Patterson's debut novel is a space opera with an undercurrent of vast political machinations underlying the world, but the focus of this story is muchPatterson's debut novel is a space opera with an undercurrent of vast political machinations underlying the world, but the focus of this story is much more on one small piece of that: millions of years ago, two space-faring species fought a vast war on a planet called Providence that humans have colonized, and one scientist is reportedly close to deciphering the language of the Galactics, the older and more technologically advanced of the two. No one has ever been able to do that, and a translation would put whoever controls the information into power over those who don't.
Everyone wants that power.
Into the middle of things comes Tony Palermo, an ex-military tough-guy covered in tattoos that everyone thinks is just exactly that, and not much more. After he's caught committing a low-level crime on the commercial ship he's currently serving on, he's offered a way out: go to Providence and get this doctor's research and return it to the captain, and he won't have to serve any time.
But Tony has his own ideas.
Mystery, espionage, science, changing loyalties, troubled pasts...and no one is what they seem....more
This is a superhero novel with everything you want from a superhero novel: people with amazing powers doing amazing things, action, an overarching ploThis is a superhero novel with everything you want from a superhero novel: people with amazing powers doing amazing things, action, an overarching plot, great bad guys, and much more. It also has a strong romance between the two main characters, and it does something that I look for in a superhero novel: it deals with the societal, legal, and political ramifications of the existence of superpowers.
It also points out that power is just that--power. How you USE said power is everything.
A very enjoyable read that I highly recommend to anyone who likes a kick-ass superhero book....more
GONE TO LAGOS is the story of a teenage boy whose twin brother dies, and his struggle to understand what is happening when a series of visions and strGONE TO LAGOS is the story of a teenage boy whose twin brother dies, and his struggle to understand what is happening when a series of visions and strange occurrences happen to him in the wake of his brother's death. After being committed to a mental institution after he brutally attacks his mother's deadbeat boyfriend (who totally deserved it), he falls in with a group of people who claim they will be able to help him escape those who have evil designs on his life -- and his soul.
The only problem is, the "cure" seems as bad as the alternative when he realizes he's now in the hands of a voodoo "cult."
A good story told at a good pace with good characters. I enjoyed it and recommend it. :)...more
I first heard of Eric Czuleger on the Pseudopod horror short story podcast. His story "Immortal LA" was written specifically for that podcast, and wasI first heard of Eric Czuleger on the Pseudopod horror short story podcast. His story "Immortal LA" was written specifically for that podcast, and was released around July 5 of 2013. I so enjoyed the story that I purchased the book containing the story.
Then I promptly forgot about it for months. I'd see it on my Kindle and wonder what it was and why I had it. Finally, given its relatively short length, I decided to 'get it out of the way' quickly.
When I read it, I remembered the story on the podcast, and how much I enjoyed it. In this book, that story is called "The Vampire Andy." The stories are all gritty and raw and not at all "pretty." The vampires aren't sexy and smooth. The angels aren't perfect beings of light. The werewolves (if that is indeed what those were) aren't trying to seduce sex out of pretty people. Satan is actually a pretty polite guy.
These are not light fare. These are serious stories soaked in blood, sweat, and tears. They are the stories of deeply troubled and flawed (and, at times, brave) men and women. And each of the stories is good in its own right.
The only things that detracted from my enjoyment were the frequent grammar errors, homophone confusion, and punctuation misuse that peppered not only the stories, but the interludes between wherein the millennia-long history of Los Angeles is given. Some of it I can write off to formatting errors in the creation of the Kindle version of the book. Others could easily be fixed by professional editing. Some of them were negligible; some caused me to have to reread the same sentence several times to understand what was probably meant.
The interludes weren't as interesting to me as the stories, themselves. They could have been, but they felt hurried. Tacked on. You could enjoy the book without reading them at all -- just read the stories themselves, and you don't have to know all the background if you don't want to.
That I'm giving the book four stars in spite of the detractions should tell you how much I enjoyed the stories. I think Mr. Czuleger definitely has talent, and I'll be looking for his name in the future....more
Note: The summary below is for less than the first hundred pages of a 300-page book. I don't consider them spoilers, but if you're a stickler, don't rNote: The summary below is for less than the first hundred pages of a 300-page book. I don't consider them spoilers, but if you're a stickler, don't read beyond this.
There's quite a lot to like about this book. The author, Stuart Jaffe, was unknown to me before I attended a small science fiction/fantasy con in Chattanooga, TN, in June of 2013. My friends and I met the author, spent some time with him, liked him, and I ended up buying two of his books because they sounded interesting. This is the first I have read. Note: The other author, Cameron Francis, is a magician, and all of the card "tricks" in the book are his. Jaffe and Cameron do a good job of showing card tricks without the use of cards. :)
The main character, Duncan Rose, starts out not very likable. He learned all about magic — especially card-handling techniques — from his great-grandfather, Pappy. But instead of using his skills to make an honest living as a stage magician, he cheats at cards. This backfires on him one night, and his partner in crime, Pancake, who also knows a little about cheating at cards, cheats the wrong people and nothing Duncan does to try to defuse the situation helps. Minor spoiler: (view spoiler)[Pancake ends up losing his hand to the Russian mob, and the men are told they have to come up with $20,000 before morning or worse things are going to befall them. (hide spoiler)]
Desperate, Duncan turns to his estranged family and gets no help. They're all tired of his dishonest lifestyle. As a last-ditch effort, he goes to the one person he can trust: Pappy.
