Roses & Thorns

Roses & Thorns
Showing posts with label Afterlife. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Afterlife. Show all posts

Friday, June 2, 2017

The Soul of Adam Short by @David_J_OBrien #Paranormal, #Ghosts, #Souls



The Plot:

The cares of life are beginning to cloud fifteen-year-old Adam Short’s carefree existence. Important exams are looming, his girlfriend Julie thinks he’s unfocused, and right now he’s about to be late for the school trip. Neither his teacher, nor Julie, will be pleased if he misses the bus.

Adam has much bigger problems when, in an extraordinary accident, his soul is torn from his body. His body loses all consciousness−reduced to a mere automaton existence: eating when food is put in its mouth, moving when guided, reacting only to touch. Meanwhile, Adam, discovering that ghosts are very much real, is trapped without a body, and stuck in a place from which he cannot freely leave.

Only the untiring efforts of his girlfriend Julie−who had never considered the existence of a soul, and for whom the idea of ghosts is laughable−against the advice of everyone around her, including her parents, Adam’s doctor, and his best friend—can save Adam. Will she be able to figure out what has happened to Adam? Even if she does, can Julie help Adam escape the scene of his accident, and return the life to his body?

10% of the author’s royalties will be donated to WWF, the World Wildlife Fund.

About the Author:

David is a writer, ecologist and teacher from Dublin, Ireland, now living in Pamplona Spain. He has a degree in environmental biology and doctorate in zoology, specializing in deer biology, and is still involved in deer management in his spare time.

As an avid wildlife enthusiast and ecologist, much of David’s non-academic writing, especially poetry, is inspired by wildlife and science. While some of his stories and novels are contemporary, others seek to describe the science behind the supernatural or the paranormal.

A long-time member of The World Wildlife Fund, David has pledged to donate ten percent (10%) of his royalties on all his hitherto published books to that charity to aid with protecting endangered species and habitats.

You can find out more and read some poems and short stories at http://davidjmobrien.wordpress.com/ and can join David on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/DavidJMOBrien.


Review:

When a freak incident tears Adam Short’s soul from his body the morning of his class trip, he doesn’t quite know or believe what’s happened to him. It’s not until later in the day when he meets a ghost who experienced the same incident, but whose body eventually died, that he realized what happened and figures out how he might be able to reunite himself with his “comatose” body.

The Soul of Adam Short is a paranormal coming-of-age book that is thought-provoking as well as amusing. At a time when most kids are worried about clothes, dances, and exams, Julie’s boyfriend is in a semi-comatose state, and she’s having nightmares about being run over by a flaming antique pick-up truck driven by two boys. When she wakes up, she’s sure she can feel Adam in her room.

The characters in this book are deeply-drawn. There are subplots around the parents, live friends, and even ghost friends in addition to the main plot, which kept me turning the pages. I highly recommend The Soul of Adam Short for all ages.

Warnings:  None
Length:  226 Pages
Digital Price:  $3.99

You’ll notice we always include the publisher’s buy link. That’s because authors usually receive 40-50% of the net proceeds from the publisher. Editors and cover artists usually receive about 5%. When you buy a book from Amazon, Barnes & Noble or another third-party vendor, they take a hefty cut and the author, editors and cover artists receive their cuts from what is left. So, if a book costs $5.99 at E-Book Publisher.com and you buy from there, the author will receive about $2.40-$2.99. If you buy the book at Amazon, the author will receive about $1.70-$2.10.

Download the file from the publisher onto your computer as you would any other file. I’ve created a folder for books on my computer, with subfolders by source (Marketing for Romance Writers, Net Galley, Authors who find me on Kindle lists, etc.). That way, if there’s a glitch with your Kindle, the books are on your computer. Some publishers send books in all digital formats. If my Kindle breaks and my kids buy me a Nook, I won’t have to replace all of my books. If you have a Kindle and your hubby has a Nook, you won’t have to buy separate copies, so buying directly from the publisher can save you money.

