Alert
by James Patterson & Michael Ledwidge
Publisher: Little Brown & Company
Pub. Date: August 3, 2015
ISBN: 978-0316407038
Pages: 400
Buy Link: Amazon

Review:

Keeping up with every new novel by the bestselling author James Patterson can be a bit exhausting with fifteen to twenty titles being released each year. While most people have either read or heard of the popular Alex Cross novels as well as a young adult (Maximum Ride) and children (Middle School; Treasure Hunters) book series, some might not be aware of his other mystery series - Michael Bennett, which focuses on a NYPD Detective and widow father of 10 adopted children.

The 8th installment of the series, Alert (co-written by Michael Ledwidge), once again centers on Detective Michael Bennett who must team up with his old pal, FBI's Emily Parker, to solve two high-tech attacks in New York City. Of course nothing is never what it seems, so the more they investigate, the more complicated it gets. As the body count rises, they realizes the killers (whom call themselves Mr. Joyce and Mr. Beckett) have bigger and deadlier things in store for the city.

There is a small subplot involving Michael's elderly priest grandfather, Seamus, whom gets lost while on his way to babysit Michael's children. It seems he's starting to show signs of dementia, which just adds to the already high stress that Michael already has in his life.

Blessed, Blessed... BLESSED
by Missy Robertson
with Beth Clark
Publisher: Tyndale
Pub. Date: October 6, 2015
ISBN: 978-1496405708
Pages: 264
Buy Link: Amazon

Review:

I'm sure that non-Duck Dynasty fans probably cringe when they see a new book by the Robertson clan in the bookstores due to some unwanted controversy from the family's patriarch.


Blessed, Blessed... BLESSED by Missy Robertson (wife of Jase Robertson) and Beth Clark was released last month. Though I don't agree with some of their religious beliefs, I do from time to time find myself watching an episode of Duck Dynasty. I've reviewed a few their other titles over the years, so I thought I would give this one a try as well.

Blessed, Blessed.. BLESSED is in many ways an autobiography about the Missy & Jase's marriage as well as the story of their youngest daughter's (Mia) battle with cleft palate. While at first glance, my first thought was that the book was just about Missy and Jase, but it's about the love for their family, their faith in the Lord and the struggles their little daughter Mia has went through.

Another Way Home
by Deborah Raney
Publisher: Abingdon Press
Pub. Date: October 20, 2015
ISBN: 978-1426770456
Pages: 304
Blog Tour: http://litfusegroup.com/author/draney
Buy Link: http://bit.ly/1NQhjf8

Review:

With October as well as all the posts for the Halloween Madness event finally over, it's time for me to posts a slew of book reviews, which I'm hoping to get caught up on everything before Thanksgiving comes around later this month.

Last month, I received the third book in the Chicory Inn series, titled Another Way Home by author Deborah Raney. Once again the series centers on Grant and Audrey Whitman, a couple that is trying to run their own bed & breakfast, but their adult children's problems keep interfering with their lives.

Their middle daughter, Danae, and her husband, Dallas, have been trying to start a family for years, but God hasn't blessed them with a child yet. While Danae is considering adoption, Dallas doesn't even want to discuss the topic. Her dream is to fill her days raising their children, but since that's not on the table anymore, she volunteers at a shelter for for abused women that just opened in town. As she gets to know the women there, she starts to wonder if God is nudging her life in a different direction.

Sanjay and Craig: Fight The Future With Flavor!
by Eric Esquivel
Publisher: PAPERCUTZ
Pub. Date: September 22, 2015
ISBN: 978-1629913025
Pages: 52
Buy Link: Amazon

Review:

Sanjay and Craig debuted on Nickelodeon in 2013 and has become one of it's most popular cartoons. The series centers on a  Sanjay Patel, a 12-year old boy,  and his talking pet snake, Craig.  Nickelodeon is joined forces with the publishing company PAPERCUTZ to create new graphic novels.

Released back in September is the first comic adventure featuring Sanjay and Craig, titled Sanjay and Craig: Fight The Future With Flavor! Written by Eric Esquivel and featuring illustrations from Sam Spina, James Kaminski and Ryan Jampole, the 52 pages graphic novel contains six exciting adventures - "Fight The Future With Flavor," "Hot Wings From Heck," "Lord Of The Pipes," Alien Buttospy," "The Buttermilk King" and "Rated 'R' For Radical". It also features several short segments of"Tufflips Movie Trailers."

