And a Child Will Lead Them

Also available as the title "Idolism"

A little about Marcus Herzig:

Marcus Herzig was born in 1970 and studied Law, English, Educational Science, and Physics, albeit none of them with any tenacity or ambition. After dropping out of university he worked for bank, a utility company, and for Big Oil. He prefers sunsets over sunrises, white wine over red, beer over white wine, and pizza over pasta. His reaction to airplanes passing overhead resembles that of a seven-year-old seeing an ice cream van. Which, he insists, is a good thing.

Burb from Goodreads:

A new Pope, a world in social and political chaos, and a young singer and songwriter who has his unbelief tested as his big mouth accidentally propels him towards global superstardom. These are the ingredients of this thought provoking, tongue-in-cheek debut novel.

Seventeen-year-old Julian Monk never expected to be a famous singer, but when opportunity strikes, he strikes back and throws himself headfirst into that new, exciting world of record deals, TV interviews and screaming fan girls.

His band mates are rather less enthusiastic about that new life they never really asked for. Dealing with their newly acquired fame and fortune is one thing; dealing with Julian is quite another. His sudden and unexpected metamorphosis from the shy and timid creature they have known all their lives into a surprisingly charismatic public speaker and global superstar takes everyone aback, and when Julian sets off on a very public crusade to replace faith and bigotry with reason and compassion, he raises more than just a few eyebrows. He raises hell, and his friends are no longer having any of it.

Meanwhile at the Vatican, a former televangelist is elected Pope. Hell-bent on transforming the Church into a modern, ‘hip’ institution, Pius XIII is giving his PR advisor a headache or two. Intrigued by Julian’s radical way of inspiring some people while antagonizing others – including his own friends – simply by preaching love and understanding, the new pope can’t help but wonder where he heard that storyline before. They say God has a plan for every man, but this man has a plan of his own - and it involves a teenage atheist pop star.

My take on the book:

I hardly know where to start on this story. At first I thought it was a teen coming of age story. The flow and pace of the story worked really well with this assumption: four 17 year olds who are vaguely misfits, playing in a band in their spare time. I thought the story would follow a few small real-life teen adventures, or misadventures, and they’d get into a bit of trouble, then get out of it, learning something along the way. Yadda yadda.

The first sign I had of this book not following my expected path was when the band, through a mis-timed (well-timed?) media revelation, actually became famous. Then rich beyond their wildest dreams. Then had a bigger message to spread.

That’s the general movement of the story, but doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface. The book is way, way more than just a story about a band that finds fame and how the four members, plucked from obscurity, cope with their stellar rise.

The four teens each present their very different points of view. Tummy comes from a deeply religious Catholic family, and has not yet analysed the reason why he calls himself a Catholic. He’s also been bullied all his life for being overweight and a bit of an idiot. Michael is a computer geek, brain the size of a planet, who spends more time with an artificially intelligent programme he created than eating or sleeping. Ginger is the only female in the group, comes from a loving and supportive home, and doesn’t feel she fits in with other kids her age since they are all immature yobs. Julian, the only group member not to have a voice in the book, has the most to say. He writes the lyrics and is the group’s mouthpiece. He creates for himself a worldwide stage on which he can stand and educate the masses.

Mr Herzig is a philosopher, there is no doubt about it. There were passages that I simply didn’t want to end; I became so engrossed in seeing how far the author would follow through with his ideas. I feared that he’d reach a question he couldn’t answer and just leave me hanging, but he never did. He’d considered everything.

I was tricked into reading philosophy, and I loved it. Early on in the book Julian spent a few pages comparing humanity’s evolutionary development with that of a single person, and I was so fascinated by it that I had to go back and read it twice. It had me cocking my head to the side and thinking, “huh – fancy that…” So maybe this theory isn’t new, and maybe I’m late to the party, but I’d certainly never considered it in this way before and it had me enraptured.

