Time Jump (Halcyon Gate) by J.M. Preiss_Review

Time Jump by J.M. Preiss
My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Talk about the necessity of a reader’s hook-look no further. “Time Jump” manages it within the first three sentences-of the Prologue! It captured me and immediately made me start racing through the pages to find out why, how, when (that, after all, is the major question), where, who? The question of time travel: is it possible, is it dangerous, how can the past be altered without completely and complexly changing the future-has been debated, studied, and written about for a more than a century, since H. G. Wells and Jule Verne took it under consideration. Author J. M. Preiss, giving this theory a go, sets in a rather dystopian civilization of 2150, a crowded, cramped, overbearing world pretty much belonging to the wealthy; where almost all citizens are sardine-packed into overpopulated cities, and nanotechnology ought to relieve the burdens of manual labor and manufacturing.


In this venue, the Halcyon Project is all set to enter the final stage of study: no longer content to return inanimate objects into a former era, the Project’s scientists and researchers determine to send humans-two males, Jacob and Mason, back to the year 2000. Of course, there are naysayers who are convinced that the introduction of two humans into an earlier era will erupt causality and effectively destroy the universe as we know it; but who, after all, ever heeds the objectors? What hasn’t been taken into account is that even the best-laid plans can collapse, and then what of the time travelers themselves? Where-and when-have they arrived?


“Time Jump” effectively world-builds, giving us the sociology, history, economy, and geography of the mid-22nd century as a backdrop to explaining why the Halcyon Project was undertaken in the first place (other than sheer scientific hubris). The plot line will keep readers puzzled, guessing, and reading. The conclusions will inspire the intrigued reader to anticipate the second, upcoming, novel in this series.



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Swirls by F. A. Hershey_Review

Swirls by F.A. Hershey
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Julia’s family is moving to the Amazon, from London, with next to no notice at all. Her father has found a new position there, and hopes to get out from under the family’s financial difficulties. In a sense, Julia and her mother ought to be happy for the trip, because her mother’s mother is an Amazon native, a member of the Kanauyed tribe. But Julia’s mother has always distanced herself from that heritage, which Julia can’t understand, and doesn’t want to leave London life-neither does Julia. But it seems they have no choice. What it all amounts to is a  tremendous uproar for a sixteen-year-old, who has to abandon he r school friends, her home, and her Grandmother. Adding to her anxiety is a night-before-departure dream that escalates from simply puzzling, to bizarre, to terrifying and painful.


“Swirls” is more than just a YA-adolescent with tribulations story, though, and Julia’s dream will prove both prophetic-and incredible. Author Hershey does a fine job of weaving in paranormal and science fiction elements, while keeping the story line level and the reader intrigued but not skeptical or scoffing. In other words, the suspension of disbelief comes easily. This novel is listed as for YA readers or younger, but it’s certainly effective for older-that is, adult readers-as well.


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The Dark Lord's Handbook by Paul Dales_Review

The Dark Lord's Handbook by Paul  Dale
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In the never-ending warfare between Good and Evil, there needs always be-a Hero-and a Dark Lord. The problem on Evil’s side is that Dark Lord candidates seem few and far between; and when one is killed by the Hero, then Evil simply must wait until the next one is born, which could be centuries. But Evil had a clever idea: it wrote a Manual, a Handbook for the Dark Lord. Problem is, in addition to a candidate being born in the first place, it really helps if said potential Dark Lord can even read the Handbook-and then manage not to forget its stipulations.

“The Dark Lord’s Handbook” is a subtly hilarious tale penned in the mode of a medieval-style high-fantasy. The characters are delightful, caricatures come to life and given some spin to make them individuals, not stereotypes. The background description, locales, and settings are excellently done. I wouldn’t recommend this for YA or younger readers, due to some terminology and situations. However, adult readers will definitely find their fancies tickled as they follow the exploits of young Mordred, the newest Dark Lord, and his evolution into world despot. The journey will take him from the humble village inn of his birth, into an altered reality few could have imagined, as he discovers his true heritage and his purpose in life. Author Paul Dales manages to suspend our disbelief and make the story seem natural, even realistic, thus keeping reader’s interest (whilst we are laughing along the way). The novel works both as a light-hearted epic fantasy, and as a parody of the more laborious works in that sub-genre.


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Facing the Hunchback of Notre Dame by L. L. Samson_Review

