ARC REVIEW Past This Point by Nicole Mabry

A pervasive outbreak of a new virus from the viewpoint of a civilian. Nicole Mabry captured the intensity, the paranoia, and the heartbreak perfectly. The main character Karis I felt really connected to, I don't know if it was just the similar heritage, or the fact we are the same age, or the fact that she kind of reminded me of my sister but I really felt like I was experiencing this with her from the initial stages of the outbreak and through the quarantine.

Karis' self imposed isolation from her friends after a bad break up and slight germaphobic ways is probably what saved her life. Karis uses life skills she learned as a child to stay alive, knowing how to cook from scratch and how to cook acorns so they are edible to the self defense classes her father made her take, she was even wary enough to stockpile her dogs food when the virus kept most of her coworkers home. Karis tried getting a flight out of NY after the CDC cleared her but she wouldn't, couldn't leave her dog behind. She made friends with two little girls across the courtyard and fought off the madness of the isolation and quiet the was once NYC and then she met Ollie. Oliver "Ollie" is a British citizen who arrived two weeks before the quarantine got stuck in NYC. Karis who saved his life but still unsure if she could trust him, it seemed like this virus and quarantine brought out the worst in people.

Overall, this book was outstanding. Karis is intelligent, strong, and intuitive and a great main character. Julia and Emma the little girls across the courtyard were adorable and Julia was wise beyond her years. Zeke, the dog, a great companion and a sympathetic ear. Ollie is exactly what Karis needed, at first you're unsure of him but he does earn Karis' trust and her love he kept her sane and hopeful. I loved this book it was emotional and heart-poundingly thrilling. This is in my top three for apocalyptic genre along with Z for Zachariah and The Wolf Road.     

ARC REVIEW Escape Velocity by Jonathan Paul Isaacs

The Quantum War Series #1, New author for me, very impressed. I really enjoyed this one it's action packed and the characters are well written. It's third person POV but the focus switches between Lieutenant Wyatt Wills and his Staff Sergeant Laramie McCoy. The story kind of reminds me of Resident Evil (the movies) meets The Omega Man (Yes the Charlton Heston movie) but in space. I liked the world building the descriptive narrative was wonderfully done the characters have plenty of depth. Wyatt is dealing with guilt from the last mission that cost several people their lives and him his leg. Laramie, I loved her, she's a badass chick I pictured her looking something like Rhonda Rousey.

Wyatt's first mission back from medical leave is to take his team through the quantum gates from Proxima to Alpha Centari A and then on to the colonized planet of Juliet. All communication and interstellar travel between the two has stopped. Juliet has gone silent. What they find there is far more disturbing and deadly than dealing with pirates on Proxima.   

Overall, it was a great read. It has intense action the pacing is great. It does leave off with a bit of a teaser for the next book which has me hooked, I'll definitely read it. 

ARC REVIEW Immortal Creators by Jill Bowers

Immortal Writers #2, I didn't really like this one as much as the first one. Normally I love sci-fi but I didn't feel a connection to the characters like I did the first book. Scott, the main character, really got on my nerves he acted like a petulant child for most of the book. Like in the first book Scott becomes an Immortal Writer which basically means the characters he wrote came to life and now it is up to him to defeat the antagonist in this case the leader of a bloodthirsty alien warrior race set on conquering the earth. Scott has to tell his protagonist the truth of the situation and get their help. The other Immortal Writers lend their support such literary icons such as H.G. Wells, Philip K.Dick, and the leader of the Writers, William Shakespeare; we also see the main characters from the first book lend a hand. This can be read as a stand alone if you haven't read the first one. Overall, I do love the whole concept of this series, I think it's absolutely brilliant and I do want to read the next book in the series but this one just fell short.  

ARC REVIEW Uncontrollable by Nina Croft

Beyond Human #3, This series and this book is so unbelievably good. With how this series is I would recommend read the first two; I do think you could read this one without reading the first two but so much happens in every book there is quite a bit of little details you miss not reading the first two. So much happens in this book it's kind of hard to talk about without potentially ruining anything. Croft is a fantastic writer, she puts so much into her books without them getting overly complicated and hard to follow. This is easy to read and as complex as it is it's easy to follow. The characters have plenty of depth with quirk and wit, head strong determination and strong ethics of what they think are right and wrong even if those lines are getting more and more blurred the deeper they dig to find the truth. It's a very fulfilling story with plenty of action and character development, the romance between Quinn and Melody is a slow burn to start off but as soon as they give into it there's no stopping them.