Julian is a really interesting character. At 17, he’s much more intelligent than anyone else in the room, of which he is fully aware, making him also insufferably superior. As charismatic as a cult leader, as well-read as a university professor, his thoughts as deeply considered as Descartes', he’s also Don Tillman… which makes him a little bit of a jumble, but he really works. I was over three-quarters of the way through the book before it occurred to me that Julian had been peddling his wares, preaching from his own personal pulpit, as far back as the others had ever known him, but since they hadn’t noticed, the reader hadn’t been allowed to either. This is so clever. All the band’s songs contain religious significance. Who wrote the lyrics? Julian. The other members all mention the reasons they are in the band at one time or another, and all downplay its importance – someplace to hang out, something to do, “I’m just the bass player”, all they’re doing is playing covers of old tunes - and yet I suddenly realised that Julian didn’t see the band in the same way, and that he never had.

And the moment when Michael denied who he was… let’s just say that’s when the scales fell away.

 

Find Marcus Herzig online

Buy the book here on Smashwords in any format

Link to Goodreads

Link to Amazon (retitled "Idolism")

 

Heads You Lose by Rob Johnson

Heads You Lose by Rob Johnson

A little about Rob Johnson:

Rob Johnson sounds like a really interesting bloke. As a Brit living in Greece, I had wondered whether he would begin to draw on his own experiences abroad to begin informing Trevor’s trials and tribulations, and now in Heads You Lose, Trevor has travelled to Greece in order to care for an elderly (but not so disabled) patient. I have no doubt that there is a taverna close to where he lives where smoking is just about a condition of entry, and that there is a local officer Pericles whose gusto for seafood is only rivalled by his passion for his job.

In Johnson’s own words:

Having worked for several years as an administrator and publicist for touring theatre companies, I decided to try my hand at writing plays myself. Four of these were professionally produced and toured throughout the UK, but when public funding for non-commercial theatre virtually dried up overnight I was forced into the world of ‘proper jobs’ as my father liked to call them.

During this period, I also made use of my Equity card and appeared in numerous TV shows as a ‘supporting artiste’, otherwise and somewhat less attractively known as an ‘extra’. (Ricky Gervaise was spot on by the way. Just wish I’d written ‘Extras’ myself.)

I now live on a 5-acre smallholding in Greece with my partner Penny, six rescue dogs and three cats and divide my time between writing and growing olives organically for oil. I have several writing projects on the go, and my comedy thriller Lifting the Lid is now available from an online bookseller near you

About Heads You Lose:

I have to admit that I approached this book with a touch of reluctance. I really enjoyed Johnson’s first, Lifting the Lid; what if this one wasn’t as good? It’s hard to write a follow-up which contains the same characters with all their flaws and fascinations without being repetitive. To find new situations for them which contain the same combination of ridiculousness and Irish fate without being out and out dumb.

I should not have worried. Johnson has delivered another masterfully planned and executed novel, holding two intricate storylines and a large number of fascinating characters in his fingers. The story is so enjoyable that it’s easy to get lost in it and not appreciate the magic that he weaves so skilfully.

Firstly, his favourite characters – Trevor, Sandra and let’s not forget Milly – appear again, solidly consistent with their previous selves but in no way dull. They are joined by an enormous host of new characters, all fully rounded and wholly convincing. As with book 1, they are exaggerated versions of real life tweaked in order to be humorous, but never slip into caricatures, and I never felt the author was ridiculing them. One of my favourite new characters is Marcus Ingleby, the grouchy old man who Trevor and Sandra go to look after. Of course he has a dark past of his own, which manages to catch up with him at exactly the same time that Trevor (or let’s be honest, Sandra) is in charge, also the moment when Ingleby’s neighbour begins carrying out her careful plan of revenge.

Then there is Johnson’s timing. Although the beginning of the book is slow, his scene setting is impeccable and necessary. Around page 70 the strands begin to interweave, and the pace picks up. From then on the pacing is perfect, taking the characters from one ridiculous situation to the next and culminating with all of them getting an approximation of what they deserve. Johnson ties up all loose ends beautifully, even giving Trevor an opportunity to show that some of Sandra’s gumption has rubbed off.

The writing is professionally edited, making reading the story a highly enjoyable experience. It is a romp through expatriate Greece seen through the eyes of an observant and light hearted writer who is gentle on his characters and undoubtedly has a very quirky sense of humour.

