Panopolis is a city of stark colors, folks. Right or wrong, black or white, no shades of gray here. Panopolis is epic battles and soaring rhetoric on both sides, and dirty secrets buried so deep beneath layers of lies that you’d need a map to know where to start digging. Moral ambiguity is for stories, not real life. At least, that’s what we’re told.
But the best stories, I’ve found, are the ones that aren’t so clear-cut. No spoon feeding you Truth, Justice, and the Heroic Way, or telling you that every Villain was born flawed from the start, not made into that. The best stories are the ones that make you think and leave you wondering. I think Panopolis needs a new caliber of storytellers, folks. Maybe it’s time to find those maps and ready those shovels.
Maybe it’s finally time for a change in the narrative.
Edward Dinges was once a normal guy in a city of Supers. He worked at a bank, had a plain life… then he fell in love with a Villain and found himself imprisoned. Soon, normal was a thing of the past.
Though he’s been working to harness his new powers, Edward is still trying to gain control over his life. It helps that Raul is always at his side, but it’s time to step out by himself for his first real job as a villain.
But nothing ever really goes as planned. Soon, Edward finds himself needing to fight for Raul’s life and free him from the hands of a true Super Villain. Whether they make it out alive or not, Panopolis will never be the same.
“You made it back. Not a lot of people do. That makes you interesting, maybe worth forming an alliance with. You need to work on making connections, especially if you don’t love to fight for fighting’s sake.” Vibro sounded tired.
“You don’t like fighting either.”
“I like living,” she corrected me.
So, first off, I want to put it out there that I absolutely loved this. The series is set in such an interesting world that it really pulled me right in from the get-go and I continued to be incredibly interested in it even months after reading the first book. Cari does a brilliant job of building a world that is so unique, but in this book, I really felt it resonated with reality.
I’m not sure if it’s that social justice has been on my mind a lot recently or what, but the way Cari writes about the dichotomy in the city, pitting two sides against each other, having this large body of power that rules over everyone and manages to cast aside the undesirables… the book takes massive and frustrating issues and puts it into an abstract and easily digestible manner. What do I mean with that? I mean people can turn their face to the real world and it’s social justice, but if you really read this, you’ll find yourself feeling everything the SuperTruther conveys and not even realizing how much Panopolis resembles the world just outside your door.
Now, onto the characters. Edward continues to grow on me. At first, I felt like he was just as boring as he projected himself to be, but in the first book we got to see his evolution when it came to morals. Now he’s crossed that line and is trying to find himself within his new powers.
Raul was a lot less present in this, but I didn’t really mind that, as I think this story is so much more than a romance. Sure, the romance is there, but the story is just front and center, adorned with action and alliances and… okay, just, really great story telling.
And new characters – Vibro is just freaking fantastic. I mean, she has purple hair! On top of that, she seems to have such an interesting personality and I would love to learn more about her and her brother.
The only downside I can think of is that the editing was off a bit. There was a lot of misplaced commas and such. But besides that, it was great.
I can’t wait for the next book in the series. Cari set us up for a great sequel.
The cover by L.C. Chase is very nice. It fits the previous book well and has a nice punch of color. Additionally, getting to see Edward is a nice treat. Great job.
Everything in his life that should have been profound had been nameless. Life and death, fucking and killing—it should have been profound. It should have resonated. He wanted it to, with Ace. He just wanted something to matter, for once.
Ashoka “Ace” King is known as a crim, as are most people living in District Three. Between Morality Laws and rules that target those without jobs or homes, life in Tophet isn’t easy for those not in the upper realms of society. On top of it all, they all have to be on the constant look out for the ATU, a police force known to kill at random.
One unlucky night, Ace runs into a member of the ATU. He’s forced to make a split-second decision that puts his life in danger and makes him a target for the ATU. What he doesn’t expect is for that decision to lead him to Soren Lau, the ATU agent who just couldn’t seem to pull the trigger when ordered.
After a sordid tryst, the two become irrevocably entwined. But they’re on two different sides, and when fate brings them together yet another time, they both have to make a choice and decide which side they want to end up on.
“What would you do?” he asked. “If you were me, standing at the edge of the world. Would you run back toward solid ground, or would you jump?”
“I caught you once, didn’t I?”
One of my favorite things in books is when they are able to build this world that feels so vivid it’s nearly tangible. I was hoping to get that out of this book, and I did. The authors managed to weave in details of life in Tophet without making the book heavy with them, they intrigued me as a reader and made a society that I felt lucky to get to see and lucky to not have to live in… or do I?
Sometimes I think I can read a bit too much into things. My career involves social justice and advocacy, so upon reading this, bells went off in my head. A society where the people meant to protect us are causing harm, particularly to those in poverty? A society that marks people as criminals like it’s a brand that will forever be embedded in their skin? A society divided not by right and wrong but by the money in your pocket? So yeah, let’s just say I connected with that, and as much as it pained me, it was so wonderfully done. This society that is labeled as dystopian but somehow resembles bits of our own? If that’s not intriguing and thought-provoking, I don’t know what is.
But onto other matters, the characters. Ace and Soren together managed to create this almost devastating couple that shouldn’t work but did. Soren is questioning his role and all he’s dedicated himself to, and Ace is struggling just to survive. But these characters are anything but weak. Being able to watch them in their own battles was a real treat, especially when it resulted in their growth.
My absolute biggest complaint is that I wanted more. It ended just as it was getting good, and while I was satisfied to an extent, I definitely will be wanting more not only of this universe, but also these characters. Where do they go from here? I don’t know. I hope that I’ll find out though.
I really appreciate the cover art by L.C. Chase. It is very simple but provides a stark image and helps me visualize Soren without giving me all the intricacies of detail that readers like to fill in for themselves.
We have Lisa Henry and Heidi Belleau here today to talk about Tin Man, their latest release. Need a new book to read? Check out Tin Man by Lisa Henry and Heidi Belleau – A Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words Must Read! And don’t forget to leave a comment to be entered in the tour contest!
