Thursday, December 17, 2015

Review of Raindancer

Raindancer (Vega)

By P Alan Davis

Reviewed by Author Roy Murry

I am a man who likes an active woman in novels and life. Mr. Davis’ protagonist is a strong woman by the name of Xanszia, who is sent on a mission by her father to find her siblings.

That adventure is across the intergalactic spectrum with thrilling episodes from the past and the future. The characters move in parallel spaces, treks are made to foreign and barbaric worlds, and planets are negotiated to solve wars.

Xanszia, on her mission, is confronted with evil on many levels that test her femininity and her fortitude to complete what she has set out to end. She is at the centered of the ultimate fate of the universe. How she handles her ambassadorship will decide its destiny.

Mr. Davis gives us an imaginary journey into a world surrounding Xanszia's adventure that makes you enjoy its existence. The characters, he has developed, are colorful and exciting.

The story flows smoothly with all the details put in place to keep the reader wanting to know the outcome, which is a surprise. For those who like the unusual, I recommend this read.

Get at Amazon: http://amzn.to/1mux1UF



Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Review of From New York to the Smokies

From New York to the Smokies

By Wayne Zurl

Reviewed by Author Roy Murry

I read about sixty books a year and sometimes come back to one of my favorites. Wayne Zurl’s Sam Jenkins, I once called spiffy, is an ex-New York detective, who becomes the Chief of Police in a small town in the Smokies (Mountain range at the Tennessee – North Carolina border, USA.)

In this book, Sam is put in multiple situations where experience police detective work is needed to arrive at a satisfactory conclusion. I won’t go into the individual plots but will say that Mr. Zurl’s characters are well developed and fun to read about.

You can tell Sam is the outsider and is working at a somewhat disadvantage because of the culture clash. Mountain small town people don’t do things the same way as city people like Sam would do.

However, there are common traits in all of us humans, and Sam understands them in the way he approaches a crime. You’ll love how his humanity gets him to where he wants to go in his crime solving.

Enjoyable fast reads at Amazon:  http://amzn.to/1S1RLPu


Review of Just East of Key West

Just East of Key West

By Tom Winton

Reviewed by Author Roy Murry


Even though I am not a fisherman, I was pulling on the line with the protagonist Frank towards the end. He has gone on a fishing trip passing by different characters on the wharf.

They are not the center of the story. Like in Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea, I got the feeling that Frank enjoyed his venture down to the sea. Without the sea, they would not be complete.

He gets irritated with those who don’t cherish the moment of fishing. Those are the people who don’t prepare for the event.

He gets upset with himself in the middle of this game in trying to catch a big one. He made an error in preparation and would be damned.

Whether he or the fish will be damned on the last pull of the rode will be known to you in the last paragraph of this fast-paced novella. Like me, you will get caught up in action.





Review of Bentwhistle the Dragon

Bentwhistle the Dragon
                  In
A Threat from the Past

By Paul Cude

Reviewed by Roy Murry

Did you know that dragons turn into humans? Neither did I. But, Mr. Cude does an excellent job of convincing me of them existing in the days of yore. Maybe they are still with us.

Seriously, young adults will enjoy this fantasy. A parallel world is interwoven with the reality protecting it from the evils of that world.

Dragons shift into human form. They do this to infiltrate our supposedly superior, friendly world, helping protect people from the monsters of the world.

Mr. Cude told a story that was amusing and delightful. The prose was more telling than showing but keeps the reader's interested. You will look at people after reading this novel and wondering if they are dragons or not. LOL

Take a journey that is written for the young at heart, which I am one. Are you?




Saturday, November 28, 2015

Review of Amina: The Silent One

Amina: The Silent One

Written by Fiza Pathan

Reviewed by Author Roy Murry


A beautiful girl is brought into the world. What more could a loving couple want? In many cultures, including India, they would want a boy first and foremost.

Amina is the third child of Jaffar and his wife, as she is referred to throughout most of the story. Not only is Amina the third, but she is the third girl of an Indian Muslim family.

The matriarch of the family is outraged and begs Allah to forgive the family for their sins. Why else would Allah curse them with not three but five girls and no boy to carry on their name?

To the matriarch and many in their society, a girl is to be used for domestic chores, childbearing, and for the pleasure of her husband. She has no rights or to progress in the new world order.

In Amina, Ms. Pathan paints a vivid and disturbing picture of how women are USED (For no other appropriate word) by the ignorant religious male controllers of some societies. Unfortunately, this persists in some parts world today.

This is a story of an Indian family that has a disaster, setbacks, and jubilation.  Amina, though, is the center of it, where she receives the brunt of her country’s brutal underbelly of illegal use of women. It is her innate natural ability to play music, listen intently, and not speak, that helps her overcome the ignorance around her.

Ms. Pathan writes with a knowledgeable pen. Her colorful ink I will enjoy reading again, soon.


Check her out at http://amzn.to/1S1Tg06

Review of Blurline

Blurline

Written by TW Lawless

Reviewed by Author Roy Murry

Peter Clancy, a displaced Australian conventional reporter, falls head over heels with an English beauty named Ruby, after becoming a sleaze writer for one of London’s lower tier tabloids. Not being upfront with the lady allows him to enter into her world – daddy is one of Britain’s entertainment royalties.

His pickup line, that he is a ghostwriter of novels, and his personality, opens the door to her heart and her world. From here, thrilling adventure proceeds into the life of the rich and famous. It’s the world that Peter would be forbidden to enter under normal circumstances.

Letting his boss at a Red Top British tabloid know what he has discovered, leads him into a story of the century. With his bosses bullying and probing, Peter investigates one of the sleaziest stories that could topple some of the government elite and entertainment royalties if published.

Add to this: drugs, abduction, attempted murder, murder, pedophilia, and lies; this novel becomes a tell-all in the life of some celebs. It’s fast paced, but you won’t miss anything.

Mr. Lawless has laid it all out for you in quick-moving prose that will have you enjoying the lovemaking of Peter and Ruby, outraged in the deceit of many, and wanting to go on to the next chapter in the life of Peter Clancy.

It's book three of a series, but it can stand alone. Start from the beginning or go to this book: 

Amazon:  http://amzn.to/1S1TCUy



Sunday, November 22, 2015

Review of Perfectly Flawed

Perfectly Flawed
By Shaunna Rodriguez


Reviewed by Author Roy Murry


‘I Love Lucy’ was a popular TV program in the 50’s and 60’s. Lucy got into all kinds of trouble just being lovable and beautiful Lucy.

In Ms. Rodriguez’ Perfectly Flawed, her Grace, like Lucy, is just being Grace. Being trusting and gullible in their relationship with men, Lucy was lucky; Grace is not.

The episodes that Grace goes through are funny and sad at the same time, because of the way she looks at life. She meets a man at work and goes with the flow without questioning his or her status.

This leads into an adventure that has you laughing at her naivety but understanding her motivation. The character Ms. Rodriguez has developed is one that many can relate to, and one many will follow after reading this fast pace hilarious snippet of Grace’s life.

Shaunna style is easy to read and follow. I think I may follow Grace for a book or two.