This book definitely takes a big step into the Sci-Fi genre by bringing in time travel and an apocalyptic future complete with space aliens and intergalactic space travel. Melody herself was adopted and raised by an alien. Two thousand years into the future time travel is forbidden Melody is part of a time enforcement agency and recently volunteered for a case that will take her back farther than anyone else has safely gone before. Quinn has finally located his mentor and the man who is the however many greats grandson of the man who originally found the Tribe hidden away in the depths of the Congo. The Tribe has telepathic powers and in more recent years a secret organization tried to harness that power by controlling them. When the genetically modified children of the Tribe had had enough of the experimentations they broke free. When they did this the man who helped raise them their mentor went missing. Four years later Quinn finally located him in an American prison but when they went to free him they meet up with a rogue FBI agent who claimed she was there to help. Melody posing as FBI goes along with Quinn, because nothing she read about in the history books said anything like what happening is suppose to happen yet but nothing they are doing is registering as an anomaly. The more questions that get answered create more questions and it's up to Quinn and Melody to get to the bottom of what's going on. 

Overall, this was an outstanding book. It sucks you in and you become so engulfed into the story everything else fades away.            

ARC REVIEW Dark Horse Comics: Aliens Defiance vol 2

ALIENS

Defiance

vol 2

Dark Horse Publishing

Story by Brian Woods

Art by Stephen Thompson, Tony Brescini, Eduardo Francisco, Dan Jackson

Story:We pretty much pick up where we left off in vol 1. Hollis discovers she has one of those things inside her. Instead of killing it she thinks it would be wise to study it so they can find better ways to kill them. Davis and Zula are hesitant but they agree to Hollis' plan. Davis retrofits one of the cargo holds into a giant cryo chamber. Hollis successfully removes the creature and Davis transports it to the cryo hold where they successfully hold the thing, for a while. All the while Zula who is in constant pain keeps thinking back to the transmissions her doctor sent her about coming back to Earth and turning herself in and how she can have it to where she won't face any punishments. But the makeshift cryo hold has caused damage to the ship and now not even the cryo hold is failing top it all off with pirates attacking and Zula has decided the only way to go is home. But first they have to get rid of the Alien. Once they get to Earth things don't go quite as they planned but Zula ok with that she's not a quitter she can find a way.

Art: For the most part beautiful artwork. The first three episodes the main characters were drawn really inconsistently. Zula's head would completely change shape from different perspectives. The latter half of the book it's wonderfully drawn. I am constantly amazed how beautifully scary the xenomorphs are drawn especially the queen. 

Review: Wow. Hollis reveals she has a xenomorph in her and all I'm thinking is, "that is a queen!"

The story just keeps getting better and better and when you think all is hopeless Zula is there with a solution. It does have a bit of a bittersweet triumphant CLIFFHANGER ending but man oh man. I think the story flowed better in this one than the first volume it definitely exciting, I couldn't put it down.     

ARC REVIEW Dark Horse Comics Aliens: Defiance

Aliens: Defiance

Dark Horse Comics

By: Brian Wood

Art by: Tristan Jones (Illustrations), Massimo Carnevale (Illustrations), Riccardo Burchielli (Illustrations), Dan Jackson (Colorist), Tony Brescini (Illustrator), Nate Piekos (Letterer)

Story: Colonial Marine Zula Hendricks was sent on a mission with a bunch of Wayland-Yultani synthetics. She was just supposed to type in a key to the computer giving over the rights from the abandoned ship over to WY as salvage. What happens next Zula doesn’t remember she was knocked unconscious and when she woke up she was still on board with a handful of the synths remaining. One of the synths in particular is helping her with the designation Davis 01.

Davis tells her what happened something was brought on board and it killed the whole crew and when they boarded the strange aliens started to kill the synths. Davis managed to shoot them all out the airlock along with most of the other synths. Davis further tells her that WY has plans to bring back a specimen so they can weaponize it. Zula understanding what she is hearing also picks up on the fact that Davis has gone against his programming. Davis admits it and again surprised her by saying he has evolved into something better he has taught himself new things and to let WY get its hands on something as dangerous as these creatures would be horrible. After barely surviving the first time Zula agrees with Davis and together they begin to thwart WY at every turn. 

The Aliens are not the only thing Zula is battling right now she has massive spinal damage due to a previous and only mission. Zula is dealing emotionally, psychologically, and physically with the damage and pain she’s going through. Davis and Zula become friends they even pick up a sole survivor at a filling station and continue to do what they think is right but Davis has secrets of his own.

Art: The art was my favorite thing about this but it’s not surprising when you have fantastic artist like Tristan Jones and Massimo Carnevale. The illustrations were just so beautifully detailed and dark, it’s dark and gloomy in that typical Alien style but not so dark you lose the fine details. Massimo’s work on the covers and the chapter breaks is stunning, there is one that I would love to have a print of to hang on my wall.

Overall: I love the Alien franchise, I have loved it since my sister first showed me Alien as a kid in the late 80’s. (Yeah, my mom wouldn’t let me watch horror movies like Halloween or Friday the 13^th but she was ok with Alien) I haven’t read as many Alien comics as I would like, aside from Sandman they were one of the first ones I did read when I first got into comics. I think Zula is a perfect fit with the typical type heroine we normally see in these roles. I think I like her even more because she is so broken. I loved the tie in with Alien: Isolation and Amanda Ripley. The story is great it’s so much more than just fighting aliens, there’s great character development and the relationship between Davis and Zula, I like where it’s going. This was a great one I really look forward to the rest of the series.  