Hi! Welcome to Lisa Henry and Heidi Belleau’s blog tour for our new release, Tin Man. We’re visiting some of our favourite blogs around the place to talk a bit about writing Tin Man, and sharing some of our influences, our ideas, and even an excerpt or two! Don’t forget to leave a comment, for your chance to win prizes!
Today we’re sharing an excerpt from Tin Man. In this excerpt, Soren is back at headquarters after his encounter with Ace, and afraid his superiors will find out exactly what happened:
Excerpt from Tin Man:
“Rookie? Hey, rookie, you still with me here?”
Soren swayed a little as Ruby helped him out of the back of the truck. His boots hit the ground, jarring his bones.
“Come on,” she said. She unhooked her water bottle from her belt and gave it to him. “You got yourself a nice concussion, rookie. Don’t pass out on me.”
It wasn’t his concussion making him dizzy. It was fear. Soren unscrewed the lid of the bottle and took a mouthful. He swirled it around and spat. The water stained the asphalt black. Soren watched it spread into the tiny cracks and slowly bleed away.
The rest of the team headed for the showers and locker room. One or two of them clapped him on the shoulder as they passed, but most didn’t. Soren glanced at Ruby, at his helmet held under her arm, and wondered what the feed had showed Command.
He took another swig of water and washed his mouth out again.
She took the bottle from him. “Let’s get you to the medical unit.”
He followed her inside. The sudden shift from sunlight to shade blinded him for a moment, and he didn’t know if Ruby’s hand on his shoulder was to guide him or restrain him. He blinked, waiting for the world to come back into focus, waiting for the blue shapes burned on his retina to vanish.
She steered him down the corridor.
Inside the medical unit, Captain Bernhardt was waiting with the doctors. “Lau.”
“Sir.” Soren tried not to read anything into the way that the captain’s gaze slid slowly over him. How much did he know? The worst thing he could possibly do, Soren knew, was to start offering up excuses too early. Innocent men didn’t do that. Only guilty men and weak men. In this place, they were the same thing.
“Clothes off,” the doctor said, stepping forward.
Soren bent down to remove his boots and socks. Then he tugged his shirt off and dropped it into the bag that the doctor held out. An evidence bag? God. His fingers fumbled with the button of his fly—all he could remember suddenly were Ace’s fingers sliding over his skin, making the muscles in his abdomen dance—then he shucked off his pants and underwear.
“Some abrasions and contusions,” the doctor said. “I’ll document them now and take the photographs in a day or two once the bruising comes up.”
He was talking to Captain Bernhardt, Soren realized, not him. Soren was a piece of evidence now. In some ways, it made things easier. It was useful to disengage himself from this for now, to move how the doctor wanted him to move, to stretch this way or bend that way, and not have to feel the humiliation a person might, with all these gazes on him. He was trembling, though. Couldn’t stop that.
“Hands on the edge of the table,” the doctor said. “Bend over.”
At least Ruby looked away for that indignity. Soren squeezed his eyes shut and gritted his teeth. Easy to submit to the humiliation of it when he knew it wouldn’t reveal anything incriminating. The fact that they were examining him there at all, though . . . Why do it in the first place if they didn’t suspect anything?
The doctor moved away at last. Soren straightened up and turned around again.
Then the doctor was back, with a swab. “Open your mouth.”
Soren caught Ruby’s gaze as the doctor poked the swab around. Did she guess why he’d washed his mouth out with her water? Why he’d done it twice? He watched as the doctor slid the swab into a plastic tube and had to fight the crazy urge to reach out and grab it back. There was no point panicking about what the swab might tell Command when his own words might condemn him yet.
Ruby looked away. Yeah, Soren was fucked.
“Okay, Lau.” Bernhardt held out a fresh set of clothes—a white undershirt and boxers. Nothing else.
Soren dressed. His body ached. The doctor didn’t offer him any painkillers, but it didn’t matter. Just because nobody had accused him of anything didn’t mean they weren’t suspicious. Didn’t mean he was in the clear.
Soren knew the worst was yet to come.
Blurb:
Petty thief Ashoka “Ace” King knows better than to get in the way of Tophet’s Anti-Terrorist Unit. Rightfully feared in Tophet’s crime-ridden underbelly, a face-to-face encounter with an ATU is almost certainly a death sentence. But Ace has never been one to follow the rules.
Soren Lau might be an ATU rookie, but he’s not naive enough to believe everything his superiors tell him. Then again, he’s not stupid enough to disobey them, either. If he doesn’t shoot and kill as ordered, he might be next on their list.
But when Soren meets Ace, a moment’s hesitation is all it takes to put both their lives on the line. They don’t know each other, they don’t trust each other, and there’s no way in hell they can both walk away from this alive. But with suspicion and mortal danger mounting against both of them—and the forbidden attraction blazing between them—there’s nothing they can do but try.
Lisa likes to tell stories, mostly with hot guys and happily ever afters.
Lisa lives in tropical North Queensland, Australia. She doesn’t know why, because she hates the heat, but she suspects she’s too lazy to move. She spends half her time slaving away as a government minion, and the other half plotting her escape.
She attended university at sixteen, not because she was a child prodigy or anything, but because of a mix-up between international school systems early in life. She studied History and English, neither of them very thoroughly.
She shares her house with too many cats, a green tree frog that swims in the toilet, and as many possums as can break in every night. This is not how she imagined life as a grown-up.
Heidi Belleau was born and raised in small town New Brunswick, Canada. She now lives in the rugged oil-patch frontier of Northern BC with her husband, an Irish ex-pat whose long work hours in the trades leave her plenty of quiet time to write.
She has a degree in history from Simon Fraser University with a concentration in British and Irish studies; much of her work centred on popular culture, oral folklore, and sexuality, but she was known to perplex her professors with unironic papers on the historical roots of modern romance novel tropes. (Ask her about Highlanders!)
When not writing, you might catch her trying to explain British television to her newborn daughter or standing in line at the local coffee shop, waiting on her caramel macchiato.
Each comment on this blog tour enters you for a chance to win a $20 Riptide credit and an ecopy of Bliss, the first book set in this universe. Entries close July 25, and contest is not restricted to US residents. Remember to leave your email address in the comments so we can contact you if you win!
