Category: Miscellaneous

Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: Bright, Broken Things by Linda Shantz

Book Description

Welcome to Triple Stripe Stables, a farm in the heart of Canadian Thoroughbred horse country…
He’s racing cross-country, looking for a safe place to land.

She’s dreading a future that was never her choice.

They both want the same thing: to leave the past behind.

September means school, but this year, Nate’s not going back. He’s heading east, and while everyone at home thinks he’s pursuing a career as a jockey, he’s really just running away.

After always being a student, he lands a job as a teacher — of young Thoroughbreds, starting yearlings on a small but classy farm in Ontario. It’s the perfect place to hide, until a jockey’s agent comes along promising to give him everything he thought he ever wanted. How can he say no to a fast track to the career of his dreams? But can he go back on his commitment to the farm that gave him a break when his world had fallen apart?

Liv likes the new guy she hired to start the babies, but she kind of hates him too. He’s doing what she wants to do herself — dropping out to chase a future on the front lines of horse racing. She wishes she could be content, accepting the path vet school has firmly set her on. But a filly named Claire has captured her heart and ignited her real passion: riding racehorses. Does everyone get to follow their heart?

Meanwhile, a cherished mare on the farm carries a foal that will change both their lives and remind them… good things come to those who wait.

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Elise’s Thoughts

Bright, Broken Things by Linda Shantz is a very enjoyable read.  As with all her stories, this novella will allow readers to understand more about horses and racing along with very relatable characters. 

The story includes the backstory on how Nate and Liv meet.  She decides to hire him to help train the horses.  Although there is an attraction at first sight, Nate realizes that Liv is hands off. What they do have in common is the love of horses and racing.  Along with her sister Emilie who is the direct opposite of Liv, and a filly named Claire that stole Liv’s heart, readers get more of an understanding of the personalities of each character.

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Author Interview

Elise Cooper: Why write this novella?

Linda Shantz: After the books I had readers who requested a prequel.  This will lead those who have not read any books into the series, the backstory of Liv and Nick. I am thinking of writing the backstory on some of the other characters.

EC:  You have this quote by Liv about her feelings?

LS:  You are referring to this one, “The safest place is on the back of a racehorse. It is sanctuary.” Take for example what happened to me.  I hurt my ankle.  So being on the ground is hard, while being on a horse allows me to borrow their body.  Horses provide for Liv the safety where no one can touch her.

EC:  How would you describe Claire, the young thoroughbred?

LS: Flighty and excitable.  She has a good head on her shoulders.  Nothing ruffles her.  She is ready to take on the world.  A solid buddy who is a horse.

EC:  What about the sisters Liv versus Emilie?

LS:  Even though there is a physical resemblance they are quite opposite. Emilie does not have the competitive drive that Liv has for riding.  Emilie is much more balanced.  She is not obsessed with horse racing like Liv.  She does not have the same need to be immersed in the whole horse racing world that Liv does. While Liv is standoffish, serious, with trust issues, seeing the glass as half empty, broken, and aloof; Emilie is mischievous, carefree, talkative, and easy going.

EC:  What did you want to point out about horses being drugged?

LS:  There are people who put money above horses. Racing gets a bad rap because of the drugging of horses.  The vets play a big role. I point out in the book the vets are essentially working for the trainers who know what drugs are available and do things under the radar. Sometimes people have an unfair advantage because testing has not caught up with finding the drugs. Unfortunately, the vet received a very light sentence.  Up here in Canada it is taken very seriously.

EC:  Why is it so bad?

LS:  There is not one governing body in horse racing. Each state gets to make their own decision on horse racing and drug testing.  If the US adopted a single governing body, I am sure Ontario, and the other Canadian tracks would be a part of it.

EC:  Next book?

LS:  I am going to write the Emilie and Tim book next, probably out around Christmas. In that book Liv is going to go to England for a big race so there will be a lot of Nate, but not her.

EC:  Are you still painting?

LS:  Yes, I have some commissions of horses and dogs.

THANK YOU!!

