Derelict

derelict_coverThis is great!

As a matter of fact, I think it’s the best indie book I’ve read, and I’m going to put it in my mental list of books I’d suggest for my kids to read when they’re older.

The four main characters are well fleshed out and following their individual stories fully immersed me in their lives. Each character had problems with their parents (who doesn’t at that age?), but as the story unfolds you learn more and more that puts you fully in the kids’ corners.

I think the only thing I found to be somewhat unbelievable was how each of the four kids on the backwater space station was a genius at something. Ro and Jem with their programming, Barre with his music, and Micah with his botany. If there were other young people on the station, I don’t remember them being mentioned, but the fact that it’s a lightly populated base makes it statistically improbable that you’d have 4 kids who are undoubtedly geniuses.

That one minor point aside, the book was incredible. Just when you think things can’t get worse they do. I was waiting for one other shoe to drop at the end, but it didn’t play out the way I anticipated. And that was fine. I like being wrong sometimes, and by the end of the book I was more than ready for the kids to have one less obstacle in their paths!

I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys fast-paced, intriguing stories with no shortage of action and suspense.

About the Reviewer

ToxopeusRyanmedHusband, father, and researcher, Ryan Toxopeus spends his free time working on his epic fantasy trilogy, Empire’s Foundation. He started writing the first book, A Noble’s Quest, in 2010 and fell in love with all aspects of storytelling. He focuses on fast paced, character driven plots. His motto: “If I’m bored writing it, others will be bored reading it.”

Learn more about Ryan and his work at https://prcreative.ca/ryan/

Bodyguard of Lies

Bodyguard-of-Lies-187x300E. M. Hartshorn’s Bodyguard Of Lies takes the reader into the gritty underbelly of a not-Earth civilization in a future where the struggle for daily bread leads some to the gladiatorial arena.

This well-crafted tale follows Sabra in a journey from the arena to the highest echelons of corporate skulduggery. When she’s contracted to serve as the bodyguard for one of the drug cartels, she discovers her brother enmeshed in the mercenary forces of a rival company.

Hartshorn kicks the reader out of anything like a comfort zone with face-shifters, religious fanatics, and corporate greed. She weaves a tale of families and betrayal, of comrades and combat. Not exactly military SF. Not exactly space opera. Not exactly your average dystopian tale of failure and despair. The grim darkness of her tale glimmers with a quiet undercurrent of hope and potential redemption.

Grab a sample and see for yourself.

About the reviewer:

NathanLowell_150x150Nathan Lowell has been writing science fiction and fantasy most of his life. He started publishing in 2007 and has no intention of stopping any time soon.

Learn more about Nathan Lowell and his works at http://nathanlowell.com