Review: Sharp by Alex Hughes

Title: Sharp
Author: Alex Hughes
Genre: Science Fiction
Series: Mindspace Investigations #2

Mass Market Paperback, 339 pages

Publication: April 2, 2013 by Roc

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HISTORY HAS A WAY OF REPEATING ITSELF, EVEN FOR TELEPATHS.…

As a Level Eight telepath, I am the best police interrogator in the department. But I’m not a cop—I never will be—and my only friend on the force, Homicide Detective Isabella Cherabino, is avoiding me because of a telepathic link I created by accident.

And I might not even be an interrogator for much longer. Our boss says unless I pull out a miracle, I’ll be gone before Christmas. I need this job, damn it. It’s the only thing keeping me sane.

Parts for illegal Tech—the same parts used to bring the world to its knees in the Tech Wars sixty years ago—are being hijacked all over the city. Plus Cherbino's longtime nemesis, a cop killer, has resurfaced with a vengeance. If I can stay alive long enough, I just might be able to prove my worth, once and for all...

Adam, a level eight telepath and his sometimes partner Detective Isabella Cherabino returns in Sharp the second installment in the Mindspace Investigation series where they team up  to solve another homicide case.  Besides being an interrogator for the Atlanta Police Department, Adam occasionally gets called in to help his friend Cherabino on her homicide cases. As a telepath Adam not only can read people’s mind, and has the occasional precognition ability but he can do a lot more. Adam is able to see into mindspace everything that happened and feel the lingering emotions that were left behind. It’s been a couple of weeks from the last event in Clean, Adam is in recovery mode after burning out his telepathic abilities in the Bradley case and isn’t up to his full strength when he gets called in to help with another case. A girl is found murder in her home, but not just any girl. The victim is Emily Hamilton who was a former Guild student of Adam. Adam destroyed Emily and two other students’ telepath abilities when he was under the drug influence of Satin all those years ago.  With the guilt still eating at him for what he did to her in the past, Adam vows to do everything in his power to find Emily’s killer. What turns out to look like a regular homicide case slowly turns into something bigger, linking to one of Cherabino’s unsolved case, the Guild, Illegal Tech and Adam catching unwanted attention of Guild enforcements and the FBI. 

I really enjoyed Sharp!  Readers get to learn more about Adam’s path and The Telepath Guild.  As I mentioned in my review for Clean, the world building is quite fascinating but we don’t learn more than what we already know from the previous book. I was hoping to get a more in-depth look at Mindspace, and the different type of abilities (otherwise everything is pretty straight forward, you have your telepath, teleporters, or on rare instances both abilities) but nothing new. The murder-mystery plot of Sharp was perfectly suspenseful and well paced, I love seeing all the clues come together along the way. Although, I must say I wasn’t shocked when I found out who the ‘killer’ was at the end, I had my suspicion when the character popped up early on in the book…but that didn’t mean there weren’t any other surprises! There were moments of touch and go for some of the characters, and was actually sad to see a character get killed offL. As for our two lead characters, Adam and Cherabino are still adjusting to their mind link…Cherabino isn’t handling it any better from the first book. While both characters do grow/development a bit in Sharp, things got a bit annoying here and there with Adam’s self loathing every few chapters and Cherabino who is always getting angry/yelling at Adam. Overall Sharp is a solid sequel to the Mindspace Investigation series, with its blend of science fiction and urban fantasy. I can’t wait to what becomes of Adam and Cherabino’s mind link, Cherabino’s nephew, the FBI and the Guild…there is lots in store for Adam and it will be interesting to see how everything plays out. I highly recommend this series, definitely worth checking out.  