Who turns him down.
In despair, Duncan decides that he is going to have to do the unthinkable: steal from Pappy. Pappy has kept a mysterious, elaborately decorated door closed in his apartment for years, warning Duncan again and again never to open it. But suddenly, whatever might be behind that door sounds like the solution to Duncan's problems. He opens the door and steps through.
And winds up outside a house in a small city in Pennsylvania. In 1934. He's wearing different clothes and finds less than five dollars in his pockets. He tries to convince himself it's all an elaborate illusion set up by Pappy, but quickly realizes that it's real. For whatever reason, the door is magic — the real thing — and he really is in 1934. His goal: to get back to 2013 and fix things.
He immediately falls back on his one real skill and finds a card game he can cheat at. He discovers he's not the only one pulling the same scam. He and the other magician, Vincent, team up and cheat some mobsters out of $100, which is a large sum of money in 1934.
Unfortunately, their boss figures it out and comes for Duncan. And makes him a deal: Duncan is to get himself into the local magic club (of which Vincent is the head honcho) and find out their secrets and relay everything he discovers to the mob boss "or else."
He soon discovers that everyone is after the same thing: a mysterious Vanishing Door act performed by a magician near the turn of the century. An act during which several people actually disappeared. Lucy has drawn a picture of the door, and it looks strangely familiar: a lot like the door in Pappy's apartment.
Vincent wants the door because he wants the secret of the trick. Duncan wants it because he believes it to be his ticket home to 2013. The mob boss wants it for the power he believes it will give him.
To complicate things, Duncan finds himself head over heels in love with Vincent's sister, Lucy, and is torn between leaving her in 1934 or bringing her with him back to 2013.
I won't give away the ending. Suffice it to say that the resolution was refreshing to me. Time travel stories generally have a number of problems, but Jaffe manages to thread that particular needle nicely, and finds a solution that didn't make me groan and roll my eyes.
The tension is kept high as Duncan must satisfy the mob boss while simultaneously gain the trust of Vincent and the other magicians in the magic club and not betray his growing love for Lucy, and hers for him. The pacing is fast, and you will be kept turning the pages not only to find out how — or whether — Duncan manages to find a solution to all of his problems, but how the love story between Lucy and Duncan turns out.
I enjoyed watching Duncan grow from a not-very-likable character to one that finds true love and tries to do the right thing.
The characters are believable, the time travel is nicely handled (although never explained, which I'm fine with), and the resolution is satisfying. Although I did (eventually) see the end coming, it has a certain elegance that I wasn't expecting from the trope used. (Is that mysterious enough?)
I would recommend the book to those who enjoy magic, time travel, "period pieces," mysteries, and love stories. It has aspects of all of them, and yet isn't purely any of them....more
Dancing From the Shadows is a partially biographical but fictionalized account of one family's experiences of adopting two older siblings (5 and 2 yeaDancing From the Shadows is a partially biographical but fictionalized account of one family's experiences of adopting two older siblings (5 and 2 years old) from a Bulgarian orphanage and discovering that one of the children has autism. They were not ready for a special-needs child. Specifically requested anything but, in fact. But once they saw the children, they fell instantly in love, and nothing could convince them that they were not meant to be these two children's parents.
From potty training to puberty, Tori and Philip must find ways to cope with Gabe's autism while simultaneously not neglecting his neuro-typical sister Lydia and making her feel like a second-class member of the family. A tight-rope act that has various degrees of success, depending on who is asked.
Tori throws herself into finding ways to help Gabe and her obsession begins to take a heavy toll on the family, as Philip finds the enticing come-ons of sexy, femme-fatale coworker Delia more and more irresistible as Tori becomes more distant. Ostracized by both their church and their school, finding places that will accept Gabe's erratic--but normal for him--behavior becomes increasingly difficult. Combine that with a devastating loss of one of Tori's friends and the financial toll of Gabe's increasing medical costs, and you get a combination that has destroyed many families.
Before reading this book, I didn't know much about autism. I knew it was incurable and that medical science has not yet been able to find the cause or causes, but I had no appreciation of the daily struggles faced by the parents of a child with autism. This book lays it out and takes the reader on the journey of discovery along with Tori as she tries everything to "fix" her "broken" child.
I wish every child with autism had parents as dedicated and caring as the two in this book.
The book is funny at times, tragic at others, well-paced throughout, and will draw you in and make you want to know what happens. The characters are believable and you'll find yourself especially liking their quirky neighbor Serena. And while you're enjoying it, it will also teach you about autism and the trials and tribulations faced by a family coping with it.
A good read, and definitely recommended for anyone who discovers themselves suddenly faced with the prospect of raising a child with autism.
The single complaint I have about the book is that there are a number of printing errors. They're noticeable, but not so much that they detract from the reading. But I do hope the publisher fixes them before the next printing....more
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