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Publishing great fiction since 1999.
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Bitter Choices by William Manchee
BITTER CHOICES, A STAN TURNER MYSTERY
December 15, 2022 * Hardback * Paperback * March 2023 eBook
The attorneys of Turner & Waters are back at it again. In over their heads, each must win their respective cases or face dire consequences. It's 1999 and the world is awaiting the predicted Year 2000 calamity when millions of computers were expected to crash simultaneously due to short-sighted programmers. Although governments all over the world have spent billions trying to avoid this disaster, everyone is holding their breath on New Years' Eve, 1999.
Stan's son, Reggie Turner, has joined the firm and has his heart set on practicing personal injury law, but Stan is against it having had bad luck with PI cases in the Past. When Reggie bags his first PI case he must solicit Paula and Jodie's help in untangling the legal quagmire that is unleashed when Tom "the Tornado" Tyson sues his new client and the District Attorney presses criminal charges against her.
In the meantime, Stan's new estate planning client talks Stan into agreeing to be the executor and trustee in the event of his death, not expecting the client to die just days later. When Stan assumes his duties, his world is shattered, and he is faced with bitter choices.
Mystery * Legal Thriller * Suspense
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TARIZON: SUPREME MANDATE
Fola Moni 17 Jul 2023, 11:35 Onlinebookclub.org
The plot of a planet in crisis with a bleak future hits a little bit close to home for me as I read the science fiction book. Tarizon: Supreme Mandate? by William Manchee. It is the first book in the series.
Nuclear wars have all but almost destroyed the planet. Millions of people have been killed, and billions more will die from radiation which has turned the air yellow and the once lush forests and landscapes desolate and barren. Some people now live in domed cities, while others live outside these domed cities in poverty and sickness with polluted air and contaminated water. The global economy has disintegrated to a critical level, and people have lost hope in humanity.
So, when a timid twelve-year-old boy, Sandee Brahn, said their divine deity, Pelgrem, directed him to save the planet, many were sceptical and wondered why Pelgrem would entrust the fate of their planet to someone so young. Would the people listen to Sandee? Can he and his loyal rhutz, Whisper, save the world, or is the planet doomed?
As far as sci-fi books go, this was quite good. The plot was engaging, and the diverse characters added a certain allure to the story. The author’s writing style was narrative and made the scenes come alive. I enjoyed reading about fantastical animals like the rhutzs and their relationships with the characters, especially Sandee. It again proves that animals are sentient beings too, which is something we humans often overlook.
The characters are diverse and exciting. Bellah’s character turned out to be the most intriguing for me. Beautiful, cunning and dangerous, she put her wiles and charms to great use for the cause she believed in. Sandee started as naive and gullible, but he quickly became the kind of leader everybody trusted; honest, confident and a great communicator.
However, I had some issues with the book. Firstly, I thought the Tarizons had learned about everything they needed to know, like English, Hungarian, and the customs of each country, like politics, history, music, etc. Yet, they still asked basic questions, which could have easily exposed them. When Sarna asked the hotel concierge, Hunter, what an apple was, I cringed. That part did not add up for me. Secondly, if all the rhutzs’ minds were linked to a collective consciousness, then Whisper should know who the main antagonist was when the first attack occurred and expose him as the murderer he is. Finally, it would have been better if there was a list at the beginning of the book to define the strange terminology used. Some were explained in the subsequent chapters, but a particular one was left open to interpretation. The word “skutz” was used throughout the book but never explained.
Overall, I would rate the book 4 out of 5 stars. The rating was due to the issues I mentioned previously, but it was still captivating. The reading experience was seamless due to the almost error-free book. I only spotted one typo, so it was professionally well-edited.
I would recommend it to all the sci-fi/fantasy lovers of the literary genre. They would adore this book.
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ONLY CHARLOTTE
BY ROSEMARY POOLE-CARTER
LIBRARY EDITION * FEBRUARY 2019 * ISBN 978-1-935722-XX-X *
Lenore James, a woman
of independent means who has outlived three husbands, is determined to
disentangle her brother Gilbert from the beguiling Charlotte Eden. Chafing
against misogyny and racism in the post-Civil War South, Lenore learns that
Charlotte’s husband is enmeshed in the re-enslavement schemes of a powerful
judge, and she worries that Gilbert’s adoration of Charlotte will lead him into
disaster. Inspired by a production of Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale,
Lenore adopts the role of Paulina for herself to discover how far Charlotte’s
husband bears the blame for his wife’s fate and whether or not he is capable of
atonement. In her process of unraveling the intricacies of the lives of others,
Lenore finds that Gilbert’s love for Charlotte is, indeed, his saving
grace while Lenore’s passion for creative expression is her own.
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TARIZON: SUPREME MANDATE
VOL 1 * TARIZON SAGA * 410 PAGES * LIBRARY BINDING * ISBN 978-1-935722-96-0 * March 2019
Tarizon’s thirty-one states have been at war for over a hundred years. The cost of these wars has been the loss of millions of soldiers and civilians, the destruction of most of the world’s infrastructure, and a toxic pollution of the air that has made the planet nearly uninhabitable.
Believing Tarizon’s fate was sealed, the twenty most wealthy and powerful men on Tarizon, known as the Group of Twenty, make plans to evacuate with their friends and families to Tarizon’s sister planet Earth. Others board ships and go into orbital hibernation hoping someday the planet’s environment will recover allowing them to return to the surface. But for most, there is no escape and they face the harsh reality that they will all soon be facing a slow and painful death from either disease, starvation or asphyxiation.
