'Halo Bound':'Redneck Apocalypse' Perfection

There is not much better in life than finding a book that is exciting to read. A book that lures you in, stomps all over your life and then leaves you desolate when it is over.

From my experience these 'Life Stomper' books are not as common as they should be and when I find one I want to shout it from the top of a mountain, or at least a book shelf ladder.

So here I am, on the top of my own personal ladder shouting,

 'For Heavens sake people (in this case sorta literally), 'Halo Bound' is a read you need to get on!'

'Halo Bound' is not a long book, but it is dense; like getting your daily reading calories from dark chocolate instead of a salad.

Featuring really really nasty fallen angels (makes sense when you think about it.... they were kicked out of Heaven for a reason!) and some seriously conflicted redneck warriors of God.

The characters in Eden Hudson's paranormal thriller are living on the edge, on the edge of sanity, on the edge of love and most definitely on the very edge of survival.

It is the choices these characters make to survive that make this book so intense:

Giving up salvation to save a brother; giving up their bodies to rescue a sister and giving up their sanity to save the world.

Sound interesting? You bet it does! This book only suits those with a pulse and a love of the apocalyptic genre. A warning though, there are most definitely some adult themes, so be aware....

If this sounds like your cup of Whiskey, 'Halo Bound' is available for download or as a paper back from Amazon.com via the following link.

'Halo Bound' By Eden Hudson

Even better news, this is the beginning of a series and there is a prequel to sample as well!

Happy reading :)

'The Giver': A Gift to the Reader.

A little like the cover of the book displayed here, 'The Giver' is a muted yet deeply powerful book.

A small story, with a big message for society, and our constant drive towards 'sameness' and conformity.

While often described as a 'YA' novel, I found 'The Giver', by Lois Lowry, a book for all ages and generations. The narrative is disturbing and saddening, a glimpse into a future altered to achieve a type of perfection. This perfection, designed to remove all traces of the ugliness of humanity, has also eradicated beauty, emotion and most crucially, love.

I first read Lowry's award winning book just over a year ago, coming to it ignorant of its role in creating the 'dystopian' genre of fiction (I am thinking 'Divergent' and 'The Hunger Games here people!).
Without the baggage of knowledge or expectation I was able to be surprised and moved by Lowry's bleak vision.

I suppose I should not be surprised that 'The Giver' has been made into a movie, given the popularity of its YA cousins. I hope however that the director manages to capture the subtle movement of the main character, Jonas, from ignorance to anger and the sadness in the slow reveal of the true nature of the community.

The lesson, without love, humanity is doomed to perpetuate evil in the name of efficiency, survival and perfection.

If at first this book does not grab you, for heavens sake, persist!

'The Giver' is available for purchase from Amazon.com via the following link;

'The Giver', By Lois Lowry

All purchase made through your Amazon account via this link will help support 'Little Miss Kindle' (and her love of reading and reviewing!)

Extinction Point: A Chilling Apocalyptic view well worth your reading time!

What if the end of mankind's dominance on earth was as swift, brutal and unstoppable as our own world rule?

What if you were left to observe the end of the world, alone and surrounded by new and frightening creatures that spawn and mature seemingly in the slow blink of an earth day?

Such is plight of Emily Baxter, she has survived act one; the red rain that took the lives of everyone she knew (and seemingly the lives of every other living creature).

Question is, will she survive the aftermath?

This is the premise for Paul Antony Jones' post apocalyptic series, which begins with the red, blood like rain in book one, Extinction Point, heralding the beginning of the end for mankind.

Like any good series, Extinction Point, raises many intriguing questions; with What the? and Why? being key among these.

Jones' writes his book from the perspective of his resolute heroine, Emily. Her view-point can seem transactional at times (i.e. did this, had to do that to survive) , oddly enough this adds to the success of the story telling rather that distracting from it. Emily's observations gradually reveal the scope of what is happening, adding to the realism of one person struggling to survive in an unrecognisable world.

Emily heads north on her stolen (but who really cares, right?) bike, following the advice of the only other human voice she has heard since the apparent extinction of every other living soul. Jacob is a scientist, based in the cold north of Canada, who believes that the cold dramatically reduces the success of the red rain and the creatures it has spawned.

The real adventure starts here in book two, 'Revelations'; as more people get involved in Emily's story (all be it not many more) the emotional impact ramps up dramatically. Many readers will relate to at least one or two of the characters and their fates. After reading one plotline, I was left so sad I spent the night staring at the dark ceiling of my bedroom feeling something akin to grief.

Over the course of the three books, Jones does supply us with the answers to the key questions. Some of these seem a little preachy and trite (environmental damage by humans etc), perhaps reducing the final impact of the series.

