The Triangle (The Rise Trilogy) Book #1 by Robert P. Ottone - Review

The Triangle 
(The Rise Trilogy) - Book #1
by Robert P. Ottone 
[Review]

Print Length (Paperback) - 244 pages
Publication Date - 5th April 2022 

My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Synopsis

The world, as we know it, is over. Sea level rise has all but finished off life on Earth.

Born with a gift for engineering and technology, Azlynn and her father Merrill spend their days running a small shop in the flotilla community of Coral Cove. They scavenge shipwrecks, sunken vessels, and what precious little remains of the world before the planet drowned. With her best friend Ellis, they do their best to support their community, while struggling to survive.

When a group of scouts sent by The Order, a mysterious and powerful northeastern cabal, goes missing in the nearby Bermuda Triangle, Merrill is tasked with finding them. Unbeknownst to him, Azlynn and Ellis have snuck aboard to join in on the mission to find out what lurks within The Triangle. The ancient, cosmic truths they discover may be more terrifying than they ever imagined.

Review

An absolute gem of a story that will be every young adult's perfect horror read.

As a person who loves reading, horror and the ocean, what could possibly be more perfect than a horror novel set in the chaotic world of the ocean? 

The main star of the show is the wonderful Azlynn, who is a typical teenager who just so happens to be extremely talented at engineering. Azlynn is a funny and sarcastic teenager who likes to push the boundaries as much as she can which happens to lead her to a whole new world of which she is somehow part of. Azlynn lives at home with her dad and loves him the most in the world, their relationship is so wholesome and you really get a feeling for the love that they share for one another. 

Then there is the brilliant Ellis who stands to be the voice of reason and always tries to keep Azlynn on the straight and narrow but is somehow always pulled into the danger that seems to have some kind of magnetic pull on Azlynn and her family.

Robert's writing is absolutely stellar, the words flow right off the page and into your soul. He's able to create characters that are not easily forgettable and manages to pull at all the right heartstrings whilst giving you a fantastic visceral image of blood, guts and gore. What else can a horror lover ask for?

If you love horror, post-apocalyptic, coming of age novels then this is absolutely perfect for you!

About The Author

Robert P. Ottone is the author of the horror collection HER INFERNAL NAME & OTHER NIGHTMARES (an honorable mention in THE BEST HORROR OF THE YEAR VOLUME 13) as well as the young adult dystopian-cosmic horror trilogy THE RISE.

His short stories have appeared in various anthologies as well as online. He’s also the publisher and owner of Spooky House Press.

Robert is also an English as a New Language teacher, as well as a teacher of English Language Arts. He can be found online at SpookyHousePress.com or on Twitter/Instagram (@RobertOttone). He delights in the creepy and views bagels solely as a cream cheese delivery device.

 The Ghost Ship Mary Celeste
by Marie-Louise Gregory and illustrated by Nicola Brooks
[Review]

My Daughter's Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Synopsis

History fan Sophia Slewfoot is a budding amateur detective who loves nothing more than curling up with a good whodunnit or, even better, finding a real life mystery to unravel. Join Sophia, her best friend Betty and her beloved Beagle Toby, as they embark on amazing adventures to solve some of the many mysteries which, throughout history and even to this day, have otherwise remained unexplained…

Sophia Slewfoot is an ordinary ten year old girl, but today is not an ordinary day. Today is the day that Sophia makes an extraordinary discovery which catapults her into a world of excitement, intrigue, adventure and mystique.

What happened to the Victorian ghost ship, the Mary Celeste? Was it magic or malevolence of some kind which caused the crew to disappear? Can Sophia solve the mystery that has baffled some of the world's greatest minds over the last century? Can she somehow even save the day?!

Delve into myth, legend, fact and more than a little fiction, to accompany Sophia on the very first of her history's mystery-solving missions.

