Tag: action

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#BookReview: The Hunted by Steven Max Russo

Solid Thriller Uses Guns Both Effectively And Not So Effectively. Seriously, this is one book that uses one particular gun *phenomenally* – one of the best uses I’ve ever seen of this particular gun, easily. But revealing that particular gun gets into spoiler territory.

Most of the rest of this tale is a really solid cat and mouse type thriller where danger lurks nearly behind every word and the action is of a sufficiently frenetic pace that fans of masters of balls to the wall action like Matthew Reilly and Jeremy Robinson will likely enjoy quite well. From the prologue through the epilogue, danger and intrigue is always *right there*, and we get several very satisfying action sequences and payoffs throughout. For the pure adrenaline action book this is, it really is quite a fun one.

But then we get to the issues where guns *aren’t* used as effectively, and to be fair this is a touch of nitpicking where those “less familiar” with guns than I am likely wouldn’t notice anything wrong at all… but readers anywhere near the level of proficiency with guns that these characters are supposed to have – all private military contractors of some form, many of them former special forces – are known to howl quite loudly about when they see these exact errors. Yes, I’m talking about Spec Ops/ PMC type characters referring to “magazines” as “clips”. Every. Damn. Time. Once, hey, maybe Russo mistyped and simply missed it in editing. Every time? Seems Russo, who clearly thought out and perhaps even researched *so much else* from a tactical and even practical perspective about so very many of the action sequences here – up to and including specifying several different types of guns in several different situations and using them quite effectively and realistically… *kept referring to magazines as clips*. GAH! So yes, this was bad enough from these specific types of characters that I ultimately felt I didn’t have a choice but to deduct a star for this reason. I always seek to be both as objective as possible and 100% honest in my reviews, and this was absolutely something that stuck out to me every time it happened. And yes, *for me*, it took me out of the scene every time. As noted earlier, for someone less familiar with guns – say non-American audiences, or maybe readers in the Northeast or Left Coast – some of the areas in even the US with the tightest gun regulations and thus far less general public familiarity with guns – hey, this particular thing may not be an issue for those readers. But for anyone even moderately familiar with a gun, yes, this will absolutely be an issue.

Another gun related issue – that only happened a couple of times, to be clear – is suppressors. Yes, Russo used the correct term here, which was great. But he also described them as taking the sound of a gunshot from an M40 sniper rifle down to “a bit louder than a pellet gun”. No. Just no. The *best* suppressors currently on the market in 2026 reduce a shot by *maybe* 40 decibels – and I’m being generous there. They take it from standing beside the action end of a jet engine to standing beside the speakers at a Metallica concert. At best. Which, to be fair, *is* QUITE “a bit louder than a pellet gun”. The way I typically describe it is that it takes the shot from being heard from 5 miles away (ish) to one mile away (ish), particularly in the relatively open fields of that particular scene. Yet again though, familiarity with guns. If you only know guns from entertainment and not from some form of actually having fired them, Hollywood in particular is *horrendous* about the suppressor issue specifically… but you wouldn’t know any better as you read this book. But those with more familiarity and experience with guns… again, this is a significant issue for at least those readers.

But again, overall – outside of the “magazine” vs “clip” issue and the suppressor issue – this really was a very solidly written, very fun action thriller with balls to the wall action sequences and fairly realistic tactics based on the settings as described – up to and including a few critical mistakes made by both heroes and villains. Truly a fun read that a lot of guys in particular are going to love.

Very much recommended.

This review of The Hunted by Steven Max Russo was originally written on January 7, 2026.

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#BookReview: The Memory Thief by Kayla Eaden

Phenomenal Story. Absolutely HORRID Storytelling. In the hands of someone with the skills of a Roth (DIVERGENT) or a Collins (HUNGER GAMES) or a Rowling (HARRY POTTER) or a Dashner (MAZE RUNNER) or a Robinson (THE LAST HUNTER) or a Phillips (RHO AGENDA) or a Harrison (INFINITY) or or or or or… this could have been an absolutely PHENOMENAL story that would keep you on the edge of your seat for at least a trilogy of trilogies, if not a near-mid-double-digits long series of all 300+ or even 600+ page books. There is *that much* material covered here, and it truly sounds PHENOMENAL.

