The Apostates Book Two: Remnants

Author Lars Teeney sent me an e-version of The Apostates Book Two: Remnants for review.

Obviously being "book two" denotes that it is the second in a series (clever of me huh?). The Apostates Book Two: Remnants follows the story of the Apostate rebellion. It's no spoiler here to say the Apostates won (more or less) otherwise would we really need a sequel? So now we follow the characters from the first book as they try to re-establish the country in the power vacuum that they have created.

There are several groups, secular and religious, who wish to fill that vacuum. Although still an action oriented speculative fantasy, The Apostates Book Two: Remnants focuses more on the political machinations of those who still have personal agendas they are trying to fulfill. Have no fear, there is still plenty of action. Graphic violence is very much present (plasma blades are awesome!) as there are always advocates of violence to achieve their ends

Lars Teeney is very good at giving us characters that are well developed. He does not give us "comic book" characters. The good guys are not knights in shining armor who never ever make mistakes, and the bad guys are equally not one dimensional.

What I like most about this second book in the series is the continuation of the story beyond what could have easily been  left as it was in the first book. The rebellion was over and everyone lived happily ever after is often the way such books end. Mr. Teeney has given us in essence an extended epilogue and kept us involved in the story.

The story line of my personal favorite character has not yet been resolved, and appears that it will figure prominently in book 3. I look forward to that.

Biggest positive for me? The 1968 Charger is still tearing up the road! Although why it has to be owned by such a nasty character is unfortunate. I hope it survives book 3.

The only negative for me were the times when the story was being told in a flash back type format. A stylistic device we have all seen before. It usually takes me a few sentences to realize; oh, I'm back in such and such a time. This doesn't hurt the story, and is, of course, a legitimate format to use, I personally just sometimes struggle with it. I do better when there is a note that we are now in a different time frame. But again, that is just me.

If you liked The Apostates (book one) I think you will really like The Apostates Book Two: Remnants.
Enjoy!


Mike

The Final Roman Emperor, the Islamic Antichrist, and the Vatican's Last Crusade

The Final Roman Emperor, the Islamic Antichrist, and the Vatican's Last Crusade is the fourth, and final, installment of authors Thomas Horn and Chris Putnam's research into Biblical Prophesy. 

In order to more fully study Biblical Prophesy the authors delve into the details of cultural relevance by way of non-biblical prophesies. Islamic, Pagan, Freemason as well as Christian Prophesies are presented in detail to support their hypotheses and predictions.

I haven't been this unsettled by a book since I read On the Path of the Immortals, the third offering by Horn and Putnam. What I always come away with is gratitude that I have faith in God and Jesus Christ to sustain me. If the author's research is even remotely correct, then we see that there is no human institution to put our faith into.

Whether you are a spiritual person or not; whether you believe the information that Horn and Putnam present, an honest reader will admit that this book is well documented. The authors do not make 'off the cuff' claims. They support everything, providing copious amounts of supporting references. The Final Roman Emperor, the Islamic Antichrist, and the Vatican's Last Crusade at 363 pages is not particularly long as books go, but 751 references for the information they present are documented. That impresses me. 

As I said; The Final Roman Emperor, the Islamic Antichrist, and the Vatican's Last Crusade is not particularly long, but it is very involved. It is not an easy read by any stretch. I consider myself fairly well educated, but this book was at times very difficult for me to follow. Of course this is in part due to the topic at hand. The Final Roman Emperor, the Islamic Antichrist, and the Vatican's Last Crusade focuses on end times prophesies (not a light topic to be sure), examining the prophecies of many differing sources. They present the striking similarities between Christian, Muslim and Judaic prophesy. 

The authors present often damning evidence that the Catholic Church is involved in some very disturbing activities (understatement of the millennium!), and they back it up with many many references and quotes from various Pope's themselves.

Horn and Putnam document so many Pagan, Occultist and down right Satanic practices in the founding of America, as well as ongoing such practices, It makes one wonder how the Pledge of Allegiance can make the claim "One Nation under God". 

