Showing posts with label Archaeology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Archaeology. Show all posts

Sunday, November 24, 2013

Dioscuri by Chrystalla Thoma

Blurb:

When you are Zeus’ immortal son, you know you can get away with mostly anything. Bringing back the dead is not one of those things. Yet this is what Polydeukes does when his mortal twin, Kastor, dies. According to the dark deal he strikes with one of the gods, the brothers must alternate days in the land of the living, and Kastor cannot be told, or the deal is off. On top of that, If Hades was to find out, all hell would break loose. Literally.

But Kastor begins to put two and two together, and keeping the secret becomes difficult for Polydeukes. Will Kastor break his brother’s deal and save Polydeukes from an eternity of punishment in Tartarus, or will Polydeukes find a way to save them both?

Review:

It’s modern-day Athens, digging the foundation of a skyscraper opened the doorway between Olympus and the human world and the gods and mythical creatures mingle with people.  Tourists flock to the area to catch photos of creatures of which they’ve only read.  Which part of the Hydra will kill you do they not get?  Polydeukes and Kastor, twin sons of Zeus are members of the Resistance army sworn to protect the silly humans.  Pol is immortal, but Kast is mortal and dies in one of the skirmishes.  Pol makes a deal with a lesser guardian of Hades—he’ll spend alternating days there so Kast can live, at least part time.  But Kast can’t know what’s happening.  Of course, Kast starts to figure it out.

Dioscuri is a young-adult novel, but is a fun read even for someone like me who is over the proverbial hill.  At fifty-nine pages, it moves quickly, but the characters are well-drawn and the situations get rather humorous as Kastor tries to fill in the blanks when people refer to things Pol did on the days Kast was dead—especially when he inadvertently stands up a girl he likes.  It’s even worse when she runs into Pol and he keeps the date.  Because of course, the boys’ personalities are very different.  Kast is serious and this was a date with the daughter of the owner of his favorite bookstore.  Pol is fun-loving with no interest in reading.  They even smell different—something neither of them ever thought about, but girls notice those things.

This book would be a great way to introduce your kids or grandkids to Greek mythology, or to refresh your own knowledge of the Gemini twins.

Length:  59 Pages
Price:  $3.50

You’ll notice I always include the publisher’s buy link.  That’s because authors usually receive 40% of the book price from the publisher.  Editors and cover artists usually receive about 5%.  When you buy a book from Amazon, Barnes & Noble or another third-party vendor, they take a hefty cut and the author, editors and cover artists receive their cuts from what is left.  So, if a book costs $5.99 at E-Book Publisher.com and you buy from there, the author will receive about $2.40.  If you buy the book at Amazon, the author will receive about $0.83.

Downloading the file from your computer to your Kindle is as easy as transferring any file from your computer to a USB flash drive.  Plug the USB end of your chord into a USB port on your computer and simply move the file from your “Downloads” box to your Kindle/Documents/Books directory.  I actually download my books using “Save As” to a “Books” file I created on my computer that’s sorted by my publisher, friends, and books “to review,” and then transfer them to my Kindle from there.  That way, if there’s a glitch with my Kindle, the books are on my computer.  Your author will be happy you did when he/she sees his/her royalty statement.

Thanks for visiting.  RIW

Saturday, September 21, 2013

Crumple Zone by Edith Parzefall


Blurb: 

Lara, a workaholic from Seattle, loses her job, drowns her frustrations in scotch, and books a trip to Chile. Instead of facing her messed up life, she escapes to South America and hooks up with a backpacker, whose bag of tricks conveniently distracts her. 

Hauling freight along the same route, trucker Enrique battles the loneliness of the Atacama Desert, imagining his wife by his side. If only she'd stop urging him to come home. With growing unease, he sets off on the return trip. When his path crosses Lara's, the impact knocks them both off their errant tracks to face unpleasant realities.

Review: 

I bought Crumple Zone on sale at MuseItUp Publishing, Inc., and I must say—Ms. Parzefall had me guessing all the way through the book as to how Enrique and Lara would meet.  I thought maybe she’d end up driving drunk and put him in the hospital, preventing him from getting home to his wife and sons.  The question was…where?

Chile is a long, thin country and according to Ms. Parzefall who has lived and traveled in South America, the Atacama Desert is something like five-hundred miles long, snaking along the sides of mountains above deep stone quarries and the Pacific Ocean.  I wondered if either Enrique or Lara might end up at the bottom of a quarry or in the sea.  Rick, the Australian back-packer Lara picked up, might have swept her off her feet and persuaded her to return to Australia with him where the people she encountered would at least speak a form of English and she wouldn’t have to look things up in her handy/dandy English/Spanish or vice/versa dictionary to communicate.

They even glimpse each other and interact briefly before they “meet” on the road.  But once they met, I still had questions that were not quite answered until the very end of the book—when Ms. Parzefall wanted me to know the full answers.  I was constantly speculating about what might be waiting around the corner, and much of the time I was wrong.  I highly recommend Crumple Zone.  If it kept me guessing, it’ll keep you guessing, too. 

Length:  225 Pages 
Price:  $5.50—As of 06-19-2013 this book is on sale at MuseItUp Publishing, Inc. for $0.99, a real bargain.  You can grab it at the link below. 

