The Transfer Problem by Adam Saint

This book was a pleasant surprise. I have read numerous Sci-Fi books that use the same troupe and this one was surprising original. A rich and compelling story that had me hooked from the beginning.

Ethan is highly intelligent and he works for a bank looking for trends in the financial markets that can be exploited for profit. He has a chance encounter with Anna, a research scientist, that shares his interests, is brilliant, and not surprising he falls in love.

Anna is researching methods that will enable a mind to be uploaded to a computer. She has developed a way to transfer a brain; however, the mind is destroyed in the process. Hence, the transfer problem. She wants to do some testing and needs a powerful computer. She enlists Ethan to help her access the bank’s massive computing power. The results are spectacular. Too good actually.

The world’s financial systems are in chaos as a result of the experiment. Ethan is on the run from the government and he soon discovers that his brother, Robert, is behind all this. He must find Robert and unravel the mystery of Anna if everything is going to be returned to normal.

I thought the plot was inventive and the pacing was good. In addition, there were so many little things that happened and details given that enriched this story. I enjoyed the complexity and did not find it was, in any way, off-putting. It was obvious that the author had a deep understanding of the technology involved and he was able to make me understand without being so technical that I got lost.

The best thing about this book are the characters, especially Ethan. The character development was slow and methodical. There was a lot going on and the author slowly peeled away the layers to reveal a character that I become deeply invested in.

Thoroughly enjoyable and I loved how the story unfolded so organically. It is not only fast paced but well crafted. If you are a fan of thrillers, be sure you read this one.

I received a free electronic copy in exchange for my honest review.

The Devil’s Son by Charles Kowalski

Title: The Devil’s Son
Author: Charles Kowalski
Pub. Date: 27-July-2018
Rating: 4 Stars

The Devil’s Son by Charles Kowalski was not the spy thriller I expected. I loved his first book Mind Virus and was expecting something like that again. I liked this one but it was not entirely to my tastes. That said, I think I will be in the minority and I will go into further detail shortly.

The story opens in Argentina in 1960 with Azriel Horowitz, a Jew and member of Mossad (the Israeli version of the CIA), attempting to capture two high ranking former Nazi fugitives. You see, for him this is personal, very personal. He is the sole surviving member of his family from Auschwitz and the two fugitives are Karl Weiss and Josef Mengele who were the deputy commandant and doctor, respectively, of Auschwitz. As luck would have it, the two manage to evade capture by the Mossad team.

Skip forward to the present day and Rachel Horowitz, the daughter of Azriel, and a member herself of Mossad, is being tasked with seeing that Henry Hale is not elected to the Presidency of the United Sates. She expects to achieve this by proving that Hale is actually the son of the famous Nazi Karl Weiss. She is also out to show that Weiss has passed on his Nazi views to his son.

Once in America this proves to be more difficult than she imagined and she will need the help of someone on the inside. When a near fatal car accident caused by Secret Service Agent Emmett Miller’s loss of focus turns out to be a blessing in disguise, Rachel manages to gain his attention and uses him for her own ends. Little does she know just how dangerous a game she is really playing.

There is a lot of action in this book and unexpected plot twists. However, the best part of this book is the suspense. I loved how the author set the reader up and then slowly resolved an issue only to have some other little twist come up for the heroine to deal with. Speaking of heroine, I loved the main character. Rachel is fierce, strong and resourceful, I just wished that her character had been a little more developed.

The story is good; however, I felt it a little far-fetched and it has a lot of political undertones. Personally, I am so over anything to do with politics. Another thing I want to mention, I felt the story in places was a bit Hollywood. In other words, a bit overdone. Without giving anything way, roughly ¾ through, a couple of things happened and I was like… really? Lastly, as much as I loved the main character, I felt things just came a bit too easy for her.

Despite the few things I mentioned above, I did enjoy reading The Devil’s Son. I have no hesitation in recommending this book to those readers who like fast paced thrillers and especially to those who like a strong heroine.

I received a free copy of the book, from the author, in exchange for my honest review.

My Five Sisters by Pam Franklin

Title: My Five Sisters
Author: Pam Franklin
Piub. Date: 30-April-2015
Rating: 5 Stars

My Five Sisters by Pam Franklin is one of those rare books you will think about long after the reading is over. I found myself caught up in the story; yet, there were times I wanted to put it down because of how distressing the subject matter was.

The book is based on the true life experiences of the author and her childhood growing up in a home in which she was abused and tortured by her sister. Her sister suffered from Multiple Personal Disorder (MPD) and one of these personalities, the author calls Angry, beat and threatened to kill her repeated while they were growing up. Continue reading “My Five Sisters by Pam Franklin”

The Marketing Woes of an Indie Author

Needle in the Haystack by Steve Dressing

I’m a new, self-published author with a book I think will be enjoyed by many if they can just find it. “Game Keepers” is the first of what I hope will be several books I publish over the next few years through my own publishing company, Number 6 Publishing. Turning from my career as an environmental scientist to a publisher and author of books for kids is quite a change. It has been a lot of fun, but there have been many new things to learn, most of which come with an unpleasant price tag. The world isn’t particularly kind to authors in my situation, but we’re a group that doesn’t give up easily.

Getting to the point of selling the book was probably the easiest part of the journey for me. Marketing has been a huge challenge, particularly after purchases by friends and family dried up. I know that the faithful have told others about the book but even with my large family that only takes you so far. It feels like my book is simply a needle in a huge haystack competing against the thousands of books neatly displayed in huge bookstores and featured on major websites. How do I get people to even bother to check the haystack to see if there is something worthwhile inside? Continue reading “The Marketing Woes of an Indie Author”

All the Stars Are Suns by Seaby Brown

Title: All the Stars Are Suns
Author: Seaby Brown
Pub. Date: 15-Oct-2017
Rating: 5 Stars

As some may already know, I am partial to indie authors. I admire their tenacity, among other things. Therefore, I am always delighted to read a book by an indie author that captivates me from the beginning. That is exactly what happened to me with All the Stars Are Suns by Seaby Brown.

The story opens with the attempted rape of a young woman named Quan Yin, who unbeknownst to the perpetrators, is actually an optoelectronic analogue of a real human brain and uses an avatar to interact with humans. Quan Yin has been the brain child and life’s work of Dr. M ‘Beke and a well-kept secret up to now. Continue reading “All the Stars Are Suns by Seaby Brown”