Then, miraculously, a young boy named Sandee Brahn and Whisper, a wild beast called a rhutz, come out of the wilderness claiming that the God Pelgrem came to them in a dream and gave them the task of bringing peace to Tarizon. Although many mock Sandee Brahn and Whisper’s claims, thousands flock to his side believing he truly is a holy man and is Tarizon’s last hope.
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MONSTER ON THE MOORS
A BOBBY HOLMES MYSTERY by J.M. Kelly * December 2019 * Hardback * Paperback * eBook
Bobby Holmes, his cousin Brenda Watson and friends are embroiled in a deadly mystery in the North York Moors of England. An old beggar warns Bobby to stay away, and another stranger appears to be at the center of it all.
Bobby and his mates travel to the seaside town of Whitby, where a puzzling tattoo on the stranger is revealed to mean Wolf Slayer. Their goal, to track him down, leads them to baffling clues: the appearance of a group of gypsies and a librarian attached to Her Majesty’s Government, who is researching a group of super wolves. His research dates as far back as King Edward and his ally, Peter Corbet, who is charged with ridding the country of these beasts.
Searching for his mates, friend Michael gets attacked and captured by the monster, then taken to the witches who control the creature.
Seeking their friend, Bobby and the others locate the gypsies, discover their leader is the beggar who initially warned Bobby, and receive aid and information. They learn that the mysterious stranger they’ve hunted is a descendent of Corbet, named Alex. Their new friend takes them to the Red Lion Inn for help in finding the cottage of the Witches of Westerdale.
They find it, burn the cottage along with the witches, rescue Michael, and return to the Inn. Here they find the beast, waiting. It is killed by Alex, who then leaves to help another in New Zealand.
Bobby Holmes, his cousin Brenda Watson and friends are embroiled in a deadly mystery in the North York Moors of England. An old beggar warns Bobby to stay away, and another stranger appears to be at the center of it all.
Bobby and his mates travel to the seaside town of Whitby, where a puzzling tattoo on the stranger is revealed to mean Wolf Slayer. Their goal, to track him down, leads them to baffling clues: the appearance of a group of gypsies and a librarian attached to Her Majesty’s Government, who is researching a group of super wolves. His research dates as far back as King Edward and his ally, Peter Corbet, who is charged with ridding the country of these beasts.
Searching for his mates, friend Michael gets attacked and captured by the monster, then taken to the witches who control the creature.
Seeking their friend, Bobby and the others locate the gypsies, discover their leader is the beggar who initially warned Bobby, and receive aid and information. They learn that the mysterious stranger they’ve hunted is a descendent of Corbet, named Alex. Their new friend takes them to the Red Lion Inn for help in finding the cottage of the Witches of Westerdale.
They find it, burn the cottage along with the witches, rescue Michael, and return to the Inn. Here they find the beast, waiting. It is killed by Alex, who then leaves to help another in New Zealand.
Bobby Holmes, his cousin Brenda Watson and friends are embroiled in a deadly mystery in the North York Moors of England. An old beggar warns Bobby to stay away, and another stranger appears to be at the center of it all.
Bobby and his mates travel to the seaside town of Whitby, where a puzzling tattoo on the stranger is revealed to mean Wolf Slayer. Their goal, to track him down, leads them to baffling clues: the appearance of a group of gypsies and a librarian attached to Her Majesty’s Government, who is researching a group of super wolves. His research dates as far back as King Edward and his ally, Peter Corbet, who is charged with ridding the country of these beasts.
Searching for his mates, friend Michael gets attacked and captured by the monster, then taken to the witches who control the creature.
Seeking their friend, Bobby and the others locate the gypsies, discover their leader is the beggar who initially warned Bobby, and receive aid and information. They learn that the mysterious stranger they’ve hunted is a descendent of Corbet, named Alex. Their new friend takes them to the Red Lion Inn for help in finding the cottage of the Witches of Westerdale.
They find it, burn the cottage along with the witches, rescue Michael, and return to the Inn. Here they find the beast, waiting. It is killed by Alex, who then leaves to help another in New Zealand.
Bobby Holmes, his cousin Brenda Watson and friends are embroiled in a deadly mystery in the North York Moors of England. An old beggar warns Bobby to stay away, and another stranger appears to be at the center of it all.
Bobby and his mates travel to the seaside town of Whitby, where a puzzling tattoo on the stranger is revealed to mean Wolf Slayer. Their goal, to track him down, leads them to baffling clues: the appearance of a group of gypsies and a librarian attached to Her Majesty’s Government, who is researching a group of super wolves. His research dates as far back as King Edward and his ally, Peter Corbet, who is charged with ridding the country of these beasts.
Searching for his mates, friend Michael gets attacked and captured by the monster, then taken to the witches who control the creature.
Seeking their friend, Bobby and the others locate the gypsies, discover their leader is the beggar who initially warned Bobby, and receive aid and information. They learn that the mysterious stranger they’ve hunted is a descendent of Corbet, named Alex. Their new friend takes them to the Red Lion Inn for help in finding the cottage of the Witches of Westerdale.
They find it, burn the cottage along with the witches, rescue Michael, and return to the Inn. Here they find the beast, waiting. It is killed by Alex, who then leaves to help another in New Zealand.
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