***

BIO: Elise Cooper has written book reviews and interviewed best-selling authors since 2009. Her reviews have covered several different genres, including thrillers, mysteries, women’s fiction, romance and cozy mysteries. An avid reader, she engages authors to discuss their works, and to focus on the descriptions of their characters and the plot. While not writing reviews, Elise loves to watch baseball and visit the ocean in Southern California, with her dog and husband.

Book Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: Riebeckite by O.R. Lea

Hi, everyone!

Today I am sharing by Feature Post and Book Review on the Blackthorn Book Tour for RIEBECKITE by O.R. Lea.

Below you will find book description, my book review and the author’s bio and social media links. Enjoy!

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Book Description

Dangerous spores gather on Earth after an asteroid strikes the moon. Humanity watches the skies…but the real danger is at their feet.

After an asteroid strike on the moon, a strange blue dust began to flow down through Earth’s atmosphere. It’s harmful to breathe, but at least the microscopic creatures within the dust are dormant. Or so we thought.

Tahira made a childhood promise to a friend that the crisis would bring their people together… before a violent riot tore their lives apart. Now, as an adult, Tahira works as a biologist for a corporation constructing experimental towers to force the spores—known as riebeckites—to germinate into harmless colonies.

Except they’re about to learn everything they think they know about the dust is wrong. The real threat isn’t the asteroid that struck the moon and by the time humanity figures it out, it might be too late.

Riebeckite combines suspense and conspiracy with heart-in-mouth action sequences and nightmarish encounters, all in an immersive near-future setting and, at its core, a heartwarming story of friendship against the odds.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60256603-riebeckite?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=K0SfKrHRcQ&rank=1

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My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

RIEBECKITE (Bruised Moon Sequence Book #1) by O.R. Lea is an engrossing mix of speculative fiction, sci-fi and horror that comes together in a story that is impossible to put down. It is also a story of friendship that spans not only years but cultural prejudice and politics.

We meet best friends Tahira who is Azerbaijani and Zareen who is Iranian when they are eight years old. They are separated as children when the Iranians are annexed and held behind an electrified cable wall.

Decades later, the two may be separated by a wall, but they are in touch and friends once again. Tahira studies the biology of the riebeckites that large turbines clean out of the air and deposit in the seas. They are from the moon dust and may not be as benign as the population has been led to believe. She discovers the monsters Zareen has been telling her about in the Annex, that the Azerbaijanis believe are urban legends, are real monsters. The riebeckites are a bigger threat than anyone believed. Will humanity survive?

I loved this novel! It was in a genre I usually do not gravitate toward, but I could not stop reading it. Not only is it in a different genre, but it is set in the Persian Gulf, which is unusual too. Tahira and Zareen are both strong female characters, but in differing ways. It is partially due to their circumstances, but their personalities are very different even as young girls. The riebeckites are such an interesting new biological species that are equal parts believable and disgusting. The author’s descriptive writing at times sent shivers up my spine as well as turned my stomach. The plot moves at an ever-increasing pace with plenty of action scenes especially in the second half of the story. There is a satisfying climax and conclusion to tie up many plot threads, but there is an opening for more.

I highly recommend this unique book and I am excited to read future books in this series.

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Author Bio

Raised and educated in North Wales, Oliver spent his early 20s working for a theatre-in-education music troupe for as long as it took to feel like his GCSE in Welsh language had provided its money’s worth. Since then, he’s lived in Portsmouth and currently works as a laboratory analyst. His biggest failure as a writer has been in his attempts to settle on a genre, having written about Middle Eastern vampires, African mercenaries and supernatural Welsh murderers. His first ‘properly’ published novel, “Riebeckite”, is a near-future speculative fiction story set in the Persian Gulf.

Social Media Links

Website: https:/www.orlea.co.uk

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/orleaauthor

Feature Post and Book Review: UNMASKED: My Life Solving America’s Cold Cases by Paul Holes

Book Description

I order another bourbon, neat. This is the drink that will flip the switch. I don’t even know how I got here, to this place, to this point. Something is happening to me lately. I’m drinking too much. My sheets are soaking wet when I wake up from nightmares of decaying corpses. I order another drink and swig it, trying to forget about the latest case I can’t shake.