ARC REVIEW Diffraction by Jess Anastani

OMG! My first read of the new year and wow. I love this series, it is best if you read all books in order because the main story arc that continues throughout all the books. Diffraction is no different from the first two books, it has a great emotional connection between all the characters and nice chemistry between the two main characters. There is great external conflict between Varean and various other characters and Varean's internal struggle with himself; what he's been hiding all of his life gave the character so much more depth. Kira much like everyone else on board the Imojenna has a past she'd rather not remember or think about. Continued through the story along with the silent war on the Reidar is Rian and Ella's hectic love/hate romance. Love that I hope their book is soon, stop teasing us Jess Anastasi, PLEASE!

Kira's path up 'till now has been clear keep everyone alive and help defeat the Reidar but when a soldier is brought on board because he reacts strangely to the new weapon the use to expose the shapeshifting Reidar. Rian and the crew automatically assume he's a spy and the enemy but to Kira she sees something different she thinks she knows what happened and why he reacts the way he does but she needs to keep him alive long enough to find out for sure; that's if Callen and Rian stop beating the crap out him long enough for her to run some tests. When Kira finally gets around to being able to convince Varean to give a blood sample and to start the test Rian is backstabbed and the crew must abandon the Imojenna. Split into two groups they each have their own missions to complete before meeting at the rendezvous point later. Kira knows this is her only chance to get to a real hospital and run the test, but what the tests say is something so completely different from what she thought. ( I was half right with my guess). With the new information Kira and Varean face a decision and even though both of them fell in love they make the wrong choice that they both realize days later. But another betrayal has Varean rushing to save her before he's had the chance to tell her he loves her.

This book is so jam packed with everything. I can't believe Jess Anastasi even went as far as she did it left me awestruck at what happened in this book. I can't wait for the next one! Overall this book just continues with the awesome.  

ARC REVIEW Machinations by Hayley Stone

"By the time Skynet became self-aware it had spread into millions of computer servers across the planet. Ordinary computers in office buildings, dorm rooms, everywhere. It was software in cyberspace. There was no system core. It could not be shut down. The attack began at 6:18 p.m., just as he said it would. Judgment Day. The day the human race was nearly destroyed by weapons they'd built to protect themselves. I should have realized our destiny was never to stop Judgment Day. It was merely to survive it together. The Terminator knew. He tried to tell us but I didn't want to hear it. Maybe the future has been written. I don't know. All I know is what the Terminator taught me: Never stop fighting. And I never will. The battle has just begun."

Okay, That's from Terminator, but this book is very similar. It's kind of like Salvation where it takes place all in the future. The AI's have become self aware and in that they have decided that mankind is the enemy. It started off with the self flying planes crashing and killing everyone on board, self driving cars, and public transit doing the same. The machines were attacking and whatever happened you never wanted to be taken alive. In some parts it reminded me of The Matrix Revolutions in the day to day life underground. And in both cases of Terminator and Matrix there is a single person everyone looks to for salvation and hope. I found this book to be very entertaining. Hayley Stone is a wonderful storyteller, I got lost in this futuristic world. It was a little slow at parts but the action more than made up for that.

Rhona Long wanted to be an actress what she got was the leader of the rebel force fighting against the machines. To bad she dies at the beginning of the book, smart of her to realize this was a probability and worked with her best friend a scientific genius to create her own clone. Rhona was the face of the rebels and she knew if she died they just might lose hope. She only told two other people what she was doing, not even her boyfriend/second-in-command Camus. It's been six months since her death, Camus and the others in charge decided not to tell anybody of her death only that she was MIA not wanting them to lose faith in their mission. Rhona and Samuel make it back to base barely and now Camus is having a hard time adjusting to the clone Rhona. That breaks Rhona's heart because as far as she knows she still loves him. Anyways, They continue to fight, there are attempts on Rhona's life and one of the other underground bases are attacked. They know it's a trap but they can't leave any fellow humans behind so sending out an SOS to everyone left they charge in to save the day.

I love how this book's timeline is spread out as much as it is, it's more believable than if everything happened all at once. Overall, "There is a storm on the horizon. A time of hardship and pain. This battle has been won, but the war against the machines rages on. Skynet's global network remains strong, but we will not quit, until all of it is destroyed. This is John Connor. There is no fate but what we make." Yes yes yes that's from Terminator also but it fits, the second book, Counterpart, is due out in October. I really did enjoy this one even if it reminded me of Terminator Fan Fiction.  

REVIEW & EXCERPT TOUR The Fallen Prince by Amalie Howard

We hope you're ready to be transported by Amalie Howard's THE FALLEN PRINCE, a Young Adult Science Fiction novel and the sequel to THE ALMOST GIRL! Publishers Weekly calls the first in the series “a high-octane thriller.” Grab your copy of this amazing novel today!

