Guest post by Mary Maddox for the Awesome Indies Discovery Tour I was flattered when reviewer Dan Hagen described Talion as “The Silence of the Lambsmeets The Turn of the Screw.” Of course Thomas Harris’ famous thriller is quite different from Henry James’ classic ghost story, but my novel owes a debt to both. Talion explores the twisted mind of a serial killer and leaves readers uncertain whether the protagonist sees spirits or only imagines them. Ironically, these two distinctive features of the story have caused the most complaints from readers. Some are repulsed by the graphic violence and darkness of Rad Sander’s sadism. “It made my skin crawl,” one reader said. Another reader commented that Talion ought to be classified as a horror story rather than a thriller. I took her advice and began marketing the novel as horror fiction, the niche where it seems to fit better than anywhere else. And I added a warning to the book description. In The Turn of the Screw the narrator … [Read more...]
Action packed YA superheroes: ‘Super Nobody’ by Brent Meske.
It was clear from the first sentence of this book that the author knows what he's doing. Super Nobody grabs your attention straight away and holds you there in a fast moving action packed story about super villains, superheroes and a not-super reluctant teenage hero. There's a few YA superhero books about, but this one has a particularly real central character who isn't so super and not such a hero, at least to begin with. The story begins with Michael being bullied. It seems a normal enough situation, but things soon start turning very strange. Kids are turning into Actives, the name for super beings, and soon everything goes pear-shape. Michael may be a nobody, but he's just the kind of nobody the town needs to save it from a madman, or is he? If plan A fails, there's no plan B. Mr Meske doesn't just deliver a great action story, he delivers on the characterisation as well. Michael, Charlotte and his mother are very real people, and Michael grows through his experiences as … [Read more...]
A beautifully crafted, unique and powerful YA story: ‘Western Desert’ by P.J Sharon
Western Desert is the second in the Chronicles of Lily Carmichael by P.J Sharon and it’s as excellent as the first (See my review of it here). This dystopian/post-apocalyptic series should be as popular as the Hunger Games; it really is one of the best YA dystopian books around. The only reason it isn’t on everyone’s lips and on everyone’s Kindles is because as an indie author, P.J Sharon does not have the backing of a big publisher, and that’s all the more reason why you should read this book and shout about it far and wide. It’s beautifully crafted, well-polished and a unique and powerful story. Books like this make liars of those who say that indie books are of lesser quality. This is far better than many mainstream books I’ve read. The human race has pretty much stuffed the planet in Lily Carmichael’s world. Radiation is so high that you have to stay inside in the middle of the day and the level is climbing, extreme storms wreck havoc and a virus has wiped out a large number of … [Read more...]
Top science fiction with a light touch: ‘Have Wormhole, Will Travel’ by Tony McFadden
Mr McFadden knows how to tell a jolly good story, and he does it with skill and a light touch that is most refreshing. Have Wormhole, Will Travel is the story of two aliens stationed on earth to make sure that we don't develop the scientific expertise to travel to their planet and cause a problem. Callum and Jason have been here for two hundred years and were responsible for discrediting the cold fusion experiments to prevent humans going down that path. Since then, every time they've popped home via wormhole, they have nothing to tell. The humans are plodding along at a slow pace, nothing to worry about - until Callum discovers that Sam, a research scientist and tutor at Sydney University, has discovered the same technology as they use to skip back to their planet. Okay, the alien bosses say, time to evacuate, we have to blast earth with gamma radiation, burn everyone to a crisp and set life on the planet back a billion years. Jason gets ready to depart, but Callum likes Manly beach … [Read more...]
A rare book I can’t fault: Waning Moon by P.J Sharon: YA Dystopian.
Waning Moon is simply excellent, a rare book that I can't fault. It's set in the future in a small town outside of Albany after a virus has killed a large part of the earth's population. The cities are run by a Dystopian government. If you stay in the town, you get fed, clothed and have access to medical care, but you do what the governments wants. Those who live outside the cities choose freedom over security. Lily, her brother and her uncle, Sam, live well camouflaged in the forest. They have to stay away from the authorities because Lily and her little brother have genetic modifications that make them very useful to the authorities. Lily can heal and her brother can kill with a touch - or two, or three. Those living outside the cities have to occasionally travel to markets inside the city to trade for the things they can't provide for themselves and the story begins with Lily preparing to take such a trip. A few days before she is about to leave, she finds another teen fallen in … [Read more...]
