All of Us Villains - Amanda Foody and Christine Lynn Herman

Amanda Foody and Christine Lynn Herman have joined forces and co written the upcoming YA fantasy novel, All of Us Villains.

I try always try to  post my reviews within a few days of the book's publication date. All of Us Villains was next up on my Netgalley shelf, so I got started reading a few days ago. I got to page 86 and the galley ended. It was only then that I remembered it was a sampler copy! 

So, from what I did read, it's pretty good. In some time and place, Common Magick is used by the masses. High Magick is thought to have disappeared to have disappeared.....but it hasn't. Seven families in the town of Ilvernath know, use and protect the High Magick. Control of it is determined by pitting a young 'champion' from each family against each other in a Magick tournament.

I know what you're thinking - because I thought that too - The Hunger Games right? Very similar, but with magick instead of food. Indeed, the publisher uses that comparison in their marketing. "You Fell in Love with the Victors of the Hunger Games. Now Prepare to Meet the Villains of the Blood Veil."

Foody and Herman have created a large cast of characters - the seven champions, their families and those who back the tournaments - the spellcasters and makers and someone from the government this time round. The masses are also aware now that High Magick is indeed still alive....

You'll easily find the champion you want to back, decide quickly which family are devious and manipulating, and wonder  - what Foody and Herman have in store for the tournament...

And that's where it ended! So, yes my curiosity is whetted! What I've read so far is well written - and you can see for yourself - the free extended preview is on Amazon.

The Rising - Heather Graham and Jon Land

Heather Graham and Jon Land have joined forces (and pens), creating a new series. The first book is the newly released The Rising.

My library has The Rising shelved with adult fiction, but the target audience seems to be teens, given the lead characters. Those characters are Alex and Samantha. Alex is a star football player and Samantha is his tutor. When Alex suffers a head injury in a game, a CAT scan reveals something unbelievable in his head. Then his parents are killed - and some otherworldly entity seems bent on killing him as well. Sam and Alex end up on the run, desperately trying to find out what's going on. And it's pretty huge. Save the world kinda huge.

Alex and Sam are both likable leads. They're opposites and although opposites attract, I'm not sure about the romance between the two. I think the story would have been good without the romantic thread this time out. It seemed forced and having it occur more organically in future entries would be more believable. However their strengths do play off each other well.

Land and Graham  have come up with an interesting concept, but I found the amount of detail used to describe some of their theories and science to be somewhat overwhelming (and okay - boring). To the point where I started skimming. I think the depth of detail would be daunting for teen readers who may be looking for the same thing I was - action and a plot that moved along a little quicker. I get that this is the foundation book, but I did find it too dense and drawn out. I think it could have been tightened up. I found the 'bad guys' to be somewhat one-dimensional and clichéd. Co-authoring a book must be a challenge.

This adult reader found The Rising to be just an okay read. I would be curious to see what teen readers thought. Read an excerpt of The Rising.

To Catch a Killer - Sheryl Scarborough Release Day Giveaway

Sheryl Scarborough's debut novel, To Catch a Killer releases today and I have a copy to give away to one lucky reader!

From the publisher, Tor Books:

"In this contemporary mystery by debut author Sheryl Scarborough, a teenage girl uses forensic science to solve the cold-case murder of her mother.

Erin Blake has one of those names. A name that, like Natalee Holloway or Elizabeth Smart, is inextricably linked to a grisly crime. As a toddler, Erin survived for three days alongside the corpse of her murdered mother, and the case—which remains unsolved—fascinated a nation. Her father's identity unknown, Erin was taken in by her mother's best friend and has become a relatively normal teen in spite of the looming questions about her past.

Fourteen years later, Erin is once again at the center of a brutal homicide when she finds the body of her biology teacher. When questioned by the police, Erin tells almost the whole truth, but never voices her suspicions that her mother's killer has struck again in order to protect the casework she's secretly doing on her own.

Inspired by her uncle, an FBI agent, Erin has ramped up her forensic hobby into a full-blown cold-case investigation. This new murder makes her certain she's close to the truth, but when all the evidence starts to point the authorities straight to Erin, she turns to her longtime crush (and fellow suspect) Journey Michaels to help her crack the case before it's too late." Read an excerpt of To Catch a Killer.

Sheryl Scarborough worked as a story writer and series developer in children's television before
receiving her MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College, where she studied under Rita Williams-Garcia, Tom Birdseye, and Susan Fletcher, among others. She currently lives and works in Kalama, Washington. To Catch a Killer is her debut. You can connect with Sheryl on her website, follow her on Twitter and like her on Facebook.

And if you'd like to read To Catch a Killer, enter to win a copy using the Rafflecopter form below. Open to US and Canada, no PO boxes please. Ends Feb 18/17.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Giveaway - The Rising - Heather Graham and Jon Land

"Stranger Things' Meets 'X-Files' and ‘Independence Day’ in romantic, genre-bending new SciFi thriller  -- The Rising -- by bestselling authors Heather Graham and Jon Land.

