Review 5 star
Find It On Amazon The Elixir: A Bud Hutchins Thriller by JB Michaels is an exciting urban fantasy story. It’s the second in a series and takes place in Chicago, picking up on adventures from the previous story. Wisecracking, teleporting private investigator Bud and his android friend Bert are launched into yet another encounter with the bizarre when a search into a college professor’s infidelity leads straight into an evil poltergeist seeking an elixir from ancient times. Bud and his new ally Ivy Zheng race to find the killer, stop the poltergeist, keep a dysfunctional Bert from destroying everything, and—most importantly—restore health to Bud’s dear friend Maeve. It’s beleaguered people vs. the forces of mayhem and JB Michaels does a fantastic job of storytelling. This urban fantasy thriller lives up to its name—a real page-turner with never a dull moment. The Elixir grabbed me into its fast-paced, brisk action from the first couple of chapters and had me hooked. The sharp, visceral writing and strong protagonists make for an entertaining ride. Pacing is expert, situations use science and history inventively, and the story just keeps going right until the conclusion that hints of more to come. Bud is a great center for the story, alternately cocky and vulnerable just when he needs to be, and the break-neck action is balanced with moments of tenderness and friendship for Maeve. Any reader of urban fantasy should grab this one right away and get hooked on the series—it’s got everything. The world is fascinating, hilarious, and involving, and put JB Michaels high on my list of authors. Review 5 star
Find It On Amazon The third installment of The Journey Beyond series, Seven Values of the Kingdom is a middle-grade fantasy story. Brother and sister Raphael and Haniel travel through a sequence of symbolic geodes accompanied by their awkward, insecure friend Frogeye, and their companions—a hilarious talking tree, a mystical wolf, a regal white horse, and an owl. At each geode they learn important personal lessons tailored for them as their journey to understand the universe continues. I gradually fell in love with the story and characters, until the climactic end with the rebuilding of the castle filled me with deep satisfaction. As an adult reader, I see how much this story would appeal to children, but the themes and ideas would make many adults feel equally at home. Cheryl A. Matsen-Nieves has a poetic, visionary quality as an author, and The Journey Beyond uses the simplest language to depict deep themes in a really special way. The imagery is thoughtful and quietly beautiful. Each “stone” the characters travel through—stones are portals to the next step of their quest—was individualized and lovely, and the geodes were all different colors with different properties. I loved the pictures of actual gemstones that accompanied the descriptions. Reading Seven Values of the Kingdom was like an imaginative extrapolation of real life, envisioning walking through different jewels. Frogeye’s conclusion surprised me, but I was very pleased with it. This is the kind of book parents should be giving their kids. Recommended for anyone who likes middle-grade fantasy with a wholesome message. Review 4 star
Find It On Amazon The Heights of Perdition is the first book in a Christian space opera series by C.S. Johnson. While the story takes a little while to get rolling, once it does the intricate world is a delight. The daughter of a prominent general within the URS dictatorship, Aeris St. Cloud is crushed when her dreams of serving the URS dictatorship in the military are denied at graduation. When a rebel starship called the Perdition swoops down in a raid, Aeris is accidentally taken prisoner. Aboard the marvelous starship, Aeris stumbles into one secret after another. Her growing admiration for these freedom-loving people and their way of life tests her loyalty to the URS, but her chemistry with Captain Exton may not survive the truth about her identity. Right and wrong, and true and false, can be very confusing in outer space. I found The Heights of Perdition a thoroughly enjoyable, creative read for younger readers. Echoes of popular franchises like Star Wars make this futuristic saga familiar, but the ideas and characters were entirely unique and C.S. Johnson does a good job blending a number of elements into something new. More serious readers will relish the thought-provoking images of a future world in which a hysterical dictatorship has risen from the ashes of a nuclear disaster, but teen girls will likely pick it up for the romance. Good, clean romance writing, with just enough spark but not too much, should draw girls while the intellectual and political discussions give a solid underpinning to the world and might interest their parents as well. Recommended. |
AuthorThis is the companion for Sarah Scheele's newsletter blog. In it I share reviews for books I'd recommend/are similar to my own. Archives
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