Better Than a Rabbit’s Foot by S. S. Hampton, Sr.

Before I get into this review, I realized this is my 100th Review!  Wow!  I appreciate those of you who follow this blog and I'm sure the authors whose books I've reviewed do as well if I've managed to help them generate any sales.  Now, back to our regularly scheduled review.

Staff Sergeant Jerry Stanton is a young soldier serving in the War in Iraq. He is a gunner on a gun truck nicknamed “Lucky Bear,” one of those tireless workhorses that escort supply convoys from camps in Kuwait to destinations scattered throughout the war-torn country. In the early morning hours before a scheduled mission, a dust storm howls across his camp and threatens to bring convoy operations to a halt. Worse, the camp receives word that a gunner from his company was killed by an IED [Improvised Explosive Device] while on a convoy mission in Iraq. Unlike most soldiers, Jerry doesn’t carry a lucky charm, but upon receiving news of the death of the gunner, he begins to mull over the merit of a good luck charm—only, what would work for him? Perhaps mail call will provide the answer.

Jerry isn’t expecting anything special in the mail, so when he first hears it’s come, he decides to wait until he returns from his mission to read it.  The soldier distributing the mail throws the letter to him by mistake, forgetting he asked to pick it up later.  It turns out to be a fortunate mistake.

Better Than a Rabbit’s Foot is what I call a quick little “waiting room read.”  You can scarf it down in a matter of minutes, but in those few minutes you will be transported to Afghanistan and get a glimpse of what our troops endure there.  You’re plunked down into a dust storm in the early morning hours and you feel the dust seep into your clothing, trickling down your back as it mixes with the sweat.  You feel the tension and fear of preparing for a mission knowing another man in your job has just been killed.  You feel the homesickness and the loneliness—all in eighteen short pages, because Sergeant Hampton has been there and he’s brought it back for us to experience.  Thank you, Sergeant—for both your excellent writing and your service.

Length:  18 Pages

Price:  $1.99

Buy Link:  http://museituppublishing.com/bookstore2/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=514&category_id=60&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=1

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

At What Price? by P.A. Estelle

Katherine Gardner is awakened at 6:30 in the morning by a call from a strange woman who claims to have her granddaughter, Rio. This woman is calling the police if Katherine doesn’t make arrangements for somebody to pick up this little girl.

Katherine is a fifty-six year old woman and all alone since her husband died over three years ago. Her life takes a dramatic turn when six-year old Rio comes to stay with her. Rio is a scared little girl whose life is filled with uncertainty and fear.

In her grandmother, Rio finds a safe haven and an unconditional love that she has never known in her six short years, and Katherine has found a love to fill the void that has been absent for way too long.

I bought this book because of a mediocre review the author received.  I wanted to see for myself why the reviewer so hated Katherine’s daughter.  The reviewer obviously has never dealt with an addict.  The disease of addiction runs in my family.  My mother was an alcoholic, my sister is a recovering alcoholic, I’m a recovering food addict, and my daughter was addicted to meth.  The Coles County, Illinois Sherriff’s Department saved her life when they busted her.  She lost custody of her children to her ex-husband who, frankly, got her hooked on drugs and has only gotten clean and sober within the last couple of years.  I’m happy to report that my daughter has been clean for over a decade and is a wonderful mother.  It hurt me to leave her sitting in jail when they busted her, but even if I had the money to help her, I would not have done so.  By that time, I’d spent enough years in Twelve Step Programs to know she had to stay there for her own good.

At What Price? is the story of a mother who did not have the kind of support group or experience with addiction I had when she had to deal with her daughter, Lacey’s disease.  Nor did Lacey go straight when she finally got busted.  Lacey had reached the point in her disease where the drugs meant more to her than even her child.  And Rio knew that.  Rio also knew how much her grandmother, Katherine loved her.  This is a very short, powerful story of love, addiction, how it can ravage part of a family, and forge another part.

I suggest you read At What Price?  And keep in mind that Lacey is a very sick girl who could get well.  My mother died of the disease of alcoholism.  My sister has thirty years of sobriety, I’m coming up on three years of abstinence, and my daughter has over a decade clean.  I’m lucky.  It’s heartbreaking to watch your child struggle with this disease.  But it’s wonderful to watch her recover.

Length:  37 Pages

Price:  $0.99

Buy Link:  http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/241041

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 royalties 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.

Zach’s Amazing Dream Machine by Pat Dale

Zach Mason, a precocious seventh grader who idolizes his grandfather Gentry, writes short stories for his English teacher but gets into trouble by insisting they’re true.

Enrolled in preliminary college classes, Zach puts his brain to work to convince his teacher and classmates he’s telling the truth. The result is Zach’s dream machine. After contending with pal Wally, nemesis Kenneth, and sister Liz, Zach learns something about life when his scheme goes awry. He’s up to his eyebrows warding off one intrigue after another, including a sneaky science teacher who tries to steal it.

This really is more of a memorial than a review, not that the story didn’t earn five roses on its own merit.  Dale Thompson wrote as Pat Dale.  A couple of years ago, he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and told the condition was terminal.  Neither Dale nor his wife accepted that prognosis and they sought a second opinion.  They fought the disease together using both traditional and non-traditional, holistic methods, and Dale beat the disease.  At Thanksgiving of this year his doctors declared him cancer free, and Dale felt well enough to start writing full-time again.  A battle like that, however, takes its toll on one’s body.  A week ago, Dale’s wife came home after running some errands and found him collapsed on the floor.  He had a massive heart attack.  The paramedics were unable to revive him.

Now, to Zach’s Amazing Dream Machine…  Zach creates his machine to prove that his grandfather’s stories are real.  The machine truly is amazing in that it records people’s thoughts and plays back the videos as sharply as though one was there.  To Zach, however, the machine is a failure.  It does not prove the veracity of anything.  It records his best friend’s dream of beating Michael Jordan in a one-on-one game of basketball.  It reveals an embarrassing triad of unrequited love among the teachers at his school, and it reveals his dreams of the stories his grandfather told him, proving that his grandfather is a great storyteller, but not that the stories are true.  Everyone knows Zach’s best friend has never beaten MJ in a game of horse.  Nor has the chemistry teacher hooked up with either the gym or English teachers.  Well, the English teacher knows she hasn’t gotten anywhere with the Chemistry teacher and she’s the one who is accusing Zach of making up the stories about his grandfather.  Now she knows why she hasn’t gotten anywhere with her colleague, darn it.

Zach’s Amazing Dream Machine is a Young Adult book, and maybe I’m young at heart, because it hooked me on the first page and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  But then, I enjoyed all of Robert A. Heinlein's YA stories and I read them as an adult, as well.  We’ve lost a great talent.  Rest in peace, Dale.

Length:  @ 76 Pages

Price:  $3.50

Buy Link:  http://museituppublishing.com/bookstore2/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=113&category_id=10&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=1

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