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository Books-A-Million | IndieBound

About THE FALLEN PRINCE:

Riven has fought for a hard-won peace in her world, and has come to shaky terms with who and what she is—a human with cyborg DNA. Now that the rightful ruler of Neospes has been reinstated, Riven is on the hunt for her father in the Otherworld to bring him to justice for his crimes against her people. But when she receives an unwelcome visit from two former allies, she knows that trouble is brewing once again in Neospes. The army has been decimated and there are precious few left to fight this mysterious new threat. To muster a first line of defense, her people need help from the one person Riven loathes most—her father. But what he wants in return is her complete surrender. And now Riven must choose: save Neospes or save herself.

Once I found out this was the sequel to The Almost Girl, which I had the privilege to read an ARC of the year before last, I jumped on this so fast. OMG so worth the wait. I loved this just as much as the first book ( Goodreads Review of The Almost Girl ). I freakin' loved the science fiction especially the all the cybernetics it gave it a cyber-punk feel to it like Universal Solider meets Blade Runner in a post apocalyptic alternate dimension. The action, just about non-stop, from the very start I was hooked. It took a bit for me to recall everything from the last book but it soon came rushing back to me and I recommend reading The Almost Girl first but believe me it is worth it. Amalie Howard has a way with words, she's like a magician with words tying me up in impossible knots only to to pull the ends out and end up with a beautifully packaged book, with maybe one loose end.  

It's been a year since Riven left Caden behind in their world to rule as is his birth right. One year Riven has been hunting down her Father for the atrocities he committed not only against the throne and their world but particularly because what he did to her, her sister and their mother. Just when Riven is getting ready for the kill The Guardians find her. The Guardians are the protectors of the worlds bound to keep them separate and  safe from each other. The Guardians have their reasons Caden is back and he needs her help. Neospes is in danger it's being attacked by reptiles, mutated animals. But these attacks are strange and oddly strategic. Caden needs Riven to help escort him to a recently discovered city to the south, where an alliance as been arranged and if all goes well Caden must marry their Princess; as much as it hurts Riven as much as she loves Caden she knows he must in order to save Neospes. Worst of all Riven has to work along side her father to help the people of Neospes and reactivate the Vectors and become the Legion General once again. But all is not what it seems, enemies hide in plain sight as well as in the dark recesses of the barren wasteland.    

Overall, I'm sad that it's over but it was such a fantastic journey. 

Cale and I used to dare each other to go outside the dome as kids, knowing we’d get into trouble if we were ever caught. Leaving the safety zone had been illicit and thrilling. It had been our secret spot, a tunnel in the bedrock carved by a long-dried underground stream when Neospes had fresh running water. I stare at the old access hole, now filled with titanium, as the memories rush back. 

It was the first time I’d seen a Reptile. Cale had just turned eleven. Thinking himself braver than ever, he’d dared me to accompany him on an early morning adventure beyond the dome. As much as I hadn’t wanted to go, he was my responsibility. 

“Come on, Cale. This is far enough. We need to get back.” We’d turned around only to see a horse standing between our secret exit and us. Only, it wasn’t a horse. 

“What is that?” Cale had whispered.
 

“Cale, get behind me.”
 

“No way.” He’d stamped his foot. “I want to see.” 

Steam had blown from the creature’s distended nostrils, and then it had charged. I remember the rotting smell and the chunks of flesh hanging off its wired frame. It was also the first Reptile I’d ever killed. 

Cale became obsessed with Reptiles after that. He would lure and catch smaller ones, keeping them in cages. He studied the creatures, torturing them—ripping them apart and piecing them back together. I’d always thought his morbid fascination was odd, but, in hindsight, it was understandable. After all, he was a clone with a failing body, searching for a way to reconstruct himself. 

But Cale is dead. He’d died months ago in the Outers.

Praise for THE FALLEN PRINCE:

"[P]acked with action . . . Imagery is the highlight of this book."—VOYA

“A parallel-dimension–jumping cyborg soldier must make questionable alliances to save her country from an existential threat in this sequel to The Almost Girl. [O]ffers a solid conclusion.” —Kirkus Reviews

“This sequel to The Almost Girl was everything I wanted: non-stop action, smart science, new and intriguing characters, and a satisfying romance. I couldn’t put it down!” —Page Morgan, author of The Beautiful and the Cursed

“[T]he next step in a dark, clever and thrilling scorched-earth, world-hopping adventure.” —Jet Black Ink

And don’t miss the first book in The Riven Chronicles Series!

THE ALMOST GIRL

About Amalie Howard:

AMALIE HOWARD grew up on a small Caribbean island where she spent most of her childhood with her nose buried in a book or being a tomboy running around barefoot, shimmying up mango trees and dreaming of adventure. 25 countries, surfing with sharks and several tattoos later, she has traded in bungee jumping in China for writing the adventures she imagines instead. She isn't entirely convinced which takes more guts.

