The Jester by James Patterson

This was a different book for me. Of course, it is Patterson, so it isn’t all that foreign.

It is centered on the Crusades and definitely has a medieval feel to it.

One thing that is clear from the start is who the hero is and who you should be rooting for.

It is a crazy emotional journey though. It takes you through heartbreak and triumph, and back again.

Hugh De Luc is a fool, in more ways than one. But he is a smart fool.

He will go to any length to avenge and save the ones he loves. Even try to take over some of the strongest armies in the land.

Sometimes when you have nothing left to lose, you have to give it your all. 

Will Hugh be proven to just be a fool, or will he save the land he loves?

I guess you will just have to read to find out!

Each character has their own interesting story line and backstory. They are all well developed, and by the end you feel as if you know them personally. This is a specialty of Patterson.

4/5 Stars. A little slow at times, but an interesting story, and when it isn’t slow, it is full of action!

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Dead Ends by Bart Hopkins

Bart Hopkins is the author and Co-Author of two novels. With Dead Ends he puts his writing to the test and forms a short story collection.

Dead Ends is made up of three short stories with dark tones. Things may not always be as they seem. And the endings are there to shock you.

Dead Ends.

Recalculating:

Recalculating is a story where you sort of know the ending from the start, but you are still completely surprised to see how it plays out. You may never see it coming.

When a couple comes upon a GPS system at a garage sale, they decide to take a much needed vacation.

This may be the worst mistake of their lives.

Listening to directions on a GPS may not be all it is cracked up to be.

Sweet Lenora:

The beginning of this story had sort of a Carrie feel to it to me. With a crazy mother and a daughter.

Then it turned out to be very far from that once you get to the end. Though, maybe they need to find Jesus.

This one is unlike Recalculating, because you can’t really guess what is going on.

It keeps you hanging on until the end because it keeps you guessing where the story is headed.

Here’s a piece of advice: you may want to have some garlic around you while reading this.

Character development was surprisingly well done in such a short amount of pages.

Donations:

Donations is easily the creepiest and most horror filled of the three. It is also longer than the other two, so the character and story development really adds to it.

When the one you love is dying, how far will you go to save them?

This short story combines two different story lines, and they come together in a surprising way. It will keep you guessing up until the last page.

It is a very dark story with a mix of romance and craziness.

You may sleep with the lights on after this one.

Overall rating: 5/5 Stars. If you like horror, drama, and short stories, pick this up now. 

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Irv’s Odyssey: Seeking the Way Home by Irving H. Podolsky

If you haven’t read books one and two, the reviews can be found here

Book One | Book Two

Our good friend Irving is back!

Seeking the Way Home is the third and final book in this fiction memoir trilogy. It closes out this chapter in Irv’s life.

It is a spiritual journey through Irving finally finding himself and what his self-worth is. He finds himself through the people he surrounds himself with, religion to a certain extent, and through psychic readings.

Irving is a special man with a special gift to travel while he sleeps. He must decide between finding answers to these journeys and settling down to find the love of his life.

Irving’s whole journey that he has taken us through in these books has been a rollercoaster. There has been a lot of laughs, emotional stories, and a fair share of craziness. It was almost sad to turn the final page of this books.

Reading this series gave you someone to root for and someone to relate to on many levels. I am sure every reader can find a piece of themselves in Irving.

If you haven’t read book one and two, I recommend you not waste any time and pick them up now. Then revisit this one to complete the story.

It is all wonderfully written, and it will keep you hanging on until the very end.

Each character has a well-rounded arc, and it doesn't leave you with any questions left unanswered. The ending ties all of the books together and is a nice wrap-up of the series. 

5/5 for this book and the trilogy as a whole. A very, very fun read. 

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Kill Me If You Can by James Patterson

If you want to pick up a book that is near impossible to put down until the last page is turned, here it is.

When a professional hit goes wrong and a bag of diamonds ends up in Matthew’s hands, his life turns around forever. No longer is he a poor college student, he is now on the run from very influential crime bosses who want their diamonds back.

The contract killer known only as The Ghost is on his trail.

Matthew takes his girlfriend Katherine to Paris to try to escape, and everything goes downhill from there.

Will The Ghost get to Matthew and Katherine before they can escape, or will they get caught up in something larger than themselves?

This book is so fast paced, I read it in only a few hours. The whole book is action filled and intense.

James Patterson nails it again. I super recommend this one.

Romance. Adventure. Action. AND A HUGE TWIST. What more could you want from a Patterson book?

5/5 stars!

http://www.amazon.com/Kill-Me-If-You-Can/dp/0446571865

Seven From Haven by Daniel Grotta

Seven From Haven is a collection of short stories centered around the town of Haven, Pennsylvania.

Haven is not your normal town. Strange things happen there that cannot really be explained.

The stories in Seven From Haven are all separate from each other. The only thing in common is the town of Haven.

It was perfect timing reading this in October because all seven stories are ghost stories.

With a collection like this there is always a risk that there will be some weaker stories in the mix, and that happened here as well. A few of them just seemed to drag on more than the others and didn’t really have much going on.

Then there were others that had a lot going on and read very quickly.

The stories seemed to even each other out, and overall it was a pretty enjoyable read. If you like ghost stories, this may be of interest to you.