Review 

My 10 year old daughter was very kindly gifted a copy of The Ghost Ship Mary Celeste for her birthday and has given me some lovely feedback which I wanted to share.

My ten year old is fascinated by history and loves to learn new things about past events and so she was absolutely delighted to receive a copy of this novel as she had already learned all about this mysterious ghost ship. My ten year old is not unlike myself and enjoys a good detective novel but we often find it hard to get a book which really captivates her attention for a lengthy period of time. 

This book managed to keep her attention very well and my daughter particularly found Sophia interesting and enjoyed the similarities between them both, I think it really helped her identify with amateur sleuth detective 10 year old Sophia Slewfoot. 

Sophia Slewfoot has just moved into a historic house built in the 1700's and discovers that the house has plenty of charm and secrets for Sophia to discover. My 10 year old was easily sucked into the magical whirlwind of a story that allowed my daughter to feel like she also time travelled besides Sophia. 

This is a perfect book for 10-12 year olds that will have them eagerly awaiting to find out the secrets that the adventures have to discover. Sophia is a very relatable and amusing character which allows children to easily relate to. Myself and my daughter recommend this book to any history loving child! 

Purchase links here:

Amazon|BookDepository

About The Author

Marie-Louise Gregory - Author

Having always enjoyed curling up with a good book, especially old-fashioned mystery and adventure stories, Marie-Louise studied English Literature at Leeds University.

Marie-Louise’s passion for language, literacy and traditional storytelling prompted her to write the part-fact, part-fiction ‘Sophia Slewfoot Solves History’s Mysteries’ series (https://sophiaslewfoot.co.uk/), with which she hopes to challenge, inspire and entertain a new generation of mystery- and history- loving bookworms.

When she is not reading or writing, Marie-Louise enjoys indulging in food and wine, walking the dog, and taking horse-riding lessons with her daughter and friends.

Nicola Brooks - Illustrator 

Nicky Brooks grew up in a small town in South Cheshire.  Following periods living in Birmingham and Manchester, Nicky returned to Cheshire where she now lives with her husband, two daughters and playful Labradoodle.

 

Nicky studied Printed Textile Design at UCE Birmingham, which led to a career in fashion buying that saw her travelling the world.  When she became a mum, Nicky chose to retrain as a Teaching Assistant, enabling her to spend more time at home with her children.  Nicky has found being a Teaching

Assistant to be hugely rewarding. Helping primary aged children to learn and grow has given Nicky an invaluable insight into what motivates children, which has been inspirational in her illustrations.

When not working or illustrating, Nicky enjoys being creative around the house and garden.  She also loves family outings to the beach, socialising with friends, walking her dog, Rusty, and attending ballet classes.

 Say Her Name by Dreda Say Mitchell 
&
Ryan Carter - Review

Print length: 316 pages
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Publication date: 1/04/2022

My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

Synopsis

In this chilling thriller from the bestselling authors of Spare Room, one woman just wants the truth about who she really is. But she’s not the only one looking…

It’s twenty years since Eva, a biracial woman, was adopted as an eight-year-old, and Cherry and Carlton ‘Sugar’ McNeil have always been the only parents she’s wanted or needed. But when she’s dealt the double blow of Cherry’s death and her own suspension from work, Eva decides it’s time to discover who she was before she was theirs.

Against Sugar’s advice, Eva joins a DNA database, desperate for a match that will unlock her identity. And when a positive hit comes, she’s excited to learn there are relations out there who might hold the key. But the closer Eva gets to uncovering her past, the more it appears someone is trying to stop her finally finding the truth…

As she continues to dig, Eva is drawn into a dark and merciless underside to society, where black women disappear without a word. Names erased from history, no search parties, no desperate pleas for their return. Once, someone tried to save Eva from all this. Someone wanted a better life for her. But now that she’s torn down the facade of her life, has she come too far to be spared again?