 

Review: Captain Disaster by Del Shannon

Title: Captain Disaster
Author: Del Shannon
Genre: Middle grade
Series: Captain Disaster #1
*was previous known as Kevin's Point of View *

Paperback, 236 pages

Publication: April 10, 2013 by Story Arts Media

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Source: author (Kevin's Point of  View copy)

Kevin Tobin is a relatively ordinary twelve-year old dealing with the aftermath of his father's tragic death in a mountain biking accident near their home in Boulder, Colorado. To escape from his emotional turmoil, Kevin has developed his imagination into a dangerous foil and a powerful ally. While he antagonizes his sister through his superhero antics, his ability to escape inside his character's (Captain Disaster) head becomes critical to his survival after his life is once-again turned upside down a year after his father s death. A mysterious package arrives in the mail, Kevin and his best friend are hunted down by a ruthless villain set upon world domination, and after enlisting Kevin s teenage sister and her pizza-delivery boyfriend in a battle for control over time itself, the secret of Kevin s whole existence is revealed to him by a source we never expected.

Captain Disaster is the first full length novel from author Del Shannon. Kevin is a 12-year-old boy who escapes into his imagination after the death of his father. Kevin’s role-playing is his coping mechanism but his family and his friend don’t understand it and find it to be a constant annoyance. One morning Kevin receives a mysterious package by mistake, within the package lays the influxitron. The original owner of the influxitron, Devin, will stop at nothing to get it back. Kevin will need the help of his friend, family and his imagination to be one step ahead of Devin and his goons.

Captain Disaster is a book that would appeal to people of all ages, but I think the young/middle school audience would enjoy it more. The story picked up quickly within the first 3-4 chapters and had me breezing through its 400 pages. When I first started the book, it reminded me of Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson with the character’s wild imagination. Kevin transports himself to another world and imagines himself as someone else. These scenes are usually sprinkled here and there throughout the book. I truly enjoyed this book more than I thought I would, I was sucked in to the story as Kevin and Tony outwit Devin and his goon buddies.  The book took a lot of different turns of event that surprised me, and left me wondering what will happen next. The ending of the book totally caught me off guard, and I definitely didn’t expect “that” to happen (Would have to read the book to know what I’m talking about :D). Although there are 400 pages, the chapters are really short and easy to read. There are also cute little pictures depicting little scenes throughout the book. Overall a great read, if you’re looking for a fun-whacky adventure and a light read order Captain Disaster today!

Original review was published on March 2012.

Review: Clean by Alex Hughes

Title: Clean
Author: Alex Hughes
Genre: Science Fiction
Series: Mindspace Investigations #1

Mass Market Paperback, 352 pages

Publication: September 4, 2012 by ROC

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A RUTHLESS KILLER—OUT OF SIGHT, OUT OF MIND

I used to work for the Telepath’s Guild before they kicked me out for a drug habit that wasn’t entirely my fault. Now I work for the cops, helping Homicide Detective Isabella Cherabino put killers behind bars. My ability to get inside the twisted minds of suspects makes me the best interrogator in the department. But the normals keep me on a short leash. When the Tech Wars ripped the world apart, the Guild stepped up to save it. But they had to get scary to do it—real scary. Now the cops don’t trust the telepaths, the Guild doesn’t trust me, a serial killer is stalking the city—and I’m aching for a fix. But I need to solve this case. Fast. I’ve just had a vision of the future: I’m the next to die.

Clean is the first book in the Mindspace Investigation series narrated by a nameless level 8 telepath. Our protagonist was the top of his class at the Guild, and went on to become a professor teaching other people with abilities doing what many cannot…teaching not only 1-2 students but a class of 200 (piggy-backing off his mind) how to construct/deconstruct the mind. That eventually all changed when our protagonist started abusing drugs (satin) which got him kicked out of the Guild. He now works as a consultant/interrogator for the police; just making enough for his basic essentials like shelter, food and clothing (the department handles his paychecks to make sure he doesn’t use it on drugs). Meanwhile, there’s a serial killer targeting people in Atlanta and Homicide detective Cherabino thinks he can help her figure who the killer is. Together they race against the clock to find this telepath/teleport killer before he strikes again because he knows they’re catching up to him…and the only way to get them off his tail is to hit them first. Our protagonist knows exactly how dire the situation is because he has visions of the future and it’s of him and Cheriabino who are the next to die.

