happier, and isn't that worth it? 


(Giveaway ends April 7th)

REVIEW: "Spiral X" by J.J. Westendarp

Cheryl is a Hunter. A Vampire Hunter. Not only that, but she's so good at what she does that the Underworld has a contract out on her. She has the best percentage of Vampire kills in any district and, if that weren't enough, she's about to become drawn into a big, secretive drug deal that has the ability to change the world as she knows it. Not only does Plast have a detrimental and violent effect on humans, it's central to a heinous plan to create a new breed of Vampire that won't succumb to the usual weaponry. In addition to her usual sidekicks Tank and Virgil, Cheryl meets a mysterious Hunter with an unusual past and some interesting connections, who joins them in the never-ending battle against the Underworld and the drug that's fueling their leader's plans. 

J. J. Westendarp has created in Cheryl a woman who can kick butt and take no prisoners, yet, even with that sense of duty, has a softer side for the human "victims" who have chosen to serve Vampires. Cheryl is very likable and sympathetic, even as she exudes power and control. She's reminiscent of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," with some "Blade" thrown in. I could easily see this story as a movie or a TV action series. Cheryl had all the elements you'd expect in an action hero: a tortured past that gave rise to her current profession, a few trusted associates, a true devotion to saving the world, and the ability to kick ass while still keeping a sense of humor. Overall, all of the characters fit nicely in the mold of typical action figures, and I really found myself rooting for Cheryl in the story. 

Although an enjoyable and fast-paced read, it was a too neatly tied up for my taste. The surprises are a little too predictable, and the connections between people and events a little too convenient and simplistic. Neat, but a little too neat. Much of the dialogue was trite, with explanations and events that seemed too perfectly organized. They fit the mold of an action story, but there wasn't anything extraordinary or special that got me excited. Instead of feeling like I was immersed in the action, I felt like I was watching a play onstage with everything perfectly scripted. 

The story is nicely written and the writing style was very readable and interesting, with no more than a handful of obvious typographical errors. For the most part, it was nicely formatted. I noticed a font size change several times, with smaller font for a paragraph or so every so often. I'm not sure what causes that, or if it's able to be reproduced in anyone else's experience (I had a Smashwords ePub), but it didn't detract from the overall experience.

A perfect read for those who love fast-paced action stories with a paranormal basis. 

3.5 /5 stars

Available on Smashwords, Amazon, Barnes & Noble

REVIEW: "Pandora's Succession" by Russell Brooks

Imagine a biological weapon so incredibly powerful, it can "eat" through a human in mere minutes. Now imagine that weapon in the hands of a terrorist, a terrorist so elusive and terrifying you don't even know where to start looking. Ridley Fox finds himself in the position of hunting down this weapon, and he is misled every step of the way. Never knowing who to trust, he is led on a whirlwind adventure to try to take control of this deadly weapon in order to safeguard all of humanity. Every time Ridley thinks he's made progress, there is a another surprise waiting to smack him upside the head and keep him on the chase. Time is running out; will he be able to accomplish his mission? Or will most of the world be wiped out by a cloud of red?

Russell Brooks  has created an action thriller that is immediately engaging, as well as terrifying, quickly drawing in readers. This fast-paced adventure offers a different take on bioterrorism and its potential uses. The results are altogether scary, as you find yourself pondering the potential reality of this plot. This book reads like it was meant to be an action-packed thriller on the silver screen. It is pretty well-edited and the writing is clean and easy to read. The book moves along quickly, but some of the pacing seemed a bit "off" for me. Some of the secrets were revealed a little earlier than I would have expected, and something about the pacing of character introductions threw me off a little. I can't quite put a finger on what it was, but it just didn't "flow" as well as I would have liked.

Although I think that would make a fabulous and entrancing movie- one I would surely line up to see- it left me a little cold as a book. I found the writing to be a little "sterile," leaving it completely up to the reader to do a lot of interpretation to add feeling and emotion to the story. In a movie, this would be the actor's job to interpret. In a book, I like a little more "voice" to help me imagine the characters and the scenes. In that same vein, the characters were not fully developed, and, as a result, their conversations didn't ring completely "true." It's not that the writing style was bad, it really wasn't. I just wanted a little more "flesh" to help me engage more completely in the storyline. I really want to be inside a character's head, or at least be able to imagine what it might be like to be in there. Motivations were explained, but I wanted to actually feel them, not just read about them.

