The Epics by Abdiel LeRoy

Clever, entertaining, and absolutely unique!

This is a two book collection of stories written in the style of Homer or Dante but with the touch and feel of Shakespeare as well. The audiobook version is well narrated by the author himself.

Obama’s Dream

The angel, Abdiel, and Satan fight for the ear of the most politically powerful man in the US, President Obama. Written as an epic poem, Abdiel takes President Obama on a tour a la A Christmas Carol where the president sees and confronts failures and shortcomings, and the means to be a better leader.

Elijah

Also presented as an epic poem, the prophet Elijah describes to the angel Abdiel how he came to be under a tree in the desert for 40 days and 40 nights. His journey to defeat the influence of Jezebel over her husband, King Ahab, is full of twists and turns of fantasy and faith.

This audio collection is of medium length (under six hours) and as mentioned above the author is reading his own work. I had heard an audio sample and it was his narration that attracted me. He is very good. The two stories are fun, interesting, and entertaining with elements of a heroic quest, pure fantasy, sexy romance, and nice family-time with the Obama family in Obama’s Dream.

The City (After the Fall #2) by Charlie Dalton

When Donald is grievously wounded in an attack by a giant alien bug, Lucy leads Donnie, Jamie, and their friend, Fatty, to her original home inside a mountain called The City. There the boys meet Dr. Graham Beck who is able to operate on their father and, hopefully, save his life. As the kids wait for Donald to return to consciousness, the doctor slowly reveals to them the purpose of The City, what really happened to the world during The Fall, and what the future may hold for humankind if the bugs are not defeated.

This is a great sequel to the story that began in Book 1 of the After the Fall series, The Commune, and it is action-packed, exciting, and full of twists and turns. The central characters are feisty and smart and each is beginning to blossom into their own strong person. The author has created a world that is both vastly different from what we know but manages to keep it familiar at the same time. And there is more to come! I can’t wait. I really recommend this series for readers that like apocalyptic stories.

A Fire Sparkling by Julianne MacLean

Wonderful story with great characters and all the emotions!

When Gillian Gibbons discovers the man she loves and lives with is cheating on her, she retreats to the Connecticut farmhouse her father and 96-year-old grandmother share. She hasn’t seen her father in over five years and their reunion is somewhat awkward at first but her father is desperately glad to hear from her: he’s uncovered a secret in the attic that might change the meaning of his entire life.

Gram came to this country with her young son, Edward, after the World War II, as the wife of her second husband, Grampa Jack. Her first husband, Theodore Gibbons, a deputy cabinet minister working with Churchill, had been killed in the Blitz along with her sister, April. After his death, Gram and Edward had gone to the country to stay with Theodore’s aristocratic family on their estate. But while doing her part in the war effort, Vivian had met and fallen in love with the American flyer, Jack Cooper, and after the war ended had married him and lived in the farmhouse since then. Or at least that is what Edward and Gillian had always believed.

While Edward was in the attic inspecting the roof, he’d come across his mother’s antique sea chest. The old chest was a familiar item; Gillian had always called it a “treasure chest.”) But, as Edward had examined it, he’d discovered a secret drawer inside with pictures of his mother and a German Nazi officer in Berlin dated only months after her marriage to Theodore. The photos made it clear that the two were very much in love. With so many questions and concerned that he was the son of a Nazi war criminal, he and Gillian decide to talk to Vivian and get some answers.

The story is Gram’s revelation of what the pictures were and what happened in the war. While her son and granddaughter listen, they gradually come to terms with the real history behind their family as well as the other issues in their lives that were keeping them apart. The retelling is an emotional story with lots of action and history and the things people do for love and country.

The author obviously did a lot of research to bring the reader a solid thriller with twists and turns that really held my interest and kept me up reading late into the night. I highly recommend this book to readers of historical fiction.

Pearls and Perjury (Avon Calling! #13) by Hayley

Lucky Episode 13 continues the exciting hunt for the Boudoir Butcher!

