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Thursday, December 19, 2013

Birth of an Assassin by Rik Stone @stone_rik

Birth of an Assassin

Set against the backdrop of Soviet, post-war Russia, Birth of an Assassin follows the transformation of Jez Kornfeld from wide-eyed recruit to avenging outlaw. Amidst a murky underworld of flesh-trafficking, prostitution and institutionalized corruption, the elite Jewish soldier is thrown into a world where nothing is what it seems, nobody can be trusted, and everything can be violently torn from him.

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Genre - Thriller, Crime, Suspense

Rating – R

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Website http://rik-stone.simdif.com

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

The Eden Plague (Plague Wars) by David VanDyke @DVanDykeAuthor

New-Eden-Plague-Kindle-Size-187x300-1

A hard-hitting military technothriller, ON SALE for a limited time. Pick it up today before it’s back to its normal $3.98 price.

A Kindle Book Review 2013 Best Indie Award Winner semi-finalist. thekindlebookreview.net/2013-book-awards/ 

Rule #1: Try not to shoot your future wife. When special operations veteran Daniel Markis finds armed invaders in his home and it all goes sideways, he soon finds himself on the run from the shadowy Company and in possession of a genetic engineering breakthrough that might throw nations into chaos. Out of options, Daniel turns to his brothers in arms to fight back and get the answers he needs. Soon he takes possession of a secret that threatens the stability of the world, as he leads a conspiracy to change everything.

Eden Plague leads readers into the exciting and engrossing Plague Wars apocalyptic-thriller series. It borrows from the traditions of Michael Crichton, Dean Koontz, with shades of David Drake, Jerry Pournelle, S. M. Stirling, Vaughn Heppner and B.V. Larson.

Also from David VanDyke:

The Plague Wars Series:
- The Eden Plague
- Reaper’s Run
- The Demon Plagues
- The Reaper Plague
- The Orion Plague
- Cyborg Strike
- Comes the Destroyer

Stellar Conquest Series:
- Planetary Assault – contains First Conquest: Stellar Conquest Book 1
- Desolator: Book 2
- Tactics of Conquest: Book 3 (Winter 2013)

PG-13 for language, violence and adult situations (non-explicit)

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Genre – SciFi, Adventure

Rating – PG13

More details about the author

Connect withDavid Van Dyke on Facebook &  Twitter

Blog https://davidvandyke.wordpress.com/

#AmReading - The Conduit by Stacey Rourke @Rourkewrites

The Conduit by Stacey Rourke

Amazon

All 18-year-old Celeste Garrett wants is to head off to college and make those fun, yet ill-advised, choices college kids are known for. And maybe to spend some time with the hot cameraman she just met. Instead, because of a pact her ancestors made in the 17th century with a mythical creature, she has to save the world.
While normal kids are slamming energy drinks and cramming for exams, Celeste will get her adrenaline rush fighting a fire breathing dragon. She wants to meet friends in the quad to exchange lecture notes, but first she must exchange blows with a shapeshifting demon on the rooftop. Life isn’t always fair for a superhero, but at least she doesn’t have to do it alone. With her brother and sister as sidekicks, they alternate between saving lives and getting on each others’ nerves. Together the trio encounters unspeakable odds, mystical forces and comes face-to-face with an image that will haunt them forever—their grandmother in a leopard print bikini.

Morgan’s Return by Greta van der Rol @GretavdR

In Morgan’s Return Prasad, Morgan and Ravindra have been to a cathedral, looking for clues to the prigins of Admiral Ravindra’s people. Morgan was unimpressed.

***

“Silly bitch. She thinks Supertechs are a danger? Huh.”

“You could be, without some control,” Ravindra said.

“Huh. And what about that stupid war machine? What sort of idiot would make a weapon as inefficient as a human body? Can’t fly, can’t turn, can’t do any damned thing worth doing.”

Chuckling, Ravindra released her. “Yes, my dear, you’re right. So… what now?”

“That was a crashing waste of time, wasn’t it?” They passed through the crumbling archway back into the street. “Now? We get off this dump of a world and…” Morgan sidestepped to avoid a uniformed woman on the footpath, “…sorry. Then we head for Torreno. There’s sure to be some clues in the central library.”

***

Ellen watched them as they entered an autocab, which disappeared into the heavy air.

Bloody Selwood. She’d walked around her, said sorry. Ellen had worried for a moment, that she would be recognized, that Selwood would detect her as another Supertech. She should have known better. Nobody ever recognized her, especially not the famous Morgan Selwood. Ellen had just been another junior Supertech, hovering around the edges of whatever it was Selwood did, easily ignored, easily overlooked.

The man she was with, though. It had been worth the risk, just to get a better look at him. What a man. He was even more impressive in the flesh, with a beautiful, deep voice, smooth as dark chocolate.The other man was no slouch, either, lithe and graceful as a dancer. She hadn’t understood the language they spoke, but Selwood had said ‘Torreno’.