Unfortunately, Eaden isn’t one of those authors, or even anywhere near that – at least right now. In this form as presented in this book, the story reads far more like Eaden had a decently detailed outline… and for some weird reason thought she had a cohesive book. No ma’am. You have a pretty solid outline to do at minimum that trilogy of trilogies I mentioned above or even that far longer series I mentioned above. I’m dead serious that such an expansion, along with better editing and admittedly more advanced and refined writing and storytelling skills could truly be one for the ages. This simply isn’t that, and it is a true shame, because the potential is absolutely there.

Also, I can’t leave this particular review without a note about how this book came to my attention and why I chose to buy it – and even redeem a Kindle Reward certificate to do so – and read it. On Threads yesterday, Ms. Eaden was getting absolutely slammed for the AI art on the cover and her defense thereof. She wasn’t holding her own very well, and I’m one that when I see an author or book getting just absolutely destroyed by a mob like that, I can’t help but at least step in and try to call the mob off, if not actively defend the person they are attacking so vociferously (if I happen to agree with the person). Thus, I *needed* to read the book. Maybe the AI cover was just some dirt on a filet mignon – a travesty, but otherwise a great piece of meat. Yeah, this wasn’t that. At best, it was more akin to dirt on beef tongue. Still a travesty if you’re truly dirt poor and this is the best you have, but something to just be tossed into the trash can if you have even enough money to replace it with instant ramen or some such. Yes, this story in this form truly was that bad.

Not recommended. Not in this form.

This review of The Memory Thief by Kaya Eaden was originally written on January 6, 2026.

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#BookReview: Parallax by Jeremy Robinson

The New God Of Science Fiction Exposes New And Unexpected Abilities. Straight up, I’m writing this review as one of *the* very first people to read this book beyond Jeremy and his long time editor, Kane Gilmour, and I’m targeting this review as much to Jeremy’s long time fans in his Facebook group, the Tribe, as I am to more general readers who possibly haven’t ever even heard of Robinson.

With this book, Robinson – who first came to my attention with several intricate, detailed, and spot on allegories of Biblical events wrapped up as kick ass science fiction action – manages to craft a romance subplot here that is rather spicy -jalapeno level, if not habanero. And yet he manages to do this *in service to* his overall kickass science fiction action thriller. So even if the romance side gets you into the door here – and it really is both completely unexpected from Robinson and yet at least as well done as most any romance book I’ve ever read, and better than many of them – know that Robinson never strays far from his roots, even with this new ability.

Another new ability – and I say this next one as someone who literally has a tattoo of an image Robinson created on one of the arms he is using to type this very review – is the particularly poignant quotability deep in this book. As in, Ender’s Game level quotability and profoundness in a couple of key sections in particular. Quotes I *WISH* I could share publicly, but can’t until after this book releases almost six months to the day after I finished reading it.

The final new ability is perhaps the most interesting of all – this is the first book I’ve ever read from Robinson where even *I* – who absolutely *LOATHES* the very concept of a “trigger warning” – point blank told Robinson and Gilmour that they may want to consider adding one to this particular text. As one of the reasons I detest them so very much is the simple fact that they are *always* spoilers, no matter how generally they are crafted, unfortunately the only thing I can note here is that in two sections in particular, both in the front half of the book and both effectively side by side, Robinson brings into this tale certain real-word tragedies that he has never before brought into any of his books, tragedies that are so dark that they tend to be blights nearly any time they are even mentioned at all. (To be clear, Robinson uses them in a responsible manner that adds depth to the characters involved without glorifying – indeed, while explicitly condemning – the tragedies at hand.)

These are all depths of storytelling that Robinson has never plumbed so deeply or so well, that despite being one of the earliest readers to have read his books at all and having been a reader of his works for nearly two decades now (since *MySpace*!), I had never really known him to show. That he is adding these kinds of abilities into his storytelling now, this deep into his career and as he beings to approach his 100th novel (and may have even already broken that?), shows remarkable advancement that very few authors ever really display – which only serves to make Robinson stand out (in great ways) all the more.