Moving the file from your computer to your e-reader is as easy as transferring any file from your computer to a USB flash drive. Plug the larger USB end of your e-reader charging chord into a USB port on your computer and simply move the file from the folder into which you’ve downloaded the book to Documents/Books directory on your e-reader. You can move the file by highlighting it and dragging it to the documents directory in you Kindle you want to move it to. Or right click on it, and then left click copy or move. Or hit Control/C for copy, Control/X for cut, and Control/V for paste.

Your author will be happy you did when he/she sees his/her royalty statement.

Thanks for visiting.

Sunday, February 12, 2017

Death Unmasked by Rick Sulik



Blurb:

A reincarnated evil is stalking the women of Houston. With each murder, the madman quotes an excerpt from the Oscar Wilde poem, “The Ballad of Reading Gaol.” A huge smokestack belching smoke, a ragged flea market double-breasted wool coat, and an old antique picture frame, bring the distant past back to haunt Houston Homicide Detective, Sean Jamison. With those catalysts, Jamison knows who he was in a past life and that he lost the only woman he could ever love. Searching for his reincarnated mate becomes Jamison’s raison d’être as he and fellow detectives scour Houston for a brutal serial killer. The memory of timeless love drives Jamison’s dogged search for a serial killer, determined to finish what he started decades earlier.

Each clue brings Jamison closer to unmasking his old nemesis. Tenacious police work, lessons learned in the past, and intuition may be the only weapons he has in preventing history from repeating itself.

About the Author:

Rick Sulik was born and raised in Youngstown, Ohio. After completing high school in Boardman, Ohio, he enlisted and served four years in the United States Air Force Military Police. After receiving an Honorable Discharge, he worked three and a half years with the Houston, Texas Police Department, twenty-two years with the Pasadena, Texas Police Department, and ten years as a courthouse bailiff with the Gonzales County, Texas Sheriff’s Department, before retiring in 2013.

Review:

Death Unmasked was an interesting mix of paranormal, police technique, and suspense. It begins when a man named Emil and his beloved Laura awaken on the morning their country is invaded. A Nazi officer rapes and kills Laura in front of Emil, and as he is about to enter the furnace to be burned to death, Emil gouges out the officer’s eyes.

Decades later, a serial killer stalks women in Houston, Texas. Sean Jamison is a homicide detective nearing retirement. A belching smokestack and tattered old coat bring back memories of his past life as Emil, and somehow he knows the serial killer is his old Nazi nemesis. He also knows Laura is back, and she’s the man’s next victim. He has to find her and save her.

Death Unmasked was tautly written and fast-paced, with twists and turns that even I didn’t see coming at the end. Part of me, however, thought Darn! I should’ve seen that coming! The reasons I’m giving the book four roses is that the dialog was stilted and unrealistic. Since when does a cop say things like, “Seems to me this joker is determined to put fear in people so he can get away with anything he so desires.” “So desires?” Really? How about, “This joker’s trying to scare the $#@! outa people so he can do whatever he wants.”

Another one is: “I’m hearing my sentinel inner voice, and it’s cautioning me that something terminal is about to occur.” Huh? Wouldn’t a cop be more likely to say, “My gut’s telling me something bad’s about to go down.”? Please, save the thesaurus for the narrative, Mr. Sulik. Or better yet, just dump it. Be sure your grammar’s correct (unless the person speaking’s an illiterate perp), and write a bit more normally.

Aside from the dialog, I would recommend Death Unmasked. It’s an interesting thriller.

Author Website:  N/A
Warnings:  Violence
Length:  265 Pages
Prices:
Print:  $14.99
Digital:  $6.99

Thanks for visiting.

Sunday, October 30, 2016

Sacrificial Lamb Cake by Katrina Monroe



Blurb:

Oh. My. God.