Sidenote that will not apply to all: When I used my sony software to download the pdf onto my reader, it made for some really bizarre font styling. I've never quite seen any other pdf do that on my reader or my reader software.  There were at least 3 font sizes randomly changing throughout the entire book in the middle of sentences and even words, making for a really "unique" reading experience. When I tried to reload, I got the same result. I ended up reading the book on the computer instead, using the original pdf. Perhaps it's a Sony glitch, but it's a first for me! Even in the original pdf copy read on the computer, there were a few different sizes on the characters' "thoughts" which were written in an italic font. This only impacted a few sentences every few pages, and it wasn't terribly distracting, but it just seemed odd. (I tried to copy and paste a sample here, but it didn't work.) Anyone know what would cause that?

For readers who don't focus on character development and motivation, and are much more interested in events in fast-paced action thrillers, this can be the perfect story for you! There are just a few days left on Russell Brooks' "Stop the Succession" tour, so check it out to find more reviews, interviews, and general book information. Buy "Pandora's Succession" here!

3.5 /5 stars

ETA: Russell Brooks has commented that he is working to get other formats up and running, and the issues I had with the formatting will not be a problem at that point.

REVIEW: "Digger's Bones" by Paul Mansfield Keefe

What if something you took for granted wasn't really true? 

                   

A phone call from an old friend throws Angie into a whirlwind of terror and discovery. A secret has been uncovered, a secret that will threaten one of the core beliefs of Christianity. Angie, an ordinary woman with a few significant regrets in her bag, is the only person who will be able to put the pieces together to find the truth. While doing this, she must looked to all her strength and knowledge to follow the clues while evading the powerful men who are determined to squelch this secret forever. Angie may be smart and resourceful, but she is just one woman, and these men will stop at nothing- even death- to stop her.

Paul Mansfield Keefe has written a thrilling book that takes you on a ride worthy of the big screen. Angie is a very likable and interesting character, and you find yourself rooting for her again and again. There are several unexpected twists and turns, and you're barely given time to catch your breath before Angie is off and running again. I wanted to keep reading to discover what happened next. Some of the secrets uncovered were surprising, and the last few pages of the book are satisfying to the reader who has followed the story the whole way through.

With all the excitement that builds up in the first half of the story, the last 60 pages or so involve some very confusing jumps. It seems as though the author wanted to finish the story, and compacted what may have been meant for more pages into fewer. There was one scene with Reilly (spelled Riley at one point) and Angie that seemed to repeat itself a few pages later in a different location, almost as if it had never happened in the first place. There was nothing in between to show a passage of time, so you are left with a generalized feeling of déjà vu. Several sections that ended with cliffhangers turn out to be letdowns as the next page shows the characters doing something completely different, leaving you confused as to what happened. I found myself turning back to reread passages on several occasions to see if I had missed something.  

As is the case with several of the independent books I've reviewed, this book could use a thorough editing. The words "your" and "you're" are used interchangeably in many places throughout the book, and too many plurals incorrectly contain apostrophes. A sentence such as "German's love to concatenate words into larger words, until they are all but impossible to read" was first misinterpreted by me to be a sentence fragment, until I realized that the plural "Germans" was meant. Additionally, there are some homophone errors; I was surprised to learn-more than once in this story- that Jesus Christ was a "profit" and not a "prophet." There were also several typos; I was confused when I read that Angie's "mode" had lifted until I realized it was her "mood" that had lifted. The previous example with the Germans not counted, the book is also riddled with sentence fragments that are actually dependent clauses. Reading a few of these would not detract from the story to any great extent, but there were so many it really threw off the rhythm of the book. Determining what the noun or the verb should be in these clauses disrupted the pace of the story as you were considering the probable intended meaning. Changing the previous period to a comma, and using a lowercase letter at the start of the clause would have easily taken care of most of these errors.

A fun and exciting read, this book has the potential to be really good. The storyline is gripping, and some editing and revising would bring it to the next level.


3 /5 stars


Update 10/26/10: The author commented in another location that he has "corrected most of [the errors]" pointed out in this review. He also indicated that "some of the sentence fragments are intentional and part of a modern style of writing thrillers; quick little jabs of words to create the feeling of action and/or tension."


I welcome authors posting updates such as this on any of my reviews. I think it's important to allow authors to have a voice to indicate things they have changed or altered, or stand behind what they have created, even if I don't agree. With regards to part of this comment, I applaud the author for making some grammar changes to the book in such short order.  I actually really like the style of "quick little jabs," and I think he could accomplish that with his words by making his sentence fragments shorter. Most of them are long enough that, to me, they look like dependent clauses (containing every part of the sentence except the noun or verb) instead of "quick little jabs."


If you've read this book and would like to add a comment, please do!