Tom Boudreaux, ex- FBI agent, and full time Cajun trouble maker, is wondering why Phil Butler of Extreme Escapes, LTD is offering him a job. Tom has nothing but failures in his past, including 2 ex partners and agencies that never want to see him again. But when Phil and EE, Inc. offers him one last chance at redemption he takes it, hoping that his bad luck has come to an end. Then he meet his new partner, Prophet Drews, and realizes it is only beginning.
Prophet Drews, former Navy Seal, former CIA agent and all around genius at chaos, has just been assigned another partner yet again. Then he meets Tom, and recognizes that the Cajun represents all kinds of trouble for him. Tom is sexy, tough, scarred, and psychic. He is new to the type of field work EE requires still Prophet agrees if only for a short time. Why? Because Tom is fighting some powerful personal demons and that’s something Prophet knows everything about as he has armies of his own to fight, as well as PTSD and a medical diagnosis that can’t be changed.
When a person close to Prophet is killed in underground cage match, Tom and Prophet infiltrate the illegal world of cage fighting to find the killers and the reason behind his friend’s murder. But the investigation is far more complicated than anyone anticipated, putting not just Prophet and Tom’s lives in danger but their partnership as well. The most difficult obstacle for both is the fighting the combustable attraction they feel for each other. But when the investigation pulls them in to a dangerous trap , can Tom and Prophet fight past their inner demons and learn to trust each other enough to save themselves?
Catch a Ghost is one hell of a wild ride! SE Jakes creates her own espionage agency, ExtremeEscapes LTD and fills it with damaged, alluring men unable to fight their own demons let alone the attraction they feel for their partners within the agency. In Catch a Ghost, agent Prophet Drews is matched up with newly hired Tom Boudreaux, an angry, damaged Cajun with two dead partners and two law enforcement jobs behind him. Neither man is good at relationships, thinking their damaged history and inner demons put them out of bounds for anything other than a quick sexual encounter.
Now I am going to admit I am new to SE Jakes. I found this author through her latest release Dirty Deeds and am now working my way back through her stories and the Hell or High Water universe. But between Catch a Ghost and Dirty Deeds, I am a fully hooked fan. SE Jakes gets it exactly right with her gripping stories of the secretive world of spies and the spied upon, the hunted and the hunters.
Each genre has its own special pitfalls that an author must overcome to achieve a textured, multidimensional story. In historical fiction,(in my opinion, the hardest genre to write well), its accuracy about the time period the story is set in, attention to detail from clothes to laws, dialog and atmosphere. With espionage and action/spy stories, it’s the ability to maintain a certain level of tension as well as creating anxiety concerning the main character(s) well being, a complex, and intelligent plot that keeps the reader guessing about, well, everything, and a credibility that extends through the operatives and the agencies they are working for as well as the villains of the storyline. The author has to get the guns, explosives, tech talk, vehicles, and even torture methods accurate in order for us to find the story plausible as well as spellbinding. And then with a solid framework established, the author needs to create memorable characters and a mission to build the plot around. SE Jakes achieves all of that here.
Starting with Prophet Drews, and his partner, Tom Boudreaux, Jakes makes both men equal yet separate in personal demons that haunt them and abusive family backgrounds. With chaos swirling around them at all times, some of it self induced, these men need to be able to understand each other intimately in order for their attraction to be something other than just the rut of the moment.
Throughout the story, the author feeds small morsels of information about each man and their past to the readers as well as the characters themselves. Like the tiny food trails of Hansel and Gretel, these tasty tidbits lead us to a more complete portrait of each person, filling in their history in order to make their present state of mind understandable and something we can relate to. It’s done through their scars (acquired on the job and by their family), its accomplished through Tom’s tats and piercings as well as Prophet’s reoccurring nightmares and flashbacks. Jakes descriptions of Prophet in the throes of a hellish flashback are vivid and emotionally devastating. We are there in as Prophet battles his past and his inability to tell whether he is in a dream hell or reality. It’s scary and it feels real. Tom and Prophet are incredible characters, ones that make the reader invest emotionally in their safety and sanity.
What an adrenaline high Jakes puts us and her characters through. The plot moves along swiftly, dipping and twisting through multiple curves and unforeseen dangers. Jakes writing is both stylish and dynamic. Each scene is gripping, full of life, whether the men are wrestling each other in a sexual frenzy or pounding a enemy while mentally lost in the past. Catch a Ghost is a real old fashioned page turner and it ends as it should, in doubt and uncertainty. This may not please everyone but it works here.
Is this a romance? Not really. The men, their past, and the plot are far too complex for that designation. There is an attraction, a sexual pull between Tom and Prophet that might turn into something more if given a chance. But this story is about the past, theirs, and the agency that they work for. It also starts each man along a path of self discovery. The author is setting the stage for the next in the series Long Time Gone (Hell or High Water, #2). That said, this is still a completely realized novel. To have ended this story in any other manner would have been a negation of all the author has created, including the main characters. The men have a lot of issues to work through, not the least of which is trust. Plus there are layers to every operation and a past mission whose disastrous outcome continues to reverberate through the present events and Prophet’s actions. This story is packed full of great things. Pick it up, enjoy the wild ride while we wait for the next book to appear. Consider this highly recommended.
Cover art by LC Chase. This cover is strong, dramatic and intriguing. You just have to know more about the person and the story behind that tat. A winner in every aspect.
Books in the Hell or High Water series in the order they were written and should be read to fully understand the characters and events:
Catch a Ghost (Hell or High Water #1)
Long Time Gone (Hell or High Water, #2)
Related series:
Dirty Deeds (Dirty Deeds #1)
Book Details:
Paperback, 300 pages
Published September 13th 2013 by Riptide Publishing (first published September 7th 2013)
Chance Dumont. Marcus Prater. Zachary Carmichael. Wick Templeton. These four men have considered each other brothers, family by choice instead of by blood. They thought they knew everything about one another and they have been through the worst of times with each other. Or so they thought.
