Book Reviews by Ehlen Administration

The Beast of Seabourne by Rhys A. Jones My rating: 4 of 5 stars Oz and his friends Ellie and Rufus have a sneaking suspicion that the Obsidian pebble was not the end of the story. Using Soph, the avatar for the clever tech found in the pebble, they go on a search for the next artifact, the black ring. It has been found once before, but that man met with an unpleasant demise. Will they be able to find it before the Beast of Seabourne unleashes on them, the way it has unleashed on some of their school bullies? And will they be able to prevent the evil scheme Gerber is trying to unleash on the world? Follow these unlikely heroes as they hunt down and discover exactly what the Beast of Seabourne really is. The Beast of Seabourne, book two in the Artefact Quintet, follows Oz and his friends as they try to unravel the mystery left to Oz by his late father, who was mysteriously murdered after its discovery, and now it seems that murder is coming after Oz as well. Author Rhys A. Jones s...

Hierarchies of Greed by Michael Patrick Clark My rating: 4 of 5 stars During the Cold War a major London Soviet spy cell was blown, and both American Gerald Hammond and Russian Stanislav Paslov are investigating the leak, which may lead much higher up than anyone ever anticipated. Their unlikely relationship leads to a transnational investigation that will put both they and their loved ones in great danger. Both men of integrity, committed to their cause, they find themselves dancing with the devil they know and the devil they don't An intriguing novel, well researched and characters developed, Hierarchies of Greed offers an insightful glance into Cold War politics and intrigue. I’ll be honest, it took me a while to get into it at the beginning, as spy novels necessarily must set the scene rather thoroughly and I got a little bogged down in the details. The glossary at the back was helpful, as I did start to get character wires crossed at first. However I thought as a whole ...

I Was an Unsolved Mystery: A Fugitive's Story by Thomas Lion My rating: 4 of 5 stars Tom Lion was done with his pot-dealing days, not that he thought there was anything wrong with smoking pot. It was a moral issue, as far as he was concerned rather than a government one. Unfortunately for him, the US government thought differently, particularly during the War on Drugs of the 80’s and 90’s. In his memoir, he details his life a fugitive, on the run from his capture that was due, in part, to his appearance on the hit TV show Unsolved Mysteries. To say Lion’s memoir is well-written would be an understatement and probably selling it a little short. While the narrative could have used a once-over in editing to catch a few minor mispells and text corrections, the characters are well-developed and relatable, and the memoir from prison style is quite engaging. His details about money laundering, national politics sway of the drug market, and drug lifestyle are fascinating and really ...

Legend of the Stone: Chapter I by Lucas R. Ballard My rating: 1 of 5 stars Lucas is a project. Tortured by scientists and soldiers since his discovery at age 8, he has managed to survive everything they have thrown at him. He is an asset, but a resentful one. When the opportunity to escape arises he takes it, and takes out many of the torturers while doing so. He finds a rare friend who saves his life, and together they discover the power of the stone he found during his escape. Will he and Juan survive their attempt to hijack a freighter and leave the moon, or will their stone-enhanced powers be too little, too late? I really wanted to like this book. The premise of Merlin’s magic returning to humans after he casts it out intrigued me, as did the prospect of it coming to a man mottled by experimentation. But the writing was just.so.bad. There were run-ons and fragments, tenses jumping in and out all over the place, strange redundancies, and obvious wrong words, like “cloths” in...

Monarchs and Mendicants by Dan Groat My rating: 4 of 5 stars Gifford has got to get out of downtown St. Louis to flee the Hacker, an assassin who for some unknown reason targets the local homeless population. After discovering his friend, Raphael, cut to pieces he takes Tobias, Raphael’s faithful dog, and heads south, toward Benoit. There he finds a community and even somewhat steady work at the local brick yard, but also danger. Has the Hacker been tracking him? Who does the Hacker work for and why is he following Gifford? Monarchs and Mendicants is a thoughtful tale that looks at the plight of the homeless through Gifford, a Veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom and generally down on his luck guy. He is the homeless guy that no one likes to admit exists - not a druggie or a wino, or lazy, just trying to catch a break. You can’t help but be drawn to him despite his tough exterior, and root for him as he works to survive and eventually come out of his shell to do what he does be...

You guys may not know how creative I'm not, but it is a sad, true fact. The closest I come is the occasional digiscrap, and those are entirely template based. However, I know that many of you are the Pinterest goddesses I aspire to be, and good for you. However, for the rest of us, there is easy to follow tutorials with step by step instructions that use small words and short sentences for those of us busy, sleep-deprived Mommy types. There aren’t enough hours in the day, right? With work, helping the kids with their homework, preparing meals, cleaning up after everyone and putting yet another load of laundry on, there’s very little time for sleep – let alone DIY and crafting! 
 But do you look at that bare wall in the den and that tatty tablecloth on the kitchen table, and just wish you had a few hours to do something about them? Or do you browse through those wonderful crafting successes on Pinterest and think to yourself that “one day” you’ll have a few more minutes to yours...

Solaris Seethes by Janet McNulty My rating: 3 of 5 stars Rynah has barely escaped with her life, as her planet’s magnetic force spins out of alignment. Her estranged grandfather’s ship, Solaris, is her only chance to escape. As it turns out her crazy grandfather was right about the prophecies and those old stones, and she must decipher the cryptic legends about them to prevent them from falling into the wrong hands. Fortunately, Solaris is far more helpful there than she ever imagined. Solaris Seethes is the first book in a series that follows Rynah and her band of misfits across the galaxy in a ship with a personality all her own as she seeks to right wrongs and avenge her people. Not the most original sci-fi storyline, but still a good one. The plot and the characters are interesting, and the depth of the characters is well thought out, but the writing/editing really needs some work. There are really random parenthetical phrases throughout where it should be just basic descrip...