Review

The story begins with Eva burying her adoptive mother. It is clear from the beginning that Eva's relationship with both her adoptive mother and father was a good one, Eva holds the highest respect for her adoptive parents but especially for her former police officer father called Sugar. What I really enjoyed about this story was how big of a part race played into the story. Her father became a policeman at a time when that opportunity for a black man was incredibly unlikely to achieve but against the odds, he was successful and was able to help instil Eva with confidence in her own beautiful skin colour. 

The story explains that Eva had a troubled past in a children's home where she was mistreated and subjected to horrific abuse at the hands of those who were supposed to care for her. Eva has spent her life ensuring that she doesn't end up as just another failure in the care system but becomes a doctor, a job of which she is very proud but finds herself in a tough spot when she is suspended. 

A big issue for me in this story was the lack of character depth, Eva's husband Joe was supposedly her rock, yet nothing in the story really highlights this. One moment Joe is supportive, the next he is shifty and then all of the sudden everything is great again. Despite Joe being described as Eva's confidante and true love, you really don't see her relying on him or even communicating with him much at all. 

When Eva finds her birth father through a DNA test, she also unexpectedly finds herself a half-sister Miriam with whom she instantly befriends. Eva is aware that there is more to Miriam than what meets the eye but she enlists the help of her birth father and half-sister to find her biological mother but in doing so, Eva finds not just dark secrets but also finds herself in immense danger. 

I loved the storyline for this book, I particularly enjoyed the fact that this highlighted how differently people from an ethnic minority group are treated when being considered a victim of a crime and how they are underrepresented when they have gone missing etc. This is clearly a very important message this book is sending out and it's something that is crucial to change and for that part, I feel this book did a great job.

The main letdown of this book is the lack of character development, Eva is supposedly an intelligent doctor but makes decisions that I would hope no doctor would, she comes across as extremely naïve which I think is bizarre when she has gone through so much in her life, she is easily manipulated and has extremely poor decision-making skills. I also feel like Joe is a pointless character, who really doesn't develop any depth whatsoever. 

Another issue is the twists in the book are extremely predictable, the story is enjoyable enough as I really liked the whole background set-up and the message that it was trying to portray but nothing was shocking about this whole book, I knew where it was going from the start and I think it needed something extra just to put a little suspense into this book. 

Overall, the actual story is a great one even if it was obvious as to where it was leading, Eva is a likeable character despite my frustrations with her naivety and raising awareness on how ethnic minorities are treated by the government, media and everyday people in cases where a serious crime may have taken place. 

Amazon purchase link: here

About The Authors

Dreda Say Mitchell & Ryan Carter

Her Majesty, The Queen appointed Dreda an MBE in her 2020 New Year’s Honours’ List. Dreda scooped the CWA’s John Creasey Dagger in 2004, the first time a Black British author has received this honour. Dreda and Ryan write across the crime and mystery genre – psychological thrillers, gritty gangland crime and fast-paced action books Spare Room, their first psychological thriller was a #1 UK and US Amazon Bestseller. Dreda is one of twelve acclaimed and bestselling international female writers contributing to a new Miss Marple anthology. Dreda is a passionate campaigner and speaker on social issues and the arts. She has been a frequent guest on television and radio including BBC Breakfast,, Celebrity Pointless and Celebrity Eggheads, The Stephen Nolan Show, Front Row and Woman’s Hour. She has presented Radio 4’s flagship books programme, Open Book. Dreda was named one of Britain’s 50 Remarkable Women by Lady Geek in association with Nokia. She was the 2011 chair of the Theakston Harrogate Crime Fiction Festival. Dreda was born and raised in the East End of London where she continues to live. Dreda’s family are from the beautiful Caribbean island of Grenada and her name is pronounced with a long ‘ee’ sound in the middle. 