The world of Clean was really fascinating, a futuristic world but still with old world stuff. It’s been 50 years since the Tech Wars (where technology couldn’t be trusted anymore going against humans, and killing people by messing up with chips in the mind…not much is said about the tech wars) and since everyone is mostly scared of what happened in the past with technology/computers; people have resorted back to the pen and paper method to keep records. Not everything is old though, there are air-cars, artificial organs, bio-engineered drugs and Mindspace itself which is tricky to explain since I’m still a little confuse about it. Hughes did a great job on the world building, explaining everything to the readers without throwing a bunch of information down but little by little throughout the book. Clean is an introduction to the series, so while not everything is explained in perfect detail, I’m sure we’ll learn more in the following book. Our main hero and heroine of the novel were both well developed and flawed which I like. It makes them more realistic battling with their own personal demons.

Clean is a great addition to the science fiction genre (a little bit UF with the abilities), it has everything you want in a novel; a dark and gritty setting, unique world building, well fleshed out characters you want to root for and a plot full of actions with surprises you won’t see coming. I love the main murder mystery of the book, and all the police procedure/Mindspace aspects. I am looking forward to see what Hughes has in store for our protagonist and the world of Mindspace, definitely a series not to be missed. I highly recommend this series to all sci-fi, UF and maybe even those who don’t usually read within these genres.

Review: Deadly Descendant by Jenna Black

Title: Deadly Descendant
Author: Jenna Black
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Series: Nikki Glass #2

Mass Market Paperback, 355 pages

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Publication: April 24, 2012 by Pocket Books

Source: bought, personal shelf

An ancient evil is unleashed in the modern world— unless one fearless P.I. can hunt it down. . . . Nikki Glass, Immortal Huntress, returns in this new novel in the acclaimed series by Jenna Black.
As a living descendant of Artemis the Huntress, private investigator Nikki Glass knows how to track someone down. But when an Oracle shows up, warning the Descendants about wild dog attacks in Washington, D.C., Nikki is afraid it might be a trap. The Olympians believe the “dogs” are really jackals, controlled by a blood-crazed descendant of the Egyptian death-god Anubis. Whatever. . . . If Nikki hopes to muzzle Dogboy, she’s got to catch him in the act. But when she stakes out a local cemetery, she ends up face-to-snout with a snarling pack of shadow-jackals whose bite is worse than their bark. These hellhounds are deadly—even for an immortal like Nikki. “Dog” spelled backward may be “god,” but that won’t stop Nikki from teaching these old gods some new tricks. Like playing dead.

Nikki Glass is a descendant of the goddess Artemis which makes her a rare commodity amongst the Liberis (descendants of different gods/goddesses). Nikki is able to locate anyone, even those who don’t want to be found and her aim is impeccable…a straight shooter who never misses her target.  Nikki been living with Anderson and his group of Liberis for the past couple of weeks, and is still trying to wrap her head around being an offspring of a goddess, figuring out her moon powers, and being somewhat immortal.  Nikki used to be a P.I. but instead of living at her own condo and working at her old independent job; she’s living at Anderson 24/7 and getting push deeper and deeper into the Liberi world. There‘s a pack of raging dog attacking white males all over D.C. and Anderson and the Olympians (the enemies) think it’s more of the supernatural variety…they suspect a descendant of Anubis is behind all the attacks. Anderson hires Nikki to look into the matter, hoping that if the killer can be found Nikki would be the perfect candidate for the job. Nikki not only has to deal with a crazy killer on the loose but also Anderson’s wife Emma thinks there is something going on between Nikki and her husband…and hell  hath no fury like a woman’s scorn.