This aside however, I loved this trilogy. The end of the world has never seemed so real, so relentless and so very very frightening!

If you would like to experience the end, the Extinction Point series is available for purchase through Amazon.com via the following link.

Extinction Point; by Paul Antony Jones.

For reviews similar to this, explore the 'Post Apocalyptic' tab at the top of 'Little Miss Kindle'.

The Zombie Apocalypse... sponsored by the NRA?

It is not my usual style to be controversial, but it has occurred to me recently that every Zombie book I have read (and I have read and LOVED a lot of them) could have been written by a gun toting NRA promoter.

Here are the top signs that the Zombie Apocalypse (in fiction at least!) is sponsored by the NRA:

- Ammunition caches are the centre of every surviving colony.
- No one shoots a gun, without first a description of its caliber and specs.
- The hero's all pack heat, a hockey stick, apparently, is a poor substitute for a rifle.
- True preppers may prefer sling shots, but not in Zombie fiction! There is always a handy stack of weapons and ammo at hand.

I often wonder, living as I do in a country with strict gun controls, how exactly am I expected to survive the coming of the Zombie?

According to popular Zombie reads, the answer is simple.

I'm not.

The Divergent Series: Sometimes life isn't fair....

The Divergent series, by Veronica Roth, has been compared in scope, theme and even success to the recently epic 'Hunger Games' Series.
Both feature a feisty, capable and conflicted young woman thrown into situations far beyond the pale of our 'real' society ideas of normal, fair or ethical.
Situations that require ruthless decision making and violent actions.

This is not where the similarities end, both series feature young people as the courageous catalysts for change in horribly corrupted worlds. Both also involve difficult romances and hard choices.

Unlike the Hunger Games however, the Divergent series has experienced both devotion and fervent backlash as the series moved towards conclusion.

Without being a 'spoiler' for anyone who has yet to read the books or (shudder) watch the movie (by the way, always read the book), the 'haters' take issue with the conclusion of book three (Allegient).

These unhappy folk have tweeted, facebooked and pinterested their disgust seemingly in their hundreds of thousands, and very nearly stopped me reading the books altogether.

Thankfully I ended up ignoring the many warnings and delved into the series for myself.

While I understand the disappointment of many readers in the concluding chapters, I say this in defence of this well written and intriguing series;

Sometimes life is not fair, in fiction and the real world alike.

That doesn't mean we should not enjoy the ride while it lasts.

Finally I would say, chill out, it's not real...... yet!

The complete series is available for purchase via the following link:

The Divergent Series by Veronica Roth

Happy (or at the very least 'intense) reading :)

Divergent:

Finally I have given into the pressure (my own) and read 'Divergent'.
For those of you who have been living under a rock, Divergent is the first installment in an uber successful YA series, penned by Veronica Roth.

Personally I love a good Young Adult (YA) read; I mean who can look past the The Hunger Games trilogy or the magnificent Harry Potter series. Wonderful books all of them!

So it was not the YA aspect of this series that had me hesitating over the buy button, it was the reviews.
Scathing, upset, angry reviews! They had me running scared. I did not want to be sucked in to the series only to be left high, dry and cranky at the end of book three. Frankly it seemed a little masochistic for my taste.

With this in mind, I really cannot explain why I eventually read the book, perhaps I was just feeling left out?
Cutting to the chase, was it any good? Am I going to bite the bullet and read the rest of the series?

Answers as follows:

Yes and I already am.....

There is a good chance that I am more of a masochist that originally thought, however I did enjoy Divergent. I will admit, I did not LOVE it as much as, say, the aforementioned Hunger Games, but I did find it engaging and entertaining. More importantly I do want to know 'what next?'.

I will keep you posted when I get to the end of the series.

If you want to take the journey as well, the Divergent Series is available through Amazon.com via the following link:

The Divergent Series

World War Z: Read it or Watch it?

It is not that often that I watch a movie and then read the book, (The Hunger Games Trilogy was another read inspired by the movie) however I enjoyed the Zombie Flick so much, reading the book seemed like the next logical move.

'World War Z', by experienced 'Zombie author' Max Brooks, is almost unrecognisable as the inspiration for the movie.
Oddly enough, this is not a bad thing for the reader, rather it allows them  to experience 'World War Z' from a different, yet completely absorbing, angle.