The Final Roman Emperor, the Islamic Antichrist, and the Vatican's Last Crusade makes a seriously disturbing prediction for the near future in America. The manner in which they support and defend this prediction, in light of current world events, makes it truly alarming.

If you at all are concerned about the current state of affairs in America, and indeed the world, The Final Roman Emperor, the Islamic Antichrist, and the Vatican's Last Crusade is well worth the read. It will make you think, and quite probably make you more than a little uncomfortable. 

I usually end my reviews with the word "Enjoy!", but that just doesn't seem appropriate here. I didn't "enjoy" this book but am very glad I read it.

Mike

A Little Leg Work

I won a print copy of A Little Leg Work by Royce Leville in a Goodreads Giveaway.

I have to first give credit to author Royce Leville for having the ability to take a topic (cannibalism) that most people (myself included) find abhorrent and turning it into a humorous story.  A Little Leg Work is a very funny story.

Although there is no indication noted in the book, it is pretty clear to me that Royce Leville is British. We find many words with the British spelling, but then again, the publisher is identified as being in Hamburg, Germany, so who can say for sure. I only mention this at all because a character in the book drives a Mercedes and the author shortens this to "Merc". Which, any American car guy knows means Mercury (both fine cars, but hardly interchangeable). This is the only language difference that is seriously noticeable.

Leville keeps the story light by not focusing too much on how the "humce" (read the book) is acquired, but on the goings on of all the characters, and how easily they slid down that slippery slope into gruesome activities.

 A Little Leg Work is not graphic, even the sex. In fact, for me, one of the funniest parts of the book is how a fetus (foetus, as the author spells it) experiences sexual activity by its host.

Author Leville uses footnotes to provide snide asides about various characters and situations. I found this a very funny way of keeping the story light.

For a short time I actually worried about what it says about me that I could find such a topic funny (but I did, call me a ghoul if you want, but it was funny). I got over it, but it may be that I won't go out for Italian for a while.

The other thing that struck me was the presence of a "Travel Page" at the front and again at the back of the book. It is a place to document the travels of the book through different readers. Kind of a neat idea until two pages later when we find the admonishment "that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out, or otherwise circulated..." (??).

The real lesson to be taken away from  A Little Leg Work by Royce Leville is: Never trust a vegetarian! Enjoy!


Mike

At This Hour, Lie At My Feet, All Mine Enemies

Author Mark Rounds provided an e-copy of At This Hour, Lie At My Feet, All Mine Enemies for review.

I'm going to start right off with the biggest problem with At This Hour, Lie At My Feet, All Mine Enemies : it has a CLIFFHANGER ENDING! AAAAAARRRRGGH!

Actually, I can't really complain about the ending because Mr. Rounds warned me when he sent me the book. So, I guess I'll have to let it pass, THIS TIME. Once again, I know, very big of me.

Seriously though, At This Hour, Lie At My Feet, All Mine Enemies is an awesome follow-up to the first book in the series, Hell Is Empty And All The Devils Are Here. Mr. Rounds introduces new characters to add to the story, for me, keeping it fresh and interesting. This go around the story has a much more military focus. I'm not usually a big reader of militaristic stories, but this one works for me. Our original characters do take a bit of a back seat for most a while, but that is where the story went so I don't see it as a negative. Some of the original characters were expanded and made more important over all.

The characters, both military and civilian act in ways that seem realistic to me. The zombies? Who knows, being zombies and all. Although fairly long at 476 pages, At This Hour, Lie At My Feet, All Mine Enemies moves at a good pace an held my interest all the way through. I didn't feel the story bogging down at all.

I read the entire book in three days, so you know it grabbed me pretty tight, and didn't let go. The last third of the book was absolutely riveting. I just couldn't put it down.

As I wrote in my last review of Mark Rounds' work, He is truly one of the writers that make reading Indie authors worth the effort. I just don't see him remaining Indie for very long. Ok, enough gushing.

