indie review: Strength of a Giant, Tony Passarelli

Strength of a Giant, written by Tony Passarelli.

From the author: “Strength of a Giant is a short story about the enigmatic Son of God Emanuel and the Archangel Raphael. Will they be able to fight the evil plot of Jovian, who is an amalgamation of fallen angels, or has time run out? The final battle takes place within the Milky Way and our solar system will never be the same again. . .”

The quality of the writing is decent. The interesting concept, unique setting (angels in space!) and quick pace hold the reader's attention for the duration of the novellette. Given the length of the story, Emanuel's character was pretty well-developed.

The only issue I had was that I thought there could have been a more thorough setup to what was happening in the story, maybe some more elaboration on the angels as aliens business.

Also, there was a reference at the beginning of the story to The Book of Biden. I didn’t know what that was until I reread the e-mail from Tony with his About the Author (below). Before rereading his e-mail, I googled The Book of Biden and all the links that came up were about the US Vice President’s book.

All in all, it was a unique and enjoyable read.

About the Author
Tony Passarelli lives in Nottingham, England.

He spent many years working as an
independent film-maker. In the process he
wrote a number of film scripts which kindled
his interest in becoming a novelist.

'Strength of a Giant' is his first completed work.

Tony is currently working on his fantasy novel
'The Book of Biden'

Strenth of a Giant available to buy on amazon.com Paperback

http://www.amazon.com/Strength-Giant-Tony-Passarelli/dp/1446600297/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1300113504&sr=1-5

Strength of a Giant Kindle US

http://www.amazon.com/Strength-of-a-Giant-ebook/dp/B004O6MSTW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=A7B2F8DUJ88VZ&s=digital-text&qid=1303654652&sr=1-1

Strenth of a Giant available to buy on amazon.co.uk Paperback

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Strength-Giant-Tony-Passarelli/dp/1446600297/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1299675053&sr=1-1

Strength of a Giant Kindle UK

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Strength-of-a-Giant-ebook/dp/B004O6MSTW/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&m=A3TVV12T0I6NSM&qid=1299675053&sr=1-1

Strength of a Giant available to buy in paperback and pdf download at lulu.com

http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/Tone

guess what. indie review!

I know, I know. Thursday has been a guest author day for the last month or so. The guest posts are over for the moment, with the exception of my one and only artist post, which is scheduled for 4/26. And maybe one more author in May.

Dry Bones is a short story about a man who is resurrected, body sans soul, and wanders onto a farm. There are some naughty people on the farm raping, killing and pillaging and such.

The story has powerful imagery and drama to spare. It's pretty well written. If I were to make any writing changes, I would kill all the "had" and "had been". They dilute the writing. I think the protagonist, Dry Bones, could've had clearer motivation too. I've never resurrected anyone but if I did, I would like to think I had some grand purpose in mind.

Good for a read. Free on the SmashWords when I downloaded it.

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/26894

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The Chronicles of a Lost Soul, by Michael LaRocca

The Chronicles of a Lost Soul is a collection of short stories and poems written by Michael LaRocca.

I'm not going to go through every story individually because we'll be here all day. So, I'm doing a brief overview with some highlights.

In various parts of the book, the writing style was reminiscent of King, Poe, or Dante. The book had everything from philosophy to suspense to creepiness to humor to goriness.

One thing I really noticed was the author's ability to alter his 'voice'. The stories were each written in a distinct manner.

There were only a couple parts of the book that I didn't love. One of them was a story told from a dog's perspective.

All in all, I really enjoyed this book. If you would like to check it out, the link to smashwords is below.

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/17846

_________________________
Other places to find me:
http://www.LeaRyan.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/LeaRyan1

indie review - Everafter Acres, by Carolyn Kephart

Set in medieval times, the short story Everafter Acres is about a discontented princess. Her knight/husband has rescued her umteen thousand times (rescues symbolize sex in this particular story, I think), and she's bored with that whole dynamic.

Likewise, she's tired of the castle neighborhood (which is essentially a subdivision), and her social obligations seem tedious. She leaves home to seek help from the local wise woman.

The story was well written and edited, with the exception of a slight overuse of the word 'vernacular'. The author does an excellent job of keeping the speech and details consistent with the time period.

The only major issue I had with this story was that there was a lack of resolution. There was action; there was conflict. Resolution? Not so much. The conclusion was more of a temporary alleviation of the boredom than an actual conclusion.

If you would like to read the story yourself, it can be found at the link below. The story was free when I downloaded it, but now costs $1.

