Book Reviews

Caina by Joe Albanese [Book Review] 5

 in Book Reviews / Books / Fun / Older Readers by

This post contains affiliate links. Please see my full disclosure here.

Summary

“Twins tend to be closer than typical siblings. They often share a bond that is oftentimes unexplainable.*

For some reason that bond didn’t apply to Grant and Lee Tolan. Grant was always the responsible one. Lee, on the other hand, was always in trouble and in jail, self-destructing to the point the twins hadn’t seen or spoken in years.

In trouble with the Irish mob who wanted him sleeping with the fishes, finding Grant dead of an apparent suicide, Lee did the only thing that made sense. He switched identities.

Instead of making life easier, Lee is plunged into a world the Irish and Italian crime families, the Mexican cartel and the DEA. Pitting one against the other, Lee enlists the help of friends to save his own life. He will need a miracle.

But Grant’s secret is the biggest shock of all for Lee and he must re-evaluate his entire life.

*Maureen Healy, author of Growing Happy Kids.”

-From Amazon.com

Review

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.

When I read the summary of this book, I was immediately interested! I love books that have this action/spy kind of aspect and something about the cover had me curious too. I haven’t seen a black and white cover in a while so it was of course something I wanted to add to my bookshelf!

The story itself was highly entertaining. I read it in one sitting while I was sick and flew through it. My edition had decently sized font (not large font but it was bigger than most books) which helped make it go faster, also made it much easier to read when you’re sick. There was lots of action and it was a page turner – it honestly felt like a crime TV show episode.

I really did like the idea of these twin brothers and identity switching and stuff. It was something new – I mean there are books that have it, but I haven’t read one like this in a while.

It will be an adult book because of some of the themes and language, although with some of the stuff out there, I could see it being an older YA read as well.

I did have a few moments of being confused in the book with all of the mafias and lack of background on who was who. It didn’t really detract from the book, in my opinion, but I would have to remember that we had multiple groups of bad guys crossing each other. But it wasn’t a big deal.

Overall it’s a pretty straight forward book. I like how it touched on drones and using them for drug moving – this could be a reality in a few years so I quite liked the ‘reality’ that the book presented. To me, I liked it.

I classify this book as a perfect summer beach read – it’s fast paced, it’s a page turner, not too long and overall quite enjoyable.

For that, I give it 4/5 teacups (I don’t give 5’s often so 4 is pretty common for a good read).

4 Teacups

Time Crawlers by Varun Sayal [Book Review] 9

 in Book Reviews / Books by

 “I believe a writer’s brain can somehow tap into this multitude of universes and take a peek into the events happening in each of them. This book, comprised of six stories, is my attempt to narrate to you tales from six different parallel universes.”

From his Facebook page

Summary

6 stories. 6 universes.

“1. Nark-astra, The Hell Weapon: The weapons he possesses make him the destroyer of worlds, and he burns for revenge. A high-tech take on ancient Indian mythology.

2. Death by Crowd: The dark desires of the masses; darknet websites fueled by a crypto-currency. What lurks in the background – an advanced artificial intelligence?

3. Genie: He rubbed a lamp alright, but what he got was the shock of his life. An entirely sci-fi take on the djinn myth.

4. Time Crawlers: There are individuals who existing in multiple time periods at once, and there are those who know about them….

5. Eclipse: No attacks, no blood-shed, yet there was an invasion and a conquest. Who are these shapeshifter aliens being hounded by an eclipse?

6. The Cave: The fate of an advanced imperial race hangs in balance as a dark celestial entity meets a legendary protector.”

-From Amazon.com

Review

I was provided this book for free in exchange for an honest review.

When I received an email from Mr. Sayal, I was immediately intrigued by this book. His email stood out to me among a few other emails I had gotten that day.

He wrote in his email,

“Alien Invasion, Dark Artificial Intelligence, Time-Travel, High-Tech Hindu Mythology, Djinn Folklore, Telekinetics and life-consuming Cosmic Entities are the themes in my book which has 6 tightly-knit, fast-paced Sci-Fi stories.”