***

You’ll find Morgan’s Return at Omnilit Smashwords Amazon Barnes & Noble Kobo Apple

MorgansReturn

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Genre - Science Fiction

Rating – PG-13

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Connect with Greta van der Rol on Facebook & Twitter

Website http://gretavanderrol.net

Lethal Journey by Kim Cresswell @kimcresswell

Lethal Journey333x500

A killer lurks in the shadows of Hyde Park, New York…waiting.

Manhattan District Attorney, Lauren Taylor, is about to take on the most important case of her career, prosecuting Gino Valdina, acting mob boss of New York’s most influential crime syndicate.

For three decades, Gino Valdina has led New York’s Valdina crime family. Since his recent indictment for murder, the leadership of the family is in turmoil, appalled by the death of one of their own, Gino’s wife, Madelina. Without the support of the family behind him, Valdina will do anything to save himself.

But Lauren soon discovers, things aren’t always as they seem when she’s tossed into a mystery, a deadly conspiracy that reaches far beyond the criminal underworld and a journey into the past makes her a target…and anyone she’s ever loved.

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Genre – Thriller

Rating – PG-18

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Website http://kimberleycresswell.wordpress.com/

Greta van der Rol – The importance of characterisation @GretavdR

Establishing believable characters is just about the most important thing an author has to do when writing fiction. To make your characters convincing it’s absolutely essential to immerse them in a real world, even if it is imaginary. They have to behave in ways that make sense within their context. I learned that lesson particularly well when I wrote my historical fiction novel To Die a Dry Death. It is set in 1629, when the Dutch merchantman Batavia was wrecked on arid islands off the coast of Western Australia.

One of THE most difficult things for an author to deal with is to put the reader into the shoes of the people living in such a different world. Some reviewers noted how difficult it was to get their twenty-first century brains around the way people behaved in the seventeenth century.

  • The Netherlands in the seventeenth century was a regimented, structured society where class was everything.
  • The devil, hell, sea monsters and demons were all as real as outlaw motorcycle gangs today.
  • Women, even those from the upper classes, were second-class citizens, objects of desire, mothers of children, doers of housework. They had no say in anything outside the household.
  • Life was cheap. The death of an infant was par for the course. Even much, much later, parents thought nothing of giving a subsequent child the same name as one who had died.
  • Torture and executions were popular spectator sports.

All of those social facts had a bearing on the story and how it was written. Much as I would have liked to write that the women (in particular) fought back against their abusers, it just didn’t happen, and, more to the point in a work of fiction, it couldn‘t happen because of their social conditioning.

In a similar way, if we write about a future society, our characters must reflect the social mores we have established. In my Morgan Selwood books, set in the distant future, I have based the society on historical precedents. Admiral Ashkar Ravindra comes from a highly structured society where genetic engineering has made it impossible for people from the four classes to create offspring with a member of another class. Ravindra’s Manesai culture is derived from the Indian caste system. But even if it wasn’t, point a finger at any part of the world and you’ll find classes, castes and restrictions on marriage.

For instance, in Australian aboriginal society, young women had to marry someone from another clan, as described in this reference to ‘moieties’. 1629 Europe was much the same. The daughters of merchants would marry the sons of other merchants. Princes married princesses. Common serving men didn’t bother lusting after the daughter of the house. (Although, in male dominated societies, men in authority thought nothing of having a bit on the side with the serving wench.) And folks, this is still, by and large, true. I have simply taken one small step further in my science fiction and had idealistic genetic scientists make matches between classes childless. A place for everyone and everyone in their place.

Admiral Ravindra’s character is to some extent dictated by his role in society. He is a member of the Mirka, the military class, which provides Manesai society with its military people and its senior politicians. Since humans are essentially tribal and we love to belong to groups, the Mirka caste has evolved sub-castes and Ravindra is a member of the Darya, an elite group which produces most Manesai admirals. He’s wealthy, owning an estate on his home world, and he’s used to having his own way and being obeyed.

However, Ravindra is a little bit different. This comes out in Morgan’s Choice, because he’s the admiral sent out to the back blocks of Manesai space to investigate a few strange events. And later in the book we learn he has a tattoo. Mirka, most especially Darya, do not have tattoos. It’s considered common, something a mere trooper would do, not an officer and a gentleman. So I wrote a story, Ink, about how Ravindra acquired that tatt. On the way through, readers might learn a little more about Manesai society, and how Ravindra’s behaviour is grounded very much in who he is.

Those details are what makes characters interesting and three dimensional. Just remember that while the author must know all these things about the characters, it’s always wise to use the ice berg principle (30% above the water) and only tell the readers what they need to know.