At This Hour, Lie At My Feet, All Mine Enemies has lots and lots of great action sequences, good character development, no sex to speak of, and about a gazillion zombies getting wasted and many more in need of wastement. (Yeah I made up the word, I can do that, it's my review)

I highly recommend At This Hour, Lie At My Feet, All Mine Enemies by Mark Rounds to all readers of action/adventure/zombie/apocalypse/military/survivalist (I think that about covers it) books. You won't be disappointed. The only question is: How long to we have to wait for part three? Enjoy!

Mike

Prophecy

Prophecy is book #90 in the Deathlands Saga by James Axler, although Amazon mistakenly lists it at #89. I don't care, do you?

Yes, we all know James Axler is a "house name" at Gold Eagle. There have been several different writers of these books. It doesn't take a whole lot of detective work to find the actual authors name, but I'm not that interested. If you are, go for it.

Prophecy is so different from other entries in the series as to have little in common with them. I mean, they don't hardly kill anyone in this book. What's up with that?

This book is more a tale of Native American Spirituality, than it is a survivalist action/adventure. I did miss the shoot'em up aspect I expect from Deathlands. But, this being said, Prophecy itself is a pretty darn good book.

Cawdor and the companions were not the focus of the story, they were just a convenient tool to tell basically a Native American story. Three tribes trying to live up to the destiny set for them by legend. I tend to like stories about Native history. The author does bring the story back to the Deathlands theme at the end.

Die-hard Deathlands fans may be disappointed by this installment due to the lack of general mayhem. But if given a chance, and judged on it's own merits, I think the reader will find Prophecy a very entertaining book. Enjoy!

Mike

Who You Work For

A print copy of Who You Work For by Anthony David Mitchell was given to me for review.

Who You Work For is not an easy read. Not because of difficult language or concepts. It is the story of a young man raised to be a weapon. Call it brainwashing, indoctrination or whatever sinister motive you like, our main character Thomas Moore, is no doubt the creation of a twisted mind.

Moore is an assassin, and a pretty successful one, that is until he is given a job that falls outside his usual parameters.

Who You Work For is a very dark read. Without getting into details that would spoil the story, we do sympathize with Moore as he loses control of his well ordered world. Although he has a warped sense of justice, we know he is doing the best with what he has been given.

Personal insight here: Moore is actually a weak minded individual who is manipulated by many of the people he comes in contact with. He believes he is strong willed, and in some small aspects of his life he is, but for the most part he is led around by the nose. Presented as a man who would be more comfortable in a earlier time period in the U.S., Moore is so inept in social situations as to be a poor fit in any society. Again these are personal views, Mr. Mitchell may well claim I missed his point altogether.

For the main character, Who You Work For is a tragic story of misguided intentions, unrequited love, and general confusion.

Author Anthony David Mitchell does do a good job of setting this dark, depressing, world-going-to-hell-in-a-hand-basket tone. He is very adept at showing the sick and twisted underbelly of "civil" society, while taking the reader on a twisting, turning ride that will tie their sense of fair play in knots.

The difficulty in reviewing  Who You Work For is that it is well written by my standards (whatever that means) and engaging, but it was for me, a very depressing story. It got my hopes up, but ended, in my mind, tragically.

For me, this re-enforces why I stay away from "psychological" novels in general. As a former psycho-therapist, these type of stories are difficult for me. I tend to read too much into them. For some reason I am unable to sit back and accept the story for what it is on its surface. In defense of Mr. Mitchell, Who You Work For was not presented to me as a psychological novel, and may well not be intended as such at all. I know there is an audience who likes this type of story, and I don't mean to imply that I think they shouldn't. I apologize that this paragraph was more about me that about the book, but I don't want to appear to be unfairly critical without explaining why.

If you are a reader who likes delving into the dark psychological aspects of a twisted story of flawed people in a flawed society (and I know many of you do),  I think Who You Work For  by Anthony David Mitchell will be a very satisfying read for you. Enjoy!

Mike