Continuing from the previous episode, as Avon Lady extraordinaire, Betty Jones, helps Tilly, one of the girls at Kitty’s Kat House, recover from a sudden fainting spell, she gets glimpses into the girl’s troubling memories of a man, blood, and waking up alone and naked on the docks of New York City. Under questioning, Tilly finally tells Betty that she’s been having black-outs (but admits nothing else and refuses further help.) Betty is convinced Tilly is the Boudoir Butcher that her friend, NYPD Sergeant Jacob Lawrence is hunting. She determines to investigate on her own and find out why Tilly is doing this and why she has no conscious memory of her horrible actions.

Betty also visits Donny Pinzola in his prison cell where he tells her unless she gets back on his team he will reveal all her secret past and unusual posers to the very interested FBI who have had Betty on their radar quite recently.

Jacob Lawrence has his hands full, too, not only with the high-profile Boudoir Butcher case but with Pinzola’s trial. The time has finally come for Adina Sonberg to testify against the crime boss, and it does not go well at all. Pinzola’s attorney totally discredits Adina in front of the jury, her parents, and the entire world.

Meanwhile, on Betty’s home front, her beloved husband, George, is away at military training, and daughter, Nancy, is growing up right before her eyes with the powers handed down in the maternal line getting stronger and stronger every day. Working together, Betty and Nancy practice mind-reading and the ability to shield their thoughts from mind-reading. Both young women realize that, in time, they are going to want their privacy, even from each other.

Lucky Episode 13 advances the exciting hunt for the Boudoir Butcher and gets the trial to put Uncle Donny away for good underway. With the dramatic courtroom shenanigans by his attorney and Donny himself, the suspense increases and the question of whether or not Jacob will be beat Pinzola in the end continue to mount. I can’t wait to get into Episode 14.

The Commune (After The Fall #1) by Charlie Dalton

After the world’s society as we know it has been destroyed by a virus which turns its victims into mindless, constantly-hungry zombies, survivors join together in cooperative living communes. Some attempt to rebuild and grow by organizing daily tasks such as growing food, learning and providing medical attention, and provide defense and security for the new communities. Others, known as Reavers, band together to destroy and take what they need from others by force and violence. Both groups, however, guard against the zombie-like creatures called “Ragers.”

In Mountain’s Peak, the commune takes several measures to successfully continue on based on each individual member pulling their own weight. And when a member becomes too ill, old, or infirm to their share, they are expected to leave the community – walk away and disappear into the surrounding desert where wild animals and Ragers lurk.

When a beloved member of the commune leaves to go die in the desert, her younger, still able, husband decides in the middle of night to join her. The next day, children from the commune sneak out to go find them both and bring them back home. Their rescue mission takes an unexpected turn when they discover the older couple already dead and a strange, young girl up a spindly tree under attack from three Ragers.

The commune takes the young girl in but she is unable to tell them where she came from; she remembers nothing but dream-like snippets of her life before waking up in the bed at the commune. But she is actually being hunted by an unstoppable woman across the desert and she’s headed toward the commune.

This story was action-packed from start to finish. I did not want to put it down. Can’t wait for the next book in the series!

The Snow (The Mutant Rain #3) by L.A. Frederick

After formulating the barest of plans to save the survivors of “The Bunker,” Farrow, the former New Hampton police detective and his small band of followers return to the city in search of a large truck or bus to take everyone north away from the epicenter of the mutant rain. What they find instead leaves everyone dead except Farrow himself.

It is Benjamin that discovers the old underground train system, still in working condition, and that there is a connection with the commuter line that goes to the north country. The remaining mutants, along with the pregnant Evaline, move their supplies to the train in preparation of departure.

Farrow gets cut off from the rest of the group and he goes in search of Aurora and Isaac. Isaac, however, has been whisked away to Dr. Zhirkov’s stronghold to battle Erica leaving the pregnant Aurora behind to fend for herself. Farrow eventually uncovers her hiding place and convinces her that she and her newborn son should return with him to the mutants’ rendezvous spot to meet the train.

