Archive for the ‘Fiction Books Reviewed’ Category
Posted on April 4, 2009 - by admin
History provides terrorizing truth to new work of fiction…
Infinite Exposure
ISBN 978-0-9770866-8-9 is an e-book by Roland Hughes, published by Logical Solutions in 465 pages.
{mosimage} The story begins with a secret international team of al-Qaida fighters following and apprehending an offshore web master who is part of an al-Qaida cell, which, in turn, is part of a far-ranging network. From here, the scene shifts to the financial districts of the United States, and their never ending search for ways to save money. The CEO of a huge American bank, with large branches in France and Germany, is approached by a marketing company to offshore their operations. Such a move will save millions of dollars and, in the thoughts of the executive, produce a lucrative advancement. He is more concerned with this personal gain, and does not think through the proposition, even when given hints by his second in command, who is most knowledgeable. A software company becomes involved and contributes further to the maneuvers, and the story progresses to a horrendous financial debacle, and many associated reactions. A third element enters the picture – a group of traders who deal with insider information, have ties to Account Executives in Russia, with the Russian Mafia, with China, and with the coordinator of the occult al-Qaida fighters.
To provide more details would spoil, for the reader, a most interesting and thought-provoking proposal of a possible future American agenda.
With respect to the writing, Roland Hughes quite masterfully juggles the various elements, as they shift from one to the next. His characters are interesting, and the story’s progression is at a fine pace. I read an ARC (Advanced Reading Copy) of this book which contained spelling and grammar problems. However, I understand the author has since had the manuscript fully edited and corrected. With removal of this jarring note, I should like to say that Roland Hughes has provided added enjoyment to a highly recommended read that presents some very serious thoughts to ponder, as well.
Purchase this exciting new book!
Posted on February 1, 2008 - by admin
Fables from the Mud
An Interview with author, Erik Quisling
another exclusive interview with the Virtual Book Review Network
{mosimage}Lauren Smith: What inspired you to create a work of fiction?
Erik Quisling: I initially came up with the idea for Fables from the Mud shortly after I graduated college. In the course of my soul searching and trying to figure out my place in the world, I was struck with the idea of a clam who was trying to do the exact same thing. For some reason it struck me as extremely amusing. This is how The Angry Clam, the first fable in my book, was born.
Lauren Smith: Do you see Fables From the Mud as a satire, cultural commentary or something more?
Erik Quisling: Fables From The Mud is about three little creatures – a clam, an ant, and a worm – all of whom are struggling with very human problems. The stories are satirical but in many ways are simply a cultural commentary on the human obsession with finding meaning in the world. All in all, they are designed to be amusing and to get you to see somewhat the absurdity of taking life too seriously.
Lauren Smith: How did you develop each of the fables?
Erik Quisling: Each fable was born from its own separate bout of inspiration. In each case, it was a single line of text that came to me that was like lighting a fuse that set the story on its course. Once the fuse was lit, the stories pretty much wrote themselves – I simply had to go back and edit them a little bit.
Lauren Smith: Are any of the characters based on anyone – or any type of person – you know?
Erik Quisling: I can say that the more I read the stories, the more I learn about myself. But I truly think each character is a reflection of some deeply common human experience – not of any human in particular.
Posted on November 5, 2007 - by admin
This is the Place
Lauren Smith: What is your book about?
{mosimage}Carolyn Howard-Johnson: This Is the Place is a fictionalized account of my life. I was born to a Mormon father and a Protestant mother in a state that was almost exclusively Mormon and is a culture colored by the dominant religion (Every state legislator, as an example, are Mormon even in this year of 2007.) As a young journalist I considered marrying a Mormon man, much as five generations of Nonmormon women before me had done–my mother, grandmother, great grandmother and great-great grandmother. Each handled her situation in a different way depending on her personality and the time she lived in. The result is a saga of the West, based on authentic pioneer history; a love story, based on my own; and the story of a woman reaching for a career in journalism against all odds.
Lauren Smith: Why did you write this book?
Carolyn Howard-Johnson: I thought about this book as a young journalist in the early sixties. It didn't get written until four decades later when I got cancer and realized that, if not now, possibly never.
Posted on November 5, 2007 - by admin
The Mouse Knight
Lauren Smith: What is your book about?
