Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Michael J. Bowler - Once Upon a Time in America - Review & Giveaway



About the Book

With Lance leading the way, the Knights of the Round Table have set out to convince the American people that amending the Constitution to protect children is right and just and long overdue. As the team travels from state to state, they are met with acceptance, indifference, and even hostility. But Lance’s popularity and mystique as The Boy Who Came Back, coupled with his innate charm, gradually sway more and more of the populace, not to mention state legislators, to their cause.

The journey becomes a rite of passage that propels the young people into adulthood, and solidifies Lance’s status as an iconic and influential figure.

But he’s uneasy. He knows Arthur is hiding something from him, something that will bring him great sadness. After The Excalibur Incident in Las Vegas, Lance becomes more and more certain that the future is one he won’t like, despite his stunning success at winning over some of the most intractable states.

Then comes the attack, sudden and brutal.

Now the Round Table is in disarray, and Lance must confront a cold-blooded killer who’s luring him into an obvious trap. But if he refuses the challenge, more loved ones will die, and everything he’s fought for will die with them. Surrounded by the diverse young knights who have become his family, Lance sets out to battle his enemy with the knowledge deep in his heart that only one of them will survive. Is this the end of the Round Table?

The Knight Cycle concludes…


My Review

What Michael J. Bowler crafts across five books is a beautiful message about the saving power of adoption. When King Arthur takes a young orphan named Lance in off the streets, and proceeds to nurture a group of neglected children, he becomes a father to them all. He never forces them to do anything they don't want to do. He gives them a choice, and they in turn, come to honor and respect him for his wisdom and love.

Many of these kids come from broken homes, but Bowler states that their birth parents aren't bad because they're poor, they're bad because they view their children as property and nothing more. Bowler even addresses a possible contradiction in his novels when a politician questions Lance, "Well, it worked out pretty well for you, didn't it?" referring to Lance's status as a Latino boy whose circumstances were vastly improved by having a white guardian. But Lance is quick to fire back, "But I had a choice." Lance wasn't placed with Arthur by Social Services or some government agency who under normal circumstances would not have given him a say in his placement in the foster care system. Instead, Lance and Arthur were able to freely choose each other.

King Arthur also forms a powerful relationship with the ex-gang banger, Esteban. The tough as nails youth hasn't seen his father in years after he up and left, placing his loyalty to his gang over that of his family. When his father reappears after he becomes one of King Arthur's famous knights, Esteban has a hard time handling it. He considers Arthur to be his real father now, and Arthur counsels the troubled Esteban telling him, "His loss was my gain. You are a son any man would be proud of." After Esteban's father makes a tremendous sacrifice on behalf of his son in a last ditch attempt to show him just how much he loves him, Arthur reaffirms Esteban's worth by helping him see his father in a new light, one that he can live with and accept.

"Cherish the children. All of the children. For they are the hope." That is the essence of what Arthur believes in and what brought him to modern day Los Angeles in the first place. He wants to instill the core values of courtesy and dignity in a whole new generation of American youth. He tells his knights to pass down his beliefs, saying, "Do the same for your children and teach them to do the same for theirs. That is a true legacy."

Even when his work is over and his task is completed, the disciples of King Arthur are determined to raise the bar that he set for them. They intend to carry on his crusade, his lifelong work, because now they see that he was right—a nation's greatest natural resource is its children. They're living proof of that.

***

Once Upon a Time in America can be purchased at:
Amazon, Barnes and Noble

Prices/Formats: $4.99 ebook, $14.95 paperback
Pages: 328
Genre: Urban Fantasy, Young Adult
Release: November 12, 2014
Publisher: self-published
ISBN: 9780990871101
Click to add to your Goodreads list.


About the Author

Michael J. Bowler is an award-winning author of seven novels––A Boy and His Dragon, A Matter of Time (Silver Medalist from Reader’s Favorite), and The Knight Cycle, comprised of five books: Children of the Knight (Gold Award Winner in the Wishing Shelf Book Awards), Running Through A Dark Place, There Is No Fear, And The Children Shall Lead, and Once Upon A Time In America.

His horror screenplay, “Healer,” was a Semi-Finalist, and his urban fantasy script, “Like A Hero,” was a Finalist in the Shriekfest Film Festival and Screenplay Competition.

He grew up in San Rafael, California, and majored in English and Theatre at Santa Clara University. He went on to earn a master’s in film production from Loyola Marymount University, a teaching credential in English from LMU, and another master's in Special Education from Cal State University Dominguez Hills.

He partnered with two friends as producer, writer, and/or director on several ultra-low-budget horror films, including “Fatal Images,” “Club Dead,” and “Things II,” the reviews of which are much more fun than the actual movies.

He taught high school in Hawthorne, California for twenty-five years, both in general education and to students with learning disabilities, in subjects ranging from English and Strength Training to Algebra, Biology, and Yearbook.

