Book Review: Incognito

I apologize for not posting recently, but I've been getting my geek on. As per my last post, I've been indulging in learning more about scientific things that interest me, which includes reading books on astrophysics, math, physics, and neuroscience. In addition to this, I am spending time with my youngest son who is visiting me this summer. So, I hope you'll excuse my absence. During my quasi-sabbatical, I read a book that I felt needed mentioning. Recently, I finished reading Incognito: Secret Lives of the Brain by David Eagleman. I first saw Dr. Eagleman discussing some of his research into the brain's mysteries on an episode of Nova ScienceNOW with my hero Neil deGrasse Tyson. Dr. Eagleman was conducting experiments to learn whether our brains perceive time differently during traumatic or scary events. This piqued my curiosity a great deal. Not to mention, he seemed like an extremely intelligent and laid back scientist, which is non-stereotypical of the field.

While recently browsing the bookshelves at Barnes & Noble, I saw this book and immediately remembered watching that episode on TV. I took the book down and quickly looked through it. The concepts outlined in the table of contents sounded very interesting.

I know many of you might think that reading a neuroscience book about our brain functionality seems anything but interesting, but, I have to disagree. For instance, Dr. Eagleman tackles subjects such as how we actually experience what we perceive to be reality; how our consciousness is only a facade for the neural subsystems that really drive what we do; how our brains can easily be fooled by illusions; and, how mental illnesses affect our actions, among other things.

If you're at all curious about how that three pounds of gray matter in your head controls who you are and what you do, I highly recommend this book. I promise, you won't be disappointed by the discoveries waiting for you between the front and back cover. In addition to the rich subject matter, Eagleman writes in a way that doesn't leave the average layperson wondering what he's talking about as many scientific books can.

Unlike most of my previous book reviews, I want to finish this one by leaving you with a video of Dr. Eagleman discussing his book. As always, thanks for stopping by!

Book Review: Blabbermouth

Today, I bring you yet another book review. This one is called Blabbermouth by Joel Travis. I'll be honest up front, I don't read many independent authors' books. You might think this is because I, like many people out there, don't trust them to write a quality story. If this is what you think, you're dead wrong! That's crazy because, I am an independent author! I read for two purposes, in this order: to be entertained and to learn different writing techniques.

I managed to get a free copy of Blabbermouth during one of Joel's marketing promotions. It is available on Amazon in digital format as well as paperback. Last I checked, it was also available on B&N. Currently, the digital version is $2.99 and the paperback is listed as $13.49. When I saw the cover, I was apprehensive. This is the first book in a series for a character named Brit Moran. Like I said, I got a copy for free. You can't beat free, right? Especially, if you're on the fence about it. I had never heard of Joel Travis, but he already had several reviews. When I got my copy, they were all nearly 5-stars. That many positive reviews was persuasive. So, I decided to try it out. (I'm not the type of person who snatches up free books only to have them taking up space on my device. I don't get those people's mindset. I suppose they're just hoarders. If I get a book, it's with the intention of reading it, and fairly soon.)

Blabbermouth begins with Brit making a confession on, what he thinks is, his deathbed. Of course, he doesn't die from his injuries and he's already let the cat out of the bag about some questionable acts he's committed. This obviously lands him in some hot water with some nefarious characters he has worked with. However, things take a different turn when Brit becomes the main suspect in a murder investigation. Brit sets out to clear his name by solving who the real killer is.

In addition to humorous narrative and dialogue, there is an element of a locked-room mystery, which I really love. At first, I was torn between whether or not I even liked the main character. His personality is a bit grating at times. His interactions with friends and family is sometimes interesting and questionable. However, by the end of the book, I was still rooting for him to clear his name.

I thoroughly enjoyed this story and found Joel's writing and character development to be above average. If you enjoy mysteries with humor and a solid, well thought out plot, then I encourage you to read this book. I really think you'll enjoy it. Thanks for stopping by!

Book Review (Twofer!): The Bottoms by Joe R. Lansdale and Two-Way Split by Allan Guthrie

I haven't done any book reviews lately and today seemed like a good time to play catch up, so I decided to give you a two-for-one deal. I am feeling especially saucy since I finished my second round revisions of The Old Royal and handed it off to my second beta reader. (BTW, it should be coming to an ebook retailer soon, so keep an eye out! Of course, stay tuned here and you'll know before anyone else.)