And then, yes, the kickass scifi action that is Robinson’s bread and butter. You’re never getting far from it in this book, and yes, Robinson’s more recent pop culture referencing and frequent use of all manner of cussing is equally prevalent throughout our action here. Long time fans or those just looking for a fun few hours of distraction from the so-called “real” world will find here exactly what Robinson has always done so very well – crafting an exciting and pulse pounding scifi thriller that will allow you to think if you so choose, but which also works perfectly well with all “thinking” turned off and just sitting back and enjoying the show.

Further, this is also Robinson showing some of the very profound thoughts he sometimes buries to greater or lesser degrees – this time barely buried at all, *IF* at all. Surely to get cancelled or crucified over some of the things his characters say in nearly every book he writes, this one is no different. I can tell you that even knowing Robinson as long as I have, even having shared a couple of meals over the years directly at his side… even *I* can’t tell you his actual political or religious beliefs. So before you think to one star this book over those comments… know that yes, we, Robinson’s long time fans, see them… and those reviews say far more about you than about him. 😀

Overall quite possibly Robinson’s best yet – which is not said lightly, in part due to said tattoo 😉 – that also seems to possibly be leading… somewhere beyond this particular book. Will it? We shall see…

Very much recommended.

This review of Parallax by Jeremy Robinson was originally written on November 2, 2025.

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#BookReview: Labyrinth by A.G. Riddle

Interesting – Yet Long – Provocative Look At Actual AI. This is one of those scifi tales that in 2025 feels like it could be a year or two from being reality, that indeed there are very likely companies working on exactly the kind of tech used in this tale – and indeed, there are and have been. I know for a fact that one of the Computer Science *part time* professors at Kennesaw State University was working on immersive computer simulated therapy as far back as 2000, when I started there as a 16yo kid. (Hi Dr. North! :D)

The tale told here is suspenseful yet reasonably realistic while still clearly being fiction. (We hope?) In its more suspense elements in the front half of the book, it works particularly well.

Where it starts going off the rails a touch – and becoming ever less realistic, while also maintaining a fairly stunning amount of realism in how things actually play out, to a degree – is more with the events of the second half. Indeed, there is one seemingly rather long section that seems like it could have been cut entirely and a few – rather than seemingly a few hundred – pages used to cover that part of the tale, similar to the 80 page “Galt’s Speech” in Atlas Shrugged, except more actually integral to the story here, which is where the “yet long” bit in the title of this review comes in to play. Even through this section though, there is a touch of an homage to The Odyssey, which is unclear if was the intent or not – but cool either way.

Overall, I’d say this is one of Riddle’s better works as a whole. You’ve got the near future scifi. You’ve got the almost domestic thriller level suspense in the front half in particular -which I’ve never really seen Riddle even attempt, and thus shows a fair amount of growth as a writer. You’ve got enough of a romance tale here that technically this satisfies all known RWA rules to be ruled a “romance novel”. You’ve got a few different homages to classic tales from Crichton (Disclosure in particular) to Homer. And yet you’ve also got an 800+ page book whose halves wouldn’t work quite as well – at least as written here – as separate books, and where another 200-300 pages to make a trilogy could be excessively long to boot, making this feel like the perfect way to present this particular story even if the one book feels (and is) long.

Very much recommended.

This review of Labyrinth by A.G. Riddle was originally written on November 2, 2025.

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#BlogTour: A Killer Motive by Hannah Mary McKinnon

For this blog tour, we’re looking at a masterful thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat. For this blog tour, we’re looking at A Killer Motive by Hannah Mary McKinnon.

First, the review I posted to the book sites (BookBub.com / BookHype.com / Goodreads.com / TheStoryGraph.com) and YouTube:

Masterful Thriller That Will Keep You On The Edge Of Your Seat. McKinnon has become a true master of the kind of suspense/ thriller where you’re still on the edge of your seat and trying to figure out what comes next… when their suddenly is no more “next” to be had in the book.

Now, don’t get me wrong, she tells a complete story every time. She’s just also become a master of telling that story and then leaving *just* enough dangling *so* well that you want that story to continue, even though it has reached its final point for the story she was telling in this particular tale.

