Dianne Ascroft - Dancing Shadows, Tramping Hooves - Review & Giveaway

About the Book

Dancing Shadows, Tramping Hooves is a collection of half a dozen short stories with Irish connections. Tales of outsiders who discover they belong, a humorous slice of life yarn, heartwarming love stories and a tale of taming fear. The shadows are on the wall, in the heart and clouding a woman’s memories while tangible foes tramp through the physical landscape. The stories were previously printed individually in a variety of publications, including Ireland’s Own magazine, Dead Ink Books’ website, and the anthologies, Fermanagh Miscellany and Tuesdays At Charlie’s.

My Review

I'm drawn to stories set in Ireland and this treasure trove of tiny tales is one of those needles in the haystack that I was lucky enough to find. My heart was overflowing with references to 'cuppas,' 'eejits' and 'lie-ins,' I felt right at home like I was reading one of my favorite Maeve Binchy novels or watching an episode of BALLYKISSANGEL. I thoroughly enjoyed soaking up the lilting atmosphere. Thirty-nine pages just wasn't enough. I wanted more.

Before this, I wasn't familiar with the work of Dianne Ascroft, but now you can count me among one of her biggest fans. The world needs more writers like her who take a gentle, tender approach to examining life's heartaches and difficulties. Love is the balm that soothes all rankled spirits and the glimpses she gives us into the lives of these characters beautifully illustrate her uplifting message of peace, hope and understanding.

I liked how the stories traveled back and forth across time. "Conquering the Shadows" had a nineteenth century vibe to it with the railway and the candlelight. While "A Link to Her Past" felt thoroughly modern with a streaming internet connection broadcasting a Catholic Mass. The settings were varied enough to give a good sense of the Irish countryside as well as its people. The architectural marvel of a church. A windy, rustic lane. A crowded dance floor at a local pub. Dianne made me feel like I stopped in for a chat with all of these nice people. Her writing is so welcoming it's like a hearty hug with an accompanying pat on the back for good measure.

It's refreshing to read about such kind souls like the ones found in a Dianne Ascroft story. They hearken back to a time when relationships with other people held their weight in gold. Ah, how comforting it is to be reminded of that simple fact. It's one of those timeless themes in literature that always rings true.

***

Dancing Shadows, Tramping Hooves can be purchased at:
Amazon U.S., Amazon U.K.

Price/Format: $1.16 ebook
Pages: 39
Genre: Romance, Short Story Collection
Release: June 16, 2012
Click to add to your Goodreads list.


About the Author

Dianne Ascroft is an urban Canadian who has settled in rural Northern Ireland with her husband and an assortment of strong willed animals. She writes contemporary and historical fiction with an Irish connection. She has released the short story collection, Dancing Shadows, Tramping Hooves and a novel, Hitler and Mars Bars. Her articles and stories have been printed in Irish and Canadian magazines and newspapers as well as in anthologies by Writers Abroad, Fermanagh Writers and Fermanagh Authors’ Association.

Links to connect with Dianne:
Web Site
Blog
Facebook
Twitter
Goodreads
Blog Tour Site


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James Moser - Chasing Prophecy - Review & Giveaway

About the Book

Mo is a shy teen who is just trying to survive high school. He has secretly fallen in love with a girl named Prophecy who lives with a group that some call a commune and others call a cult. When she disappears, Mo must find the courage to face the monster that her family has become. Chasing Prophecy is a contemporary coming of age story that is heartwarming, suspenseful, and beautifully written. This book chronicles the adolescence of one boy who must transform himself to save the girl of his dreams.

***

A stellar read for teens and adults, full of hilarious growing pains, tenderness and a few surprises. Moser’s debut is an unflinching young-adult novel that sees a group of friends tested by bigotry and the illegal machinations of a religious cult. The author serves up an irresistibly wisecracking narrator in Mo Kirkland. Every page ripples with a controlled cleverness. There’s also a rawness to this tale similar to that which many teens face in the real world. Moser can wax rhapsodic about young love, but he shows that he knows how to raise the tension in the second half of the novel. -Kirkus Reviews

My Review

Nature and isolation play a significant role in this young adult tale. The majestic mountains of Washington state frame the narrative, painting a sweeping vista for the characters as they navigate the rugged terrain trying to uncover the mysteries that surround them. There are so many things that are hidden from them, but it's only when they let go of their fears and parachute off the cliff of the unknown that their eyes are opened to what's really going on around them.

Mo, Kazzy, Max and Bright are all in high school. They're still trying to find their way in the world and find the courage within themselves to stand up for what's right. They're all faced with a unique set of challenges and each one of them rises to the occasion. Camping trips play a key role in setting up the action for this drama. It's how Mo and Max get duped into smuggling meth. It's how Mo and Kazzy become aware that a mythological creature might actually exist. It's how Mo finds the courage to broach the subject of his feelings for Kazzy. The outdoors environment is where the characters let loose, even if that sense of freedom leads to disastrous consequences like Kazzy wanting to take things slow and U.S. Marshals showing up at Mo's house.

Kazzy and Bright are members of a religious cult, living on a commune in the middle of the boondocks. The government is after them for back taxes, claiming they're not a certified non-profit organization. To pay the rising cost of lawyer fees, the cult turns to smuggling crystal meth over the Canadian border to ease the financial burden. But things turn dicey when people start getting killed and the law turns up the heat. The four teenagers end up getting caught in the crossfire. Some relationships break apart, others only get stronger. But each one of their lives is forever changed by what happens.

But having them all live in an area frequented for Bigfoot sightings lends a certain charm to the story. The wilderness setting takes on greater significance at the conclusion. Being close to nature runs through these kids' blood, so it's no wonder their hero in disguise is there when they need him the most. They respect the life-giving energy of the mountains, rivers and streams and it pays them back in kind. They're hikers, campers, explorers and when the going gets tough they know what it takes to survive.

