Thursday 29 June 2017

A Traitor’s War By Graeme Rodaughan Book Review

The Metaframe War is well and truly raging in book two of Graeme Rodaughan’s mystical vampire action series. A Traitor’s War continues directly from where book one left off – and you definitely need to have read A Subtle Agency. The characters are a-plenty, and I appreciate that A Traitor’s War assumes you know who everyone is and doesn’t pander with too much explanation. Straight into the action! (Spoilers for book one follow).

I gave it a 9/10 review herehttps://culturedvultures.com/traitors-war-graeme-rodaughan-review/

Incidentally, loved the little addendum at the end...

Monday 26 June 2017

The UK is already socialist - duh!

There's some legitimate trolls out there that know full well we're a democratic socialist country, but there are also quite a lot of people who seem to run from the word, as though it's poison. Copy-pasted below a solid explanation for reference.
_______________________________________

It seems in general people do not understand that they have Democratic Socialist principles.

1.) Sending your child to a non-private school is Socialist.
2.) Paying for healthcare via National Insurance and using the NHS is Socialist.
3.) Having free access to the legal system is Socialist.
4.) Being paid a wage that covers your costs, a fair wage is Socialist.
5.) Expecting a state pension, paying into one, and being paid one is Socialist.
6.) Having access to Social Security, the welfare state is Socialist.
7.) Having an affordable transport system is Socialist.
8.) Having protected areas like National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty is Socialist.
9.) Going for your Sunday walk.....being able to have the right to freely roam across broad swathes of this land via footpaths and bridle ways is Socialist.
10.) Believing that there should be affordable housing built by the State is Socialist.

Now talking to people, it seems that most people expect these things, and take them for granted. But they say that they are not Socialist, as if it's a dirty word. I say, but if you believe in these things, if you want them, then you are Socialist! It certainly makes them think. When I explain that Labour now at last has a true Democratic Socialist leader again, and tell them that Clement Attlee, officially Britain's greatest Prime Minister, created most of the above, and is much like Jeremy Corbyn, it certainly makes them think.

95 percent of people under Labours manifesto will see NO TAX RISES!!
Atos, G4S paid no corporation tax last year despite carrying out £2 billion of taxpayer-funded work

If anyone wants to pay me £150,000 a year, I'll happily give up £5425 a year extra for a better society. If you disagree with that idea, you may know the price of everything but you know the value of nothing.

Let's Talk Tax

This is how taxable income for someone earning over £80k pa is broken down in real terms. Is an extra £62.50 per month too much to ask to help the NHS and education of our children? (Example figures based on 95K a year salary).

Feel free to copy and paste to your status if you agree.

[ Anne Callaghan ]

Rise, like lions after slumber
In unvanquishable number!
Shake your chains to earth like dew
Which in sleep had fallen on you:
Ye are many—they are few!

[ Percy Bysshe Shelley ]


Saturday 24 June 2017

Jeremy Corbyn and IRA

This is not my own, but I thought it was good.

1. On 29th November 1994, Jeremy Corbyn signed a House of Commons Early Day Motion no.24 deploring the "terrorist atrocity & murderous violence" of the pIRA's Birmingham pub bombings.

2. In 1994, Jeremy Corbyn met four loyalist leaders including David Ervine whom he met five times both to discuss the wrongful imprisonment of UDR man Neil Latimer, and at Labour Party Conference in Blackpool in the October to receive notification of an impending ceasefire that was called just over a week later.

3. In an interview to the Belfast Telegraph on 10th October 2015, Ian Paisley's wife commented that Ian Paisley always found Jeremy Corbyn very courteous and polite. And that "he thought Jeremy Corbyn was a gentleman".

4. In February 1987, after initially incorrectly smearing him, Rupert Murdoch's The Times apologised to Jeremy Corbyn and admitted that he had ordered staff to phone the police to warn them of a suspected pIRA operative in London.

5. On 11th August 1988, the Irish Times ran an article praising Jeremy Corbyn as a "tireless campaigner for the Irish". Jeremy had worked to quash the wrongful conviction of the Guildford Four, and pushed for a reopening of the Bloody Sunday inquiry.