Book vs Movie; how both come out on top:

• Watch the movie to see Brad Pitt. There I said it, I just love looking at the man and as a bonus he is a rather fine actor.
• The book is narrated 15 years after the end of 'World War Z'; where a series of key interviews have taken place to determine the political and cultural failings that allowed the near extinction of the human race. While this might sound dry, it is actually fascinating. In the absence of actual Zombies, Brooks leaves the reader with the feeling that society is teetering on the edge of disaster.
• Fantastic use of CGI leaves you gasping in scenes of mass chaos as the Zombies take hold (literally.... with their teeth). Refreshingly though, while the movie is scary it is not excessively gory (how that was managed in a Zombie movie I will never know).
• Personal stories told to a nearly invisible narrator make the book version of 'WWZ' seem dreadfully real. Stories of government misinformation, inaction and intentional genocide mixed in with personal heroism and in some cases dumb luck hit home hard.
• The movie does have some clever links to the book, without providing a spoiler, the Israel approach being the most obvious of these. The book is clever and the movie draws on enough detail to seem clever too. The floating sanctuaries, the variation in national responses all seem logical enough to be real.

If I had to choose I would say this: 

The book is better as an intriguing and unique look at the Zombie apocalypse, focusing less on gore (though there is plenty of that) and more on the human response. 

The movies is better for sharing the experience, as I did with my significant other, eyes glued to the screen, shuffling a bit closer with each passing scene.

So all in all, good news! Feel free to read the book and watch the movie in any order, you won't be disappointed!

Both the book and the movie can be purchased through Amazon.com via the following link:

'World War Z'

Want a quick life 'escape'? The top three escapist 'worlds' on my Kindle

Reading is the ultimate escape, there is nothing like looking up from a book and being surprised to see your own home.
In point of fact, this is the ruler by which I measure the success of an escapist read. When my home seems less real than the world on the page.... well the author's mission has been accomplished.

Here are my top three picks for immersive reads.

1.  'A Song of Fire and Ice, The epic series by George R. R Martin has to be
the last word in 'alternative world' creation.
Don't rely on the television to bring you the mere 'gist' of the world Mr Martin has created. You need to 'read' the books to feel the cold seep into your bones, to shiver as the lurking evil creeps slowly from beneath the slow laden trees, to feel revulsion as the feral offspring of Cersai and Jaime reveal their true nature. For heavens sakes people, you HAVE to READ this one.

Ok, I might need to take a moment here before I move on....



2. 'The Remaining'. If you like your escapist world to be distinctly on the
apocalyptic side.... then this series by D.J Molles is for you. I know it was for me. A great premise, a soldier trained specifically to guide survivors
through world shattering events, finds himself adrift in a world full of 'infected' who are intent on, you guessed it, chowing down on the 'remaining' human population.
Don't be put off by the grisly nature of the Zombie genre, sure this series has
its fair share of gross, but the focus is firmly on the disintegration of the rule of law and decency as the 'scum' attempts to rise to the top.

3 The 'True Blood' series. God Bless Sookie Stackhouse, the sexy, gifted, part fairie, adventurous heroine of the True Blood Novels. Escape
to our world, only with more blood suckers and shifters and less need for clothes.
You have to love this exuberant mix of scares with, well, sex.
You might not want to live in her town, but it sure is fun to read about!
(p.s I won't judge you if you do want to live in her town!)

Keep posted as there is MUCH more escapism to follow of the pages of this blog, after all, isn't that what reading is all about?

All books in these series are available for purchase through amazon.com
via the links in this page.

Day Soldiers: Where Vampires are for staking, not loving

I alternate between 'love and hate' for the sexy and irresistible Vampire Hero, some days I would be quite keen to meet an Edward or Giovanni, other days I would quite happily wield the stake.
I have MUCH less tolerance for the typical Vampire novel heroine, the feisty, strong young lady who is completely unaware of her own physical charm. BLEUGH!

Good news, in 'Day Soldiers', Brandon Hale has delivered a 'Vampire Apocalyptic' fantasy ride without any of the usual romantic fluff.

The heroine, Lily, IS feisty and strong, but in love with a vampire? Not on your life! She is more comfortable fighting tooth and nail to reclaim her world, than locking lips with any blood suckers.

In Lily's reality, the human population has all but given up the fight to live free, in fact America is the only remaining 'hold out' against the Vampire and Werewolf incursion.... and this hold out teeters on the edge of capitulation as well.

Lily, who is dealing with the death of (and the responsibility for,) her whole village, has the skills and motivation to join the 'Day Soldiers', an elite group of warriors who battle to turn the tide against the surging Vampire and Werewolf populations.
But can she do more that just give her life for the cause?

Delivering a smart premise and tense writing, Day Soldiers is a step above the usual for this genre. With a protagonist to cheer for and enough twists and turns to keep the reader engaged, Brandon Hale has delivered a Vampire novel you won't need to blush while reading!

Bravo Mr Hale!


Day Soldiers is available for purchase through amazon.com via the link shown below:

:'Day soldiers' by Brandon Hale