POP TRAVEL by Tara Tyler light hearted #SciFi #BookReview #wwwblogs

Pop Travel by Tara Tyler
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Pop Travel is a light SciFi set in 2080 mainly in Georgia. The book opens two years earlier with an introduction to “Pop Travel”, a form of laser teleportation, and an unfortunate accident for one traveler.

We next meet PI Cooper, he is contacted by a nervous and shady character wanting him to take on the search for a missing fiancee. Aleesa disappeared one day and Phisner believes that Pop Travel was to blame, but all lines on inquiry have been shut down.

Conscious that everywhere you go security cameras watch you, computers and communication are also all tapped, Cooper begins investigating. He soon hits the radar of the FBI with his search terms and they are hot on his trail when he is offered copies of unofficial tapes from other Pop Travel “incidents”.

Cooper believes he must speak to the Pop Travel creator Hasan Rakhi, but he is heavily guarded. Using his brother’s political power he manages an invite to the creators home, but to get there he must himself “pop” something he’s always avoided at all costs. The FBI send in their agents to infiltrate Copper’s plans and take him out if necessary. Will he be able to get to the bottom of all the secrecy or will he be taken down?

I really liked the start of this book and the premise of Pop Travel for the future was very plausible. As the book proceeded the number of characters introduced became exhausting and I question if they were all really necessary. A romance for Cooper didn’t quite work for me, and the action chase scenes at the end belonged more to a Bond movie than the SciFi setting the book opened with when electric cars were made quite a point of.

A light fun read but possible not for die hard SciFi fans.

I reviewed this previously on Amazon for #AugustReviews

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

View all my reviews on Goodreads

THE SIX TRAIN TO WISCONSIN by Kourtney Heintz @KourHei #Psychic #Thriller #Bookreview

The Six Train to Wisconsin by Kourtney Heintz
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Six Train To Wisconsin is a psychic thriller and includes telepathy, dream walking and empaths. It opens in New York but its main setting is a small town called Butternut in Wisconsin. The Six train is a NY train line, I couldn’t quite find the reason for the book title. The book is written using the style of alternating POV chapters from Oliver and Kai.

Oliver Richter is an auditor, his wife Kai a suicidal telepath, she works in social services trying to help children in need. But she can hear all the suffering of everyone in a half mile distance and unless she can protect herself with a psychic shield she gets dangerously involved. Oliver is very worried about his wife and plans to take her away to open space with few people to help her recover because she is extra vulnerable after a child in care was murdered and she blames herself.

Oliver kidnaps Kai and takes her to his family home in Wisconsin, but it is a battle of wills, Kai is not happy and tries to leave on several occasions. Kai’s brother Caleb is a sleep-walker he can enter the minds of those close to him during their sleep, he aids Kai against Oliver who has his own demons to face in Butternut, but he must also face family and friends whom he abandoned years ago.

Attempts to fix Kai and reconcile their relationship are stretched to the limit when a local boy is kidnapped. The whole town is searching, Kai believes her powers will help her find him, but danger lurks.

This is quite an intense read, the constant feuding and battle between Oliver and Kai is wearing to read. I did however enjoy the psychic side of the book and the build up to the intense ending of the book was very well done. The series continues in book #2. (Which I review here tomorrow)

I reviewed this book on Amazon as part of #AugustReviews

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

View all my reviews on Goodreads

13 Books I reviewed during #AugustReviews month #wwwblogs

August was a busy month campaigning for more readers to write a review on Amazon

The support for this campaign was amazing, thank you to everyone who promoted, blogged, tweeted and posted those reviews you know who you are, take a bow.

Do keep posting reviews now that many of you have caught up and remembered how important they are to both authors and readers.

I’m not going to lecture you any more.

Here are the book covers of the 13 books I read and reviewed during August.

 

113 Books Read To Date in this years Goodreads Challenge #SundayBlogShare

#AugustReviews is nearing an end but my own 2016 reading challenge continues.

Each year I enjoy taking part in the Goodreads Reading Challenge so I thought I’d do an update.  So far I have read 113 books and below are books which made my top 20, are any of them your favourites too?

Are any of you taking part in the challenge too?