Now Wick has disappeared and won’t return their phone calls. And the remaining men are left feeling betrayed and angry over Wick’s absence and the events that caused it. Then the Twins, brothers from Wick’s past, turn up dead, killed in the same manner as other gay young men recently. The man they thought had been arrested for the previous torture and deaths of gay youth is out of prison. Could the killer be the same man who killed the Twins? The killings are starting to look personal, and when a meeting is called at Chances Are, everyone is expected to show, even Wick.
But someone is missing from Chances Are, someone unexpected. And soon its evident that one of their brother’s has been taken by force. Is it the killer? Or someone completely different with their own grudge? The remaining band of brothers must act and quickly before their family is shattered forever.
Four outstanding series, all on Scattered Thoughts Best of 2013, have been leading up to one explosive finale and Odd Man Out doesn’t disappoint! Each series in the Pulp Friction group (Chances Are, City Knight, Triple Threat, and Wicked’s Way) revolve around a strong, charismatic, and densely layered main character. In their own series, each man exhibits a magnetism and strength that sometimes push the other characters in their own series into the shadows. So I was curious as to how the authors would be able to find a balance among such compelling, formidable men. Would one overshadow the others when combined into one book? The answer is no, the men and their stories mesh as seamlessly as you would expect given their back stories and history together.
And when by seamlessly, I mean realistically. Because these alphas can spend their time in arguments, shoving, anger and hurt that is the result of letting others close, especially to this almost hermetically sealed off group of men. As all four series and their main characters collide, each man is in the midst of a personal upheaval caused by the introduction of a new love and partner into their lives. For some like Ben and Marcus, their acceptance of each other has been relatively easy, or as easy as it can get for a member of this tight-knit brotherhood. Chance and Rory, Zachary, Archer and Jeremiah too, have also recently settled into a loving partnership. Only Wick and Ned, well, Wick, is still fighting Ned’s new role in his life in a grudgingly humorous manner expected of Wick Templeton.
So much jostling of roles, so many new men to accept within the tight ranks of family. And it’s not just the original members but Ben, Rory, and Jeremiah who have formed bonds to each other. I love that as much attention has been paid to the links forming between the secondary characters as it has been to the main ones. Each author has kept all the threads of their series taut while weaving them into the other stories and the series finale. It is a testament to how well this group of authors know and like each other that their characters play so nicely and believably with each other.
Each man has some huge issues to work through as they race to save one of their own. And once again, these problems carry with them substantial emotional baggage that each man must examine before the somewhat broken bonds can be reformed between Wick and Zachary, Chance, and Marcus. The anger and hurt these men carry because of Wick’s actions resonate through each conversation and scene. It’s powerful, its authentic and we get it because we have come to believe in these characters and their love for each other. So when they break trust with each other, we feel the anguish as powerfully as they do. The four authors have presented the readers with four rock solid characters and made them real and their stories compelling. How can we not feel as they do?
There is also plenty of anxiety and anticipation to go with the white knuckle suspense of Odd Man Out. As the authors build momentum and suspense into the search for the missing man, we “hear” the thoughts of the captured man and his tormentor interspersed with scenes of the others gathering clues to help them pinpoint who and where their brother has been taken. It’s a heart pounding, pulse racing ride and you will be on the edge of your seat every step of the investigation and hunt.
I won’t give anything away but there are moments of humor and funny asides to go with the thrills scattered throughout this finale. Sometimes it used to alleviate the headache inducing tension that is building, other times it illuminates a man’s character, a means of hiding one’s true emotions behind a facade. Odd Man Out is really such a rollercoaster ride of emotions, events and turbulent relationships, a true E ticket (for those who remember them).
I loved this story and all the series connected to it. I hope this doesn’t mean we have seen the last of Wick Templeton, Chance Dumont, Marcus Prater and Zachary Carmichael. These characters pack a punch whenever and wherever they appear, whether they are together or separately. I have come to love them all and would love to see them again wherever their futures are taking them. They have plenty of stories to tell and I would love to read them all.
After being shot in New Orleans, Sidewinder medic Kelly Abbott has returned home to his cabin in Colorado with fellow Sidewinder Nick O’Flaherty joining him to help him in his recovery. Kelly and Nick, bonded through their years together as part of a Marine Force Recon team, have always loved each other like brothers but past confessions and the recent events in New Orleans has Kelly thinking past brotherly bonds into something far more intimate and sexual. During a quiet moment at the cabin Kelly asks Nick to kiss him and is surprised when Nick does. But the kiss turns into something unexpected for each man…its deep, and warm and overwhelmingly sexual, and leaves Nick and Kelly wanting more.
That one kiss leads to others and only the reality of Kelly’s wounds keep the men from more. Confused, Kelly and Nick try to examine their feelings not only towards each other but about a deeper commitment outside their band of brothers. But the past has a way of intruding on the Sidewinders, pulling them towards danger and an uncertain future. Can Nick and Kelly find their way through their confusion and doubts before they are called to duty once more?
Abigail Roux is killing me here. I am still trying to recover from the events of Touch & Geaux (Cut & Run #7) when Roux starts a new series about the Sidewinders, the Marine Recon group that Ty Grady is a part of, and has me in tears all over again. But I am getting ahead of myself and this review.
Shock & Awe, the titles continuing in the tradition the author started in the Cut & Run series, is an expansion series into the tight band of brothers Abigail Roux introduced in the Cut & Run series. We met the various members of the Sidewinders as they came to visit Ty Grady in Baltimore and through appearances made in several of the Cut & Run stories. Nick, especially, was an important character in helping to understand Ty’s past and the close bonds of the Sidewinder Marine Force Recon Unit. Going too much into Nick O’Flaherty’s background would offer up spoilers for past stories but suffice it to say he and Ty have an unusual past history that is referenced here in Shock & Awe acting as an impetus for Kelly’s musings and startling request. And while the others members of the unit (Digger, Owen, and yes Ty) make an appearance, Shock & Awe is focused on Kelly and Nick. It starts shortly after the events of Touch & Geaux (Cut & Run #7) where Kelly was shot in New Orleans when all the Sidewinders gathered to celebrate a birthday.
