Reading, Reviewing, Guest Authors, Giveaways and more.
This is a meme to list the books completed last week, the books currently being read, and the books to be finished this week.
COMPLETED LAST WEEK:
Through Hazel Eyes by Heather Hummel (review will be posted this week)
Muffins & Mayhem by Suzanne Beecher (loved it)
CURRENTLY READING:
Damaged by Pamela Callow
WHAT’S NEXT:
Grace Under Pressure by Julie Hyzy
Revenge Served Cold by Jackie Fullerton
I have someone very special stopping by to spend some time with us while on tour of his latest book. I read his last book and it was phenomenal, one of my favorites of the year. I could not put the book down. You may have read it too, at least I hope you did, because if not, you need to pick it up. His newest novel has already made it to Amazon’s Top Ten Kindle Mystery & Thrillers this past weekend. So pick up this one too. He was also kind and generous with his time to spend one Sunday LIVE here on my blog answering questions and replying to comments. Who is this author you ask? What was his last book? It was Moonlight Falls, and the very talented author I am talking about is Vincent Zandri. So please help me give a huge and warm welcome back to Mr. Zandri !!!
The Remains author, Vincent Zandri, is an award-winning novelist, essayist and freelance photojournalist. His novel As Catch Can (Delacorte) was touted in two pre-publication articles by Publishers Weekly and was called “Brilliant” upon its publication by The New York Post. The Boston Herald attributed it as “The most arresting first crime novel to break into print this season.” Other novels include the bestselling, Moonlight Falls,Godchild (Bantam/Dell) and Permanence (NPI). Translated into several languages including Japanese and the Dutch, Zandri’s novels have also been sought out by numerous major movie producers, including Heyday Productions and DreamWorks. Presently he is the author of the blogs, Dangerous Dispatches and Embedded in Africa for Russia Today TV (RT). He also writes for other global publications, including Culture 11, Globalia and Globalspec. Zandri’s nonfiction has appeared in New York Newsday, Hudson Valley Magazine, Game and Fish Magazine and others, while his essays and short fiction have been featured in many journals including Fugue, Maryland Review and Orange Coast Magazine. He holds an M.F.A. in Writing from Vermont College and is a 2010 International Thriller Writer’s Awards panel judge. Zandri currently divides his time between New York and Europe. He is the drummer for the Albany-based punk band to Blisterz.
You can visit his website at www.vincentzandri.com or his blog at http://www.vincentzandri.blogspot.com/.
Thirty years ago, teenager Rebecca Underhill and her twin sister Molly were abducted by a man who lived in a house in the woods behind their upstate New York farm. They were held inside that house for three horrifying hours, until making their daring escape.
Vowing to keep their terrifying experience a secret in order to protect their mother and father, the girls tried to put the past behind them. And when their attacker was hunted down by police and sent to prison, they believed he was as good as dead.
Now, it’s 30 years later, and with Molly having passed away from cancer, Rebecca, a painter and art teacher, is left alone to bear the burden of a secret that has only gotten heavier and more painful with each passing year.
But when Rebecca begins receiving some strange anonymous text messages, she begins to realize that the monster who attacked her all those years ago is not dead after all. He’s back, and this time, he wants to do more than just haunt her. He wants her dead.
Read the Excerpt!
Albany, New York
In the deep night, a woman sits down at her writing table. Fingering a newly sharpened pencil, she focuses her eyes upon the blank paper, brings the black pencil tip to it.
She begins to write.
Dear Mol,
I’ve been dreaming about you again. I don’t think a night has gone by in the past few weeks when I haven’t seen your face. Our face, I should say. The face is always in my head; implanted in my memories. The dream is nothing new. It’s thirty years ago again. It’s October. I’m walking close behind you through the tall grass towards the woods. Your hair is loose and long. You’re wearing cut-offs, white Keds with the laces untied and a red T-shirt that says ‘Paul McCartney and Wings’ on the front. You’re walking ahead of me while I try to keep up; but afraid to keep up. Soon we come to the tree line, and while my heart beats in my throat, we walk into the trees. But then comes a noise—a snapping of twigs and branches. The gaunt face of a man appears. A man who lives in a house in the woods.
