January Justice Book Blast ~ a Review

January Justice
by Athol Dickson
ISBN: 978-0985430290
$3.99 (Kindle)


About the book:
Reeling from his wife’s unsolved murder, Malcolm Cutter is just going through the motions as a chauffeur and bodyguard for Hollywood’s rich and famous. Then a pair of Guatemalan tough guys offer him a job. It’s an open question whether they’re patriotic revolutionaries or vicious terrorists. Either way, Cutter doesn’t much care until he gets a bomb through his window, a gangland beating on the streets of L.A., and three bullets in the chest. Now there’s another murder on Cutter’s Mind. His own.

My thoughts:
January Justice is a big book with lots of twists and turns. Opening with Malcolm coming home after spending 7 months in a mental hospital after suffering a major breakdown when his wife walks off a cliff and he can't save her. Behind all the pain and sorrow is a huge mystery of what happened just before his wife died and he went crazy - and a wild ride filled with murder, attempted murder, beatings and confusion.

January Justice is a bit of a violent ride although there is no language or bedroom scenes that I can think of (however not without 1 young woman trying of course). It does take a while to get the story moving and I'll be honest at first I had a hard time focusing long enough to get very far. I am so glad that I stuck with it. The mystery behind the mystery came out of nowhere and Athol Dickson managed to cross all the T's and dot all the I's and didn't leave me hanging!

Wonderful book! This title however is for adults (no teens here please) and if you like suspense, mystery and a whole lotta angst it should be right up your alley! I had not read this particular author before and would personally compare him to J.A. Jance some (in the writing) and even a little Iris Johanson (through the story itself and the ability to draw the reader in).

About the author:
Athol Dickson’s mystery, suspense, and literary novels have won three Christy Awards and an Audie Award. Suspense fans who enjoyed Athol’s They Shall See God will love his latest novel, January Justice, the first installment in a new mystery series called The Malcolm Cutter Memoirs. The second and third novels in the series, Free Fall in February, and A March Murder, are coming in 2013.

Critics have favorably compared Athol’s work to such diverse authors as Octavia Butler (Publisher’s Weekly), Hermann Hesse (The New York Journal of Books) and Flannery O’Connor (The New York Times). Athol lives with his wife in southern California.

Website: http://www.malcolmcutter.com 
                Read an excerpt, read Malcolm Cutter's blog and more!
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AtholDickson
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Athol-Dickson/416622918355206

 

 

Pump Up Your Book and Athol Dickson are teaming up to give you a chance to win a fabulous prize!

 

Here’s how it works:

Each person will enter this giveaway by liking, following, subscribing and tweeting about this giveaway through the Rafflecopter form placed on blogs throughout the tour. This promotion will run from March 18 – Mar 22. The winner will be chosen randomly by Rafflecopter, contacted by email and announced on March 25, 2013. Visit each blog stop below to gain more entries as the Rafflecopter widget will be placed on each blog for the duration of the tour. Good luck everyone!

*** Click Here to Enter ***

Disclaimer: I was given a copy of the book to read & review on GivingNSharing. I was not required to have a positive review and no money exchanged hands. Thanks!

 

Linda Weaver Clarke week! Book Tour

This drawing has ended & the winners have been contacted.

Welcome to the 2nd Annual Follower Love Giveaway Hop! Hosted by Kathy from I Am a Reader, Not a Writer and Rachel Renee Anderson. For the next 8 days, you will find 328 blogs participating in reviews and giveaways of interesting books, book paraphernalia and more! 

This week be sure to return back to GivingNSharing for my feature author - Linda Weaver Clarke. We will be featuring two of her books, along with an interview and a giveaway (of course). At the bottom of this post you will find the linky to hop around.