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/24132

_________________________
Other places to find me:
http://www.LeaRyan.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/LeaRyan1

indie revew - The Tale of Spam City

The Tale of Spam City, by MT McGuire is a free e-short that I downloaded from smashwords.

The story begins in a parallel universe where Griselda the spam eating wench is a tad upset. For one cannot be a spam eating wench unless one eats some spam. She has not.

She, of this apparently halloween-esque parallel universe, travels to our universe to find some spam. She encounters some difficulties from cops to the cashier expecting to collect money in exchange for the spam.

One thing that I really liked about this story was the rythm of the writing. It read like a fairy tale.

I also enjoyed the strangeness of the parallel universe. There were a lot of imaginative details from the culture to the creatures.

The Tale of Spam City was a decent story. I think it could do with a slight edit, but it was good for a freebie.

Here is a link that will take you to the story -

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/20309

_________________________
Other places to find me:
http://www.LeaRyan.com/
Babylon Dragon on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Babylon-Dragon-Lea-Ryan/dp/1453683054/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_2
Twitter: http://twitter.com/LeaRyan1

Disaster at Minotaur Meats

Today I read Disaster at Minotaur Meats by Matthew Sawyer.

The story is about two teenage brothers who get jobs at the meat plant their mother used to work at. Minotaur Meats isn't just a creative name for the plant. The plant actually started out selling minotaur meat that people ate.

That in itself is a very interesting concept – the slaughter of mythical creatures for our consumption. The author calls the people who eat that meat 'pseudo-cannibals' because the minotaur is, you know, half bull and half human.

Minotaur Meats no longer sells minotaur meat due to some nasty side effects consumers experienced. The business, headed by a man named Mr. Brink, has moved on to slaughtering another creature called a tomga. It’s sort of like a rat but infinitely more disgusting.

So the teenage boys are hired to hunt down the tomga that escape the meat plant. And boys will be boys, they end up making some trouble.

The tomga aren’t the only monsters. Also present is the uber cold-hearted business, which is just as bad, if not worse than the rats.

The author of this story did a great job grossing out with vivid descriptions of the detestable critters. The story was deliciously morbid and really what I hoped for with respect to plot.

If you haven’t yet read Disaster at Minotaur Meats, it is available for download at www.smashwords.com

_________________________
Other places to find me:
http://www.LeaRyan.com/
Babylon Dragon on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Babylon-Dragon-Lea-Ryan/dp/1453683054/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_2
Twitter: http://twitter.com/LeaRyan1

life shakeups

Lately, I've been thinking about how my life has consisted of the same activities for some time. I am very much a girl with a routine. I've been trying to figure out how I could change things up a bit so I don't die of boredom.

Then change found me.

My tortoise that I had for 13 years died. He was an old boy but energetic and fun. I'll miss him.

I lost contact with my only friend who is a gamer. Now I have have absolutely no one to talk about video games with, which makes me really sad. I have zero geek friends. Can you take out a personal ad for that? Married female seeking friends who gravitate toward video games, scifi, and/or movies? I know I can hit message boards but it's not the same.

I did go out to a bar on Saturday night for a while, so that was fun. I have a friend who apparently gets paid to sit and eat taco salads and drink beer and "make sure everyone is doing what they're supposed to be doing". She is a bar babysitter. And she gets paid for it. How do you even get a job like that? And after you get the job, how do you avoid gaining 300 pounds?!?!

The out of the ordinary things haven't all been great necessarily. I guess I asked for it though. I continue to look for ways to shake things up, preferably ways that do not entail death. This weekend, if the heat isn't too intense, I'm thinking of taking the children to the new sculpture park and maybe somewhere else fun.

As for book working, I'm putting the final touches on MacDowell Sisters & AnnaBeth. I'm looking for someone to review it. The optimal siuation would be to have a review ready when the novel is released. If anybody knows anybody that can hook up the underdog indie author, that would be the dandiest thing of all. Seriously, a journalist type, a blogger, pretty much anybody with some place they write things that other people read would be great.
Lea-ryan@hotmail.com

I plan to start reading Disaster at Minotaur Meats (from Smashwords) probably the day after tomorrow, or maybe the day after that, depending on how fast I finish working on my book. So don't forget to download it and give it a read if you're interested in commenting. Anyone except for those weird dating service message board spammers is welcome.

_________________________
Other places to find me:
http://www.LeaRyan.com/
Babylon Dragon on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Babylon-Dragon-Lea-Ryan/dp/1453683054/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_2

Twitter: http://twitter.com/LeaRyan1


That's all I have for now.

Indie Reviews for this Month

Woo! Better late than never.

