The Former World’s Greatest Assassin leaves the world of killing to a small town only to be pulled back in. An exciting action romp in the style of classic ‘80s Action Film.
REVIEW
Sexcastle was quite a comedic find and I’m so glad our paths crossed. Kyle wrote/illustrated a story so funny and unique I read it more than once.
Shane (Sexcastle), now one of my favorite characters, had no qualms giving anyone the middle finger and the stuff coming out his mouth was funny as hell. Ex. When he spoke about the times when a man should be able to cry. 1.) When his momma dies. 2.) His dick’s got messed up. Like by a bear attack. Don’t know about you but those seemed like two valid reasons to allow waterworks.
Something else I loved about Sexcastle — his weaponry. The man had freaking gunchucks (nunchucks with built in guns). Seriously, they were wicked cool!!
Oh and wait until you meet the assassins after him.You’ll recognize most, if not all, of the 80’s action stars and chuckle at some of their names. Thunderbutt happened to be my favorite.
From start to finish, I adored everything about this book. I wish it was longer because I DID NOT want it to end. Brilliant…. absolutely brilliant!
Jack Petrov, lead singer of a successful rock band, is spending the Thanksgiving weekend with his wife and children in the Poconos. He has been out of the limelight for two years after a terrible car accident that resulted in the deaths of two of his children. Traveling with the family is the children’s nanny, Penny Shepherd. Penny and Jack have been best friends since their days at Princeton. After a verbal fight with his wife, Jack orders Penny to drive him after he gets buzzed in the lodge’s bar. Before they can return, they are abducted by kidnappers hired by someone called the Employer. Although treated okay at the beginning, their treatment worsens as the Employer demands information from Penny. After the truth is revealed, the Employer leaves after a final goodbye and Penny and Jack are left to try and survive, still as captives.
(review request submitted by the author for an honest critique)
I must warn you, before you decide to purchase Deceptions, you are in for page after page of torture. The gruesome acts against Penny were more brutal than anything Jack endured.
Why, you may ask? Because she took the brunt of any defiance by him and because the mastermind behind their abduction hated her with a passion.
Penny suffered blows from a sledgehammer, sexual assaults, burns, and the grisly list goes on. It was very difficult to read. Yes, Dana described it all in much detail which takes talent. On the other hand, the book was nearly start to finish with one deplorable act after another.
For her writing capabilities, I do respect the imaginative skill behind such an emotionally draining story. However, for me, all the violence became too much to take.
I, like Jack and Penny, wanted a reprieve from the torture. The times they did have a moment to recover, they pondered who was the mastermind — the Employer. For the boss, I was hoping I’d be surprised who’d be unveiled. Unfortunately, I wasn’t.
I’m sure you won’t be shocked who comes to visit them.
I also want to make note Deceptions ends with a cliffhanger. I can’t imagine how much more these two can endure. I almost afraid to find out.
I was born, raised, and still live in northwest Iowa. I enjoy the intricacy and problem solving of creating stories and thankful to have achieved remission from leukemia to have the chance to see my literary dreams come to fruition. I teach reading to at-risk high school students and spend my time writing, watching cooking and clothing competitions on television and being an overprotective mom to my two cats, Boots and Joey.
Feel free to visit my website where you can find more of my writing – http://www.danamansfield.com
1. For those who might not be familiar with you, would you be a dear and tell the readers a little about yourself? How did you get your start in the writing business?
(Brenda)I started my business in writing, about six years ago. However, I’ve been writing since childhood. I was always a bookworm and loved reading. I think it was my love of reading that lead to my writing my six book saga. I have always loved, storytelling and creative writing in college. One day after having a dream over and over again about two kids on a railroad track and how they meet. A story was born.
2. Do you ever suffer from writer’s block? If so, please share how you handle it.
(Brenda)I wish I could. With my Seasons Saga, I never had it, because the story was born in my dreams and I had the entire saga inside my mind. Now, that I’m writing my new book, I am indeed having some blocks. What I do is pretend to know what I’m going to write and just start writing. I think the most important thing is to write something every day, even if you don’t know where it’s going. Pretend you do.
3. Contrary to what some people envision about a romance writer’s life, it’s not all glitz and glam. Well not for the majority of us. With that bubble sadly busted, when you’re not writing, how do you spend your time?
(Brenda)Travel, playing with our two dogs, spending time with my parents and getting ready to take a long trip in our RV. I love to swim and workout. And because we eat naturally, that takes time to prepare the meals. My husband and I have a very peaceful life and we are looking forward to traveling in our motor home.