Crime-solving for me is more complex than the challenge of the hunt, or the process of piecing together a scientific puzzle. The thought of good people suffering drives me, for better or worse, to the point of obsession.

People always ask how I am able to detach from the horrors of my work. Part of it is an innate capacity to compartmentalize; the rest is experience and exposure, and I’ve had plenty of both. But I had always taken pride in the fact that I can keep my feelings locked up to get the job done. It’s only been recently that it feels like all that suppressed darkness is beginning to seep out.

When I look back at my long career, there is a lot I am proud of. I have caught some of the most notorious killers of the twenty-first century and brought justice and closure for their victims and families. I want to tell you about a lifetime solving these cold cases, from Laci Peterson to Jaycee Dugard to the Pittsburg homicides to, yes, my twenty-year-long hunt for the Golden State Killer.

But a deeper question eats at me as I ask myself, at what cost? I have sacrificed relationships, joy—even fatherhood—because the pursuit of evil always came first. Did I make the right choice? It’s something I grapple with every day. Yet as I stand in the spot where a young girl took her last breath, as I look into the eyes of her family, I know that, for me, there has never been a choice. “I don’t know if I can solve your case,” I whisper. “But I promise I will do my best.”

It is a promise I know I can keep. 

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57693618-unmasked?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=cZOsxygT1Q&rank=1

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RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

UNMASKED: My Life Solving America’s Cold Cases by Paul Holes is a candid look into the professional and personal life of a man who chases monsters. This book is part true crime, part memoir and wholly fascinating for a person interested in true crime like me.

Paul Holes was fascinated with the TV show, Quincy growing up and he aspired to be just like the character. He went to college and received a degree in biochemistry and was hired initially in a crime lab to process biological evidence samples, but he continually studied and read books in other areas of forensic study and investigation. He wanted to be in the field and not just in a lab. He was inquisitive and pushy enough to meet and befriend investigators who helped him advance with both sides of criminal investigations and cold cases, forensic and investigative.

He discovered he was especially intrigued with cold cases and giving the victims and their families resolution. The cold case file on the East Area Rapist (EAR) was the case that led to his obsession with these types of cases and ultimately, even with all his other successes, it was the one that led to the trail and ultimate unmasking of the Golden State Killer (GSK). Even though he has retired, he continues to investigate cold cases across the country and co-hosts a podcast with Billy Jensen called The Murder Squad.

I found the cases in this book engrossing, and I was also impressed with Mr. Hole’s candid accounts of his personal problems. I find the people willing to chase the most depraved killers and rapists as interesting as the crimes and criminals themselves. Mr. Hole’s admits to personal problems his professional obsession has caused and yet he continues. He has an empathy for victims and their families that continually pulls him into that next case.

I highly recommend this true crime/memoir!

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About the Author

Paul Holes retired as a Cold Case Investigator after spending over 27 years working for the Sheriff and District Attorney’s Offices during his tenure in Contra Costa County located in the Bay Area, California. Having experience in both forensic and investigative assignments, Paul throughout his career specialized in cold case and serial predator crimes, developing and applying investigative, behavioral, and forensic expertise in notable cases such as Zodiac, Golden State Killer, and Jaycee Dugard. Paul is frequently sought out by investigators to consult on the most complex and high profile cases and has played a part in putting several serial predators on Death Row such as Darryl Kemp, Joseph Naso, and Joseph Cordova Jr.

As an FBI Task Force Officer while employed with the DA’s Office, Paul teamed with FBI and Sacramento DA personnel to apply innovative technology that identified Joseph DeAngelo as the Golden State Killer, the most prolific and cunning serial predator in U.S. history.

Since the arrest of DeAngelo, Paul has been very involved on the media side continuing to assist law enforcement and victim’s families with their unsolved cases, through the television show The DNA of Murder with Paul Holes and with the podcast Jensen & Holes: The Murder Squad.

My New Added Adventure as a Book Reviewer!

I am very happy to have been asked to be a Contributing Book Reviewer for Publisher’s Weekly!

This new adventure will not change any of my other book reviews and/or blogging, but it may slowdown the number of blog tours I will be able to participate in. (While I am still working, there are only so many hours in a day.)