MorgansReturn

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Genre - Science Fiction

Rating – PG-13

More details about the author and the book

Connect with Greta van der Rol on Facebook & Twitter

Website http://gretavanderrol.net

Jack Canon’s American Destiny by Greg Sandora @gregsandora

Take a Journey for the Greater Good in this intensely gripping, loving thriller. Join Jack Canon and his insanely loyal team of friends and family as they make their all-or-nothing run for the presidency. You’ll laugh out loud and have your heart ripped in two; all while holding your breath, sitting on the edge of your chair. You’ll become emotionally committed as you find yourself standing behind your new courageous – unstoppable heroes – forced to take unimaginable steps to reach their goal. You’ll be shocked at the heart-wrenching cost.
JACK CANON’S AMERICAN DESTINY – TO SOMEDAY HAVE THE POWER, TO DEDICATE THE HIGHEST OFFICE IN THE LAND–TO MAKE THINGS RIGHT. THIS TIME HE’S ALL IN.
Meghan’s Review. this reader captured the essence of the Story of Jack Canon. Both men and woman will enjoy the book.
“‘Jack Canon’s American Destiny’ is one of those intense political thrillers that simply deserve to be made into a movie for full, complete enjoyment. This is especially true right in the wake of the recent Academy Awards and movies like ‘Argo’ and ‘Lincoln’ bringing home the bacon. But on its own, this book is immersive—you can live and breathe in the world of Jack Canon—his full range of concerns, from picayune to grandiose, consists of things that are close to every American’s heart.
Jack Canon is an everyman—you can relate to his positive traits, even his minor character flaws, and mostly you can relate to his will get the presidency. Cleverly written, sprinkled with the right amount of “spice” to keep the level of interest high, ‘American Destiny’ is a tale that grips your heart and squeeze it—Jack Canon’s mission to redistribute wealth and give everybody cheap energy is not exactly acceptable in the eyes (and pockets) of those whose businesses will be affected. And from there, the plot thickens.
Finishing the book, your heart aches because you know Jack Canon isn’t real—he’s an ideal, made magically alive by the sheer talent of Greg Sandora. But that doesn’t mean we cannot aspire. As in the book’s timeline, 2016, maybe the book is telling us to be really, really wise in our choices. Meanwhile, download a copy of this book and sink your teeth in the kind of literary entertainment I’ve never seen since Alex Cross.”
Joanna’s Review. “Jack Canon is an idealist. He’s on the road to fight the good fight and the only road that will allow him to do that is the one leading to the White House. Great plan, but plans don’t always end up going the way we want. This Senior Democratic Senator from Kentucky is a kind, smart, charismatic family man. He is a man of superior intelligence who isn’t afraid to admit to a mistake. He has always been faithful, but he has a very intimate, hands off relationship with Sandy his assistant. Hopefully this won’t derail his campaign…
“Jack Canon’s American Destiny” is a sly ride on a slippery slope. This fast paced thriller is packed with political issues that mirror what we have going on today. If you notice, the villains are a conglomerate of who we have deadly problems with right now, so it echoes what we deal with on the global level at this time.
The author, Greg Sandora, manages to introduce all this well written madness in a way that will keep you glued to this book. Sandora has used well flushed out characters, timely villains, an image of our present president therefore the actions are very relatable to the reader.
Want to have some fun? Want to read something that will have you dangling over the edge of a cliff in that good way that starts your heart pumping and your adrenaline kicking in?”
Diane’s review .“I rarely choose a book about politics, but since becoming addicted to the hit show Scandal, I thought Jack Canon`s American Destiny might be an interesting read. To my amazement, I totally enjoyed this political thriller.
Allow me to congratulate the author on his impressive debut. As a writer, he has a talent that allows an immediate connection with his characters, especially Jack.
The book moves at a relaxing pace. But I must admit, I became extremely absorbed when the author reveals an unexpected twist making it a suspenseful page turner!
I can’t wait to read the highly anticipated sequel.”
Jackie’s review. “Get ready to take a ride. The suspense, the loyalty, the inside world of politics all wrapped into a thriller you will not want to put down. I am recommending this to my book club and any book club who wants a good read for a change.”
Terry’s Review. I have read this book in it’s infancy stage and was amazed. The final product riveting. Ben Affleck, you are the perfect Director, Producer and Actor to be Jack Canon. It is ready for the big screen. Read it now and you will want more of Jack. This book will inspire your next election choice. We need a real life Jack Canon for President. Move over Alex Cross, here comes a new generation hero. This is a story that can take many turns and always keep you waiting for the next chapter. It is written from the heart with passion, but with some hope for all Americans that fiction can be real if you only want it bad enough. So for you politicians out there that want to be the next President, read this book.
Buy Now @ Amazon & Smashwords
Genre – Political Thriller
Rating – PG
More details about the author
Connect with Greg Sandora on Facebook & Twitter