Category: Book Review

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#BookReview: The Crypt of Dracula by Kane Gilmour

Gilmour warns at the outset to the book that he is a big fan of the 70s and earlier incarnations of Count Dracula, and he sticks to that warning throughout the book while doing a superb job of showing what vampires are SUPPOSED to be like.

From the opening scene of the book where a pile of ash gets bloody and a creature arises, to the first time we see our hero and see the reaction of the villagers when they are told where he is going to be working, to the first time we see Castle Dracula, and at every point in this book… you get the dark, mysterious, awe inspiring power of evil that is Vampire.

None of that sparkly, angsty, weak crap here. The only romance you’ll see is just a touch of it between our hero and his wife – who are both subsequently put in mortal danger along with a couple of their friends.

Instead, you get intriguing mystery – what happened at this castle? Why is it in such disrepair? Who is the mysterious Count? Why are his servants never seen? – and fast paced action.

With a particularly good ending.

If you want to see what Vempires – and particularly the infamous Count Dracula – are REALLY supposed to be, do yourself a favor and pick up this book!

This review of The Crypt of Dracula by Kane Gilmour was originally published on May 2, 2013.

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#BookReview: Island 731 by Jeremy Robinson

Yet again, Robinson – already one of the greatest authors currently writing – outdoes even himself.

We open in WWII, where we get a sense of what is to transpire throughout the book. After the opener, we find ourselves in the middle of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch aboard the Magellan… about to be eaten by a shark!

It never really lets up from there, though when the crew of the Magellan finds a pillbox inscribed with “731”, anyone who has heard of the real-life Unit 731 of the Empire of Japan during WWII automatically has a skin-crawl moment.

Robinson has written of chimeras before, but never before has he based a story around such an atrocious real world event – and he even gives a real world history lesson during the course of the book.

Just when you think the book is winding down and all the monsters are revealed, you get a plot twist you never see coming. Then the surprises are over, right? Not at all. Indeed, Robinson keeps them coming right until the very last word of this masterpiece.

If you’ve never read Jeremy before, pick this up – you won’t be disappointed.

This review of Island 731 by Jeremy Robinson was originally published on April 21, 2013.

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#BookReview: Primal Thirst by Kent Holloway

In Kent Holloway’s Primal Thirst, we start out with Jack, a cigar chomping professor/ cryptozoologist/ adventurer in the Amazon chasing a supposedly mythological creature – and get pounced on by real cats at the edge of a ravine! Barely escaping that calamity, Jack gets offered a simple job with a lot of money behind it. Fly immediately to Malaysia, rescue a Senator’s daughter, and fly her home safely. Nothing to it, right?

Except that she’s beautiful and the remote tribe she is working with is being slowly slaughtered by creatures that a) are not supposed to exist b) IF they exist, they are supposed to be no more than a foot or two tall and c) are over 4 feet tall! Oh, and they suck you dry of blood… without leaving a mark on you.

Can our daring adventurer save the day? What are these creatures? How did they get so big? And why does some former Soviet who is intent on overthrowing the Malaysian government want the oldest of the creatures for himself?

Well, you’re just going to have to read this book to find out!

*Disclaimer: I received this book free from the author in exchange for an honest review.

This review of Primal Thirst by Kent Holloway was originally published on February 27, 2013.

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#BookReview The Djinn by Kent Holloway

This is my first book from J. Kent Holloway… and it most certainly will NOT be my last!

The action starts off with King Solomon (you know, ancient Jewish king, Son of David, Solomon’s Temple, all that jazz) thirsting for knowledge – and nearly paying for it with his life.

Several centuries later, during the Crusades, a new man – Baron Gregory – seeks the same knowledge. He has been sent to Jerusalem, blessed by the Vatican with the mission of finding the Urim and Thummim… except that isn’t why he’s *really* in Jerusalem.

As he nears completion of his actual goal, a specter begins showing up and kidnapping his men. Those few who see it and remain to tell the tale speak of a living shadow that smells of brimstone. They call it… The Djinn, based on Saracen/ Muslim folklore of spirit beings between humans and angels.

What is The Djinn? What is its goal? You’ll just have to read the book to find out. Well paced with lots of intrigue and action, as I noted in the title of this review, this is a book you REALLY don’t want to put down!

*Note: I received my copy of the book free from the author (who happens to also be the publisher) in exchange for an honest review.

The review of The Djinn by Kent Holloway was originally published on February 13, 2013.

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#BookReview Project Nemesis by Jeremy Robinson

gotta admit, I’ve never really been a fan of the Godzilla-type stories. Not in movie form, and I’ve certainly never read a book about them.

And then I picked up Robinson’s Project Nemesis – specifically because it was written by Robinson.

Now I can’t wait for my second strange beast book!

The basics: Guys find something in Alaska. Later, one of the guys heads a team working on human regeneration. Hands some strange DNA to his team after they have gotten close, but not close enough. Tissue with the new DNA seems to finally work.

Only it has side effects that are only learned too late. The human grown without a brain, specifically to harvest its organs, *lives* after having its heart cut out.

Meanwhile, a Homeland Security office chief goes to investigate Sasquatch. The local (female) Sheriff finds him after a night of drunkeness and first meets him in his boxers. Together, they stumble upon a secret facility that is not what it seems.