{mosimage}Cutter Hays: The trilogy is about mice getting a chance for equality with humans, all started by a single mouse who is born knowing how to read.
Lauren Smith: Why did you write it?
Cutter Hays: To help out mice and the RMCA (Rat and Mouse Club ofAmerica, who first hosted it). And mostly because I was inspired to do so.
Lauren Smith: What do you hope your reader will learn from your book?
Posted on November 2, 2007 - by admin
Alex Webster and the Gods
Interview with David Dent, author of Alex Webster and the Gods
About the book: After several millennia spent in retirement, taking it easy, Jupiter, the superstar Roman God, decides the timing is right for his comeback as a business leader with an MBA from Harvard. His intention is to acquire a global corporation and to set up a new worldly empire. But Jupiter has been out of circulation for a while and he and his friends are a little rusty at the game of corporate takeovers. The high jinks and intrigue that ensure are all part of David Dent’s new science fiction novel, Alex Webster and the Gods.
This interview is exclusive to the Virtual Book Review Network
VBRN: What inspired you to create a work of science fiction?
{mosimage}David Dent: Science fiction and fantasy have always been obsessed with the nature of godhood. The idea came to me in 2002 after reading an article in the Atlantic Monthly on the explosion of new religious movements. The article noted that there were about 10,000 religions competing for our souls and that some sociologists use the idea of a religious economy or spiritual marketplace to explain what helps a religion succeed in gaining followers. One could say that Darwinism had its start in the heavens. Because the capitalist marketplace is the dominant metaphor, if not mythology, of our age, I thought it would be interesting to examine a world where gods are the producers of religious services, competing to meet the demands of humans.
VBRN: How did you arrive at the idea of Yahweh as the first capitalist?
David Dent: About the same time that I was considering ideas for my book, I was also taking a course in world religions. During one class the professor asked about the nature of god as presented in the Old Testament. Rather than responding from a theological perspective, I considered it from a modern reading of the Bible, asking, What kind of business leader was Yahweh? This was not by chance because my career at that point dealt with issues of corporate governance and management. Interestingly, I found that one can argue Yahweh’s management style evolves from an entrepreneurial, hands-on deity to a maturing manager who, overtime, introduces more sophisticated management and control methods to achieve his goals. The cause for these changes is that Yahweh, like any good manager, learns from experience. His evolution is similar to that of many entrepreneurs who create new ventures and navigate them to successful organizations. In Yahweh’s case, his brand dominates the religion market, with Christianity taking about a 32 percent share worldwide. In other words, Yahweh’s story is not unlike that of Bill Gates or Henry Ford, evolving from a temperamental, even eccentric, entrepreneur to the avuncular, but distant, Chairman of the Board. And the idea tied in beautifully with the notion of a religious market. Arguably, Yahweh is the world’s first and oldest capitalist and, to this point, most successful.
VBRN: How did you decide on Jupiter as the old god looking for a comeback?
Posted on August 11, 2007 - by admin
Fly with the Mourning Dove
An Interview with the author, Velda Brotherton
{mosimage}
Lauren Smith: As an Arkansas historical author, what inspired you to write Fly With The Mourning Dove, a book about living in New Mexico?
Velda Brotherton: My Dad was a great storyteller, and all my life I'd heard him talk about some relatives of my grandparents who had homesteaded on the high desert in New Mexico. He'd talk about a woman who lived alone for an entire winter in order to prove up the homestead. About the snow being higher than the roof, and how she'd managed her day to day chores. The stories fascinated me and I never forgot them. Then, I went to a writer's conference in Albuquerque, remembered that the daughter of this woman lived near Taos and called her. I ended up spending a week with her. She took me all over that breathtaking country, so different from Arkansas. I especially enjoyed an overnight visit to one of the ranches, which she still owned. There were no modern facilities. At night the stars rested so close to the ground they could almost be touched. The desert and its monochromatic vistas mesmerized me; I couldn't get enough of it or her stories about growing up there. I continued to visit with her every year, and one day, as she was talking about having read one of my historical romances, she said casually, "When you write a book about me, I hope you don't write it as a romance." So there it was, the challenge no writer can turn down.
Lauren Smith: What was it like to write about someone who is still living?