***

Chasing Prophecy can be purchased at:
Amazon, Smashwords

Prices/Formats: $2.99 ebook
Pages: 237
Genre: Young Adult, Thriller, Paranormal
Publisher: Skookum Trail
Release: December 31, 2013
Click to add to your Goodreads list.


About the Author

James Moser has always loved stories in all forms. He is in his fourteenth year of working with high school students. The author’s goal was to write a book that would inspire even his most reluctant readers. Young adults have always inspired him. As such, he wanted to show teenagers transforming themselves to overcome obstacles, which is what he watches them do, every day.

Moser has a B.A. in English and a Master’s degree in Secondary English Education. He lives in Seattle with his beautiful wife and eight year old son. When he’s not reading and writing, or thinking about reading and writing, he’s watching way too much television while snacking on frozen treats from Trader Joe’s. Man, those things are good.

Links to connect with James:
Facebook
Twitter
Goodreads
Blog Tour Site


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Michael F. Stewart - The Terminals - Review & Giveaway

About the Book

- Sometimes the dead don’t want to talk.
You need Terminals to make them. -

Terminals solve crimes in this realm by investigating them in the next.

Lt. Col. Christine Kurzow, fresh from a failed suicide attempt after she cost 11 of her soldiers their lives, is recruited into the covert unit of Terminals as a handler. It's an easy sell. If she's really determined to die, it’s a chance to give her death meaning.

But her first case—convincing a monk to chase Hillar the Killer into the afterlife to find the location of a missing bus and the children it carried—has her wondering how to make a dead psychopath talk.

Christine must follow the clues sent back by the shotgun-toting monk, who tracks Hillar through the seven deeps of hell, so she can find eleven kids before it’s too late.

Maybe this time killing a man will give Christine a reason to live.

**The Television and Film production rights have been sold to Jim Donovan (Best Director 2013, Canadian Screen Awards) and on to his partners of Sudden Storm Entertainment.

My Review

This book takes you on a journey, literally to hell and back - from a hospital room to Hades. But what keeps it grounded is it's strong sense of place. The settings couldn't be more diverse, yet they gel together because Michael F. Stewart makes them believable by providing an incredible amount of detail. But the amount of description doesn't bog down the story. Instead, it just reemphasizes what a master world builder Stewart is. You're willing to follow him wherever he takes you because he makes you feel invested in the action. What happens matters, and where it happens even more so.

For me, the novel revolves around the abduction of the school bus. The fate of the eleven kidnapped children resides at the heart of the story, giving it it's soul. Our eyes and ears for this God awful scenario is an intelligent, fearless little girl named Ming. She's the governor's daughter who just so happened to be on the field trip turned nightmare. She recounts the horrific acts of the deranged woman holding them captive as she strings them up, sews open their eyelids and leaves them rotting in their own feces and vomit without food or water. She's just waiting for them to die so she can watch the spark of life leave their bodies.

It's demented and sick. A disturbing sequence of events that's gut-wrenching to read. You want the children to make it out alive so badly. But there's one scene in particular where Ming breaks free and tries to climb a ladder with hands that can no longer grip and legs that can no longer bend. She hasn't been able to blink for days and she can barely see where she's going. Her friends are dying all around her, gagged and moaning for someone to ease their torment. The tension of Ming hanging on that ladder, trying to make a decision, is so dramatic I felt her terror in my bones.

Authorities make three attempts to rescue them, as the now deceased mastermind of the plot taunts them from beyond the grave through the voice of a psychic medium. He leads them first to a former steel mill where he succeeds in disfiguring several of the cops who arrive on the scene. Next, he sends them to an abandoned grain elevator where eyeballs are hanging from ceiling hooks and rats are eating the face off a splayed-out corpse. Finally, they arrive at a water tower hidden in plain sight, emblazoned with a happy face and the graffitied words, 'Fiends of Opportunity.' Are the children in there? Or is this lunatic determined not to give up their location?

You have to read the book to find out. But in terms of suspense, it doesn't disappoint. From helicopter rides to exploding bombs, getting these children out alive is a thrill ride in and of itself. It's certainly what kept my heart pounding as I flicked through the pages.

***

The Terminals can be purchased at:
Amazon, Barnes and Noble

Formats: ebook, paperback
Pages: 310
Genre: Paranormal, Thriller, Mystery
Release: April 15, 2014
Click to add to your Goodreads list.


About the Author

Michael F. Stewart is the author of the Assured Destruction series, which sprawls across 3 books, 2 websites, 1 blog, 7 Twitter accounts, tumblr, Facebook, and 6 graphic origin stories. He likes to combine storytelling with technology and pioneered interactive storytelling with Scholastic Canada, Australia and New Zealand’s, anti-cyberbullying program Bully For You. He has authored four graphic novels with Oxford University Press Canada’s award winning Boldprint series. Publications of nonfiction titles on Corruption and Children’s Rights published by Rubicon Publishing as well as early readers with Pearson are all forthcoming in 2014 and 2015.

For adults, Michael has written THE SAND DRAGON a horror about a revenant prehistoric vampire set in the tar sands, HURAKAN a Mayan themed thriller which pits the Maya against the MS-13 with a New York family stuck in the middle, 24 BONES an urban fantasy which draws from Egyptian myth, and THE TERMINALS—a covert government unit which solves crimes in this realm by investigating them in the next. This series has already been optioned for film and television.

Herder of four daughters, Michael lives to write in Ottawa where he runs free writing workshops for teens and adults.

Links to connect with Michael:
Web Site
Facebook
Twitter
Goodreads
Blog Tour Site


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