Arguably one “weakness” here – more something I’ve just never gotten into and don’t really understand the “appeal” of – is the podcast base of this tale. McKinnon uses it particularly well to tell her story, both in featuring actual podcasts within the tale and in using the relationships of the various personalities that create and work on and around podcasts to great effect.

For me though, the strength of this tale really is the relational. McKinnon creates here a woman with several crucial relationships… and one she isn’t aware of that is about to push her to her limits. Because the best relationship in this book isn’t the marriage or the friend or any of the other usual suspects.

It is the antagonist our leading lady finds out through this tale that she has. While our leading lady is no (Sherlock) Holmes or (Aloysious) Pendergast or (Charles) Xavier or even (Clarice) Starling, our antagonist here absolutely is one that fans of Moriarty or Diogenes or Lensherr or Lecter will absolutely love. Because yes, the antagonist McKinnon creates here *is* that good.

And yet… if our antagonist *is* that damn good and one way to measure someone is by the strength and ability of their enemies… doesn’t that mean that our leading lady actually *is* that damn good herself?

How about you read the book and write your own review on whatever platform you’re reading this review on and let us know. 🙂 Feel free to tag me in it, assuming that is possible on said platform.

Overall though, this book really is very well done, exactly as fans of McKinnon expect from her… and may even be her best yet.

Very much recommended.

After the jump, an excerpt from the book followed by the “publisher details” – book info, description, author bio, social links, and buy links.
Continue reading “#BlogTour: A Killer Motive by Hannah Mary McKinnon”

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#BookReview: Island Endgame by Rebecca Hodge

Action Packed Island Adventure With Heart. This is one of those books that is going to be great for damn near any reader. If you’re more a women’s fiction type… well, there’s a lot of aspects of that happening here between one of our main characters coming to the island specifically over some trauma she is trying to heal from and one of our other main characters and the reasons she lives on the island permanently. Both of which play central roles in this tale.

Then for the action/ adventure/ mystery crowd, suddenly the tale spins and becomes much more action/ suspense/ mystery based, with unexpected newcomers threatening to kill everyone currently on the island. Through this section – much of the rest of the book, with the relationship drama folded into this new survival/ action pacing – we get a near Atomfall / early Tomb Raider/ Lara Croft type tale wherein the islanders have to evade their captors and sneak their way around as they work to find some way back to safety.

Both sides of the storytelling work well with each other, with richly detailed main characters providing a lot of the heart even as their various and conflicting motivations also lead to some of the difficulties being faced here.

The Pacific Northwest island setting also plays a strong role here and Hodge describes it so wonderfully that you’ll likely want to consider vacationing out there yourself… without the drama and survival tale taking place within the setting of this particular tale. 😀

Truly an excellently written tale that works superbly on many different levels.

Very much recommended.

This review of Island Endgame by Rebecca Hodge was originally written on August 18, 2025.

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#BookReview: The Miner’s Myth by Russell W. Johnson

Solid Conclusion With One Significant Flaw. As a conclusion of a trilogy, this story works *extremely* well. We get a contained story here that is on par with the other books, yet we also get closure for each of our main characters and answers about the overall mythos established in the earlier books as well. Yes, for fans of books having every possible plot thread tied into a nice little bow before “THE END”… this trilogy is “officially” for you.

Which means that by its very nature, this book was always going to be rather explosive, and it absolutely lives up to that. Johnson, a lawyer before becoming a published author, manages to bring us into a courtroom… well, like a seasoned lawyer should be able to. 😉 But seriously, he actually exposes what the process of a Grand Jury can be like, particularly through the viewpoint of someone testifying about charges the prosecutor is trying to level against the person testifying. This drives a significant part of the book, and is done quite well… mostly.

The significant flaw here is that interspersed with the Grand Jury testimony, we get flashbacks to the events at hand. Rather than staying in the courtroom, we flash back and see the events as they actually unfold. Which is awesome, to a degree – show me, don’t tell me, right? Yet even with my Autistic brain (some may argue *because of* my Autistic brain if they don’t notice this issue 😉 ), the actual manner in which we go between courtroom and flashback is a bit jarring and at times even fairly difficult to ascertain which timeline we’re currently in. Yes, there are a few clues, but with the way the testimony is written… at certain points it could truly feel like you’re in either one.

