Waiting On Wednesday: Ripper by David L. Golemon

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.



This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:



Ripper by David L. Golemon



In the tradition of works by James Rollins, Preston and Child and Matthew Reilly, Ripper is the latest in an action-packed series about the nation’s most secret agency—The Event Group. In 1887, the British Empire contracted brilliant American professor Lawrence Ambrose to create a mutant gene to turn an ordinary person into an aggressive fighting machine. But all too quickly, Ambrose was found to be behind a streak of vicious murders, and  in a cover-up of massive proportions, Queen Victoria ordered the project, and Ambrose, terminated. Thus the legend of Jack the Ripper was born.



The killings stopped as suddenly as they had begun—but not because Ambrose was caught. Instead, he escaped and returned home to America where he and his formula faded into history. But in 2012, a raid against a Mexican drug lord uncovers a small cache of antiquated notebooks containing long-buried instructions to create blind killers out of normal men. Enter the Event Group and Col. Jack Collins, who are desperate to stop one of their most feared enemies. When the formula is loosed in the underground halls and vaults of the Event Group complex itself, brother will battle brother, and for the first time in many men’s brave lives they will understand the true meaning of fear.



The next heart-stopping chapter in the New York Times bestselling Event Group series, Ripper takes readers to new levels of suspense, where death could be hiding around any corner on this non-stop thrill ride. (July 17, 2012)





I have yet to give Golemon a read, despite having Event and Legacy sitting on my shelf, but this sounds like the perfect summer read. Being mentioned in the same breath as James Rollins, Preston & Child, and Matthew Reilly certainly doesn't hurt either!

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Get H. David Blalock's Angelkiller for FREE!

Get Angelkiller for free on Kindle!



The first book in the Angelkiller Triad from H. David Blalock is available for free on Kindle today and tomorrow!



Why do bad things happen to good people? Simple. In the ancient war between the Angels of Light and Darkness, the Dark won. Now it is the job of an undercover force simply known as The Army to rectify that.



Using every tool available, The Army has worked to liberate our world from The Enemy for thousands of years, slowly and painfully lifting Mankind out of the dark. On the front of the great Conflict are the Angelkillers, veterans of the

fight with centuries of experience.



Jonah Mason is an Angelkiller, and his cell is targeted as part of plot to unseat a very powerful Minion of The Enemy. Mason and his troop are drawn into a battle that stretches from real-time to virtual reality and back. The Conflict is about to expand into cyberspace, and if Mason is unable to stop it, The Enemy will have gained dominion over yet another realm.



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eBook ARC Review: The Long Earth by Pratchett and Baxter

The Long Earth is a concept Terry Pratchett first developed back in the mid-80s, around the same time that he was finishing up the third Discworld book, Equal Rights. The novel was a victim of Pratchett's own success, getting left behind when the Discworld series proved to be so successful. Sadly, as much as I wanted to like it, and as promising as the first few chapters were, it really does feel like a book that was written 25 years ago, handed off to somebody else, and then rushed into print. Nothing against Stephen Baxter, who is an amazing author on his own, but this is an awkward collaboration that really adds nothing to my Pratchett shelves.



The concept here is definitely intriguing, even if it's not quite fully explained. Basically, humanity has discovered the ability to 'step' between parallel worlds. There are those among us who have always been able to do so naturally, without really understanding what they've done or how, but one man's eccentric experiments have bestowed that ability upon anybody willing to construct one of his little 'stepping' boxes. Suddenly, humanity has access to an infinite number of pristine worlds, as ripe for exploitation as they are for exploration.



There are some interesting catches, of course - stepping makes most people violently ill, nothing made of iron can move between worlds, and stepping from atop a skyscraper to a world without buildings is a really bad idea - but the possibilities are endless. What makes the first half of the book so interesting is the unexpected consequences of stepping. Criminals suddenly have easy access to even the most impenetrable places on Earth, forcing governments and banks literally underground. Greedy explorers invest everything they own to replicate the gold rush on other worlds, only to find that everybody else had the same idea, and that gold has been rendered worthless. Immigration is pretty much a thing of the past (why apply for visas and passports when you can just 'step' somewhere new), and governments are left scrambling to keep the infrastructure and economy running smoothly with half the population suddenly gone.