What has been your favourite read this year?

FINDING HUNTER by @MarciaMeara #Mystery #Romance #Bookreview #wwwblogs

Finding Hunter: Riverbend Book 2 by Marcia Meara
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Four point Five Stars.

Finding Hunter is book #2 of The Riverbend series and is also a stand alone book, I would class it as a romantic mystery, whereas book #1 was definitely a romantic suspense.

In this book shy Hunter Painter plucks up the courage to phone Willow Greene, the only love in his life and a secret love he has been harbouring for many years. Willow too has been keeping secret her feelings for Hunter and when they agree to lunch their feelings for each other ignite. But Hunter is so afraid he rushes home.

Determined not to lose Hunter, Willow confronts him and they allow their love to flow. But Hunter is a complex man, with many deep layers of concerns. One of those is his parents, Hunter’s stayed at home while his brothers left, to help look after Lizzie, who suffers out-bursts and probably a form of dementia, but she’s never been diagnosed. Big Jack Hunter has always vowed he’d take care of Lizzie and denies there is anything seriously wrong with her.

When a serious family tragedy occurs, Hunter breaks down, then goes missing and Willow is left fighting her own heart-break. She never gives up her belief that Hunter will come back.

This is an emotional read, dealing with anxiety disorder, PTSD, separation disorder and more, I think it will touch a nerve with many readers who will know someone who has suffered even the mildest of panic attacks, that they may sympathise with Hunter. Maricia’s love of animals and the Florida riverways and plant life shines through this book, with “Biscuit” being a particular favourite of mine.

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

I reviewed this book on Amazon as part of #AugustReviews month

View all my reviews on Goodreads

WILD BOYS AFTER DARK: LOGAN by @Melissa_Foster #Romance #wwwblogs

Wild Boys After Dark: Logan by Melissa Foster
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Wild Boys After Dark: Logan, is book #1 in the Wild Billionaires After Dark series of hot steamy romances.

Logan Wild is an ex Navy Seal and currently works as a Private Investigator. He’s having an after work drink n the bar of a friend when he notices the barmaid taking stick from some drunk guys. She’s hot and sassy, fending them off, but when she takes a break one of them follows her out and tries to take advantage of her.

Logan’s sixth sense had kicked in enough to follow the guy and stop him abusing Stella. Stella Krane is on the run from a crazy ex who stabbed her, he’s currently in prison, but due to be released in a few days. She’s terrified he’ll find her and finish her off.

Carl Krutcher was a coke dealer from Conneticut, he’s stalked Stella, hurt her and now she’s running for her life. She’s safe with Logan but is she safe from the emotions her body feels for this super hot guy?

Logan’s good at his job, the ice-man, but to protect Stella he needs to be separate from his emotions and every-time he looks at her, he’s putty in her hands instead. Can he keep Stella safe from Kutcher forever?

A hot steamy romance from Melissa Foster.

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

I posted my review on Amazon as part of #AugustReviews

View all my reviews on Goodreads

Readers All Over The World Are Reading for August Reviews – Are You In? #MondayBlogs

August is “Write A #BookReview on Amazon Month”

Readers from all over the world are being inspired to post reviews for books they’ve read on Amazon.

In a Bold attempt to increase reader awareness of the importance of book reviews to all authors, Terry Tyler is leading the campaign to get more people posting those all important reviews on Amazon.

Authors: #AugustReviews is about readers posting a review of a book to Amazon, we would also like to encourage them to share the Amazon Review Post Url on Twitter. An author can take part as a reader, but please don’t use this to promo your own books.

Book Bloggers: We really appreciate your support and know you are likely to already post reviews on Amazon, please keep the Hashtag for Twitter with a link to your Amazon review url only, not your blog post. We don’t want to put off readers who think they need to be a blogger to take part.

We are asking readers to Tweet the url of the book review using #AugustReviews and we will help share and mention you in the August Reviews Hall of Fame.