Reviewed for Great Minds Think Aloud
Enchanted Attic #1
4 Stars


Facing the Hunchback of Notre Dame by Lisa Samson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A delightful story, in the fashion of the classic children’s books of the mid-20th century, Facing the Hunchback of Notre Dame is not-despite the title!-a horror story. Narrated by one disgruntled literate of Kingscross University (grumpy and envious, all right), the custodian Bartholomew Inkster,  this novel recounts some of the adventures of twins Ophelia and Linus, fourteen years old, who are sent to spend the next five years in the home of their mother’s twin siblings, Portia and Augustus, while their Ph.D. lepidopterist parents explore a newly-discovered island. The younger twins are accustomed to being left quite on their own, and have been since age seven or younger, so they are not really dismayed.  Aunt and uncle own a business in their home, and are sellers of antiquarian and rare books, an establishment frequented by our narrator Mr. Inkster. It is he who first noticed the potentially paranormal oddities in the bookstore, housed as it is on the ground floor of Portia and Augustus Sandwich’s three-story residence. The home had originally been another’s home and business, but that owner, Cato Grubb, mysteriously disappeared (overnight as it were), which has given the younger twins (Linus and Ophelia) much food for thought and discovery adventures. Indeed this is the case, and first Linus, and then Ophelia the reader, discover that the disappearance of Grubb didn’t necessarily mean the disappearance of all of his activities. For the former businessperson was not just an apothecary, but fancied himself a bit of a ceremonial magician, and had left behind in his attic-the very subject of the French classic novel Ophelia has just begun to read-Quasimodo, the Hunchback of Notre Dame, in the flesh!


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The 5000 Fingers of Bob by Gerald Dean Rice_Review

The 5000 Fingers of Bob by Gerald Dean Rice
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I must confess to hesitancy when I first read the blurb: a group of guys plotting to injure a mentally challenged man? I suspected bullying at minimum, painful stomach-churning violence at worst. But because I like and admire author Gerald Rice-he certainly knows how to entice readers-I picked up the book anyway-and guess what? Enraptured! Love it! First-page-hooked!


Gerald Rice deals it out-again! And better than ever, if possible. Do not miss this story!  This book truly has it all: well-defined historical setting, deep-drawn characterisations, poetic description, plotting, Supernatural forces, high level emotions-it’s as if both the author and the reader are standing on the sidelines, witnessing all the events!


Shivers and chills! Reading this is akin to living the story-and I have seldom been so frightened. This one will stick in the mind for a very long time-worth rereading, but I’ll make sure to read it again in the daytime. No way would I read this story alone at night. This is the second story I’ve read today which has put me in mind of Peter Straub’s classic novel “Ghost Story.” In this case it is because of both the tautly-knit friendships of the five men, enduring even to and beyond death; and of the unstoppable Supernatural entity which means to overwhelm all their puny human efforts.


I kept considering: Will I EVER grow up and be able to write this well? (sigh) Not likely, not very likely at all.



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To Wake the Shadows by Hannah Kollef_Review

I rated 5 of 5, but this novel deserves 12 of 5!


To Wake The Shadows by Hannah Kollef
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Oh, I loved this book from the first sentence. What an ability the author has to capture setting, character, personality, venue, in such lyrical imagery. This is a book into which the reader will pour all her emotions. I’m not ashamed to say that by the fifth page, if not earlier, I found myself hunched over my computer, heart in my throat, totally and completely absorbed in the story, seeing the events through the eyes of Emily, feeling her pain and fear and dread, anxiety on her behalf squirming its way out into the open and becoming outright fear. Absolutely love this book!


Shivers, shakes, and stunning events abound, all couched in prose that verges on the poetic. Wow-this novel is a great read and sure to be a rereader often. There are ghost stories and then there are ghost stories-and I doubt this story will ever be out of my thoughts or memory-ever. Readers who love Peter Straub’s “Ghost Story” know the kind of superb writing, plotting, and mystery to which I refer-here is another fine example.


Any reader who can read even the Prologue without the story becoming just as much a part of her as it did of me, will be a reader who has overlooked a treasure and a gem. This is one incredible novel. From a newly-turned-seven-year-old Southern natural medium, to a nearly-fifteen-year-old young lady, a late bloomer in terms of puberty, the Shadows haunt and enshroud each, and for each young girl, life will forever be changed. So, too, will life be altered for each reader, because once we are enticed into this glorious story, we will never look at “reality” in the same way again.



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Wild Ghost Chase by Ericka Scott_Review

Wild Ghost Chase by Ericka Scott
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A delightful cozy Supernatural mystery, Wild Ghost Chase is fast-paced and appealing. Likable characters draw the reader into the story, and the introduction of strange events keeps intrigue foremost. Two of the best aspects of this novel are the backstory applied to characters and to the nature and elements of paranormal investigation; and the neatly intricate plotting. The novel is a very fast-paced read. I liked the immediate tension posed by the conflict between the investigative team and a potential hoaxer, then between that team and another, between brother and sister investigators, and so forth. That’s only the beginning of the tension, and soon two very disparate sets of paranormal investigators will face off against each other, the television ratings audience, furious producers-and whatever is haunting a certain residence in a certain highly-haunted locale.

The reader will be intrigued by the various characters before the Supernatural elements heat up, and amazed by the unfolding mysteries of Harrington House (and of some of the characters’ backgrounds). There’s not a dull moment nor a dropped plot thread in this novel, but there is a whole plethora of enjoyment. Readers of Supernatural, paranormal, and mysteries will really like this one. I can well recommend this engaging, realistic, and enjoyable novel.