And yet the story overall really is richly layered, really on par with the movie version of For Love Of The Game, wherein there also we get a “real time” event and glimpses of what led to that moment as the moment plays out. (Except that doesn’t actually happen in the book form of that tale, btw. This is absolutely one case where the movie form of the tale is *so* much stronger.) Indeed, it is this rich layering that makes the Grand Jury scenes pop as much as they do, as well really begin to see how Mary Beth thinks in ways we didnt get even in the first couple of books here.

All of this noted… with this trilogy, each book really does build on the one before it, so go pick up Moonshine Messiah, book 1, first. Then work your way up through this book. If you like kick ass action and cops who aren’t afraid to at least test the boundaries… you’re going to love this entire series.

When you read it, make sure you leave a review wherever you see this one. It doesn’t have to be anywhere near as long as this one, it doesn’t even actually have to be as long as this sentence. But no matter how verbose or brief you may be and no matter your opinion of the book, it will help the book sell. Even if you absolutely *hate* the book and think Johnson is a complete idiot, some will agree with you… and some (to be clear, I’ll tell you right now I’ll be in this camp 😉 ) will think you’re the idiot and buy the book to spite your “negative” review. Thus, either way, reviews help sell books. So please, write one, no matter your thoughts on the book. If the trilogy sells well, maybe we’ll get another series from Johnson. Which would be awesome, based on how good a storyteller he proved to be in this trilogy.

Very much recommended.

This review of The Miner’s Myth by Russell W. Johnson was originally written on July 31, 2025.

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#BookReview: Perilous Tides by Elizabeth Goddard

Solid… Mystery/ Christian Fiction? Christian Fiction/ Mystery? This is one of those action/ mysteries where both the mystery and the action pick up almost from the first words… and then you’ll hear the characters involved in actively hiding (or hunting, as the case may be at times) also actively praying. It also picks up a bit after the events of Book 1 and actively continues some of the threads left dangling there, so if you’ve already read Book 1 (and you really should), you largely already know what to expect from Goddard’s style here.

On the mystery/ action side, this book was 100% spot on. Great use of the Pacific Northwest setting in all of its environments, including both on the water and in the forests. Solid pacing throughout, it is really going to make you feel like you’re reading a more explicitly Christian Matthew Reilly or early Jeremy Robinson book at times – the pacing can get *that* frenetic. But it isn’t sustained throughout the book, and thus isn’t *quite* as “balls to the wall” as those authors tend to do. Still, their fans would likely find quite a lot to like here, and particularly with Robinson’s early works being more overtly Christian themselves… yeah, a really good fit action wise there. 🙂

The Christian side is admittedly where some will absolutely *LOVE* that these facets are included, and others will at best roll their eyes or even actively defenestrate the book over. Hence emphasizing this side of the book in the review – if you truly detest all things Christian, know up front this is NOT the book for you, and that is *perfectly fine*. There are many other awesome books for you without this focus, please just let those who do want this to have it, and follow me wherever you’re reading this review and I guarantee you I’ll show you something more to your liking at some point. 🙂

Ultimately truly a strong sequel, and I’m very much looking forward to the next book in the series -= apparently currently scheduled for February 2026!

Very much recommended.

This review of Perilous Tides by Elizabeth Goddard was originally written on July 28, 2025.

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#BookReview: The Blue Horse by Bruce Borgos

Rich And Multilayered Story Marred By Emphasis On COVID. At one point during/ after the world collapse due to COVID-19, I had an ironclad star deduction policy for any mention of COVID whatsoever. One line referencing it even obliquely was usually enough to trigger it. I’ve relaxed that policy over the years and no longer apply it for such one off/ tangential references, so long as they are minimal and don’t actually impact the story beyond an attempt to acknowledge the reality of setting any story in that period of world history.

This noted, I absolutely still apply it religiously when a story makes COVID a primary focus of the story… and unfortunately that happens here. Borgos could have used almost literally anything else to achieve some of the same ends he uses COVID for here, and it would have worked reasonably well – hell, some of them could have even tied into themes from earlier in the series. But he chose to use COVID, and that is damnable to many – and a major issue for me. Enough to warrant the star deduction, at minimum.

