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COOKING FOR CANNIBALS

Rich Leder

5-STARS

Every drug has side effects. In Cooking for Cannibals by Rich Leder, a promising new pharmaceutical guarantees the Fountain of Youth, but at a price that may be too high to pay. Dr. Sikorski is an illegitimate researcher, running an illicit laboratory, funded (unbeknownst to each other) by two competitive corporations in two different embargoed countries. Carrie is a socially challenged behavioral scientist who loves rats and who has an octogenarian mother. Johnny Fairfax is a tattooed ex-con butcher who dreams of being a chef. A crooked parole officer has perched him on the thin line dividing freedom from prison. The Greek Gods are Carrie’s rats. They are the first recipients of the experimental drug. Their fate determines the fates of all of the other characters. But now the new drug has disappeared; and all hell has broken loose.

As expected, Rich Leder has delivered a fascinatingly readable dark humor novel full of bizarre characters, just believable enough to make readers think they could be real. Certainly, truth is stranger than fiction. Having said that, the plot is implausible; or is it? Stranger things have happened. The Fountain of Youth doesn’t exist, pharmaceutically or otherwise, but the desire is part of human nature. Certainly, cannibalism exists just as surely as desperate situations exist, as surely as crooked parole officers exist and investors are played against each other. The residents of Copa can be forgiven for their desire for youth. Johnny can be forgiven for his desire to barbeque Ben Boston on a spit, and Carrie can be forgiven for her desire to reclaim her aging mother’s life. Sikorski, Tino (the Cleaner), Wolf (the Fixer), and Ben Boston are unforgivable.

Without a doubt, Cooking for Cannibals, delivers a bizarre, far-fetched, darkly humorous motorcycle ride into Los Angeles madness. It is a tongue-in-cheek reading pleasure for any lover of dark comedy, so grab a copy, climb onto Johnny Fairfax’s Harley-Davidson and read off into the sunset! 5- Stars.

An advanced copy of this book was provided free by the author in hopes of receiving an honest review. The above review represents my honest opinion of the book.

Catch my review of Code Name: Orion’s Eye on Reader’s Favorite!

Catch my review of Thoams O’Callaghan’s Bone Thief on Reader’s Favorite

See You Soon

N.C. Marshall

4-STARS

You can go home again…but sometimes it’s hard. Emily thought she would never return to her hometown, to the drama and tragedy that had beset her younger life. She thought that was all behind her…until an email from her former best friend, Ali ignited her memories and all her fears.

What follows is a suspenseful psycho-thriller. Ali has disappeared. Has she met with foul play? Is she dead? Where is she? Even though Emily has not heard from her in fifteen years she must find out. To do so, she must journey to her old hometown and confront long-dormant emotions, animosities, and relationships, most of which are unresolved. She finds that others have unresolved emotional issues involving her as well.

Emily is a mess of unresolved past emotional traumas, including an unsuccessful marriage to an abusive man she has not seen in years. Is he behind Ali’s disappearance? Is he the one with access to Ali’s house, and Emily’s vacation cabin? Does he have the chutzpah and the means to threaten their daughter?

Who knows? Only readers will know for sure as they clutch the edge of their seats while reading this suspenseful story.

Ash (Asher Benson #1)

Jason Brant

5-STARS

How do you spell relief? For former Army Lieutenant Asher Benson, its spelled B.E.E.R.

Benson has a strange form of PTSD derived from a brain injury caused by an IED explosion that killed the rest of his team. His injury causes him to know the thoughts of everyone around him. It is a affliction, while useful at certain times, is overpowering and best controlled by copious quantities of beer. The result is a persona of vagrancy.

However, Asher’s psychic ability is not unique. There are others with psychic abilities, some more controlled and powerful; as Asher will find out, some are bound for revenge.

Ash is a thriller that combines dry, tongue-in-cheek humor with nonstop action and a tendency for the reader to cry “uncle” in sympathy for Asher…after all, how much can one man take? But Asher seems to be willing to take it all.

This is tall tale, one in which the main character has an ability that is not fully believable, an ability to absorb punishment that is not believable, and a lifestyle that is only marginally believable. Nevertheless, readers will cringe with empathy for Asher. His friend, Drew Lloyd, and Nami are more believable characters and Sammy is quite believable…especially her disbelief that a chance encounter with Asher has placed her life in danger.

Laced with sarcastic humor in the face of potentially fatal circumstances, this book will keep thriller and action books readers glued to edge of their seats well into the night.

The Last Artifact (Book 1, The Dark Rift)

Gilliam Ness

5-STARS

What combines the best aspects of history, symbolism, end-times prophesy, religious fantasy, science fiction, adventure, demonic possession and horror? The Last Artifact Trilogy, Book 1, The Dark Rift.