Rain Johnson escaped the insanity of her radical environmentalist family, only to end up waitressing for a living. Her scale of success—with her at the bottom—only goes as high as that college degree she never got, until she gets one hell of an epiphany from a Trinity Corporation public-relations guy who calls himself Jude. He tells her she’s the Lamb of God, and it’s time for that whole Second Coming thing. But when her first minor miracle gets her arrested, and an ecoterrorist using the name Messiah starts blowing up pesticide plants, Rain and Judas are in for way more apocalypse than either of them expected.

Jude scrambles to save his personal plan for salvation, but Lucy, the devil herself, has her own well-laid plans. It doesn’t matter that Rain’s a conflict-avoiding lesbian and Jude is history’s worst traitor. They’re all that stands between humanity and an end of the world that wasn’t supposed to happen.

About the Author:

Katrina Monroe is a novelist, mom, and snark-slinger extraordinaire.

Her worst habits include: eating pretty much anything with her fingers, yelling at inappropriate times, and being unable to focus on important things like dinner and putting on pants.

She collects quotes like most people collect, well, other things. Her favorite is, “If you have any young friends who aspire to become writers, the second greatest favor you can do them is to present them with copies of The Elements of Style. The first greatest, of course, is to shoot them now, while they’re happy.”—Dorothy Parker

Review:

The Second Coming is here—in the form of Rain Johnson, a lesbian waitress with spiky red hair, a snarky attitude, and a potty-mouth. And her guide through the murky waters of miracles and succoring the masses is a guy from the Trinity Corporation who calls himself Jude. We know him better as Judas Iscariot, and this is his chance at redemption.

What neither of them counted on was an eco-terrorist calling itself Messiah blowing up fertilizer plants who resembles Rain right down to the color and style of her hair. Or the fact that Messiah’s working for Lucy, better known as Lucifer. Of course the Devil’s a woman. Jude wants to avoid the whole plague/battle between the returned Messiah and the Anti-Christ scene, but apparently Lucy has other plans. How can a waitress with Judas Iscariot and a whole walloping three human disciples possibly defeat Lucifer, the Anti-Christ, and a bunch of demons?

Everyone assumes the Messiah must be a straight man when he returns. Why couldn’t she be a lesbian? And a broke, snarky one at that? And why couldn’t Judas have a chance to make amends? I found Sacrificial Lamb Cake funny and thought-provoking, and despite a few editing glitches, I’m still giving it five roses.

Warnings:  Language
Length:  254 Pages
Prices:
Print:  $9.99
Digital:  $4.99

You’ll notice we always include the publisher’s buy link. That’s because authors usually receive 40-50% of the net proceeds from the publisher. Editors and cover artists usually receive about 5%. When you buy a book from Amazon, Barnes & Noble or another third-party vendor, they take a hefty cut and the author, editors and cover artists receive their cuts from what is left. So, if a book costs $5.99 at E-Book Publisher.com and you buy from there, the author will receive about $2.40-$2.99. If you buy the book at Amazon, the author will receive about $1.70-$2.10.

Download the file from the publisher onto your computer as you would any other file. I’ve created a folder for books on my computer, with subfolders by source (Marketing for Romance Writers, Net Galley, Authors who find me on Kindle lists, etc.). That way, if there’s a glitch with your Kindle, the books are on your computer. Some publishers send books in all digital formats. If my Kindle breaks and my kids buy me a Nook, I won’t have to replace all of my books. If you have a Kindle and your hubby has a Nook, you won’t have to buy separate copies, so buying directly from the publisher can save you money.

Moving the file from your computer to your e-reader is as easy as transferring any file from your computer to a USB flash drive. Plug the larger USB end of your e-reader charging chord into a USB port on your computer and simply move the file from the folder into which you’ve downloaded the book to Documents/Books directory on your e-reader. You can move the file by highlighting it and dragging it to the documents directory in you Kindle you want to move it to. Or right click on it, and then left click copy or move. Or hit Control/C for copy, Control/X for cut, and Control/V for paste.

Your author will be happy you did when he/she sees his/her royalty statement.

Thanks for visiting.