I've only seen a few episodes of the Nickelodeon series and while it didn't exactly appeal to me, it did have plenty of silliness that would attract younger viewers. Since I decided to feature more children books on this blog, I went ahead and agreed to review the Sanjay and Craig: Fight The Future With Flavor! graphic novel.

A Respectable Actress
by Dorothy Love
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Pub. Date: October 13, 2015
ISBN: 978-1401687595
Pages: 384
Buy Link: Amazon
Blog Tour:litfusegroup.com/author/dlove

Review:

While Thanksgiving is only a few weeks away, there is plenty of time to squeeze a few good novels. During this time, I'm planning on featuring reviews on some exciting novels that you might enjoy reading. Today, I'm featuring the historical-romance A Respectable Actress by Dorothy Love.

Set in the 1870, A Respectable Actress centers on the famous actress India Hartley. Just before her second performance at the Savannah's Southern Plalace, her co-star, Arthur Sterling, is shot and killed right on stage in front of the audience. Shockingly, India is accused and arrested for killing him.

Philip Sinclair, a widower from Savannah, is hired to defend India by her benefactor. While most lawyers would never even think about accepting a case like this, he's strapped for and could use the money to help fund his law practice and to rebuild his plantation that is on St. Simons Island. If he successfully defends the lovely actress, it'll bring him many new clients.

Philip works his magic on the judge and gets India out of jail. In fear of  threats of lynch mobs, he decides the safest place for her to stay until the trial is at his plantation, Indigo Point. Of  course this is a love story, so there are sparks between the two. However, Philip isn't quite over the death of his wife.

American Hunter: How Legendary Hunters Shaped America
by Willie Robertson & William Doyle
Publisher: Howard Books
Pub. Date: October 27, 2015
ISBN: 978-1501111334
Pages: 272
Buy Link: Amazon

Review:
 
Hunting has gotten a bad rap over the years due to public shootings, poaching, PETA and politicians who want to eliminate the 2nd Amendment. Hunting has been a part of American history way before the first Europeans set foot on our country. It all started with Native Americans, whom taught the English colonists how to hunt. The animals weren't killed for sport, but instead they were killed for food and the fur & hide were used for clothing.

Being released today in bookstores is American Hunter: How Legendary Hunters Shaped America by Willie Robertson & William Doyle. You might recognize the name Willie Robertson as he is the CEO of Duck Commander and the star of A&E's Duck Dynasty. I know the Robertson family gets a bad rap due to a few controversies that have occurred over the years. While I don't personally participate in hunting, I do have family members that hunt, so I do have a respect for it.

The book features true stories of America's greatest hunters, such as Daniel Boone, Davy Crockett, Buffalo Bill, Teddy Roosevelt and Ernest Hemingway. Of course there are a few stories that involve the Robertson clan. There is also a little bit of history on classic hunting weapons.

Doctor Who: Royal Blood
The Glamour Chronicles
by Una McCormack
Publisher: Broadway Books
Pub. Date: September 8, 2015
ISBN: 978-1101905838
Pages: 240
Buy Link: Amazon

Review:

I guess you can call me a Whovians because my love for the British science-fiction series Doctor Who, which is currently in it's 9th season on BBC America. (Well, technically this is the 35 season if you count the 1963-1989 seasons.) Now when I see any Doctor Who media-tie in novel, I just have to read it.

The newest book, titled Doctor Who: Royal Blood, was released to bookstores last month and is set in the current 9 season. The plot involves the 12th Doctor and his companion Clara landing near the city-state of Varuz, a medieval kingdom where the knights have lasers. Yes, I said lasers. The war-torn kingdom is ruled by Duke Aurelian, whom is preparing his men for one final fight to save his people. The Doctor is mistaken for a holy man and the Duke asks for his blessing in the war.

Out of the blue, the fictional Lancelot arrives in search the Holy Grail. The Doctor realizes that there is something really strange happening on this planet and he is determined to find out who or what is behind it.