The smaller, more intimate setting of Kelly’s cabin is perfect for the introspection and actions that follow an unusual request from Kelly for a less than brotherly kiss from Nick. Normally, Roux has a much larger canvas on which to place her characters and storyline but having one location lets the author (and readers) concentrate on the developing relationship and emerging emotions of Nick and Kelly. I loved this aspect of the story. The author had previously given the readers only a cursory introduction to Kelly while past stories made Nick an unwelcome intrusion into Ty and Zane’s relationship. Now both characters get to stand on their own and this story turns them into the remarkable men that Roux had always intended us to see them as. I had no trouble at all falling in love with both of them. Here is a little window into their close relationship. They have just arrived at Kelly’s cabin and are getting settled:
Kelly made a derogatory sound and closed his eyes again. Nick pulled away, then gently covered him with the sheet.
Kelly may have been the corpsman, but Nick had always been the caretaker of the group. He’d been a wingman, fall guy, sounding board, and alibi. He’d been mother, father, big brother, and crazy uncle. Whatever they’d needed. He’d always been the one who’d made sure all the Sidewinder ducks were in a row, and he was probably the sole reason the house they’d all shared in Jacksonville hadn’t burned down.
It was so odd to think back on all those years and know that Nick had been hiding part of himself he thought he couldn’t share. It almost broke Kelly’s heart to think of all the secrets he’d spilled to Nick, all the things he’d gotten off his chest, but Nick had never been able to do the same.
And when Kelly’s heart breaks so does ours.
There is so much emotion, so many feelings packed into this story that I found it hard to believe it was only 92 pages long. It was just long enough for me to fall completely in love with these two and time enough for Abigail Roux to break my heart not once but twice before the story ends.
Abigail Roux has proven over and over in each of her stories that she has the ability to make us believe in her characters, their passions and relationships. She is also a proven master of the hidden agenda, cliffhangers and heartbreak. You will find all of those here too. Grab this book up and fall in love with Nick and Kelly. The second story in the series, Bait & Switch (A Sidewinder story) is located after this one and will have you gnashing your teeth as well as crying quite a few tears, especially as it features Zane and Ty as well as Nick and Kelly. This is a 2 tissue box affair from start to well…..just pick it up and starting reading.
If you are new to Abigail Roux and her connected series (Cut & Run and Sidewinder), it would be best to start at the beginning to understand all the relationships of the men mentioned. Plus you will find yourself with two new addictions. One is winding down. There are only two more stories to go in the Cut & Run series. I hope that Sidewinder enjoys just as long a run. Don’t miss out on these remarkable men and this terrific author.
Cover by LC Chase. I loved this. The green cover sets it apart from the Cut & Run series while the shamrock continues the tradition of a single object helping to tie the series together. Perfection.
General John Mitchel and Gabriel Sanchez have finally begun to settle into their new lives as an couple and outwardly gay men when an old colleague calls with a request for help. General David Painter, now CEO of a private security outfit, has two of his men, former Rangers, who have been captured and imprisoned in Tunisia. And they are being held in one of the most notorious prisons in the Middle East. Painter wants John and Gabriel to get them out and safely home.
With problems on the home front with Kim, Abdullah, and Billy all involved in their own personal challenges, John and Gabriel knows its a tough time to leave but the alternative, leaving those boys to rot in prison or worse, is unthinkable. The Arab Uprising has left the government unstable and the political climate rife for rebellion in Tunisia. But liberating the men in only part of the mission, the other is to leave the country with every one involved safe and alive. An old enemy thwarts their every move, puting John and Gabriel in a dangerous position. As the obstacles mount against them, John finds that one of the men’s obsession with the Elephant Clock of Al-Jazari might not only be their ticket home but a way to heal some deep wounds as they go.
The General and the Elephant Clock of Al-Jazari is just spectacular! I think it is the best book Sarah Black has written to date, a great book among many wonderful ones. This book, the second in The General series, marks a departure from the original in so many ways. While that book, The General and the Horse-Lord, looked inward and focused on John and Gabriel as former Army officers now adjusting to civilian life and their status as out gay men and partners, this book takes all those elements (their extended family, career adjustments, love for the Army and country,etc) and expands that view while placing the men back in their comfort zone of military action,hostiles, and hostage negotiations. Its a brilliant move on the author’s part because now we get to see General John Mitchel (and Gabriel) in their element,. It is here that we see their personalities, thoughts and actions shine and the depth of their partnership and love emerge to support their actions and the group they assemble.
This book is remarkable in that every aspect of this story is well constructed and beautifully implemented. It has action scenes that will make you hold your breath in white knuckle anxiety yet scream in fear for those involved. It has pathos and angst, especially in the form of Eli, the young, brilliant ex Ranger captured and abused. It has the breadth of knowledge and admiration for a ancient rich culture and society now on the brink of meltdown while showing a sorrow for a people caught in the religious crossfires of zealotry and hatred. Black comments on the Arab uprising while bringing its reality to the reader in the scared visages and chaos that is every day life in Carthage and Tunisia. There is scholarly references to Ibn Battuta’s Rihla, Al-Jazari’s book, The Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices”as well as contemporary references to Star Wars, Spongebob Squarepants, and the lyrics of “Take It Easy” by the Eagles and Jackson Browne. This book is bursting at the seams in an explosion of history, culture, pop society milestones and great characterizations that will cement themselves in your heart never to leave.
Existing on the same superior level as the action and plot are the characters created for this series. Starting with John Mitchel, Gabriel Sanchez, Kim, Abdullah, Billy and even Juan, Gabriel’s confused and angry son, each and every one is a solid, believable, and often endearing personality that the reader will connect to easily. John Mitchel, the warrior philosopher, is easily the strongest and probably most magnetic, along with Gabriel. John is having the hardest time adjusting to civilian life, finding it boring and lacking the mental stimulation that he is used to. He is also finding it hard to relinquish his role as the commander who sees to everyones safety and directing their safe passage through life. Gabriel is also finding his new life harder than he thought it would be, with different demands as an ex husband and divorced family man whose kids are unhappy and angry over the destruction of their family unit to a law firm disintegrating under the load of needy cases and lack of revenue. The pain and confusion of divorce and its effects upon a family are not glossed over but folded in as a matter of fact part of life that the men and Gabriel’s children and ex-wife must deal with. It’s realistic, and recognizable in this day and age of multiple connected families. I love these men and their relationship, a work still in progress throughout the story although their love is never to be doubted.
