A Stone Cold Murder

Reluctantly Psychic Murder Mystery, #1

by

Kris Bock

Her uncomfortable psychic ability puts her on the trail of a killer.

A Stone Cold Murder is the first book in author Kris Bock's cozy new Reluctantly Psychic Murder Mystery series featuring a young woman with a touchy ability. When Petra Cloch relocates to Bonneville, New Mexico, to take a job as the curator of the rock and mineral section of the Banditt Museum, she expected it to be a fun but out-of-the-way spot to put her interest in geological specimens to use and make a living. But on her very first day, she discovers her predecessor may have been murdered right there in her new office and not from the reported car accident following an unexpected heart attack. 

Petra is a nice young woman with a burdensome secret; she can feel someone's past emotions when touching their belongings. While this particular psychic ability is not unheard of, this is the first book that really considers how this would actually affect its bearer's practical daily life, both positively and negatively. I swiftly became sympathetic to Petra's uneasy adaptations and her sad and lonely past. 

The plot is well-paced, and Petra's reaction to her first handling of potential evidence of murder reveals her startling ability very effectively. Her new coworkers were quite a quirky group of individuals, and I was progressively more hopeful she would find an ally and friend among the bunch. I enjoyed her menagerie of cats, ferrets, and rats, and my mind immediately jumped to where in the world she would find a landlord who would tolerate so many pets without bankrupting her. Her reason for keeping her ability to herself was reasonable, and I understood her reason for personally investigating Reggie Heap's death on her own. The author includes fun bits about the mineral samples and the museum as well. The author's writing is easy to read, and I was so engaged with the story that I read it from start to finish one evening. 

I recommend A STONE COLD MURDER to cozy mystery readers, especially those interested in psychic elements, museum settings, rocks, and minerals. 

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advanced Review Copy from the author through Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours.

Goats Afloat

by

Lezlie Evans

Illustrated by Julia Patton

Whimsical and amusing retelling of The Three Billy Goats Gruff with a HEA for everyone!

Goats Afloat by Lezlie Evans is the whimsically amusing tale of a family of goats in a story with elements similar to the familiar, old fairytale of The Three Billy Goats Gruff. In this updated version, the goat family has expanded to five, and there is a wonderful happy-ever-after in store for all involved. 

Told with rhyme and rhythm, rather than the possibly frightening and confrontational meetings set on the bridge pitting cunning goats against an evil troll, this is a fun story with goats on a mission to celebrate Granny Goat’s birthday at her home some ways away. Worried about the troll who lives under the bridge, which is on the only footpath to granny’s house, the goats hatch a plan to bypass it entirely and travel downriver by canoe, carrying with them a tall and delicious-looking but very unstable and wobbly birthday cake. The suspense around whether that cake is going to make it is very much a part of the fun. The young troll is very interested in what the goats are up to, but in a curiously longing fashion, as if he’s sad at being left out of the coming celebration. With a girl goat and boy goats, some less athletic and others more physically coordinated in the group, this little story has five goats of varying characteristics and abilities for children to consider and relate to, and all the characters are adorable. 

What would a children’s picture be without gloriously colorful images to help tell the tale? This one is filled with cute and engaging illustrations by Julia Patton, and it has lots of fun details to examine with each and every reading. Children and the adult guiding them through the story will delight in trying to locate the shy troll hiding on every page as he follows the goats’ progress down the river in their canoe. 

The book would be perfect for bedtime reading or reading aloud and sharing in larger group settings. With its variety of characters, detailed illustrations, and sweet story with its surprise ending, this book could attract interest and provide entertainment over multiple readings. I recommend GOATS AFLOAT for children of all ages and for sharing at home, in the classroom, or after-school program settings. 

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advanced Review Copy via Netgalley.

The Victorian Locket

Galveston Historical Mystery, #1

by

Elefair King

An intriguing ghostly mystery infused with the history of the coastal city and the devastating 1900 hurricane.

