As many of my readers and authors know I have been swamped with amazing book requests, more than you can even imagine!!  And I truly hate turning great indie authors away.  SOOOO, in an effort to make sure that more of my readers get to learn about great indie authors and more of the great indie authors get their books read I started looking for some help.  AND, I found it.  I hope all of you will enjoy his reviews and offer feedback as you have done with mine and make him feel welcome.  So without further delay, I would like to introduce to all of you by way of posting a little about him, J.B. Maynard.

J.B. Maynard  


Hi, my name is Jason. I’m a 34 year old writer, originally from Miami. I’ve lived in Florida all of my life. Yeah, I suppose that’s kind of limited; however, I do love it here and I am a firm believer in “wherever you go, there you are.” Time to do some more traveling…

I have always been into books, for as long as I can remember, picking apart and praising them for their intricacies and atrocities. When I was in my teens I ran a small, local comic company, which I illustrated and wrote for on a monthly basis, but my writing passion wasn’t truly ignited until I got a hold of a character sheet that my wife, Noel, wrote for me.

It had been a long day, and we had a Dungeons and Dragons game tomorrow. Needless to say, I didn’t feel like filling out my character info and back-story. Noel offered to pick it up, and as much as I don’t like to pass the buck, I said sure. The next day, she had completed the sheet, but Noel wrote my character, Attis’, back-story much in the style of a traditional novel. I loved it! From there I kept expanding on the story and branching off into other ideas. Three books and many years later, I have realized my calling and I never stopped writing what I love – fiction.

I write and read: fantasy, sci-fi, young adult, and horror. There’s really no limit to what I’ll try, as far as literature goes. Some of my favorites include: The Night Circus, Odd Thomas; Sookie Stackhouse novels, House Of Night; Deadfall Hotel, Doctor Sleep; The Icewindale trilogy, and Gates Of Thorbardin.

Inspiration can come from anywhere, at any time. I am always looking, listening for that next idea. As soon as they come to me, I will happily share them with the world.

  

Kiss Me, Love Me, Kill Me
By Ashlee North
*** Good read but confusing with POV changes
 
Summers spent at amusement parks are apart of traditions for many. The same can be said about Wunderland and its competitor down the road, Funtasia. One might imagine that being the owner of such a place might make you the happiest person on Earth; or it could make you the most envious, greedy, and malicious killer around. Kiss Me, Love Me, Kill Me by Ashlee North tells the tale of two such owners and how such turmoil can lead to the demise of one of them when madness takes over!

Although at the beginning of the book you assume that the book is going to be about the development of a new summer love between Skye and Marco. One might also assume that the love life of Skye's sister, Shontelle Rigby, may also play a part in the book. It definitely is not completely made clear that the book will revolve around the murder of Wunderland's owner, whose body was found by Skye, Marco, and Shontelle - who is also an off-duty police detective and more involved in this murder investigation than she could ever imagine.

Shontelle, or Shon, as a character is fairly well developed. Her part in the storyline works well, especially in regards to her conflicted choice of who to date, Joshua or Roger. This plays into the plot quite well and really begins to become the center of a murder investigation. Who'd a thought picking a date might be decided by that of a murder investigation.

Although I found the story line intriguing at times, what I had serious problems with was the writing style and some particulars about writing fiction in general. As much as I hate to say it since I did enjoy the book, I found the writing a bit sophomoric. In addition, the inconsistent changes in POV caused some confusion.

It is obvious that the protagonist of North's book is Shonetelle, or Shon. With that, one might expect the entire story to either be told in 1st person from her point of view, in 3rd person from an unknown narrator, or in 1st person entirely in Skye's POV - the way the book begins. However, what we find with Kiss Me, Love Me, Kill Me is that very small portions are told in 1st person from Skye's POV, whereas all the others portions of the book are told in 3rd person by an unknown narrator.

It all becomes quite confusing because the 1st persons sections with Skye's POV are almost irrelevant to the story. I'm honestly not sure why the budding romance between Skye and Marco is relevant at all. Perhaps if in 3rd person with a multiple viewpoint we could have learned the same without the switch in POV muddying the waters.

In all I'd say Kiss Me, Love Me, Kill Me was an okay read. The tug-of-war between love and murder made for an interesting story. I wouldn't give this book my highest rating, but I also wouldn't tell my readers that it's not worth reading. A good whodunit is never a waste of time. Enjoy!

Humane Tyranny
By James Penbar
****** 5-stars!!

What if everyone in the United States over 18-years-of-age and under 60-years-of-age was automatically eligible a draft based on our social security numbers and you had no choice whether to be a part of said draft? And what would happen if this draft wasn’t what you traditionally think of as a draft- one in defense of your country- but rather to die in the defense of humanity? To save the Earth?   Would that make it easier for you to accept?  Would you mind if an American citizen died each day to save our planet, even if the rest of the world wasn’t participating in such things?  James Penbar’s extremely well-written dystopian piece, Humane Tyranny, examines what chaos could ensue if this ever took place.

