Basilisk

A Starship vs Alien Creature War Novel, Book One

by

Scott Bradley

Exciting military science fiction tale of a brutal conflict between two warring planets that escalates when the mythical aliens known as the basilisks get involved.

Basilisk by Scott Bradley is a riveting military science fiction story about a brutal conflict between two warring planets, Kari and Rhea, that suddenly threatens to annihilate both when one side decides to introduce a mythical alien creature known as basilisks into the battle. Skylar Solace, the daughter of the renowned captain of the Kari starship Dragon, is foundering in her studies to become a starship officer. So, when the planet Rhea attacks and decimates one of Kari’s space stations and its more than 2,000 souls aboard, she and her best friend, Trudi, with passions high (A LA STARSHIP TROOPERS), enlist in the Marines. But all the training in the world can’t prepare Skylar for the terror she feels going into battle. Not only must she fight the enemy, but her own paralyzing fear as well. Adding to her emotional struggles are the rampant rumors that Kari’s leader, President Alder, may be responsible for starting the war for personal gain. 

While initially appearing to be a passionate and gung-ho recruit wanting to prove herself to a cruel, unfeeling father, Skylar Solace turns out to be a remarkably complex character struggling with a lot of baggage. I had some difficulty connecting with her, especially when she froze during her squad’s first engagement with the enemy, possibly contributing to the death of a marine under her command. However, as the story unfolded, she grew on me as she matured and grew into the kind of protagonist that her command saw as a competent and canny leader, able to cut through the smokescreen of subterfuge of Kari’s power-hungry and corrupt politicians. She goes from acting like a schoolgirl when confronted with her current crush to fighting through excruciating pain and the mind control caused by the bite of the all-too-real alien Basilisk. 

Corporal Solace is supported by a plethora of teammates besides Trudi, such as the mercenary Levi and the ever-contentious Coma. Many characters come and go as they fall in the many shipboard skirmishes, and the squad is re-formed over and over. Skylar slowly comes to trust herself, learning a hard lesson when she relinquishes command to a less talented squad member in a moment of weakness. 

The story starts in high gear as Skylar’s squad boards a Rhea Corvette, and the author does a bang-up job describing and choreographing the ensuing chaos they experience as they breach the hull under fire and meet the enemy head-on. Capturing an enemy combatant, a Kari insurgent, readers get their first hint that the virtually unstoppable Basilisk of lore might not just be a myth, and their involvement in the Rhea-Kari war is a much larger threat to everyone, giving off fresh ALIEN vibes for the rest of the book. I found the story exciting and entertaining, but there were a few places where the action lagged with unnecessary repetitions of explanations or character introspection, typos, and incorrect word usage. 

I recommend BASILISK to readers of military science fiction, especially those who enjoy strong female protagonists. 

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

Vanishing Into the 100% Dark

Bean to Bar Mystery, #8

by

Amber Royer

Murder and chocolate once again go hand-in-hand in this latest Bean to Bar Mystery!

Vanishing Into the 100% Dark is the eighth novel in author Amber Royer’s delightful Bean to Bar Mystery series, which is normally set in Galveston, Texas. This time, Felicity, her new fiancé, and several friends travel to Tokyo for a chocolate festival and trade show, where, unfortunately, murder and chocolate go hand-in-hand. Felicity finds herself investigating the death of a stuntman whose body she discovers sprawled on the floor of the set where he had been working on a modern-day monster movie. With her teenage charge Chloe’s fingerprints on the murder weapon, Felicity and her friends must pull out all the stops to clear her name. 

Felicity is honored to have been invited to participate in the Tokyo chocolate festival and to present a class on how she creates her own products, but she feels a little intimidated by the other renowned guests. Still, she looks forward to sharing her experiences and learning from others, as well as visiting the exotic cosmopolitan city of Tokyo. Thankfully, several of her friends decided to tag along on the trip to help staff the booth during the trade show because Felicity and Logan are both pulled in different directions, her looking into the murder and him helping out a former client who is in trouble. 