Swimming in the sea of John and Gabriel’s love and support is their wonderful extended family of Kim, John’s brilliant Korean nephew, Abdullah, his godson, and Billy, a young man recovering from a brutal attack on campus. Now added to the fray are the men and woman who make up the rescue unit in Carthage. Eli and Daniel, Jen Painter, Sam Brightman, Wylie and Jackson, all memorable, each a living, breathing human being that will bring you to laughter and tears. Eli and Jen have to be two of my favorites, Eli one of the young men captured and Jen, the resilient and courageous young woman fighting to empower the embattled women of Tunisia. And then there is the director of the Bardo Museum, Ibrahim ibn Saeed ibn Ahmad al-Aziz, old and wise, encapsulating the best combination of humanity, learning and wisdom. There is a large cast here but each is necessary to the plot and to the group dynamic. You will fall in love with each and every one. Here is an excerpt. John is calling home from Carthage and is met with the usual chaos of multiple voices before talking to Billy:
So how are you, son? I was craving some of your tea today, that one with the blood oranges and rose hips and hibiscus. I can’t believe I’m starting to like it.”
“That’s my favorite, too. I was thinking we could plant some blackberry and raspberry vines in the back yard, make some fresh teas. You think they would grow here?”
“Maybe. If we built them a deep planter that we sunk in the ground. I’ve heard there were some traditional ways to plant up in northern New Mexico where they dug shallow pits, lined them with rocks, and planted trees in them.”
“I read something about the Hopi, how they planted—I was thinking about waffles, or a grid? I can’t remember. I’ll have to look it up.”
“Billy, do you know anything about the museums in Carthage?”
“Not really. Want me to look them up?”
“I would. Just write me a brief and send it to me, okay? That would be a big help.”
“I looked up some pictures of Carthage. It looks so beautiful, with the Mediterranean right there, and the sky so blue. Sad, though. Like that poem, how does it go? Two vast and trunkless legs of stone….”
John concentrated hard, trying to remember. “Ozymandias, and it was Shelley, I think, or Keats. I used to know it. “I met a traveller from an antique land who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone stand in the desart. Near them, on the sand, half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown, and wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command, tell that its sculptor well those passions read…. I can’t remember the rest. But you’re right, Billy. That poem looks like Carthage. I miss you, kiddo.”
“I miss you, too.”
Just look at the number of references in that short excerpt, from Hopi planting methods to Shelley’s Ozymandias overlaid with a man longing for home and the respect with which he treats the people who live under his roof. Black also demonstrates her knowledge and love of the military here. Whether it is the Flying Stallions and the primal sound of the “rhythmic thump, then, the sound of a big helicopter’s rotors” to the pain and sorrow of a young injured soldier unable to fathom his doctor’s distant attitude, you will feel as though you have walked a short ways in a soldier’s shoes.
From vivid descriptions of far away places to the characters and the ever present love of the Army and its mission, The General and the Elephant Clock of Al-Jazari, is a must read for 2013 or any year. Make sure you find a place for it on your bookshelf, digital or otherwise, with space for additional stories to come. This is a universe that begs for more stories with its wealth of characters and various challenges ahead that each face. I know at least one more is in the works, lets hope for an abundance.
This is how the story begins:
JOHN studied the candy-colored sky, raspberry pink edging to smudgy purple, the color of a grape lollipop. The colors reminded him of Turkish delight, a candy he’d been offered once in a Bedouin’s tent. He’d been there to negotiate passage for troops and troop trucks over the old man’s lands. It was rumored that the Bedouin was somehow involved in the nasty little conflict that had disrupted the flow of food aid to the region. John had been sent in to stomp on the sparks before civilian casualties escalated.
The old man’s grandson had filled two cups with mint tea so sweet John could smell the sugar over the dust and sun-warmed canvas of the tent. Then he’d offered the plate of Turkish delight with a flourish and a bow. The boy had black liquid eyes, long, thick lashes, and John had felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up. Eyes that beautiful and dark should have been filled with warmth, but the boy was young and didn’t know how to hide what was in his heart. John had watched the boy slide his hand down his leg, clutch the bronze dagger in the top of his boot and pull it free.
Then Gabriel was there, quiet as smoke, his rifle cradled in his arms, and the boy froze. John set his teacup down, refusing the Bedouin’s hospitality. It was an insult, a hard line drawn in the sand, nearly as hard a line as the one drawn when your grandson cut someone’s throat over a plateful of Turkish delight. The old man had eyes like the boy, a raptor’s eyes, cold and wet and black. John stood up, backed out of the tent without a word, and Gabriel spread his arms, the rifle in one big hand. No one could mistake the gesture. It said, No one touches him. You come through me to get to him.
Sooooooo, sitting here wondering why I do things that make myself crazy. I’m really not a masochistic sort, occasionally absent minded but truly, people, usually I am a better planner than this. So this week, the alarm people are coming to fix the alarm system that wants to beep, squeak, squeal, or otherwise make high pitched noises at all hours of the day, none of them actually caused by any realtime event. And all are picked up by Captain (African Grey Parrot) who finds these noises irresistible enough to mimic. So even after they are banished , thanks to Captain’s skill at mimicry, they will always be with us. Cue the Excedrin.
Also this week? A friend is coming to stay for the week. I haven’t seen her in a while and I am looking forward to getting caught up on her life (outside of the computer chats) face to face. So what else is also going on? My wonderful book group is coming over on Sunday for lunch and togetherness, my niece and her boyfriend just flew in from CA for her birthday and my mother is making noises about a “birthday celebration” for my niece over at the Farm this weekend too. What aligned among the stars and planets that said all this had to happen this week and weekend? Hey! *waves hands frantically over head* Can we not do this? Please? This is making me crazy. I like to do things slowly, think the forward momentum of a sloth. I enjoy getting ready for events and people the same way. This is not making me happy. Sigh.