Immediately, I was like, “I NEED THIS BOOK IN MY LIFE, LIKE YESTERDAY!”

Usually I don’t read sci-fi books because I never find one that catches my interest. I always find them not able to really describe what is happening very well. But this one had 6 short stories, so I was curious, and had such a range of themes that I just had to read about it all.

So, I got my PDF and immediately sat down to read it. 3 hours later I was done and my head was spinning with facts and such horror (in a good way!).

The book had this Clive Barker kind of vibe going on with the stories – specifically The Scarlet Gospels and Tortured Souls.

The stories themselves were simple. The themes simple as well. But the way that the situations occurred was dense and complex. We had scientific explanations of how space and time worked that my brain hurt, but I was oh so loving it. If you don’t like a book that makes you think about the universal questions, this may not be the book for you, but if you do then this is it! We had entities traveling through time and space, people existing among different time lines. The book even questioned time itself. I was like ‘WE FINALLY HAVE A BOOK ASKING GOOD QUESTIONS!”

Time Crawlers by Varun Sayal Book Review

I absolutely loved that fact.

Now the stories themselves were kind of dark, especially Death by Crowd. It was focusing on the darknet and how people could purchase a way in to watch someone burn alive. The idea itself seems crazy, but not far from the truth at all. These things do happen and I’ve never read a book before that brings that idea in and then starts to question the morality and talk about the situation, and how it occurred, in the way that this book did. I mean honestly, it just blew my mind!

As the stories were short, some did move kind of fast and I would have loved for them to have gone on longer as there were some explanations that were avoided or cut short. I understand why, and the shortness of the stories was a draw, but I just wanted to read more!

Honestly, overall, I was really surprised. It was one of the best e-books that I’ve been asked to read. I was thoroughly impressed in the way the stories were written and the sheer specificity the author went into to describe these situations.
I can’t stop thinking about the book and it has really stuck with me.

Find him on Facebook here and Twitter here.

Check back tomorrow to see a fantastic interview with him!

About the Author

“VARUN SAYAL is an engineer and MBA from I.I.T. and I.S.B. (top schools in India), who has been involved in theatre as a playwright, actor, and director, and has also been an independent movie-maker. His genre of writing is predominantly science fiction blended with mythology and a sprinkle of the gruesome actualities of life. In his own words:
“I think of each story as a surreal, fast-paced narrative that pulls in the reader right from the beginning, takes them through a voyage into an alternate dystopian realm, bequeathing to them images etched permanently on their minds. I live by the quote, ‘a true art calms a disturbed mind and disturbs a calm mind.’”

-From Amazon

Book Review: The House With a Clock in Its Walls by John Bellairs 22

 in Book Reviews / Books / Books-to-Movie / Fantasy / Young Adult / Younger Readers by

Summary

“When Lewis Barnavelt, an orphan. comes to stay with his uncle Jonathan, he expects to meet an ordinary person. But he is wrong. Uncle Jonathan and his next-door neighbor, Mrs. Zimmermann, are both witches! Lewis is thrilled. At first, watchng magic is enough. Then Lewis experiments with magic himself and unknowingly resurrects the former owner of the house: a woman named Serenna Izard. It seems that Serenna and her husband built a timepiece into the walls–a clock that could obliterate humankind. And only the Barnavelts can stop it!”

-From Amazon.com

Review

I actually only read this book because of the upcoming movie, which I am SOOOO excited about.

Of course, once I found out that it was a book, I had to get it. I will start off by saying that it is a younger YA novel, but that really didn’t bother me at all.

The book kept me page turning and so curious as to what would potentially be happening next. It was a very simple book to read, due to it being made for younger readers, but it wasn’t so simple that I felt like I was loosing brain cells as I was reading the book, which is always really nice.