She is the award-winning author of several young adult novels critically acclaimed by Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, VOYA, and Booklist, including Waterfell, The Almost Girl, and Alpha Goddess, a Spring 2014 Kid's INDIE NEXT title. Her debut novel, Bloodspell, was a #1 Amazon bestseller, and the sequel, Bloodcraft, was a national silver IPPY medalist. She is also the co-author of the adult historical romance series, THE LORDS OF ESSEX. As an author of color and a proud supporter of diversity in fiction, her articles on multicultural fiction have appeared in The Portland Book Review and on the popular Diversity in YA blog. She currently resides in Colorado with her husband and three children.

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Amalie Howard’s THE FALLEN PRINCE – Review & Excerpt Tour Schedule:

May 30^th

Movies, Shows & Books – Excerpt

My YA NA Book Obsession – Review & Excerpt

Adventures in Writing – Excerpt

The LitBuzz – Review

Deluged with Books Cafe – Excerpt

WTF Are You Reading? – Review & Excerpt

Rambling Reads – Excerpt

AC Book Blog – Excerpt

Cynthia Bloggs – Excerpt

May 31^st

Dazzled by Books – Excerpt

Comic Book Love – Review

Pandora's Books – Excerpt

Have Words Will Scribble – Review & Excerpt

Vagabonda Reads – Excerpt

Hannah's Words – Review & Excerpt

The Romance Reviews – Excerpt

Maari Loves Her Indies – Excerpt

June 1^st

Socially Awkward Book Nerd – Excerpt

Escape Inside the Pages – Review & Excerpt

SnoopyDoo's Book Reviews – Excerpt

Penny For My Thoughts – Review

Blissfully bookerized – Excerpt

Amy's Review Obsession – Review

Bookish Things & More – Excerpt

Readers Live A Thousand Lives – Excerpt

June 2^nd

Book it – Review & Excerpt

Reading Between the Wines Book Club – Excerpt

Books Need TLC – Review & Excerpt

BookCrushin – Excerpt

Roxy's Reviews – Review & Excerpt

Romance Book Nerd – Excerpt

Mes Livres – Review & Excerpt

TMBA Corbett Tries to Write – Excerpt

The Rest Is Still Unwritten – Review & Excerpt

June 3^rd

The book slayer – Review & Excerpt

Fishing for Books – Excerpt

The Recipe Fairy – Review & Excerpt

YA Book Divas – Excerpt

2 girls who love books – Excerpt

Book Lovers Life – Excerpt

Only One More Page – Excerpt

Teen Readers' Diary – Excerpt

June 4^th

Mama Reads Hazel Sleeps – Review & Excerpt

Hart's Romance Pulse – Excerpt

The Cover Contessa – Review & Excerpt

Evermore Books – Excerpt

The A P Book Club – Review & Excerpt

The Travelogue of a book addict - The Book Drealms – Excerpt

City of Books – Review & Excerpt

RhiReading – Excerpt

Danielle’s Domain – Excerpt

ARC REVIEW The Realms of the Dead by William Todd Rose

For me everyday day is a good day for a damn good horror novel. I had no idea what to expect from William Todd Rose, I have never read him before. I love horror but I'm picky about who I read, but the synopsis intrigued me. This book was creepy in all the right ways. It kept me engulfed in the story and the characters. Once I picked it up I couldn't put it down. I liked the science fiction/ metaphysical aspect and it blended in nicely with the gruesome games of a tormented mind. The synopsis likened William Todd Rose to King and Koontz, but I would be more willing to group him with Clive Barker.

In the first novella, Crossfades, we meet Chuck Grainger. Chuck is just a normal man who you would never notice walking down the street. What makes Chuck so extraordinary is his job, he helps the lost souls who get trapped in the space between cross over. The mechanics of the organization that recruited Chuck in college is vast and very secretive. All he knows is the dead often get lost and through technology they created he can astral project himself into the crossfades, it's not that hard. But on one fateful day he gets handed a job that will either get him promoted or fired, depending on how well he handles it. A twisted spirit has corrupted the crossfades, manipulated into his own heaven but a nightmare for all the lost souls he has taken. Chuck alone with the help of a woman, whose soul has enchanted Chuck, are the only one who can set things right.

Bleedovers, the second novels takes place sometime after Chuck's first adventure. Chuck is now a legend in the industry, but all he wants to do is fade into the woodwork. Something is happening the organization is experiencing a bleedover, a spirit has managed to cross back over into the living realm and basically become a  ghost. Chucks superiors have charged him, Control and a young girl with special abilities, Marilee, with taking care of the spirit. The spirit soon escalates and is obviously targeting Chuck. Chuck assumes he knows who the malevolent ghost is, but as the attacks escalate the harder it is to trap and only Chuck and Marilee can take the ghost out, forever.

