The Book of Paul - Excerpt, Review & Giveaway!

Details

Title: The Book of Paul
Author: Richard Long
Publisher: Open Eyes

Release Date: June 7th, 2012

Available to order here: Amazon  / Barnes & Noble

Synopsis 

 

“Never alive…and never dead…”

In the rubble-strewn wasteland of Alphabet City, a squalid tenement conceals a treasure “beyond

all imagining”—an immaculately preserved, fifth century codex. The sole repository of

ancient Hermetic lore, it contains the authentic alchemical rituals for transforming thought into

substance, transmuting matter at will…and attaining eternal life.

When a lusty, East Village tattoo artist has a torrid encounter with a battle-hardened loner, they

are overwhelmed by the intensity of their feelings. Rose and Martin soon discover they are

unwitting pawns on opposing sides of a battle that has shaped the course of human history. At

the center of the conflict is Paul, the villainous overlord of an underground feudal society, who

guards the book’s occult secrets in preparation for the fulfillment of an apocalyptic prophecy.

The action is relentless as Martin and Rose fight to escape Paul’s clutches and Martin’s destiny

as the chosen recipient of Paul’s sinister legacy. Science and magic, mythology and technology

converge in a monumental battle where the stakes couldn’t be higher: control of the ultimate

power in the universe—the Maelstrom.

Read the first few sample chapters here >> http://www.thebookofpaul.com/excerpt

About the Author

Richard Long writes to exorcize the demons of his past and manifest the dreams of his future.

He started life in the school of hard knocks and worked to create his own rags to riches story of
troubled kid turned successful advertising executive.

His debut novel, The Book of Paul, is a dark, thrilling, and psychologically rich supernatural
horror/thriller that blends mythology, science and mystery into a page-turning addiction.

Richard is also writing a YA novel, The Dream Palace, primarily so that his children could read
his books.He lives in Manhattan with his wife, two amazing children and their wicked black cat, Merlin.

Connect with Richard on the following links:

Website: http://www.thebookofpaul.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/RichardLongNYC

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/RichardLongNYC
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6426921.Richard_Long

An Excerpt 

Monsters

You tell your children not to be afraid. You tell them everything will be

all right. You tell them Mommy and Daddy will always be there. You tell them lies.

Paul looked out the filthy window and watched the little girl playing in the filthier street below.

Hopscotch. He didn’t think kids played hop- scotch anymore. Not in this neighborhood. Hip-

hopscotch, maybe.

“Hhmph! What do you think about that?”

Paul watched the little black girl toss her pebble or cigarette butt or whatever it was to square

number five, then expertly hop, hop, hop her way safely to the square and back. She was dressed in a clean, fresh, red-ging- ham dress with matching red bows in her neatly braided pigtails. She looked so fresh and clean and happy that he wondered what she was doing on this shithole street.

The girl was playing all by herself. Hop, hop, hop. Hop, hop, hop. She was completely absorbed in her hopping and scotching and Paul was equally absorbed watching every skip and shuffle. No one walked by and only a single taxi ruffled the otherworldly calm.

Paul leaned closer, his keen ears straining to pick up the faint sound of her shiny leather shoes

scraping against the grimy concrete. He focused even more intently and heard the even fainter

lilt of her soft voice. Was she singing? He pressed his ear against the glass and listened. Sure

enough, she was singing. Paul smiled and closed his eyes and let the sound pour into his ear like

a rich, fragrant wine.

“One, two, buckle my shoe. Three, four, shut the door…”

He listened with his eyes closed. Her soft sweet voice rose higher and higher until…the singing

suddenly stopped. Paul’s eyes snapped open. The girl was gone. He craned his neck quickly to

the left and saw her being pulled roughly down the street. The puller was a large, light-skinned

black man, tugging on her hand/arm every two seconds like he was dragging a dog by its leash.

At first, he guessed that the man was her father, a commodity as rare in this part of town as

a fresh-scrubbed girl playing hop- scotch. Then he wondered if he wasn’t her father after all.

Maybe he was one of those kinds of men, one of those monsters that would take a sweet, pure

thing to a dark, dirty place and…

And do whatever a monster like that wanted to do.

Paul pressed his face against the glass and caught a last fleeting glance of the big brown man and the tiny red-checkered girl. He watched the way he yanked on her arm, how he shook his finger, how he stooped down to slap her face and finally concluded that he was indeed her one and only Daddy dear. Who else would dare to act that way in public?

“Kids!” Paul huffed. “The kids these days!”

He laughed loud enough to rattle the windows. Then his face hard- ened by degrees as he

pictured the yanking daddy and the formally happy girl. Hmmm, maybe he was one of those

prowling monsters after all. Paul shuddered at the thought of what a man like that would do.