It tickled my funny bone in all the right places.

 

Summer Reading...

Here in the southern hemisphere it's SUMMER, and New Zealand is enjoying the most glorious long, dry, HOT days.
I love this photo, taken soon after Christmas in the Marlborough Sounds, NZ. Two teenagers relaxing in the sun with a good book... sounds like paradise to me.

 

Uninvited by Sophie Jordan

H'mmm, where to fall on this one? It's a book that follows the usual teen dystopia rhythm well. Female protagonist, trained to be tough, can change the world. She's beautiful and desirable (we know this because there's the usual love triangle). She's an alpha female, perfect in every way, for the first chapter of the book, then after her fall, has to cope with the knowledge that she carries the gene which makes her a killer, and from that point on her life changes drastically.

I feel the main character was sadly too annoying to like, which made the book hard to like. Davy before her fall is insufferable, and her boyfriend simply unbearable. Davy after her fall is more interesting, but certainly not likeable. I do realise that this is intentional though - we're not meant to like this character, but maybe we are meant to relate to her. Perhaps the author is drawing parallels between her readers' cossetted worlds and Davy's before her fall. I'm not sure.
Teen readers looking for a tried and true formula are sure to enjoy the story. There is comfort in knowing exactly what you are in for when you pick up a teen dystopia, and if this is what a reader is looking for s/he will not be disappointed.

The most interesting thing about this book was the background; the message. If we as a society could define the part of a person's character that makes them a murderer I have no doubt that we would. Where would that lead us? To predicting crimes of course, a la Minority Report. What would we do next? Fear would tell us to stop the identifiable risk before the crime is committed, and what you get is the world created by Sophie Jordan in Uninvited.
Tell someone they are predisposed to violence, force them onto the fringes of society, put them together with other identified risks, and you will create the person you are most afraid of. Davy, the main character in this book, would have undoubtedly had a very different life if she had not been identified and whisked away, and I think that's why she has to be so excruciating annoyingly perfect at the start. It had to be clear that she was destined for quite different things, of which she was painfully - on our part - very aware. So annoying as Davy admittedly is, there is purpose to this.

I think this book has much to say about our prison systems, our juvenile programmes, and even the way we teach students at school.

Link to Goodreads.

The Blink of Her Eye by Angelica Thaddeus

The Blink of Her Eye combines a few different genres in one novel. It is mainly a mystery, with some erotica as well. Anika is investigating the deaths of six patients at hospitals under her care. Whilst she is visiting the first, she runs into Gabriel, who then becomes the hero of the novel and the object of her fantasies. It doesn’t take long before this quiet homey looking girl has attracted his attention and he tells her, “I want in”.

The two begin to investigate the deaths together, along the way getting to know each other better. There were many things that I liked about this part of the book. Gabriel was typical of many heroes of this genre in many ways, but Ms Thaddeus also managed to provide many surprises and keep her readers guessing about his background and his intentions. For all his apparent keenness to get Anika between the sheets, which kicked off in chapter one, there is an unexpectedly long journey to their happy coupling.

There are many other characters who Ms Thaddeus introduces along the way. They are varied and interesting. I really thought I’d had them all pegged from the start, but she kept me guessing right to the very end. There is another character, Carlton, who features in the story romantically, and appears to grow genuinely fond of Anika.

The main character is someone who most readers will be able to relate to and aspire to. Anika is a business woman who is looking for Mr Right. She is rather socially shy, but finds herself very confident in the bedroom when Gabriel encourages her. At times however I also wanted to shake her for her naivety. Anika is let down by both Gabriel and Carlton during intimacy early on in the book, and yet she continues to trust them both and allow their relationships to move well past professional ones. I found this excruciatingly frustrating. When she allowed them to continue treating her cheaply like a doormat I found it harder to relate to her as a character and respect any of them as people. I also found it difficult to accept Anika’s need for Gabriel’s help every step of the way. Whenever he was not assisting her, the case appeared to stall.

The book is well-written and edited. It’s easy to read and the characters are well woven. It’s a solid summer holiday story if you’re looking for a bit of fun and a light read.