The Victorian Locket is the first novel in author Elefair King’s intriguing Galveston Historical Mystery series and tells the story of the South Texas coastal town’s devastating 1900 hurricane and its reputation as one of the most haunted places in America. Recent widow Sarah Anne Law, a long-time visitor and new resident to the island, discovers an old locket hidden in a well-concealed hidey hole in a bedroom fireplace. While her old Victorian house appears to be home to at least two benign ghostly inhabitants, the locket seems to bring with it a more aggressive spirit. Intrigued and concerned, Sarah is compelled to look into the history of her home and the locket, convinced murder is part of its past. 

Sarah, known to her friends as Sam, is an intrepid researcher determined to uncover the stories of the past. Still grieving the death of her spouse, she has relocated to the city of her childhood memories and adult retirement dreams, purchasing a 120-year-old Victorian home and escaping the everyday places she shared with her lost love. Along with her feline companion, who proves to be a good indicator of the presence of the unseen and validates her owner’s own impressions, Sam is much more accepting of the weirdness going on in her home than I would ever be! I literally feel the cold just thinking about the spirit related to the locket. 

The plot moves between the past and present as the story of the locket comes to light and how the spooky happenings in Sam’s home are related. The story goes into great detail about the Big Storm of 1900 that destroyed the vibrant, thriving town of millionaires that was Galveston at the turn of the century. Sam’s explanation of why there are so many spirits still tied to the island was interesting and one that I’d never heard before. 

With its mesmerizing mix of historical fact, mystery, and supernatural fiction, I recommend THE VICTORIAN LOCKET to readers of historical mysteries who enjoy a bit of the woo-woo in their stories. 

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advanced Review Copy through RABT Book Tours and PR.

Joy: A Novel of the New Frontier

by

B.R.M. Evett

Exciting and imaginative post-apocalyptic story of a near-future United States.

Joy: A Novel of the New Frontier by author B.R.M. Evett is a new science fiction adventure set in a near-future post-apocalyptic United States, where much of the country’s population has been wiped out by a series of climate and medical disasters. Over the ensuing years of chaos, an exclusive medical treatment facility in Boston known as The Elysium Spa had lost contact with the outside world and its sister facilities around the country but had continued to function, caring for its registered clients under an all-encompassing protocol that maintained their renowned program of Joy. In the Joy program, clients’ unconscious bodies, safely ensconced in a warm, protective bath, are constantly monitored and regulated to continually experience their maximum pleasure and well-being while moving through a pre-set life cycle that includes reproduction of the next generation of clients and eventually aging out at 75 years and undergoing The Apotheosis and returning to the ultimate essence of the Universe. 

Throughout their stay at The Elysium, the clients are cared for by an android, carefully created to resemble a human being. Tender Number 7 cares for a Guest Group of 10 clients: five males and five females, each one in a different life stage. As the story begins, a category six hurricane is raging outside the Boston facility. Still, that day’s procedures continue as scheduled and include a treatment for one of the females, Virgo, on an upper floor of the building. As the procedure is concluding, the storm knocks out the facility’s power and mainframe computer and floods the lower floors; Virgo and Tender Number 7 are the sole survivors. Even though Elysium had been out of touch with the outside world for decades, Tender decides to move the helpless, dreaming Virgo to the nearest sister facility in New York City, and when the storm recedes, begins the long journey afoot with her in his arms, not realizing how the world has changed in the decades since he went into the facility. 

Tender is a goal-oriented and pure personality tasked with safeguarding and optimizing his clients’ Joy experience. As an android, he operates under human programming and, while aware that the best choice for Virgo, at times, may be to harm another human, it is not the optimum response. So, as he and Virgo encounter the harsh realities of a changed world, he must sometimes be very creative in how he pursues his plans. Virgo, although physically a 15-year-old girl, has only known the solitude and sublime satisfaction of Joy in her warm, jellied bath pod, experiencing only ecstasy in her every living moment. When she awakens outside of the pod in Tender’s arms, she experiences physical need and discomfort for the very first time, much like a newborn after birth. For her, everything is about regaining Joy and fulfilling her needs. Leaving the bewildering and difficult reality far behind. It was interesting to watch as she reacted and adjusted to simple physical urges and slowly became a part of her surrounding environment. 