He imagined the scene unfolding step by step, grunting as the vision became more and more

precise. “Hhmph!” he snorted after a particularly gruesome imagining. “What kind of a bug

could get inside your brain and make you do a thing like that?”

“Monsters! Monsters!” he shouted, rambling back into the wasteland of his labyrinthine

apartments, twisting and turning through the maze of lightless hallways as if being led by a

seeing-eye dog. He walked and turned and walked some more, comforted as always by the

darkness. Finally, he came to a halt and pushed hard against a wall.

His hidden sanctuary opened like Ali Baba’s cave, glowing with the treasures it contained.

He stepped inside and saw the figure resting (well, not exactly resting) between the flickering

candles. At the sound of his footsteps, the body on the altar twitched frantically. Paul moved

closer, rubbing a smooth fingertip across the wet, trembling skin and raised it to his lips. It tastedlike fear. He gazed down at the man, his eyes moving slowly from his ashen face to the rusty nails holding him so firmly in place.

The warm, dark blood shining on the wooden altar made him think about the red-gingham bunny again.

“Monsters,” he said, more softly this time, wishing he weren’t so busy. As much as he would

enjoy it, there simply wasn’t enough time to clean up this mess, prepare for his guests and track

her down. Well, not her, precisely. Her angry tugging dad. Not that Paul had any trouble killing

little girls, you understand. It just wasn’t his thing. Given a choice, he would much rather kill her

father.

And make her watch.

 

My Review

"The Book of Paul" by Richard Long is, and I have to admit this to begin with, is not the kind of book that I usually pick up. I'm a HUGE fan of thrillers, so the premise was incredibly intriguing to me - and boy am I glad that I decided to give this book a try! You may have seen me describe many a thriller as being "atmospheric" - well, I love using that adjective because the truth is, I really believe the setting and the atmosphere are KEY, especially in a thriller or mystery. "The Book of Paul" is completely brilliant because although the narrative is absolutely engrossing, the book is thoroughly absorbing in it's ability to creep you out with the build-up of its creepy atmosphere and chilling setting. This book defies any genres, because it is the amalgamation of many genres in one - horror, supernatural, paranormal, romance, thriller, and mystery. And the beauty of it is, it does justice to all of the above, it is all of the above, without focusing too much on one or the other.

In addition to the creepy, dark and foreboding nature of this book - it is also a novel of multi-faceted and multi-dimensional characters. Characters like Martin, who is a truly troubled character, but beneath the surface lies a decent human being marred by the inadequacy of his upbringing. And then there's Rose, whose presence seems to have a positive effect on Martin, is herself a damaged woman with a past - but in the short time that they come to know each other, they tend to understand and connect with each other, and soon become important to one another. Then, there is Paul - and I left him for last because I believe him to be the most complex character of all - he is truly a despicable being, a gross and negligent man who has almost no redeeming qualities. But as flawed as he is, it's absolutely riveting to read about his character and his atrocious deeds! 

The timeline of the narrative is quite short, and comprises of only a few days - but we are able to appreciate the past of the characters via Martin's memories, which he has suppressed, and via journal entries made by the narrator. The narrator is the main character of the book, and the story revolves around him, but all the characters are so absolutely essential to the story that it is absolutely impossible to pin-point any important characters. This book is a roller-coaster ride, with a fireworks to boot - it is crazy, it is zany, it is thoroughly enjoyable, and it will puzzle you...until you get to a little past halfway, and then things fall into place. But here's the unique thing about Richard Long's book - even though the pieces of the puzzle begin to fit, the premise is still so unique, and so crazy, that one cannot help but be completely hypnotized by it. A part of your brain begins to accept it, and the other part is astonished that such events have come to transpire in the course of the narrative. I really want to go ON and ON about it, but I would not want to give too much away.

Believe me, anyone with an inquisitive mind, and a penchant for the weird or scary would love to read this book. But be prepared, some parts of the book are quite disturbing, and include torture and mutilation - if you are not someone who can handle the gore, this may not be the book for you. However, if you are able to stomach such indelicacies, then this is the kind of book that is sure to baffle you in the best way possible!  Let me forewarn you - this book is a conundrum wrapped in a riddle, it is both puzzling and thoroughly riveting to read. This book will send tingles up your spine as you read, and a feeling of dread will permeate your being as you advance through the story, you will probably check the deadbolts and windows of your home twice, if not thrice, and you might even end up having to sleep with a night-light on....but trust me, whatever the case may be, this book is sure to bamboozle you with its awesomeness - I can't wait for the rest of the books in the series!!!

My Rating : 5/5 Stars

 

 

 

The Giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclaimer:  I received a copy of this book via the publicist for the author of this book. I was not compensated monetarily, or in any other way, for my opinion. The opinions stated in this review are solely mine, and are not representative of views of the author, or publishing company, of this book. 

