Dream Killing
by Magus Tor
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Drew is an ex-CIA agent, who finds himself in a complex killing game each night in his sleep. Starting the night he first uses the new alarm clock he won in a raffle at the local coffee shop.
Max is a kindergarten teacher who has been in the game for awhile and wants nothing more than to get out. She and Drew are introduced in the real world by a mutual friend, T who is also playing the game.
As the three try to work together to stay alive and get out, T turns up dead. Drew and Max think there is something more to his death, and start looking into it. As they delve deeper, Drew renews his CIA connections and brings Max along, and together they make an excellent team.
There is mild romance between Drew and Max, but its nothing much. Mostly the book is focused on the killing game, the complex technology that it would take to produce such a game and to run the game, and who would want to do such a thing. There are twists and turns at every chapter.
It is well written and easy to read. Great for all readers.
View all my reviews
John Smith - Last Known Survivor of the Microsoft Wars
by Roland Hughes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Reviewed for +Readers' Favorite .
In only 50 short years, the population of the Earth has dropped to a mere 5500. What? How you are thinking? Well, everyone blames it on something called the Microsoft Wars. What John Smith contains is an interview between a man, John Smith, who lived through the wars and a naive reporter who traveled to met John by horseback. Remember the dated November 13, 2013. John starts by telling her that he can not answer her questions about the wars if she doesn't understand what the world was like before, because it is nothing like that now! Roland Hughes takes the ideas that humanity has taken it's greed and selfishness a little to far and overturned the whole banking system, then separate small factions started using weapons on each other resulting in the Earth of this time having 12 continent.
John Smith references the novel by George Orwell, "1984", and yet I feel this book has that same feel. It is a warning that if we don't stop and take notice of what we are doing and how things are going we could easily end up with this reality. Roland Hughes even gives some great examples how things that are occurring currently in society are actually things that were predicted in "1984".
This is not a sit down and read a feel good novel, this is something to make you think, to invoke conversation. It would be a perfect book for a book club discussion or a roundtable. There are just so many things that can be pulled from this story that will engage your brain. Ir you are in the mood for something with some meat, something to grab hold of and really digest, then this book is what you need!~
View all my reviews
Embarkment 2577
by Maria Hammarblad
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Reviewed for +Readers' Favorite .
Alex awakes but can't remember anything, and she is certain she is dreaming when the doctor, or at least the person in the white lab coat turns around and has yellowish-orange skin. Wake up, wake up, wake up Alex screams in her mind but nothing changes. Everyone in the room keeps saying everything will be better when Adam gets her, who is Adam? It seems that Adam is an android from the year 2577 that landed back in present day, and Alex helped him to get back home, but in her final act of bravery she took a bullet that killed her in our time, and Adam brought to this time to be saved. Now she has to learn life all over. Embarkment 2577 is actually a collection of three small stories about Alex and Adam and life in the year 2577. Alex learns to live on the ship, and in each book it seems she causes some problem, without meaning to or knowing it. How the crew and her friends have to work to get her out of some sticky situations are what all these stories are about Maria Hammarblad does a wonderful job of adding in enough information facts to make you really feel like you are learning about living in space along with Alex but not enough to bore you.
Alex has the needy quality to her, but not in a bad way. She can take care of herself, but her she is in a completely new world and has no idea what to do. Adam is supposed to be an android, but he is more human than anything we've seen before. Maria Hammarblad gives us a real life feel in this science fiction novel. The aliens sound plausible and interesting. If anything Embarkment 2577 make me want to delve more into science to see if we can't make some of this come true.
View all my reviews
The Anonymous Girl
by Holy Ghost Writer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The title and the author name of this book sparked my interest, I mean really, who wouldn't want to at least check out something written by someone calling themselves "Holy Ghost Writer"? After an author name like that, I found the whole book to be full of the same devil-may-care attitude and adventure.
Zaydee is in prison, and refusing to give her real name, so she has been nicknamed Princes Jane Doe in the press, but prison is nothing to Zaydee. This woman is a brilliant mind, a genius, and a top notch hacker. She is so confident in herself and her abilities, yet at the same time she is not completely cocky. She is independent and capable and is ready to rule her own world. This is the kind of character that you would want every girl to read about. The confidence and independence are traits that should be encouraged in young girls today. She is also a female in the world of computer hacking and internet stock trading, which are male dominated fields, so she is a role model in that respect as well for all girls. But, this is not a young adult or kids book, this definitely has some adult moments in the book, a couple of intimate encounters between characters, so I can't come out a recommend it to girls, but I love the character for girls to read about.
The book is so fun and there are so many things going on at one time, that sometimes you aren't sure exactly what Zaydee is planning next. There is buying and selling stocks, there is money making, there is just so much more and I can't tell you anything more than to tell you that you just have to read the book. You will enjoy the journey and adventure that Zaydee takes you on and the friends and confidants that she makes. They make the world seem like the good guys, or lesser bad guys can overthrow the corrupt good guys. This is a follow up to a previous book, and I did not read the first book, but had no trouble reading this book. It stands alone quite well.
View all my reviews