Meanwhile, Zhirkov’s henchmen, Vitaliy and Dmitri, switch sides, rescue a previously unknown group of human survivors and take them to the ready-to-depart train just in time to join in a desperate fight between the mutants and a group of lizard-like creatures and overgrown monsters that are preventing the train from leaving.

All in all, this was a pretty satisfying roundup to all the storylines in the Mutant Rain series. Is there room and opportunity for more in the future? Oh yes. And I hope that this is not the end. I kind of miss those mutants already.

The entire Mutant Rain series is available for Kindle on Amazon.com.

The Lebesborn Experiment: Book 1 by Joyce Yvette Davis

Set in Europe during WWII, The Lebensborn Experiment tells a story of young children stolen from their parents and taken to state-run orphanages, “graded” like livestock for Aryan traits, and adopted out to approved German families never to see their own families again or their parents ever discovering what happened to them. One boy, Adok, is adopted by Dr. Josef Weiss as a companion to an older, mentally-damaged son. Dr. Weiss is working on an immortality serum under pressure from a Nazi colonel, Otto Strauss, and tests the serum on Adok. The boy dies but days later comes back to life with some remarkable physical enhancements: superior eyesight and hearing, the ability to climb like a spider, and apparent immortality.

At the same facility, Colonel Strauss had been holding two black American soldiers prisoner awaiting execution during an upcoming visit by Adolf Hitler himself. When Strauss receives word of Hitler’s suicide and the approach of Allied forces to the facility, he orders the doctor to dispose of the Americans. Weiss kills one but mistakenly administers the immortality serum to the other. When the soldier revives as his body is being removed from the lab, he escapes and is able to return to his old unit to fight again.

The story continues with these central figures’ stories to just after the end of the war in Europe.

This book is exciting, imaginative, and entertaining but sobering as well with the understanding that many of the things described are based in past happenings. The author has created memorable characters that I really rooted for and others that I wanted to be defeated. The title indicates this is book one giving reason to believe there is more to the story. I’ll be looking for that.

Murder at the Wizard-Hero Con (Pet Portraits Mystery #11) by Sandi Scott

When Georgie Kaye completes a gorgeous portrait depicting a new client’s pet boa constrictor, Hercules, the grateful graphic novelist, Beau Hanbaugh, gifts her with two full-access vendor passes to the big, upcoming comic convention. Always ready to live life to the fullest, Georgie grabs her twin sister, Aleta, and immerses herself in the cosplay, vendor booths of the unusual and exotic, and the exclusive evening vendor reception.

During the reception a bearded man is dragged from the convention hall by security when he begins shouting and ranting that one of the more successful graphic novelists, a nasty character by the name of Cole Ness, had stolen his award-winning work from him! Later, after Georgie spies the bearded man sneaking around the reception again, Cole is found bludgeoned to death in his booth. Of course, the local police, led by Georgie’s ex-husband, Detective Stanley Toon, are called in to investigate, and Georgie can’t help but lend a hand.

Once again, this story of the Kaye sisters and Stan is witty and entertaining. The murder mystery is straightforward, and we can agonize along with Georgie over her confused feelings for her ex. With the reappearance of police crime scene photographer, Maggie Hoffentop, as a rival for Stan’s attention, if not affections, things get really interesting. The real mystery here may be what the future holds for Georgie and Stan. I highly recommend this entire series though this could be read alone and still be enjoyed immensely.

You can find Murder at the Wizard-Hero Con or any of the Pet Portraits Mysteries by Sandi Scott for Kindle on Amazon.com.

Mila's Flight (The Darkest Day #0.5) by Danielle Forrest

Mila Dragomirov had dreamed of being a spaceship pilot her entire life. And when she and her best friend, May Trace, enlisted in the military to fulfill that dream she lived and breathed for the moment when they’d pass their qualifying exams and finally be assigned to their own ship. Mila nailed her test and three days later on her 21st birthday, she was notified of her success. After a birthday dinner at her parents with May, the two young women head to town to celebrate on their own. That night after too much to drink, Mila stepped out of the bar for a breath of air and she is surrounded by a group of drunk men intent on assaulting her. As she desperately tries to fight them off something happens, her body shifts from that of a human woman to that of a tiger. She easily scares away her attackers.