First, let me tell you about Joe R. Lansdale's The Bottoms. I got the paperback from Barnes & Noble because I had heard Joe's name mentioned by some authors I follow on social media. I had never read any of his material and this book's synopsis really intrigued me. It's a mystery that takes place in the south during the Depression. This sounded right up my alley. I'm glad I took a chance on it because I wasn't disappointed. Lansdale, I discovered, is a fantastic writer. His descriptions are spot on and his character development is phenomenal.

He paints the story in your mind flawlessly. The story is told by an elderly Harry, recounted from memories of his childhood, about discovering the body of a murdered black woman. Harry's father is the constable in their county and begins an investigation to determine who killed the woman. More bodies are discovered and several people are suspected. In addition to the mystery of who the killer is, there is a local legend Harry is faced with confronting, that of the Goat Man.

While this is mainly a mystery, it is also a coming-of-age story about Harry and his sister. In addition, it tackles race relations in the south during the early thirties. Lansdale seems to have really done his research with this book and nailed the dialect in his dialogue without weighing the reader down with unnecessary punctuation, which is a fine line to balance.

I discovered a zombie anthology at B&N that featured a story by Joe and looked up that story in the book. Since this was the only book of his I'd read, I wanted to see if this was just a fluke or if his other work is just as good. Now, I'm not a zombie fan (aside from The Walking Dead, which I love!) as I feel it's been well mined. However, Lansdale's tale in the anthology seemed to be on par with this book. The dialogue was strong as were the characters. I gave The Bottoms 5 out of 5 stars and plan to read more of his work. If you want a southern crime story that will keep you turning the page, I suggest you get a copy of this book!

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The second book in this twofer is Allan Guthrie's Two-Way Split. This is a crime drama that takes place in the UK, Ireland to be precise. There are several characters whose paths cross and the plot becomes a tangled web of intrigue. In additions to the superb and engaging plot, there is a central theme on the title throughout the story, which I found to be beautifully executed. Now, I'm not typically a big fan of British authors because I become distracted by the use of their slang.

It differs so much from ours that I find it difficult to follow and lose interest in the story. That was not the case with Guthrie's Two-Way Split. Sure, he uses quite a bit of British slang, but it's easy to pick up on in the context he uses it. Not to mention, his characters are some bad asses. I really enjoyed the action in this book and the conclusion. Although, there was one small section where I became confused by a character. This, however, turned out to be straightened out further on as I read and completely understood.

It's extremely rare for me to say this about British authors, but I intend to check out some more stories by Allan Guthrie. He did such an excellent job with this book that I want to see what else he is capable of. So, if you want to read a kick-ass hard-boiled crime story from the UK, you need to get a copy of Allan Guthrie's Two-Way Split. I'm sure you'll be pleasantly surprised.

I hope you'll pick up one of these (or both) books and enjoy it (them) the way I did. Thanks for stopping by!

Book Review (in progress): These Guns For Hire

Disclaimer: I have not finished reading this book. I'm currently half way through it. This is an anthology edited by Joe Konrath. Even though I have not finished reading this book, I already give it 5 stars. If you're a fan of the crime genre, especially the sub-genre of hit men, then you really need to read this book. There are 31 stories inside from authors you've heard of and some you probably

haven't. Lawrence Block, David Morrell, Ed Gorman, Victor Gischler, Max Allan Collins, J.A. Konrath, and many more.

As of yet, I haven't read a story I didn't like. They range from the most calculating, professional killers to the comical. There's even a story where a lemur is the target of a hit! I know. At first, when I read that, I thought, Really? A hit man is supposed to take out a lemur? How good can it possible be?


Trust me. It's that good! I must admit, I was skeptical when I read that the stories were an eclectic bunch, taking place in foreign locales, involving supernatural elements, and lemurs. As I've mentioned, so far, every story I've read has been stellar. If you haven't already read this book, buy it. You won't regret it.

Book Review: A Dangerous Man by Charlie Huston

Disclaimer: I have no intentions of turning this blog into a book review blog. There's already enough of those out there. Instead, I'd rather tell my readers about other great books that are out there. Nor am I going to give you a blow-by-blow commentary as many reviewers tend to do. I suppose I should disclose how I'd rate the books I've read. In that case, let's just go with a generic 5-star system. Five stars is a great book. Three stars is average and one star plain sucks. This book would definitely get five stars.

