Review of Obsidian Puma

OBSIDIAN PUMA

(The Aztec Chronicles Book 1)

Zoe Saadia

Reviewed by Author Roy Murry

Young people become of age differently. During the time of the growth of the Aztec nations, a young woman of fourteen summers depending on which layer of the caste system, he or she would be in school or working in a shop learning a trade.

In Ms. Saadia’s novel, each child is representative of the royalty, middle, and working class and a female child of the working class bring the adventure together. The boys go out to looking for hidden caves, putting themselves in grave danger returning home with different types of wounds. One is missing through the night into the next day.

During the second sojourn, Chanti, the young lady takes charge of the group looking for the lost boy, who is more man than the others. We get to know the character of each member’s strengths and weakness.

The Aztec class system is at issue within the interaction of the members confronting the common enemy of their city-state. A lesson they learn is that a civilization needs complementary abilities to survive.

One member rises from a near-death occasion, bringing about an ending that leads into new horizons for all the young people involved. The adventure binds them and the future of their country.

Ms. Saadia’s storytelling brings out the time and place of the Aztec Nation without being historically boring. Contrary, the lives of these adventurers is enjoyable and endearingly well done. It's great lead-in of a series.

Purchase: http://amzn.to/2ilgGTa

Review of Ric-A-Dam-Doo

RIC-A-DAM-DOO: The Snow Devils

Wayne A.D. Kerr

Reviewed by Author Roy Murry

The world is running amuck with the slave trade and has been for centuries. On a daily basis, a young woman is missing, leaving a heartbreaking void in their families.

Janet Porter, an Interpol agent, is waiting in expectation of an elite Special Forces group to help her disrupt a slave trade operation in progress. A five-man team arrives, a Canadian group who's unknown to her. They get the job done with spectacular precision, and one Sargent Reese falls in love with Janet.

She and the team of Ric-A-Dam-Doo complete many missions together, and Reese and Porter are a married retired couple living in Arizona, on-the-lamb so to speak when a friend's daughter and girlfriend come up missing. It has all the MO of slave trading. Still physically fit, the Reese's take up the task unbeknown to the FBI's Agent-in-Charge.

The suspense, thrilling action and characters come alive in a present-day crime, using chapters of the group and Reese's past adventures that made them who they are. There are surprises on both sides of the Mexican criminal border that keep the reader engaged.

Mr. Kerr's style is gripping and informative. His writing leaves you wanting more. So I think we'll hear more of the Reese’s.

Purchase:   http://amzn.to/2idUqc7

Review of An Empty Tree

An Empty Tree

Blue Eyes, Book 1

Glenn Trust

Reviewed by Author Roy Murry

On a daily basis, people are placed in compromising positions. However, a few lives go through dangerous ones. Sometimes in a matter of minutes, a person's life expires for unconjurable reasons.

Glenn Trust thriller starts off with a murder and a kidnapping of a woman whose Blue Eyes enchants her abductor. He cannot understand why she is so complacent with the situation to the point of her helping him commit another crime.

Innocent lives die as the State Troopers try to bring in the criminal and the person with the Blue Eyes, who has her sinister history. At the end of the road, so to speak, each will go their way.

Mr. Trust does an excellent job of identifying each character devoting short chapters for each as he has them converge into the final one. Blue Eyes history he exposes in the final. It will surprise the reader, and you will want to know more about her.

If you like thrillers, An Empty Tree is one to read.

Purchase: http://amzn.to/2hlvjW9

Review of A New Prospect

A New Prospect

A Sam Jenkins Mystery

Wayne Zurl

Reviewed by Author Roy Murry

There is a new sheriff in town, literally and figuratively.  He is Sammy to his lovely wife and very close friends.

After retiring from an NYC police department at the ripe old age of fifty, he and his wife settled down in a small Tennessee town.  Reaching the age when many people do retire, sixty-four, he applies for and begins a new career as police chief of Prospect.

Not even a week into his new endeavor, a wealthy resident is found dead at a Car Show. This event is when his and that of his new work environment come into conflict over Sam's abilities to conduct the murder investigation.

His style endears some and his respect increases as Sam goes about business even though hindered by his boss and wealthy individuals. The chief's secret investigation takes interesting turns, and how he conducts himself sets the tone for future series novels.

Mr. Zurl's understanding of the human character comes across in his prose especially in applying Sam's NYC artistic abilities to Tennessee's simple slow pace of life. Stimulating, sometimes comical, and natural flowing, you'll enjoy the characters in A New Prospect.

I have read other novels by Wayne and will return for more.

Presently free on Kindle: http://amzn.to/2henSQ8

Review of Dream Angel

Dream Angel

(An Angel Novel Book 1)

Jane West

Reviewed by Author Roy Murry

The concept of some mysterious elite controlling the world order using their wealth to reach their goal has been around for millennium. In Dream Angel, a teenager who has been on the run from the unknown, direct by and with her mother, arrives in a small town after many moves.

Stevie, her nickname, arrives at school meeting a new group of people. One, in particular, a young man who is different from all the boys she has ever met. He drives an expensive car, listens to classical music, talks in strange medieval speech, and is gorgeous.

Their encounters reveal that Adrian, his name, is a cut above the others. He is rich, commanding of presence, and mysterious. Stevie is falling in love, but at what cost. He is part of a world that she believes that she could never be a member.

Here is when the fun begins: Unbeknown to her, she is a member of his society because of her dead father's bloodline. This revelation comes to the forefront during one of Stevie's and Adrian's meetings.

She is the chosen one (Dream Angel,) and he is her soulmate and destiny. To get to the climax of their fusion is a relationship rollercoaster ride that has turns you don't anticipate from beginning to end.

The novel ends with an unforeseen twist that will have the reader asking for more. Luckily there is a Book 2 in the saga Dark Angel.

Purchase:  hyperurl.co/a6xvt7

Review of The Unholy

The Unholy

     A Novel

Paul DeBlassie III

Reviewed by Author Roy Murry

The religions of this world have been in conflict from the beginning of time. God of one is not always the god of another. In The Unholy, spiritual presence is understood on different levels.

Dictates and lies are used by a dominant church leader to control his flock comes in conflict with a young therapist's beliefs, who was traumatized as a child. Claire and the cleric have a disturbing connection other than their dispute over what theology to follow in getting to a heaven.

The dark side of man's reach into the unknown is one of the themes that control the background of a story that will put chills running down your spine while reading a familiar tale - Power in one man's hands leads to a disturbing and an unholy ending.

Mr. DeBlassie's prose keeps you interested in a dynamic twist on human relationships that are clouded by their belief systems. His characters are well defined and collide into an unexpected ending.

I will be reading another of Paul's novels in the future.

Purchase: http://amzn.to/2glipUe

Review of Sandstorm in My Heart

SANDSTORM IN MY HEART

              A Romance

           Faith Mortimer

Love sometimes hits when you least expect it. Ann is upset with her boss' boss because she can't keep following her pursuit.

After working on an excavation site in the desert for months, Ann's convinced that what they are looking for is there and they are close to finding it. But money funding for the work is cut. Her heart is heavy.

This situation sets up a love affair where two people find out the truth about each out. This truth brings them together leading to an unusual ending. The suspense up to it is well worth the read.

Always have enjoyed Faith's prose and will keep reading her works.

Purchase: http://amzn.to/2h4MZoW