Take a hidden portal to hell, combine it with an all too believable Satan-driven conspiracy of the powerful to dominate humanity, stir it together with an incestuous child damned from birth, add two otherwise innocent people fated from birth to save humanity from a fate worse than death and you have the premise behind The Last Artifact Trilogy. The Dark Rift brings them all together in a fascinating way in a book that’s impossible to put down.

This book is the first book in a trilogy that will keep readers of any type of action/adventure, religious fantasy, science fiction, end-times prophesy or horror glued to their seats.

Home World (Triple Stars Trilogy, Book 0)

Simon Kewin

3-STARS

When Conciliator Magdi accepted the task of mediating a possession disagreement between the planets Gogon, Sejurne, and Arianas over the uninhabited planet Forge, she knew it would be as tough an interplanetary task as diplomacy offered. Little, however, did she know she would wind up investigating the death of a diplomat, nor would she be aware that a tactic she would use would foretell the destruction of Coronade and the empire she had always known.

Three main characters compete for power. One demands Forge as a planet to hold a growing population. Another demands Forge as a source of uranium to construct a life-saving power-grid. The third sees Forge as a spiritual “heaven” portion of their religious beliefs. Magdi must consolidate and address their interests while independently investigating their claims of legal rights to Forge. The murder of one of the delegates puts her at odds with everyone and distracts all of them from the elephant in the room, the disappearance of the vessel Magellanic Cloud.

Home World is the first book in the Triple Stars Trilogy as does a fine job of enticing readers to buy the rest of the series. After all, who wouldn’t want to know what looms to destroy the empire as they know it. The disaster is looming throughout Home World but is ignored in the story so little is actually known about the rest of the series. Home World is a fine entertaining standalone tale worthy of four stars, but as I personally dislike these types of marketing techniques, I have discounted it to three stars.

The Signal (The Earth Song, Book 0)

Nick Cook

3-STARS

Lauren Stelleck has a rare ability to ‘see’ sounds in her head as colors and images. Not all sounds, but the sounds received by radio telescopes from the ‘ether’. However, while indulging her passion for experiencing these sounds at the Lovell Radio Observatory, the equipment goes crazy with an unbelievably strong signal that causes electrical pyrotechnics not just at Lovell but also at radio telescopes worldwide. What could possibly cause such a phenonema? Whatever it is, the government sees it as a threat to national security and locks Lovell, and Lauren down.

The Signal is the ‘hook’ for the four Earth Song Series. It is an effective hook making readers want to understand where the phantom signal is coming from and what the effects will be. It is well written, mysterious, suspenseful, and entertaining, and a fine four star story, worth only three stars because it is merely a ‘hook’for a serial series.

The Watchmaker’s Daughter (Glass and Steele Book 1)

C.J. Archer

5-STARS

India Steele is a victim of one of the oldest scams in Victorian England. She is a woman left alone by the death of her father and dismissed out of hand by her fiancé. Her fiancé, who has worked himself into her father’s good graces, inherits the father’s watch and clock shop, the shop in which India apprenticed under her father and which she had expected to run. But alas, in Victorian England women cannot inherit or own property of their own, and the Watchmaker’s Guild is unanimous in their refusal to admit a woman as a practicing watchmaker. India is homeless with nowhere to go and no real prospects for a job.

Matt Glass is a mysterious American with a problem. He must find a particular watchmaker in London to repair his watch; a particular watchmaker with particular skills. He has no idea of the man’s name or location, only that he is from England and was in Broken Creek, New Mexico five years previously. He encounters India and hires her to help him find the mysterious watchmaker. Having no options, she works for Glass but has reservations that he is all he seems to be. Along the way to seeking the missing watchmaker, India encounters many surprises, threats, and adventures, barely surviving many of them. One of the keenest surprises and greatest threats to her is the vulnerability of her own heart.

Flawlessly written, with excellent characterization and brimming with twists and turns, The Watchmaker’s Daughter kept me guessing until the end. It is an entertaining book with both a storyline and a lesson about people and the social conditions of the time.

The Salford World War; The Amelia Hartliss Mysteries: Book 12

Mike Scantlebury

4-STARS

Despite being a British government secret agent, Melia often seems like she’s behind the eight-ball; the only person in the room without a clue. It’s not merely that she doesn’t have all the information. Rather, it’s that everyone around her is withholding information. Nevertheless, Melia has a job to do. A job that would be easier if her colleagues were more forthcoming.

Adding to Melia’s frustration, it seems that everyone in China town has an interest in her assignment and most of them have varying degrees of financial or other business interests, personal vendettas or other issues against the man she is assigned to safeguard. If that’s not enough, her “client” and her bosses both have undisclosed agendas.

