A. Keith Carreiro - The Penitent: Part II - Review & Giveaway

About the Book

Hidden in the bottom of a roadside ditch as a baby, Evangel is only steps away from her viciously murdered parents. An old hermit finds her there a day later and takes her to his home in the heart of a sylvan wilderness. She is raised in a hermitage built by Matthew where he learns she is touched by a rare spiritual power. 17 years later a series of miracles occur that rock the very nature of her reality. Befriended by outlaws and a king’s champion, she is also betrayed by a woman of the cloth during a bard of the realm’s performance. That night, in a dream, Evangel envisions her future soul mate, Pall Warren, on a battlefield of death, and casts a prayer of protection around him. Thus begins a remarkable journey to save herself and those who believe in her. A hauntingly beautiful and startling tale of wonder.



My Review

"The forces and omens are assembling into play…to ignite into being."

Now that's what I call a great introduction. With opening references from the Bible to Shakespeare, the scene is set. What has been predicted, by so many for so long, is now about to come true.

So is this a novel all about doom and destruction? Surprisingly, no. Yes, there are parts that are graphically violent and crude. Yet the main message revolves around, "there is goodness and innocence in the world if we but look for it." And happily, it resides in the heart of a 17-year-old girl and the tender restored eyes of her grandfather-protector. Together, they shatter the enveloping darkness that begins to surround them with their own combined light.

A genuine miracle occurs when the girl begins to work wonders for the people, so that "the laws of nature are suspended…or rather fulfilled." It's an interesting way to look at things, as if the possibility of the miraculous is just within our grasp if we but reach for it. In the story, "each moment in time is filled with this potential. We have but to invoke it in faith for it to be seen in our presence."

Yet the girl's strength centers not so much on performing unbelievable feats, but on forgiving her enemies. She doesn't let hate fester inside of her. Instead, she turns the violence committed against them into an act of healing and love.

Yet grave danger accompanies the revelation of tenderness and mercy. It makes some people very uncomfortable, and it's not long until all the deadly sins are unleashed upon them. Envy. Pride. Fear. You name it. The rich, the powerful, the well-connected—all want to overthrow their sense of comfort and peace.

Yet they carry on because they know what they're doing is right. It's a burden they're willing to bear, secure in the knowledge that their treasure isn't found in this realm, but "within man's heart and heaven's home."

***

The Penitent: Part II can be purchased at:
Amazon

Prices/Formats: $4.99 ebook, $15.99 paperback
Genre: Science Fiction, Fantasy
Pages: 274
Release: May 15, 2017
Publisher: Copper Beech Press
ISBN: 9780997382716
Click to add to your Goodreads list.

***

About the Author

A. Keith Carreiro earned his master’s and doctoral degrees from Harvard Graduate School of Education, with the sequential help and guidance of three advisors, Dr. Vernon A. Howard, Dr. Donald Oliver and Professor Emeritus, Dr. Israel Scheffler. Keith’s academic focus, including his ongoing research agenda, centers upon philosophically examining how creativity and critical thinking are acquired, learned, utilized and practiced in the performing arts. He has taken his findings and applied them to the professional development of educational practitioners.

Earlier in his teaching career he was a professor of educational foundations, teaching graduate students of education at universities in Vermont, Florida, Arizona, and Pennsylvania. He currently teaches as an adjunct professor of English at Bridgewater State University, as well as teaching English, philosophy, humanities and public speaking courses at Bristol Community College.

He lives in Swansea, Massachusetts. He has six children and 13 grandchildren. He belongs to an eighty–five–pound golden retriever, an eight–pound Maltese, and an impish Calico cat.

Due to his love of family, he has seen his fervor for history, as well as his passion for wondering about the future, deepen dramatically.

Starting on May 23rd until October 9th of 2014, he sat down at his computer on a daily basis and began writing the first book of a science fiction/fantasy thriller in a beginning series about the quest for human immortality.

Links to connect with A. Keith:
Web Site
Facebook
Twitter
Goodreads
Blog


About the Giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway

R. Franklin James - The Bell Tolls - Review & Giveaway

About the Book

Hollis Morgan has survived imprisonment, received a pardon and persevered to finally become a probate attorney. Tough as she is, her newest case will further test her mettle. She discovers her client, Matthias Bell, is a deceased blackmailer whose last wish was to return the damaging documents he collected, letting his victims off the hook. It falls to Hollis to give them the good news. But it’s revealed that Bell was murdered, and the victims of “Bell’s tolls” are now suspects.

Hollis’ white-collar criminal past has left her with keen survival instincts. A gifted liar she knows a liar when she meets one. A lot of people in this case are lying and one is a killer.

On top of that, she’s also representing a dying stripper, a wealthy widow whose estranged daughter spurns her attempts at reconciliation, but whose husband sees the potential inheritance as mending all wounds particularly financial ones.

Clients aside, Hollis is defensive and wary. Her mother, who hasn’t spoken to her for years, needs a kidney, and Hollis is a match, but neither are ready to put away the past. With Hollis’ fiancé and emotional support off on an undercover mission for Homeland Security, she must count on her own survival instincts. She is swept along on an emotional roller coaster as her absent love and her family’s coldness take their own toll.

Work is her salvation. The specter of a killer keeps her focused. Hollis has always had to rely on her wits, but now she finds that others who don’t have her well-being in mind are relying on them as well.


My Review

What are you supposed to do with a blackmailer?

For the five victims manipulated in this story, you wait for him to die.

What exactly did he have on them, you wonder?

Well, one had a fling outside of marriage. Another cooked the books at work, concocting a fraudulent banking system. A third failed at properly hiding his gambling addiction. While a couple of foreign spies were willing to pay an exorbitant amount to keep their true identity under wraps.

And you can say, living under the constant strain of such torment gets to be too much for them. So when their blackmailer unexpectedly dies, they can't believe they've actually reached the end of the line with him. Finally, they can let go of the imminent threat of exposure he's been holding over their heads for far too long.

However, Hollis, the probate attorney hired to let them off the hook, becomes acutely aware of her own precarious situation, now that she, too, is privy to all their secrets.

And when the blackmailer's family orders his body to be exhumed, suspecting foul play, the cause of death turns out to be murder. Now constantly looking over her shoulder, Hollis is afraid the killer may be out to get her too.

The big twist comes at the end of the book when it's revealed that the blackmailer never intended to return the material he was holding on his victims after all. Someone else set them free from his reign of terror. But did that person (or persons) kill him too? You'll just have to read the book and find out.

***

The Bell Tolls can be purchased at:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
iTunes
Kobo
Overdrive

Prices/Formats: $4.95 ebook, $15.95 paperback
Genre: Women's Sleuth, Mystery, Suspense, Thriller
Pages: 239
Release: June 1, 2017
Publisher: Camel Press
ISBN: 9781603812177
Click to add to your Goodreads list.

***

About the Author

R. Franklin James grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and graduated from the University of California at Berkeley. From there she cultivated a different type of writing—legislation and public policy. After serving as Deputy Mayor for the City of Los Angeles, under millionaire Richard Riordan, she went back to her first love—writing, and in 2013 her debut novel, The Fallen Angels Book Club was published by Camel Press. Her second book in The Hollis Morgan Mystery Series, Sticks & Stones, was followed by The Return of the Fallen Angels Book Club, and The Trade List. The Bell Tolls, book five was released in June 2017.

R. Franklin James lives in Northern California with her husband.

Links to connect with R. Franklin James:
Web Site
Facebook
Twitter
Goodreads


About the Giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway