#BlogTour: The Sapphire Daughter by Soraya Lane

For this blog tour, we’re looking at an interesting and intriguing series continuation with great foreshadowing for a future story in the series. For this blog tour, we’re looking at The Sapphire Daughter by Soraya Lane.

Here’s what I had to say on the review sites (Hardcover.app, TheStoryGraph, BookHype, Goodreads):

Solid And Interesting Series Continuation. This is one of the more interesting entries in this loosely coupled series (that can mostly be read as standalone, but characters from prior books are showing up with more frequency in each book along with at least some spoilers about their own stories) in that unlike so many romance novels out there – even within this series – our lead female here truly doesn’t actually need *anything* from the man who is about to rock her world. There is zero discussion of kids in this particular romance (yay for the child free! :D), so even that motivation for “needing a man” isn’t actually in the text at hand. Her job in particular is rare enough to be intriguing, even as someone who has some knowledge of that field.

Instead, this tale yet again combines both of Lane’s contemporary romance and historical fiction worlds (and yes, as such has a dual timeline), though the emphasis in this particular tale does lean more towards the contemporary romance rather than the historical one.

One of the more intriguing bits here is the continued foreshadowing of the tale that started the entire series – will Lane wait to *end* the series with that particular tale as well, or will we get it at some point in between? For now, only Lane knows. For the rest of us, it will be interesting seeing just where Lane takes this series next.

Very much recommended.

After the jump, an excerpt from the book followed by the “publisher details” – book description, author bio, and social media and buy links.
Continue reading “#BlogTour: The Sapphire Daughter by Soraya Lane”

#BlogTour: Her Last Hour by B.R. Spangler

For this blog tour, we’re looking at a compelling police procedural with a crime so horrific it would make even Aloysius Pendergast gasp. For this blog tour, we’re looking at Her Last Hour by B.R. Spangler.

Here’s what I had to say on the review sites (Hardcover.app, TheStoryGraph, BookHype, Goodreads):

Continual Innovation Compels Series Further. This is the first book in this series in a while to have some real innovation both in how the crime happens and in the domestic side of the police procedural format, and both the book at hand and overall series are that much stronger for it. This is one of those tales that tells a complete tale… and yet you’re going to be clamoring for the next book immediately, though in a very different way that prior books, including Their Resting Place earlier in this series. Truly one of the more horrific crimes of a series that has had some particularly innovative and horrifying crimes, nearly on a level that would make even Aloysius Pendergast gasp. And yet as always Spangler does a remarkable job balancing the crime and investigation with the domestic elements, and here makes both sides of the story equally compelling and exciting.

Overall yet another strong entrant in a strong series. Very much recommended.

After the jump, an excerpt from the book followed by the “publisher details” – book description, author bio, and social media and buy links.
Continue reading “#BlogTour: Her Last Hour by B.R. Spangler”

#BookReview: The Breakup Vacation by Anna Gracia

Racism And Misandry Mar Otherwise Genuinely Fun And Funny Tale. This tale was marketed as essentially an updated Forgetting Sarah Marshall for more Zoomer sensibilities, and that kind of thing absolutely shines through. There is a shit ton of drinking and graphic on screen sex of the XXX damn near erotica level in a tropical location where the main cast has gone to “escape from” – but secretly damn near stalk – an ex of one of them. Ok, close enough to the movie – which, IIRC, MTV Films produced (MTV is also publishing this book).

So many people in the reviews here note misogyny, and many make their cases quite well. And yet there is also quite a bit of misandry here, where even the “good” males are only “good” because they agree with literally everything the females say and don’t genuinely challenge any of their preconceptions.

Even more problematic for me personally was the blatant anti-white racism. Including this line in particular:

“I don’t usually judge people, but when a white person’s like, “My family goes back six generations in Texas”, I’m definitely side eyeing them ‘cuz you know which side of the Civil War they were on.”

My family doesn’t go back “six generations in Texas”, but it *does* go back in the South to the Colonial era before the US even existed. Yes, that’s right – some of my ancestors came in via Virginia, not New York. One of them even died during the Civil War – *defending* the Union, at a battle in northern Alabama. I grew up with the scars of the war criminal terrorist bastard William Tecumseh Sherman’s Atlanta Campaign literally all around me, in the town that is the hometown of both the first female and last slaveholding – same person – US Senator. Her land, as described in her journals, was just a couple of miles from the trailer park I spent the first decade of my life in.

No, Ms. Gracia, you most certainly do NOT know “which side of the Civil War” such a person’s family was on, and to make such a claim is pretty fucking racist.

And yet the misandry and racism, while prevalent throughout the text, only serve to deduct a single star combined, as while prevalent they were also somewhat minor in that it wasn’t on every page. While I know others may claim otherwise, perhaps justifiably, that wasn’t my own experience with the text, at minimum, and I do know other reviewers who will (and I think here did?) 1* a book for any modicum of bigotry, even a single line, I try to judge the work as a whole.

And speaking of judging the work as a whole, this has to be one of the thinnest “romances” I’ve read in quite some time. Indeed, the entire “relationship” is more about the aforementioned damn near erotica sex and happening into each other while one of them is on vacation than anything, and the actual romance elements, such as they are, almost feel tacked on to ensure that it can be claimed to be a romance and satisfy RWA (and potential censors, if this ever becomes a movie) rules rather than actually, you know, building a genuinely romantic story. This was thus the other star deduction, and I can honestly say that across my 1100+ reviews I’ve written since 2018 alone, I genuinely think this is the first time I’ve ever deducted a star for such a reason. That I have here is telling of just how justified I think this reason in this book is.

Finally, the fact that a *fiction* book got 3* from me, given my “subtractive method” of rating where every single book starts out at 5* and I must have specific, describable, and preferably objective-ish reasons for deducting stars, should tell you just how problematic I personally think this book is. I think I’ve given less than a handful of fiction books 3* or less across those aforementioned 1200+ reviews, and yet this book managed to get on that particular list.

If you want a book for a tropical getaway, there are better books out there. If you want a book for a tropical getaway *and agree with the comments these characters make* – which is entirely your right – then yes, this book may be for you. But despite being genuinely funny at times, and despite my own completionist nature when it comes to book series, if I give Ms. Gracia’s books another try it will mostly be down to trying to give *everyone* a second chance at all times. And honestly, I’m not sure at this time that I would do that here.

Not recommended.

This review of The Breakup Vacation by Anna Gracia was originally written on March 5, 2024.

#BookReview: Before The Badge by Samantha J. Simon

Victim Blaming And Typical Academic Ideologies Mar Otherwise Remarkable Work. Primarily in both the early and late sections of the book, the author frequently goes the typical anti-capitalist, everything is racist rants so common throughout both Academia and the field of sociology in particular. While the “everything is racist” bit is also found in the middle, it is toned down a bit as the author more proactively describes what she actually saw during her year of embedding herself within police academies to study exactly how new police cadets are trained.

It is within this section in particular that the book truly shines – and the problem of police brutality is exposed as beginning even in the earliest stages of a cop’s career, in how they are forced to think just to survive training. The psychopath David Grossman and his “Killology” are briefly discussed, though Radley Balko’s work tracing the militarization of police and the increasing frequency of police brutality in his seminal work The Rise Of The Warrior Cop is never mentioned at all. Through this section, we see in stark detail just how police are trained and what at least some of their instructors seem to genuinely believe – and while many will agree with these positions, many more will see just what any attempts to reform policing are truly up against.

It really is the conclusions, where despite Simon claiming to have no real suggestions on how to proceed, then proceeds to make sweeping suggestions of how to proceed, that mars this text more than anything – and I openly admit here that this is absolutely one of those points that will encourage many to buy the book and encourage many others to burn it. Here, Simon proceeds to blame the victims of police brutality for being victims of police brutality via claiming that because guns are so prevalent in the United States, cops are of course warranted in assuming that everyone is armed at all times and thus of course their lives are in danger at every moment – exactly what Simon exposes they are trained from the very beginning to believe. She also ultimately believes that policing as we currently know it should be completely abolished *and replaced with some other system*, seemingly not realizing that *any* State system is force from its very nature, and that ultimately *any* State system of policing will result in exactly the same problems the abolition movement claims it is trying to solve.

Still, the text is reasonably well documented, with its bibliography clocking in at about 21% of the overall text, and the actual reporting of what she saw and experienced was quite well done. Truly, even those who may want to burn this book after reading it *should still read it first*. And then either defenestrate it or burn it, if you feel so led. 😀

Seriously, read this book no matter your thoughts on policing in America. At minimum, you’ll gain a much more detailed understanding of how police officers are recruited and trained, and ultimately more knowledge – even when so skewed as this text is – helps make stronger arguments for whatever position one may have on any given issue. Recommended.

This review of Before The Badge by Samantha J. Simon was originally written on March 3, 2024.