4. I know many writers, such as myself, keep their pastime/career a secret. Do those close to you know you write? If so, what are their thoughts?
(Brenda)My family has been wonderful. One of my cousins is a BETA reader, and my friends have been there, working as my street team. It’s been amazing at the support I have had around me. They know my ideas for books as soon as I get them.
5. Will you share with us your all-time favorite authors? If you’re like me, it’s a long list so give us your top ten.
(Brenda)
Louise May Alcott
J.R.R. Tolkien
Jack London
Marshall Saunders
RaeAnne Thayne (Kam: Good writer.)
Debbie Macomber (Kam: I ♥ her books.)
Susan Wiggs
Joyce Sterling Scarbrough
Robyn Carr. (Kam: She proudly displayed on my bookshelf, too.)
Nickolas Sparks
6. If you could choose one book to go to the big screen, yours or otherwise, which book would you choose and whom would you love to see cast in the parts?
(Brenda)I would love to see Seasons of Love and War go to the big screen. The main actor would be Thor Knai as Kaylob, who is wonderful and allows me to use his pictures for Kaylob, and Bella Thorne as Beth Ann.
Seasons Of Love And War Book One, is a historical family saga and epic love story. Childhood sweethearts Beth Ann Rose and Kaylob Shawn O’Brien just want to get married and pursue their dream careers, but the Vietnam War changes everything when Kaylob is drafted into the Army and declared dead. Beth Ann has a complete emotional melt down and starts to have visions of him in the jungles of Vietnam. Is he alive or has she completely lost her mind?
7. Would you care to tell us what you’re working on now? That is if it’s not top-secret information. If so, just whisper it in my ear. I swear it’ll go no further.
(Brenda)I’m working on a book called. Finding my Heart. It’s about a young lady who is a two time survivor of breast cancer and it’s come back for a third time. There is so much more to this story than cancer. It’s about love and how healing one’s heart can often heal one’s body. The main character is Starla Moon and she is finding her way in a town that she stumbled into. It’s a romance novel, but so much more. I just signed a contract with, Satin press for that one.
(Kam: Congrats!!)
8. Where can we find your stories, and is there a particular reading order?
(Brenda)Yes, you can find them at Amazon, Melange LLC, Barnes and Nobles and my website. The reading order.
(Kam: Click on the book titles to be redirected to Amazon)
10. Before we conclude this enlightening interview, do you have anything else you’d like to share? The stage is all yours.
(Brenda)Just remember if you are a writer. Never ever give up. It took me five years to get done with my Saga. Almost six. I had no idea how to write a book. So just hang in there and never be afraid to ask a friend or another writer to help you out. I love writing so much and the only regret I have is, I didn’t start sooner.
Kam:Brenda, you have given aspiring writers some great advice. If you have a dream, keep pursuing it until the dream becomes reality. Never stop reaching for the stars!!
Ladies and gents, I hope you enjoyed my interview with Brenda Ashworth Barry. If so, we want to hear from you. Say hi. Ask a question. Basically, don’t be shy. 🙂
Watch out Southern California! There’s a new entertainment attorney in town and she’s got game. Only problem is, it’s not the one she should be playing. Corrie Locke belongs behind a desk, not behind a Glock. She should be taking VIP calls, not nosing around a questionable suicide. Instead, she’s hot on the trail of a murderer.
Luckily, she’s the daughter of a late, great private eye and she’s inherited his love of sleuthing…and illegal weaponry. It doesn’t help matters that her gene for caution is a recessive one. Corrie finds herself in the center of a murder case, unearthing suspects in shocking places. With a cold-blooded killer on the loose, Corrie will have to up her game, or die trying.
I veered out of the parking lot and bounced onto the cavity-ridden dirt road. The mystery car appeared out of nowhere from beneath the tall pines, eclipsed by the darkness. Now it raced away somewhere ahead. “Why didn’t we hear it start?” I asked James. “It’s a hybrid.” “We’re in a car chase with a Prius?” A car chase with a Porsche or Ferrari was respectable, but with a battery operated car? All bragging rights vanished. I shifted into warp speed and surged downhill. Seconds later, we faced the hybrid’s rear bumper. The spot for the license plate sat empty. “He’s not getting away,” I said. The hybrid turned and launched up a hill, kicking up pebbles and a dusty haze. It fish-tailed and I nearly nipped it in the rear. I executed a sharp left and ran over something large. And lumpy. “Stop,” James said. I skidded to a halt, a cloud of dirt trapped in my headlights. The Prius escaped through an open gate and onto La Paz. My eyes cut to the rearview mirror. My tail-lights illuminated the road behind us in an eerie red glow. As I surveyed the scene, not a trace of saliva remained in my mouth.