Visit Dreda Say Mitchell's website: here

Follow Dreda Say Mitchell on Twitter: @DredaMBE

Impromptu by Martin Lilley
[Review]

Print Length: 62 pages
                       Publication date: 14th February 2022

             My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Synopsis

The unforeseen is killing everyone who gets in its path. Nobody knows what it is or why it’s happening. People across the globe appear to be dying on their birthday, at the exact time they were born.

Inseparable twins, Cat and Tom, have two days left to live. With their sweet sixteenth fast approaching, they have to accept that this may be it. See ya later!
But then, Cat, a gifted writer who lacks confidence in her ability, is handed a mysterious brown envelope by her mother with the clear instructions; don’t show your brother, it will kill him.

Amidst a world gone crazy and people from all walks of life dropping dead, can the Government figure out a way to stop the unforeseen from taking those who are left?
And how will Cat and Tom survive in a world Cat had only ever dreamt of writing about herself?

Review

Impromptu is a novelette which is something I don't tend to read very often as I am a greedy reader. I always want more but Impromptu's synopsis had me intrigued and I knew I needed to read it. 

It's written from Cat's point of view as she scrawls down what is happening right up until the moment of her impending death. Cat and Tom are twins also referred to as 'TomCat' which I thought was a very cute touch! Cat tells the story of how people all across the globe start dying on their birthday at the precise moment of their time of birth but with no idea why, the government is clutching at straws, hopelessly trying to stop the world from falling apart who just so happen to have a leader who looked like Worzel Gummidge which should remind you guys of a leader of our own. 

The government fails of course and people become more and more unhinged when they are forced to face the fact that their next birthday will also be their death sentence. 

Cat is struggling to come to terms that she and her twin brother are going to die and she decides to document the moments that lead up to their birthday in a sarcastic and humorously way which perfectly reminds you of how young and vulnerable the twins really are. 

The tale is a sad one, there is no escaping death but Cat's humour really adds a lighter touch to the story and made me like her fairly quickly. Cat is given a mysterious letter by her mother which she is demanded not to open until a specific time to avoid hurting her brother but when she opens that envelope, it really throws a spanner in the works. 

I enjoyed the quick pace of this story, the character's personalities were strong and the twist was brilliant, but as I say, I am a greedy reader. I wanted to know more, I needed to know what happens after the big twist and why this happened in the first place? I felt like there were too many loose ends but that does give Martin the perfect excuse to write a sequel which I would love to read.

If you are after a short but unputdownable read then I highly recommend this unique novelette!

Please go and show this wonderful author some support by purchasing Impromptu from Amazon today.

About The Author

Martin was born and raised in Nottingham, but moved to Manchester in 1999 to study Illustration & Animation. After graduating with a First Class Honours, he backpacked down the east coast of Australia for a year.

He now lives in Altrincham, Greater Manchester, with his wife and two children.

Martin's dream is to be a published author and to see his work on a shelf in a bookshop. Ultimately, he wants to make those people around him immensely proud of what he has achieved.

He is now working on his next story in order to make that dream come true.

Follow Martin on Twitter: @yellilnitram

 The Waterman by Robert Derry
Review

Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
Print Length: 312 pages

My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Synopsis

Terry Stubbs is a young man getting old before his time and is haunted by a face that invades his dreams. His life is on the rocks after failing to find his fortune on the trading floors of the ruthless city of London. Jake Harvey is a successful salesman on his way up the ladder, but his world will never be the same again, now that the nightmares have started.

The same dreams. The same nightmares. Different people.

A waterman from seventeenth century London lurks like a troll beneath the old London Bridge, reaching out across the ages to tug at his victims. Infiltrating their lives. Reeling them in.

A journey through time that will make you think twice, before you ever pay the ferryman again.

Review

A viscerally stunning piece of work that sends chills straight to your bones.

Robert does a fantastic job of drawing you in with his picturesque prose and then begins to deliver a real-page turner. This book was not what I was expecting by a long shot but I was left feeling pleasantly surprised by this. A historical ghost story soaked in suspense.