Overall, I really enjoyed this. Crossfades is more the sci-fi horror while Bleedovers is more paranormal. I liked how this was two separate novellas, even though it could have worked as a full length novel, it cut down on unnecessary filler.        

ARC REVIEW Nirvana by J.R. Stewart

This is a review for the revised version of this book. I liked the story, but it wasn't anything like I was expecting. With it being science fiction I figured it would be more about the VR aspect of the story, I mean the name of the book is the name for their VR world, but it's more about environmental science and the "utopian/dystopian" life after the extinction. That's one thing I loved the very realistic and plausible events that almost killed off the planet. The bees started to disappear, and with the extinction of bees the majority (not all but a lot of them) of the plant life died with them, with the plants gone it created something very similar to the dust bowl effect, also the water started to disappear. The only reason this is a young adult is because the main character is a teenager, a teenager who is about as mature as a thirty year old. It was a really interesting read, it made you think. It's a good sci-fi action mystery. I can see this as a series on t.v. with the Logan's Run feel to it.

 Larissa Kenders is exceptional at whatever she does; she is very intelligent and brilliant on the guitar; she is an animal activist in a dying world. Kender's soul mate, Andrew, is the brilliant mind behind the virtual realty world known as Nirvana. The company Hexagon has tried to create a utopian world for the people, they even require them, as stress relief,  time in Nirvana. Hexagon claims it's trying to make a better world, but when Andrew disappears Kenders discovers all the secrets Hexagon thought it buried and will kill to keep them buried. Kenders doesn't know who she can trust anymore, everyone is telling her Andrew is dead but she knows the truth. Andrew visits her in Nirvana, he has to be careful because Hexagon sees everything. Fighting against insurmountable force Kenders' only hope is to find Andrew.

Overall I really enjoyed reading this book, I wish it had more of the VR in it, but it was a good read.

RELEASE WEEK BLITZ Breakout by Ann Aguirre

We are absolutely thrilled to bring you the Release Week Blitz for Ann Aguirre's BREAKOUT!

 BREAKOUT is an Adult Romantic Science Fiction novel set in the Jax Universe and is a part of Ann Aguirre’s Dred Chronicles, published through Ace. 

Grab your copy of BREAKOUT today!

                                              

Amazon ** Barnes and Noble ** BAM ** Indiebound ** Vroman’s ** Book Depository ** iBooks

    BREAKOUT Synopsis: All hell is breaking loose in the edge-of-your-seat follow-up to Havoc and Perdition fromNew York Times bestselling author Ann Aguirre…
    The prison ship Perdition has become a post-battle charnel house with only a handful of Dred’s soldiers still standing and now being hunted by Silence’s trained tongueless assassins. Forging an uneasy alliance with mercenary commander Vost—who is their only chance at escape—the Dread Queen will do whatever it takes to end her life sentence on Perdition and keep the survivors alive long enough to cobble together a transport capable of getting them off station. If Dred and her crew can win the deadly game of cat and mouse, the payoff is not only life but freedom—a prize sweeter than their wildest dreams. Yet the sadistic Silence would rather destroy Perdition than let a single soul slip from her grasp…

  Praise for the Dred Chronicles: "There's so much action, so much adventure, and more than that, it's great writing."—USA Today "Sirantha Jax fans may be intrigued to see what befell Jael after his ill-considered actions there, and new lead Dred is a strong linchpin for a promising new series."—Publishers Weekly "Spectacularly and spell-bindingly perfect with high octane action that keeps you on the edge of your seat and a romance that is surprisingly sweet and tender in a harsh and unforgiving setting...This is honestly one of the best SF romance series I have read." —Book Pushers  

They didn’t speak until they had put a fair amount of distance behind them, then Dred signaled her desire to pause by tapping his ankle. He couldn’t turn fully because the ducts had narrowed, but he glanced over his shoulder. 

“You all right?” 

“Just . . . spooked.” The somber tone told him he hadn’t been alone in what he felt, watching those crazy, tongue-less bastards. 

“It’s different now,” he said. 

“With what she did to Queensland . . . she seems larger than life. I’ve been afraid before, but . . . not quite like this.” 

The words were barely a whisper, and they roused an answering prickle of gooseflesh on his arms. 

“I know. There’s run-of-the-mill evil, like Priest and Mungo. And then there’s Silence.” 

“It’s like she can do worse than kill me. Rationally, I know that’s not true—” 

“But it’s uncanny the way she’s last one still standing, moving through the carnage.” He didn’t say it out loud, but he thought, Like Death itself. Dred nodded. “I’m still here, too, but I’m not the Dread Queen anymore.” 

“If it’s any consolation, I don’t miss her.” 

“Me either,” she whispered. 