"The Liar Society" by Lisa & Laura Roecker - Pink Haired Madness

Details

Title: The Liar Society
Author: Lisa and Laura Roecker
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Release Date : February 8th, 2011
Available to order here: Amazon / Book Depository / Barnes & Noble 

Synopsis


Kate Lowry didn't think dead best friends could send e-mails. But when she gets an e-mail from Grace, she’s not so sure.

To: KateLowry@pemberlybrown.edu
Sent: Sun 9/14 11:59 PM
From: GraceLee@pemberlybrown.edu
Subject: (no subject)

Kate,
I'm here…
sort of.
Find Cameron.
He knows.
I shouldn't be writing.
Don't tell.
They'll hurt you.

Now Kate has no choice but to prove once and for all that Grace’s death was more than just a tragic accident. But secrets haunt the halls of her elite private school. Secrets people will do anything to protect. Even if it means getting rid of the girl trying to solve a murder.

My Review

There are many books that begin with a bang, and then by the end, they fizzle out and have merely transformed into a throbbing headache. "The Liar Society" by Lisa and Laura Roecker is NOT such a book. In fact, it is the kind of book that begins with a bang, and ends in a grand finale of amazing fireworks, with a complete bandstand playing in the background. And all of this coming from a reader who is a COMPLETE skeptic when it comes to books like "The Liar Society".

From the very first page, and the very first few lines, "The Liar Society" sucks you right into the whirlpool of secrets and mysteries that are abound within the novel. I love that beneath the humorous narrative, the quirkiness of the characters, and the funny dialogue is a simple story of how far a friend will go for another friend. How secrets can compound and hinder so much of your life. Kate Lowry lost her best friend Grace to a fire on a night that still does not make any sense to her. When she finds an email written to her by Grace, it sends her spiraling into a quest for clues to her friend's death, and to find closure for a wound that never quite healed.

I love the world that Lisa & Laura Roecker have created. Pemberley Brown goes beyond being merely an uppity private school - it happens to be a world within a world. And although we see some stereotypes which are a given among any high school crowd, the authors have made sure that all the characters, even the minor ones, are truly multi-faceted. Just when you think you know all about a character, this book reveals to you a side of them you never thought was possible. This mastery of characterization, the wonderful mystery that kept me hooked until the very end of the novel and left me begging for more, along with the beautiful way in which friendship was portrayed in this book made this book truly an exceptional read. I would recommend it to all YA lovers who also enjoy mystery - just make sure you take a flashlight to bed, I know I did, I just could not put it down! :) 

 

My Rating : 5/5 Stars

Disclaimer:  I received a copy of this book as a prize for a contest won, I was not compensated monetarily, or in any other way, for my opinion. The opinions stated in this review are solely mine, and are not representative of views of the author, or publishing company, of this book.

"The Scent of Rain & Lightning" by Nancy Pickard - Small Town, Big Secrets

Details

Title: The Scent of Rain & Lightning
Author: Nancy Pickard
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Release Date : May 4th, 2010
Available to order here: Amazon / The Book Depository / Barnes & Noble 

Synopsis

One beautiful summer afternoon, Jody Linder receives shocking news: The man convicted of murdering her father is being released from prison and returning to the small town of Rose, Kansas. It has been twenty-three years since that stormy night when her father was shot and killed and her mother disappeared, presumed dead. Neither the protective embrace of Jody’s three uncles nor the safe haven of her grandparents’ ranch could erase the pain caused by Billy Crosby on that catastrophic night.

Now Billy Crosby is free, thanks to the efforts of his son, Collin, a lawyer who has spent most of his life trying to prove his father’s innocence. Despite their long history of carefully avoiding each other in such an insular community, Jody and Collin find that they share an exclusive sense of loss. As Jody revisits old wounds, startling truths emerge about her family’s tragic past. But even through struggle and hardship, she still dares to hope for a better future—and maybe even love.

My Review

It is undeniable that author Nancy Pickard has a flair for writing about murder mysteries that take place in small town settings. "The Scent of Rain & Lightning" is the second novel that I've read by Nancy Pickard, the first being "The Virgin of Small Plains" which went straight into the list of my favorite mystery novels of all time. Thus, when I picked up this book, I had a lot of expectations. And despite how pre-hyped (and over-hyped, I must add) the book had been in my mind, it came through on all my expectations.

Nancy Pickard has a knack for concocting mysteries that are sure to make your head spin, and have you grasping at clues to piece the puzzle together, and yet you'll find yourself completely clueless until the very end, until the author allows it to slowly unravel in all its glory. I pride myself in being a darn intuitive reader, and I must admit (far from humbly) that I can usually predict who the killer is, or the motive, much earlier than the ending of the book - but Pickard's novels always render my intuition useless, and leave me guessing until the very end, which is why I happen to love them. I love that there's an author who can trump my intuition, and leave me begging for more.