(review request submitted by the author for an honest critique)
Have you ever read/watched a crime show and figured out the “who” and “why” of the plot halfway through? Heck, even ten minutes into the mystery and you’re suddenly bored out of your mind because there’s no real mystery at all? Well, have no fear, Murder and Other Unnatural Disasters will keep you on your toes until the bitter end.
Besides the murder/suicide case, Corrie and Michael are on a mission to retrieve a missing cat and solve the mystery of the alien abduction. Well, there weren’t really any green men but Fo didn’t know that (at first).
Doesn’t this book sound delightfully crazy? Oh it is thanks to the numerous whackadoodles gracing the pages.
However, as much fun as I had reading this whirlwind of nuttiness, a couple things made this story’s score a 3.5
1.) There were a multitude of cast members introduced to us at once. In fact, I kept a list of who everyone was and a brief description of each until I really got to know them.
2.) At certain points of the book, I wondered if there was a mini story (a .5 novella) written before this one. I actually checked because when Clayton appeared, when she thought of her father’s death (before the big unveil of what happened to him), I felt as if I missed something. So, I checked and I noticed there wasn’t anything before Murder and Other Unnatural Disasters.
3.) Corrie was noticeable jealous of the attention women gave Michael but seemed to want James as well. She also “spoke” too much about the attractiveness of her male co-workers.
So my question is…. Does she really have feelings for Michael? Want James? Both? Or is she just noticing and wondering what it would be like with any attractive male?
My gut is telling me a love triangle is in the works and I can’t wait to read it. Plus, I can’t wait to watch her sleuthing ways in action again. I have no doubt book 2 will be just as entertaining.
Like her heroine, Lida Sideris worked as an entertainment attorney for a film studio. Unlike her heroine, she was not blackmailed into investigating the suspicious death of a co-worker. Lida resides in the northern tip of Southern California with her family, their rescue shepherds, and a flock of uppity chickens. She was the recipient of the Helen McCloy/Mystery Writers of America scholarship for her first novel, Murder and Other Unnatural Disasters. To learn more, please visit www.LidaSideris.com.
Genre: (any language warnings, explicit sex or anything that might offend anyone) YA Mystery. This book deals with death, loss, and grief. There are difficult concepts to deal with and uncomfortable.
Blurb:
How would you cope is somebody you love committed suicide? Delilah’s father is the greatest man she has ever known. When he commits suicide her world is shattered. She can’t eat. She can’t sleep. Her bubbly personality becomes ascorbic. All she wants is to be left alone. When his insurance policy refuses to pay out, Delilah sets out to prove what she’s known all along: that his suicide was in fact a murder. A story of getting over grief and learning those you idolize aren’t perfect, told in blog posts through Delilah and her best friend. On the surface My Father Didn’t Kill Himself is a mystery book, but right below the surface is a story of how people get over grief. And not just how Delilah gets over her grief of losing the person she idolizes most in the world. Also about how a wife gets over the grief of her husband, a husband that was supposed to provide for her, but instead left her alone and destitute. Mixed with that is the loss felt by Alex, Delilah’s best friend, in losing her best friend to the anguish of grief, watching her slip away and pull back from the world, feeling helpless.
Here is what The Suicide Handbook says about drowning.
Drowning in cold water is supposed to be like going to sleep. For me, it was a nightmare.
Shivering, freezing, I sat for a minute until my body
Adjusted to the cold. Then I sunk down under the water. The cold washed over me, but my lungs were on fire. Before I could pass out my natural instincts kicked in. I couldn’t fight them. I kicked and screamed
until half the water was gone. I gasped for air. It was frightful.
I performed my experiment much like J. I laid down in the tub until my body adjusted to the temperature. Once I was acclimated, I sunk below the water. I breathed out until there were no bubbles. And I waited. It didn’t take long for the fire in my lungs to start. Soon, it was unbearable. My body thrashed around for a moment before I shot out of the water and gasped for precious air.
I wholeheartedly endorse every word J said.
On top of that I realized something.
If I died in this tub, my bowels would empty, and I would be sitting in feces-filled water until somebody found me. That is not a dignified way to die—my bowel excretion muddying the water and coating me in a fine mist of poop. They’d be scrubbing for days to get me ready for the casket.