There was no space to touch her as he wanted to, and it wasn’t the time anyway, so Jael continued on. They slid out of the ducts near the closet, but when he opened it, there were no droids plugged in. He choked out a curse. It was impossible to predict when a bot would come back, and it was dangerous to wait out in the open. They desperately needed some intel about how many men Silence had left, how often they patrolled, and where, but with manpower as scarce as it had become on their end, recon had to wait. 

“Back up?” Dred whispered. 

He nodded. This time, they found a way in that gave them vantage over their target, so they’d know when a bot returned. He’d just finished fitting the vent panel in place behind them when he heard the familiar, shuffling sound of Silence’s men. From her expression, Dred registered it, too, and she practically stopped breathing. The fact that her killers were roving freely must signify that she believed herself the undisputed ruler of Perdition. 

When they rounded the corner and came into sight, he stifled a surprised sound. This group was huge, compared to the usual numbers, ten this time, and horror jolted through him like lightning when he realized they were carried a human-sized bundle. They’d wrapped their captive in dark fabric, so he couldn’t tell anything about the person, but the worst part was, he or she was still moving, thrashing against his bonds. 

Who is that? And why the hell would Silence want someone taken alive?

And don’t miss the previous books in the Dred Chronicles!

PERDITION

                                       

HAVOC

         About Ann Aguirre: Ann Aguirre is a New York Times & USA Today bestselling author and RITA winner with a degree in English Literature; before she began writing full time, she was a clown, a clerk, a voice actress, and a savior of stray kittens, not necessarily in that order. She grew up in a yellow house across from a cornfield, but now she lives in sunny Mexico with her husband, children, and various pets. Ann likes books, emo music, action movies, and she writes all kinds of genre fiction for adults and teens, published with Harlequin, Macmillan, and Penguin, among others.      

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ARC REVIEW The Double Helix Collection by Jade Kerrion

 Jade Kerrion's  Double Helix Collection is five of the Double Helix books. In ebook form you get Perfection Unleashed, Perfect Betrayal, Perfect Weapon, When the Silence Ends, Perfection Challenged. When you buy it in paperback you get a code to download When Silence Ends. This series is very worth it; it is a great sci-fi action packed roller-coaster ride. A Gattaca and X-Men fusion of awesomeness. In the foreseeable future we have learned to decode the human genome and make babies with no disabilities, no genetic problems. Humans also have started to evolve; mutating to have powers like telekinesis, telepathy, empathy. The Genetic Revolution changed the world some places the in-vitros and the mutants are tolerated, the U.S. is not one of those places creating organizations like Purest Humanity. You also have scientist playing god and that where we start; two scientist have created the perfect human. Galahad is a mixture of DNA to create a "perfect" in the eyes of the scientist and since he is not an in-vitro nor a clone the government has no classification for him. He has lived in the safety of the lab all his life being put through test and experiments to see how perfect he is he was lonely until one fateful night...


In Perfection Unleashed we met Zara Intani a mercenary who was hired to steal the genetic code for Galahad. She breaks into Pioneer Labs no problem but once she is in everything goes wrong. Once she's in she meets Galahad the lab gets attacked by Purest Humanity. Zara escapes with Galahad but not without injury, Galahad is severally injured so she takes him to the only person she trust with this, Lucien, a rich playboy she use to date forever ago. Meanwhile the Purest Humanity thinking they are breaking in to kill the abomination of the Perfect Human they let lose actual abominations; all the mistakes the scientist made in their search for Perfection.

Lucien has no problem helping Zara, but one look at Galahad and it has him calling in his best friend in New York. Danyael Sabre has no memory before the age of three. He was fished from a frozen river and put in the foster system it wasn't until he was a teen that he meet Lucien and he recognized Danyael for what he was a mutant. Lucian welcomed him into his family with open arms. Danyael also gets the chance to be trained by the Mutant Affairs Council. The whole reason Lucien called Danyael in from New York to D.C. isn't just because he is a doctor but it's because Galahad is identical to Danyael. As a Alpha Empath Danyael the power to make people hate him and as a self defense measure it's something he does to everyone. Zara hates him for being weak but yet becomes Galahads lover. The telepathic Miriya is the only one who understands why Danyael does what he does and doesn't understand why despite Zara's outright hatred to Danyael why he loves her. Danyael is so much more than anyone ever gave him credit for, he has a secondary healing power, but he can as kill with a touch.

This is so full of different elements that not everything is resolved and leaves of open ended.

Perfect Betrayal picks up where the other left off. Zara has realized her feelings for Danyael aren't what she first thought she still fights with him about everything but as selfless as he is she is looking out for his best interest. Danyael is trying to get his life back to normal but the leader of the Mutant Assault Group has his sights set on Danyael and manipulates things to meet his means. Zara has stayed to protect him. An unknown force has kidnapped Lucien and threatens Danyael with his death.  But as things play out exactly as planned one by one his friends have turned against him some with the good intentions of protecting him and others selfish, while one is uncontrollable. Lucien is manipulated and his feelings for Danyael reversed, so as much as he use to love him, Lucien now hates him with the same intensity.

