Leah and the Jackhammer by Adam Ortyl - Review by Jess Mountifield

Story Overview:

Ostracized for the unique magical abilities, Leah lives on the fringes of a harsh and cruel world. Her one friend is, Sir Ursa, the teddy bear she magically brought to life.

But things get dangerous for Leah and Sir Ursa after she finds the legendary Jackhammer, a lost relic from a time when the world was new. A tool such as the Jackhammer cannot go unnoticed long, and with its awakening it draws the attention of dark forces. And when they kidnap Sir Ursa and drag him into the tunnels, it's up to Leah to use the Jackhammer and save her precious friend.

Cover: 16/20

The cover had some brilliant artwork on it and helps give the young fantasy feel that the rest of the book has although the old skool feel isn't quite my cup of tea. As a girl I'd have been put off a little by the cover feeling a bit masculine but I think I'd have given the book a chance anyway with the girl's name in the title.

Characters: 17/20

This book had an excellent if a tad stereotypical cast, plus Sir Ursa the teddy bear. I think I'd have felt like the cast were nothing particularly new and special if it weren't for Sir Ursa but with him it made the whole lot of them feel more fresh and I found myself wishing I was Leah at several moments.

Storyline: 15/20

The story is a fairly standard, young girl goes somewhere she shouldn't, finds something evil and continues putting herself in danger to try and save the day. The parents don't believe her etc so, although this is done well and does suit the target audience, I didn't feel blown away. I do think it might get a bit more original with the rest of the series though so I'm definitely not put off reading more.

There would also be the occasional plot point, especially involving Leah's actions and her emotions that I didn't entirely understand. I wasn't sure whether the anger was a good thing and whether it was all naturally Leah or not and didn't have it explained quite as much as I'd have wanted to and I'm hoping it's explained more in the next book.

Style: 12/20

This was where I was most confused. For a lot of the book it felt very much like a young adult fantasy and maybe even a child's book but there were a few points that were quite violent or had a bit of gore described to a level I wouldn't expect from a book that otherwise felt so young. I could have been misled by the age and gender of the main character but I know at the age I'd have considered reading a book like this I'd have struggled with the gore, so it left me a bit confused as to who the target audience was.

Spelling and Grammar: 18/20

I noticed a handful of mistakes (6-7) and for the most part I could work out what was meant quickly and move on so no real worries on that front.

Conclusion: 78/100

This was a very easy read and I barely put it down. I loved Sir Ursa and do think this is the kind of book I'd have loved as a kid, minus the violence. I will be looking out for the sequel for sure as I want to find out more.

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Review by Jess Mountifield for "Kings of the World" by Matt Pike

Story Overview:

The galaxy is on the brink of war and only four dysfunctional, hormone-driven teenagers from Earth stand in its way. God help us all.

It didn’t take Cooper long to come to the conclusion that space sucks. It seems everyone there despises humans, everything’s too far away and the travel makes you heave. Worse still, Cooper’s stuck there with his best mate, The Ginge – who can’t tell where games end and reality begins - and two other former classmates who want to beat the crap out of him.

Oh yeah, and people, well… alien people are trying to kill them.

Space does have some good points. The boys can have anything they wish for, all they have to do is ask it … or think it. Plus they are now, somehow, Earth’s leaders - as in, more important than the President of the USA.

If Cooper can only stop the other boys from gorging on their every desire, chasing the most human looking alien women and fighting each other he might convince everyone humans aren’t the galactic equivalent of white trash.

But things are about to get a whole lot worse. War looms and Cooper and his inept sidekicks are caught in the middle. They, the Earth and the Galaxy will never be the same again.

Cover: 19/20

Love the cover for this book. Cute, quirky, geeky and a perfect portrayal of the mood of this book. Only drawback is that the titles a little difficult to read on the smaller sizes of cover.

Characters: 18/20

Only a couple of pages in and I was in love with the main character Cooper. The author had really got the teenage mindset down perfectly. Very occasionally some of the repetitiveness of the other character's flaws annoyed me but it was really only occasionally and for the most part they were perfect too.

I also really liked how big the alien world felt with all the many different aliens from all sorts of different planets. All of them were very well thought through.

Storyline: 16/20

I found the storyline a little stretched at times, but it was more minor things and mostly to do with the timeline. After all the time the boys were away from earth I'd have thought they'd have made a bit more progress in terms of trade and a few other things that I don't want to mention to not spoil the book but I liked the general storyline and how it built to the final events.

Style: 20/20

The style was almost spot on and was very quirky, cute and felt very much like I was reading a teenagers life. Really really liked the style and the battle scenes were very well done. Can't fault the style at all

Spelling and Grammar: 15/20

Only noticed a handful of mistakes so only knocked off a point for that but I did get confused a few times when the story changed scene and there was no break in the text or *** to mark that we were somewhere else or following someone else's thoughts. I really would have appreciated that and it's the only way this book really let me down at all. It's not technically a spelling or grammar issue but it's formatting so I figured it was best here.

Conclusion: 88/100

Great book with a fantastic cast of teenage boys and varied amazing aliens. I laughed aloud at several points and thoroughly enjoyed the whole read. I will definitely be picking up the sequel.