So...did that catch your attention? Yes? Well, then you'll want to enter this giveaway! The Rising releases today - and I have three copies to giveaway!

Here's a bit more about the novel from Tor Books:

"From acclaimed thriller-suspense novelists Heather Graham and Jon Land comes a story of action, mystery, and the endurance of young love in The Rising. Twenty-four hours. That's all it takes for the lives of two young people to be changed forever.

Alex Chin has the world on a plate. A football hero and homecoming king with plenty of scholarship offers, his future looks bright. His tutor, Samantha Dixon, is preparing to graduate high school at the top of her class. She plans to turn her NASA internship into a career.

When a football accident lands Alex in the hospital, his world is turned upside down. His doctor is murdered. Then, his parents. Death seems to follow him wherever he goes, and now it's after him.

Alex flees. He tells Samantha not to follow, but she became involved the moment she walked through his door and found Mr. and Mrs. Chin as they lay dying in their home. She cannot abandon the young man she loves. The two race desperately to stay ahead of Alex's attackers long enough to figure out why they are hunting him in the first place. The answer lies with a secret buried deep in his past, a secret his parents died to protect. Alex always knew he was adopted, but he never knew the real reason his birth parents abandoned him. He never knew where he truly came from. Until now." Read an excerpt of The Rising. Or check out the book trailer below.

"Heather Graham is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author. Her first book was with Dell, and since then, she has written over one hundred novels and novellas including category, suspense, historical romance, vampire fiction, time travel, occult and Christmas family fare. She has been honored with awards from Waldenbooks, B. Dalton, Georgia Romance Writers, Affaire de Coeur, RT Book Reviews, and more. Visit her online at theoriginalheathergraham.com."

"Jon Land is the USA Today bestselling author of thirty-eight novels, including the bestselling series featuring female Texas Ranger Caitlin Strong. He is also the co-author of the nonfiction bestseller Betrayal. He lives in Providence, Rhode Island and can be found on the web at jonlandbooks.com."

Sound good? Use the Rafflecopter form below to enter to win one of three copies up for giveaway. Open to US and Canada, no PO boxes please. Ends January 31/17.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Giveaway - Inside A Silver Box - Walter Mosley

Walter Mosley is a name readers will recognize - I'm a fan of his crime novels. Mosley's latest book is a 'speculative fiction' novel - Inside A Silver Box. And thanks to Tor Books, I have a copy to giveaway!

From the publisher:

"INSIDE A SILVER BOX is a genre-defying work of fiction that tells the remarkable story of two unlikely heroes who join forces to protect humanity from destruction by an alien race, the Laz, hell-bent on regaining control over the Silver Box, the most destructive and powerful tool in the universe."

Sound like a book you'd like to read? (You can read an excerpt below.)One copy to giveaway. Simply leave a comment to be entered. Open to US only, no PO boxes please. End March 21/15.

 You can find Walter Mosley on Facebook and on his website.

Giveaway - Echopraxia - Peter Watts

I've got a great giveaway today for science fiction fans! Echopraxia is the latest from author Peter Watts. Thanks to the generosity of Tor Books, I have a copy up for grabs!

From the publisher:

"Prepare for a different kind of singularity in Peter Watts' Echopraxia, the follow-up to the Hugo-nominated novel Blindsight

It's the eve of the twenty-second century: a world where the dearly departed send postcards back from Heaven and evangelicals make scientific breakthroughs by speaking in tongues; where genetically engineered vampires solve problems intractable to baseline humans and soldiers come with zombie switches that shut off self-awareness during combat. And it’s all under surveillance by an alien presence that refuses to show itself.

Daniel Bruks is a living fossil: a field biologist in a world where biology has turned computational, a cat's-paw used by terrorists to kill thousands. Taking refuge in the Oregon desert, he’s turned his back on a humanity that shatters into strange new subspecies with every heartbeat. But he awakens one night to find himself at the center of a storm that will turn all of history inside-out.

Now he’s trapped on a ship bound for the center of the solar system. To his left is a grief-stricken soldier, obsessed by whispered messages from a dead son. To his right is a pilot who hasn’t yet found the man she's sworn to kill on sight. A vampire and its entourage of zombie bodyguards lurk in the shadows behind. And dead ahead, a handful of rapture-stricken monks takes them all to a meeting with something they will only call “The Angels of the Asteroids.”

Their pilgrimage brings Dan Bruks, the fossil man, face-to-face with the biggest evolutionary breakpoint since the origin of thought itself."

"Peter Watts is a former marine biologist and the Hugo and Nebula nominated author of novels such as Starfish, Maelstrom and Behemoth, and numerous short stories. He has been called "a hard science fiction writer through and through and one of the very best alive" by The Globe and Mail and whose work the New York Times called "seriously paranoid."