One of the other major themes here is perhaps just as volatile, if more locally – that of Nevada’s wild horses and what should be done about them. This story plays out across the entire book, and Borgos seemingly does a solid job of showing the strengths and weaknesses of both sides. I say “seemingly” here as as a native of the borderlands between Appalachia and Atlanta, I can certainly count on both hands the number of times I’ve even been west of the Mississippi River – and I’m pretty sure I can count them on one hand. I’ve only been west of Texas *once* – a weekend nearly 20 yrs ago in Phoenix, Arizona. Thus, I don’t really know anything at all about how Nevadans feel about this issue one way or the other, and unlike Borgos, this isn’t something I’ve spent a lifetime in and around- culturally, at minimum. (Now, if the issue is the American Civil War… different story. But that particular topic doesn’t apply to this book. :D)

Outside of these issues (and even inside of them, to a degree), this is a police procedural in form and format, if a more interesting/ less typical version of the sub genre in its particulars. Throughout this series, Borgos has made a truly interesting and compelling character in Porter Beck, a fully fleshed out, heroic yet flawed in his own ways, man of his world. Supporting characters, including Beck’s dad and sister, are equally compelling, and even other relationships come across as all too realistic, particularly as things develop further in this book with these relationships. Even secondary characters such as the various suspects of this book are fleshed out much better than other authors generally do, including some rather horrific backstories that have enough detail to them that they seem based on at least generalizations of specific real world people and events. Indeed, once one gets beyond the COVID and beyond the horse issue- both central to this particular story, to be clear – and perhaps beyond the issues of foreign ownership and mining also discussed here, though less prominently and in far less detail, the actual story here between the various characters themselves is actually quite strong, and everyone plays their roles rather superbly.

Borgos has done an excellent job of building this world in a realistic, complex manner that reflects on the real world issues of its place and time in a manner that provides food for thought for all involved and for those completely unfamiliar with the area or its issues, and in so doing presents a solid story for all readers, but particularly male readers who may be looking for more male-oriented books that don’t have the problems that more extreme forms of entertainment and/ or discussion all too often have.

Very much recommended.

This review of The Blue Horse by Bruce Borgos was originally written on July 13, 2025.

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#BookReview: Roswell Incident by David Wood

David Needs To Open A Teepublic Store. Y’all Should Help Me Convince Him. 🙂 This was another fun entry in the long and spiraling Dane Maddock saga, but also one that those new to Wood can pick up as their first book and neither have much spoiled nor miss much of anything, as it largely is a fairly solid standalone tale with a couple of links to a larger world – though one of those links in particular does play a larger role in the epilogue than it does in the overall tale here.

Instead what we get here is an adventure thriller based in the American Southwest featuring its most famous of creatures – the Roswell Aliens and the various lore and objective facts that are known about that event all those years ago. As usual, Maddock himself has seen some things, but is still the more down to earth explorer. His partner “Bones” Bonebrake… is the more outlandish believer of many things who also happens to be *very* good at, well, breaking bones when the need arises.

As with most of these tales, there is at least some plausibly achaeology-ish setup, a lot of being chased by people with bad intentions, a few key fights, and (particularly later in these adventures, as this book is), some element of scifi and/ or the supernatural. Though in this case it *does* have a more interesting spin on the concepts than I’ve seen in other works, and I’ve read a lot of interesting stuff related to these particular events.

But the reason David needs to create a teepublic store: He has created a symbol for a group – and granted, these people are the antagonist for this novel – that is so badass I actually would consider getting a tattoo of it, and despite having several tattoos, many of them book-inspired, that isn’t something I say very often. I would *absolutely* wear this on a shirt in a heartbeat, and I honestly think even just having stuff available with this image alone would have enough sales to at least warrant the effort of creating the shop and making it available.

But y’all need to read this book and leave your own reviews of it, and tell David to create the shop so we can buy the shirts. Maybe if enough people har – I mean, gently ask him – he’ll eventually do it just to get us to leave him alone? 😀

Very much recommended.

This review of Roswell Incident by David Wood was originally written on June 29, 2025.