Waiting On Wednesday - The Crown Tower by Michael Sullivan

"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:



The Crown Tower by Michael Sullivan

Aug 6, 2013 (Orbit)



Two men who hate each other. One impossible mission. A legend in the making.



Hadrian Blackwater, a warrior with nothing to fight for is paired with Royce Melborn, a thieving assassin with nothing to lose. Together they must steal a treasure that no one can reach. The Crown Tower is the impregnable remains of the grandest fortress ever built and home to the realm's most prized possessions. But it isn't gold or jewels that the old wizard is after, and if he can just keep them from killing each other, just might do it.





With the first book of his Riyria Chronicles, Michael J. Sullivan begins weaving the backstory of Hadrian and Royce, the heroes of his popular Riyria Revelations. I've quite enjoyed the Revelations books so far, and while I'll likely wait to catch up on the series before diving into the Chronicles, I am sorely tempted to give this a read the moment it hits shelves.

Read More

O is for One Rainy Night . . . and Oingo Boingo (#AtoZChallenge)

The A to Z Challenge is a daily meme posting every day (except Sundays) in April. Check out the list of 1500+ participants below and follow along for 26 days (and 26 letters) of fun. The 2-letter code after each blog name may help narrow your choices - (BO) is Books, (WR) is Writing, (PH) is Photography . . . and, if you're concerned about those NSFW pages, (AC) is Adult Content.



For my theme, I'm going with a little author/title alliteration.



Today's challenge post is brought to you by the letter O, as in One Rainy Night by Richard Laymon (ahem). Okay, so today seems to be the day that theme falls apart, but that's OK because it offers me a little flexibility to feature the classic that originally established me as a Laymon fan. The basic premise is as simple as it is horrifying - a mysterious black rain falls upon a small town, turning everyone it touches into violent psychopaths. Laymon pulls no punches in exploring the consequences of such a rain, and pushes the weird, creepy, unsettling horror up a notch higher than most authors could only dream of. Better yet, he wastes no time trying to explain it away or justify it all. In terms of guilty pleasures, Laymon is right up there with Bentley Little in my books.



The musical accompaniment for the day comes to us courtesy of Oingo Boingo, the alternative, new wave, college rock, call-it-what-you-will, band that Danny Elfman fronted for so many years. They had so many great songs, and so many movie anthems, but this is the one track that always comes to mind when I think of the guys.

αωαωαωαωαωαωαω

Click Here for the full list of blogs participating.

Read More

The Egyptian by Layton Green (REVIEW)

With his second novel in The Dominic Grey Series, Layton Green not only fulfills the potential of the first volume, he gives me precisely the story I had been anticipating for so long. The Egyptian is a stellar read, one that combines elements of Indiana Jones, Dirk Pitt, Robert Langdon, and Aloysius Pendergast. It nicely balances the conflicting themes of science and religion, teasing the reader with glimmers of each, and maintaining the potential for either one to commandeer the text.



It all begins with a clandestine hand off of stolen goods in the City of the Dead, a mysterious test tube contained within a ridiculously well-protected box. Before long, Dominic Grey finds himself hired by the CEO from whom the substance was stolen, not to recover it, but simply to determine where it was taken. It's an odd case right from the start, marked by an eccentric Egyptian gentleman in green robes, with an ornate golden disk around his neck. The obscure mythology connected to that disk, and the historical secrets it leads Viktor Radek (Dominic's employer) are half of the story, paired with the very real science of aging and immortality that lies behind the test tube.



This is a story of conflicted loyalties, tenuous alliances, and more than one betrayal. Green takes us across the world and back, from the streets of Manhattan, to the sands of the Sahara, to the mountains of Bulgaria. While the story moves too quickly to really get us involved in the settings, the details are more than sufficient to help carry us along. The juxtaposition of mummies in a Manhattan park, religious cults in a high tech science lab, and well-armed goons in the depths of a desert cave creates an excitement all on its own, while playing with the story's themes.



In terms of storytelling, this second book is a bit more accessible, marked by multiple POV characters. It allows Green to expand the story and to add some much-appreciated depth, without straining the credibility of Dominic's travel. We see a bit more of Victor, a man whom I suspect could carry a story on his own, if given the chance, and are introduced to the likes of Veronica (a UN investigative reporter), Jax (an ethical sort of mercenary), and Stefan (a scientist full of secrets). There's a great mystery at the core of the novel, and Green maintains the suspense throughout, never tipping his hand until the very end. There's a lot of action and adventure as well, of course, which keeps the pacing tight.



Behind all of the mystery, the action, the adventure, and the romanticism is a very serious exploration of life, death, and what we'll do to keep the two as far from one another as possible. Nearly all of the main characters are haunted by the death or sickness of a loved one, providing them with motives and justifications that blur the line between hero and villain. If you're up for a solid adventure that has a bit more brains than your average thriller, and appreciate a hero who is strong, realistic, and vulnerable, then give this series a shot - you won't regret it.







