Jennifer Ellis

I have so many mixed feelings about this book. I really wanted to love it. Like, really. But I just couldn't. I found the main character annoying; she's too flighty and not nearly smart enough to see what was in front of her own face. I could not connect with her. I was also never convinced that she knew Nate well enough to like him... Lust after him, yes - Alana spends ample time talking about how hot he was - but I never got the sense that she knew him past a shallow superficial level. The background characters were caricatures and never felt fleshed out on their own; they served the plot and that was it.

The plot was plodding; I nearly put the book down so many times and it wasn't until close to the 60+% mark that the plot started coming together. It took me nearly two weeks to read, which is a lifetime for a voracious reader like me.

I did appreciate Ellis's commentary on environmental guilt and just trying to do the best we can, but wish it had been delivered better. The environmental one-up-manship Alana had with her ex got eye-rollingly old.

Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley.… (plus d'informations)

In short, this is an anthology focused on conspiracies that raise the reader’s blood pressure by the sheer level of conceivable paranoia it creates. Each story blends fact and fiction with just enough authenticity to make it seem real, causing the reader to question whether the conspiracy just might be true after all. Combine that with the sense of paranoia each tale induces and you have an outstanding anthology that makes you want to make a tinfoil hat of your own.

The very beginning is a fascinating introduction about real-life conspiracies and how they have infiltrated popular culture. Who hasn’t heard a conspiracy theory? Who doesn’t believe at least a few of them? Social scientist Joseph Uscinski explores their fascination and how they affect society.

“Under the Grassy Knoll” (Richard Gleaves) – An older man sells DVDs of the Zapruder film in Dealey Plaza, trying to earn a living in a mostly empty life. Consumed by the JFK assassination, he tries educating others on the various conspiracy theories out there. After his iPad gets knocked into a storm drain, he discovers something never before found. 4 stars.

“The Long Slow Burn” (Ernie Lindsey) – An antiquities dealer coming off of a big job gets recruited by the Financial Crimes Division to steal an everlasting light bulb, a secret hidden away from the world. This story is one surprise after another and secrets are reveled with each twist and turn, right up to the last sentence. It’s well-written and works as a slick heist caper, as well. 4 stars.

“Day for Night” (Forbes West) – A bartender in 1981 encounters strange things happening in the Florida Keys. When a mysterious video game is brought into his bar, strange things start occurring, with an unusual demon-filled dimension overlaying his own, complete with sacrifices and a mission to save the earth from those who would invade it. 3 stars.

“Chukotka” (Lucas Bale) – Two Americans running supplies by boat to the west coast of Alaska are caught in a mysterious storm which comes up out of nowhere. On land, an old man following the old ways is on his way to die to give himself honor one final time. The two stories intersect but the struggle doesn’t end until the very last tragic page. 5 stars.

“That’s a Wrap from The Sea of Tranquility” (Eric Tozzi) – In 1969, respected Hollywood filmmaker Harry McNixon is asked to make a movie for the federal government, a movie showing a fake landing on the moon, to be broadcast worldwide. He embarks on a quest to make his greatest achievement that no one will ever know was made. The author definitely does his best to sell it and make it sound completely believable. The reason why this film had to be made is awesome in and of itself. 5 stars.

“Disappear” (Wendy Paine Miller) – A mother living in a surveillance state has recurring nightmares about her activist 16-year-old daughter being abducted. Going through her daily routine, she realizes how intrusive the government is in observing everyone. Is it paranoia if they’re really out to get you? This is a chilling, breathtaking thriller. 5 stars.

“One Arm of the Octopus” (Michael Bunker) – In 1985, college freshman Matthew meets Paul, who is slowly grooming him for recruitment into the war on drugs being waged in Nicaragua. Traveling there under the auspices of observing this war in person, he gets educated courtesy of the Octopus, a shadow CIA organization manipulating the war for its own benefit. The conflict here is a fascinating character study, and the narrative immerses the reader with every meticulous detail. 5 stars.

“Heil Hitler!” (Peter Cawdron) –Suzanne talks with her husband’s shrink about his schizophrenic episodes. When she wakes up two days later with no memory of what happened, Suzanne has little clue as to what is really going on, leading to a crazy ending in sheer lunacy and brilliant in its explanation. 4 stars.