However, what makes this novel so great, it is not just the mystery itself, but the characters that the writer creates. You cannot help but feel empathy towards the mother who has lost her son, the daughter who has lost her parents, and with them, her childhood, and the son who may not like his father but feels obligated to defend him. The book is full of wonderful, meaningful characters that are real, and easy to relate to, even if you may not like them. After reading her books, one is convinced that author Nancy Pickard has never stepped foot outside spent her entire life in a secluded, rural, remote and small farm-town somewhere in the Midwest; her description of the town of Rose, Kansas is so spot-on, and her description of the dynamics and relationships between the townspeople is excessively real and believable.

Will Jody be able to forgive Billy Crosby, in order to move on with her life? Will she be able to let her guard down, and allow herself to care for Collin, the son of the man who killed her father? Will she ever find her missing mother? Will her wounds ever be filled, and will she ever move on with her life, fall in love again, or feel safe again?

Overall, I highly recommend this novel to someone who likes to read about murder mysteries, but also to those who like reading about the interpersonal interactions between people from a small-town like Rose, Kansas. Above all, I recommend you to read it for the riveting mystery, and for the characters, like Jody, who you'll remember long after you are done with the novel.

My Rating 5/5 Stars

Disclaimer: I bought a copy of this book for my personal reading/reviewing purposes, I was not compensated monetarily, or in any other way, for my opinion. The opinions stated in this review are solely mine, and are not representative of views of the author, or publishing company, of this book.

"The Map of Time" by Felix J. Palma - A Review

Details

Title: The Map of Time
Author: Felix J. Palma (Translated by: Nick Caistor)
Publisher: Atria Books
Release Date: June 28th, 2011
Available for Pre-order here: Simon & Schuster / Books-a-Million / Barnes & Noble


My Review

"The Map of Time" by Felix J. Palma is a book that defies being boxed into a single genre. Its a magnificent novel that is part Historical Fiction, part Science Fiction, part Romance, even part Steampunk, and all in all, a great Mystery/Thriller. Even if you are a fan of only one of those genres, but not a fan of the others, I guarantee that you are still going to enjoy this book because it manages to do justice to all the genres it encompasses.

The book begins with a narrator introducing the reader to the story and its various characters. Author Palma has created a narrator with a clear, strong voice and a commanding presence. The narration is fluid, and on various occasions it tends to engage into direct dialogue with the reader, thus drawing the reader right into the novel itself. It has been quite some time since I have enjoyed a book narrated in the third-person, and seldom have I come across a narrator who resonates so well with me.

The story is simple, and the story is good. It involves the manipulation of time, and time travel, and is full of adventures. But it is not just telling an interesting story that this author succeeds in, he has also given birth to characters that are dynamic and multi-dimensional, much like the story itself. Felix J. Palma takes great pains to infuse as much detail as possible into his story, he leaves no stone unturned in order to give great depth to his characters, which in turn gives a lot of substance to this magical tale.

The novel is woven around three main intertwined tales. First, we have Andrew Harrington, the wealthy and heartbroken bachelor residing in Victorian London who lost the love of his life, prostitute Marie Kelly, to the evil and conniving murderer 'Jack the Ripper'. In his destitution, and inability to move on from his tragedy, he is willing to try anything, perhaps something even as implausible as time travel, in order to save Marie Kelly from the hands of the cold-blooded murderer. Then there's Claire Haggerty, a woman who feels stifled by the norms of the Victorian society which dictate her to marry a suitable man from the many suitors that her family finds for her. She feels disconnected from the people and customs of her time, and longs to exist in another world - a world where she is free to follow her desires, and love whomever she pleases. Last, but definitely not the least, there is the young author H.G. Wells, the man whose novel, 'The Time Machine' has motivated many to try their hands at time travel, and his book becomes the root from which the branches of this story sprout forth. Also incorporated into the story are the stories of Dracula, Joseph Merrick (the Elephant Man), and the futuristic Captain Shackleton battling the automatons of the year 2000.

Ultimately, Felix J. Palma has authored a novel that is sublime in all its aspects. Acerbic wit, intellectual commentary, mind boggling twists and turns, combined with unique characters makes for an enchanting, satisfying and deeply mesmerizing novel. In the novel, the author writes about an invention being something that supersedes the being of the man who invents it, and outlasts him to form part of world as it goes into the future - to which I surmise that in this case, "The Map of Time" is Felix J. Palma's greatest invention to date, a novel invention that transports us to another place and another time, and this will surely be a novel talked about for ages to come.

My Rating : 5/5 Stars

Disclaimer: Although I received an Advance Reading Copy (ARC) of this book for review, I was not compensated monetarily, or in any other way, for my opinion. The opinions stated in this review are solely mine, and are not representative of views of the author, or publishing company, of this book.