New Books of 2017 (Part 7)
Check out these new books that have been released as of Jan. 2017.
Click on the book covers to find them on Amazon.
Click on the book covers to find them on Amazon.
Supernatural Mystery:
(Murder by Design, book 1)
by Erin McCarthy
Bailey Burke has had a rough six months—it’s not easy
thinking your romantic overtures toward your best friend caused him to kill
himself. Except that’s exactly what happened. Ryan is very much dead, having
shot himself with his own police-issued gun. Guilt and grief shouldn’t cause
hallucinations though, but six months after Ryan went into the ground, Bailey
is freaking out and swearing his ghost is standing in her kitchen. Which he is…
Ryan claims he didn’t commit suicide, but was murdered, and
he needs Bailey to help him find his killer so he can earn his ticket out of
purgatory. Ryan’s counting on a stairway to heaven, as opposed to wings, since
that might be a little unmanly for a cop, even a dead one.
An expert in home design, with her own staging business,
Bailey can tell you where to place a couch to improve flow and comfort, but
solving a crime? Not her area of expertise. But with help from Ryan’s former
partner, Marner, she is unraveling the mystery of what happened to Ryan that
day… and unwittingly putting herself in grave danger.
It is 1898. The countdown to Britain’s war in South Africa has started, driven by national and international pressures. Newspapers, politicians, the public are being primed to advance and support what will become a foretaste of the horrors of later wars.
Coming of Age Adventure:
The Dennis Bisskit Adventures by Stephen Ainley
THE HILARIOUS STORY OF A YOUNG BOY'S GROWING UP YEARS
Meet Dennis Bisskit, short; ginger-haired; kind-hearted; game for anything. Born in 1945 on the day the war ended; it should have been a good omen. Instead it's been one disaster after another. Luckily fate normally steps in to save the day.
Gasp at the great holiday camp knobbly-knees scandal of 1955!
Be amazed as Dennis attempts to win back the world mile record for queen and country!
Discover Fosdyke's department store and the all-powerful Mrs Ricketts!
Shed a tear as Dennis visits the battlefields of France with his granddad. And meet the memorable Colour Sergeant Plunkett who teaches Dennis everything he needs to know about the army and finally makes a young man of him.
Historical Fiction:
Two detectives are unintentionally drawn into the epicentre of a powerful conspiracy to shape the outcome of the coming conflict, producing personal pressures neither man could possibly imagine.
Based on actual events, the story takes the reader behind the scenes on both sides of the conflict in Britain and South Africa; into the streets and into the minds of the combatants; into the debates and arguments at the highest and lowest levels of society that echo down the years.
But the novel itself is the subject of investigation by intelligence agencies today. The story written alludes to some events and characters that should never have been publicised since the information is strictly confidential, protected by government policy. How has the author managed to access secret files to write her account of the war? How much further will she take the information she has.
Coming of Age Adventure:
The Dennis Bisskit Adventures by Stephen AinleyTHE HILARIOUS STORY OF A YOUNG BOY'S GROWING UP YEARS
Meet Dennis Bisskit, short; ginger-haired; kind-hearted; game for anything. Born in 1945 on the day the war ended; it should have been a good omen. Instead it's been one disaster after another. Luckily fate normally steps in to save the day.
Gasp at the great holiday camp knobbly-knees scandal of 1955!
Be amazed as Dennis attempts to win back the world mile record for queen and country!
Discover Fosdyke's department store and the all-powerful Mrs Ricketts!
Shed a tear as Dennis visits the battlefields of France with his granddad. And meet the memorable Colour Sergeant Plunkett who teaches Dennis everything he needs to know about the army and finally makes a young man of him.
Fantasy Epic:
Revelations (Salinor the Beginnings Book 1) by Samuel Alexander
Danais and Leo are both orphans searching for truth. What they find, however, is much more than they anticipated and the truth could lead to their demise.Identity (Salinor the Beginnings Book 2) by Samuel Alexander
Sometimes to reach your destiny, you must change. Even if it means the death of a life you dreamed of.
Journey (Salinor the Beginnings Book 3) by Samuel Alexander
The road can make us, shake us, or break us, but without the journey, our destiny cannot be fulfilled.
Vampire Satire:
"A hand wearing a fancy watch parted the office blinds, and J.D. felt nauseous with despair: suddenly he knew—even though he could not explain how—that all of his mojo had been permanently taken away."
J.D. and George: thick as thieves since the fourth grade. J.D., the troublemaker, the stud: the alpha. George, the sidekick, the misfit: the loser. Upon graduating college, J.D. has convinced the only job creator in rusty Middlestop to hire them. BrewCorp, the hot new coffee and retail chain, is offering a vice presidency to the employee with the boldest plan for growth, and J.D. is determined to be the guy. When not sleeping with co-workers, he hatches his pitch for a one-of-a kind data pipeline. He is unbeatable--until George grabs the promotion. Now J.D. wants answers. His quest to find them—and to deal with the monstrous truth—is the subject of indie filmmaker Andrew Montlack's wry debut novel, which features the same biting satire that made his mockumentary, The Devil's Filmmaker, a cult classic.