Buy Kings of the World from Amazon.com Buy Kings of the World from Amazon.co.uk

Review of Citizen Zero by Mark Cantrell - Review by Jess Mountifield

Story Overview:

A dystopian glimpse at a future born in an age of austerity and political uncertainty, CITIZEN ZERO is a gripping social satire that exposes our deepest fears and poses a grave warning to any society that abandons the pursuit of social justice...

After austerity came prosperity and stability, but it was bought at a terrible price...

In a surveillance society blind where it matters most, a deadly conspiracy is ready to strike...

A dictatorial Prime Minister, confident of his grip on power, is about to discover the limits of his strength...

A security operative turned terrorist is all set to bring down the man he once helped to steal power...

Welcome to Britain, a nation bitterly divided between rich and poor, as it teeters on the edge of chaos...

And unemployed David Mills is caught in the middle, torn from the woman he loves and thrown in to a terrible struggle to survive…

He’s a ‘zero’, one of the destitute millions, a nobody, but he’s also the one man who might salvage some kind of freedom out of the ruins of the future...

No wonder the Prime Minister wants him dead...

Cover: 12/20

The cover does look a little like it's indie made but it wouldn't put me off too much. It's definitely relevant to the sort of story Citizen Zero is.

Characters: 15/20

I really liked the hero of this story and his love interest and felt deeply for them both in what they had to go through. I was less interested in the rest. There were quite a few stereotypical bad guy types like the PM and his aides but a few of the other 'bad guys' surprised me as well. Several had regrets and their motives were interesting so it kept me curious.

Storyline: 17/20

The plot of this book was well thought out. Not overly complex but it really didn't need to be. And maybe a little predictable given the sort of book it is but I still enjoyed it. I love the concept of freedom and what freedom really looks like and where boundaries should be and this storyline explored all of those sorts of things.

Style: 10/20

For me the style of this book was it's weaker point. I think some people would really enjoy it and it reminded me a lot of Stephen King's earlier work in it's descriptive and very symbolic nature, but I found myself skim reading whole chunks of text to get to more action and dialogue.

For those who like the well described and thought through worlds then you will totally love this book, so I don't actually want to fault the author for this. He picked a style and did it well, it's just not a style I'm particularly fond of.

Spelling and Grammar: 18/20

I don't think I noticed a single typo which is very rare for me but I did have a few formatting issues with the size of the text. For some reason whole paragraphs would appear in a much larger text before going back to the normal size. It only bugged me ever so slightly though so I'm not knocking it much for that.

Conclusion: 72/100

So overall a pretty good book with a lot of world building, description and some well thought through characters. Not perfect, but still worth reading for anyone who likes to look at societal extremes and their consequences, while getting to route for the easy to relate to good guy.

Buy Citizen Zero from:

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Website: www.markcantrell.co.uk

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Review for The Freelancer Writer’s Handbook by Ethan Miller

It is not often that I review a non-fiction book. But sometimes an author will write a good nonfiction book which I really enjoy and decide to review. Because this is a nonfiction book the review is slightly different and shorter.

The Freelancer Writer’ Handbook is a short how to guide on how you can get started in the freelancing world. Each chapter is clearly laid out with tips, best practices and pros and cons of everything to help anyone who wishes to be a freelancer to start. What the book doesn’t really tell you is about the bidding processes. However the author does seem to know what they are talking about and some good insider information about certain sites that will give you a heads up to get started. The writing is clear and concise and the book isn’t overloaded with several technical or industry terms so anyone could pick this book up and read it.

If you are looking to get started in the Freelancer world, then this is a book which you may enjoy. Even if you don’t want to be a freelancer but have wondered about the industry then you may want to try this book.

Author Tales - Ey Wade

Tell us something about your writing career thus far. It could be an overview of the whole career or a good event that has stuck in your mind.

The part that stands out the most is the misstep in following the advice of an agent in the first publication of The Perfect Solution. Being a novice I accepted his advice when he directed me away from Ballantine books, (if only I knew who they were then) who wanted the book and pointed me in the direction of Publish America. Needless to say I learned such companies are nothing but paper mills. The humiliation when the book was reviewed in a local paper with all of the errors exposed almost crushed me. As an e-book, The Perfect Solution has received awesome reviews and I have learned from my mistakes. On the 27th of June, The Perfect Solution will be released in print under the publisher, Inknbeans Press.

About the Author


Ey considers herself to be a caged in frustrated author of thought provoking, mind bending eBooks, an occasional step-in parent, a fountain of knowledge, and ready to share. She is the mother of three daughters that were previously home-schooled and are now either attending college or graduated from college and the drooling 'Lovey' to a little boy. Ey was born in Texas and reared as an Army brat. There is the constant need to speak, writing and telling stories is the way she choose to socialize.

As a writer she had an essay in Essence magazine, published nine books and had several articles printed in the local paper and magazines. As the single-parent of three daughters, Ey Wade has worked in the childcare profession for over thirty years. Child safety has always been a concern in her life and she has drawn on those experiences to write the novel which has gained the attention of parents, parents-to-be, and child care professionals.
 
All of her books are highly recommendable to your friends, family and coworkers.

Web: http://wade-inpublishing.com

Facebook: http://twitter.com/eywade2

Twitter: http://twitter.com/jumpouttheboat

Amazon: http://amzn.to/Perchoice

Barnes & Nobles: http://bit.ly/EyWade-BN