6. It was the Tory government who first spoke to Gerry Adams 11 years berfore Corbyn became an MP. MI5 files released under the thirty year rule showed that the Tory government released Gerry Adams from prison for secret talks in London. 476 people had died in 1972, the worst year of violence. MI5 files show that the Tory government concluded "there is no doubt whatsoever" that Gerry Adams "genuinely wants a ceasefire and a permanent end to violence". The British government also recorded that Adams's "response to every argument was reasonable and moderate".

7. Jeremy Corbyn only ever met Gerry Adams when the latter had entered electoral politics a full 14 years after the outbreak of the Northern Irish Conflict, in Adams's capacity as an elected MP. In the 1980s Margaret Thatcher placed a ban on elected Sinn Fein politicians' voices being broadcast. Jeremy thought this ran contrary to the principles of free speech. He was also keen that constituents from West Belfast were not silenced.

8. Gerry Adams visited Westminster in November 1996 to meet several Labour MPs, including Jeremy Corbyn. The only item on the agenda was to resurrect the ceasefire that had collapsed. The ceasefire was recommended months later and has lasted ever since. Bill Clinton had invited Gerry Adams to the White Hosue the previous year, thus Corbyn's actions fitted with the broader efforts for peace.

9. There were at least two controversies throughout all of this that do deserve explanation. Shortly after the Brighton bombing Corbyn along with other MPs met Republicans in Westminster. This is indeed insensitive and wrong. Corbyn's own motivation was to end the strip searching of female prisoners on remand.

10. On 13th May 1987, Jeremy Corbyn stood for a minute's silence to mark the eight people who had been killed by HM Armed Forces one week earlier in Armagh. One was an inoocent civilian but seven were pIRA men. The minute's silence was held at an intellectual gathering of Irish sympathisers in London. The bodies were not all yet buried, and the circumstances were not wholly clear. There was controversy at the time over whether or not this was a shoot to kill incident. Indeed, the European Court awarded £10,000 compensation to each of the eight families.

And I'll add:

The Gandhi Foundation International Peace Award 2013

The Gandhi Foundation International Peace Award for 2013 was awarded to Jeremy Corbyn, MP Islington North on 26th November 2013 at Portcullis House.

The Trustees of The Gandhi Foundation agreed to offer him our International Peace Award in recognition of his consistent efforts over a 30 year Parliamentary career to uphold the Gandhian values of social justice and non‐violence. Besides being a popular and hard‐working constituency MP he has made time to speak and write extensively in support of human rights at home and world‐wide. His committed opposition to neocolonial wars and to nuclear weapons has repeatedly shown the lack of truth in the arguments of those who have opposed him.



Friday 23 June 2017

It's not me they fear... it's you...


There's a turning point on the horizon, it's hard to deny. The election has awoken people, young and old, or those in the middle like me. It was the first election in my lifetime that felt like I was voting for something different, and I'm sure it felt that way for many, not the few.

But it's not over yet. The Tories could miraculously pass their Queen's Speech next week, meaning the words debated this week and the pomp and ceremony were not just the hollow sentiments of people clinging to power. I don't know. It's such a desperate moment for May, and the Tories, and their Queen's speech is a gamble. They gambled before and lost. Hopefully we'll get the same result again.

Even if they win, good luck getting anything through Parliament. Unfortunately, one of the biggest concerns, the asset-stripping of the NHS, seems to be going on behind the scenes. The Queen's Speech needs to fail for the good of it.



DailyFlash: Wet Dream

Freddy was in my dreams again. At first he was nothing more than a scarred face floating in the corner of my vision as I replayed events from the day, but then he stepped in, wearing his red and black-striped jumper, and turned the dial on me. Thing with dreams is they're vague and no one really looks at you. But Freddy; he stared right at me. That was enough. His cold blue eyes a sudden shot of ice in my veins, and I woke with goosebumps and a damp patch on my crotch.

I bolted up, hammering in my chest, and pulled the covers off. It was just pee. The nightlight sensed me and came on, and in the din the covers at the bottom of the bed began to rise.

Thursday 22 June 2017

DailyFlash: My Scabbard Skin

Within temptation I am cursed to the core to bleed, to breed blood from whip to pelt, from mouth and nose to teary eyes; my scabbard skin cannot keep me sheathed against flagellation and damnation. Who is the sacrificial lamb before the mirror? Me? Or the virgin? Who has chains cast to wrists and ankles? Who strikes whose back with the black sjambok? Whose blood pools like a reflective votive?