As for the story, it was pretty straight forward. There was a boy in a house with some magical people and there was a clock, somewhere, and they had to find it. The people who used to live in the house were bad so there was that basic good versus evil idea going through the book. My complaint with the climax was it wasn’t very…climatic. I wouldn’t say it was anti-climatic because it resolved and it did go somewhere, but with adult novels they generally are a little bit more epic. I had to keep reminding myself that it was a book for younger kids so there couldn’t be the kind of violence and epicness that older YA novels, and adult novels, have in them. For the age it was meant for, it was good!

As for the main character Lewis Barnavelt, for me, he was a little bit obnoxious because he seemed like a real wimpy kid. I haven’t read the whole series of books with him so I know nothing about the series, but in this book I just wanted to shake him sometimes. He wanted to cry a lot and he felt like curling into a bawl quite a few times. I don’t generally mind a weak-ish character but just the timing of it and then his sudden bounce back was a little…meh. Of course, once again, it’s for younger readers so they won’t be noticing those kinds of things.

The novel, overall, was still an enjoyable read. It was also wonderful because it had illustrations. Not tons of them, but a few were dropped here and there, which brought the inner child in me out as I have’t had a book will illustrations in soooooo long! I was extremely happy!

In relation to the movie….

I’m definitely curious as to what the movie is going to do. Based off the trailer, it looks to be pretty big and epic, doesn’t it?

Just based off the trailer, I can already see so many differences between the book and the movie. The two adults should be older, the uncle should be a redhead, Lewis should be quite fat…the small things. There also seems to be some sort of creature or something in the movie?

I mean, I’m still going to see it as I don’t have an attachment to this book like with others….but I can already see that it has been Hollywood-ized.

That all aside, I still give the book 4/5 teacups! I don’t give it 5 because it’s a little bit below me and reading it, I see some flaws in the book, but for a child me, I’d have given it 5 teacups.

Still, 4 teacups means I thoroughly did enjoy it and do recommend checking it out. Especially if you’re going to be going to see the movie!

4 Teacups

Dark Road Home by Angela Bennett

 in Book Reviews / Books / Fiction by

This post contains affiliate links.

Summary

“Victor Simone, head of a hit man organization, murdered Belle McBain’s corrupt father. Following in her dad’s career footsteps, Belle becomes an attorney, but she can’t seem to move beyond the whispers of her crooked father’s corruption or his failures to his family. Instead of building a career in law, she escapes to a life of drugs and lives off her trust fund.

Unable to cope, Belle attempts suicide and is soon admitted into a rehab clinic where she tries to heal. However, her wounds run deep, so the healing takes time. Once released and three years sober, Belle begins a new life as a private investigator in Jersey City with the help of a friend in law enforcement. Sixteen years have passed … until everything changes.

One of Victor Simone’s cronies is in FBI custody and makes a deal. He says he’ll tell where the fugitive Simone is hiding if Belle agrees to meet with him. When she does, she begins to wonder if her father was ever a dirty attorney at all. As she searches for answers, Belle discovers more than she bargained for, including something more unbelievable than she could have imagined.”

-From Amazon.com

Review

This was quite an interesting book and it certainly wasn’t a difficult read – finishing it in only a few hours (I also had nothing better to do). I was sent a hard cover copy of the book (which was such an amazing surprise as I love hard-covers…so much classier – Thank you Ms. Bennett!) and immediately got into it because I was just so curious as to what this book about. These kind of books I don’t generally read, just because not many authors send me review requests of this genre and I don’t generally pick these books up. But I think I am going to have to start reading more. Of course I’ll have to read the follow up to this book too.

So the story was just so different. I really liked the fact that the main character had tried to commit suicide, which showed she had once been at a very low point in her life, but then came back with such a vengeance and was so strong. It was wonderful! I mean I love strong female characters and she was strong in this book, but realistic as well.

As for the story, it was really entertaining. It was written like a TV show which is always enjoyable as well. Sometimes reading something that you can follow easily and just get into and enjoy is what you need. Also it was set in a place close to home which was kind of funny. It always tickles me pink when states near where I live gets mentioned within a book, or a movie.