Last night, I finished reading A Dangerous Man by Charlie Huston. This is the third book in the Henry Thompson series. I haven't read the first two books, but I've already ordered them from Amazon. If you enjoy hit man books, then this one is a must read. Also, you don't have to read the first two in order to enjoy the action in this book. There was some backstory mentioned that I suspect was covered in the previous books, but that didn't hinder this story much at all. If anything, it piques the reader's curiosity to discover what happened earlier and encourages them to purchase those books to find out. At least, it did with me.

In this book, we follow Henry Thompson as he fights to kick his pill habit. Henry has somehow been blackmailed into working as muscle for a Russian mobster named David. Henry's mentor is another Russian, an enforcer named Branko. His face has been reconstructed so he is not recognizable as his former self. Obviously, there was major shit that went down in the previous books and Henry has quite a few enemies looking for him. Henry is tasked to shadow a rising rookie baseball player named Miguel, who has a gambling problem and his friend, Jay. Henry's task: to protect Miguel and Jay from getting into trouble because David has taken an interest in the athlete. Needless to say, trouble ensues and Henry has to handle it. Man, does he handle it!

In addition, David's sister-in-law, Anna, keeps pestering David to avenge his nephew's death. A death that came from the hands of Henry. Eventually, Anna enlists the help of her family. Two of her relatives come to America to search for Henry and make him pay for what he did to Anna's son. Again, this is backstory probably detailed in a previous book, but Huston does a stellar job of quickly alluding to what happened. The men find Henry, but only after David tasks him with eliminating Anna.

That's all I really want to say about the story. Believe me when I say that there is plenty of action and sub-plots happening. Like I've said, if you're into hit man novels, this is one you should definitely read. I intend to put up more posts about good crime books I've read, so stay tuned and thanks for stopping by.

Self-publishing: status report. Part II

Happy Easter, everyone.

So, I have some good news to report in this status update. I was reviewed over at Red Adept Reviews. You can read the review here.

If I haven't already pointed this out, I will now just so there is no confusion. HUSH, HUSH, MY LOVE was an experiment in self-publishing. Sure, I wrote it and had it published in a professional magazine, but I also used it to venture into the world of self-publishing, familiarize myself with the process to put it up on Amazon, B&N, and Smashwords.

Well, one thing I learned was that you can give away stories (and books) on Smashwords. On B&N and Amazon, you can't. This is unfortunate because my short story is very short. I wouldn't charge anything for it if I was able to get away with that. Mainly, my intention was to put the story out there for free just so I could increase my audience, get my name out there to people who have never heard of me. Hopefully, my strategy has worked despite me having to charge for the damn story on Amazon and B&N. To any readers who purchased the story from either of those markets, I want to thank you and to apologize. I appreciate you parting with a buck to read my story. I apologize that is was so short. However, I hope you enjoyed it very much despite its brevity. I will be releasing an anthology soon with more short stories (all longer than HUSH, I promise). I hope you'll read it and enjoy some of my other work.

My downloads at Smashwords has slowed, but I think this is to be expected. The last time I looked (this afternoon), I had 169 downloads. I have no idea what other self-pubbed authors would expect, but for me, that is awesome! That's just in a month and the month isn't over yet. It surprises me because I am virtually unheard of, and like I said, this was an experiment, so I am very excited about that number. Also, I've sold two units on B&N and five on Amazon when I looked today.

I'm still researching marketing strategies, reading posts on the Kindle Board, as well as blog posts by Joe Konrath, Amanda Hocking, and other self-pubbed authors in addition to formatting and proofing my anthology. I'm eager to release the anthology because there's no feeling like seeing that people have taken an interest in something you've created.

I've traditionally published short stories in the past. As a matter of fact, I'm waiting for word on two short stories now. The thing I love most about self-publishing is the quick turnaround we writers have with our work. When I'm ready to give readers another story, I don't have to sit on my hands for months waiting for them to get it. All I have to do is design the cover and format it (all of which is under my control) and then upload it. It's as simple as that. There's none of this waiting and waiting and...

Lastly, I'd like to give a personal thank you to everyone who has downloaded a copy of HUSH. You guys rock! I appreciate it more than you know.