Link to Goodreads.

The Blemished by Sarah Dalton

First up... LOVE that cover. However, the story... not so much.
I struggled with the writing style in this book, and found it very hard to overlook. I felt my reins tugged this way and that way, my eyes and ears pointed directly at events, and this got very tiring. I'm a reader who likes to make up my own mind; I like to pick up clues like breadcrumbs, and it doesn't matter to me that the author is dropping them quite consciously. I just like to feel as though I'm doing some of it on my own.
The Blemished didn't allow me any of this independence, hence why I struggled.
The dystopian setting which Dalton has created is novel and interesting. The premise here is that our society's obsession with beauty and physical perfection has led to test tube babies, all others being classed as "lesser" and therefore not allowed to breed; only allowed to live in order to serve the GEMs.
I like the premise. The rest of the story sticks to tried and true teen dystopia lines, which is not to say it's bad, just to say it's predictable. Readers who enjoy this genre will not be disappointed; we all love books that turn out to be just as we expect them to be.
I think that maybe without Mina's supernatural power I might have enjoyed the book more. I think that the obsession with beauty, perfection and pageants was enough; there was no need to have another level within the story. Without the powers it makes the world scarily close and frighteningly possible on some level, but then when you throw in her abilities, we are swept into the realm of fantasy and I am left saying "Wait, what?" I'm no longer afraid for our future, exploring the ways in which society will implode on itself, which I believe is the strength and morbid fascination of reading dystopian fiction.
I realise that in not loving this book I am going against much popular opinion. For many of its intended audience I'm sure this book is a must-read. To see what others have said about The Blemished, click here.

The Avenged by Charles Prandy

An entertaining read from start to finish.

A little about Charles Prandy:

Charles was born on November 14, 1973 and grew up in Derwood, Maryland, a small city about twenty-five minutes outside of Washington, D.C. His neighborhood was typical of small town suburbia; he had great friends, played sports and got into mischief. He graduated from the University of Maryland University College with a degree in Legal Studies. He attended Wesley Theological Seminary for two years, and it was there that he got the idea to write his first novel, The Last of the Descendants, which was published in May of 2008. Shortly after the release of The Last of the Descendants, Charles began working on his next novel, The Avenged, the first in the Detective Jacob Hayden series.
He’s currently working on the next novels in the series and will continue to write until his brain goes numb.

About The Avenged:

The Avenged is Prandy’s first novel in the Jacob Hayden series, and was published in 2012. It follows a homicide detective (Hayden) as he works a case that begins with the murder of a young man. The case spirals out of control as he uncovers corruption that reaches from the top of the high court right down into Hayden’s own precinct. It becomes very clear that the bad guys are bad enough and desperate enough to do anything in order to maintain a low profile, but how desperate is Hayden to catch them? Will he risk everything?

I felt that Prandy’s novel was well written. Fast paced, with just the right amount of description to keep the stakes high and the pages turning. There are some issues with tense, but I’m finding this more and more common recently, so maybe it’s simply seen as colloquialism to mix them around; I’m not sure.
At first I could hear a 1950s Bogart telling the story; all except for the blonde dame walking into his office and begging for his help. I wasn’t sure what to make of this; the detective seemed to be scene-setting in present tense but then switching to past for the action. I don’t think it mattered overmuch. I may well have been overthinking the whole thing when I was trying to work out whether the author was laying hints with tense. (eg “Theresa’s parents have the kind of love that my parents had.” Does this mean that statement is still current at the end of the book… that they are still alive and love each other? “Theresa was their only child.” Does this mean she is no longer?)
I think it worked though. The main character is likeable and observant – everything you’d want in a good detective. He tends to voice every small musing, which gets a little tiring, but I can understand that Prandy wants to make sure he is being understood very clearly by his reader. He’s also very careful, almost tending towards the cautious, “by-the-book” type of cop, and I have to admit that I felt the best parts of the novel where when he threw the rulebook away. Hayden’s descent into his personal hell is well-planned and well-timed, and the avenging angel who emerges is a lot of fun to follow.

Charles Prandy's Website

Goodreads Link