Who will save me?

Who will save her? I beseech you. Save her! Hear my cries! I am servile here and waiting! Hear me! Save her, before I... !



Reading list updated. Indie books galore!

And the list keeps growing. Shout out to those who are offering their work for review. As a reader, it's great to dip my toe into the literary pool and read things I would never have considered, and as a fellow writer, I'm happy if I can in some small way contribute towards widening the reach that these books get. I'm currently reading part 2 of the Metaframe War series, yet to take a breath! Fast-paced but considered action, and perhaps even stronger than book 1!

Currently reading

A Traitor's War: The Metaframe War: Book 2



After the desperate battle on the Boston docks, Anton Slayne finds refuge amongst the vampire hunters of the Order of Thoth.

Anton discovers the Order of Thoth harbors a traitor who could get his new friends killed. While a secret alliance between the Red Empire and vampire General Chloe Armitage, threatens to do the same.

With threats both within and without - will Anton be able to stay alive long enough to save his friends, or will his circling enemies destroy everyone he loves?




Reading list

Celebrity Gulag Kindle Edition by Michael Alexander Rice


‘Celebrity Gulag: only the biggest, most famous, most watched show in the land. Imitated worldwide but never bettered, it is the biggest star vehicle known to humankind...’
Even in darkness, the megalopolis never sleeps.
The internet is gone, engulfed by the virtual flames of an online inferno.
In its place, tawdry tabloids titillate with tales of television talent shows where contestants are literally dying to be famous.
For Dr. Philip Bruno, an unassuming life is about to take a remarkable turn.
Hunted by a delinquent prince, an ever-present audience bays for blood.
How does a modest man survive stardom?
How does he survive Celebrity Gulag?


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.



Under the Amoral Bridge by Gary Ballard

Artemis Bridge is the know-who, go-to guy, the amoral fixer in 2028 Los Angeles with the connection for any illicit desire no matter how depraved. You need it, he can get it without questions or judgment. He prides himself on staying detached from the depravity, untouched by the filth, untouchable by the law. When a young hacker is assassinated before his eyes, he is burdened with a scandalous video of the mayor on the eve of the city's most important election of the century. With digital assassins and murderous thugs dogging his every step, he has only days before the corrupt mayor is re-elected, handing the Chronosoft Corporation complete control of the city. Unable to sell the video, he is forced further into a complex conspiracy.



Indigo by DL Young

For over twenty years, Indigo Cruz has worked the markets of the Texas wastelands, hustling wares, cutting deals, and earning a hard-won reputation as a tough, shrewd trader. In a dangerous, brutal world, she's managed to carve out a comfortable, safe existence...

...until the day the Fundamentalist Church of Divine Wrath shows up on her turf, throwing her world into chaos.
Forced by the violent cult's leader to serve as a guide for a mysterious mission, Indigo finds herself trapped between factions warring for control of the Republic. But when she crosses paths with the runaway mind-reader Soledad Paz, will their chance meeting be the key to Indigo's survival or the final nail in her coffin?




The Method by Duncan Ralston


How hard would you fight for the one you love?

Frank and Linda's marriage is falling apart. When old friends tell them about an "unconventional therapy retreat" called The Method, they jump at the chance to attend.

Dr. Kaspar's Lone Loon Lodge is a secluded resort deep in the Montana wilds. The staff is friendly. The other couple joining them is intense. But when a death occurs events quickly spiral out of control, leaving Linda and Frank unable to trust anyone but each other.

Nothing is what it seems, and only one thing is certain: Love Is Pain.




Caleb, a 17-year-old boy, survived the zombie uprising, but he didn’t come out of the ordeal unscathed. He’s been scarred—both mentally and physically. The rest of humanity is trying to rebuild, to make the world normal again. Caleb is trying to return to a normal life also, but after all he’s seen, after the loss of his family and friends, the transition is difficult. The darkness that led him down a path of self-doubt and self-harm keeps trying to creep back into his mind.
Things only become worse when he discovers he’s immune to whatever makes a zombie a zombie. Fighting zombies was predictable. He knew what to expect. Fighting humans is volatile. They are malicious and treacherous. They won’t stop to get what they want, and Caleb has to figure out exactly what that is.