Danyael and Zara love/hate relationship gets complicated. Danyael has blocked Zara's emotions from him so he can't feel her hatred anymore but still deep down loves her. Galahad is slowly growing more unstable and confused.

Once again the book leaves off open and with your heart in tatters. More secrets are revealed but not everything is fully explained.

Perfect Weapon picks up several months after the last book. Danyael is being held captive classified at a much higher ranking then he deserves. He is being tortured all day to keep his psychic powers at bay. A Mutant terrorist groups breaks in and frees Danyael and drops him off at Elysium, a safe haven for the mutants and in-vitros shunned by society. He isn't there long before Zara, Galahad, and the Mutant Affairs Council come looking for him but the machinations of the Mutant Assault Group pick up Danyael before Zara can get to him and make the situation look like an attack on the safe haven by Mutant Affairs Council.

Still a wanted mutant, the Assault Group is protecting Danyael, but the General has him their for one reason in particular to lead the Super Soldier program of advanced abominations which he does so hesitantly. The General having successfully separated Danyael from his friends has provided him with replacements including Major Amanda Chandler who soon transitions to lover even though Zara's betrayal hurt him deeply he can't stop from loving her.
                   
The same people who were behind the initial prison break set crazy unbalanced mutants on a killing spree through out the D.C. area and only Danyael can stop them. Zara has revealed she had a baby and the genetics named Danyael the father rather than Galahad. Galahad has become increasingly jealous of Danyael because both Zara and the telepathic Miriya have fallen in love with Danyael over his "perfect". In the end it ends pretty much but yet their are still loose ends yet to be tied off.

When the Silence Ends is a young adult companion book to the Double Helix series it follows teenagers Dee and Dum who were introduced when Danyael was recuperating at Elysium, the twins named as such because it was the nick name their mother gave them Tweedledee and Tweedledum. They escaped with Danyael but were soon separated and then picked up by the Mutant Affairs Council. Dee is completely human but Dum has emphatic powers the Council has unsuccessfully been trying to train Dum. Dum is unique, he has not said a single word since some people with Purest Humanity made him shoot his own father, the purest thinking their father was the mutant, but it was their mother who was the mutant she died later leaving them orphans. Dum also prefers to listen to his music rather then well anything and that drives Dee crazy. When the new leader of the Council informs Dee that the Council will no longer train Dum for fear of his emphatic power, but that if they want he will train Dum on his own. Dee is feed up with the Council, her and Dum leave and ask Danyael to train Dum which he agrees to hesitantly.  

To survive without the help of the Council Dee gets two jobs to support the both of them. One of her jobs is working as a cocktail waitress, but the area they live in the only place they could afford to live is in a gang ridden area. When a gang fight breaks out in the bar one night Dum goes to the DJ booth and starts to play music that calms down the fight. Dum's power my be the same as Danyaels but he uses it in a vastly different way. Dum can influence the energy of music to calm or excite. Dee gets an idea to start a foundation to help orphans, no matter what their classification, to go to college.

We also see Zara and Danyael's interaction, Zara still keeps thing at a distance but it is obvious to everyone but Danyael, who has blocked her, that she loves him. Lucien's influence reaches far and you see just how much Lucien hates Danyael. As isolated as Danyael feels he has some friends in very high places that will do anything for him. This book also ties up one loose end from the first book.

In the conclusion to this series, Perfection Challenged, All the donors that created Galahad are mysteriously dying and the last person to see them alive is Galahad. Danyael is diagnosed with a degenerative disease and he doesn't have much longer to live as long as he doesn't use his healing powers which will only hasten it along. Danyael has all but given up, Zara isn't letting him. The Council has asked Danyael to answer the question "Is Galahad worthy to live?". The Council has listed Galahad a national threat and put a kill switch in Galahad and Danyael is responsible for resetting the switch every four hours; if he doesn't Galahad's heart will explode. As it turns out Galahad was responsible for the murders but not quite. Someone has been creating advanced aging clones of Galahad and Zara but altering their memories. They kidnap Danyael so that he can fix them. The advanced aging clones don't live long and the first clone wants Danyael to fix him. He forces Danyael to heal others not knowing the more he does the shorter life span Danyael himself has. Galahad hates Danyael and it takes very little for him to side with the evil clones. Despite it all Danyael still wants to save Galahad, still believes there is goodness in him and that he can change the world.

Amusingly enough Danyael's rescuers are Zara, Major Amanda Chandler and an old girlfriend of Danyael's from college. The ending was beautiful, heart-wrenching and satisfying. I binge read this series in a week I really recommend everyone doing that it is so worth it and no waiting you just go from one to the other. I left a lot out when writing this, there is so much to this series. With Zara everything that can go wrong will go wrong so you know everything she gets involved in will eventually get FUBAR. I whole-heartedly recommend this to any sci-fi reader.