Then, just like that, the dream shifts and I see you kneeling beside me inside the dark empty basement. I hear the sound of your sniffles, smell the wormy raw earth, feel the cold touch of a man’s hand. You turn and you look at me with your solid steel eyes. And then I wake up.
We survived the house in the woods together, Mol, and we never told a soul. We just couldn’t risk it. Whelan would have come back for us. He would have found us. He would have found mom and dad. Even today, I know he surely would have. He would have killed them, Mol. He would have killed us. In just five days, thirty years will have passed. Three entire decades and I’m still convinced we did the right thing by keeping that afternoon in the woods our secret.
When I see you in my dreams it’s like looking in a mirror. The blue eyes, the thick lips, the dirty blond hair forever just touching the shoulders. My hair is finally showing signs of grey, Mol.
I wonder, do you get gray hair in heaven? I wonder if Whelan’s hair burned off in hell? I wonder if he suffers?
All my love,
Your twin sister,
Rebecca Rose Underhill
Exhaling, the woman folds the letter neatly into thirds, slips it into a blank stationary envelope, her initials RRU embossed on the label. Running the bitter sticky glue interior over her tongue, she seals the envelope, sets it back down onto the writing table. Once more she picks up the pencil, brings the now dulled tip to the envelope’s face. Addressing it she writes only a name:
Molly Rose Underhill
The job done, the woman smiles sadly. Opening the table drawer, she sets the letter inside, on top of a stack of nine identical letters-never-sent. One for every year her sister has been gone.
Closing the drawer she hears her cell phone begin to vibrate, then softly chime. Picking it up off the desktop, she opens the phone, sees that a new text has been forwarded to her electronic mailbox. Fingering the in-box, she retrieves the message.
Rebecca is all it says.
Punching the command that reveals the name and number of the sender she finds “Caller Unknown.” The sender’s number has been blocked. Closing the phone back up, she sets it down on the desk. That’s when the wind picks up, blows and whistles through the open window.
“Mol,” she says, staring out into the darkness. “Mol, is that you?”
Watch the Trailer!
I will be posting my review in the next few weeks.
This is a meme to list the books completed last week, the books currently being read, and the books to be finished this week.
COMPLETED LAST WEEK:
Through Hazel Eyes by Heather Hummel (review will be posted this week)
Muffins & Mayhem by Suzanne Beecher (loved it)
CURRENTLY READING:
Damaged by Pamela Callow
WHAT’S NEXT:
Grace Under Pressure by Julie Hyzy
Revenge Served Cold by Jackie Fullerton
Finding Marco by Kenneth C. Cancellara
Published by Synergy Books
ISBN-13: 978-0-9842358-6-5
ISBN-10: 0-9842358-6-8
At the request of Phenix & Phenix Publishing, a HC was sent, at no cost to me, for my honest opinion.
Synopsis (from book jacket): As a young boy running through the mountain valleys of Italy, Mark Gentile dreams of success-the kind of success that happens in a boardroom, far away from the country life. So after graduating from a prestigious Canadian law school, Mark quickly climbs the corporate and legal ladder eventually becoming CEO of a leading North American auto manufacturer.
But after butting heads with company leaders, Mark fears he has compromised his ethics and decides to resign to determine the next phrase in his life. With his wife’s blessing, Mark returns to Acerenza, his birthplace in southern Italy. In the small village, he seeks out his childhood friends, spends time among the grapevines at his family’s vineyard, and recalls his mischievous adventures as a young boy named “Marco”. While enjoying the leisurely pace of the new life he’s found in his old home, however, Mark must make a decision” Should he abandon his roots for a second time and satisfy his innate hunger for the struggles and rewards of corporate life? Or should he embrace his native land and create a more balanced life for himself and his family?