Lacy Dawn's father relives the Gulf War, her mother's teeth are rotting out, and her best friend is murdered by the meanest daddy on Earth. Life in the hollow is hard. But she has one advantage -- an android was inserted into her life and is working with her to cure her parents. But, he wants something in exchange. It's up to her to save the Universe. Lacy Dawn doesn't mind saving the universe, but her family and friends come first. Rarity from the Hollow is adult literary science fiction filled with tragedy, comedy and satire.

Monday 19 June 2017

DailyFlash: The Gravedigger

Under a moonless night, Stan stalked between the headstones in the graveyard, fumbling his hands along cold marble and stone. He dragged a shovel behind him that slid along the damp grass.

Fingers on names, finding and trailing the letters and the numbers, he searched for the freshest body that had been buried that day. Standing on a mound of soft earth, he slid the shovel down, and began.

Dirt lifted into the night over his shoulder as he relentlessly dug, until metal met wood with a thud. Hollow, his eyes in darkness, he knelt and washed the coffin lid free of debris, lifting it.

Pennies preserved them. They were ice to his fingertips as he lifted them up and tossed them aside. Thumb in eyesocket, he popped the eyeballs free and mashed them into his own, so that he may see again.



In the Presence of Knowing by Valarie Savage Kinney review

In the Presence of Knowing is the opening, enjoyable book in the Windy Springs saga - a book of battling demons, coming to terms with yourself, of accepting others, and crafting beautiful fairy wings in a magical forest.

As the mysterious elements of Windy Springs and its inhabitants reveal themselves, the one constant is Keisha’s gradual acceptance of herself, and her acceptance of others’ acceptance. It’s a heart-warming tale, but feels as though the weight of it is quite heavily on the inner-self, rather than of plot moving forward. It could quite easily have been a longer book, but then since book two will hopefully be coming out, it serves as a successful introduction to the world, even if it does leave a few more unanswered questions then you would like.

Full review: https://culturedvultures.com/presence-knowing-valarie-savage-kinney-review/

Tuesday 13 June 2017

DailyFlash: Paperclip

They have us handcuffed and stuffed under the desk like discarded and crumpled receipts. Were it not for the air conditioner we'd be as dead as a dog in a locked car. How much longer is this going to go on? Carol - how on earth? "Carol," I nudge her: how on earth is she asleep?
     "Humpf," she groans, struggling to open her eyes. "I'm so hot. So sleepy. Need water."
     "Hey! Dude!" I call out to the man with a gun. "Can we get some water?"
     The man with a gun walks over; stands there, eyes peering through the holes in his balaclava. He lifts the fabric up over his mouth, hacks, and then spits in my face. He laughs and turns his back on me.
     My colleagues shy away from eye contact, as Carol sighs.
     I'd freed my wrists from the handcuffs hours ago, and held my composure. The mechanism was relocked but I could pull my hands free in under a second if needed.
     That's the thing about working in an office; surrounded by implements of death. You just need to know how to use them.
     I inch out from under the table, and raise my arms up over my head. Clamped between my fists is a chain of paperclips.
     Progress evidently wasn't being made. Time for me to act.
     I stand and hook the chain over his head, across his neck, and pull with all my strength. He doesn't even have time to whimper, but he does thrash about, risking alerting the others.
     From my pocket I pull a paperclip shiv - three paperclips lengthened out and twined together - and thrust it into his right ear. He goes limp as the lights go off in his brain, dropping his gun. The rest will be a piece of cake.




Monday 12 June 2017

DailyFlash: The Boxer

The boxer was battered and bruised and clinging with hooked elbows over the rope. His face was burning, his jaw aching. His eyes scanned the expectant pleasure in the crowd. Look at them, relishing the sight of his blood on the mat. Look at them, baying for his knockout. Look at them.
     Twenty-seven knockouts. Twenty-seven wins.
     The referee counted "six, seven, eight, nine..." and waived The Boxer back into play,
     His opponent's eyes flared as he charged, the crowd roaring for his victory.
     Twenty-seven knockout blows in The Boxer's fist, and another; one duck and a jab to the chin and the opponent was down; the fire quelled: the crowd silenced.




