Review: A Life Removed

Synopsis:

Detectives Bruce Marklin and Jocelyn Beaudette have put plenty of criminals behind bars. But a new terror is stalking their city. The killer’s violent crimes are ritualistic but seemingly indiscriminate. As the death toll rises, the detectives must track a murderer without motive. The next kill could be anyone… maybe even one of their own.
Officer Aaron Pimental sees no hope for himself or humanity. His girlfriend is pulling away, and his best friend has found religion. When Aaron is thrust into the heart of the investigation, he must choose who he will become, the hero or the villain.
If Aaron doesn’t decide soon, the choice will be made for him. 

Rating: 5-stars

Review:

A Life Removed by Jason Parent is a thrilling criminal tale. Inside, readers will follow an investigation. Murder happening more than once. A former officer once good turns into a monster. With two of the best detectives following the evidence, it’s only time until Aaron Pimental’s life stops. The chase is exciting. The detectives, Bruce Marklin and Jocelyn Beaudette, are interesting to follow. A killer is loose and it will take time before they stop him. Death, danger, and intrigue are covered on every page. I enjoyed reading this novel. I look forward to reading more books by this talented writer. Overall, A Life Removed is one thriller I recommend to all. 

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Review: Three Little Words

Synopsis:

“Sunshine, you’re my baby and I’m your only mother. You must mind the one taking care of you, but she’s not your mama.” Ashley Rhodes-Courter spent nine years of her life in fourteen different foster homes, living by those words. As her mother spirals out of control, Ashley is left clinging to an unpredictable, dissolving relationship, all the while getting pulled deeper and deeper into the foster care system. 

Painful memories of being taken away from her home quickly become consumed by real-life horrors, where Ashley is juggled between caseworkers, shuffled from school to school, and forced to endure manipulative,humiliating treatment from a very abusive foster family. In this inspiring, unforgettable memoir, Ashley finds the courage to succeed – and in doing so, discovers the power of her own voice. 

Rating: 5-stars

Review:

Three Little Words by Ashley Rhodes-Courter is a biography that readers everywhere need to read. It gives readers a deep insider’s view to the foster care system. Sure we all think that it’s great the kids will be taken care of and all. But not all foster homes are perfect. Just like the fact that Americans are forced to believe about a 1950’s ‘ideal American family image’ that no family actually lived up to…society isn’t always that great. Inside this nonfiction book, I got to journey through the writer’s life as a foster kid and how she overcame the obstacles. I was deeply troubled by what occurred to her while in foster care and my heart tore in a million pieces. No child should have it worse when being taken care of…yet this woman did. I spent some time in foster care myself due to both my parents; however, my time in there was okay. But not all are lucky. I knew what happens. I remember seeing my day taken away from us kids the day before foster care picked us, kids, up…thus, relating to Ashley Rhodes-Courter’s memoir was easy and sad. Bad memories…Three Little Words is a well-written book. I highly recommend it to readers worldwide. 

Review: Regolith

Synopsis:

Elle is a sales superstar at Aspen-Hayward Inc., a company specializing in consumer products and medical supplies. To her surprise, she is hand-picked by the company’s board to run the Research and Development department with an impossible mandate: deliver an industry-leading adaptive learning program to anticipate consumer needs, or else. Aspen-Hayward—languishing in the shadow of its nearest and largest competitor, Rossigland Inc.—is wagering its future on Elle’s leadership.

Meanwhile, Daniel and Greggory work for a security team responsible for loss prevention along Rossigland’s far-reaching and treacherous supply chain. During a routine delivery run, Daniel and Gregg encounter an unusual threat that leads them through a wild ride of adventure.

Elle hires Noam, a developer-savant who quickly brings her department to the verge of something great: the world’s first artificial consciousness, capable of creating humanity’s most needed solutions— saltwater agriculture, a cure for aging and cancer, and sustainable energy.

What none of them know is how their two worlds will collide with an impact of unprecedented scale.

Characters

Elle

Ellison Cole is a tough young woman: a joy with friends but tenacious at the office. She relies heavily on her underachieving but lovable confidant, Cy. Elle has a complicated past and her present becomes more conflicted after meeting Victoria, a more tenured executive at Aspen.

Daniel Brevier

Daniel is a field manager for Rossigland security. If there is one person you can count on to solve a problem, Daniel is your guy—but don’t expect him to avoid making a mess in the process.