No thank you.
CEMETERY
Posted by Delilah Clark × December 16 at 7:22 pm.
Before every session with Dr. Bennett, Susie drives me to the cemetery and tries to coerce me into visiting my father’s grave.
I’d never been to his grave before; not since the funeral. It didn’t seem important to me.
It’s not like he’s in there anyway. Maybe his body, but not him. If he’s anywhere, he’s by my side as I try to fulfill his last wishes, not hanging out in a cemetery.
But Susie always insists on driving to the cemetery anyway. The cemetery is a weird place full of weird people. There’s this tall undertaker who seems a little too into the dead people’s families. He’s like overeager for them to buy something. His smile creeps me out.
There’s a grave digger who has to be high on something because he moves slower than molasses. Sometimes I catch the funeral director yelling at him, as if that’s going to motivate somebody that digs graves for a living to pick up the pace. Shocker, it never worked.
They’re not weird in a bad way though. Some of them I could like if I didn’t hate everybody on principle. There’s this guy who is always reading comic books. He introduced himself to me one day as “Roscoe. Roscoe Fay.” Like he’s James Bond or something. He just sits under this tall oak tree overlooking the cemetery and silently reads comics. I would watch him read sometimes, letting my eye catch a cool image every once and a while.
I would usually just sit there, looking out at the cemetery, until Susie gave up and drove us away. But today was different. Today, I felt a twinge in my stomach, a pang, not quite a stress baby, but maybe a stress zygote, or an unfertilized egg.
I needed to see his grave. I needed to talk to him.
Susie was ready to fight, but before she could open her big mouth I pushed out of the door and walked over to his grave.
It was weird.
For all my research on death, I had no idea how to act in a cemetery. I saw a few people crying over graves and placing flowers on them as they rehashed their day.
That isn’t me. I’m cried out.
His gravestone was simple and to the point.
Tim Clark. Devoted husband and father.
I read it over and over again. Have you ever noticed that any word you say over and over again sounds super weird? Just try saying neck two hundred times and tell me that’s not a silly word by the end?
By the eight millionth silent loop, my dad’s name sounded like an alien language. Maybe Zorgblopple, which I just made up.
“Hey dad,” I finally said. “How are you doing? Probably not so bad, right? I mean worms might be eating your insides, but at least you can’t feel how cold it is, right?”
I paused, waiting for a response from him. I felt like an idiot.
“It’s been snowing here a lot. Remember when Mom went out of town for the weekend and it rained? You always said that God was crying because he missed her. I thought that was silly, but I always think about that when it rains or snows now.”
I liked it. I liked it so much I skipped therapy and sat there most of the day. I really can’t tell you how much better than therapy it is.
(review request submitted by the author for an honest critique)
My Father Didn’t Kill Himself discusses several touchy subjects: suicide, underage drinking, and a sex game high schoolers have conjured up using jelly bracelets.
Fortunate for me, I have a son who’d rather stay at home and play video games than go to parties. Yes, I lucked out. However, many other parents aren’t so lucky. I firmly believe they’ll be some long talks after a parent reads this. Actually, I hope teenagers decide to speak up and discuss this book, their problems, basically whatever is on their minds, with someone — mom, dad, grandparent, etc.
IMHO, and maybe I’m wrong, but I think opening a dialogue between caregiver and the young adult was the intent of My Father Didn’t Kill Himself. For that purpose, I think Russell nailed it.
Despite the nature of each chapter, only one bothered me greatly — “Jenny’s Party”. As a reader, as a mom, I found this section rather disturbing. I can see the point of the chapter. Yes, parties occur and terrible acts happen at them; those punishable by law. I, for one, DID NOT like the name of the drink (too disgusting to say) and I DID NOT like how Delilah (Russell) described high school boys. As I stated above, I am a mother to an almost seventeen year old and my son is NOT 5 drinks away from forcing himself on an unconscious anyone.
Not all boys are like that. Frankly, to say so was in extreme poor taste.
With that rant over, I will reiterate, My Father Didn’t Kill Himself will and should make parents sit down with their child(ren) and have a great heart to heart talk.
Russell Nohelty is a writer, publisher, and consultant. He is the publisher of Wannabe Press and its main author. Russell likes to write genre fiction with deep character studies. He’s sadistic with his characters, putting them in the worst situations and watching them claw their way back up, just to kick them back into the abyss. Russell started his career writing comics, and now writes novels and children’s books as well.