#BookReview: Good Boys: The Lost Tribe by Jeremy Robinson

The New God Of Science Fiction Returns To Intergalactic War While Maintaining A Very Human Tale. This is one of those Robinson tales that will be great for anyone, no matter if you’ve never read a single other book by him or those of us (few) like myself who have known him since MySpace when he only had a couple of books available and have read everything he’s written since. It is the start of a brand new trilogy – one we’re apparently going to get the entire trilogy of in 2024 or at worst a calendar year of this book’s release on US Memorial Day Weekend 2024 (last weekend of May, for non-US based readers). You know, for those who have seen Robinson promise a trilogy before and then either never (not yet?) complete it – UNITY, Viking Tomorrow, etc – or take quite some time (HUNGER). Still, he completes series faster than that dragon/ throne dude with the other TV series, so at least Robinson has *that* going. 😀

The tale itself is one of those heartful yet irreverent and action packed tales that Robinson has become somewhat known for (Space Force, ExoHunter, Tribe) that also has a decent amount of not-really-hidden-at-all meta commentary about book reviews and people claiming to know an author’s real-world political or religious positions, which was quite awesome to read – and worked perfectly into and with the story being told at the time of the commentary. Honestly, the story at times seems reminiscent of Richard Phillips’ Second Ship series, also about an intergalactic war that Earth winds up involved in, except that Robinson’s version is lighter, much more humorous, more action packed, and with less fantasy/ high scifi – ie, the aliens are much easier to envision in Robinson’s tale. Oh, and if you love a certain talking raccoon in a certain cinematic universe… you’re *really* going to love one of *these* aliens in particular. 🙂

Overall a truly fun, action packed tale that shows great promise for the upcoming sequels. Very much recommended.

This review of Good Boys: The Lost Tribe by Jeremy Robinson was originally written on March 2, 2024.

#BookReview: The Pragmatic Programmer by David Thomas and Andrew Hunt

Solid Advice For Programmers Of Any Experience Level. This book, originally released just months before I started college and updated 5 yrs ago from the time I read it as this 20th Anniversary Edition, really does have solid advice for programmers of any level and within any organization. Some/ much of it is stuff that I was trained as simply being “good practice”, but there are aspects to the discussion here that we *all* fail in at some point or another, and thus are good reminders of what the ideal *should* be. For those mid career coders trying to figure out where to go next, this is one of those books that can truly reignite your love of sitting down and writing code, free of all the corporate bullshit that exists any time you’re writing code for someone else. For those early career coders, this can serve as a guide book for some of the pitfalls to watch out for and what the ideal should be in most situations you’ll encounter. And for those truly “seasoned” veterans looking to end their career on a high note with style and grace, this can serve as a solid retrospective of all that you’ve seen and done and how much you’ve seen this industry grow, change… and do neither of those things. 😉

Truly a great text on the art of programming, and should be on every coder’s shelf right beside The Mythical Man Month. (Which, for those outside the industry/ who may have never heard of it, is basically the highest praise one can possibly give a book about programming.) Very much recommended.

This review of The Practical Programmer by David Thomas and Andrew Hunt was originally written on March 2, 2024.

#BlogTour: The Last Day In Paris by Suzanne Kelman

For this blog tour, we’re looking at one of those WWII Paris tales that is familiar in that it has been done so often before, yet also very tense and very real because this particular entry into that space is done so well. For this blog tour, we’re looking at The Last Day In Paris by Suzanne Kelman.

Here’s what I had to say on the review sites (Hardcover.app, TheStoryGraph, BookHype, Goodreads):

Tense Yet All Too Real. “Book 0” of this series, The Paris Orphans, does a much better job of setting up the overall series than this particular book does – and yet this particular book actually does a far better job of showing what we’re in for with the rest of the series. Here, we get an all too real world in both WWII era Paris and 2010s era England. Yes, this is a dual timeline, and yes there are the usual linkages there. There are also multiple character perspectives, but both timelines and perspectives are switched well. The tension throughout both timelines, though wildly divergent (and appropriate for the given timeline) is done quite well, with brief moments of reprieve sprinkled throughout the story before the tension is ratcheted up even higher. The setup for Book 2 is sprinkled in later in the text here, but the Epilogue is essentially a stinger to make you want to pre-order Book 2 immediately. (Which I don’t even think is possible as I write this review on release day.)

Overall a solid tale of its type, with an intriguing twist of the idea of having s linked series of sisters and their tales during the war (along with, presumably, a post-war dual timeline of some form). Very much recommended.

After the jump, an excerpt from the book followed by the “publisher details” – book description, author bio, and social media and buy links.
Continue reading “#BlogTour: The Last Day In Paris by Suzanne Kelman”

#BookReview: The Paris Orphans by Suzanne Kelman

Short Story Effectively Sets Up Larger Series. This is one of those series introduction novella/ short story kind of tales where there is a touch of a semblance of a plot, but the larger target is introducing the world and the major players of the overall series. The ending is a bit abrupt and clearly designed to be picked back up at some later point in the series, but the larger emphasis is truly on establishing that there are several different sisters each with distinct interests and each hoping to be able to use those interests in particular ways in this particular setting.

Having now also read Book 1, The Last Day In Paris, it becomes clear that this particular tale isn’t *as* critical, yet that one *does* have aspects that are revealed in this tale that would be missed if this tale is missed.

Overall a quick introduction to an intriguing series, and a fairly quick read to boot. Very much recommended.