Saturday 10 June 2017

Stop patronising the youth - GE2017

Let's talk about the youth. Undoubtedly they (and do I include myself in that, a 34 year old?) came out in force to support the Labour leader. Let's make that clear. The leader. Not some unelectable hopeful. He is a leader. He is the reason many people, young and old, came out to vote. For everything he represents. Yes it was an exciting manifesto, but that was a reflection of Jeremy Corbyn.

The reason we talk about media bias is often not even about the content. It's the tone. Corbyn just inspired hundreds of thousands of young people to vote, and what's the explanation? Freebies, in the form of tuition fees, scrapping car parking fees, free nursery hours, and so on. NO. How dare you be so patronising: praising the campaign on one hand, then going on to grossly misunderstand the cause.

Social media exploded this election open. We searched for the truth and we found it, and we shared it. We got angry, and we engaged with friends, who engaged with their friends. We forced our information on others and got kicked from groups for doing so. Feeds were awash with politics like never before. Even my Nottingham Forest Supporters Page was rammed. "Not Forest Related - but make sure you vote Labour." The amount of 'fuck yous' was depressing, but once that door was open, we flooded in. I doubt the negative commentators were turned, maybe some, but it's the silent ones, who never say anything, who maybe saw one sourced link or meme and it got them to think.

We saw injustices and wanted to fight against it. We spread the word about how new labour and now the Tories, worse than ever, have been systematically asset-stripping this country. We don't want our pipelines owned by Qater. We don't want Virgin Care. We don't want to pay £30 to skip the queue. We woke up to what kind of world and country we were heading towards: an insular, capitalist, money making, money keeping, money hoarding machine.

And we didn't like it.

Tuition fee promise or no tuition fee promise, we'd have been there all the same, marking the the cross by Labour.

Something else too. We don't want to be at war. We never asked for it. It was thrust upon us by our foreign policy. As much as you can blame religious fanaticism, you cannot underestimate what dropping a few bombs or being complicit in it will do. And worse, leaving broken areas as breeding grounds for hate. The messes we have left behind smack of incompetence, and that's being kind - if we can't do it right, don't do it all. Or just don't do it period. We don't want to think ill of our own country. We don't wan tto consider that we are complicit in arming those who seek to harm us in turn. But some facts are hard to ignore. Things have to change.

We didn't vote because tuition fees may be abolished, as amazing for equality as that could be. We voted for a new kind of politics, so stop patronising us.

Friday 9 June 2017

DailyFlash: Hope

A man stood tall against the tide on sand of stone.
Garbage spewed from sewer pipes and floated all around.
Piranhas nipped at knee and thigh,
clamoured for chin as he held it high.
Rags of paper dripping bile swirled in a hurricane.
Acid poured down as rain.
But the sand rose,
it rose up,
it rose around,
it lifted the man into the air,
out of the tide into the storm,
out of the storm and into the clouds,
out of the clouds and into the sun.


Vampire Wars by Perry Lake Review


Vampire Wars is an inventive and entertaining tale of Dracula’s many ups and downs. If you think he has it all his way, you would be mistaken – those who sleep by day have no idea of the war that is being fought by night, unless they become dinner, of course. Perry Lake’s writing is believable and consistent in its language, and the book is written as a series of chronological short stories. This is sometimes cumbersome as we are reintroduced to characters, but becomes less so the more you read, particularly as the cast grows and grows and you actually need that character prompt sometimes. Recommended!


Full review: https://culturedvultures.com/vampire-wars-perry-lake-review/

Monday 5 June 2017

Countering Tory logic

Just noting some counterlogic I've attempted in debate(s) with pro-Tories, (for myself more than anyone else's benefit). It's difficult for either side when there is such a basic ideological divide, and when, both left and right, you have been exposed to pro-left or pro-right media and pretty much nothing else.

“Say goodbye to Gilbraltar, the Falklands, Northern Ireland and Scotland.”