Truly excellent science fiction: Paw-Prints of the Gods by Steph Bennion
Paw Prints of the Gods is truly excellent science fiction. The author has not only created a unique and riveting tale, but has also set it in a seamless future world complete in all its details. The scientific details of this world are impressive, at least to me. Ravana, who I first met in Hollow Moon, book one in this series, has gone missing, and when her father finds out, he gathers his team around him, makes hasty repairs to his old ship and flies off to find her. Meanwhile, she escapes captivity and meets a woman who agrees to help her get back to the archaeological dig she'd been working on. The planet she's on is a little like Dune and is populated in one area with giant spiders, other than that, there's just the archaeologist's dig and an abandoned scientific research centre, both under plastic domes to protect from the toxic atmosphere. The archaeologists have uncovered something that looks like an alien temple, and a shady religious sect wants to take control of it. They … [Read more...]
A real gem: Dark Night of the Soul by E.M. Havens: metaphysical fiction
Dark Night of the Soul is a real gem. E.M Haven has used magical realism to examine suicide and the issues that surround it, and like all the very best indies, it's a completely unique voice that explores its theme in a brave new way. Seventeen year old Jayden commits suicide and finds herself in a kind of purgatory where teams of people who have committed suicide protect other suicidal souls from the demons that whisper in their ears and incite them to suicide. Life in this purgatory is a series of battles, if they defeat the demons, the person lives, if they lose, the person succeeds in their quest for death and their soul joins the team. When a new member arrives, the Judgement- a kind of sparkly storm cloud- comes for another. If it's you it comes for, you'll meet a statue of yourself and you can either submit to the judgement or fight to keep the demons off your statue/soul. If the judgment takes you, you'll either move on to the next realm, or you'll go back to your life. It's a … [Read more...]
A stunning conclusion and an awesome 5 star review
"In the stunning conclusion to the Diamond Peak series, Ariel continues on to the end of her journey up the Mountain to reach Diamond Peak, defeat the final demon enemies, Cogin and Rasama, and free humanity from the Serpentine infection." So says Awesome Indies reviewer Kate Policani. She also says, "Tahlia has pulled out all the stops for a true triumph of her own!" Read the whole review here. http://katepolicanisreviews.wordpress.com/2013/10/13/eternal-destiny-by-tahlia-newland/ … [Read more...]
A superb supernatural mystery: Vingede by Krisi Keley
The second of Krisi Keley's Friar Tobias mysteries is even better than the first. Once again the author's background in linguistics and theology provides the unique material for this superb supernatural mystery. A man seeks Tobias's help for his foster son. He thinks the child may have witnessed a crime, but the boy has a speech problem due to either autism or schizophrenia, so no one can understand him. Like Ms Keley, Tobias has a degree in linguistics which is why the man seeks him out. Paolo speaks in poetry and makes obscure references to what Tobias eventually figures out is an old fairy tale about a girl and her eleven brothers that are turned into swans by a wicked witch. He senses that someone is in trouble, but who? Tobias's friend, the psychiatrist priest, wants him to meet a mute and apparently traumatised girl who has turned up in a hospital and, in what appears to be sheer coincidence, her sketches indicate that she fills the role of the girl in the fairy tale. But where … [Read more...]
Simply excellent YA literary fiction: ‘Scratches on the Surface’ by Aaron Smibert
Scratches on the surface is an excellent book. The beginning is riveting. A group of teenage boys give Derek a severe bashing and leave him bleeding in a field, but one of the boys, overcome with guilt, returns to help him. Thus begins the story of Derek, the self-harming homosexual, and Taylor, the devout Christian. Derek is a confronting personality, a difficult and not particularly likeable character - at least on the surface - but he sees the world with a deeper perception than many and his honestly forces Taylor to confront his own homosexuality. This is a painful process for Taylor, particularly in light of the Christian outlook on homosexuality. The book documents his journey as he comes to terms with his feelings for Derek and discovers the truth about Kenny, a man who mentored him in the Scouts. Taylor is a beautiful character. He has an endearing honesty and purity about him that makes him a powerful character. His faith is strong too. Rather than reject God, as he could … [Read more...]
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