Robert very clearly did his research when writing this book as the detail and accuracy with what he writes with is phenomenal. 

The three characters that you follow are Terry Stubbs, Jackie and Jake. All three characters are facing a difficult time in their life but lead very different lives, the one thing that links them all together is the nightmares. The nightmares threaten to spill over into the realm of reality, leading the characters to a frantic search to understand why they are all suffering from the same dreams and where the dreams originally began.

Once you open up this book, there is no way you're going to want to put it down. I was so eager to find the answers that time slipped away from me and I was really with the characters yearning for answers to these mysterious nightmares.

Robert delivers one final juicy twist that left me stunned. I love historical fiction but I haven't read one quite as engaging and accurate as The Waterman, this is definitely one you should add to your TBR pile. 

Many thanks to Robert for gifting me a copy of The Waterman in an exchange for a fair and honest review.

Buy your copy here:

AustinMacauley|Blackwell's|Amazon

About The Author

Robert Derry is working as an HR consultant in England. He got his education from Lancaster University before he moved to the city of London. There, close to the River Thames, he wrote his first novel. His book The Waterman was also nominated for the 2021 Novel London Literary Award. In his free time, he supports Aston Villa Football Club and NFL. He is currently living in Somerset, England with his wife, Tina, their two children and two cats.

Click here to visit Robert Derry's website

Follow Robert Derry on Twitter at: @derry_rob

Lost & Found - A Memoir by Kathryn Schulz

 Lost & Found - A Memoir by Kathryn Schulz
[Review]

Publisher: PICADOR
Page Length: 256
Hardback Edition: £14.99
Release Date: 28.04.22

Synopsis

'An extraordinary gift of a book, a tender, searching meditation on love and loss and what it means to be human. I wept at it, laughed with it, was entirely fascinated by it. I emerged feeling a little as if the world around me had been made anew.' – Helen Macdonald, author of H Is for Hawk and Vesper Flights

Eighteen months before Kathryn Schulz’s beloved father died, she met the woman she would marry. In Lost & Found, she weaves the stories of those relationships into a brilliant exploration of how all our lives are shaped by loss and discovery - from the maddening disappearance of everyday objects to the sweeping devastations of war, pandemic, and natural disaster; from finding new planets to falling in love.

Three very different American families form the heart of Lost & Found: the one that made Schulz’s father, a charming, brilliant, absentminded Jewish refugee; the one that made her partner, an equally brilliant farmer’s daughter and devout Christian; and the one she herself makes through marriage. But Schulz is also attentive to other, more universal kinds of conjunction: how private happiness can coexist with global catastrophe, how we get irritated with those we adore, how love and loss are themselves unavoidably inseparable. The resulting book is part memoir, part guidebook to living in a world that is simultaneously full of wonder and joy and wretchedness and suffering - a world that always demands both our gratitude and our grief.

A staff writer at the New Yorker and winner of the Pulitzer Prize, Kathryn Schulz writes with curiosity, tenderness, erudition, and wit about our finite yet infinitely complicated lives. Crafted with the emotional clarity of C. S. Lewis and the intellectual force of Susan Sontag, Lost & Found is an uncommon book about common experiences.

Purchase Link
Waterstones|WHSmith

Review

Typically, I don't read memoirs but after seeing the beautiful cover and the synopsis, I thought that this may just be the perfect memoir for me. 

This memoir is written like an eloquent poem which captures Kathryn's memories beautifully. This book is written in three parts, each as interesting as one another and is based on the title of the book. Each part covers how as humans we deal and approach things that we have lost, and how we go about finding and the "&" that combines things together.

This book really dives into the frustration that we feel as existential beings that have lost something and that in the end we lose everything, including the ones we treasure the most. 

We discover that Kathryn in the months before losing her father, met the woman of her dreams and how love can help carry you through the painful process of grief. 

You discover that amidst all the pain, Kathryn goes on to build a happy life with her wife including a wedding, a new home and eventually an addition to the family.