Mila is horrified. She’d never had an inkling of an indication that she was a shifter, and that was not a good thing. Shifters are not welcome in this country. Hated, reviled, if discovered shifters are taken and locked up in concentration camps where who knows what happens to them.

Eventually returning to her former self, she slips back to her room on the base that she shares with May, packs her few possessions, and writes a goodbye note to her best friend, telling her she’s leaving and not to look for her. Mila has no real plan what to do next, just that she’s got to get out of there and find a place to hide…forever.

This is a prequel to Mila’s Shift, the first book in The Darkest Day series by Danielle Forrest. Very well written, it relates the emotional trauma of the characters affected by Mila’s surprise change and subsequent “flight” from society, her friends and family, and her lifelong dream of being a space pilot. The description of Mila’s life off the grid, living as a homeless person in a big city is sad and terrifying at the same time. The story is unique and the characters real. I highly recommend it – either read before as a prequel or after Mila’s Shift for the back story.

Virtual Insanity by Charlie Dalton

When one of their group of four best friends since primary school decides to get married, Georgie arranges the ultimate stag weekend at a new, high-tech, virtual reality game resort. But when the four friends arrive, doubts about the facility arise – the location is remote and the former military facilities grim and bare bones. However, when the resort staff demonstrates the equipment the four will be using for their adventure, the guys are all back on board and ready for play: the graphics are unbelievably real and the computer interface flawless.

The next morning when they begin their “mission” they are amazed by how real things seem and they successfully complete the first level of the game. But as they forge ahead, the scenario gets trickier and trickier, and the group splits up in order to accomplish a particularly tough task. And we all know … don’t split up…

Virtual Insanity is another great short story by author Charlie Dalton. Mixed in with an interesting plot, the characters are great, and the comradery among the old friends is a lot of fun. As I read I felt more like I was watching a movie. It was very entertaining and I read it in one sitting. I highly recommend this one!

Virtual Insanity is available for Amazon Kindle.

NYV: Goth (New York Vampire #2) by K.D. McQuain

In the continuing story of Christian “Chris” Leclères, the East Texas boy turned by a rogue vampire, we follow his transformation from a denizen of the streets of New York to the poster boy of the Goth scene. The story of the rogue vampire, Gilles de Montmorency-Laval, is also steadily revealed in flashbacks until his timeline meets up with the current action. Characters from the previous novel make appearances throughout as well as the introduction of new and interesting ones.

This book has a lot of exposition but it is intermingled with action and resolution of issues from book one. As a caution, although these books have a young vibe, this second installment contains explicit sex scenes and some depictions of pretty graphic torture – not to mention the vampire violence, blood, and gore. Just saying, it’s not for the faint of heart nor the kiddies. NYV: Goth was a very good story and it sets up situations for future books that I will be looking to read.

NYV: PUNK (New York Vampire #1) by KD McQuain

The story opens in Mexico City, 1984, at a recently uncovered ruin of an Aztec temple. Itzel, a high priest, is performing a gruesome sacrifice to Quetzalcoatl, the old god of his people. The blood of the sacrifice runs down through the cracks and seams of the old structure to deep under the temple to what has lain in wait for centuries.

Fifteen-year-old Christian Leclères had lived all his life in the rural East Texas home with his mother. Home-schooled and never allowed off the home place alone, he is unaware of the workings of the world around him: no friends, no other family, no television, radio, telephone, or car. Their only visitor is Mrs. Brooks who came in her big Buick Electra to take his mother to town for groceries every 3rd Friday of the month. Christian knows nothing about his father or mother’s family other than they live in Louisiana. He thinks he remembers meeting his grandmother when he was very young but he’s unsure if that is an actual memory or one he’s developed from hearing his mother talk about it. For whatever reason, his mother’s family was devastated when he was born a boy rather than a girl.