Felicity is dedicated in her pursuit of the truth and conducts a careful, step-by-step investigation, starting with interviewing those involved in the film with a possible reason to want Noel Bell dead, including the film’s director, who has an obvious but unrequited crush on the victim’s wife, a stuntwoman also working on the film. She is hampered in her investigation by the language barrier and a lack of access to the official police investigators and their information; however, both Logan and Arlo have local contacts they call on for some assistance. Additional storylines complicate the case but seem to tie in early on, multiplying the motives and suspects. The foreign setting is fun, and the author includes a lot of details about daily life there from an expat point of view rather than from a touristy perception, adding to the authentic feel of the novel. 

With its puzzling murder mystery, unexpected intrigue at the chocolate festival, and the delight and comfort of so many familiar, recurring characters on hand in Tokyo, I recommend VANISHING INTO THE 100% DARK to cozy mystery readers, especially fans of the previous books in the series.   

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advanced Review Copy from the author through Lone Star Book Blog Tours.

Gunbarrel Highway

by

Sean Bridges

Exciting and intense thriller that will keep readers turning pages!

Gunbarrel Highway is a new thriller by Texas author Sean Bridges that features a wild manhunt for a lawyer falsely accused of killing the wife of a congressional hopeful in a traffic accident. Non-stop action, shocking betrayals, and unimaginable plot twists kept me riveted to this story from start to finish. 

Attorney Daniel Morrison is a man on the run. After Claudia Grant drives her bright red convertible head-on into his SUV, he runs from the scene, afraid the police will think he’s at fault because of the blue pills he shouldn’t have, which now littered the floor of his vehicle. While Claudia was the cause of the crash, her husband announces a million-dollar bounty for his capture, dead or alive, at a press conference at the hospital. Now, everyone in the region is on the lookout to bring Daniel in by whatever means necessary. 

Daniel was already having a rough day, what with his hangover and the early morning verbal sparring with Judy, the wife he was in the middle of divorcing. Late to work and on his boss’s bad side for some legitimate shortcomings, it was hard feeling much sympathy for him initially. However, as this tragedy of errors, misunderstandings, and misinterpretations unfolded, he started to grow on me, and I needed for him to be vindicated. 

The story is populated by a plethora of great characters, many of whom are incredibly unlikable, such as the smarmy television reporter and the new widower, to name a few. The plot moves swiftly, even as the author is setting up the scene and the individuals involved in the upcoming accident. From that point, the action is non-stop, with Daniel just trying to get home to surrender and plot twist after plot twist, making that goal seem less and less likely ever to happen. I know I gasped out loud a couple of times and absolutely couldn’t put this book down until I finished it! 

I recommend GUNBARREL HIGHWAY to readers of thrillers and suspense, especially those who enjoy a Hill Country/South Texas setting. 

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advanced Review Copy from the author through Lone Star Book Blog Tours.

Twist of Time

by

Gy Waldron

Intriguing dual-timeline thriller featuring the legends of the Knights Templar, a mysterious, ancient diary, and a modern-day murder.

Twist of Time by Gy Waldron is an intriguing story featuring the legends of the Knights Templar, a mysterious, ancient diary, and a gruesome modern-day murder. Its fast-paced action quickly captured my imagination, and its compelling storyline kept me on the edge of my seat until the very end. 

The story cleverly unfolds from multiple points of view along two separate timelines. In the present, Detective Kate Flynn, a third-generation cop, investigates the horrendous murder of a woman whose headless, handless torso is discovered by hikers on one of the city’s more remote trails. Learning the victim was the courier hired by a multimillionaire med-tech genius to courier an ancient diary to a local monastery for translation, she initially enlists the assistance of Brother Thomas, the monk-translator, to help her solve her case. The story quickly shifts into high gear when they realize the significance of the missing diary and the danger it brings to all who get involved with it. The threat becomes all too apparent, with no fewer than three different organizations vying to grab the diary and the translator for themselves. 