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Jake West: The Warriors of Heynai

The Warriors of Heynai by M. C. Webb
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Jake West Book Two



The first Jake West story left us, not so much with a cliffhanger, as with a strong sense of Jake’s determination. He has found his destiny, learned his purpose, and he is dedicated to living it-somehow. But Book Two again throws us into the emotional turmoil, commencing the story with Author Webb’s trademark dialogue and speedy plotting. As we know from life, once we find our destiny, events are more likely to turn topsy-turvy than they are to run straight and smooth, and this proves to also be the case for young Jake Webb, the “Keeper.”

Jake elicits reader’s empathy; he recognizes and acknowledges his emotions, positive and negative, making it easier for the reader to see him as “a real person,” someone we might actually know. And the suspension of disbelief, our ability to believe the worlds the author creates, comes easily and naturally. I had no problem switching from “real life” to the understanding of Jake’s other worlds-one just flowed naturally out of the other.



This book, like the first in Jake’s series, will appeal to YA, but also to middle-grade readers and even to adults (such as myself) because both books have so much going for them: characterisations, plotting, rapid pace, realistic emotions, and well-drawn world-building. Don’t delay in getting both of these books; set aside a nice duration to read; and get acquainted with young Jake West. You’ll be happy you did.



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Jake West: Keeper of the Stones by M. C. Webb_Review

Jake West: The Keeper of the Stones by M.J.  Webb
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Jake West Book One


Author Webb knows his dialogue and uses it wisely and well. Literally from the very first sentence, I could hear the characters speaking in my mind’s ear, and because Mr. Webb chooses to begin the novel with dialogue, the reader is immediately hooked into the setting, the plot line, and into empathy elicited for the characters. Jake and his best buddy Ben are delightful boys, much more respectful of the older generations than many these days, and neither is afraid to be open about emotions, such as Jake’s for his late grandmother, whom he never knew. The characters are simultaneously very much three-dimensional, and realistically true-to-life.

Mr. Webb also excels at descriptive setting and at plotting. Although I’ve not lived any similar situations, I felt as if I was a present observer in all of the scenes, because the setting is so clearly delineated. When it comes to plotting, Mr. Webb keeps that reader’s hook fastened firmly, and speeds along the plot line so the reader neither wants to jump off this express, nor is able to turn aside from the story.

This one’s for all those kids-and adults too-who’ve always yearned to discover that their heritage is much more exotic and amazing than they’ve been told; for the young girls who’ve always wanted to be princesses; for the young boys (and men) who dream of the Age of Chivalry. For all of us who wish that life meant more than it usually does, M. J. Webb’s Jake West: Keeper of the Stones, is the book to dream by-and hope.


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The Gates: The Resistance Trilogy #2 by Rachael Wade_Review

The Gates by Rachael Wade
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Book 2 The Resistance Trilogy

I continue to be amazed by this author’s skill at world-building, and her ability to evoke character delineation and evolution. Additionally, the suspension of disbelief so important in the genres of paranormal, fantasy, or horror is accomplished so skillfully in this trilogy that the reader never even stops to puzzle whether alternate dimensions such as Amaranth exist, nor whether it is possible that vampires are “real,” products of a “curse” which can be mitigated and return them to humanity-at least, humanity in exile. Author Wade makes all these events and progressions seem so natural that I could practically open my front door and step into the reality experienced inside these pages.

Any reader wishing to focus on character depths, superb plotting, or excellent world-building skills, need look no further than Rachael Wade’s The Resistance Trilogy-and indeed this set would be a beneficial read and study for writers wishing to learn to excel in these capacities.

My highest recommendation is on this novel, as well as the first in the series. Do not miss; it matters not if you think you are a fan of paranormal or fantasy, or not. You will never be disappointed with this trilogy. Readers, read and revel. Writers, read and study and learn.


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Resurrection: Guardians of Vesturon Book 2 by A. M. Hargrove_Review

Resurrection, a YA Paranormal Romance by A.M. Hargrove
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Guardians of Vesturon Book 2

Sometimes a reader is enraptured with the first book of a series, anticipating the next, and finds herself disappointed. Well, worry not, Gentle Readers, that will NOT happen here. You loved and reveled in “Survival,” now get ready to rock with “Resurrection.” A. M. Hargrove is a very special author who delivers the goods. Qs a writer myself, I am constantly amazed at how she is able to meld the crossing of genres (contemporary, paranormal, science fiction, and more) and make the consequent product not only work, but endear itself to the hearts of readers. I’m so excited that the third volume in this wonderful trilogy will arrive in only three months; but in the meantime, we have the first two books in the “Guardians of Vesturon” series to read, reread, and reread yet again.

Readers who’ve raced through the first volume know that Maddie was left in seriously dire straits-waiting for rescue that she could not be certain would ever come, or at least not in time. If you haven’t read “Survival,” worry not, you can certainly enjoy “Resurrection” (although I would highly recommend reading both!), I don’t wish to need a spoiler alert in this review, so let me just say: get “Resurrection,” don’t overlook it; it doesn’t matter if you don’t think this is your usual genre of choice (there’s such a blend of genres here almost any reader is going to love it). Unless you don’t enjoy fast-paced, priceless reads, you’re going to want this as a keeper. Now go and get “Resurrection” (and “Survival”) and don’t delay.


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