On the eve of his 15th birthday, Christian’s mother has him perform a cleansing ritual, anointing his body with oils, and thanking God for his attainment of this milestone. The next day, Christian’s birthday, happens to be the 3rd Friday of the month and when his mother leaves to get groceries, he rides off on a bicycle he’d found in a shed on their property to clear his head and enjoy a bit of freedom while she’s away. He ends up lost and is eventually given a ride by a senior couple living the RV lifestyle. Talking to the couple, Christian decides to go to New York City. But before he can get on a bus to The Big Apple, he is attacked and stabbed in the chest by a creepy, old man. He is taken to the local hospital where he is patched up and begins to heal miraculously well. He begins to have nightmares or visions from the viewpoint of his attacker killing more people. Terrified, he escapes the hospital, makes his way to New York, and falls in with other kids his age living on the street. He does not, however, escape the monster in his dreams.

The descriptions of the life and times of the punk scene were most interesting. The New York City setting with detailed street information was fun. Also, it was interesting and entertaining to note the changes in our culture, trends, and technology - payphones, boom boxes, cassettes – present in the 1984 time frame. Bravo to the author for these touches; they were fun. The weaving of Chris’ life and the visions were frightening and intense. There are sexual situations and descriptions in the story that make this one a story for mature readers.

This is a very different sort of vampire story: the vampire element not being the major focus of much of the novel, yet underlying and being the cause for much of the action. The addition of Aztec angle was new to me and I liked that. This appears to be a first book in a series. There are a lot of unanswered questions and plotlines left hanging by the end of the book. I look forward to the next installment to see where those go. I recommend this book for its young adult, coming of age theme, its depiction of the 1980s punk scene, and the unusual Aztec storyline.

Authority (Southern Reach #2) by Jeff VanderMeer

Almost a cliffhanger ending!

So some of the members of the Expedition 12 team have appeared back at their homes, or in the biologist's case - the empty lot she used to go to for solitude. The Psychologist who we learn was also the Director of the Southern Reach agency itself is not among the returned. In the absence of the Director, John "Control" Rodriguez, has been assigned to the agency as a "fixer." He's to find out what is going on at the Southern Reach and report back to a handler known as the "Voice" by a secret cellphone. The Assistant Director, Grace, and many of the other staff are understandably not welcoming. The Director seems to have been revered and many, Grace among them, are still waiting for her to return.

The members who have shown back up from Area X remember almost nothing about their time there. They do not know how they got out of Area X and back to their homes (or empty lots.) It's all very mysterious, confusing, and then there are creepy staff members and strange shrines to who-knows-what in closets, drawers, and hidden rooms.

Book 2 quietly sneaks up on you as you try to unravel the secrets of Area X, the Southern Reach, and even Central. I kept listening and holding my breath for the next shoe to drop and when it does... the action doesn't stop ... only the narration. On to Book 3 now!

Sins of the Father (Land’s End #4) by S.W. Frontz

Working on a cold case of murder from 1989, Captain Robin Drexel of the Atlanta Police Department follows a lead to the tiny island of Land’s End, Virginia, and into the jurisdiction of her old Macon PD partner, Sheriff Andy Patrick. Land’s End is also where the victim of one of Robin’s cold cases, Mary Elizabeth Martin, was spirited away to hide out from her still-at-large attacker.

As Robin works the angles presented to her, she quickly assimilates into the island community thinking maybe this is where she’ll settle when she retires. (She’s got way more tenure at APD than she needs to call it done, and her rheumatoid arthritis has become a constant, painful companion.) On the island, she meets old friends and new as well as the handsome blue-eyed George that seems to so very, very familiar to her.

Meanwhile, a long-burning domestic abuse case on the island come to a head but even with the abuser out of the picture, tragic events continue to plague the victimized family with two women attacked, two twin sons murdered, and one young teenage daughter kidnapped.