Noam

Noam Cohen is much more than a developer and has effortlessly excelled since a young age. He is nothing short of a prodigy at his job and is “a natural” when the team is off-duty.

George McPherson

George is Rossigland’s low-profile COO and, over the course of the book, emerges as much more important than he first appears.

Major Themes

Chaos vs. Order

Evolution: Does a superintelligence present a risk or a benefit to humanity, or both?

What does it mean to be human? Is our purpose to be purely objective, or is humanity defined by an imperfect but vibrant subjective experience?

Advanced physics: an abundance of Earth-like planets in our galaxy; quantized super-vacuum theory related to the AI’s power once born.

Ellison Cole and Aspen-Hayward

Aspen-Hayward wants to rise to the level of sophistication of Rossigland Inc., a larger and much more successful competitor. Senior leadership promotes Elle to bring a sales-oriented focus to Research and Development. She hires Noam and later directs him to take the program to the limit, even if her methods and motivations are compromised in many ways. Then things become complicated.

Daniel Brevier

Daniel and his crew suffer an attack and soon gain valuable intelligence from the crew of another ship. Greg returns to his family, while Daniel smells danger and wants a piece of the action.

Action he finds in a series of adventures, at a classified armory to a battle at an energy processing facility to the brink of an epic battle for humanity’s survival.

The Two Stories Converge

We later discover the problem Daniel discovered is much larger than anyone had imagined while Elle and Noam struggle to realign their project. The two stories weave together in an intricate and beautiful conclusion that will leave you wanting more.

Rating: 5-stars

Review:

H. William Glenbrook has masterfully woven two tales combining them into a super novel. Each story has its own set of characters and consequences. Both of these will soon be emerging together. Suspenseful, intense, and well-written. I haven’t read a novel like this one. There is a lot of action happening. Trouble ahead. Regolith is like having Star Wars collide into our real world.  The danger is a huge threat. No one will just realize the extent until they’re pressured into trying to stop it. The writer has combined business, technology, and fantasy into one interesting story. Like with all businesses choices are made and it can break or make the people involved. The plot is clever and fast-paced. Regolith is full of action and intrigue. It kept me keep reading until I reached the last page. The characters are the most fascinating group, ever. Smart, savvy, and bold. Their personalities make them believable. H. William Glenbrook has taken the impossible and made into something that could be possible. Quite frightening. The reality of the future…will keep readers engaged. Overall, I highly recommend this book, to all. 

Review: Analyze People (How to Analyze People Proven Techniques to Analyzing, Body Language, Human Behavior, Reading Peole and Human Psychology

Synopsis:

This book, How To Analyze People: Proven Techniques To Analyzing People, Body Language, Human Behavior, Reading People And Human Psychology, is a good guide for anyone wishing to learn about human behavior in all is diverse glory.

This book not only breaks down what experts have said over the years about the various personality types and their associated traits, but also presents the facts relating to human behavior in very simple language. You will find it interesting to learn how many misconceptions you often have about people you know, including co-workers, family members and those in your social circle. Best of all, after going through the tips provided in this book, you will find it very easy to relate to people of different personalities in ways that help you have more fruitful and harmonious relationships.

Rating: 4-stars

Review:

How to Analyze People by both Nathan Newman and Sarah Faulkner is a fascinating read. Although, I would really recommend it for those who have taken either or both classes in Psychology and Sociology. Because, these classes would make the topic presented easier to relate to as well as to understand. Both writers, have taken a deep dive into the hearts of both core subjects. I found that interesting. Everything in life is connected. Major themes inside were about the human personality, personality diversity, and personality analysis. These are the factor to help readers analyze things such as human behavior, humanity, and human nature. From there we can explore and understand peoples body language. This is crucial in helping us learn the different types of human interactions. By learning all of this, we can easily sense, judge, feel, think and perceive things from others. These skills would especially help for those of us who work in environments that has a lot of human interaction. Communication is key to success. If we can analyze people correctly our ways of communication would come out better thus, improving our personal growth. Overall, I really liked this nonfiction book. It was a great guide, and I recommend it to others.