He has also been a volunteer Big Brother to eight different boys with the Catholic Big Brothers Big Sisters program and a thirty-year volunteer within the juvenile justice system in Los Angeles. He is a passionate advocate for the fair treatment of children and teens in California, something that is sorely lacking in this state.

He has been honored as Probation Volunteer of the Year, YMCA Volunteer of the Year, California Big Brother of the Year, and 2000 National Big Brother of the Year. The “National” honor allowed he and three of his Little Brothers to visit the White House and meet the president in the Oval Office.

He is currently at work on a horror/suspense novel based on his screenplay, “Healer.”

Links to connect with Michael:
Web Site
Facebook
Twitter
Goodreads
Blog
Tumblr
Pinterest
Instagram
Blog Tour Site


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Tuesday, December 9, 2014

Cristelle Comby - Danse Macabre - Review & Giveaway



About the Book

Private investigators Alexandra Neve and Ashford Egan are hired to succeed where the police have failed, to safely return home a missing ballerina. With no lead to pursue and no idea who could be behind the young woman’s kidnapping, they soon find themselves at a loss as to what to do.

To make matters worse, the heart of England seems to be caught in the middle of a little Ice Age. With snow endlessly falling and Tube lines either too cramped up to use or out of service, it is a pain to do any legwork in the huge metropolis.

Oh, and because trouble never comes alone, there may also be a serial killer on the loose in the streets of East London...


My Review

When the identity of the killer in Cristelle Comby's DANSE MACABRE is revealed at the end of the novel, there's an interesting bit of reflection by one of the characters. Alexandra Neve, one half of the investigating duo of Neve & Egan, finds herself relating to the perpetrator, understanding how this person's mind worked. There are notes on the wall and pictures of the victims in the murderer's dwelling place, and Alex immediately compares that methodology to the whiteboard she uses while on a case filled with her own scribblings and photos. The thought makes "her insides coil," causing her to tell her partner, "I don't want this job to drive me mad."

When does dedication turn into fanaticism? When does "solving crimes, one sleepless night at a time" become an obsession instead of a profession? It's a fascinating way to frame a mystery novel when one of the "good guys" knows just how easily the divide can be crossed into "bad guy" territory. It's a dynamic that flows throughout the story when her partner Egan states, "Evil can wear many disguises."

By continually drawing closer to the depraved heart of humanity, the two of them know the risk they are taking by immersing themselves in this world. Their insatiable curiosity plays a big role in why they are able to solve case after case, but it also exposes them to elements that the rest of society remains unaware of. They crawl down into the closed-off lines of the London Underground, encountering vagrants whose living conditions they cannot even begin to comprehend amid such squalor. They learn about unspeakable acts whose details remain etched in their minds, bodies tied up and mutilated, fingers purposely broken to remain on a piano's keys long after death. Gruesome doesn't even begin to cover it.

Encountering such scenes on a regular basis has a way of changing a person, and not for the better. Comby voices this concern for her characters as they descend deeper and deeper into the corruption and immorality on both sides of the law. They learn to live by their own set of rules, following no procedures, heeding no mandates. When they want to get in somewhere, they pick the lock, they don't wait around for a search warrant. When they go on a stakeout, they don't bring backup, they go it alone.

But they're each on their own separate paths of self-discovery. Ashford Egan finds himself coming to terms with his blindness. He knows that he's been living on the fringe of society, caring about no one but himself. It's not until Alexandra enters his life that his soul begins to thaw. She breathes new life into him, getting him interested in the world outside his head. But the rush of emotions is a lot for him to deal with, he's not used to feeling so much, and it scares him. He knows he has to stop being so self-absorbed because it's not who he wants to be.

Over the course of their now twenty-four completed investigations, they've become a bit jaded, a tad cynical, and that scares Alex. As the book concludes on New Year's Eve, she looks back at her life over the past year, and she's not sure that she likes the person she's become. It's a difficult dilemma to solve. Their mission is to battle the negative elements in life, but a war like that usually has to be fought on enemy turf, and a person can't help being affected by that, and Alexandra and Ashford certainly are, each in their own way.

***

Danse Macabre can be purchased at:
Amazon

Prices/Formats: $2.99 ebook, $11.99 paperback
Pages: 254
Genre: New Adult, Detective Mystery
Release: October 2014
Publisher: self-published
ISBN: 9781502723772
Click to add to your Goodreads list.


About the Author

Cristelle Comby was born and raised in the French-speaking area of Switzerland, in Greater Geneva, where she still resides.

Thanks to her insatiable thirst for American and British action films and television dramas, her English is fluent.

She attributes to her origins her ever-peaceful nature and her undying love for chocolate. She has a passion for art, which also includes an interest in drawing and acting.

Danse Macabre is her third new-adult novel, and she’s hard at work on the next titles in the Neve & Egan series.

Links to connect with Cristelle:
Web Site
Twitter
Goodreads
Instagram
Blog Tour Site


About the Giveaway

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