Romantic Comedy:
Gretchen Johnson gives a sensitive and humorous account of dating in Southeast Texas. Paige, the heroine of the novel, is a young, recently divorced transplant from Minnesota and a professor of English Literature at Lamar University. She's fascinated by the culture(s) of her adopted state and trying to find a suitable mate. Her "take" on singleness and the dating scene in Beaumont is alternately witty, hopeful, resigned, and philosophical. The dozen men Paige dates are as real as any of J.D. Vance's hillbillies and as individualized as the folks old Studs Terkel used to interview. Her attitude toward Texas is overall optimistic, though she's aware of the racism, sexism, and classism which her students, her would-be lovers, and at times she herself see as simply natural. Johnson has a poet's keen eye and ear, and something of Sarah Silverman's sense of humor.
Short Stories:
Two Hundred Very Short Stories is a collection of stories each so short that the reader can start … and finish … a whole one in one night – some even in a minute! Recognising that many people don’t have enough time for regular reading – and thus can easily lose the thread of a novel – Helen Keeling-Marston set about writing a collection of short stories. Two Hundred Very Short Stories – Helen’s first book – features an eclectic mix of short stories and flash fiction: flash fiction being works of extreme brevity. Similar to a musical mix tape, the collection of stories aims to elicit a range of different emotions from the reader: joy, sadness, amusement, befuddlement, intrigue and fear. Be warned, however, that you’ll need to have your wits about you when reading this book, as Two Hundred Very Short Stories isn’t always a passive experience!
Thread and Other Stories by Eric HalpennyThread and Other Stories is a multi-genre collection of short stories (single author) that includes science fiction, fantasy, urban fiction, literary fiction, historical fiction, and espionage. There are seven stories in the collection.
Prudence and her older brother Yannick face extreme poverty and hardship in Thread. They live day to day on the wages they earn at low paying, difficult jobs. They face hardships that seem insurmountable for two young children. Isidore, an impoverished boy trying to survive on his own, enters their lives with even greater needs than Prudence and Yannick. They integrate him into their family life even as their world begins to crumble around them. But, there is an ominous backdrop to these events as strange entities take a keen interest in the lives of the three children.
A military psychologist evaluates a Vietnam war veteran who has experienced psychological damage in Shrink. The veteran’s fellow soldiers and friends must support him as the psychologist attempts to uncover the reasons behind his trauma.
Emil, Annie, and their three children—Zona, Owen, and Abner—struggle to stay safe in a steampunk-inspired fantasy world in Chance. Abner finds himself in trouble as a powerful magical being terrorizes the family farm. Only Zona’s quick thinking along with her parents’ knowledge of magic will give them a chance against the dark sorcery of the enemy.
John and Greg, bound by friendship, embark on a journey of trial and tragedy in Conflict, a 20th Century historical fiction. They must deal with death, loss, and grief as compatriots fall in battle during this poignant snapshot of the Canadian military in World War I. John and Greg show a contrast in the ways that these soldiers adapted to the psychological effects of war.
Veera, an astrophysicist, begins to experience recurring déjà vu, the source of which she cannot determine in Oversight, a science fiction adventure. She is unknowingly set on a collision course with Misha, who challenges Veera’s perception of the world as she struggles to determine what is real and what isn’t. Misha must deal with his own psychological demons as he tries to salvage a failing mission that will either end in glory or in his own death.
Dmitry is a hardened spy in the Cold War who has no mercy for his adversary Olyesa in the espionage thriller Deception. Olyesa and Dmitry navigate their way through the murky waters of agents and double agents while simultaneously struggling against each other for survival. When their divergent plans collide, it threatens to destroy them both.
Explore a metaphysical debate in the literary short story Conversation, which is woven between each of the short stories in this collection. An unnamed protagonist and an unidentified and secretive entity discuss the metaphysical and spiritual meaning behind science and what it means to gain knowledge.
Shattered Time Anthology by various authors.
Illustrated Children's Book:
Dan is a young inventor in love. He ventures into a forest looking for a rose but instead finds the mysterious Grumpface who threatens to hold him captive unless he passes some difficult challenges. What follows is a humorous adventure that neither Dan nor the Grumpface could have anticipated.
The Grumpface is a tale in the spirit of any grand adventure. It is about a clumsy young inventor’s quest for love, and the challenges he must face to find it. But it is also a tale of bravery, absurdity and happiness, and the power of these qualities over negativity and sheer grumpiness.
Every parent will be acquainted with their own little ‘grumpface’ now and then. This story stands as a small piece of hope – that no matter how ingrained the grump, there will always remain in every one of us a smile or a laugh just waiting to come out.
The Grumpface is a tale in the spirit of any grand adventure. It is about a clumsy young inventor’s quest for love, and the challenges he must face to find it. But it is also a tale of bravery, absurdity and happiness, and the power of these qualities over negativity and sheer grumpiness.
Every parent will be acquainted with their own little ‘grumpface’ now and then. This story stands as a small piece of hope – that no matter how ingrained the grump, there will always remain in every one of us a smile or a laugh just waiting to come out.
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and let me know what you are reading!