In Deadly Descendant readers get to know more about Nikki, The Liberis and The Olympians.  Anderson, Jamaal (Anderson’s Liberi, descendant of Kali) and the crazy killer all has one thing in common…they are descendant of a death god/goddess. I thought the death descendants’ abilities were all so intriguing like death comes to anyone without a single touch, the ability to walk through anything solid, and create shadow animals and portals. I think the best part of the entire book was the budding relationship between Nikki and Jamaal, I love the tension but at the same time I cringe when I think about how the two were in book 1, Dark Descendant. Jamaal was hell bent on trying to kill/make life hell for Nikki when she accidentally killed his best friend. He hated her so much, but never did anything serious because he was afraid of getting kicked out of the house. Now, the two are slowly getting along, but not without a few bumps here and there.  Whenever Nikki and Jamaal got closer/along, Jamaal would pull away. It turns out Nikki and Jamaal have a lot more in common than I thought, both of them know the feelings of rejection, loneliness, and fear. 

Bottom Deadly Descendant was a great addition to the Nikki Glass series, and I can’t wait to see what Black has in store for Nikki and the gang. I highly recommend this series to all UF and PNR fans, and while I wasn’t blown away by the first book this book totally exceeded my expectations. Deadly Descendant was a nonstop action rollercoaster ride, with a fun mythology infused mystery and a sizzling chemistry of an unexpected couple. 

Review: Summoning by Carol Wolf

Title: Summoning
Author: Carol Wolf
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Series: Moon Wolf Saga #1

Trade paperback, 320 pages

Publication: April 3, 2012 by Night Shade Books

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Source: Bought, personal library

The World Snake is coming, devourer of Thrace and Atlantis… and the only one standing in its way is Amber, a sixteen-year-old runaway, recently arrived in Los Angeles.

Amber is more than just a girl with a stolen ID and an attitude; she is a daughter of the wolf-kind, a shapeshifter able to change forms at will. One night, as Amber prowls the Hollywood Hills in wolf form, she stumbles onto an occult ceremony, interrupting the ritual. As a result, Amber finds herself the unwilling mistress of a handsome demonic servant, Richard. Appearing as a fair youth of eighteen years, Richard is a demon accidentally summoned, then captured, by Dr. John Dee, court magician to Queen Elizabeth I. Richard has been trying for four centuries to free himself from a succession of masters and mistresses, but finds himself bound to Amber, the only one who can protect him from his greatest fear, the herald of the World Snake, the Eater of Souls. But all hell is about to break loose, and Amber and Richard are going to need some allies to stop the Eater of Souls and avert the World Snake, and the battle has only begun.

 

Summoning is centered on sixteen-year-old Amber a wolf-shifter, and daughter of the moon wolf (moon wolf’s significance isn’t explained in the book but is hinted that her lineage is important). Amber is on the run from her family, and living in the city of Los Angeles as a painter/construction worker (I think). On one of Amber’s daily runs, she finds herself enthralled by the drumming on the hilltop. Upon arrival Amber notices that she just interrupted a group of Wiccan witches in the middle of a ritual and they’re about to kill a demon. The witches spares the demon’s life, letting Amber dispose of the demon as she wishes but she instead finds herself bound to the demon as his master.  The demon Richard warns Amber of a coming catastrophe that’s heading straight for L.A and that she is the city only hope to stop it.  The last thing Amber wanted was to be stuck with a demon but she isn’t about to let the city she loves be destroyed. Amber and Richard will have to get all the help they can get to stop the World Snake and Eater of Souls. 

The Summoning is labeled as an urban fantasy (adult I think) but it read more like a younger YA book, I mean the main heroine is sixteen-years-old but that isn’t the problem.  The writing and dialogue seemed choppy and amateurish, and while the heroine is a teenager…the way she acted, talked, her living situation, and job didn’t seem like she was sixteen more like in her early-middle twenties.  When I initially found this book, I thought the cover and synopsis sounded interesting and plus it had great reviews but it wasn’t what I expected. The Summoning had way too many plot holes that left me confused and full of questions at the end of the book.  For example the World snake and Eater of Souls, what are they exactly and why are they headed for L.A? The book mentioned that the World Snake was a female and Eater of Souls as male, and the Eater of Souls paved the way for the World Snake. They’re both the reason why some cities cease to exist (Thrace and Atlantis). Also Amber may have ran away from her family but how did she delude them for as long as she has when she’s still in the family territory? There wasn’t a lot that made sense, and since I couldn’t make head or tails of things I began to slowly lose interest in the story.  In the end I was still left with unanswered question and felt the ending was rushed and anticlimactic.