“The French Deception” (Chris Pourteau) –American soldiers going through a French embassy in 1944 find info that Napoleon III led a conspiracy to further tear the United States so the Confederacy could win the Civil War. The confessional letter they find tells the captivating story of a Lincoln impostor who manipulated the war to his own ends. Capturing the writing style of the time and intermingling it with real events made for a fascinating, entertaining read. 4 stars.

“Manufacturing Elvis” (Jennifer Ellis) – 26-year-old Anna goes to Bermuda to help an avid Elvis aficionado track down leads of the latest Elvis sighting, finding what appears to be unsubstantiated rumors and drawing disparate conclusions from them. When they meet someone who looks like he could be Elvis’s son, they are drawn into a web of intrigue. 3 stars.

“The Final Flight of Michael Aoki” (Edward W. Robertson) – In 1947, Michael is a pilot who crashes his strange vehicle into the sand, having strange dreams of a woman and child dying in a fire. He cannot remember much about his life prior to that except that he is the only one that can win the war for America against the Soviets once and for all. Mysteries are slowly unraveled as Michael discovers his memories and finally puts together all of the perplexing pieces into this suspenseful story that shocks the reader with its final act. 3 stars.

“Fear of the Unknown and Loathing in Hollywood” (Nick Cole) – Doc Midnite, former State Department employee, reinvents himself as a reporter in the dark underbelly of Hollywood. Searching for the scoop on Mark-Paul Gosselaar and his sudden rise to stardom in “Saved by the Bell”, he lives in a drug-induced, alcoholic haze. This is hard-boiled noir, a convoluted story of one man’s search for the (fake) truth. 3 stars.… (plus d'informations)

Abbey Sinclair is a high school freshman who spends her days studying the periodic table of the elements and reciting scientific principles. She enjoys a completely normal life until her older brother Simon and twin brother Caleb drag her along on a completely irrational adventure. Simon discovers a set of strange stones on Coventry Hill near their home. When Abbey, Caleb and Simon step onto the stones, they are taken somewhere else, somewhere that seems like a very familiar future. When the siblings learn of someone trying to do something dangerous with the stones, they are compelled to try and stop them, even if they don't quite understand everything themselves.

Immediately thrown into the adventure, A Pair of Docks offers a different kind of time-travel story. Compelling characters, danger and mystery drive the story forward. Even as an adult, I found plenty to enjoy throughout the story. I immediately connected with Abbey who was always trying to frame things through the lens of the scientific method. It was refreshing to see a character who didn't just accept that they had time traveled, but tried to figure out how and why it could happen using her current knowledge. Another amazing character is Mark, the Sinclair's neighbor. Mark has Aspergur's syndrome, he is integral to the story and the sibling's success. I liked the overall mystery of the stones and the ties to each of the character's futures, the reveal wasn't what I was expecting. My only complaint was that there were chronically absent parents, although there were explanations given and they stepped in towards the end.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review.… (plus d'informations)

Sometimes when I’m reading I am torn between what I think and what would my 14 year-old self think. This is one of those books. My adult self is pleased to find a book that is full of both correct and well-imagined science, an enthusiastic young female scientist, and a great and unusual adventure. I wonder how 12 year olds will react to Mark, who plays an important role and is delightfully displayed with all his autistic quirks and fixations. I think my 14 year-old self will be wrapped up in the book, irritated by too much detail, but identify with Abbey for most of the time. Simon and Caleb, her brothers, are cool and well characterised, her mum and dad are largely absent due to her mum fighting an election campaign (there’s a twist on the dead parent syndrome) – so absent that when her mum referred to Peter I had no idea she meant her husband for a few paragraphs.

The detail involved in the descriptions of the first two time travel trips irritated me since it left little room for the imagination, although to me the ‘where’ was obvious. I loved the whole premise of the stones until it came to the witchcraft element, which I felt jarred with the scientific aspect of Abbey’s story. I can see that the author is building this up for the next in the series, but I would rather she had found another way of dealing with the gathering conflict than falling back on the trope of destiny and birthright. However the excitement of the adventure, the originality of the time travel methods, and the twists and turns involving different timelines as well as mysterious characters makes the story fascinating and compelling.

I think this book will find a big audience among boys and girls who enjoy science and want a bright hero or heroine – years ahead of her class but still coping in a regular school. It will also find an audience among the many adults who enjoy clean time travel books, not least because of the mystery and misdirection involved with some of the terminology.

I’m struggling to decide whether this book is good or great. Since I’m not sure, it’ll have to get 4 stars rather than 5, but I'd like to give it 4.5.… (plus d'informations)