Those side-tales, however, are also part of what's wrong with the book later on. Pratchett and Baxter spend  far too much time relating stories of the new explorers when, in the grand scheme of things, they really add very little to the story. Similarly, as interesting as it is to reexamine some urban legends by imagining the participants were natural steppers, they go back to the well far too often, and the stories that were so entertaining early on just become annoyances later. Unfortunately, it turns out these asides are necessary to keep things moving, since the central storyline just isn't strong enough or interesting enough to carry a whole novel.



As for that storyline, we have a natural stepper who has become something of a reluctant celebrity because of his heroic actions the night the rest of the world learned to step. We also have a sentient computer who believes himself to be the reincarnation of a dead human, and a shadowy organization who employs them both. The two set out on a mission to explore their way to the heart of the Long Earth (assuming there is such a thing), stepping across hundreds of thousands of worlds on their journey. If you've ever watched a child flick through the channels on TV, stop every once in a while to watch a few minutes of a show, and then keep flicking again, you've basically shared the experience of the book. They do have some adventures, and do discover some interesting facts about how we're not alone in these parallel worlds, but there's far too much filler between the facts.



In the end, this felt very much like a young-adult novel that wants to be more, the kickoff to a series that really seems to have no clear direction ahead. It comes across as somewhat lazy and haphazard, with flashes of brilliance, but an overall dullness that left me skimming chapters by the end.  Not even a surprising act of anti-stepper terrorism at the end can rescue the overall story.



While I didn't expect a Discworld level farce, Pratchett's trademark absurd humour is largely missing here, aside from a few quirky (but unusually subtle) bits. It's a shame, because that might have helped to carry the story. The Discworld novels are not exactly the most amazingly plotted works of epic fantasy ever to grace the shelves, but they are fun reads that understand how to continuously engage the reader. That engagement, more than anything else, is what is missing here, leaving us with a story that doesn't live up to the concept, and characters who are too one-dimensional to carry one Earth, much less hundreds of thousands.

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Stacking The Shelves and Mailbox Monday

Stacking The Shelves is a new weekly meme being hosted by Tynga over at Tynga's Reviews. Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you've added to your shelves - physical and virtual, borrowed and bought. Mailbox Monday, meanwhile, is a similar meme being hosted by Martha at Martha's Bookshelf this month (check out the Mailbox Monday blog to see who's hosting next month).

This week I hit the Book Riot, a charitable used book sale that runs for 4 days every May. Wasn't really expecting much, but I discovered some great finds that have been on my 'want' list for a while now:

To Wake The Dead by Richard Laymon

The Education of Jennifer Parrish by Russ Martin

Thirst by Michael Cecilione

Barba Slaver by Dael Forest

Neveryóna by Samuel Delaney

The Last Ship by William Brinkley

Dragon Hunter by Charles Gallenkamp

Celestis by Paul Park

Overkill by Steven L. Shrewsbury was a Kindle freebie this week.

 

And, finally, N.K. Jemisin's The Killing Moon was a new purchase.

How about you . . . what did add to the shelves this week?

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VBT Feature: Demon Vampire by Virgil Moore

Virgil Moore's Demon Vampire asks the question, if given the choice to have power, grace, and immortality at the cost of your soul, what would you do? 



What if the choice was easier than you think? Small incremental segments of you childhood for a boost in strength? The ability to protect your loved ones for the corners of your mind that you don't often use? Regeneration for the traits that make you who you are? 



If faced with a grave decision of morality, what would you choose?

αωαωαωαωαωαωαω

EXCERPT

  His eyes closed. The red apparition somehow
soothed and calmed him. It was speaking directly now. It was murder. He could
hear it above the raging storm coursing through him. It forced upon him
glimpses of her dead body, a sight of torment. 
“The vast ocean of power I can grant you. The encompassing absolution of
being I offer, to walk without equal as an abomination among monsters. To be
feared as no other.” The voice sighed inside him. It's breath warm on the back
of his thoughts. “Am I truly so disgusting? Is this not what you asked for? Do
I not tempt you? Offer you what you need? Do I not wet your tongue with my
invitation?”