As for Amber, Richard and the secondary characters they all didn’t make any lasting impressions. I felt disconnected from Amber from the start. It didn’t help that for most of the book Amber acted like a hard ass, thinking she owns the city even though there were a lot of other magical beings living in the same area.  I really wanted to like the Summoning, but in the end it wasn’t for me. Bottom line, the Summoning was an okay read with a plot line that didn’t really hold my attention, lackluster characters and world-building that needs more improvement. 

Cover Reveal: Shudder by Samantha Durante + ARC Giveaway

PUBLICATION: JUNE 15, 2013
It’s only been three days, and already everything is different.

Paragon is behind her, but somehow Alessa’s life may actually have gotten worse. In a wrenching twist of fate, she traded the safety and companionship of her sister for that of her true love, losing a vital partner she’d counted on for the ordeal ahead. Her comfortable university life is but a distant memory, as she faces the prospect of surviving a bleak winter on the meager remains of a ravaged world. And if she’d thought she’d tasted fear upon seeing a ghost, she was wrong; now she’s discovering new depths of terror while being hunted by a deadly virus and a terrifying pack of superhuman creatures thirsting for blood.

And then there are the visions.

The memory-altering “stitch” unlocked something in Alessa’s mind, and now she can’t shake the constant flood of alien feelings ransacking her emotions. Haunting memories of an old flame are driving a deep and painful rift into her once-secure relationship. And a series of staggering revelations about the treacherous Engineers – and the bone-chilling deceit shrouding her world’s sorry history – will soon leave Alessa reeling…

The second installment in the electrifying Stitch Trilogy, Shudder follows Samantha Durante’s shocking and innovative debut with a heart-pounding, paranormal-dusted dystopian adventure sure to keep the pages turning.

Other covers in the series

click cover to learn more about Stitch
 

My review of Stitch, book 1 in the Stitch Trilogy

GR: Stitch|Shudder|Samantha Durante

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GIVEAWAY

Enter the Giveaway HERE!!!

Author Samanta Durante

Samantha Durante lives in Westchester County, New York with her husband, Sudeep, and her cat, Gio. Formerly an engineer at Microsoft, Samantha left the world of software in 2010 to pursue her entrepreneurial dreams and a lifelong love of writing. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania’s Jerome Fisher Program in Management & Technology, Samantha is currently working full time for her company Medley Media Associates as a freelance business writer and communications consultant. The Stitch Trilogy is her debut series. Learn more about Samantha at |Website|Twitter|Facebook|GR|.

Review: Boyfriend from Hell by Jamie Quaid

Title: Boyfriend from Hell
Author: Jamie Quaid
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Series: Saturn's Daughter #1

Mass Market Paperback, 387 pages

Publication: September 25, 2012 by Pocket Books

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Source: Bought, personal shelf 

They say justice is blind. But Justine isn’t.Justine (Tina) Clancy is just an ordinary law student with a faulty arrest record, a part-time job in Baltimore’s radioactive Zone, and a family secret so bizarre even she doesn’t believe it. That is, until in a fit of fury she damns her boyfriend to hell—and it’s exactly where he ends up.

Much to her surprise, Tina is apparently one of Saturn’s daughters, with the power to wield vigilante justice. But poor Max didn’t deserve to go up in flames, even if he did almost run her over with her own car. Tina’s convinced someone cut the brakes—and now a relentless nemesis is stalking her through the Zone’s back alleys, where buildings glow, statues move, and chemical waste exposure comes with interesting consequences. Tina’s usually a loner, but now she needs a posse like no other: a shape-shifting kitten, an invisible thief, a biker gang, a snake-charming private detective, a well-meaning cop, and her sleazy, sexy boss. But in between freeing Max from hell, saving her own neck, and solving a mystery that threatens the Zone and her newfound friends, how is she ever going to study for finals?