Just as a strange beast lays waste to the place…

If you’ve never heard of Robinson, there’s really not a bad book to start with from him, and this is no exception. It has some similarities to his Chess Team books, and even a passing resemblance to his Last Hunter series. Pick this one up. You won’t be disappointed – and you may well have found your new favorite author.

This review of Project Nemesis by Jeremy Robinson was originally published on February 10, 2013.

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#BookReview Broken Build by Rachelle Ayala

I had never heard of Rachelle Ayala before seeing this book as free on one of Facebook’s various Kindle pages. It sounded interesting – in part because I am a software developer myself -am so I picked it up.

This book has got to be one of the wildest rides I have ever been on. Not because of the pacing, but because of all the twists and turns. When you think you have this book figured out, turn the page and another twist awaits.

Simply incredible, which is high praise from a guy who routinely reads around three dozen books a year!

This review of Broken Build by Rachelle Ayala was originally published on December 27, 2012.

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#BookReview Evolution by Kelly Carrero

Kelly Carrero has done something fairly rare in my experience – written something that is fairly unique. The closest thing I can think of to what she has pulled off here is the movie Jumper, and even that lacked the execution of Ms. Carrero.

You can get the overall synopsis from the Amazon blurb, but what it doesn’t tell you is that the ending sequence is fairly shocking… and makes you want to get the second book immediately. For those who came to Ms. Carrero before the followup was published a month ago, this had to be somewhat….. tormenting. 😉 I know waiting on the third book is!

Do yourself a favor and pick up this book. I got it while it was free, and honestly I would have gladly paid the current price or even more had I known it was going to be this good. (Side note to Ms. Carrero: Smart marketing move doing the free/ $0.99 move on the first book. Honestly doubt I would have picked it up at $2.99, just because I had never heard of you – and I would have missed out on a GREAT book.)

This review of Evolution by Kelly Carrero was originally published on November 23, 2012.

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#BookReview: Ragnarok by Jeremy Robinson

If you like globe trotting action (ala PULSE or THRESHOLD), you’ll love the first half of this book. If you like more one-location action (ala INSTINCT), you’ll love the second half/ final battle of this book. If you want to know what happens with the Chess Team spread all over the planet, each off doing their own thing, and how they come back together, you’ll love this entire book. If you love action mixed with a bit of sci-fi, you’ll love this entire book. If you like balls to the wall action, you’ll love this entire book.

Robinson is quickly gaining more and more space on bookshelves, both in bookstores and in personal libraries, and this book is yet another masterpiece. Seriously, about the only people that won’t like this book are those who prefer more Nicholas Sparks style books. If you like action and mystery, this book is for you. And even if you think you know what’s coming…. you don’t. Filled with in references to Jeremy’s other books even outside the Chess Team series, any fan will have plenty of laugh out loud moments – and anyone new to the series will have plenty of references to track down in Jeremy’s other works.

Brief plot synopsis: The Chess Team is spread all over the place. Rook is where we left him in his novella, Bishop and Knight are in Uganda taking down a splinter cell of the LRA, Queen is tracking down Rook, and King is…. stumbling across a bomb plot at Disneyworld while trying to take his new family on a much deserved vacation.

Suddenly, mysterious glowing balls start showing up all over the place, taking everything that was inside them with them when they go – and unleashing mucho devastation while they are here.

King and Deep Blue are sent off to examine one globe, Knight and Bishop are sent to handle another…. but where is Rook? And where is Queen? One Chess Team member alone is devastating. Any two are deadly. But if they are going to solve Ragnarok, they will need the full force of all five members (and then some!) to tackle their biggest enemy yet.

This review of Ragnarok by Jeremy Robinson was originally published on October 19, 2012.

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#BookReview: Seven Principles of Good Government by Gary Johnson

I’ve been following the Governor since some friends started talking about him a couple of years ago when he launched the Our America Initiative. Honestly, before that point, I’d never heard of the man.

Even though I’ve been following him for a couple of years and know quite a bit about him and his positions, this book revealed far more that even I didn’t know – and convinced me even more that this is the man that America needs in the White House.

For example, while I’ve always known him to be forthright, I didn’t know to the exact extent he held himself until reading the chapter about honesty. Truman once famously said “The Buck Stops Here.” Johnson lives that statement, even when he knows the honest answer may wind up hurting him, as it did in New Mexico a time or two.

And I had never known about his program as Governor to allow any citizen of his State 5 minutes at a time to talk to him about anything they needed or wanted to speak to him about. For a few hours every evening, he set aside time to hear directly from the people. Not the various lobbying groups that haunt all Capitols, but the people directly. I personally think that made him a better Governor, and I would challenge all Governors to emulate that program (apparently his immediate successor, Bill Richardson, did at least for a time). Can you imagine how in tune a President would be with the American people if he had such a program? No more lobbyists in the Lincoln bedroom, no more “Celebrity President”, simply average Americans telling their President exactly what is on their mind.

Along the way through this book, you meet both the man and his ideals. You learn about the very human, very pragmatic side of the man who became known as Governor Veto – and you learn exactly why he vetoed so many bills.

In an age of increasing polarization of the electorate, this book stands as a shining example of a man who is well respected by all sides, even those who oppose his views. As he sometimes says on the campaign trail, he is the only candidate for President who the residents of his state wave at him with all five fingers, not just one.

This review of Seven Principles of Good Government by Gary Johnson was originally published on August 24, 2012.