So I plan on lots of writing today so I don’t have to do that as well. Here is my schedule for the week if I am not carted off to Bedlam.
Monday, June 22: Sweet Young Thang by Anne Tenino
Tuesday, June 23: Parting Shot by Mary Calmes
Wednesday, June 24: Welcome, Brother by Erica Pike
Thursday, June 25: Attachment Strings by Chris T. Kat
Friday, June 26: Vampirism and You (Guidebook #01) by Missouri Dalton
Saturday, June 27: Necromancy and You (Guidebook #02) by Missouri Dalton
Cocktail Recipes: In honor of Missouri Dalton’s new series which I absolutely adore, here are a couple of scary Cocktails to cool you off:
The Necromancer’s Martini:
Vampire Martini
1 part vodka
1 part strawberry liqueur
1 part lime juice
1 part cranberry juice
Pour all of the ingredients into a cocktail shaker with ice and shake well. Strain into a cocktail glass to serve.
Bloody Vampire Cocktail
1 part rum
1 part cherry kool aid
Pour both of the ingredients into a cocktail shaker with ice and shake well. Strain into a highball glass to serve.
Sarah Black has finished writing her sequel, The General and the Elephant Clock. And while we are waiting for its release date, here is another excerpt for those of us who need more of John, Gabriel, Kim and all the rest from The General and the Horse-Lord (posted with permission from Sarah Black):
Living Large in the Beautiful World: Kim and The General Discuss Decorating
At the end of The General and the Horse-Lord, Kim and Billy have gone wild with the General’s credit card, ready to redecorate the house. The new book, The General and the Elephant Clock of Al-Jazari, picks up with John and Kim having a friendly little chat about the new couch.
John pushed open the kitchen door. The jury was still out on the new decorating. He had thought he was sending Kim and Billy out for an extra desk and bed, but that had somehow turned into a re-do of the entire house. He had to admit the kitchen was cheerful. Kim and Billy had painted the kitchen walls bright cream enamel, then painted trim in tangerine and aqua. The curtains were tangerine with cream polka-dots, and there were little cars zooming all over the walls, hand-painted by a bunch of Kim and Billy’s artist friends. The new dining room table was Formica, with stainless silver legs, and the chairs were padded in aqua vinyl. Kim and Billy were very pleased with the kitchen. Gabriel liked it, as well, though he might have been just trying to get along. John was okay with the changes. The kitchen, he thought, was fine. It just didn’t look like his kitchen. It looked like the kitchen of a person who was considerably cooler than he was. The same could be said about the living room.
Kim was waiting for him to come in from his run, and he swooped down on John and wrapped his arms around his waist for a quick hug. “How’s my favorite uncle?”
John studied his face. “I’m fine. What’s happening with you?”
“Not too much.” Kim was head down into the fridge, looking for something to snack on that had not had a face or a mother. He’d explained to John this was his new criteria for healthy eating. “Can we talk about the couch?”
John crossed his arms over his chest. “So talk.”
Kim stood up and leaned back against the counter. “Okay, you have every right to be pissed off. You told me not to get a new couch and I did anyway. I know I spent more money on the redecorating than you had planned. What I want to know is if you hate the couch for itself, or if you’re just mad at me for disregarding what you told me to do?”
John sighed. “The new couch is fine. I admit it’s not really what I would have picked out.” He walked over and stared gloomily into the room. The new couch which Kim had been forbidden to purchase was cream colored Italian leather, a semi-circle with a round ottoman that looked like a giant leather polka dot. It was very sleek and modern. He’d purchased some round maple tables in a pale golden finish to go with it, and the rugs on the floor were also round, in various sizes and shades of cream and pale gold. The whole thing looked very…Danish.
“The thing is, four men can easily sit on the couch at the same time, say to watch a movie together. Two men can lay down on this couch at the same time, like if you and the Horse-Lord wanted to lay down together and read books. It’s extremely comfortable, Uncle John. I just wish you would give it a chance.”
“Okay, I’m willing to give it a chance. And I admit it is very comfortable. With the new rug and the new tables it looks like winter, 1968, has come to Albuquerque. Peter Max in psychedelic white, not really my style, but I’m okay with it.”
“Peter Max? Winter?” Now Kim had his arms folded. “Holy shit! It’s not white. It’s cream! Big difference in tone and temperature. Okay, so tell me what you think would be the perfect couch. Maybe we can figure out how to meet in the middle.”
John thought a moment. “I suppose I’d like a couch that’s a little…browner. Maybe plaid would be good.”
“Okay, no plaid. I’m sorry, but no. A person would have to be deranged to buy a plaid couch. I will see what I can do about brown.” Kim looked around. “We could add some caramel accents, maybe a throw. I want you to like it.” He sounded young all of the sudden. “It’s really important to me that you like it. If you want, I can split the cost of the new couch with you.” He tried to hand John some cash. “I’ve got $275.00 as a down payment on my half.”
“I don’t want your money.” John stared at him. Kim was Korean, with eyes that always gave away what he was thinking. He was totally unable to keep a secret. John couldn’t help but notice the light in his face, like he was about to start laughing. “Wait a minute. Is this the money you made writing term papers for the students in my Political History seminar?” Kim was grinning now, and he shoved the cash back in his pocket. “Are you under the impression you’re too old to spank? Twenty-three isn’t too old.”
Kim was laughing now. “You don’t believe in spanking. Okay, let me and Billy see what we can come up with. Something browner.” He turned back to the garage. “What’s brown, anyway? Dirt? Gravy? Shit?”
“Wood, you knucklehead. Wood and chocolate bars and Gabriel’s hair, all brown.”