 - Couldn’t find this in the manifesto. At this point the Scots could go whether Labour or the Tories are in, and considering that many of SNP’s core beliefs mirror the Labour manifesto, I would say the chance of retaining the UK as it is, is higher with Labour being in. The Scots are pissed off about austerity measures being imposed on them from Westminster – THIS will be the main reason they choose to leave, given the chance again, should they do so.
“The top wealthy moving their money out of the U.K. Small Buisnesses collapsing when their tax rises. Corporations moving their head offices away from London to Poland due to being hit with huge tax rises, which Germany would love as they want to end Londons supremasy on this”
- The idea that corporations or the mega-rich will just leave the country if taxes are raised is a constant fearmongering tactic in the hard-right propaganda rags against progressive taxation. The rate of corporation tax is not the sole determining factor in where a corporation locates itself, or they’d all be in the Bahamas at 0%. Oh wait, that’s where the tax dodgers are.
- Anyone who thinks it would be easy and costless for a major corporation like Rolls Royce or Unilever to just shut down production in the UK and shift it overseas isn’t seeing the bigger picture.
- Constantly cutting corporation tax rates will only result in a "race to the bottom" scenario.
- Corporations have a responsibility to contribute towards stuff like the infrastructure that they and their customers use, the existence of the legal system and the emergency services, the in-work benefits that are paid to their employees, and the education of their workforce.
- Corporations aren’t going to abandon Britain just because Labour puts the Corporation Tax rate up to 26% (still the lowest in the G7).
- Anyone who thinks a billionaire who is so self-serving that they would just up sticks and leave the country over a slight change in tax rate is not already stashing their cash in tax havens (and therefore unaffected by such a change) is narrow minded

“Russia, North Korea seeing us as a great target due to our nuclear arms not being renewed. Such a stupid thing to be doing in such an unstable world. Security under this idiot will change Regardless of what he says.”

The Labour party is a democracy – the Trident deterrent will be renewed. North Korea are not the aggressors now  – they were decimated in the 50s and are now more concerned about protecting themselves rather than being aggressive. Nuclear war is not the threat that we face, it’s guerrilla tactics on the street. We need more police officers. We need to look at why it’s unstable and perhaps not be the ones destabilising it.

“People will end up having to sell their family homes due to the garden tax that this idiot thinks he is going to bring in.”

Labour have explicitly stated that there is not going to be a garden tax. There’ll be a CT review to make it fairer (I’d like more details too). But they have said they’ll not be introducing a separate Land Value Tax on residential property. Maybe if you have a commercial business there’ll be some impact.

“Borrow billions from the world bank To fund his wild array of manifesto promises which will yet again cause us to go back into the red for yet another Tory government in four years time to come along and cut services in order to repair the damage.”

The manifesto is costed – it would be funded by a raise in the top 5%. “Borrow billions from the world bank” is empty rhetoric in real-world terms. 97% of the economy is electronic cash, most of which is created out of nothing at the moment a private bank makes a loan. The electronic money is then destroyed when the loan is repaid. Lastly, Tory cuts haven’t repaired jack, it’s worse than ever.

“Also even under Labour the richer get richer and the poorer get poorer. As sad as it is this is the way of the world and very country is the same. It's just we have been more generous in giving tax payers money to people. It is also fact that giving benedits to,people does not help the children out of poverty as in many of our large inner cities where these problems are rife the many single parent families take the money for themselves and spend it on drink and drugs. The answer is to lower benefits and make people get a part time job to make up the short fall. By doing this people start to have a sense of pride in themselves and attitudes would change.”


True: the rich tend to hold on to their riches no matter the government – does that show that under Labour they can therefore afford to pay a bit more tax? Or that they are unaffected by tax rate changes as they hold their money in offshore accounts? Sure with lower tax under Tory they’d get a bit more money for investment, but you then have to trust that they invest and not simply take a larger slice of the pie for their CEOs. I think I’d rather bank it with the current Labour to invest in public services. I agree in some regards with the benefits and children in poverty, but we differ ideologically. I don’t let those who take advantage of the system cloud my vision for a greater overall society where the public services are all funded as much as they need to be. And I would do whatever I could to ensure the children don’t suffer, be it free school meals, no rich/poor divide with universities, greater investment in youth projects, and so on.

Friday 2 June 2017

Vampire Wars by Perry Lake finished - list updated!