This review of The Paris Orphans by Suzanne Kelman was originally written on March 1, 2024.

#BlogTour: A Step Past Darkness by Vera Kurian

For this blog tour, we’re looking at a deliciously dark and creepy multilayered supernatural murder mystery reminiscent of IT and Stranger Things. For this blog tour, we’re looking at A Step Past Darkness by Vera Kurian.

Here’s what I had to say on the review sites (Hardcover.app, TheStoryGraph, BookHype, Goodreads):

Deliciously Dark And Creepy Multi-Layered Tale Reminiscent Of IT And Stranger Things. This is one of those dual timeline tales where a group of six kids get pulled together as teens to fight off an incredible supernatural evil in their rural smalltown hometown, then as adults have to come back home to end it once and for all. So like I said in the title, pretty well a blatant homage, all these years later, to IT. And of course, some say “homage”, others say “blatant rip off”. I’ll leave that to those who choose to read both my review and Kurian’s work. But if you have problems with dual timeline or multiple perspectives… just know up front that this book isn’t for you. It is truly a great story, but meh, even I know of what I know to be *phenomenal* stories that even I simply can’t read. (Looking at you, Lord of the Rings.)

Where Kurian shines particularly brightest is in giving these characters realistic Xennial (that weird merger of the youngest of Generation X with the oldest of the Millenials) character arcs, and yes, that does include LGBT discovery for at least one character. Again, if that is a problem for you… maybe not your book here.

Particularly strongest for me personally was Maddy’s own arc, particularly as a teen, as she is deeply immersed in conservative Christian culture of the early and mid 90s – as I myself was as a male just a few years behind her in the same period and in a similar small town atmosphere. (Here, our kids are Sophomores that school year, and I was in 7th grade that year – so just 3 yrs younger than our characters.) Maddy’s arc in some ways has a lot of things that were specific to females in that culture in that era, but in a lot of other ways were common across teenagers of both sexes during this period, and this is where I connected with the story the deepest. Maddy’s struggles as she realized what was going on and her role within it, and her desperate attempts to try to change and correct things… yeah, that was the early years of my own young adult form. So again, and particularly for any females reading this – there is quite a bit of discussion and action around purity culture in the conservative evangelical American church circa the mid 90s, including some of its atrocities being actively shown “on screen”. If this is something you can’t handle exploring in fiction form 30 yrs later (OW!)… maybe not the book for you.

Overall this was a deliciously dark and creepy tale that hit so many strong notes and was so very layered and multi-dimensional… it really was quite a ride. I very much enjoyed it, and I very much look forward to seeing what Kurian thinks up next. Very much recommended.

After the jump, an excerpt from the book followed by the “publisher details” – book description, author bio, and social media and buy links.
Continue reading “#BlogTour: A Step Past Darkness by Vera Kurian”

#BookReview: The Resort by Sara Ochs

Solid Tropical Murder Mystery Will Be Problematic For Some. Straight up, this book features an “on-screen” rape and an “off screen” predatory “relationship” between a teacher and a student. And yes, that last bit is a bit spoilery – but it is also something a lot of readers are going to want to know about before they get to that point in the tale. If either of those issues are absolute no-gos for you, you’re going to want to avoid this book.

But if you’re still here… beyond those two issues, this book was a *great* cat and mouse thriller that has twists almost literally through the last page of the text, and you’re going to need to be clairvoyant to catch the last one in particular because it comes that far out of left field, but in a Now You See Me type manner where well, you were just looking too closely.

It also uses its tropical setting absolutely stunningly, in all its beauty… and perils. This book is going to make you want to go to Thailand and find one of these remote island resorts… but just be careful about it. 😀 And if you read J.M. LeDuc’s Eastern Drift, based in Miami but featuring a trip to Thailand itself, near in time to reading this book – as I did – you’re *really* going to be tempted to look up pricing for flights out to Bangkok. (Looks like around $3K for a late April 2024 round trip flight, staying a week. Just saving you some time on a casual check. :D)

But seriously, the scenery is both beautiful and visceral in this tale – you’re going to feel like you’re there as much as you want to be there. Indeed, the scenery is used so well in the tale that at times it actively overshadows the overall plot… but that is actually a great thing in the early stages of a tale such as this, because I in particular almost *want* that to happen in a book such as this. Ground me in the lush tropical setting. Give me some hints of some trouble, but have it overall be about just how amazing this place is. *Then* hit me with the “well… paradise for some may be hell for others” bit. Which Ochs does spectacularly, then proceeds to ratchet up the tension and ultimately action sublimely.

Again, if you can withstand the onscreen rape and offscreen predatory “relationship”… this truly is an excellent book that I sincerely hope the author can replicate in future works. Very much recommended.

This review of The Resort by Sara Ochs was originally written on February 23, 2024.