Scottish vampire brothers Aeden and Lyall MacKay live in a world where vampires are accepted as part of society, although they both prefer to be discreet because of the small Scottish town they live in. Then their small town of Aberglen, Scotland, is threatened by marauding winged creatures, police inspector Alistair MacFarlane asks the brothers for help protect the townspeople who are dying with every attack. Alistair has another reason to ask for help, he is in love with Aeden MacKay and has been since they met. But Aeden isn’t sure about taking Alastair as a lover, seeing only hurt in their future.
As disaster after disaster levels the worlds governments, even the vampires find themselves under attack. Soon the remaining vampires and humans join forces to defeat the most powerful enemy the world has ever know. If they are not successful, it will be the end of the world as they know it, all humans dead and the vampires enslaved to the Ancients. Even as the battle looms ahead, Aeden and Alastair must decide to take a chance on love before it is too late.
Highland Vampire Vengeance is a thrill ride of a vampire story from J. P. Bowie. There is much to enjoy about this story, starting with the Scottish vampire brothers themselves. There is Aeden the more serious and reserved of the brothers who is in love with Alistair MacFarlane, the human police inspector of their small town. While Alistair is doing everything he can to pursue his vampire, Aeden is doing everything he can to hold off the human’s advances. Since usually it is the vampire who is the pursuer I liked Bowie’s twist on the subject. Lyall is much more the party animal, with always a new lover in tow, never a serious relationship to his name. Of course, Lyall too finds his mate when he goes to the rescue of a man carried off by the winged creatures that have invaded the town. Bowie has given the brothers an interesting back history that I wish could have had its own story. When we meet them they are living in their ancestral castle in the town of Aberglen, Scotland when the hoards invade.
Bowie does a nice job with the action sequences, especially those when they are chasing after the creatures and when they hunt them down to their place of origin. The action is tight and the plot is developed nicely. But I did have some quibbles with the book. Some comes from the dialog in which a Scottish accent appears and then disappears with regularity. The brothers, although they are several hundred year old Scots, don’t appear to have a accent but Alastair does, or at least he does part of the time.
Here is an example. Aeden and Lyall are talking in their drawing room.
“Daydreaming, brother?” Aeden turned at the sound of the soft lilting voice behind him. “Nightdreaming, actually,” he replied, his smile still in place. “Now that you’re awake, would you care for a glass of Bordeaux?” “Thank you.” Lyall MacKay walked with a leisurely grace toward him, standing by his brother’s side as Aeden poured the wine from a decanter. Had there been a third person in the room there would have been no doubt in their mind that the two were brothers. Both were tall men, broad shouldered, dark haired and blue eyed. The only significant difference was that Aeden, being originally older by five years, had a more mature appearance than Lyall, who had retained his boyish features, despite the years that had passed. Lyall raised his glass briefly then drained it in one long swallow. “Very nice,” he said, licking his full lower lip. “I’ll have another.”
Speaking of which…” Lyall paused to sip his wine more slowly this time. “Did you watch the news last night?” “No, I try to avoid that lurid rubbish as much as I can. Why? Was there something of interest I should know about?” “Mmm… The local news reported that a young couple was found dead in a field by the farmer…”
Definitely not a conversation full of Scottish overtones. Then there is Alastair. This is how he sounds, some of the time:
“He’s having the residue analyzed and should have something for me tomorrow,” Alistair added. “Any ideas so far?” Aeden filled him in about the article he’d read. Alistair nodded. “We had a report of those attacks from Scotland Yard. Apparently, there have been sporadic similar incidents in London and Manchester. The police are trying to keep it low profile right now, not wanting to cause a panic, but from what I understand some reporter has an eyewitness account he’s dying to publish.
Fine, except that he will then apparently remembers he is Scottish and starts sounds like this:
“This is the worst case I’ve ever been faced with, Aeden. I just hope I’m up to solving it and making sure it doesna’ happen again.”
or this
“I canna’ deny that part of it is… Och, Aeden, of course I will be afraid.”
And then he is back sounding like a regular non specific British Isle constable again. There is just an odd lack of continuity as far as the dialog goes. As all the characters are Scottish, it would have been better to have gone in one direction or the other but not both, especially with the same character.
Another thing that stood out was some odd word usage in the story. At one point during a meeting it is said:
“I like the Inspector’s idea of alienating one or two then following them,” Dylan said.
Which to me is an odd use for the word alienating. Isolating certainly, separating them fine, but alienating? Not really. Another one that stood out for me was the use of lumbering as in:
“Do you know what you’re lumbering yourself with?”
I have always heard it used in a far different fashion, perhaps as in “you great lumbering git”. And in fact if you look it up in the dictionary, this is what you will find:
To move in a slow, heavy, awkward way : a truck filled his mirror and lumbered past | [as adj. ] ( lumbering) Bob was the big, lumbering, gentle sort | figurative a lumbering bureaucracy.
So I am not sure how this usage found its way into the story, all I know is that it stopped my reading when I smacked into that sentence. So between a elusive language format, one case of instant love, and odd words popping up here and there, my concentration on the story was as flighty as a vampire on the wind. There were also some problems with a group called the Druids, a race employed by the Ancients. The guidelines upon which this group operated on had their own moments of illogic where first they have been aligned with the Ancients for a long time, then act as though they have just been brought into the project. Sigh.
But underneath the issues I have with the story, is a fast paced plot, lively characters and a great dramatic ending that I loved. The issues I had with the story might be ones that bother you not at all. If so, you will find this a 4 star story but for me, it just comes shy of that rating. Still if vampires are your thing or you are a fan of J. P. Bowie, pick this one up. I mean really, that is one great title, Highland Vampire Vengeance, and one great cover. You have vampires, world wide destruction, doomsday machines and a villain called The Ancient. It almost cries out for its own SyFy movie of the week! Will someone let them know?
Cover art by Deana Jamroz. I love it, campy and dramatic, perfect for the title.
Panopolis is a city of stark colors, folks. Right or wrong, black or white, no shades of gray here. Panopolis is epic battles and soaring rhetoric on both sides, and dirty secrets buried so deep beneath layers of lies that you’d need a map to know where to start digging. Moral ambiguity is for stories, not real life. At least, that’s what we’re told.
Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words 