Although slightly stagnant to start off with, Humane Tyranny takes us to ground zero where the Population Reduction Agency (PRA) is in full effect and slapping barely eligible Nero Restivo upside the head when he’s the next “lucky” draftee.  And his being drafted won’t be the last time the PRA has a negative and long lasting impact on the Restivo family as a whole.

It’s difficult to discuss the story line of this extremely thought-provoking piece without spoilers.  However, what I can say is that a band of rebels will start the people standing up on their feet to let the government know how wrong they feel the drafting is.  We’ll meet Nero, who is given a reprieve by Chelsea and Bruce who come to his rescue.  Before it’s all said and done Nero’s sister, Tiffany, will be a part of this tale of an ugly war ensuing against the PRA and Edgar Geist, the self-proclaimed soldier of Mother Earth

Although I must warn that for the most part Humane Tyranny is quite gory-as most would expect war of any kind to be-but the imagery is breathtaking. "...the leafless branches mere skeletons of their summer glory, covered in snow, with icicles dangling off the ends like teeth ready to shake loose and fall out."  I must also warn that the majority of the book should be considered adult content, with brief sexual situations, and language.  I’d recommend this book for mature readers only.

I felt Penbar was quite insightful when writing this book.  Although there are no direct instances I can bring up, I can find several in today’s society that could lead to or are heading quickly into the direction of a revolt by the people.  It would be refreshing to me if in those instances that the everyday person next door would take a stand for those around them affected by such laws even if it doesn’t directly affect said person next door.  Is there still hope that if we stand together as a nation we can right the wrongs we've done to our own citizens?

I am giving this book my highest 5-star rating because it was so well written and quite thought provoking.  I highly recommend this book to dystopian fiction lovers, as well as those just looking for a great book to read.  As aforementioned, it is a bit slow in the beginning but it makes up for it so don’t stop reading!!

Turn Our Eyes Away
By Zoe Zorka
*** Strangely mesmerizing

 If ever you wondered how women really thought about one another-those thoughts absent of rainbows, butterflies, and sunshine-then Zoe Zorka’s realistic mystery piece of fiction, Turn Our Eyes Away, will give you more than a shocking glimpse.  I hesitate to even call it a mystery but rather just urban psychological fiction because we get such glimpses inside the minds of the characters rather than the actions that take place to make a mystery apparent.

There once were two childhood girlfriends, Olivia (Oda) and Tiffany, who would grow up facing the same bullying that many kids face.  That tormenting caused their bond to be strongr throughout the years.  However, something changed around time to graduate and go away to college: something some might call escape and others might call life.  One young lady was destined for change and one wasn’t.  The changes were physical, mental, and socioeconomic.

 The writing in Turn Our Eyes Away is clever, witty, realistic internal and external dialogue that allows you not only into the minds of the characters, but perhaps into the minds of those women sitting beside you in the coffee shop chit chatting or passing you by in the  mall snickering about this or that.  It’s those plain out honest to a fault sort of thoughts that not many would actually say, but Zorka’s characters do.  And what they don’t say, they definitely don’t hesitate to think.

Along with clever dialogue came realistic characters that at least one of which will remind the reader of someone they once knew.  However, often I felt as though I was one of her characters being violated with words meant to injure, even though I’m sure that was not Zorka’s intention at all.   

Although I cannot speak for her (but perhaps I may see if I can get an interview with her…fingers crossed), I can certainly say as a reader I felt the reality of bullying through her words and her characters.  At times throughout Turn Our Eyes Away I felt extremely insulted, and at other times I felt completely vindicated and rejoiced.  Quite the spotlight put not just on bullying throughout childhood, but in adulthood as well.

My disappointments with Turn Our Eyes Away were limited, but issues for me still the same.  The formatting of the book was that of police reports and electronic diaries of the two main characters.  Although I didn’t mind that too terribly much, there were quite a few errors that I wasn’t sure if were intentional due to added realism of them being reports and diary entries, or simply not caught during proofing.  The only other area of concern for me was that there were more moments than I care to think about where I felt there was product placement going on.  I don’t think I’ve ever read a piece of fiction where so many brand names were thrown around.  Although I have no problem with the names of products being used, it felt as though Zorka was being paid to strategically use them.  I wanted to fast forward through the commercials.

As aforementioned, I found Zorka’s work insightful.  I also feel as though it is an essential way to relay the importance of ridding our schools and beyond of bullying.  I would recommend this book to readers of variety types of fiction.  I’d say it is a powerful piece and can really hit home if you’ve been on the receiving end of bullying, or an eye-opening piece to those who may have bullying in their past or their present.