The author has created a wonderful contrast between the small, isolated world of the spa and the world at large. As the danger of the hurricane passes, they encounter few humans, but those they do all serve to disrupt or delay their journey, some for many weeks at a time. The pair represents possible new resources to almost everyone they come in contact with, a tool to be used and discarded. However, Tender proves to be a resourceful protector as they escape from one harrowing situation after another. 

The author’s descriptions were vivid and immersive, making the cinematic story so compelling it flew by. While Tender is non-human, he displays the highest and most honorable characteristics of any human hero, and even the innocent, emotionally toddler-like Virgo is engaging and someone you’ll want to root for. Along the way, the survivors they meet are the catalysts for some of the most unexpected plot twists ever, guaranteeing I did not want to put this book down until the final page was turned. 

I recommend JOY: A NOVEL OF THE NEW FRONTIER to readers of science fiction, dystopias, and post-apocalyptic tales. 

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advanced Review Copy from Reedsy Discovery.

Rock Hopper

by

Kenneth Ocklund

An exciting space thriller featuring space pirates and a daring operation to transport an asteroid to Earth’s orbit.

Rock Hopper is a new and exciting space thriller from author Kenneth Ocklund featuring pirates and a daring and desperate operation to capture a resource-rich asteroid and transport it to a U.S. Navy spaceport orbiting Earth to mine it for its valuable metals. When access to a super-advanced spacecraft practically falls in his lap, the aimless son of a war hero killed in action after the Satellite Wars between the U.S. and Russia hatches a plan to provide such an asteroid to the Navy for a multi-trillion-dollar payday. However, his recent friendship with Becka, the captain of a space privateering operation, puts a target on his back by her traitorous former second-in-command, Blitz. 

Toru is the son of a renowned war hero (and secret developer of an advanced triple-threat space fighter - atmosphere, near, and deep space – for the Russians), Tomas Tanner. Access to the Manta Ray’s capabilities was limited to its creator and pilot by a DNA match, so the fighter has been hangared and basically forgotten in a remote Earthside spaceport in Sweden’s far Lapland region: an unusable doorstop. However, with one touch from Toru, the ship responds. Toru, raised by his uncle, had made his quiet, lackluster way through life as a cheap guide into Lapland for budget-minded foreign tourists, drifting and aimless since his father’s death when he was still a teenager. The connection to the Manta Ray is also a connection with the father he still grieves, and the opportunity to make something of this life using the spaceship to accomplish something no one else has been able to do galvanizes him. I enjoyed that despite this teenage trauma, for most of the book, Toru is upbeat, rarely succumbing to despair even when things look hopeless and the situation gets dire. 

Heading up intersecting storylines are Becka, the captain of the Ching Shih and her pirate crew, and Vanja, Turo’s childhood friend, now the commander of the American-leased naval spaceport in Sweden. When Blitz, Becka’s second-in-command, leaves her for dead during an incursion, she and her remaining loyal crew members shift sides to become privateers with letters of marque, looking for revenge against the traitorous Blitz. Vanja enables her old friend and former sweetheart in his venture by granting him access to the Manta Ray and setting him up with the commander of the orbiting spaceport where he first encounters Becka. Toru is an engaging innocent in many ways, and while Becka is wily and experienced, she’s still someone you hope will come out on top. There is an immediate attraction between the two that is fun; however, Vanja is still carrying a torch for her former sweetheart. 

The story progresses swiftly, with the multiple storylines impacting each other in surprising and dangerous ways. Toru’s asteroid mission is fraught with peril, and he endures many tense situations. His partnership with the ship’s AI “Ray” to creatively solve problems was compelling reading, and the assistance of the mining robot, Baxter, another figure from Toru’s childhood, proves fortuitous yet bittersweet. Although the story comes to a close, there are still some loose ends left hanging, such as the romantic triangle and the whereabouts of Captain Becka’s nemesis, Blitz. While there’s no mention of a sequel, I certainly hope for more adventures featuring these characters. 

I recommend ROCK HOPPER to readers of science fiction and space adventures. 

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advanced Review Copy from Reedsy Discovery.