Apparently no indie writers wanted to have their book reviewed this month because I had zero submissions. Seriously, if you want your book reviewed next month, please submit the synopsis on the Book Reviews section of my website - http://www.LeaRyan.com
I don't bite. I'm not trying to rip anyone off. I do this shiz for free, with the exception of a copy of the ebook so I can read it.

Due to lack of submissions, I chose a couple of freebies from SmashWords.com. If you would like to download them and read along and comment on the reviews, please do! I actually think that would be pretty cool, and I'm sure the authors would appreciate it.

The first review will be on a short story called Minotaur Meats, by Matthew Sawyer. The second will be on a longer short story called The Tale of Spam City, by MT McGuire.

I have to finish my last readthru of MacDowell Sisters & AnnaBeth and then I will start reading Minotaur Meats.

_________________________
Other places to find me:
http://www.LeaRyan.com/
Babylon Dragon on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Babylon-Dragon-Lea-Ryan/dp/1453683054/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_2
Twitter: http://twitter.com/LeaRyan1

indie review - Billy Young's Bublos

Bublos
by: Billy Young
pp. 240 pages
available at lulu.com






















A man falls victim to brutal murder. Joe, one of the men who is hired to clean out his apartment, finds a book that contains strange writing. Joe feels drawn to the book and takes it home with him. He winds up at the center of a conflict between an angel and a couple of demons.


One thing this book has going for it is how easily relatable the main character is. Joe is your ordinary guy thrust into an extraordinary situation. He reacts the way most people would probably react to the circumstances put upon him.

Too, the supporting characters have distinct and believable voices. The angel 'sounds' like an angel, Joe sounds like a regular guy, etc.

While another revision might allow the author to shorten some too long sentences and enhance the story, the novel has a strong premise. Angels and demons vie for possession of a book protected by a flawed human being. That is an interesting concept.

Bublos is available for purchase at the link below!

http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/bublos/5648993?productTrackingContext=search_results/search_shelf/center/1

The Crazies & The Indie Review Announcement

Happy Tuesday to all who dwell in the internets.

We watched a little movie called The Crazies this weekend. I thought it was going to be about brain munchers (zombies), but it wasn't. The Crazies was instead a movie with a premise very similar to 28 Days Later.

A community is accidentally exposed to a biological weapon. People get sick and ugly and well, crazy. The good guys in the movie are trying to escape both military types who try to contain the disease by killing everyone and victims of the disease.

The movie stars Timothy Olyphant of Hit Man fame. There is something about him that is both attractive and yet not attractive. I'm still trying to figure out why I feel that way.

Soooo, the movie was decent. It had a few intense scenes. The acting was fine. The only issue I had with this movie was a lack of originality. It didn't bring anything new to the table. We've all seen this stuff before.

Overall, The Crazies was worth watching. It gets a B.

Next up, we have the announcement for my first ever Indie Review.

This month's selection is a book called Bublos, and it's written by Billy Young of Scotland! I should post the review either this coming Friday or at the latest Monday. The book is available at lulu.com in print and ebook form.

_________________________
Other places to find me:
http://www.LeaRyan.com/
My Lulu storefront http://stores.lulu.com/store.php?fAcctID=4584399
Amazon Author Page - http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B003Q1OK5Q
Twitter: http://twitter.com/LeaRyan1

Trying Something New

I sometimes write about books on my blog, whatever I'm reading, which is usually mainstream best selling fiction.

I'm tired of reading what everyone else is reading. James Patterson does not need (or probably want) my help selling his books. I've decided to review self published or indie published books.

I was thinking one a month to start, here on the blog. No, I'm not charging, other than a copy of the e-book itself.

And since I'm doing this primarily out of the goodness of my heart, I get to make the rules.

Specs
Length - 100,000 words or less
These genres only - horror, sci-fi, paranormal, suspense, humor/comedy, mystery, fantasy, or action, YA is ok as long as it fits into one of the above categories.

Please DO NOT submit - anything shoddily edited, poetry, romance, soap opera type dramas, fan fiction, nonfiction, memoirs or biographies, erotica, religious propaganda, anything boring or that features werewolves and/or vampires.

If you are interested in having your book reviewed here, visit the form via the link below. I will give special consideration to anyone who follows my blog and/or follows me on the Twitter (@LeaRyan1), so please be sure to include your id.

No sales pitch other than the synopsis is necessary. I don't care about anyone's resume or how deep their narcissism runs.

I'll choose the first book some time before July 1st and announce it on the blog and my Twitter.

The submission form is on the Book Reviews tab on my website. www.LeaRyan.com

Have a lovely weekend!