Category Archives: e-book

Review – Origin of Might (Ebook)

OrginOfMight-Cover

I’ve been following Steven’s blog and writing for a while now. His stuff has an undeniably quirky sense of humor about it, and he has a unique voice. When I saw this freebie, I decided to go ahead and give it a try. Is it a MIGHTY SUCCESS, or a MIGHTY FAILURE?

Oliver Jordan’s day was like any other: Dealing with customers and coworkers at Job #1, getting delayed on the way to Job #2 by another senseless superhero battle, and delivering that last pizza of the night to Old Man Pembleton.
Except this time Mr. Pembleton’s tip was far from normal. This time Oliver was given a ring that would grant him powers beyond his wildest dreams. Oliver only needs to figure out how to make the thing work.
Not an easy task when you are busy dealing with apathetic teenagers and alien abduction.
Origin of Might is the first in a series of books set in and around Garrison City, home to such heroes (or Mighties) as the Shadow Fox, Power Surge, Lady V, Spitfire, and the legendary Captain Might.
Can Oliver Jordan find the time to work two jobs, provide for his family, attend school functions, spend quality time with the wife and kids, and save the world?
The answer begins here.

The Goods –  I love super hero stories. I don’t think they should be limited to just comic books and the great thing is, they aren’t. I’ve reviewed a few hero books on this here blog, including Pilgrimage by Matt Selznick and Other People’s Heroes by Blake Petit. This book fills squarely in the latter camp, a more traditional capes and cowls, four color blast of fun.

This is an origin story. I say that for those of you who may not clue into that from the title and description. For me, that’s a blast. I love origin stories. We get to see Oliver Jordan (a nod to a couple of heroes) as he is before he gets the powers granted to him by the ring. We get to see him fumble and get the snot knocked out of him. There are a few minor mysteries, including why Old Man Pembleton gave him the ring, but no instructions or warning that someone might be out to get him. There’s plenty of action and we get introduced to a few of this city’s other heroes.

The Bads – This is an origin story. See, I put that in the goods and the bads. I know there are some of you out there who don’t care for them. That’s not why I put it in the bads, but if I had paid for this, I would have felt slightly cheated. I would have liked to see just a bit more of something other than Jordan getting pulverized. It’s a bit on the brief side. It feels very much like the first episode of a comic or TV series. I think $.99 or $1.99 would be a bit more of a fair price for something of this length.

There’s only one other thing that bugs me about this. In a way, most of this book feels like it’s aimed at younger kids. Heroes are called “Mighties”. There’s an overall lightness of tone and humor which I think would work with young teens. I imagine if it were made into a bit of animation, it would be all primary colors and chunky bodies. Then there are the scenes where Jordan gets stomped on and brutalized. The villain in this piece is pretty violent and I recall some vivid levels of description when it comes to that. I wouldn’t necessarily want my younger teen to read this. It’s almost like it wants to be the CW Flash and Nolan’s Batman at the same time. There’s a disconnect. It occasionally knocked me out of the story.

The Verdict – I really like this book. If the price point doesn’t throw you off, or if you’re a Kindle Direct person, I wouldn’t hesitate to grab it. Just know that it might not be for the younger set. It’s a quick read and I do want to see more in this universe. I give this Four out of Five Power Rings.

BLOG – www.steevenorrelse.com
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Amazon Link – https://www.amazon.com/Origin-Might-Mighty-Book-1-ebook/dp/B01E056EZA#navbar

Review – Dominion of the Damned (Ebook)

jm bauhaus I’ve been following, reading, and enjoying Jean Marie’s work for a while now. I consider myself a fan and we’re also friends via the usual social media channels. She blends fantasy and romance in a way that I enjoy. When she solicited reviews for this book, I immediately raised my hand. Does this meet my standards? Read on and find out!

Nursing student Hannah Jordan knows things are bad when her mother dies while giving birth to a son. She knows things can’t get much worse when her mother gets back up and tries to have the baby for breakfast. When she’s forced to put her mother down like a rabid animal, only one certainty remains: Hannah will do whatever it takes to stay alive and protect her baby brother.

dominion coverThe only survivors out of a family of survivalists, Hannah and the baby ride out the zombie apocalypse in their family’s backyard bunker, emerging months later to find a world taken over by the newly self-appointed saviors of humanity: a race of vampires hellbent on preventing the extinction of their food supply.

The Goods – Zombie vs. Vampires with humans stuck in the middle? Sign me up! This uses the typical horror tropes well, without abusing them a la Twilight. The romance angle is well written and I enjoy watching the principle love interests falling for each other. Hannah Jordan is the kind of kick ass heroine I think we all need to see more of. She’s strong, but far from a robot. She knows her way around a gun and isn’t afraid to go hand to hand. She’s also smart, though she makes plenty of mistakes of the sort you’d expect from any young person. So, she’s no Mary Sue. The pacing and amount of detail are both solid. JM knows how to keep the story moving, but she doesn’t sacrifice character development. It’s definitely a page turner and literally kept me up until midnight so that I could find out what happened.

The Bads – As much as I enjoyed the book, it’s not without its flaws. Hannah is in her bunker for five months and it seems to me that the world went from normal to post apocalyptic far too quickly. Things happen that probably should have taken longer than five months. When a prisoner is telling her what’s happened since the zombie outbreak, it sounds like everything fell apart too quickly. Speaking of too quick, while I applaud the pacing, there are a few scenes that seem to move the plot along a little too quickly. More time with her settling into life at the camp would have made what happened next a little more believable. By that, I mostly mean the relationships that she builds with the other humans. They go much too fast. In addition, everything at the human camp is a little too clean and nice. Hannah starts off paranoid and justifiably so, but she works through it too quickly.

There’s also something that bugged me about both this and another romance I read recently. People are too nice to each other. I’ll grant you that most of the vampires are evil buggers, but I don’t recall there being an ounce of tension between Hannah and the people she ends up befriending. She does things that should bother her new neighbors and there’s no huge reason for anyone to be so open and trusting. I suppose I’ve just come to think of the post-apocalypse genre as being chock full of anti-social behavior.

Finally, while I found the idea of the solution to the zombie problem to be interesting, it was also a little confusing. How it works is a mystery, as is how it was developed.

None of these by themselves hurt the book that much, but a few answers might be forthcoming in the sequel.

The Verdict I enjoyed this book. The vampires are mostly monsters, though the doctor has an interesting explanation as to why that is. The romance is heartfelt. And the plot and characters worked for me. The flaws pulled me out of the story a few times, but getting back in was never a problem.

I give this book four out of five silver bullets and look forward to the next in this series.

Amazon Link

Help Spread The Word – Promo Image for the Casebook of Esho St. Claire

esho_tease My buddy John McCarthy – layout designer, and occasional cover artist – designed this teaser picture for the Casebook of Esho St. Claire. I think it rocks! Please help me spread the word by sharing it and the link to Amazon – http://www.amazon.com/Casebook-Esho-St-Claire-Gibbering-ebook/dp/B00UTVDJ4O/. I think it will help drum up interest. Remember, reviews are also very helpful and no matter where you bought it, you can still review it on Amazon.

If you are a book blogger, podcaster, web-comic creator, you-tuber (or any other kind of regular content creator) touch base with me and I can get you a review copy. I also have a friend whose working on an audio promo.