Perry Lake's Vampire Wars was something a bit different (at least for me) - certainly worth a read. Review incoming soon. Next up is something else a little different, In the presence of knowing by Valarie Savage Kinney - looking forward to its magic!

Shout out to Jason Parent and Duncan Ralston for sending me a couple of awesome sounding titles. Can't wait to get stuck in!

Now, if I can just stop getting wound up by this election....

Currently reading


In the Presence of Knowing (Secrets of Windy Springs Book 1) by Valarie Savage Kinney


Keisha is pregnant and on the run from an abusive ex-boyfriend. Hiding out at Windy Springs Renaissance Festival, she discovers a world of magic.
Stepping into new and unfamiliar territory, she finds herself among people different from any she’s met before. Though she feels she’ll never fit in, Keisha finds hope when she meets Rogan, who plays the troll. As friendship blossoms into romance, she soon discovers that Rogan, as well as others at Windy Springs, have abilities beyond the average individual – abilities that the child growing within her shares as well. When danger comes to Windy Springs, she’ll need the combined powers of Rogan and his friends to keep her and the baby safe.
In the Presence of Knowing is the first book in the Secrets of Windy Springs series. Grab your copy today and find out what mysteries await within the magical forest at Windy Springs.


Reading list


A Traitor's War: The Metaframe War: Book 2



After the desperate battle on the Boston docks, Anton Slayne finds refuge amongst the vampire hunters of the Order of Thoth.

Anton discovers the Order of Thoth harbors a traitor who could get his new friends killed. While a secret alliance between the Red Empire and vampire General Chloe Armitage, threatens to do the same.

With threats both within and without - will Anton be able to stay alive long enough to save his friends, or will his circling enemies destroy everyone he loves?




Celebrity Gulag Kindle Edition by Michael Alexander Rice


‘Celebrity Gulag: only the biggest, most famous, most watched show in the land. Imitated worldwide but never bettered, it is the biggest star vehicle known to humankind...’
Even in darkness, the megalopolis never sleeps.
The internet is gone, engulfed by the virtual flames of an online inferno.
In its place, tawdry tabloids titillate with tales of television talent shows where contestants are literally dying to be famous.
For Dr. Philip Bruno, an unassuming life is about to take a remarkable turn.
Hunted by a delinquent prince, an ever-present audience bays for blood.
How does a modest man survive stardom?
How does he survive Celebrity Gulag?


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.



Under the Amoral Bridge by Gary Ballard

Artemis Bridge is the know-who, go-to guy, the amoral fixer in 2028 Los Angeles with the connection for any illicit desire no matter how depraved. You need it, he can get it without questions or judgment. He prides himself on staying detached from the depravity, untouched by the filth, untouchable by the law. When a young hacker is assassinated before his eyes, he is burdened with a scandalous video of the mayor on the eve of the city's most important election of the century. With digital assassins and murderous thugs dogging his every step, he has only days before the corrupt mayor is re-elected, handing the Chronosoft Corporation complete control of the city. Unable to sell the video, he is forced further into a complex conspiracy.



Indigo by DL Young

For over twenty years, Indigo Cruz has worked the markets of the Texas wastelands, hustling wares, cutting deals, and earning a hard-won reputation as a tough, shrewd trader. In a dangerous, brutal world, she's managed to carve out a comfortable, safe existence...

...until the day the Fundamentalist Church of Divine Wrath shows up on her turf, throwing her world into chaos.

Forced by the violent cult's leader to serve as a guide for a mysterious mission, Indigo finds herself trapped between factions warring for control of the Republic. But when she crosses paths with the runaway mind-reader Soledad Paz, will their chance meeting be the key to Indigo's survival or the final nail in her coffin?




The Method by Duncan Ralston

How hard would you fight for the one you love?

Frank and Linda's marriage is falling apart. When old friends tell them about an "unconventional therapy retreat" called The Method, they jump at the chance to attend.

Dr. Kaspar's Lone Loon Lodge is a secluded resort deep in the Montana wilds. The staff is friendly. The other couple joining them is intense. But when a death occurs events quickly spiral out of control, leaving Linda and Frank unable to trust anyone but each other.

Nothing is what it seems, and only one thing is certain: Love Is Pain.