Reviews of recent books…
I write reviews all the time for other authors’ books, but I’m not very lucky in receiving them for my own books. Here’s a few for some recent books.
A reviewer of Goin’ the Extra Mile says…
“WOW! What an exciting story from Steven Moore. A total page turner from the start. There are no doubts who you cheer for and who you want to lose in this exciting espionage story.
BACKGROUND: While in the CIA [actually she’s an ex-USN Master-at-Arms], Mary Jo was sent to reclaim two MECHs (“Mechanically Enhanced Cybernetic Humans”) that were stolen from the CIA [a secret US government project] by Russian operatives. Instead, she freed them, then the three of them destroyed the laboratory and escaped to freedom. That was years ago and they have had no contact with each other since then. But nobody believes Mary Jo. The Russians and CIA keep trying to find the MECHs and they still believe Mary Jo knows where they are.
CURRENT: Mary Jo is former Navy and now a former discredited/framed CIA agent [actually a security guard at the place with the MECHs project]. Her husband is a former FBI agent, [and] now all they want is to live the American dream of raising a family in peace. But it appears the Chinese have different ideas for their future.
When Mary Jo’s husband and two children are kidnapped we start a rescue operation that jumps between France and America and ends up in Beijing. All kinds of alphabet agencies are involved, FBI, CIA, DSGI, DSGE, MSS, etc. [US, US, French, French, and Chinese agencies.]
Woven throughout the story are references of the Wall a previous President built, the disrespect of our leaders by the leaders of other countries, the decay of American values and freedoms, becoming more of a third-world country than a powerful leader of the world. Unfortunately, this part of the story is partially true and just may be our actual future.
This story of political power desolving democracy and the free world deserves 5 stars.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.”
—Diana Raven, in an Amazon review
A reviewer of A. B. Carolan’s The Secret of the Urns says…
Asako, a teenager, lives with her parents in outer space on a planet’s satellite. Her parents and other adults are scientists studying the satellite. There are native beings on the satellite that has given the scientists permission to study their home. Asako goes out on her own and explores the area. She becomes friends with a native being. She has decided that she wants to study them. As she learns more about them, she discovers that their ancestors give them advice and other information. Asako wants to learn more about the ancestors but the natives refuse to have any knowledge of them. When a scientist discovers mineral ores, miners come destroying the planet by pollution. When the natives ask them to stop, the miners say no. Asako is the only human who doesn’t think the natives are inferior. Will Asako be able to help the natives save their planet? Will the natives fight the humans?
There is so much more going on in this novel, but I don’t want to spoil it for anyone who reads this. The characters in the novel are well described. I felt for Asako as she wants to be able to help the humans and native race get along. This is a novel about xenophobia, friendship, and respecting someone that is unknown to you or “different.” It is an excellent science fiction novel. Read it!
Disclaimer: I received an arc of this book free from the author/publisher from NetGalley. I was not obliged to write a favorable review, or even any review at all. The opinions expressed are strictly my own.
—S. Mahaffey in an Amazon review
Let me make several comments about these reviews. First, they are excellent reviews because they (1) give information about the book, (2) say briefly why they like the book and why (I don’t mind a “dislike” if the reviewer says why), and (3) they say the review was made in exchange for a free copy of the book (standard practice, but it’s good to say it—Amazon doesn’t always enforce this, by the way, but they’ll accept reviews from persons who purchase the book too).
Second, while longer than the normal Amazon review, they’re not MFA theses. These are readers who enjoy reading a book and not into over-analyzing it. Other readers are NOT interested in over-analysis—they want to know if good reading entertainment is to be had.
I should mention that I took the liberty of editing a bit. That’s no criticism of the reviewers—it’s more me being overly anal about what I include in this blog—so I must apologize to these reviewers for doing so. I should also mention that A. B. Carolan is my alter-ego who writes all my YA sci-fi mysteries now (yes, that’s a wee bit schizophrenic—aren’t all writers somewhat crazy?). (A. B. has finished a new book called Mind Games—coming soon!)
I often rant sometimes about zero-content reviews. I offer these as counterexamples. They are much more than “atta-boy” or “this sucks,” what many of the zero-content “product reviews” for books on Amazon reduce to (and many other book reviews in general). Notice that I didn’t say how many stars the reviewers gave these books. That’s not relevant because the reviews speak for themselves. (Amazon only wants those rankings to calculate an average, which, of course, is meaningless. No matter how large the sample size, that average from the statistical point of view is at least biased by the fact that it only applies to people who review the book, not all readers.)
Kudos to these reviewers. Sure, they received a free ebook in exchange for an honest review. But they met their obligation and then some. And I’m honored they chose to read and review my books!
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Comments are always welcome!
Note from Steve: Reviewers can request any book in my oeuvre in return for an honest review. Ebooks are the easiest. If the book has a print version and the reviewer lives in the US, a request for a print version is also acceptable. Supplies are limited. Use the contact page at this website to query.
The Last Humans. Ex-USN SAR diver Penny Castro is now a forensics diver for the LA County Sheriff’s Department. After a dive to recover a corpse near Malibu, she surfaces to find all her colleagues dead. As she moves about LA County, she discovers most people are victims, but a few surviving feral humans make her own survival a challenge. Slowly she forms a small family of sane survivors she has to also defend from a crippled US government that wants revenge against those who unleashed a contagion on the country. Coming soon from Black Opal Books, this post-apocalyptic thriller will be available in print and ebook formats wherever books are sold, including Amazon and Smashwords and all the latter’s associated retailers (iBooks, B&N, Kobo, etc.), as well as at the publisher’s website and your favorite local bookstore (if they don’t have it, ask for it). Reviewers may query now for a copy in return for an honest review.
Around the world and to the stars! In libris libertas!