Told in terse narrative, short and to the point, this story grows in complexity by leaps and bounds leaving the reading wondering where it is going. There are plenty of twists and turns to keep the reader guessing. However, I felt the characters lacked depth and believability, and the storyline, although complicated, lacked plausibility. My overall impression was more of a caricature than a serious story.

Be that as it may, I found reading The Salford World War to be an interesting diversion if only due to the author’s writing style. Readers seeking intriguing, but lightweight, entertainment should love it.

The Tube Riders; Revenge (The Tube Riders Trilogy, Book 3)

Chris Ward

5-STARS

Some years have passed since Exile (Book 2). Marta is now a mother, living with her husband and children in the Freeman’s settlement in the Cornwall exclusion zone. However, a raid carried out by the Governor’s guards has taken her children and killed her husband, and Marta finds herself a Tube Rider once again, and the inspirational leader of a violent rebellion as she sets out to rescue her children and exact revenge on the Governor. Will she succeed in freeing the children? What will her fate be?

Revenge is a rip-roaring ride through a violent rebellion against a tyrant that has repressed more people and groups than are initially apparent. All they need is a leader, even a reluctant leader…one who is willing to charge into danger and take what it brings.

However, the Governor has special powers and some type of alien artifact influencing him. The rebellion is balanced on a thread. Will fate favor the rebels or the governor?

The action is unrelenting as Marta and the remaining Tube Riders hurtle toward their fate! So settle in and prepare to cling to the edge of your seat all night reading

Revenge.

The Tube Riders; Exile (The Tube Riders Series, Book 2)

Chris Ward

5-Stars

The Tube Riders have successfully evaded the Governor of Mega Britain and his huntsmen, including Dreggo by fleeing to France and collapsing the second “Chunnel”…or have they? Certainly, they have injuries that need healing and there seems to be no one around in France to help them.

Dreggo has been found by monks, washed onto the beach, injured and nearly drowned and they are nursing her back to health. So much for the Tube Rider’s clean getaway!

Not to be defeated, the Governor has called on a unique character that he has kept locked away for forty years and is blackmailing him into pursuing the Tube Riders in France. Altogether a nasty proposition, for now the Tube Riders must find a way to get the information on a digital photo memory card into the hands of the European governments, a task that much easier said than done…especially since the Governor has found a way to turn significant resources in France against them.

However, extreme circumstances make for extreme alliances, and the opportunity arises to save the mission. But will they get help from the European nations against the Governor of Mega Britain? Guess you’ll need to read it to see. One thing is certain. Readers will not be disappointed with the action. This book is just as action packed and imaginative as its predecessor in the series.

Strongly recommended for readers of dystopian and action books of all types.

A Time for Violence; Stories With an Edge

Multiple authors

Edited by Andy Rousch and Chris Roy

5-STARS

How do you like your murder and mayhem? Served with a knife? A gun?

Do you prefer premeditated murder or crimes of passion; that instantaneous blast of emotion that can never be recalled. The one that will haunt you forever?

A Time for Violence is an anthology of twenty-five short, violently sweet, short stories especially for those who love to read violent crime. It is a collection of works that take no prisoners and make no apology for their violent themes. Whether you like your mayhem served by surprise in a back alley at gunpoint, in an explosion of violent rage, or as revenge served as cold as ice, you will find it here written by some of the best crime and suspense authors in the business.

I felt the stories in this book were short, fast-paced, and hard-hitting. They should satisfy the most demanding readers who crave action thrillers.

Looking for Life

Clayton Graham

5-STARS

Okay! Lovers of SciFi short stories, grab hold of your trousers, settle in your favorite reading chair, and push the “buy” button for Looking for life, Clayton Graham’s new short story collection. The best-selling author of Milijun, Saving Paludis, and Amidst Alien Stars adds another winning, entertaining collection to Silently in the Night.

Whether your tastes run to aliens stranded in the Australian Outback, or to exploring astronauts stranded to the mercy of an artificial AI-controlled planet, Looking for Life offers something ominous and suspenseful for just about every SciFi taste. With characters ranging from scientists to robots, and plots ranging from direct threats to dark conspiracies, these stories keep suspense high. The truth is, I couldn’t wait after finishing one tale to begin the next; I’d finished the book before I knew it and was looking for the next story.

So tighten your courage, and settle into your spacesuit, here we go into the unknown!