FYI: I am allowed to tell people I am a PW book reviewer, BUT I can never reveal which books I review for them before or after publication. PW believes honest criticism depends on anonymity of the reviews. So if I post a picture, review or blog post for a book on my Facebook page, Twitter, or this book review website, it is NOT a book I received through PW.

EXCITED!!!

Book Review: Three Immortals by Bert-Oliver Boehmer

My Book Review

RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars

THREE IMMORTALS by Bert-Oliver Boehmer is an action-packed intergalactic science fiction adventure. This story is full of space battles, alliances, friendships and betrayals, knowledge, and the fight for ultimate supremacy. I feel it is appropriate for all ages, has several powerful messages and is also just fun to read.

After being almost eliminated by extra-galactics, humans have risen again. Led by the Assembly, a body of immortals of all races, the humans are once again endangered by a ruthless Empress seeking power over all.

Kel Chaada, a popular war hero becomes the leader of a conglomerate of mining worlds with his unbelievable defeat over the Aloo Das lead by Sya Omega. He is elevated to the Assembly and receives the gift of immortality only to be betrayed.

As Kel flees to the outer fringes of the galaxy, he discovers ancient alien civilizations. Kel learns those his has been taught to fear just may be the allies he needs to save humanity once again.

I enjoyed reading this science fiction book as a change of pace from my usual choice of material. I also enjoyed this author’s worldbuilding. The names in the worldbuilding are unique and difficult, but once everyone was sorted and the action took hold of the story it just flew by. The space and time scientific concepts were difficult on occasion, but the overall character plotlines always kept me turning the pages. I loved Kel’s hero journey throughout the story and I felt all the characters from all the differing civilizations were intriguing.

Overall, an entertaining science fiction space action-adventure.

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About the Author

Bert-Oliver Boehmer is a science fiction writer and author of the new novel “Three Immortals”. After two decades of working with innovative software and bioinformatics companies, he turned his passion for futuristic technologies, exotic biology, and artificial intelligence into the foundation of a vast space opera universe.

Bert-Oliver holds a degree in computer science and has traveled this planet extensively. Since 2020, he focuses on telling stories about what we might find elsewhere and elsewhen.

He lives with his wife and daughters in Southern California, where his Jeep leaves tire tracks on many trails.

Audiobook Review: In The Weeds: Around the World and Behind the Scenes with Anthony Bourdain by Tom Vitale

My Audiobook Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

IN THE WEEDS: Around the World and Behind the Scenes with Anthony Bourdain by Tom Vitale is an in-depth personal reflection, travelogue and memoir from Tom Vitale who was a long-time director and producer who accompanied Bourdain around the world for many years. I listened to the audiobook for this review. I enjoyed and appreciated hearing the emotional inflections of the author’s own voice reading his story.

I am a fan of all the No Reservations and Parts Unknown shows which of course made me a fan of Anthony Bourdain. Tom Vitale worked on many of my favorite episodes and to hear his accounts of all the happenings on locations, it made the final product seem even more miraculous. While he talks about his job and the many highs and lows of constantly working on a travel show and dealing with an often mercurial host, he also is dealing with his own grief throughout the story after the sudden suicide of that host.

This audiobook shares Vitale’s stress and loneliness of working on a travel show while also finding it to be the ultimate time of his life. He shares his friendship with Bourdain with an unfiltered lens of love, fear, and hate. He shares his grief over losing a colleague to suicide and his thoughts of what he could have done to see it coming or prevent it. This audiobook is for me the perfect balance of sad, funny, vulnerable, and introspective from a person on the other side of the TV camera lens.

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TOM VITALE

Season after season Tom Vitale traveled with Anthony Bourdain on a near-nonstop run of eighty trips—roughly five trips a year—to almost every corner of the globe, constantly meeting strangers, often through the context of their food and culture, in the process making over 100 episodes of TV. In addition to the adventure of a lifetime, personal enrichment, and experiences he would never have thought possible, his work rewarded him with a PGA Award nomination, five Emmy wins and four nominations, a Gold World Medal for Best Non-Fiction Program, and he is credited on Parts Unknown’s Peabody Award.