Haven Takes Care of Its Own

3/5 stars. Good writing, but there were some slow moments.

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Irv’s Odyssey: To the Light and Beyond by Irving H. Podolsky

If you didn’t read the first book in this series, read that first!

Irv's Odyssey: Lost in a Looking Glass

In To the Light and Beyond, our friend Irv is back, and his life is just as hectic as ever. However, he doesn’t have to deal with mentally ill children or work in the adult movie business this time.

Instead, he finds himself unemployed once again and he end up working in various restaurants…. As a bus boy.

Good ole Irv can never have very many things going in his favor. Although, he did make it to Europe, which was his goal in the first novel. Unfortunately, he couldn’t stay and has to come back to Georgia.

I would say this installment takes the reader through Irv’s self-evaluation stage in his life. He is deciding what is best for him, and what is not so good… including the decision of whether to sleep with a married woman or not. It wouldn’t be an Irving H. Podolsky book without some sexual adventure.

I like how this book picked up right where the first one left off. It was a smooth transition, and it all felt very familiar being back in Irving’s world.

It wasn’t as long as the first one, but it was just as enjoyable.

I can’t even begin to imagine what the next one is going to bring!

4.5/5 stars. There were a couple slow patches, but the overall book was great. I suggest picking up the first one and then making your way to this one. It is quite the journey!

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Cautionary Tales for the New Millennium by Eric Nielsson & Illustrated by Jay Munro

This book is a collection of very, very short stories. 

They are riddled with humor and express tales of all types. From an angry swearing TV evangelist to a crazy, city-wide power outage that inconveniences everyone.

The cute illustrations at the beginning give you a sense of what is to come in the story.

They may make you smile or laugh out loud. They are creative and light-hearted.

They are filled with irony which will make you chuckle at the end of every story. The amount of advanced technology and uses of the technology will also make you laugh.

If you have a little free time one day, I would suggest picking it up as it does not take long at all to get through.

I believe there is something for everyone in here. They are relatable and funny all at the same time.

5/5 short and fun. Would be a good read on a commute or on a nice morning with a cup of coffee or tea.  

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Hashimoto Blues by Sarah Dupeyron

From the title of this book, I wasn’t very sure what to expect from it. Sometimes you can, and sometimes you can’t. After reading the synopsis I had a better idea and was interested in it.

Then when I started reading it…. Well, I just couldn’t stop.

It is one of those books that you go into not knowing what to expect and are so pleasantly surprised once you begin reading it.

The writing has a great flow to it, and the chapters are short. It makes the book go a lot faster, and is more exciting to read that way.

Hashimoto Blues is about three main characters – Ellie, Max, and Frank. They are in the business of drug smuggling between Canada and the United States as well as other illegal activities.

There are many great supporting characters. My favorite was Max’s sister.

Anyways, the book details their many adventures in the business. But one day, one of their plans goes very wrong when they try to steal from a man named Hashimoto. When he is crossed, you are most likely not making it out alive.

The book opens with Max and Ellie in trouble with Hashimoto, and then it flashes back to how they ended up in that situation. The ending shows the conclusion of their story.

The story had wonderful character arcs. I feel like they were really well developed and Sarah Dupeyron did a wonderful job of giving the story a great flow. None of it seemed forced.

It is fun. It is exciting. I loved it, and it was really hard to put it down.

5/5 stars. 

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Texas Jack by Bart Hopkins

If there is one thing Bart Hopkins does well as an author, it is making his characters relatable. Everyone can find a little bit of themselves in his books, and because of that, they pull you in and allow you to lose yourself in his fictional world for a few hours. 

It is hard to put his books down.

Texas Jack is no different.

Very simply, Texas Jack is about… well… a man named Jack from Texas.

Obviously, though, Jack is much deeper than that. Growing up with an alcoholic father isn’t easy on a kid, but he gets through it.

He grows up and has a son of his own and seems to have his life put together.

That is until that one tragic day..

His son’s life is as risk and no one knows if he will live.

It is emotional, and Bart expresses this emotion by having Jack flash back to earlier parts in his life. It happens throughout the whole book, but now these flashbacks are focused on his father and how his father was with him while he was growing up.

Texas Jack carries a lot of emotion, but it is always very fun.

Bart has a great writing style that keeps you captivated from the front cover until the very last page.

The character development is wonderful, the character arcs created through present time events and Jack’s flashbacks to earlier times in his life.

5/5 the story is great. The characters are great. The writing is great. Pick it up!

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If you havent read Fluke by Bart Hopkins and David Elliott, pick it up here!

Valley of the Shadows: Kingdom of Hillael by Amre Cortadino

Kingdom of Hillael is just as the title states, a story about this Kingdom and the royal family that has rule over it.

I feel like this book is a lot longer than it really needed to be. There was a lot of needless conversation, and some parts of the story dragged on, when maybe all it needed was a page or two. I found my mind wandering a lot at different times while reading this book.

I didn’t get attached to any of the characters which is maybe why the reading was so bland to me. I didn’t think any of them were relatable nor did I have any real emotion towards them.

While the creativity is surely there with this one, it is a very complex world with a lot of detail put into it, I think the flow is missing and as stated before, some parts really seem to drag.

2.5/5 stars. Good concept and imagination, but it just misses the mark. Maybe this just isn’t my genre.

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