If this sounds like a book you'd like to own, simply leave a comment to be entered into a random draw. Open to US and Canada, no PO boxes please. Ends Sept 13/14.

Giveaway - The Ultra Thin Man - Patrick Swenson

I've got a copy of the newly released book The UltraThin Man by Patrick Swenson to giveaway today, thanks to the generosity of Tor Books.

From the publisher:

"In the twenty-second century, a future in which mortaline wire controls the weather on the settled planets and entire refugee camps drowse in drug-induced slumber, no one—alive or dead, human or alien—is quite what they seem. When terrorists manage to crash Coral, the moon, into its home planet of Ribon, forcing evacuation, it’s up to Dave Crowell and Alan Brindos, contract detectives for the Network Intelligence Organization, to solve a case of interplanetary consequences. Crowell’ and Brindos’s investigation plunges them neck-deep into a conspiracy much more dangerous than anything they could have imagined.

The two detectives soon find themselves separated, chasing opposite leads: Brindos has to hunt down the massive Helkunn alien Terl Plenko, shadow leader of the terrorist Movement of Worlds. Crowell, meanwhile, runs into something far more sinister—an elaborate frame job that puts our heroes on the hook for treason.

In this novel from Patrick Swenson, Crowell and Brindos are forced to fight through the intrigue to discover the depths of an interstellar conspiracy. And to answer the all-important question: Who, and what, is the Ultra Thin Man?"

"Patrick is a writer, publisher, editor, and teacher. His first novel is entitled The Ultra Thin Man, forthcoming from Tor in 2014. He has sold stories to the anthology Like Water for Quarks, and magazines such as Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Fantasy Magazine, Figment, and others."

If you'd like to win a copy of this debut novel, simply leave a comment to be entered into a random draw. Open to US and Canada, no PO boxes please. Ends Sept. 13/14

Giveaway - Virus Thirteen - Joshua Alan Parry

I know - it's been a week of giveaways! And here's another one for you from the great folks at Tor Books.Virus Thirteen is Joshua Alan Parry's debut novel.

What's it about?

From the publisher:

"Virus Thirteen is an irreverent and contagious thriller from debut author Joshua Alan Parry.
Scientists James Logan and his wife, Linda, have their dream careers at the world’s leading biotech company, GeneFirm, Inc. But their happiness is interrupted by a devastating bioterrorist attack: a deadly superflu that quickly becomes a global pandemic. The GeneFirm complex goes into lockdown and Linda’s research team is sent to high-security underground labs to develop a vaccine.

Above ground, James learns that GeneFirm security has been breached and Linda is in danger. To save her he must confront a desperate terrorist, armed government agents, and an invisible killer: Virus Thirteen."

"JOSHUA ALAN PARRY is a medical resident at the Mayo Clinic. He received his medical degree from the University of Texas Medical School at Houston and holds a B.S. in molecular and cellular biology from the University of Texas at Austin, where he was also captain of the ice hockey team. Over the years, he has worked as a guide for at-risk youth in the Utah wilderness, a metal worker in Montreal, a salmon canner in Alaska, and a molecular genetics intern. He was raised in Keller, Texas."

Sound like a book you'd like to read? To be entered, simply leave a comment. Open to US only, no PO boxes please. Ends April 6/13.

Giveaway - Cold City - F. Paul Wilson

Are you a Repairman Jack fan? (Stephen King is president of the Repairman Jack Fan Club!) Do you want to get to know this 'fix-it' man?

F. Paul Wilson is releasing three prequel books. It's a must have for established fans and a great opportunity for new readers to meet Jack.

Cold City is the first of those prequels. From the publisher Tor Books:

"The first of three Repairman Jack prequels, revealing the past of one of the most popular characters in contemporary dark fantasy: a self-styled “fix-it” man who is no stranger to the macabre or the supernatural, hired by victimized people who have no one else to turn to.

We join Jack a few months after his arrival in New York City. He doesn’t own a gun yet, though he’s already connected with Abe. Soon he’ll meet Julio and the Mikulski brothers. He runs afoul of some Dominicans, winds up at the East Side Marriott the night Meir Kahane is shot, gets on the bad side of some Arabs, starts a hot affair, and disrupts the smuggling of preteen sex slaves. And that’s just Book One."

Repairman Jack is one of the most original and intriguing characters to arise out of contemporary fiction in ages. His adventures are hugely entertaining.”

—Dean Koontz

Repairman Jack is one of the greatest fictional characters created by any thriller writer in the past half century. If you haven’t discovered him and his world yet, what a fabulous, extraordinary,

and electric reading experience awaits you.”

—Douglas Preston, cocreator of the Pendergast novels

 

If this sounds like a book you'd like to own, just leave a comment to be entered. One copy up for grabs, open to US only, ends Dec 2/12. You can find Wilson on Facebook as well.