 Fear
swept him, his choices were not sovereign. His gut knotted in indecision. The
hot blanket of seduction that had cloaked him was convincing. It was generously
welcoming. He hesitated, not knowing the demon's destination or his own. He
could feel his soul slipping, a grip once tight, now failing him.

 “Let
it happen, give yourself to me. All you ever have to do, is acknowledge me.
Your soul will satisfy my desires, my requirements.” The voice was commanding.
It spoke as a god dwelling in the recesses of his senses. It continued. “Rip,
tear, rend, and swallow the blood like milk.” The demon inside beckoned with a
sadistic suggestion.

 He
was unsure, the deal was tempting, even acceptable in a sick flight of fancy.
The power was enthralling. His confliction was disturbing, he was not a
murderer. He knew as much, as he doubted his own integrity. It was tempting,
wet in his mouth, keen on his fingertips. Absolute strength on a level
unrivaled. The knowledge that no other being would ever be able to contest him.
It was a spectacular promise. It was seductive.

 The
voice posed its question a final time. Its confidence was unrelenting. “Is my
simple price so steep, so dire, costly, that you would die a
fool's death to deny me the path fate has allowed me to etch in the stars?”

αωαωαωαωαωαωαω

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Virgil
Allen Moore has been writing for seventeen years. He began as a poet and
eventually turned to long fiction. In his words "My pen wields visceral
morality as I write. I use my poetic knowledge to woo and satiate the minds of
the world." His books are written for their vivid imagery and well defined
storytelling. He blends old world refinement with a modern feel in a way that
gives strength to the core of his novels. With his books, you are left not just
with a sense of accomplishment, but a moral choice. The reader has choice over
how they feel through the story. The ordeals of the characters are transmuted
to the reader, lending a direct sensation of emotion that only the best novels
can evoke. When you read his words, you will be rewarded. As he says, "If
you enjoy vampires, you will be enthralled by mine."

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Waiting On Wednesday: Iron Gray Sea by Taylor Anderson

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.



This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:



Iron Gray Sea by Taylor Anderson 



War has engulfed the other earth. With every hard-won victory and painful defeat, Matt Reddy and the Allies encounter more friends — and more diabolical enemies. Even in the arms of the woman he loves, there is little peace for Reddy. The vast sea and scope of the conflict has trapped him too far away to help on either front, but that doesn’t mean he and USS Walker can rest — and man and four-stacker must risk everything against a bigger ship.



Elsewhere, the long-awaited invasion of Grik “Indiaa” has begun, and the Human-Lemurian Alliance is pushing back against the twisted might of the Dominion. The diplomatic waters seethe with treachery and a final, terrible plot explodes in the Empire of New Britain Isles. (July 3, 2012)



This is a series that I have yet to give a read, but I'm always up for a good alternate history tale, especially one that involves alternate realities. The series begins with a WWII destroyer fleeing Japanese battleships, heading into a storm front, and coming out the other side to find a world full of monstrous fish, grazing dinosaurs, and not just one, but two species who overtook humanity in the evolutionary race. Definitely looking forward to diving into the series . . . no pun intended. :)

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Get Steven Shrewsbury's Overkill for FREE!

Get Overkill for free on Kindle!



The latest Gorias La Gaul adventure from Steven Shrewsbury is available for free on Kindle today and tomorrow!



Deliverance will come... A great flood once wiped clean the earth, destroying everything upon it. Before the deluge, in a time now forgotten, the world was a place of warriors and witches, conflicts between kingdoms, and, until their extermination, dragons. In this world, men may live centuries, fallen angels have begotten terrifying spawn, and sometimes, the best hope can be found in a brothel. 



In the land of Transalpina, a new religion spreads, and important men are dying mysteriously, slain by what can only be the fire of dragon breath. Summoned by the Queen Garnet, the legendary warrior Gorias La Gaul returns to the place where he once saved the queen's young granddaughter from treachery and enslavement. The Princess Nykia is gone, and soon others may try to claim the throne. The queen has little choice but to turn to the only man who ever told her no. 



With the aid of one of the queen's elite guard, the battle maiden Alena, and the young palace servant Orsen, the old mercenary will face pirates and traitors, monsters and foul magic in the quest to find the missing heir and learn the truth behind the disconcerting murders. Deliverance will come for Gorias La Gaul, but for now there are women to love, secrets to discover, and killing that needs doing.



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