You’ll notice I always include the publisher’s buy link.  That’s because authors usually receive 40% of the book price from the publisher.  Editors and cover artists usually receive about 5%.  When you buy a book from Amazon, Barnes & Noble or another third-party vendor, they take a hefty cut and the author, editors and cover artists receive their cuts from what is left.  So, if a book costs $5.99 at E-Book Publisher.com and you buy from there, the author will receive about $2.40.  If you buy the book at Amazon, the author will receive about $0.83.

Downloading the file from your computer to your Kindle is as easy as transferring any file from your computer to a USB flash drive.  Plug the USB end of your chord into a USB port on your computer and simply move the file from your “Downloads” box to your Kindle/Documents/Books directory.  I actually download my books using “Save As” to a “Books” file I created on my computer that’s sorted by my publisher, friends, and books “to review,” and then transfer them to my Kindle from there.  That way, if there’s a glitch with my Kindle, the books are on my computer.  Your author will be happy you did when he/she sees his/her royalty statement. 

Thanks for visiting.  RIW

Saturday, June 29, 2013

Stone of Heaven by L. A. Sartor



Blurb:

Tori Carswell treasures her solitude and simple life. Her identical twin, Abby Carswell, is the polar opposite, seeking increasingly risky adventures. Now Abby has put herself in mortal danger, captive of an ancient Mayan cult. Her only hope? Woefully under-prepared Tori.

And the Treasure Hunter … Reid Hunter, good-natured and currently broke, aims to beat his ex-partner Abby to the fabled blue jade known as the Stone of Heaven. But when reclusive, aero-phobic Tori overcomes her fear of flying and tracks her sister to a well guarded tomb deep in the Yucatan rainforest, he realizes Abby is in serious trouble.

Can Opposites Accomplish the Impossible? Abby no longer trusts Reid. Can Tori risk doing so now, and join forces with him to save her sister? Or will Reid put riches before life and love?

Review:

I have a real bone to pick with Ms. Sartor.  I have been woefully behind.  I had three—count them, three—editing projects to work on.  And what have I been doing in my non-existent "spare time"?  I've been quitting early to read Stone of Heaven because I couldn't put the darned thing down!  The action begins on page one when a hurricane uncovers the road to the tomb for which Abby Carswell has been searching in Chile, and a village boy delivers a broken off bit of the Stone of Heaven amulet to her.  But before he can lead her back to the place where he found it, they're attacked by a Viejo and his followers.  The Viejo isn't just an ordinary priest who worships the Mayan god Itzumna; he's an immortal who was the Head Priest when Itzumna was alive.  The Stone of Heaven is the last amulet he needs to resurrect his terrible God.  And to make matters worse, he sees Tori in Abby's computer and realizes the women are twins.  The blood of twins will make Itzumna doubly strong when he rises.  The last thing they need is for Tori to overcome her fears, leave her comfy-cozy private train and come to Chile to rescue Tori.  Which is exactly what she does, rushing headlong into danger and into situations that cause her to face every one of her worst fears—flying, water, and her growing feelings for Reid Hunter.

By all means, grab this book.  I guarantee Stone of Heaven will grab you and keep hold of you until the very last word on the very last page.

Length:  298 Pages
Prices: 
Paperback:  $9.45
E-Book:  $3.99

Thanks for visiting.  RIW

Saturday, May 4, 2013

The Lion’s Embrace by Marie Laval


 

Arrogant, selfish and dangerous, Lucas Saintclair is everything Harriet Montague dislikes in a man. He is also the best guide in the whole of the Barbary States, the only man who can rescue her archaeologist father from the gang of Tuareg fighters that has kidnapped him. As Harriet embarks on a perilous journey across Algeria with Saintclair and Archibald Drake, her father’s most trusted friend, she discovers a bewitching but brutal land where nothing is what it seems. Who are these men intent on stealing her father’s ransom? What was her father hoping to find in Tuareg queen Tin Hinan’s tomb? Is Lucas Saintclair really as callous as he claims—or is he a man haunted by a past he cannot forgive? Dangerous passions engulf Harriet’s heart in the heat of the Sahara. Secrets of lost treasures, rebel fighters, and a sinister criminal brotherhood threaten her life and the life of the man she loves.

Does forever lie in the lion’s embrace?


Lucas Saintclair doesn’t like the thought of traveling the desert with a weak, whiny woman.  He has his own agenda for accepting this job and a woman is one more responsibility he doesn’t need, so he does everything he can to make the journey difficult for Harriet Montague.  However, she surprises him.  She does not whine and she is not weak.  She meets every challenge with grace and courage, even killing a would-be rapist who gets past Saintclair’s guards.  He finds himself respecting her, and more.  Harriet notices that Saintclair tends to disappear at odd times during the night—times that coincide with rebel raids against the French who, she realizes are oppressing and abusing the native people who have lived peacefully in the area for thousands of years.  Is he the jaded carouser he appears to be?  Or is he a man who cares deeply for his land and the people who live there?  As the journey continues, she finds herself attracted to him in ways she has never been attracted to a man before.

Ms. Laval weaves a tale of deep characters, historical and archaeological detail set in a land few people have glimpsed, especially now that it is torn apart by war, greed, and the lust for the oil that lies beneath the shifting sands of the desert.  She introduces us to the people who have lived there for thousands of years who would prefer to be left in peace to worship in their own ways, live their lives as they see fit, and tend their own lands.  “Come with me to the Casbah…” where Harriet and Saintclair meet, and embark on this great adventure. 

Length: 424 Pages

Price:  $5.95