How to Analyze People is narrated by Annelies Rennie. She was the perfect narrator for this kind of audio book. It felt more enriching when listening to her voice. Clear, well-spoken, and engaging. It made the book topic stick out in a good way. Annelise Rennie’s tone of voice is one, that I would recommend for educational and other nonfiction reads. She just has that voice that suits the topics well. Educational and interesting. 

Review: Dystortions (100 Hues of Purple)

Synopsis:

Dystortions: 100 Hues of Purple is a tale of mystery, murder, and love in a parallel universe, with a bit of humor. Addy O’Malibul is a former journalist who is convicted of murder and imprisoned on a planet called Malaprop, strikingly similar to Earth, but with a few twists and many Dystortions in translations of data transmissions from a planet known as Hearth. Glitched up radio communications are bombarding Malaprop – a world where fearful national security analysts, politicians, and P.R. flacks re-write history and distort facts to recreate their reality in Hearth’s image. The Dystortions in those radio communications sometimes appear to twist words backwards and create opposite meanings, but maybe also reveal underlying truths.

There’s just enough good science and wacked-out myth-busting to make the story hauntingly credible – and enough saucy romance to keep things hot. It’s much warmer and more colorful than any shades of grey.

Rating: 5 stars

Review:

Dystortions: 100 Hues of Purple by Lisa Pell is fast-paced and thrilling. The plot doesn’t wait for readers. Instead, it instantly takes them on a journey through time and space. Addy is a character unlike any other. She starts off like a everyday fictional character then progressing into a whole another category. Her thoughts and actions are what propels readers to look deeper. Traveling from single to married then, arrested and convicted, Addy never has a boring moment in her life. Until she’s locked up, then time is all she has. Her relationship with her husband is great. Joking and sexual. Sweet and hot. But just as life was good it soon turns bad…finding the truth will be harder than thought. Addy’s dreams each contain a different hue of life. In the end good overcomes the bad. 

Lisa Pell has woven a piece of literature that is thought provoking. Each situation gets harsher and more cruel. The story is told from protagonist’s eyes. I felt intrigued. The pages flew by and before I knew it, I had landed at the last page. Dystortions: 100 Hues of Purple shows readers many messages. It’s up to readers to analyze their content. Action, adventure, and fantasy all brought together in one marvelous volume. I was surprised. This book’s tale was unlike many i have read. It was rich, bold, and engaging. Truly enjoyed reading it. Overall, I recommend it to readers everywhere.

Review: Supernova

 

Synopsis:

C. A. Higgins’s acclaimed novel Lightless fused suspenseful storytelling, high-caliber scientific speculation, and richly developed characters into a stunning science fiction epic. Now the dazzling Supernova heightens the thrills and deepens the haunting exploration of technology and humanity—and the consequences that await when the two intersect.

Once Ananke was an experimental military spacecraft. But a rogue computer virus transformed it—her—into something much more: a fully sentient artificial intelligence, with all the power of a god—and all the unstable emotions of a teenager.

Althea, the ship’s engineer and the last living human aboard, nearly gave her life to save Ananke from dangerous saboteurs, forging a bond as powerful as that between mother and daughter. Now she devotes herself completely to Ananke’s care. But teaching a thinking, feeling machine—perhaps the most dangerous force in the galaxy—to be human proves a monumental challenge. When Ananke decides to seek out Matthew Gale, the terrorist she regards as her father, Althea learns that some bonds are stronger than mortal minds can understand—or control.

Drawn back toward Earth by the quest, Althea and Ananke will find themselves in the thick of a violent revolution led by Matthew’s sister, the charismatic leader Constance, who will stop at nothing to bring down a tyrannical surveillance state. As the currents of past decisions and present desires come into stark collision, a new and fiery future is about to be born.

Rating: 5 stars

Review:

Supernova by C. A. Higgins is the second adventure in this brilliant series. A sci-fi fantasy that brings women up to the forefront and puts them on an unthinkable journey. I found this novel, quite interesting. It had all the right elements of its genre and still swept me off my feet. I love the computer intelligence shown inside this tale. One that is almost human like. Frightening, intriguing, and highly entertaining. Supernova is about computer science, emotions, and choices. Choices that can have consequences…C. A. Higgins is a talented writer who words lured me deep into a fantasy that has it all. Fighting, action, and technology. The emotional journey was like that of a roller coaster ride. Very exciting. Overall, I recommend this tale to readers everywhere.