Sins of the Father is the 4th book in the Land’s End series so there are a number of diverse plotlines in play left over from previous books going from the very start. I have not read the first three books but was able to get the gist of what was going on and enjoyed it. I have a feeling that I would have enjoyed the book even more if I’d read the earlier installments though. There are a lot of interesting characters to keep up with, all of whom add plenty to the ongoing story. The author gives some background information during the course of the book which helped to get me up to speed and there was a mix of flashbacks among the chapters that reinforced or clarified the back story.

This was an enjoyable book with a lot going on – mystery, romance, and a thriller all rolled into one. I look forward to getting into those earlier books and will be waiting for book 5 as well. There’s still a lot of unanswered questions and cliffhangers at this time.

Typhoid Mary by Charlie Dalton

There’s something about Mary …

Nadine was a detective with NYPD and was used to the cruelties and brutality she’d witnessed during her time working with women and children victims but there was something about eight-year-old Mary McGregor that she just couldn’t put her finger on.

Mary – the sole survivor of a massacre at her foster family’s farm where both foster parents and six children were mutilated before her.

Mary – with the innocent face and strangely beautiful eyes.

Mary – who doesn’t take “no” for an answer.

Talk about going from tragedy to outright horror! Typhoid Mary is a creepy, twisted, entertaining horror story just right for a great, fun read.

Mila's Shift (The Darkest Day #1) by Danielle Forrest

Shapeshifters were outlawed, and when Mila suddenly went through her first shift after partying for her 21st birthday, she ran leaving everything and everyone she knew and loved behind. But after 10 years of hardship in hiding, Mila’s best friend, May, reached out to her to meet. They’d been as close as sisters, had dreamed of being space pilots together, so Mila goes. Leaving their reunion, the girls are attacked and May is killed. Unable to go to the police for help, a grieving Mila buries May but when she discovers May’s ID and upcoming assignment as a pilot on the soon-to-depart USS Orleans spaceship, she assumes her identity.

The Orleans' mission is to deliver diplomats to the first ever meeting with another intelligent life species. Not everyone wants this meeting to occur though and there are conspirators hidden among the crew that intend to stop the Orleans at all costs. Also, there is a shifter on board trying to kill Mila because they believe May is still alive and she had discovered the plot to prevent the meeting.

This was a fast and fun book with loads of action and romance. I couldn't put it down! The mysterious shifter evades capture for quite a while and the tension builds while he continues to hunt May/Mila. There is quite a collection of interesting characters populating the Orleans including Mila’s grumpy roommate and a coworker working through gender identity. It appears to be the start of a new series so I will be looking forward to more about these characters.

I would recommend this book to anyone that enjoys a lighter SciFi read and perhaps suggest it to shifter romance readers that may want to stretch their genre reading into SciFi. This book is not scheduled to be published until September 15, 2019.

Bug Out by Charlie Dalton

In the not too distant future, humankind has found our way off planet and into interstellar exploration for resources the Earth can no longer supply. That’s when we discover we are not the only intelligent life in the universe, and the other species is also exploring and exploiting their findings for the same resources.

Bug Out is cleverly told in alternating chapters of current action and an overheard conversation between two unknown speakers that builds the back story for that action. The author has created a tight and exciting narrative that builds tension throughout. The truth behind the scenes are slowly revealed with ingenious twists. I was thoroughly entertained. I will be “book talking” this novella to all my family and friends, and looking for more in the genre from Charlie Dalton.

Sweet As Cherry Pie (Avon Calling! #12) by Hayley Camille

Episode 11 left super Avon lady, Betty Jones, surrounded by a gang of Donny Pinzolo’s hired thugs. She’d been at Adina Sonberg’s home convincing that young lady that protective custody really was necessary for her continued good health and ability to testify on behalf of the government in the near future when she was lured into an alley by one of the thugs. They had no clue what trouble they’d hired on for though. Betty takes care of business but not without attracting some attention from the neighborhood and the officers stationed in front of Adina’s door are sent to investigate leaving it unguarded. Betty, realizing that the attack had been just a distraction to remove the officers, hotfoots it back to Adina’s just in the nick of time to avert the attempt on the lives of the entire Sonberg family.