The Tube Riders; Underground

by Chris Ward

5-Stars

Okay, folks! Climb aboard because The Tube Riders; Underground hits the road running and never stops for the next 400-plus pages. I love reading action and the non-stop action in this dystopian delight never lets up.Leo Banks, brother to Marta Banks founded the recreational sport of riding the outsides hanging from the rain drainage gutters on the London underground railcars. In their future dystopian world, many of the London tube stations have been closed for decades providing fertile ground for street-wise young adults to indulge their dangerous sport. Many tube passengers who see them clinging to side of train cars believe them to be ghosts. Never one to keep a good thing to himself, Leo some recruited a loose gang known as the “Tube Riders”…until he disappeared without a trace. Then, de facto leadership of the Tube Riders fell to Marta, Leo’s sister, and tube riding remained entertainment until they accidently witnessed a murder; a murder that threatened the foundation of the government. Now, their lives are forfeit…if they can be caught.The Tube Riders are characters who are well developed with distinct personalities and backgrounds. Readers will easily relate to them and their situation, laughing and crying with them and readily mourning their losses. Even the characters of the bad guys are well developed with personalities and backstories hinting at the influences that made them what they are. Readers will initially hate the “Huntsmen” in every respect, but will find empathy and understanding of the treachery that turned them into monsters.This is a tight, fast-moving novel that will keep every reader of action, adventure, dystopia and those who just like fast-paced entertainment and edge of the seat excitement enthralled until the end.

The Handmaid's Tale

By Margaret Atwood

5-Stars

Offred is a likable, pitiable character. She has a backbone and would love to fight if only she knew how could see value in it. Fred, “the Commander”, and his wife are caught up in a society, that, it turns out, is partially of his making. Serena Joy, the Commander’s wife is aging, getting older by the day, and has no children. Her hopes, pinned on Offred, are being dashed, so she is forced to suggest a “sinful”, illegal and ultimately desperate solution, one that though dangerous, works to Offred’s benefit. But as she watches others die in social purging, her hopes of pregnancy dwindle, and one regular contact disappears, she melts deeper into despair and hopelessness until…and bearing children for them to be raised by them and their wives as their own family...surrogacy carried to the level of sexual slavery; in many ways, the ultimate hypocrisy.Offred lives in a twisted theocracy resulting from wars between factions of varying religious beliefs among other human differences. From the effects of the past ongoing wars, human fertility is rapidly declining and cannot be assured. Therefore, husbands and wives become desperate for families, and the Gilead faction ruling Offred’s life is desperate for offspring to maintain its power and presence in the world. Yet, they are not so bold as to openly condone sex outside marriage; that would be sinful. So, as humans have done throughout the centuries, they bury their sins in hypocracy and a new cast of women is created solely for the purpose of being fertilized by married men and bearing children for them to be raised by them and their wives as their own family...surrogacy carried to the level of sexual slavery; in many ways, the ultimate hypocracy.Offred is a likeable, pitiable character. She has a backbone and would love to fight if only she knew how could see value in it. Fred, “the Commander”, and his wife are caught up in a society, that, it turns out, is partially of his making. Serena Joy, the Commander’s wife is aging, getting older by the day, and has no children. Her hopes, pinned on Offred, are being dashed, so she is forced to suggest a “sinful”, illegal and ultimately desperate solution, one that though dangerous, works to Offred’s benefit. But as she watches others die in social purging, her hopes of pregnancy dwindle, and one regular contact disappears, she melts deeper into despair and hopelessness until… I guess you’ll have to read the book to find out. Those who love reading about dystopian societies and about women’s struggles will love The Handmaid’sTale. Many others have found it fascinating, captivating reading. I did. You will too.

The Enigma Cube

By Douglas E. Richards

4-Stars

The Enigma Cube is a first-class story. Imaginative, with action and suspense, it should be a favorite among action book lovers and is clearly a story that most science fiction readers would love. I am both a reader of science fiction and reader/author of action books. So why do I not love The Enigma Cube?The Enigma Cube is a first class story. Imaginative, with action and suspense, it should be a favorite among action book lovers and is clearly a story that most science fiction readers would love. I am both a reader of science fiction and reader/author of action books. So why do I not love The Enigma Cube?The reason is excessive verbosity. The book is much longer than it needs to be to tell the story. The story struggles among a dung heap of excessive explanation, buried in piles of awkward, unrealistic dialog. The efforts to make the characters “cool” under fire, backfires terribly and they merely come off as being abnormal. In addition, under the circumstances of the scenarios, the moral dilemmas caused by the killing seemed exaggerated and unbelievable. Finally, there’s the issue of the “super soldier”. I admit a personal bias against super-heroes masquerading as normal humans.While I liked the idea of the story, I found it tedious, excessively long, and skipped large blocks of endless superfluous dialog, agonizing, and explanation. Readers, who are focused on the story, will as well. This is a five-star story told in a three-star way, so call it an average of four-stars.

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