My Thoughts and Opinion: I accepted this book for review thinking that being of Italian heritage and having vacationed in Italy years ago that I would thoroughly enjoy this plot. From when I started accepting books for reviews, I set my threshold at a minimum of 100 pages to read to determine if a book pulled me in. Unfortunately, that was not the case and I quickly saw that this book was not a good match for me. This is my opinion, and only my opinion, but I found that the first 100 pages of the story line seemed to drag and had a very dry writing style. Therefore, I had to put this novel aside.
Finding Marco by Kenneth C. Cancellara
Published by Synergy Books
ISBN-13: 978-0-9842358-6-5
ISBN-10: 0-9842358-6-8
At the request of Phenix & Phenix Publishing, a HC was sent, at no cost to me, for my honest opinion.
Synopsis (from book jacket): As a young boy running through the mountain valleys of Italy, Mark Gentile dreams of success-the kind of success that happens in a boardroom, far away from the country life. So after graduating from a prestigious Canadian law school, Mark quickly climbs the corporate and legal ladder eventually becoming CEO of a leading North American auto manufacturer.
But after butting heads with company leaders, Mark fears he has compromised his ethics and decides to resign to determine the next phrase in his life. With his wife’s blessing, Mark returns to Acerenza, his birthplace in southern Italy. In the small village, he seeks out his childhood friends, spends time among the grapevines at his family’s vineyard, and recalls his mischievous adventures as a young boy named “Marco”. While enjoying the leisurely pace of the new life he’s found in his old home, however, Mark must make a decision” Should he abandon his roots for a second time and satisfy his innate hunger for the struggles and rewards of corporate life? Or should he embrace his native land and create a more balanced life for himself and his family?
My Thoughts and Opinion: I accepted this book for review thinking that being of Italian heritage and having vacationed in Italy years ago that I would thoroughly enjoy this plot. From when I started accepting books for reviews, I set my threshold at a minimum of 100 pages to read to determine if a book pulled me in. Unfortunately, that was not the case and I quickly saw that this book was not a good match for me. This is my opinion, and only my opinion, but I found that the first 100 pages of the story line seemed to drag and had a very dry writing style. Therefore, I had to put this novel aside.
Living In The Hope Of My Imagination by William D. Simpson
Published by Thorncrown (Division of Yorkshire Publishing)
ISBN: 978-0-88144-488-9
At the request of Yorkshire Publishing, a PB copy was sent, at no cost to me, for my honest opinion.
Synopsis (from back of book): Exposing the Untruths of Moral Relativism in the Light Of Absolute Truth. Give to a person what they want and in time it will become an expectation. Left unchallenged that anticipation turns into habit and once trained, independence gives way to dependence. When People are reliant they become comfortable and at that moment, they are led astray. this defines American culture today.
Wake Up People! You are happily being let do the slaughter and you don’t even know it. Self-indulgent political agendas and a systematic dismantling of moral ethics have created a way of life that has ruptured the foundation of who we are. Money, power and self gratification are now the heartbeat of a nation that once held human life in high esteem. We have become a people despised by our very own. For the people involved in everything from politics to education, science to medicine, entertainment, media and the arts, to false world religions and those who just don’t know, your time of accountability has come. It is time for change, but not the change they want us to believe.
My Thoughts and Opinion: The author, William D. Simpson tells the story of his life, which includes physical and emotional abuse, years spent in prison, drug and alcohol abuse and how after many years,his faith helped him through. He states that he has had little education, he has never studied theology, nor is an ordained pastor. However, he does claim to be a Christian with years of studying the Bible. In this book he talks about The Revelations in the Bible and how it compares to our society today. I have read other books on this subject, so was familiar with the Scriptures taken from the Bible and the premise. It was, at times, a profound and difficult read, a very conservative take on the morality, political, medical, homosexuality and instant gratification of today’s world. There were some issues that he wrote about that I agree with but then there were others that I didn’t. I felt that even though I didn’t agree with everything he said, it was a thought provoking read.