Back home, life goes on as George prepares to leave on the morrow for his induction training in the war effort. He’s starting to remember bits and pieces of the events leading up to his “accident” that left him with his amnesia. Betty knows that it is going to be traumatic for everyone all around when George regains his memory but for it to happen on the night of his departure would be devastating.

In the meantime, Jacob Lawrence is working long, hard hours to both safeguard his former girlfriend, Adina Sonberg and apprehend the city’s latest threat - “The Boudoir Butcher.” Although, he is still invested in a relationship with her, they are a long way from where they were. He’s committed though and has accepted Betty’s help to protect her and free himself up to pursue the serial killer.

Betty is keeping her ear to the ground and makes a long overdue visit to her clients at Kitty’s Kat House to plug into the gossip of the city’s seedy underbelly. While talking with one of the girls there (Tilly), Betty experiences some frighteningly weird visions that may actually be the thoughts and memories of “The Boudoir Butcher” HERself!

As the latest story about “The Boudoir Butcher” unfolds, readers are treated to the flavor and lingo of 1940s wartime. The author successfully recreates the atmosphere and feel of the time and it just envelops you. We check in on many of the characters from the previous episodes including the ladies of Kitty’s Kat House whose circumstances have upgraded somewhat under the management of Madame Trixie (although it is still just a desperate means of survival during those hard times for these women.)

As this series continues to flourish, it continues to entertain and delight. I highly recommend this entire series.

Annihilation (Southern Reach, #1) by Jeff VanderMeer

After numerous failed expeditions, the 12th group is heading into the mysterious Area X. Four women, known only by their work specialty, a psychologist, anthropologist, biologist, and a surveyor, head into this no-man’s-land that stretched along the coastline and interior for who-knows-how-far to study, explore, map, and report back what they can to the governing body, the Southern Reach. Things start going sideways almost immediately when expedition members start to disappear.

The story is presented from the viewpoint of The Biologist who proves to be a less than reliable narrator. This first installment in the Southern Reach Trilogy is strange, confusing, scary, and fascinating! I couldn’t put it down “needing” to know what was going to happen next. You know what is happening when it happens but you never know why or how anything fits into a bigger picture of what Area X is. Doesn’t matter. Let me have Book 2.

Demons of Time: Race to the 7th Sunset (Time Travelers, #1) by Varun Sayal

Fresh and different and a good story!

Set in India in the year 3077 BC, the action begins immediately with eight-year-old Tejaswi and his mother, Dhara, fleeing through the Dandak Forest pursued by two time-demon brothers, Kumbh and Vetri. Just as they are almost away, the evil demons catch up with them. They plan to kill Tej to punish his mother for running away but are stopped by the appearance of Guru Riga, an elderly sage and time reader. The time-demons themselves end up captured and trapped in a secret place where time is no factor and they can do no further harm.

Twenty years pass and Tej grows to manhood, marries, and has a child of his own when Guru Riga arrives on his doorstep. Guru Riga has seen that in the far future, the time-demon brother Kumbh is going to escape and destroy all of humanity. Tej who is actually Kumbh’s son is the only one that can stop him because he, too, is a time-demon and can travel through time. What follows is an imaginative and well laid out story of how Tej must travel backwards and forward in time to pull together the tools and know-how to stop his father with Guru Riga always in the background planning for the future based on the changes that result from Tej’s time traveling.

Such a good story! This is the first book in what looks to be a new and entertaining quest epic series called Time Travelers. Coming from a different culture with no knowledge of the cultural mythology of India the story seemed fresh and different. I was hooked from the very start and kept interested through the entire book. I recommend this book to readers that enjoy traditional quest stories but are ready for something new.