The historical timeline follows Templar Knight Brother Brychen Houston, tasked with safeguarding the orders’ secrets as the French king and Pope conspire to take the Templar’s wealth, property, and mystic knowledge held within a mysterious trunk bearing the label “Veritas.” As he and his companions flee their pursuers, lose the trunk and regain it, and fight their way through France, Brychen records their story along with information regarding the Templars’ secrets in a diary. The author incorporates the history of the Knights Templar, their beliefs, and daily routines into the larger story, which is fascinating to read. Brother Brychen is the epitome of the conflicted hero as he struggles to fulfill his mission and forgive himself for his methods and his past. 

The plot has a couple of distinctive twists that had me gasping, including a paranormal element featuring psychics. The descriptive settings are vivid and far-flung, and readers are in for some good armchair traveling. 

I recommend TWIST OF TIME to readers of historical mysteries, historical fiction, and thrillers, especially to those who enjoy stories of the Knights Templar. 

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advanced Review Copy from the author through Partners in Crime Virtual Book Tours.

A Madness Unmade

Deathly Inheritance Duology, #1

by

E.K. Larson-Burnett

A Gothically-vibed coming-of-age fantasy story.

A Madness Unmade is the first book in author E.K. Larson-Burnett’s compelling gothically-vibed Deathly Inheritance Duology, the tale of Laurel Persephone Rumbroom, the last Guardian of Underhallow, the only remaining sanctuary for ghosts who have yet to move on to their next situation. Orphaned as a young teen and left in the care of the ghosts who inhabit her home, Laurel’s 18^th birthday arrives, and along with it, so do her dormant, untapped magical abilities and the responsibility to safeguard the ghostly residents of Underhallow, a duty she knew nothing about up to this point. 

Laurel is an engaging and sympathetic character right from the start as one learns of her tragic and lonely backstory: her mother was gone from her life at an early age, orphaned upon the death of her father when she was only 13 and left in the care of the other residents (all of whom are dead) in her stately but crumbling home, Underhallow. Ghosts have been raising this child. 

Besides not leaving the house for the past five years (when her father passed), Laurel initially appears to be doing pretty well until you realize she’s not the child she seems to be but going on 18 years old. Her birthday brings with it the revelation that the ghosts ultimately depend upon her for their continued existence, and she has absolutely no clue how to go about fulfilling her responsibilities to them as a Guardian and preventing the dissolution of Underhallow as the last Earthly sanctuary left for these revenant spirits to go. 

The story opens as Laurel comes to realize that her difficulties in learning and retaining the information her tutor, Master Godwin, has been trying to impart for the past five years are due to more than her disinterest. The author’s descriptions and handling of Laurel’s issues with ADD, anxiety, and grief are well done, and those facing similar struggles will relate. The added impact of her burgeoning magical abilities is dramatic and frightening. Thankfully, she finds support from an unexpected ally. 

Laurel interacts with her ghostly caretakers as if they are human, as they can talk, touch, and move physical objects, unlike traditionally portrayed spirits. A number play critical roles in her life and fulfill duties similar to those they performed when living. There are some big personalities among the unalive who guide and assist Laurel, and their antics also serve to lighten the building tension. Laurel, too, displays a lot of empathy for the feelings of the undeparted, many of whom carry the circumstances of their death with them into this afterlife. 

There are questions about Laurel’s father’s death and the regular delivery of small mysterious packages to puzzle out as well as becoming the Guardian, so Laurel turns to the only sources she has to solve them, the ghosts. Still, this first book of the duology concludes with some things yet unanswered, and I look forward to the answers in the next book. 

I recommend A MADNESS UNMADE to readers of young adult fantasy and coming-of-age stories, especially those with an interest in characters struggling with mental health issues.

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