Anasazi Intrigue
by Linda Weaver Clarke
ISBN: 978-1589825871
ASIN: B0048ELLN4
$19.95 Paperback
$9.85 Kindle   

About the book:
When a devastating flood wipes out homes in a small town, residents are shocked by the news of a possible poison spill that also kills many of the fish and neighbors’ pets. The people don’t know what to think or do, until Julia, the town’s newest reporter, jumps into action and begins her investigation. Quickly Julia realizes the story is much bigger and more dangerous than she thought.

As information unfolds, Julia and her husband find themselves on the run, trying to save their lives while finishing the story of a lifetime. Will Julia and John be able to get the scoop and survive?

The Intrigue Series:

My thoughts:

Anasazi Intrigue is the 1st book in The Intrigue Series by Linda Weaver Clark. My interest in archeology & the Mayans and Aztecs has been part of me since I was in about 5th (9 yrs old) grade and so I was intrigued (grin) when I read a review on another blog and entered to win the book - and I WON it! Linda found out I had a book blog of my own and 6 months down the road I'm finally caught up on my own reading (and all 3 blogs) to have time to read this wonderful series of books. 

I actually started with Anasazi Intrique (what I thought was book 2). I wasn't sure which book was book 1 so I just started in. The nice thing about the books is that each is self-contained and if you read it out of order that's OK - you won't be totally lost! Anasazi Intrigue is the story of The Adventures of John & Julie Evans. Julie is a news woman who longs to bite into a "real" story - something with meat and substance and wants to prove herself to her coworkers. 

Julie and John both have a heart for the people and head out one day to help the victims of a flood and as they are pitching in where they can Julie comes across dead fish and animals in an area seemingly untouched by the flood. Julie's intuition tells her something is wrong here and she ends up bring home a dead cat and the dead fish to be tested. The result shows that they have been poisoned and Julie talks her newspaper into allowing her to investigate and write a series of articles on the flooding and it's affect in the area along with the poisoned wildlife.

This is a very interesting series. Linda Weaver Clarke is an experienced writer who has written many books and it shows in the writing of this series. The books are well researched, well written and smoothly flow from one scene to the next. The characters are thought out and each thread is completed by the end of the story.

I personally had some trouble getting involved in the story at first but by the end I wanted to know what was coming up next and was looking forward to reading the Mayan Intrique.


Please Tweet:  " Stolen artifacts, a devastating flood, and mysterious events - #KINDLE Book!! RT @familyliteracy WW Win It 2/14 @ http://tiny.cc/zlayw "

You can purchase any of the books from The Intrigue Series by Linda Weaver Clarke on Amazon. They are available in a paperback or for your Kindle. Click here to purchase Anasazi Intrigue.

Learn more about Linda Weaver Clarke:

1. Welcome to the World of Make Believe 
2. A Family Friendly Blog 
3. Thoughts About Life & Writing 
4. Facebook
5. Twitter

It's a Giveaway! 

Linda has very generously offered a Kindle copy of Anasazi Intrigue and a copy of Mayan Intrigue - 2 winners - 1 book each! Again, be sure to come back throughout the week, Tweet the giveaway, read my review of Mayan Intrigue (Thursday) and also my interview with Linda (Saturday).

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Disclaimer: This book was provided to me as a review copy. I was not required to provide a positive review and no money exchanged hands. At the time of this post these prices were accurate and may have already changed, please keep that in mind.

A Gentle Thief ~ Book Tour & Review

A Gentle Thief
by Amanda Dickson
ISBN: 978-1466304277
Published by:
Kindle Edition: $9.99

About the Book:
Maddie Johnson loved Shakespeare. Unlike everybody else she knew growing up, she seemed to understand him, enjoy him, more with every reading. It was partly because of this love that she drove from her home in rural Pennsylvania to college at Southern Utah University, home every summer to the Utah Shakespearean Festival. It was partly that, and partly the desire to get as far away as possible. Maddie thought being in Utah would help her forget, that the stark beauty of the scenery and the power of the metaphor would be enough to clear her. They weren’t.