Doctor Who: The Dorsten's Curse
by A.L. Kennedy
Publisher: Broadway Books
Pub. Date: July 14, 2015
ISBN: 978-0553419443
Pages: 368
Buy Link: Amazon

Review:

I stumbled up on the first season of the Doctor Who reboot when it aired on the Scifi Channel (now known as Syfy) in 2006 and I quickly became a big fan. I later learned about the original the series that started in the 1960s to the 1980s and that the new seasons (well series in the Britain) are a continuation. Since then, I've watched a handful of episodes featuring the original incarnations of the Doctors on DVD.

Now available in paperback is Doctor Who: The Dorsten's Curse by A.L. Kennedy, which is an adventure featuring the 4th Doctor (whom was played by Tom Baker from 1974 to 1981). Set at the Fetch Brothers’ Golf Spa Hotel, the plot involves golfers disappearing into thin air and of course the Doctor is there in the nick of time to investigate it.

Once again the Doctor recruits two new companion, Bryony, a Fetch Brothers’ Junior Receptionist,  and alien named Putta Pattershaun, to help unravel the mystery behind why the golfers are vanishing. To make matters worse, the other people at the spa are acting weird, especially Mrs. Fetch and and the twin grandchildren; all of which seem to have the ability to read minds.

As most Doctor Who stories go, there is something alien-like that is causing all the chaos and the Doctor Bryony and his companions must stop it.

The Memory Weaver
by Jane Kirkpatrick
Publisher: Revell
Pub. Date: September 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-0800722326
Pages: 352
Buy Link: Amazon

Review:

While I've read many books by Christian authors, I only recently started reading Jane Kirkpatrick titles, though my grandmother has been reading her novels for years. Now anytime I learn that one the author's books is available for review, I eagerly signed up.

The Memory Weaver centers on Eliza Spalding Warren. When she was just a ten-year-old, she was kidnapped by the Cayuse Indians during a massacure that occured in 1847, where she was forced to be an interpreter. Though she's now married with two children, she is still haunted by her childhood.

Now her husband wants them to pack up their belongings and head off for the territory that she had spent in captivity. To deal with the ordeal, Eliza turns to late mother's journal to learn how she had dealt the trama that took place in 1847 and hopefully find a way to find piece with her own past.

The Little Paris Bookshop
by Nina George
Publisher: Crown
Pub. Date: June 23, 2015
ISBN: 978-0553418774
Pages: 400
Buy Link: Amazon

Review:

Being a huge book lover, any novel that I run across that has the word "book" in the title gets my immediate attention. During the summer, I signed up to review The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George, which I read right away, but I'm just now getting around to writing the review for it.

Set in France, the novel centers on Monsieur Perdu, a man who owns a floating bookstore in a barge on the Seine. He has a niche for picking out the perfect book for each and every customer, which somehow ends up healing the customers' life. While Perdu is fond of his books, both his heart and soul are broke.

After gathering enough courage to read an unopened letter from a past love, Perdu pulls up his anchor and travels to south of France to find some closure and begin a new chapter in his life.

Ripley's Believe It or Not! Eye-Popping Oddities
Publisher: Ripley Publishing; Annual Edition - Book 12
Pub. Date: September 8, 2015
Retail: $28.95
ISBN: 978-1609911362
Pages: 256
Buy Link: Amazon

Review:

Ripley's Believe It or Not! was founded by the late Robert Ripley. The Believe It Or Not! first appeared as a cartoon feature in the New York Globe in 1919. It was later featured in the New York Evening Post and the New York American. The first book, Believe it or not! by Ripley The Big Little Book, was published in 1931.

The Eye-Popping Oddities begins with a two-page biography of Robert Ripley along with a never-before-seen photo of him. The book has 10 different chapters/sections:

Believe It! - This chapter features some of the weirdest things, such as a cat with thumbs and ceramic inflatables.

World - Showcases oddities found around the world, such as cups made from skulls, a hotel in a cave, an upside-down house and a tornado fire.

Animals - Here you get a cath with long whiskers, a frog with extra legs, a mother cat feeding a baby hedgehog, a snake massage, 40-inch long dinosaur poop, a monster earthworm and much more.


Body - From weird tattoos, to the Twins form Yucatan, to a cheek hole, etc., you won't believe it until you see these amazing photos.


Pop Culture - People take their love for movies and television a little too far with cardboard movie scenes, A Simpsons tattoo, a Game of Thrones wedding, pop plates, etc..

Transport - Yep, there are a lot of odd automobiles in the world, including a car made from human hair, a bone truck, a sheepdog car and a beetle robot.