If you enjoy memoirs, then this one is profoundly moving and really opens your eyes to what it really means to be human.

About The Author

Kathryn Schulz is a staff writer at the New Yorker and the author of Being Wrong. She won a National Magazine Award and a Pulitzer Prize in 2015 for 'The Really Big One', an article about seismic risk in the Pacific Northwest. Her TED talks have been hugely popular: 'Don't Regret Regret' (2.5m views) and 'On being Wrong' (5m views). Lost & Found grew out of 'When Things Go Missing', which was originally published in the New Yorker and later anthologized in The Best American Essays. She lives with her family in Maryland.

Follow Kathryn Schulz on Twitter: @kathrynschulz

 Unlucky Charm by Aidan Lucid
[Book Review]

Print Length: 112 pages
Publication Date: January 5th, 2022

Book #2 Hopps Town Series

My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Synopsis

Darkness Comes From The Most Unexpected Of Places!
A New Threat Comes to Hopps Town

Following the events of, The Scavenger, we now find Jared a year later, on a two week break from college. He thought this would be a relaxing visit home then it happened, something so dark he felt a strange sense of deja-vu.

Across town we find Reggie Danes and Zane Miller who’ve been friends for over ten years. After Zane purchases an antique pocket-watch, they suddenly find themselves being taunted by past secrets.

Now they must band together to vanquish the demons which plague their lives. Can life ever return to normal?

Will the darkness ever disappear?

Review

A year following the terrifying events that happened in 'The Scavenger', we are now met with Jared who is home from college for a break. Jared is still very much coming to terms with his newfound ability and still finds it overwhelming but when he is confronted by a spirit who warns him that he must find an item, he is at a loss. Jared is clueless as to what item he needs to find, but thankfully his Aunt Maybelle runs to his rescue. 

Two new characters are introduced in this story, Reggie and Zane who are close friends which unknowingly come into possession of a cursed object and before they know it, Zane and Reggie are forced to face their past and their guilt. The only worry is that the past is much more real and present than it should be and presents a very real danger to both Zane and Reggie if they do not get the help they so desperately need. 

Jared and Maybelle with the appropriate abilities try to convince the young men that they can help, but a big problem presents itself. What happens if it's too late to help?

This is a perfect novella for a young adult, it flows beautifully and is an easy fun read for supernatural or horror lovers. 

Another great story from Aidan Lucid, I am eager to read his future work.

Purchase Unlucky Charm at:
Amazon

About The Author

Aidan was born in July 28^th, 1981 in County Kerry, Ireland. Growing up, he always loved reading books, especially those in the fantasy genre. Books on the supernatural also filled his shelves as a kid and still do to this today.

Mr. Lucid's journey as a writer began back in 2002 after having a religious experience. In 2004, he plucked up the courage to send out some of my material to magazines, newspapers etc. and seven items Aidan wrote were published that year. For the next two years Aidan received diplomas of distinction in creative writing and freelance journalism.

Back in April 2005 Aidan began writing, The Lost Son, which was then under a different title. In 2010 it was published by a Texas-based publisher but in 2013, he left that publisher. Mr. Lucid listened to feedback from readers on the novel and made some changes, adding new characters, fleshing out the story a bit more etc. Fast-forward to October 2019, Jongleur Books published The Lost Son. 

Aidan Lucid says, "Writing is my life and it fills me with joy to see people enjoy my works. It’s my aim to let people escape the mundane world we live in and get carried away by the adventures both in The Zargothian Saga books and other future works that will be released over the next few years. As an author, I love listening to the feedback readers give me. It’s always fun to meet and engage with the audience. I love doing interviews and talking about my writing journey, hoping that it will inspire another author to pursue their dream."

For more on Aidan Lucid: About Aidan (aidanlucidauthor.com)

Follow Aidan Lucid on Twitter: @TheZargothian