In her freshman year, she met and, after graduation, married a much older man, Robert Able, the first person Maddie had ever known who understood her love of Shakespeare.

At 21, Maddie felt too young to be married. At 23, she felt too young to be divorced. Maddie was found dead on New Year’s Day, clutching a gun to her chest. Everyone assumed she committed suicide. Everyone except her father.

A Gentle Thief is Maddie’s story, and that of her father and the young attorney he hires who becomes devoted to him and the truth of his cause.

My Thoughts:
An engrossing story that moves fast and keeps the reader involved and unwilling to put the book down. It's the story of 2 women ~ one murdered in 1984 and the other a woman just beginning a new career with a case that could easily make or break her future.

Madeline is a young woman who has known upheaval and abuse her entire life. Her mother was abusive to her father and when they divorced Maddie spent time between to homes. She was very close to her father and they each supported and encouraged each other over the years while her mother and his wife tore him down every chance she got.

Marrying at a young age and divorced 2 years later, Madeline is found one day by her neighbor who claims that she committed suicide. The gun is found in her hands, she has obviously been cleaned up and the bedding has been changed thereby destroying evidence. The police and the investigators completely botch the case, evidence goes missing and her father spends the next 20 years trying to get the authorities to change her cause of death from suicide to murder. And then Sophie Brownlie enters the picture as a fresh from law school lawyer who is assigned the case to see if it has merit....

A Gentle Thief reminded me of Conspiracy Brief (with Julia Roberts) - the atmosphere is similar with the legal speech, the mystery surrounding the death of Maddie, the fast moving pace as the story builds and then heads toward it's conclusion.

A very long book at over 500 pages you can purchase it on Kindle or purchase the paperback copy. It's a great story and well worth purchasing the $17.99 paperback - you'll definitely want it in your home library. My only thought is that at $18 the book should of been a hardback book not a paperback. It's a great read for a cold snowy day and if you have a fire going it only adds to the atmosphere as you read.

A Gentle Thief is a book nearly 20 years in the making, inspired by a case the author worked on while a lawyer. She is the mother of Aiden (4) and Ethan (6) and the step-mother of Laurel (22), Ashley (21) and Cameron (18) and currently is not only an author but also a radio announcer for www.ksl.com and the host of "A Woman's View". When she isn't at home caring for her family or on the radio you may be able to find her in front of an audience - Amanda speaks to all kinds of businesses, women's groups, governmental groups, gatherings of every size and scope on the topics of joy in work, team building, change, friendship, hope, finding untapped energy and every variation on those themes imaginable.  She would be delighted to speak to your group if the opportunity should ever arise.

Amanda's Website
Amanda's Blog
Amanda's facebook page


You can learn more about A Gentle Thief on the MediaGuests.net website during the blog tour in November and December.


I received a copy of the ebook to review. I was not required to post a positive review and no money exchanged hands. Thanks to MediaGuests.net and Amanda Dickson for sharing a great book!


Follow along:

Gypsy Knights Review & Giveaway for a Kindle Book!

Click above to follow the tour!

Gypsy Knights
by Two Brothers Metz
Kindle Price: $2.99 purchase
Published by LoudCloud Publishing

About the book:
Fourteen year old Durriken Brishen has lost his grandfather, his parents and though he doesn't know it, his culture's dangerous gift. Taken in and raised on the rails by a freight train engineer, Durriken has one remaining connection to his Gypsy roots, a small wooden box that hangs from the hammer loop of his overalls. The last gift he received from his grandfather, the box contains the world's first chess set. Gypsy Knights is the saga of Durriken Brishen and his quest to rediscover his past.

My thoughts:
I really enjoyed this book. It's fast paced, full of history and it was fun to "travel" with Durriken (Duri) and his friend Dilia. The book opens with the story of how Duri receives the chess set and the death of his parents. At first it's hard to know who everyone is because it jumps around some between years and individuals. You jump from his story, to