If you’ve been away for a few weeks and are just catching up here are links to recent Halls Of Fame

August Reviews Because Every Little Helps

August Reviews: The First 5 Days

August Reviews Hall Of Fame Part 2

August Reviews Hall Of Fame Part 3

THE HUNDRED YEAR OLD MAN WHO CLIMBED OUT OF THE WINDOW AND DISAPPEARED by Jonas Jonasson

The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out Of The Window And Disappeared is a cross between contemporary and historical fiction. The book time slips from current day (2005) back throughout the lead character’s long life.

The book opens in 2005 in Sweden. Allan Karlsson runs away from the old people’s home hours before they insist on celebrating his 100th birthday. He steals a suitcase which he later finds is full of money and he goes on an adventure. He meets a petty thief, Julius Jonsson, together with the suitcase they ditch some criminals, hire a hot dog stand owner as their chauffeur, befriend a lady with an elephant and hoodwink the local constabulary.

We learn of Allan’s early life, his love of dynamite and all things explosive which pave his way to the Spanish civil war, American, Korea, China, the Himalayas, Russia and beyond, where he mixed with world leaders and kept one step ahead of death on numerous occasions.

Written in a dry humour style, this book has been an international best seller and was recommended to me by a fellow avid reader. Ideal for those looking for a book that is a little different and will bring a smile to your face and assurances that there really is very little in life that you cannot do if only you put your mind to it.

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

I reviewed this book on Amazon as apart of #AugustReviews month

View all my reviews on Goodreads

MAKE AUGUST Write An Amazon Review Month by @TerryTyler4 #AmazonReviews #Amreading

August 2016 is Write An Amazon Review Month! By @TerryTyler4 #AugustReviews

 

On Monday 25th July, book blogger Rosie Amber wrote this post encouraging readers and writers alike to post a short review on Amazon for any book they’ve read and enjoyed ~ following this up, Terry Tyler is starting this initiative along with other writer-bloggers including Rosie, Cathy from Between The Lines, Barb Taub, Shelley Wilson and Alison Williams.

 

The idea is that, from August 1st, everyone who reads this uses their Amazon account to post just one review on one book that they’ve read (but feel free to carry on if you get in the swing!). You don’t even have to have read it recently, it can be any book you’ve read, any time. The book does not have to have been purchased from Amazon, though if it is you get the ‘Verified Purchase’ tag on it; however, if you download all your books via Kindle Unlimited, as many do these days, they don’t show the VP tag, anyway.

 

Remember, this isn’t the Times Literary Supplement, it’s Amazon, where ordinary people go to choose their next £1.99 Kindle book. No one expects you to write a thousand word, in-depth critique; I don’t know about you, but I’m more likely to read one short paragraph or a couple of lines saying what an average reader thought of a book, than a long-winded essay about the pros and cons of the various literary techniques used. Yes, those are welcome too (!), but no more so than a few words saying “I loved this book, I was up reading it until 3am”, or “I loved Jim and Vivien and the dialogue was so realistic”, or whatever!

 

Why should you write a review?

They help book buyers make decisions. Don’t you read the reviews on Trip Advisor before deciding on a hotel, or any site from which you might buy an item for practical use? Book reviews are no different.

If the book is by a self-published author, or published by an independent press, the writers have to do all their promotion and marketing themselves ~ reviews from the reading public is their one free helping hand.

The amount of reviews on Amazon helps a book’s visibility (allegedly). If you love a writer’s work and want others to do so, too, this is the best possible way of making this happen.

It’s your good deed for the day, and will only take five minutes!

 

Off we go, then! A few more pointers:

If you need any help with writing your review, do click on Rosie’s post, above.

A review can be as short as one word. The shortest one I have is just two 🙂

You don’t have to put your name to the review, as your Amazon ‘handle’ can be anything you like.

No writer expects all their reviews to be 5* and say the book is the best thing ever written; there is a star rating guide on Rosie’s post.

Would you like to tell the Twittersphere about your review? If so, tweet the link to it with the hashtag #AugustReviews ~ and thank you! I will do one blog post a week featuring these links: The #AugustReviews Hall of Fame (thank you, Barb!).

 

If you have a blog and would like to spread the word about #AugustReviews, please feel free to copy and paste this blog post, provide the link to it, re-blog it, or whatever ~ many thanks, and I hope you will join in to make this idea a success 🙂