Published June 4th 2013 by Thomas & Mercer

Kindle Edition, 327 pages

Read More

N is for Nights of Villjamur . . . and New Order (#AtoZChallenge)

The A to Z Challenge is a daily meme posting every day (except Sundays) in April. Check out the list of 1500+ participants below and follow along for 26 days (and 26 letters) of fun. The 2-letter code after each blog name may help narrow your choices - (BO) is Books, (WR) is Writing, (PH) is Photography . . . and, if you're concerned about those NSFW pages, (AC) is Adult Content.



For my theme, I'm going with a little author/title alliteration.



Today's challenge post is brought to you by the letter N, as in Nights of Villjamur by Mark Charan Newton. The first book of Legends of the Red Sun, this is another entry from the to-be-read pile, an apocalyptic epic fantasy that's been compared to the lies of China Miéville and Richard K. Morgan. Newton's tale is set in a world that lies beneath a dying red sun, where an encroaching ice age threatens all, and where human and non-human races alike vie for supremacy.



The musical accompaniment for the day comes to us courtesy of New Order, a new wave band with more than their share of hits, but who will be forever remembered for the classic Blue Monday.

αωαωαωαωαωαωαω

Click Here for the full list of blogs participating.

Read More

Ballad of the Fallen by John Grover (REVIEW)

For the third book of his Song of the Ancestors series, John Grover picks up the threads of the first two tales, but introduces a new threat. Having recovered from the internal strife and civil wars of the last volume, the races of Orum must band together in Ballad of the Fallen to resist the advance of a chilling new foe.



And when I saw "the races of Orum" I mean all the races of Orum - Amazons, Elves, Fairies, and even the Lizard Men.



No longer just undead minions of The Spider Queen, the Necromantic Clans have united under one merciless leader to tear apart the veil between worlds. All they need to enact their terrible scheme is the blood of a child, one unique across the face of Orum . . . the 'miracle' offspring of the forbidden union between Amazon and Human. It's always a risk to build a story around the protection of a child, around the power of parenthood, but here it works. With not just one, but two children coming under shadow from the Clans, he has a lot of potential to exploit.



While I felt the second volume faltered a bit, this one definitely marks a return to form. The pacing is better, the danger feels authentic, and the sense of palatable evil - so crucial to any fantasy saga - is definitely there. Most importantly of all, perhaps, is the fact that his characters are really at risk this time around - so much so, in fact, that not everyone will survive to make it through to the next instalment. I still would love to see Grover expand upon his stories to provide a little more depth or back story, but he does a superb job within the structure of a short novella.





Published March 8th 2013 by ShadowTales.com

Kindle Edition, 106 pages

Read More

M is for Monster Skin . . . and Marilyn Manson (#AtoZChallenge)

The A to Z Challenge is a daily meme posting every day (except Sundays) in April. Check out the list of 1500+ participants below and follow along for 26 days (and 26 letters) of fun. The 2-letter code after each blog name may help narrow your choices - (BO) is Books, (WR) is Writing, (PH) is Photography . . . and, if you're concerned about those NSFW pages, (AC) is Adult Content.



For my theme, I'm going with a little author/title alliteration.



Today's challenge post is brought to you by the letter M, as in Monster Skin by Melancton Hawks. This is an altogether odd title that I first came across in a Goodreads giveaway. While I didn't win, it intrigued me enough to buy a copy for myself. The cover blurb "invites you to discover a neon flavored New York City populated by fashion mavericks, sex toy queens, hackers, politicians, ninjas, monsters, gods, maniacs, and angry, dysfunctional teenagers" while referencing things like "Psycho Sexual vampires" a covert "Bush Administration plot."



The musical accompaniment for the day comes to us courtesy of Marilyn Manson, who seems an appropriate choice to provide background music for this read. Rather than go with one of his 'big' hits, however, I'm going to go back to my favourite track from his debut album.

αωαωαωαωαωαωαω

Click Here for the full list of blogs participating.

Read More

Stacking The Shelves & What I'm Reading

Stacking The Shelves is a weekly meme being hosted by Tynga's Reviews, while Mailbox Monday is being hosted by MariReads this month (see Mailbox Monday for each month's host). Both memes are all about sharing the books you've added to your shelves - physical and virtual, borrowed and bought. It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by Book Journey, and it's focused on what's in your hands, as opposed to what's on your shelf.

A whopping stack of review titles this week:

          

          

          

As for what I'm reading, I have reviews coming up over the next 2 weeks for:

          

What's topping your shelves this week?

CassaStorm by Alex J. Cavanaugh, Burning the Middle Ground by L. Andrew Cooper, Chimera: A Jim Chapel Mission by David Wellington, Dateline: Atlantis by Lynn Voedisch, The Diabolist by Layton Green, Perfect Flaw by Robin Blankenship, Gods and Monsters: Unclean Spirits by Chuck Wendig, Southern Haunts: Spirits That Walk Among Us by Alexander S. Brown, Vampires Don't Sparkle by Michael West

Read More