Boyfriend from Hell caught my attention back in 2012 with its kick-butt looking chick with a tire iron on the cover and a synopsis that promised a fun and interesting new world. I’m sad to say that Boyfriend from Hell didn’t meet my attention at all, and was nothing like I expected. I’ve read a lot of great reviews for the book, and some even said it was UF borderline comic-bookie which I totally can get into but I didn’t get that impression. Justine (Tina) is a 27 year-old law student who is in her last semester before she takes the bar, and as a side job she does the accounting for Andre’s many businesses (owns multiple, if not all of the businesses in the Zone). The Zone is a cornered off section of the city of Baltimore where most of the area was affected by a chemical spill. The Zone is a place where people and things aren’t as it seems…and the longer you’re there you’d start noticing strange phenomenon going on. That is precisely what happened to Tina after her boyfriend Max tries to run her over with her own car in the Zone, except right before he was about to hit her she muttered ‘Damn you to hell’ and Max and the car burst into a ball of flames. It turns out Tina’s car was rigged, and she accidently sent him to hell without knowing. Whoever killed Max is hoping to tie loose ends with Tina because she’s starting to figure out that there’s more to the story, herself and the people of the Zone. Tina will stop at nothing till Justice is served, because after all she’s the daughter of Saturn.

I thought the world building was fascinating, the Zone is full of different people with different abilities, I’m guessing this is where reviewers made the comparison to it being like a comic book…which I kind of get now but didn’t get that impression right away as I said before. The chemical spill obviously affected people after living in the Zone for so long, some examples are; a young guy with invisibility powers, a waitress that turns into a chimp every time she’s frighten, and a shape shifting kitty that turns into a bobcat-size cat whenever he sense danger just to name a few. Then we have our main heroine Tina, who I didn’t really warm up to right away nor did it get better throughout the book. She is the daughter of Saturn, someone who dishes out justice to those that deserve it. Whenever she does something to defend either herself/ or someone she is rewarded with personal improvements, which I found a little weird. What kind of personal improvements? Well, after accidently sending her boyfriend to hell, overnight Tina’s mousy limp hair is turned into this thick-luscious perfect shiny hair. Then after rescuing a co-worker from being rapped, Tina’s scarred leg discrepancy is no more…instead she grew 3-inches, had prefect legs and no more limping.

I mean I thought the whole serving justice thing is cool, but Tina’s overall attitude just kind of sucks. Tina is known to be friendless, and even though she begins to see the people in the Zone as friends she still comes off as snooty to everyone. For instance Andre her boss is known as a lying sleaze ball, but never once was he mean or nasty to Tina. He may joke here and there (nothing offensive) but he does A LOT to help her, he’s always there to save her from trouble, and seems to really like/care for her. What does Tina do? She mouths off at Andre every chance she gets, and at the same time says he’s so despicable but still comments on how hot she finds him. Talk about being ungrateful. When Tina discovered her new found ability, she thought herself as indestructible and can do whatever she waned which I found annoying. In the end Tina realizes it might be wise not to blow people/things up just because she could or to get new personal improvement...I don’t even know what to say. It’s kind of common sense to use your powers for the greater good, what Tina needed was a personality improvement.

Overall the ending felt rushed, and anticlimactic. The only thing that surprised me in the end was Max’s fate. Bottom line, Boyfriend from Hell was an okay plotted story with an unmemorable cast (except Andre) and an unlikeable-annoying heroine (a little fyi, Tina uses the word ‘hell’ a lot and every time she’s going after a bad guy she screams ‘Damn you to hell’…it got tiring/old quick). As I mentioned at the start of my review, a lot of people actually enjoyed this book, so while it isn’t for me…it might be for you. I suggest reading a chapter preview or except before reading/buying. The second book in the series, ‘DAMN HIM TO HELL’ (figures that would be the title LOL) hits stores June 2013. I will likely not be reading the second book, but am interested in knowing what Andre is or what his ability is.