Overall it was a really entertaining and a good read. I’ll definitely be reading the next book in the series because I want to know what happens, as the ending was a cliff hanger (grrrr!).

Give it a go and check out Ms. Bennett’s website!

Purchase the book here.

Happy Reading!

Book Review: Magicians Impossible by Brad Abraham

 in Adult / Book Reviews / Books by

Summary

“Twenty-something bartender Jason Bishop’s world is shattered when his estranged father commits suicide, but the greater shock comes when he learns his father was a secret agent in the employ of the Invisible Hand; an ancient society of spies wielding magic in a centuries-spanning war. Now the Golden Dawn―the shadowy cabal of witches and warlocks responsible for Daniel Bishop’s murder, and the death of Jason’s mother years before―have Jason in their sights. His survival will depend on mastering his own dormant magic abilities; provided he makes it through the training.

From New York, to Paris, to worlds between worlds, Jason’s journey through the realm of magic will be fraught with peril. But with enemies and allies on both sides of this war, whom can he trust? The Invisible Hand, who’ve been more of a family than his own family ever was? The Golden Dawn, who may know the secrets behind his mysterious lineage? For Jason Bishop, only one thing is for certain; the magic he has slowly been mastering is telling him not to trust anybody.”

-From Amazon.com

Review

This book was a wild ride from the beginning to the end. The first thing that caught my attention was the fact that one of the more important characters had my name, and since my name is so unique, I was really really excited. So, from the beginning, I immediately was drawn into the book.

It had some slow moments – but because it’s for adults.
It did have a few moments of being slow. Like, it was a pretty big book for what the story was about. It is considered to be an adult book, so if it was a YA, some of the bits and pieces would have been cut out, so I had to keep reminding myself that it was an adult book, so it wasn’t always fast paced. It had quiet moments, which isn’t always a bad thing. Just for me, because of the story, I kept feeling like it was YA and would have to remind myself that it actually wasn’t.

The cussing was a little extreme, but it went with characters dialects.
There was a lot of cussing within the story. Like, f-bombs were flying left and right. Personally, I’m not always a fan when there is cursing in a book. If it is placed properly, then I get it, but sometimes it is just too excessive. The character was even written to call another character out on his use of foul language, which I thought was humorous, but still, a little unnecessary. It seemed that certain characters chose those words though.

Characters actually had accents.
I thought it was pretty impressive how Mr. Abraham wrote the accents of some of the characters, with their British and cockney slang and such. I’m so used to reading something like, “And X spoke with a slight British accent…” instead of their sentences actually being written in the way they would sound. It kind of helped imagine how they would speak as you were reading what they were saying. I did really love that about the book.

The spaces he created were impressive.
The author certainly does have a way with words though. He was able to create these massive spaces in such an elegant way. I had to re-read a few sections, just because the spaces he created were so massive I had to really read it deeply to fully visualize the space. It was clearly laid out in his explanation, so you didn’t need to use the imagination to fully create it, but you had to follow what he was saying otherwise you would be slightly lost in what was going on. For me, I don’t generally love overly detailed explanations, but because of what the author was trying to create within this book, the explanations were necessary to understand how the Magic worked and how it created this space. I really did think the explanations did a marvelous job!

It was definitely a page turner.
So this was one of those books that really kept me guessing. I never saw the ending coming and wouldn’t have guessed the outcome either. It was one of those books that you thought you had figured it out and then suddenly the author threw a curve ball at you and you were like ‘Ohhhhh, shietttttt’. I love when a book does that, and this book certainly did that. I wanted to fly through it to find out what happened next.

Overall, I really loved the book and would definitely recommend it!  It kept me entertained and I really did enjoy it. Would I read it again? Just possibly because it was so detailed, I might need to to relive some of the scenes.

For that, I give it a 4.5/5 teacups!

rating four tea cups mlcwo

Happy Reading!