Velda Brotherton: Scary and difficult. I didn't want to present her personality in a way that would offend her, yet I had a definite perception that she probably wasn't aware of. Are any of us really aware of how we come across to other people? Sometimes I would get too carried away telling some of her deepest thoughts and emotions and she would ask me to leave out something, but for the most part, we got along well in that respect. I was still very nervous when I sent her the completed manuscript after more than a year of working long-distance on it. When it came back with a post-it note on top saying only, "I'm satisfied," I breathed a sigh of relief.
Lauren Smith: What surprised you most about this process?
Velda Brotherton: That she could be so honest with me about the way some of the difficulties of her life affected her. I'm sure she held back a few things, wouldn't any of us? Yet she revealed things about herself that were very private. I think they come across well in the book and present her as she really is.
Lauren Smith: What were you fascinated to learn about Edna's life?
Velda Brotherton: How strong she was, and still is. She had her 93rd birthday this July, and is still very active physically and mentally. She keeps up with current events and has strong opinions that are well thought out. Her understanding of the political and emotional situations while she was growing up is amazing.
Lauren Smith: What do you hope readers learn from Edna's journey?
Velda Brotherton: That no matter the trials and tribulations in life, we can make our way safely through them and remain who we always wanted to be. She's the epitome of the western woman who stands up to adversity with a serene strength that is admirable.
Posted on July 10, 2007 - by admin
New Harry Potter Book 7
{mosimage}
The Final Chapter
It's official! Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the seventh and final book in J.K. Rowling's magical Harry Potter series, will be released on July 21, 2007. In the February 1 announcement from the book's publisher, Lisa Holton, President of Scholastic Children's Books, said, "We are thrilled to announce the publication date of the seventh installment in this remarkable series. We join J.K. Rowling's millions of readers–young and old, veterans and newcomers–in anticipating what lies ahead." Save the date, and let the countdown begin!
{mosimage}Let's celebrate J.K.Rowling's talent once again!
Posted on April 26, 2007 - by admin
Julia Fairchild
Book Review: Julia Fairchild by Louise Gaylord
Hardcover, 296 pages
Little Moose Press
This is Ms Gaylord’s third novel, and as a writer her style has matured greatly. This maturity shows in her use of plot and character development in Julia Fairchild. This is a very well crafted piece of work.
Set in New Mexico we are thrust into a world that I found reminiscent of the 1980’s TV series Dallas.
Instead of revolving around the Oil industry, the backdrop for Julia Fairchild is Pecan Nuts and Chile Pepper farming in Las Cruces. This seemingly sedate and serene sounding lifestyle is portrayed as anything but sedate and serene by Louise Gaylord!
From the opening page where our heroine is struck by lightning, an occurrence that starts a downward spiral of events, the reader is swept up in a web of intrigue, lust, and bitter family feuds. The characters are sketchy in the beginning but take on richness as the book continues, each interaction reveals a new facet of the protagonists.
Ms. Gaylord uses her main character (after who the book is titled) in an interesting and from a book reviewer’s viewpoint, novel way. Julia is not so much heroine but more the conduit and catalyst through which the story can unfold.
The two families involved are the Brantley’s and the Pierce’s. Early on we discover that there is a long standing animosity between these two high profile families. Page by page we learn little dark secrets about all of the main players. Little jigsaw puzzle sized clues which the author uses to tantalize the reader.
All of the leading characters have skeletons in the closet, some very old, from 30 years ago, some very new, and all of them are disturbing.
Not wishing to reveal too much and spoil the plot I will instead tease you with a couple of the dark secrets contained within the pages, there are untimely deaths, there is adultery, there is even incest, although at the time the participants were not aware of their shared parent.
Slowly and surely the jigsaw puzzle starts to come together. The interplay between the two families, and the outsiders like Julia starts to take on a shape. There are no winners; there are only losers in this rather jaded view of high society in New Mexico.
To say that this is a page turner of a book does not do it justice, you have to be careful that you do not get paper cuts from turning those pages too fast! If you are looking for a light and entertaining read, one that has a little bit of sex, a little bit of violence, a hint or two of true love, and a huge amount of bitterness between characters, I recommend that you go down to your local bookstore and pick up a copy of Julia Fairchild.
